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Star Wars d20 - Signal Interruption

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Page 1: Star Wars d20 - Signal Interruption

1 SIGNAL INTERRUPTION

A new Star Wars adventure game scenario !For use with the Dark Side Sourcebook

B Y J E S S E D E C K E RI L L U S T R A T E D B Y A D A M H U G H E S

ignal Interruption takes place onNaboo during the events described inthe first part of The Phantom Menace.

When the Trade Federation decided toinvade Naboo and take it by force of arms,its first step was to cut off Naboo’s commu-nications and sensor systems. Part of thatplan involved some covert operationsbefore the actual invasion against a few ofNaboo’s sensor arrays. This adventuredetails a raid by a group of free agents (theheroes) against a small sensor array nearthe city of Kwilaan. Since the Trade Federa-tion has not yet decided to invade Naboo, itdares not use its own forces, thus maintain-ing the ability to deny any involvement inthe raid, should something go wrong.

This short adventure is designed to intro-duce beginning players and GMs to some ofthe exciting concepts found in the new DarkSide Sourcebook by Bill Slavicsek and JDWiker. You don’t have to have the Dark SideSourcebook to play, but the guidelines inthat book will prove helpful in running thisscenario. Because this adventure takes placeon Naboo, the additional source material inthe Secrets of Naboo campaign pack by

Steve Miller also might come in handy.Finally, Signal Interruption uses the rules,maps, and characters found in the Star WarsInvasion of Theed Adventure Game, so you’llneed the adventure game to play.

IntroductionSignal Interruption details three encoun-ters: a meeting with the Trade Federationagent, a brief fight with Naboo securityforces, and the battle at the communica-tions array. This scenario uses the rules,maps, and characters found in the StarWars Invasion of Theed Adventure Game.Gather together the rulebook, dice, maps,and the punch-out tokens to represent theheroes and villains in this adventure. (Youshould set aside the Naboo Citizen, PalaceGuard, Thug, and Merc tokens, as well asthe Door, Wall, and hero tokens.) Next,download and print out this adventure’smaps; you’ll have to tile together Map 2along the rule lines provided.

Playing With the Core RulebookIf you’re an experienced player or GM, youcan use this adventure with Star Wars Role-

playing Game rules. Allow the players tocreate 1st-level heroes, and replace the GMcharacters as follows:• Replace the Naboo security forces in

Encounter 2 with an equal number ofThug 2 characters from page 277 of thecore rulebook.

• Replace the soldiers guarding the com-munications array in Encounter 3 withan equal number of Thug 2 characters.

• Replace the technicians in Encounter 3with Expert 4 characters from page 269of the core rulebook.

• Replace the Expert’s Knowledge (medi-cine) and Knowledge (physiology) withRepair and Knowledge (physics).

S

Additional Credits» Editing and Web Production:

Sue Weinlein Cook»Web Development: Thom Beckman» Cartography: Todd Gamble» Art Direction: Sean Glenn»Graphic Design: Kyle Hunter» Lucas Licensing: Leland Chee» Creative Director: Thomas M. Reid

Signal Interruption

W E B E X C L U S I V E !

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Before you begin play, choose who will bethe Gamemaster — the person who presentsthe adventure to the players.The material inthis adventure is for the Gamemaster only. Itexplains all the details about the opponentsthe heroes will face and the secrets theymust discover.Then the other players allchoose characters. You can use the heroesfrom the Star Wars Invasion of Theed Adven-ture Game with very few changes.

If a question comes up that isn’t coveredin the rules or the adventure text, just makeyour own decision about it and continue.The trick is to have fun; don’t get boggeddown in the rules. Keep the adventure mov-ing, be fair, and enjoy yourselves.

Dark Side CharactersChapter 2 of he Dark Side Sourcebook con-tains information helpful to Gamemastersportraying villains in heroic campaigns. Italso provides advice for players who seetheir heroes as being on their way to thedark side — or already there. The followingencounter descriptions assume a heroicgroup of characters whose sympathies liewith the Naboo. Notes following each sec-tion detail a few ideas for incorporatingdark side characters.

Encounter 1: This Is Only A TestAs the adventure begins, the heroes haveagreed to meet with Raymas Daal, a small-time Human criminal who recently has madeit big.Word on the street is that he has apowerful new backer with lots of money tothrow around. Although Raymas’s motivesaren’t always pure, he pays well, he has a rep-utation for being reliable, and the heroes areshort on funds.The meeting takes place at asmall restaurant in the city of Kwilaan.

When the heroes get to the restaurant,they notice that Raymas has not yet arrived.Read or paraphrase the following text tothe players to begin the encounter:

Raymas offers the heroes a simple deal:8,000 credits split between them to tem-

porarily deactivate a Naboo sensor array.Although he’s working for the Trade Federa-tion, Raymas never lets on that he’s runningmore than a simple smuggling operation. Inreality, the Trade Federation wants the arrayinoperable for a few hours to make surethat their jamming satellites get into placeundetected, but Raymas claims that he justwants to get an important shipment of rarespices past the array. Less tax, Raymas sayswith a smile, equals more profit.

The heroes should have questions likewhere, when, and how the raid will takeplace. Raymas needs the raid to occur anytime during the next night. He explains thathe’ll be able to detect when the heroes havedeactivated the array, at which point he’llland his ship in the city. He also can describethe layout and security forces in Encounter 3.

If the heroes seem reluctant to take theassignment, Raymas can sweeten the deal,taking the final offer up to 10,000 credits,but he won’t go higher than that. Once theheroes have finished negotiations, proceedto Encounter 2.

Dark Side CharactersHeroes tempted by the dark side will havelittle trouble deciding to accept the assign-ment — it shouldn’t take long, and the payis good.

Encounter 2: Do Not Attempt to Adjust Your ScreenJust when the heroes start running out ofquestions, the conversation comes to anabrupt halt. As he suspected, Raymas was fol-lowed to the meeting.The security operativestrailing him have no idea who the heroes are,but they suspect that Raymas is working forthe Trade Federation and decide to take himin for questioning.The operatives are all plain-clothes members of the Naboo securityforces, but in this encounter, their lack of auniform probably will work against them. Asthe conversation with Raymas winds down,read or paraphrase the following text:

Combat Set UpDoor pieces from the Invasion of Theedboxed set as shown on Map 1 on the nextpage. The heroes can start anywhere withinthe area labeled “Start Here.”The threethug tokens represent the Naboo securityforces, and the one merc figure representsRaymas. Raymas starts at the edge of themap and moves off it on his first action,effectively removing himself from the com-bat. Use the stat block below to representeach of the Naboo guards.

Naboo Security Forces (3)Level 1; Initiative 10; Vitality Points: 0;Wound Points: 10; Speed: 5 spaces; Defense:14; Attack: 1d20+3 (blaster); Damage: 3d6(blaster); Saves: Fortitude 1d20+1, Reflex1d20 +2, Will 1d20+0; General Skills: Com-puter Use (1d20+4); Intimidate (1d20+4),Search (1d20+4), Spot (1d20+4)

Dark Side CharactersDark side characters should have less of aproblem with this encounter than moreheroic individuals. Giving in to the dark side— that is, attacking as soon as the securityofficers draw their weapons — is theswiftest way to deal with the encounter.

Encounter 3: Broadcast SignalsUsing the information that Raymas pro-vides, the characters can easily get withinstriking distance of the lightly guarded sen-sor array. Although the Naboo know thattensions between their government and theTrade Federation are mounting, they have noreason to suspect that the Trade Federationwill attack the planet, much less this smallsensor array. To begin the encounter, arrangethe character tokens on Map 2 (see page 4)in the area labeled “Start Here,” and placefour Palace Guard tokens as shown. Thenread or paraphrase the following text:

Just as you’re beginning to give up onthis meeting, Raymas walks into therestaurant. He takes a quick look out thedoor as it closes, then heads over to yourtable.“Let’s make this quick,” he says,“Ithink I was followed.”

Three men come through the restau-rant door and head straight for yourtable. The leader, a large Human with ablaster pistol at his side, looks right atRaymas and says,“Come with me, Daal,I’ve got a few questions.” Raymas doesn’thesitate; he jumps out of his seat and

runs for the back exit. Before you realizeexactly what happened, the three menstart shooting at Raymas. As you react,one of them turns his gun on you.

After a cautious approach, you’reabout as close to the sensor array as youcan get. To draw any nearer, you’ll haveto be pretty sneaky. What do you do?

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Allow the players time to decide what todo. The heroes can either just start shoot-ing, or they can try to sneak closer. If theyjust begin combat, skip down to the statblocks and play out the fight. If they try tosneak closer, have the heroes make someskill checks.

Every hero that is trying to sneak closermust make an opposed Hide and MoveSilently check. Make Spot and Listen checksfor the guards and compare the results toeach hero’s Hide and Move Silently resultsto see whether they notice the characters.For characters without the Hide or MoveSilently skills, or guards without the Spotand Listen skills, just make ability checks.See page 7 of the adventure game rulebookfor more information on opposed skillchecks and ability checks.

Once the guards notice the heroes — oronce the heroes start shooting — play outcombat using the following statistics forthe guards:

Naboo Security Guards (4)Level 1; Initiative 10; Vitality Points: 0;Wound Points: 10; Speed: 5 spaces; Defense:14; Attack: 1d20+3 (blaster); Damage: 3d6

(blaster); Saves: Fortitude 1d20+1, Reflex1d20 +2, Will 1d20+0; General Skills: Com-puter Use (1d20+4); Intimidate (1d20+4),Search (1d20+4), Spot (1d20+4)

Once the guards have been knocked out,deactivating the sensor array for therequired time should be easy. Two techni-cians work inside the array, but they won’tfight the characters unless they come underdirect attack. Even if attacked the techni-cians first try to flee, unless their path awayfrom their attackers is completely blocked. Ifthe players force the technicians to fight,use the stats for the Naboo Citizen on page28 of the adventure game rulebook.

Disabling the array requires a successfulComputer Use check against DC 10. Oncethe array has been turned off, the heroeshave completed their mission and needonly track down Raymas again to collecttheir reward.

Back to Your Regularly Sched-uled ProgramingSince this adventure takes place rightbefore the adventures in the Invasion ofTheed box, groups wishing to continue their

adventures on Naboo could easily playthrough those adventures as the next stepin a beginning campaign.

Alternatively, groups who feel up to tack-ling the full Star Wars Roleplaying Game andhave an interest in playing some shadycharacters could take on Cory Herndon’sOperation Clodhopper.

If the GM wants to create brand-newadventures, the group could investigateRaymas and his mysterious backer. Heroicgroups could work to undo the troublethey’ve unknowingly caused for the Naboogovernment, and dark side groups couldcontinue working for the Trade Federation— perhaps rising to the attention of thedark Jedi behind the current troubles onNaboo.…

About the AuthorWebsite managing editor Jesse Decker haspreviously held editorial positions withTOPDECK® and DRAGON® magazines. You canfind more of his adventures — The Candle-maker’s Fire and Unearthing the Past —online in the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® Cliffhang-ers section of <www.wizards.com/dnd>.

Copyright and Legal Notice

Based on the Star Wars Roleplaying Game by Andy Collins, Bill Slavicsek, and JD Wiker,utilizing mechanics developed for the new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game by JonathanTweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.

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©2001 Lucasfilm Ltd. & ™ All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Made in the U.S.A.Dungeons & Dragons, TopDeck, Dragon, and the Wizards of the Coast logo are registered trademarks owned by

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