Those Stories About What Happened...

26 October 2015 | Hisham | | Humour, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

I might have overdone it with the "Those Stories About What Happened" meme adapted from the latest Star Wars The Force Awakens trailer, pertaining to West End Games' Star Wars The Roleplaying Game material. It probably what Han would tell these kids about the Galactic Civil War shenanigans as played by Star Wars D6 RPG players.

First, here is a general flavour of memories of role-playing games as a general, not just limited to Star Wars.

I don't think our group took a break to eat anything when we played

Then, there was that one time Sila stole Zardra's stun cloak during Tatooine Manhunt when she and Puggles Trodd launched an attack on her party when they were asleep.

Awesome map by Jennell Jacquays, btw

Disclaimer! I've never actually played Starfall:

I'd love to possess the Star Destroyer floor plans

Not to mention the exploits of the Black Curs team.

Adventure Journal characters represent

And finally, from Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments From The Rim, a gag written by a tabloid-esque news outlet in the Galaxywide Newsnet chapter of the book:

Galactic Weekly NewsStack FTW

Addendum (27/10/2015): Don't forget about the Rabid Mynock swoop gang!

Needs Wayne and his crew to save the day
 

Han Solo and the Princess and the Trailer

20 October 2015 | Hisham | | Star Wars
 

Everyone and their pet tauntaun has written something about the new Star Wars The Force Awakens trailer, so here I'll be regurgitating some thoughts about the musical score used for it:

Incom T-70 X-Wing Space Superiority Fighter

BUT FIRST, here's the trailer, released earlier today.

There are two familiar cues in the trailer, the Han Solo and the Princess cue and the Force theme.

BUT SECOND, a disclaimer: The Han Solo and the Princess theme is my favourite theme ever in Star Wars, and why I think Rebel Fleet - End Titles in The Empire Strikes Back is the best of all Star Wars end titles score, surpassing even Caravan of Courage.

Before the music go on to the full-blown new orchestration of the Han Solo and the Princess cue in the trailer, they play a four-note melody thrice. The first iteration was played on piano - the first notes being the one we hear when we see Rey's masked face during her Star Destroyer dungeon crawl. The second iteration is still on piano, but at a lower octave with some chord variations. The third iteration is played by strings.

These four notes are I believe variations of the basic four chords of Han Solo and the Princess itself, which is why it feels not just like a fantastic transition to the scene below, but an emotional one as well.

That - as well as Nien Nunb - was what gave me goosebumps. Well done, John Williams and the scoring team! I hope I will able to play this trailer music on the piano someday.

Where is Nien Nunb in this trailer? WHERE?
 

X-Wing: The Asteroid Gambit

07 October 2015 | Hisham | | Board and Card Games, Star Wars
 

Yesterday, Irfan and I finally started playing the X-Wing Miniature Game that was given to us by Darren when we last visited Kuala Lumpur. What Darren gave us was astoundingly lots, so many thanks to him for letting us have this trove.

We started with the basic game. Irfan controlled an Incom T-65 X-Wing fighter and I controlled two Sienar Fleet Systems TIE/ln fighters. His Pilot Card is Luke Skywalker, and mine were "Mauler" Mithel (apparently the father of Reljii Mithel) and Academy Pilot (a strange name to give your son, Mrs. Pilot). We did not carry Upgrade Cards, like astromech droids and proton torpedos.

Here's a picture of an X-Wing

The sculpts for these minis are amazingly detailed. One might even want to collect them because they look very nice indeed. I have seen the Corellian Corvette mini in a box back in KL some time ago and it looks fantastic. And still too expensive for me to pick up.

Here's another picture of an X-Wing and a TIE Fighter

The game is at its core elegant in its simplicity. Initiative, attack, defense, weapon damage, et al are numbers assigend to you on your pilot card. You manoeuvre your ship, then you attack if you are able to. Deciding your move requires a Manoeuvre Dial that you would turn to your choice of move, but you would reveal them from the lowest initiative so the higher initiative players would know what your move is. Moving your ship requires a Manoeuvre Template which would help you move anywhere between 1 to 5 spaces in Straights, Turns or Banks.

Attacking requires the roll of a number of red eight sided dice where you might hit with normal damage, hit with critical damage or "Focus". Defence requires the roll of a number of green eight-sided dice where you might evade or "Focus". A Focus token is used when you declare that the pilot will be Focused after its manoeuvre, which allows the pilot to able to turn any red or green die with a "focus" result to either a hit or an evade respectively.

Hits and Evades cancel each other out. Remaining Hits is the damage dealt out to the fighter being shot at. The X-Wing has Shield Points that has to be depleted by attacks before you start to affect its Hull Points. Deplete a ship's Hull Points and it gets destroyed.

Here's another picture of two TIE fighters

So we used the old West End Games' Star Warriors battlemat, which looks kind of busy and distracting but it is less busy and distracting (and far less embarassing) than our linoleum. Asteroid tokens were scattered all over board as obstacles. We just chased each other around the board for a bit. I attempted to outflank him with my two TIEs, but it was much more difficult that I thought it would be.

Here's yet another picture!

Irfan scored some hits with his Taim & Bak KX-9 wingtip cannons on Mithel's TIE early on. One more point of damage inflicted, and Mithel would be all like, "LOOK OUT!" and smash into the Death Star trench wall asteroid. Above, both TIEs had finally gotten the upper hand and flanked Luke, but all my attack rolls were embarassingly bad, like the linoleum. For some reason, although he had higher initiave, he was unable to put the TIEs into his field of fire. He was not able to shoot.

In case you need another picture...

This allowed my TIEs to let loose with their green cannon bolts, which eventually hit a lucky break and depleted Luke's Shield Points and some Hull Points. Ultimately, Luke and Mithel had the same damage result - one more damage would destroy either - but in the end it was Academy Pilot's attack that took out the X-Wing.

The gameplay was quite enjoyable. I even used a soundboard for the relevant sound effects whenever we fire and things explode. We hope to play with more Upgrade Cards and maybe use the Millennium Falcon and the Slave One next time.

 

We're Not The Droids You're Looking For

03 September 2015 | Hisham | | Family Pics, Star Wars
 

Irfan got a present from his aunt last weekend when two aunts visited. He got this great t-shirt filled with droids. There's everything from the demolitions droid, some astromech droids, battle droids, a power droid to protocol droids. But there is no Bollux and Blue Max, sadly.

And there's no Great Heep on it...

So I too wore a t-shirt with a droid on it and took a photo of us. So we would have a photo. Of both of us wearing t-shirts. Of droids.

 

Strikeforce Enteague The Movie?

16 August 2015 | Hisham | | Humour, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Once upon a time, Shanna Toarinar the bounty hunter stole a captured A-Wing Fighter from the Empire. Soon after, she was recruited to be the first member of the Strikeforce Enteague. Thus begins the Star Wars RPG campaign - using West End Games's D6 system - that lasted for 10 years in real time as well as game time.

Today Lucasfilm released a cast photo of their new Star Wars film: Strikeforce Enteague the Movie*. With Felicity Jones as Shanna Toarinar, Diego Luna as Ace Browning Crossfire and Donnie Yen as Ben-One-Howel. Download the Worlds of the Enteague Sector D6 pdf supplement that I made here!

Totally a point buy group, not random chargen

* Sigh. I wish. Sigh. But seriously, doesn't the Rogue One cast photo looks like someone's Star Wars D6 (or an Age of Rebellion) rebel commando party? Sigh**.

**Siiigh!!!

(Just in case this needs to be said: Yes, that is a promotional photo from Rogue One with names of characters from my own RPG campaign. No, there is no and will never be a Strikeforce Enteague film. Probably. Maybe.)

 

Brett's Star Wars RPG Group

03 August 2015 | Hisham | | Artwork, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Recently, Brett Pisinski of Wicked North Games commissioned a group artwork of the adventuring party for his Star Wars Rebels D6 RPG campaign. Here is the final illustration:

Includes an R5 astromech and a Loth-cat

(L-R): Kurshk Sho'kre human cyborg from Alderaan, Liakan the Wookiee mercenary, Voss Dorn the Kel Dor former-Jedi and Suna Foss the Togruta cargo hauler captain.

 

Lords of Nal Hutta

05 May 2015 | Hisham | | Books, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

One of the gifts given to me by Kai and the Gamers of KL crew on our trip back to Kuala Lumpur was Lords of Nal Hutta, the recently-released sourcebook for Hutts and Hutt Space for Star Wars Edge of the Empire roleplaying game by Fantasy Flight Games. Bonus: it was co-written by Gary Astleford.

I Visited Hutt Space And All I Got Was A Sha'rellian Toop Infestation

It would certainly help my gamemaster (GM) the campaign I ran for GOKL, entitled "Modesty Blazing", because we were about to meet Sassatania the Hutt, Zeltron pilot Darter Kel's former fling and daughter of Teemo the Hutt.

An illustration of Sassatania can be found in this blog post. Coincidentally, several locations described in the book had been featured in two different Star Wars D6 campaigns I ran for GOKL. (Well, one campaign and one one-shot session.) 

Weequays are teh awesome

Sriluur of course showed up in A Bad Example in the Spacelanes campaign which was never finished.

And I first ran a session with Kwenn in Tatooine Manhunt back in 1989

Kwenn Station was where the player characters started in The Rancid Putrefaction of a Cosmic Caterwauling Cabal one-shot game.

So many other features in this book, from a list of Hutt kajidics, vehicles, weapons and Hutt Space systems from Kintan to Toydaria, that I will try to include in future Edge of the Empire games I run.

Especially ones that lead the players into wretched hives of scum and villainy.

 

Finn the Human Stormtrooper

23 April 2015 | Hisham | | Artwork, Star Wars
 

The latest Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser dropped last week at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2015. The internet exploded.

Meanwhile, I drew John Boyega as Finn, from the trailer.

And Kylo Ren as Kybo Ren as the Ice King

Updated with BB-8 as B-MO!

 

EOTE Tabletop Day Episode: Together Again For The First Time

11 April 2015 | Hisham | | Edged By The Empire, RPG Actual Play, RPG Irfan Plays, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Edged by the Empire

Episode 10 Together Again For The First Time

Previously on Edged by the Empire...

It was International Tabletop Day again, and like last year we played Star Wars Edge of the Empire again. However we played not on a table, but on the floor.With the 15 XP carried over from the previous session, Irfan bought the Grit talent for his smuggler character Hondo Pash, increasing his Strain. The finale for the campaign that started on January 2013 with Escape from Mos Shuuta begins...

Completely edged by the Galactic Empire.

One Man Revolution

Radiation and stellar gases swamped the Shadda-Bi-Boran system from its primary star. A squadron of five Star Destroyers aided by numerous smaller corvettes and tenders manoeuvred themselves to surround a three-klick wide asteroid that sheltered a secret Imperial base that belonged to Admiral Keargan Kanu.

As the cordon closed in on the flat lump of rock, Admiral Kanu was surrounded by his newly-reunited family, from his estranged wife Doro Pash, their 21-year-old son the young smuggler pilot Hondo Pash and their 9-year-old daughter Yuzy Pash. The two astromech droids R2-8D8 and R5-K2 slid down the ramp of the YT-1300 light freighter Lava Jaeger, screaming their warning of the incoming Imperial fleet.

They kinda look flat

The paper miniatures ready for action at Shadda-Bi-Boran

Writhing in pain at their feet was Hondo's armoured and heavily robed shipmate and gunslinger Giin Lawquane. It was Giin who had called the Imperial fleet into the system to ambush them. Suddenly, Giin stopped screaming and fell unconscious. Kanu dismissed his troops who saluted the Admiral and hurried to the elevator of the main hangar bay. Two remained: a pair of black-armored storm commandos who immediately flanked the Admiral as guards, whom were introduced as Lieutenants Kildruun and Gundeep.

The Imperial fleet was preventing them from leaving and returning to Admiral Kanu's safeworld, where he kept the family of his staff and troops safe and before they planned to vanish into the Outer Rim away from the Empire's grasp.

Meanwhile, the large tactical hologram above them showed that shuttles and small transports were launching out from smaller bays on the asteroid base. Turbolaser cannons from the Star Destroyers fired on the small, fleeing fleet. A shuttle and a freighter were shredded into superheated debris before the surviving ships jumped to hyperspace.

No! I am your father!

Admiral Keargan Kanu turned to Hondo...

...and gave him one of the metal alloy cylinders from his jacket pocket. He said, "Take this rank cylinder. You would be able to access any computer and open any doors in this base with it."

 

EOTE: Adversity of the Unexpected

01 January 2015 | Hisham | | Edged By The Empire, RPG Actual Play, RPG Irfan Plays, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Edged by the Empire

Episode 09 Adversity of the Unexpected

Previously on Edged by the Empire...

Never tell me the odds?

It's the first of January. Irfan didn't spend any of his 15 XP. He rolled up three Light Side Destiny Points, and triggered no Obligations with 99 on the percentile dice.

Ticket to Ride

A pair of grey Aratech 74-Z speeder bikes - modified to have no flight ceiling - flew westward from the city of Shoribus, the capital city of Kabal in the Mayagil Sector, on a personal mission. Smuggler Hondo Pash's sister Yuzy and mother Doro were abducted by his father, whom he recently learned was an Imperial Admiral named Keargan Kanu. To retrieve them, he would have to find Admiral Kanu. The only clue as to where Kanu might be is his secret weapon cache located upon the vast Skolaris Cliff.

As they passed over thick swamps with winding rivers and the occasional gargantuan trees that towered over everything else, Giin Lawquane, the armored mercenary and security officer in the other speeder spoke via his helmet comlink, "Bothth. What if Yuzy doethn't want to come back with uth?"

"I don't know what I'll do, Giin."

"You know. It'th been a while thinthe I conthidered anyone to be friendth. In fact, it'th been ten yearth thinthe I let anyone near enough for me to call them a friend. Hondo, I conthider you, my friend."

"Thanks."

Two more 74-Z speeder bikes. painted dark red and piloted by droids, flew up from the swamp canopy in pursuit. The first droid fired his mounted blaster, but missed. This, of course, captured Hondo and Giin's attention.

Giin said, "You thee, bothth, I only do thingth like thith for my friendth." And he veered to the left then to the right, trying to skew the droid's concentration. Hondo's DL-17 blaster pistol was in his hand as he spun and fired. A red bolt struck one of the droid's arm which jerked down, pulling the handlebars downward. The droid's speeder dropped down and rammed into a large monolithic tree.

The remaining droid was unperturbed by Giin's riding and fired at Hondo and scoring a glancing blow. Hondo, still in control of his superficially damaged vehicle, aimed and blasted at his attacker. The droid's chest erupted in a miasma of sparks and smoke, but he hung on to his speeder.

That's a lot of blast for a blaster.

The BlasTech EE-3 boomstick is a glorious boomstick.

Suddenly, Giin braked and came alongside the injured droid, his EE-3 blaster rifle unslung. The droid, still shaken by the blast, reacted too late. The point blank shot disintegrated the droid, a beat-up Z-X3, he noticed, and the riderless speeder spiraled down and crashed into a wide river beneath them.

The two sped on wondering why they were attacked.

 

EOTE: On the Trail of Dad

31 December 2014 | Hisham | | Edged By The Empire, RPG Actual Play, RPG Irfan Plays, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Edged by the Empire

Episode 08 On The Trail of Dad

Previously on Edged by the Empire...

Irfan had 35 XPs, so he blew it on a couple of more Talents, namely a second Skilled Jockey, a second Galaxy Mapper and Improved Dead to Rights. He was free of any Obligations for this episode after rolling an 81. (His Obligation: Family is 30 and Giin's Obligation: Bounty is 20). Finally the Destiny pool was 2 light side and one dark side.

First RPG session in Perlis!

We still don't really have a table for a tabletop game so we play on our moving boxes.

On his homewold of Blue Nirvada, the young smuggler Hondo Pash, the captain of the Lava Jaeger has discovered that both his parents, long thought to be dead, were still alive and appeared to be mortal enemies. His mother was Doro Pash and his father, the Imperial Admiral Keargan Kanu. Upon Hondo and his armoured mercenary guard Giin Lawquane rescuing his aunt Zosy Pash from Imperial agents, Zosy revealed that it was a trap to capture Hondo. However, when the trap was sprung, Admiral Kanu captured Hondo's 9-year-old sister Yuzy instead, making the jump to lightspeed in a Lambda-class shuttle in space...

Snow swept through and over a black caldera - known as Obsidian Island - that formed a ring-like atoll on the glistening icy, white plain surrounding it as far as the eye could see and the blizzard would allow to see.

Three figures walked through the snow in the open streets of the city in the inner rim of the caldera. Hondo, Giin and Aunt Zosy headed for the Lava Jaeger after admitting local Trandoshan police officer Klikwask - who was badly injured during Zosy's rescue - in a bacta tank at the public infirmary.

"What do we do bothth?" Giin's eeriely modulated voice said through his full helmet.

"We have to find Yuzy."

"How, bothth?"

"I'm going to track Yuzy's comlink."

 

Star Wars Rebels Experience

24 November 2014 | Hisham | | Family Pics, Star Wars, TV
 

Mid Valley Megamall held a Star Wars Rebels Experience exhibition last Sunday, commemorating the debut of the series on local TV.

I didn't think I was going to make the exhibition because college assignments had to be submitted by midnight. I had one more to complete and submit. But when it was announced that the deadline was pushed back 2 days, we headed for Mid Valley at Point Five beyond lightspeed.

I wonder if the MFTAS is to scale as well.

I saw the big helmet at the South Court all the way from the Centre Court. Irfan poses before it for posterity's sake.

Stormtrooper on the prowl

The Five-Oh-First was on site to ensure no rebel agents disrupt the proceedings.

The Inquisitorious also do mall appearances

The Pau'an Inquisitor was also around being all Lucius Malfoy-ish.

 

EOTE: I Was Young When I Left Home

30 October 2014 | Hisham | | Edged By The Empire, RPG Actual Play, RPG Irfan Plays, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Edged by the Empire

Episode 07 I Was Young When I Left Home

Previously on Edged by the Empire...

Irfan did not use any of his 15 XP to upgrade his character Hondo Pash. He rolled Destiny Points for the PC and the two main NPCs, who are basically auxiliary PCs anyway.

Blowin' In The Wind

Recently departed from the port of Silverlake in the Naboo system, the Lava Jaeger flew into Blue Nirvada's atmosphere, a frozen ocean world orbiting a blue dwarf star in the Tarabba Sector.

However, there was a vicious snowstorm along their flight path toward Obsidian Island, the hometown of Captain Hondo Pash and his 9-year-old sister Yuzy Pash where they grew up. The armoured mercenary gunslinger Giin Lawquane in the co-pilot seat with the BlasTech EE-3 blaster rifle slung on his back asked, "Do we wait it out?"

Hondo took a second to ruminate, then decided, "Let's go in." The YT-1300 light freighter plunged into the maelstrom of ice and snow. Buffetted by incredible bursts of wind, Giin was thrown off the co-pilot station. Astromech R2-8D8 rushed to help with the controls, but a tremendous downdraft slammed down hard onto the Lava Jaeger. Hondo was unable to control the ship which then crashed into the snow-swept ice fields beneath. The ship skidded on the plains.

Giin Lawquane is floored.

Artoo beeped a warning: They were skidding at high speed towards a large patch of rock that rose above the ice field. Hondo fired the ship thrusters to bring the ship to a stop before they crashed into it. Damaged, they decided to wait out the storm. Yuzy served everyone meiloorun-flavoured ice cream.

 

Mos Eisley Shoot-Out

23 September 2014 | Hisham | | Board and Card Games, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Peter Schweighofer, who was a writer and editor at West End Games back in the '90s and the editor-in-chief of their Star Wars Adventure Journal periodical, sent a couple of rare gaming memorabilia to me which I received earlier this month.

The first was the Mos Eisley Shoot-Out miniature game.

The stuff even came enclosed in an ENVELOPE!

The game is a simple boardgame that came with a paper foldout grid map of the streets of Mos Eisley and cutout miniatures of characters you could play in the environment. The rules were a simplified version of West End Games' Star Wars The Roleplaying Game combat rules. It was also marketing material that cleverly generates excitement for the RPG itself.  

Maps and figures!

I don't think I'll be clipping out the paper figures out of the document. And not just because I have other paper minis that I could use for the purpose. I'm uncertain, but the map looks to be a segment of Jennell Jaquays' amazing full-colour foldout map that came with the Tatooine Manhunt module, which I once ran early during the Strikeforce Enteague Star Wars D6 campaign.

Retroactively introducing Thrawn to the Galactic Empire

Finally, Peter also included a promo card of the splash page artwork illustrated by Doug Shuler that accompanied the short story Mist Encounter written by Timothy Zahn in Star Wars Adventure Journal #6. The photograph above places the card alongside its printed page counterpart in the book!

Peter is currently a freelance writer who produces excellent gaming sourcebooks like Pulp Egypt for the Any-System Key. Thanks for letting me have a piece of Star Wars RPG history, Peter!

 

EOTE: Family Obligations

15 September 2014 | Hisham | | Edged By The Empire, RPG Actual Play, RPG Irfan Plays, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Edged by the Empire

Episode 06 Family Obligations

Previously on Edged by the Empire...

Music by Kevin Kiner

Obligatory opening crawl!

Before the game began, no Obligations were triggered. As before, even if there was only one player, I considered all three main characters as player characters so three Force Dice were rolled, resulting in a Destiny Pool of 3 Light Side Points and 1 Dark Side Points. Irfan finally did some character advancements with the 60XPs he had been saving up, purchasing the Dead to Rights Talent and upgrading skills like Melee, Piloting (Space), Gunnery and Stealth.

The YT-1300 light freighter Lava Jaeger and her crew, Captain Hondo Pash, his kid sister Yuzy Pash, their armoured hired gunslinger Giin Lawquane and the astromech droids R2-8B8 and R5-K2 arrived at Naboo where Imperial Star Destroyer Obdurate was patrolling. Hondo informed them of their cargo of computer parts from Christophsis bound for Silverlake a port city on Naboo.

As they approach the lakeside city after a pair of Z-95 Headhunters fly past their freighter and ignoring them, the weapons lock klaxon blared. Giin - stationed at the top turret - said over the comlink, "What ith going on?" A missile was streaking toward them from the city outskirts. Hondo told him, "Hold on!"

Grinning at a missed missile

After spending one Preparation maneuver, Hondo's Piloting (Space) roll succeeds with a Triumph as net results show!

The Lava Jaeger jinked, the missile missed and Giin (with an extra Boost dice from of the Triumph) blasted the missile out of the Naboo skies.

 

EOTE: The Azurite City Requiem

14 September 2014 | Hisham | | GOKL Actual Play, Modesty Blazing, RPG Actual Play, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Modesty Blazing

Episode 05: The Azurite City Requiem

In this game I thought I could finish this arc of the campaign in the second session. I failed.

Previously on Modesty Blazing...

Hello and Goodbye

Destiny Pool, not the kiddie pool

Uh oh. How many Dark Side Points?

As explosions wrecked the peaceful evening at Azurite City, the team began to regroup.

The Duros spy Vendrik told them that he had received an encrypted communique via the public channels. It was a code phrase ordering him to leave the planet. The team started to object. They would need his help if things went bad. Vendrik said, "I can't get involved now when the Empire appear to be using underhanded tactics to take over the system. They really want this system. If they knew that the Rebel Alliance is involved with their opposition, they'll call for a Base Delta Zero orbital bombardment killing everyone and everything on the surface of Ghyel. I know because I've seen them do it before on another world."

They said their goodbyes. Nora Romanova would help escort the Duros spy offworld.

Their vehicles wrecked, Zeltron Darter Kel, Trianii Qillian Ryn, Trandoshan John Tray'Essek and the droid VAX-11/750 jogged back towards their headquarters at the Ghyel Ministry of History and Archaeology.

Dark Skies over Azurite

The skies were dark, but seemed darker for the dozens of Lambda-class shuttles being regurgitated by the Imperator-class Star Destroyer hanging above Azurite City. They could be seen flitting between city buildings and were landing at every other open space in the city.

Darter called their employer, the 14-year-old Ghyel prince Zalo Hai whom they had rescued from a three hundred year carbonite slumber in an abandoned remote outpost. Darter reported their findings of the death of Councilman Drazi, the alliance Councilman Zirrus had with an Imperial officer, the homing beacon tagged on a saboteur's airspeeder and apparent Imperial political destabilisation tactics.

"We have to acquire evidence to present to the Council," said Prince Zalo. Suddenly he burst out, "They're here! An Imperial shuttle has landed. Troops are coming. You have to go to-" And then he was cut off. The team considered heading for the Ministry to rescue Prince Zalo, but it would take too long for them to reach it without a speeder.

 

EOTE: An Ode to Backwater Politics

17 August 2014 | Hisham | | GOKL Actual Play, Modesty Blazing, RPG Actual Play, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Modesty Blazing

Episode 04: An Ode to Backwater Politics

After saving the life of the long-frozen PRINCE ZALO HAI
of the GHYEL system, the crew of the MODESTY BLAZE has found themselves
contracted by Prince Zalo's descendant LORD ARANI HAI, a Ghyel loyalist.

The GALACTIC EMPIRE, unsatisfied with Ghyel providing raw materials
and manufactured goods to them, has bolstered an Imperialist faction
against the Hais' loyalists with Ghyel as their endgame.

Meanwhile, as the Prince is reintroduced to his people,
DARTER KEL, QILLIAN RYN and VAX-11/750 await the return of
JOHN TRAY'ESSEK and NORA ROMANOVA back into to their fold
at AZURITE CITY SPACEPORT...

It's been awhile since I gamemastered six players in a political intrigue session. Political intrigue is hard. More so when you don't gamemaster the campaign that often. So let's get down to it!

Previously on Modesty Blazing...

"Okay! Multiple DOUBLE Light Side points in the Destiny Pool. Game over. Everyone go home."

A Gozanti cruiser modified to be an unarmed commercial passenger liner manoeuvred herself for landing at the spaceport at Azurite City on the planet Ghyel.

In the passenger cabin of the ship, reptilian Trandoshan hired gun/marauder John Tray'Essek sat beside his blond teammate smuggler/scoundrel Nora Romanova who had just finished her scouting contract in Wild Space and was returning to rendezvous with the crew of the YT-1300 light freighter Modesty Blaze who had set up a temporary base of operations on Ghyel. Unbeknownst to them, in the seat behind them was a Duros known as Vendrik who was listening in to their conversation, learning about the Modesty Blaze crew's contract job attached to the Ministry of History and Archaeology under Prince Zalo Hai in Azurite City.

Waiting for them on the platform below were the Zeltron smuggler/pilot Darter Kel, Trianii bounty hunter/assassin Qillian Ryn and the laconic droid technician/slicer VAX-11/750. They looked at the approaching cruiser. They gazed at the blue morning skies, the white clouds above and the contrail of a rocket which was streaking toward the landing ship! Darter thumbed his comlink on and barked, "Missile incoming. We can't take it out. If you can do something, do it now!"

The perceptive Vendrik heard the call from Tray'Essek's hand comlink. It startled him to know that the pair seated in front of him had immediate intelligence on an incoming missile. Vendrik tightened his seat belt. Nora leapt over Tray and sprinted up the aisle past startled attendant droids (with a successful Athletics roll). She lunged into the cockpit and tried to wrestle the control stick from one of the two astonished pilots. (Brawl check: Success with one Threat.)

The Gozanti veered to the left. The missile grazed the underside of the ship's port engine pylon and exploded. The vessel lost its repulsors and suddenly slammed into the ground kicking up a gigantic plume of dust and debris into the air. The port engine had snapped off and was spiralling away.

The insurance company is going to have a cow, man

"Ferra Sector Lines"

Darter and Qillian were aghast! Had their teammates just been killed by a rocket attack? They must be avenged! Leaving VAX to check on the crash site, Darter and Qillian ran for their Ministry-assigned Seraph-class "Flash" landspeeder, leapt onto the seats and rocketed out into the streets trying to determine the source of the rocket fire.

Because the ship fell only about 200 meters and the acceleration compensators were still active, most of the passengers were unharmed. The befuddled and dazed pilots tried to arrest Nora, but she charmed her way past them. Then Tray and her jettisoned the emergency hatch and jumped onto the tarmac unharmed thanks to the emergency gravity field activated outside the hatch upon a crash. All the other passengers, including Vendrik, followed suit and soon everyone was walking out into the debris and dust as police and rescue speeders arrived on the scene.

Vendrik introduced himself to Nora and Tray, then invited them both for a drink at the nearby spaceport cantina.

 

Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook

09 August 2014 | Hisham | | Books, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

After almost a month waiting, the Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook from Fantasy Flight Games finally arrived. I went to the Pudu post office to pick it up right after a meeting elsewhere in Kuala Lumpur. The Edge of the Empire rulebook allowed us to play in fringe campaigns as smugglers, mercenaries, bounty hunters and the like. Age of Rebellion (below right) allows us to play as members of the Rebel Alliance in their struggle to topple the tyrannical Galactic Empire.

In Edge of the Empire your character has Obligation that would help or hinder the player in a Fringe campaign in terms of how he acts in it and how he is able to acquire resources. In Age of Rebellion, Obligation is replaced with Duty which helps freedom fighters to define why they are in the fight against Imperial forces. Obligation and Duty are compatible with each other, allowing characters from Edge of the Empire to be able to appear in an Age of Rebellion campaign.

Also, this book cover stole the laptop's wallpaper.

Careers you are able to play are Ace, Commander, Diplomat, Engineer, Soldier and Spy, each with three Specialisations. You're also able to mix and match Specialsations (even from Edge of the Empire Careers) to personalise your character.

Check out the new artwork for SpecForce Infiltrators. They look almost exactly like the ones on the cover of Rules of Engagement by West End Games from many years ago!

Here are some familiar starships for you to crash or crash into. Newer ships includes the Gozanti transport and the Consular-class Cruiser. Even Jeff's Corellian YV-969 armed freighter design makes an appearance in the ships section.

The Perlemian Haul, the introductory adventure ready to run for players and written by Gary looks intriguing with lots of plot hooks and ideas. I love the dapper Trandoshan Passk illustrated by Christopher Burdett there a concept resembling the dapper Gamorrean I once drew for Gary.

Finally a big thanks to Ryan for helping with the purchase of the book. I'd never be able to acquire it without his help. And for his help - for eldritch reasons - his own infamous player character Asok Yeesrim appears in the book

Can't wait to give this book a spin!

 

Santhe Security Space Trooper

26 July 2014 | Hisham | | Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Once upon a time I designed and drew a Santhe Security Space Trooper just in case any Star Wars RPG game master would like to run a corporate shenanigans campaign involving a Santhe Corporation or Santhe Security.

Taking a look at it recently I thought that it looked like balls:

Looks real bad.
 

So I thought I'd whip up a new one.

Santhe-Sienar Corp shenanigans?
 

Tendaar in Disguise

25 July 2014 | Hisham | | Artwork, Role Playing Games, Star Wars
 

Last week, Tendaar the Mon Calamari (from the Age of Rebellion Beginner Box) played by Ivan snuck into Whisper Base wearing an awesome disguise.

I wasn't able to participate in the session but Ivan commissioned an artwork of the pregenerated character in his new disguise. I thought the helmet sells the disguise very well.

The original Fantasy Flight Games Tendaar artwork by Mike Nash can be seen here.

There goes Whisper Base...