Brennor's RPG Corner has never seen a more wretched hive of scum and villainy! In our beta test of the new Fantasy Flight RPG, 'Star Wars: Edge of the Empire,' our heroes are just as often of the 'anti' variety: heart hearted smugglers, smooth scoundrels, and ruthless bounty hunters try to make ends meet and often find themselves struggling against authority in this fast-paced RPG set in the Star Wars Universe.
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Midnight has fallen on the Core Worlds of the Galaxy. The Galactic Empire, fueled by the machinations of Emperor Palpatine and his enforcer, Darth Vader, has secured their iron grip on the capitol, Coruscant, and now their influence and gaze has turned to the outer rim.
Once a region of independent systems and minimal government, the outer rim has been increasingly occupied and leveraged by the Empire. Law and Order is one thing, but a totalitarian dictatorship is another: And people are upset.
It has been harder and harder to earn a living on the outer rim and three sentients now depart their ship on the watery world of Manaan.
Jaxon Wilcot, a human, exits the ramp of the ship. He looks to his left and right, seeing both a Chiss and another Human. Szaza is a blue-skinned female and the other sentient, who he calls 'Glitch' is relatively non descript - and wants it to stay that way.
The trio has come to Manaan on a hunch.. a business deal: The promise of cash and a relatively legitimate lifestyle.
Jaxon takes a deep breath, extending his arms. "Ah! You smell that boys? er... boy .. and girl." He looks to Szaza.
"That's the smell of cold, hard cash." He raises his brow. "At least potentially... And.. at least.." he wrinkles his nose. "Partially mingled with rotten fish and brine.. saltwater." He looks around. "This is a bloody wet and drowned planet, eh?"
He looks around some more. "I wonder where this fishhead is? If he makes good on his promise we'll all be rich. I know that kolto was abandoned hundreds of years ago as a source of healing ... but if there are ... erm.. alternate uses for it then we need to be into this thing from the ground up." He smiles.
Welcome to the game! And to at least a tiny bit of mystery Hopefully our characters will have an edgy side but not be completely bad or evil. Think more Han Solo with an edge but a heart of gold. Hey - we're in it for the money!!!
"Yes, sir, I absolutely concur with your assessment. There are very few other places that are as unpleasant as this. And I am not looking forward to stay here for long," the Chiss says, standing beside Jaxon in a very tense posture, slowly gazing from left to right to look for their contact. She has her hands clasped behind her back. Her black clothes are almost spotless and her expression as neutral as it gets. She's not even slightly bothered about Jaxon's form of address and politely ignores it. Coming from a aristicratic society she's always very formal and glances over any faults of those in charge unless it's going to get them killed. "Are we talking about recreational uses for kolto?" The Chiss asks but it is to keep polite and isn't really interested in the liquid.
She thinks about the upcoming job for a moment and continues asking. "What kind of rich are we talking about, Capatin Wilcot? A couple of hundred thousand per head?"
Yes it's Glitch's ship but Jaxton is the one with the funds and the one who prepared the deal. It's kinda informal yes and if it's not cool then I'll edit it.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Glitch, the human male pilot, slicer, and overall gearhead of the crew, looks up from his datapad saying, "I'd be willing to wager that I couldn't even find a decent game of sabacc here."
Scratching his head, he then puts away the datapad into his utility belt and finally lifts his head to look at the planet. The slicer has never told any of the crew his real name. 'That's the way slicers operate', he's told them a few times.
He wears a set of plain brown trousers and a bright orange jacket with a white stripe down the sleeves. Over his shoulder, he has a backpack with various tech gear and tools inside that he doesn't trust to leave on the ship. Although, he's not a great shot, having a blaster pistol on your hip helps to deter some otherwise hostile actions towards you since would-be opponents might not know just how bad a shot he could be.
"We could use the credits for some repairs on The Sky. I also found a cheap comm jammer that we might find useful - always wanted one of those." He mentions off hand as they walk down the ramp.
Common SW Knowledge: Slicers never use their real name, they always use a username/code name type thing. So knowing he's a slicer, you wouldn't think anything else about calling him Glitch.
Can I use Knowledge Underworld to see what I know about the underworld of Manaan?
Also, it can be the NPC ship if you want. Don't really care. I took the pilot skills since I kinda wanted to be the techie/mechanic/pilot combo. The 'gearhead'.
Is this before the Empire assaults Manaan or has the Empire already taken control of Manaan?
"We could use some credits to do that, Glitch," Szara states only glancing at the young man for a moment before returning to look for their contact. "Or you could pay for it yourself if you need it so badly. You might as well purchase a few hundred kilo of paint and see that the ship gets a new, clean coat. Oh, no wait. I'd even pay for that if only to watch you work up a sweat."
There's the faintest of smiles on the Chiss typically neutral face that appears with the poor attempt of humor.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Glitch eyes the Chiss and then responds, "Maybe I will buy it myself... How about we play a game of sabacc after this job - winner takes all?" He smiles back hoping she'll take the challenge, but he's knows that she'd probably spend her take on other things.
When Szara mentions a new paint job for The Sky, he chuckles saying, "If we spend money on a fresh coat of paint and get her looking nice, then someone would want to steal her. I like her the way she is now." He mentions as he looks over his shoulder at the ship.
"Do not take this personal Glitch but I don't play with a pay. Even when I did not know you for what you are known," Szara replies. "But if you want to play for a meal or a new program for your datapad then I would gladly join you in a teamwork strengthening activity."
The Chiss looks down at the ramp of the Sky. "Atmospheric re-entry put a lot of stress on the structure of a ship. And the stay on a quatic planet like this with saltwater is an invitation for corrosion which increases the maintenance rates and maintenance periods as well. I thought you would appreciate a bit of advice, especially one that leads to my enjoyment," she adds without blinking.
"All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us."
Glitch smiles and thinks a bit, "You're right. I think I'm focused too much on the inside of her. Maybe I should start looking from the outside. Let's just hope we're not here for long."
Obligation Roll: Glitch 1-25, Szara 26-45, Jaxon 46-65. Result: 75. Commentary: Obligation will not come into play while on Manaan for the first day/night.
Knowledge: Underworld Failure + 1 advantage. Commentary: Glitch has 3 intellect (used for knowledge checked). Knowledge: Underworld is not a trained skill for him so he does not get to upgrade any of his ability dice to proficiency dice. This is an average check so I included 2 difficulty dice. Roll resulted in 1 success and 3 failures. So he fails. There was also one advtage symbol. So even though he fails, he at least gets a little something from the situation. I will interpret this as a boost dice added to his knowledge: rim worlds check
Jaxon nods. "Yea. That ship is a little beat up after we got into back on Tatooine...." He shakes his head. "I don't want to visit that dustbowl again any time soon." He looks around. "Though I suppose this place is just the opposite.
Glitch tries to remember any contacts in the past that would give him an idea regarding Manaan's underground. however, his mind is blank and he cant even recall any recent news stories about the watery planet...
knowlwdge rim worlds the same - but a boost die was added. infortunately still failed. However - with three advantage this time!!!
Jaxon answers Szara. "Rich enough that we don't have to keep flying from planet to planet like some galactic errand boy." He furrows his brow. "Yea. Something like that... recreational use." He shrugs. "Supposed to give a high like glitterstim but not as intense.. but with fewer of the side effects." He pauses. "If I could just get the technique to make it - and the ingredients, I've convinced that my medical knowledge could make some really, really good stuff.... and there is a shortage of good stuff on the outer rim." He pauses again.
"Not that I'd advocate the use of such intoxicants.. but Hey: I'm all for a free market and I'm all for making some money. After all, we could do alot of good with the money we make...." Then he says under his breath, ".. like get my family off Corellia."
Just then, Glitch sees something out of the corner of his eye. Imperial Stormtroopers are heading their way!!! He....
advantages interpreted by me as seeing the STs before they get too close. Glitch and the party has a free action. They are even far enough away that they can run and get away if they want.
Ok. Forgot that I need to roll for Destiny Points as well. Here goes:
Szara: 1 Dark Destiny Point
Glitch: 1 Dark Destiny Point
(not having Jaxon roll one)
This means that the GM can 'turn in' these dark destiny points to make stuff you do harder or to thwart your efforts. After I do this, it will change into a Light Destiny Point.
For example, let's say that Glitch draws his pistol on one of the STs and fires. I can use a destiny point (dark) and add a red dice to that attack, making it more difficult for Glitch. After that's over with, the point turns to Light and the PCs can then use it to make things /they/ do easier. Capiche?
Hopefully our characters will have an edgy side but not be completely bad or evil. Think more Han Solo with an edge but a heart of gold. Hey - we're in it for the money!!!
