Star Wars - A Shadow of Separatism

Republic War Room 1: Designing Session I

2009-05-21T12:29:00.003-04:00

Welcome to Republic War Room 1. The purpose of Republic War Room posts is to offer some insight into the behind the scenes aspects of the game, from what goes into designing and planning the sessions to why certain decisions are made. This first Republic War Room (henceforth RWR) deals with what went into designing session I for Star Wars: A Shadow of Separatism.

Session I was possibly the most important session to get right, as I knew it would set the tone for the rest of the run. The following sessions would soar or fall based on expectations created from this monumental night, and while the seeds of the game were planted in my mind long before I even began to plan for session I, I found myself nearly overwhelmed when faced with a solid start date for the game.

There were several key things that I knew my game needed in order to succeed in the mind of the players as well as my own. The first key was immersion. I wanted to strive to create as much immersion in the game for my players as I could, and this all had to start with session I if it was going to work. Amidst normal Gamemaster responsibilities like planning the flow of the session, plotting encounters, and designing enemy stats, I took on extra responsibilities that really pushed the limits of my time to prepare. As I said above, it is all about immersion, and I knew there was one key element of Star Wars that can instantly immerse someone in that universe, the sound effects.

This was an idea I got from the Star Wars audiobooks, which often include sound effects from Star Wars during the reading. For me, the best descriptive flair in the world can only at best match the feeling and image that comes from hearing iconic Star Wars sounds like a lightsaber strike or blaster fire. I found a program called RPGDeck that allowed for sound effects to be played easily with the press of a button, and also provided auto-looping for music tracks, and a nice fade in and out effect for switching tracks. I quickly got to work going through the Star Wars films and also the Clone Wars television show (which is a major inspiration for the game) to find all sorts of great sounds. From silly droid lines to starships and speeders, a great deal of time was spent cultivating the sounds that would immerse my players in the world of Star Wars.

The second key factor I knew I needed for the game was interest. I had to generate a large amount of interest in the session right up front at the beginning. This is seen all throughout Star Wars, most specifically at the very beginning of A New Hope, where we see the blockade runner fleeing from the large and menacing star destroyer. Many people say that at that exact moment they knew they were seeing something special and that their lives would be forever changed. I don't have any delusions about changing lives with a roleplaying game, but I knew nontheless that I needed to capture the players' interest right from the get go. I decided to lift the opening sequence format from the Clone Wars show, providing as close a mimic to it as I could.

I don't possess the ability to create actual CG animation, so I knew I would have to use static images from the internet (often heavily edited) and my very best imitation of the Star Wars editing style. I also practiced my best cheesey narrator voice for the openings, and then found the software to make it happen. The result was a quick summary that told the players in story format, exactly how, what, why, and where they were when they session began. "I have you now," I thought as I watched their reaction to the opening sequence I crafted.

The third key factor that I needed was balance and pace. Star Wars stories often have a perfect balance of action and intrique, story and conflict, and I knew my game had to mimic that in order to feel like Star Wars. I couldn't just continually throw encounters at my players in one generic room after another. Each major encounter needed some hook, some situation or complication or location that made it unique from any encounter before it. Additionally, I needed to provide room for the players to interact with one another and with the beings that inhabit the universe. Admittedly, I don't know that my initial session captured that so well, but balance and pace have nevertheless remained a constant focus while planning the game.

The last major detail I felt I needed for the first arc of my campaign was a character from Star Wars canon. I felt that including a character that my players all knew and had seen before in Star Wars would really help to drive home the fact that they are playing in the Star Wars universe. I tossed around a few ideas but ultimately decided that I needed to go with a villain, and I wanted an iconic villain. To me the most iconic and attention grabbing villain of the Clone Wars era is the menacing General Grievous. I knew he had to make an appearance in the first arc, and what an appearance he did make!

This was difficult for me to do, but I decided to kill a character in the ending of the first arc. I wanted to really send out the idea that the threats are real, danger does loom in the war, and their will be losses. Otta Versio's heroic stand against General Grievous is an act that has sent ripples through the game, both in theme and otherwise. How far will the characters be forced to go to defend their friends, family, and the Republic?

That concludes RWR 1. However, I want to end the post with something that could be useful for other Saga Edition Gamemasters. Below is the stat writeup that I did for the Kaleesh scout, the footsoldiers of the villianous Kaleesh tribe from the first Star Wars: SoS arc!

Kaleesh Scout

Medium Kaleesh nonheroic 3

Init: +2; Senses: Darkvision

Languages: Basic, Kaleesh

Defenses: Ref 11 (flat-footed: 10), Fort 12, Will 11 (16 vs mind-affecting effects)

HP: 14; Threshold: 12

Speed: 6 squares

Melee unarmed +4 (1d4+2) or

Melee shoni spear +4 (1d8+3) or

Melee shoni spear +9 (1d8+3) with acrobatic strike

Ranged shoni spear (thrown) +3 (1d8) or

Ranged blaster rifle +3 (3d8) or

Ranged blaster rifles -2 (3d8) with autofire

Base Attack: +2; Grapple: +4

Attack Options: autofire (blaster rifle)

Special Actions: Acrobatic Strike, Coordinated Attack

Abilities: Str 15 (+2), Dex 12 (+1), Con 15 (+2), Int 8 (-1), Wis 12 (+1), Cha 10 (+0)

Feats: Acrobatic Strike, Coordinated Attack, Skill Focus (Survival), Skill Training (Acrobatics), Weapon Proficiency (rifles, simple weapons)

Skills: Acrobatics +7, Survival +12

Possessions: blaster rifle, shoni spear

Session III

2009-05-21T11:34:00.006-04:00

The purple night sky of the Teth moon roars as if alive with thunder, as five Low Altitude Assault Transports swoop in and land on the moon’s surface. A company of Clone troopers spill out of the LAATs as soon as they hit the dusky rock, led by Clone Commander Fable. The clones quickly split up into squads, with Commander Fable and Jedi Commander Maziel each leading their own squads while Jinx and Maag work together to command a squad of their own. Battle erupts on the twilight moon as an army of Separatist droids engage the troopers as they attempt to make their way to the mining colony.

The whole moon seems to shake as a battery of LR1K Sonic Antipersonnel Cannons activate and begin to rain down waves of destruction on the clone troopers. Commander Fable urgently requests that the heroes bravely engage the cannons with their men and destroy them before the losses become too much to bear. Together, Jinx and Maag lead their troopers to the cannon’s location and manage to destroy them just in time. Offering sincere thanks, Commander Fable instructs the heroes to make their way into the mining facility while he and the rest of the Clone troopers provide a distraction on the surface. The heroes must locate the droid processor inside the facility and destroy it, freeing the planet from Separatist control!

Jinx, Maag, and Than enter the mining facility, finding themselves in a central room containing a large elevator and a computer terminal. While Maag works on slicing the terminal, the elevator door opens, revealing 3 squadrons of droids. They manage a befuddled, “Err, Intruders! Blast ‘em!” before Than focuses on the Force and sends a wave of power pulsing into the elevator. The droids ragdoll around the elevator, smashing each other to bits within a matter of moments! Just as suddenly, Maag has sliced the computer and gained access to vital information. The heroes now know that the droid processor is on Sublevel Four of the facility, and that the Confederacy of Independent Systems may have hired someone to oversee the whole operation. Intent on disabling the droid army before too many clone lives are lost, the heroes step into the elevator.

Malfunction! Suddenly the elevator is plummeting to certain doom. The Jedi reaches out with the Force once more, focusing and managing to slow the elevator’s treacherous descent. This gives Maag Arr’rey time to slice the elevator terminal, activating the emergency brakes and thwarting a deadly impact. She quickly determines the cause of the problem; the elevator had been tampered with by some insidious being, and she fixes it. The heroes enter Sublevel Four.

Sublevel Four is the main drilling area of the mining facility. The heroes find themselves on scaffolding, a massive drill directly in front of them, and a mineral conveyor belt to the left. Below on a small platform on the ground level is the droid processor! Immediately upon entering the room, however, the heroes come under fire from droid snipers positioned behind the minerals on the conveyor belt. Commander Jinx quickly comes up with a plan to destroy the processor: The heroes must activate the drill and use it to grind the processor to dust! Maag, calling upon her knowledge of mechanics, knows the steps necessary to activate the drill and gain control of it. She quickly makes her way to the drill maintenance hatch while Than Maziel begins to clear the way to the engine room! Meanwhile, Commander Jinx engages the droid snipers!

While the battle around the drill rages around them, Maag and Than are both successful in their tasks, powering on the drill and slicing the access codes to allow operation via the drill control panel. Clone Commander Jinx rushes to the mineral conveyor belt controls, activating the conveyor, effectively ending the surge of deadly droid snipers. Jinx quickly begins to make his way to the drill control terminal, but finds himself sneak attacked! Revealed from behind a durasteel crate, and tripping Commander Jinx in the process, is the dastardly Dug thug known as Sorn Draviss. With clammy purple-grey flesh, a weathered eye patch over his left eye, and matted black hair, the malevolent creature laughs smugly at the downed Clone. Sorn climbs atop Commander Jinx, drawing a vibrodagger and viciously attacking him!

Meanwhile, Than Maziel uses the Force to lift Maag Arr’rey and float her to the platform with the drill control terminal! Commander Jinx manages to cast off his attacker, just as the vicious thug quickly draws a blaster pistol. Jinx quickly rolls to the side, unleashing a torrent a blaster fire at Sorn. With nimbleness to match his wickedness, the Dug deftly tumbles clear of the energy bolts, firing a shot at Maag Arr’rey! The shot strikes true, badly injuring the Bothan. She grits her teeth, fighting through the pain as she activates the drill and sends it towards the droid processor. Knowing he is outnumbered and thwarted for now, the Dug leaps over the scaffolding to retreat, but not before taunting the Clone Commander. “We’ll finish this another time, rookie,” said the sordid Sorn with a gravelly voice. He disappears up the emergency escape tubes as the drill smashes down onto the droid processor, destroying it in a torrent of grinding durasteel!

Session II

2009-05-02T10:26:00.006-04:00

Taking some time to tend to wounds and rest after the daring rescue of Senator Bendon, Commander Jinx and Maag begin to plan yet another rescue on Kalee! As they plot, V'hkul, the Kaleesh native they rescued from the Separatist base, enters the ship and offers to help. He knows where the Kaleesh tribal leader is taking the Jedi ... an ancient temple deep within the Jungle. Knowing that the Kaleesh will be watching for their ship to leave, the heroes decide to travel to the temple on foot while clone pilot Heat takes the ship up into orbit, so as not to endanger the Senator.

In the jungle night, the heroes make their way to the Kaleesh temple, taking care to avoid the nearby Kaleesh scouting parties. It takes about three hours, but they arrive at the temple with little difficulty. The temple, a massive stone pyramid-like structure, looms 65 meters overhead, and seems to be completely unguarded. The heroes examine the two entrances, one a durasteel door, the other, a long trek up the stairway to the very top of the temple, and decide to make the journey to the top. Maag skillfully sneaks ahead of the group, scouting out the threats above. At the top of the temple appears to be a landing zone, and two large Kaleesh warriors. V'khul throws a rock to provide a distraction, while Maag sneaks to the door on the rooftop. Finding it unlocked, she enters quietly.

Now inside the temple, Maag Ar'rrey carefully creeps down the hall, coming to a large circular room. She takes a headcount of the five Kaleesh inside, and sneaks back down the hall and informs the other heroes via comlink. Clone Commander Jinx and V'khul make short work of the guards on the temple rooftop, and make their way to Maag. After taking a brief moment to assess the threat in the temple room, the heroes jump into action, surprising the Kaleesh. Set to full auto, Commander Jinx sprays blaster fire into the group of natives, instantly dropping three of the five. Stunned, the rest of the Kaleesh fumble for their weapons, but are easily defeated by the heroes.

The heroes continue to explore the temple, finding a Kaleesh trophy room in the process. Noting a skull warmask engraved with the name Qymaen jai Shaleel, which V'hkul identifies as the name of the Kaleesh who became General Grievous, the heroes find nothing else of value in the trophy room. They make their way up a flight of stairs, noticing a strange flux in the temple power as they near the durasteel door they lead to. Entering the door springs a deadly trap!

The durasteel door locks shut behind them, just as the stone panels above begin to shift. They have entered a a balcony area, overlooking a large arena pit. In the middle of the arena pit are the Jedi, bound in binder cuffs chained to quadarium pikes. Revealed from the shifting ceiling panels above are a group of blaster turrets, which take aim at the heroes and begin firing! The walls around the heroes begin to shift and move, revealing a flood of Kaleesh warriors. Outnumbered and in grave danger, it is Maag Ar'rrey who notices that one of the turret panels did not close, leaving access to the turret command console. She races over to it and plugs in her datapad, scrambling to slice the turret console. Commander Jinx joins her, provided much needed cover and suppressing fire. V'khul acrobatically tumbles and leaps down to the arena pit floor, firing his blaster rifle at the Than's binder cuffs. Off balance from the jump down, V'khul misses the cuffs. Reaching out to the Force, Than is able to deflect the blaster fire with the cuffs, avoiding a deadly shot and freeing himself. Than notices his and Otta's lightsabers on a viewing ledge above, and uses the Force once more to pull them to him. He quickly frees Otta, and together they leap back onto the balcony and join the other heroes in combat!

Under serious fire from the blaster turrets, Commander Jinx shouts for Maag to hurry. She slices the console with impressive skill, and issue a command to the turrets. The turrets stop firing at the heroes and instead redirect to their new targets, the Kaleesh! The tide of the battle turned, the heroes quickly find themselves safe once more, but it is short lived. The Kaleesh tribal leader, along with two brutish Kaleesh warriors, enters the arena room. With a lightning quick draw, he kills V'khul in an instant, pointing his pistol at Than as he threatens, "You will not escape this time." But he is proven wrong as Than and Otta work together, using their lightsabers to cut a hole in the locked durasteel door and escape!

The heroes use their comlink to notify Clone pilot Heat that they are heading to the temple roof for extraction. Arriving on the roof, the heroes find a ship in the landing zone, but it is not theirs. The bay door opens with a HISS, revealing the menacing General Grievous! Grievous steps off the ship and onto the stone floor, igniting two lightsabers as he cackles mechanically. "I had my doubts Jorequa would be able to keep you. Unfortunately, your little escape ends here." In the same stunning instant, Otta ignites her green lightsaber and leaps at the General just as Clone pilot Heat brings the ship around to the temple top. General Grievous easily deflects Otta's attack, and the two begin to battle fiercely. As the ship bay opens, Clone pilot Heat shouts over the com, "Quickly, you're gonna have to jump for it!" Blocking a vicious dual saber assault from Grievous, Otta turns her head and shouts, "Get on the ship! I will hold him off!" Her attention divided, she doesn't notice the deadly General ignite a third lightsaber. The third saber bites into her side, and she drops to one knee. "Go! Remember what I told you Padawan!" Grievous strikes at her again and again viciously, but she is somehow able to hold him off, but she won't last much longer.

Reluctantly, the heroes races for the edge of the temple and leap onto the ship. Just as the last person enters, Clone pilot Heat begins to take off into the night sky. Looking down at the temple, the heroes see Grievous finally break through Ott'a defense, severing her saber arm. She falls to her knees, and Grievous brings his saber to her neck just as the bay doors begin to close. The last sound heard is the mechanical laughter of General Grievous, as the ship breaks atmo and prepares to jump to lightspeed.

Arriving back at Coruscant, Senator Bendon is taken to the medical bay while Jinx, Maag, and Than are taken to a meeting room in the Senate Building. Greeted by Senators Bail Organa and Padme Amidala, as well as Jedi Master Yoda and Master Windu, they are offered a seat. After a short debriefing, the heroes are personally thanked by the assembled group for their service to the delegation, as well as to the Galactic Republic. They are informed that Senator Tendau Bendon will serve as their handler for future missions, infact he would like to speak with the heroes about their next mission later in the evening. Noticing Than's grief, Master Yoda addresses him. "Mourn not, young Padawan. One with the Force, she now is. Great valor and honor, has she. Foresee as much in all of you, we do."

Session I

2009-04-21T11:31:00.005-04:00

First, a brief introduction of the heroes of A Shadow of Separatism.

Maag Arr'rey - A crafty Bothan noble with many unique skills.

Clone Commander Jinx - A battle-hardened clone commander who has seen many Jedi die during the war.

Otta Versio - A Zabrak Jedi Knight who has just taken on a new Padawan.

Than Maziel - A Falleen Jedi who is Otta Versio's Padawan.

As the session opens, the heroes land on the Planet Kalee. Using the coordinates provided by the Bothan Spynet, the clone pilot informs them that the jungle is too dense around the Separatist base, and they will have to land further away than anticipated. Once they land and exit the ship, Otta Versio informs the other heroes that she will not be able to accompany them to the base, as she has her own mission to undertake from the Jedi Council. Otta says she will be back at the ship by nightfall, and quickly heads off on her mission. With a two hour hike to the base ahead of them, the heroes begin their journey.

Once they reach the base, the heroes begin to scout out the surroundings. The base is smaller than expected, and appears to only have two battle droids guarding the entrance. As the heroes plan their approach, a yellow droid Officer steps out of the base and begins to instruct the guard droids. As he returns to the base, they leave their post and begin to move some nearby durasteel crates from a clearing. The heroes use this opportunity to act, making short work of the distracted droids.

The heroes cautiously enter the base, with Jedi Padawan Than taking point. Than enters the base to find the droid Officer in the middle of a holocom conversation with General Grievous. "Do not let them escape! Must I do everything myself," snarls Grievous over the holocom. The droid Officer pushes a button on the command console and takes cover behind it. Several battle droids draw their blasters and fire at the heroes, but they are quickly dispatched, as is the droid Officer. However, as the action fades, the heroes hear the durasteel doors seal shut. The base is in lockdown!

Acting quickly, Maag plugs her datapad into the command console and begins to slice the computer. The security programs are no match for her slicing prowess, and after a few minutes time she not only has the doors unlocked, she has a map of the complex! The heroes discover that two rooms of the base house Geonosian Containment Fields. The heroes find that one field contains Senator Bendon, while the other holds a Kaleesh warrior. Than reaches out with the Force and communicates with the native, and once he realizes that the warrior is not hostile, Than releases him. At the same time Jinx and Maag release the Senator from the containment field. Unfortunately, Senator Bendon was injured during his abduction, and needs help to walk.

With the Senator and the Kaleesh warrior (who introduces himself as V'hkull) in tow, the heroes exit the base. They find themselves in a hail of blaster fire, ambushed by a returning droid STAP patrol. Even with the element of surprise on their side, however, the droids are quickly destroyed. Knowing they need to return to the ship with Senator Bendon as soon as possible, the heroes plan to use the STAPs. V'hkull, however, calls out into the jungle, and summons two large beasts called mumuus for the heroes to ride. With V'hkull, Senator Bendon, and Jinx on one mumuu, Maag rides her own mumuu while Than pilots a STAP. A daring chase through the jungle ensues as the heroes are pursued by droid STAP patrols in the area. During the chase clone commander Jinx is badly injured. The heroes manage to destroy the STAPs and return to the ship.

As they board the ship, the heroes find themselves surrounded by Kaleesh natives. The leader of the Kaleesh tribe steps forward and demands that the heroes surrender the Jedi Padawan. The tribe has already captured Otta, and plans to hand the two Jedi over to General Grievous as tribute for the aid provided to the planet by the InterGalactic Banking Clan following the Huk Wars. Outnumbered and left with no choice, Than is handed over to the natives, who take him off into the jungle night...