Boarding Action

Avast, me hearties!

A pirate’s life is in store for ye upon the dreaded Firespray System Patrol Craft! The mere sighting of its elephantine silhouette fills the hearts of soft-bellied, lily-livered core world tourists with palpable dread. Presented here are the tools your Crew desires to pave the way to a pirate-ical life of plunder, while at the same time allowing your Galaxy Master the opportunity for more dynamic starship encounters and added threats that will slap into place any cocky, upstart Crew.

Where is that shuttle going?

Fly casual.

The Lambda T4-A Imperial Shuttle presents an iconic image recognizable by all Star Wars fans. More than that, it functions as a grand prize to be stolen by a  brazen thief to show off the utmost drama, daring, and bravado on the part of said notorious scoundrel. But, when seen through the lens of Edge of the Empire, what a chaotic mess of confusing information!

Similar to the Starship Layout Guide done here back in April, I present to you a full 11×17 layout detailing the various functions and facets of using this spacefaring vessel. Of particular interest to me was how maneuverable (Handling +0) and fast (Hyperdrive Class I) the shuttle is, as well as its vast array of many weak (Damage 3) energy weapons; at least in comparison to the classic three starting starship options of YT-1300, Ghtroc 720, and Firespray. As expected, the passenger capacity of the shuttle is unrivaled among these Silhouette 4 starships, boasting the ability to ferry a total of 26 passengers & crew. What would one do with an assault squad of that size? I don’t really know too many good answers, but I bet if I had it at my disposal I could really cause some damage and wreck a nervous Galaxy Master’s overly-railroading, rigid plans.

• Lambda T4-A Imperial Shuttle (PDF) (Word)

Cause & Effect 10 – Misinfomed

Image from The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force

“Ah, you just got in my way you big oaf! Wait…hmm, you just might be able to make this up to me yet…“

Welcome back to Cause & Effect! I’m feeling lucky today and have rolled randomly on the table presented in V is for Vignettes. These are my results:

Instigator Poor Citizen

Action Discovers

Target Escaped Convicts

Escalation A lover’s scorn is drawn

Escalation Quickly turns into a chase scene

Things are not always what they seem…

Rogue Events 12 & 13

Another Rogue Event of mine got put up at the GSA site for hosting. I’m not really sure what the benefits of jumping through the hoops and putting them at that site are (as opposed to just posting directly here); but I told them that I would, so I will. Also, they’re nice enough to list Triumph & Despair in their grouping of sites that “We Like“, so why not return the favor and shower them with lovely sidetreks?

Rogue Event 12 – Disabled Transport gsa.thegamernation.org/2013/04/10/rogue-event-12-disabled-transport/‎

Rogue Event 13 – Large Asteroid Field gsa.thegamernation.org/2013/06/19/rogue-event-13-large-asteroid-field/

 

I’ve hit a little jolt of creativity on this front recently, so expect to see Rogue Event 14 and Rogue Event 15 coming out soon. They’re already completed and shown on the Page list, but I still need to upload them to the GSA.

Every time I write one of these things, I get the FTL soundtrack stuck in my head all day.

Y is for You’re my only hope

There are certain special times when the needs of the story must impose upon the Crew a horrible, worst-case scenario with terrifying, overwhelming challenges. Often, the Galaxy Master will use these seemingly hopeless situations as the basis for an entire Star Wars roleplaying game campaign. In contrast to W is for super Weapons, Y is for You’re my only hope dooms the Crew with Nightmare Difficulty that is even more over-the-top, punishingly unfair, often beyond the control of mankind, and have no identifiable weaknesses.

Some examples of hellish, mind-numbing despair include:

Detail in place of Depth

*yawn*

Recently, I came upon a neat little blog that focuses on video game design, analyzing what are widely considered to be “the classics” and seeing what makes them really jive. This post, certainly very relevant to Triumph & Despair from the onset, got me thinking about the use of details and story depth in Star Wars fandom.

W is for super Weapon

A super weapon is an antagonist and Nemesis given the form of a terrifying object. It is a means to inspire fear and trepidation on the galactic scale fueled by the accumulated wealth, anxieties, and nightmares of a trillion worlds.

Super weapons are the ultimate display of both power and hubris. They are designed by highly focused minds, flawed by deep-rooted neuroses. Super weapons are also a projection of a society, proudly showing their most advanced technologies built, in vain, to alleviate their crippling insecurities.

Only Two Ways Home

Only Two Ways Home is a site-based heist / adventure for use with the Star Wars Edge of the Empire roleplaying game. In this scenario, an opportunistic Crew of interstellar misfits agrees to help the Galactic Imperial Navy bring a renegade commander back to face justice for his crimes.
Only Two Ways Home touches on and explores several key motifs that are encouraged by Edge of the Empire. While a wide variety of characters with varying Motivations will find this Heist interesting, those with the character Motivations of Religion/Spirituality, Droid Rights, and Support the Empire will find it especially so.
The title of this Heist comes from a quote from the 1979 film Apocalypse Now!. It describes the sentiments of the primary antagonists of both the film, Colonel Kurtz, and this scenario, Captain Kitano. The previous acts and deeply held moral convictions of these men have left them with a choice of only two options moving forward: victory, or death.

Download the Heist here!

Download the Handouts here!

Cause & Effect 09 – Grans of Time

Source apparently from Alien Anthology
(I cannot confirm this)

“It’s called ‘Grans of Time’. You know, like sands of time? Because these poems are timeless! It’s quite clever, really.“

Welcome back to Cause & Effect! I’m feeling lucky today and have rolled randomly on the table presented in V is for Vignettes.

I would like to stress though, that the V is for Vignettes table is intended to provide inspiration. If the rolls you get don’t excite you, don’t use them. These are my results:

Instigator Poor Citizen

Action Gambles

Target Nearby Building

Escalation Threatens to cost the Crew a great many credits

Escalation An A is for Artifact is involved

This could be interesting…