first time GM

[Kalibarr]

Hi folks

I am going to be running my first Star Wars game as a GM (hopefully) soon. I posted a less detailed version of this adventure in the Gamemasters section. This is the slightly more detailed and (hopefully) polished version of the adventure. I would love some feedback on it - positive and negative - as I want this to work!

BACKSTORY - TATOOINE

A smuggler named Kaleb has borrowed 5,000 credits from Jabba the Hut - the money is supposed to go to Kaleb's father, Dr. Randall, who is excavating a cave on Hoth, looking for an ancient city. Jabba has put a tracking device in the case of credits (local range only), and has managed to attach one to the inside of Kaleb's clothes (also local range only), and given the credits to Kaleb with the agreement that Kaleb cannot leave Tatooine until the debt is paid off. Kaleb however does leave Tatooine and heads for Hoth. While on a cargo ship headed for Hoth, a thief named Reeve steals the case of credits and leaves the ship on its last stop before Hoth. Reeve heads back to his favourite port - Tatooine - to launder the new money he has acquired. When he lands on Tatooine, Jabba and his crew start tracking the case again (as it's back in range now) - Jabba has put a bounty on the head of Kaleb (he doesn't like it when you take money and flee the planet I guess) so Reeve unknowingly has bounty hunters coming after him and his case.

FIRST ACT - TATOOINE

PC's start off inside the Cantina in Mos Espa. Reeve approaches them, case in hand, asking for their protection getting him to the spaceport. Although he hasn't been directly confronted by any bounty hunters yet, he has a bad feeling that he is being followed - although he still has no clue why. He offers the players 500 credits to escort him off the planet. Then a bounty hunter walks in, looks down at a tracker/scanner, looks up at the table they are sitting at, sees the case, and takes a shot at Reeve, killing him. The PC's have to fight off the bounty hunter, but then outside are ambushed by alot more of them, who stun the Players and bring them to Jabba. Jabba is upset that they are not Kaleb - and upset that they killed one of his favourite bounty hunters - so they have to make a choice - either die, or take on the assignment of Kaleb's bounty. One of the other, smarter bounty hunters (Boba Fett) has done some research and has learned that Kaleb's father is working on Hoth - a likely place for Kaleb to go. Jabba provides some credits for passage to Hoth and away the players go!

BACKSTORY - HOTH

Kaleb's 5,000 credits was going to be a bribe to an Imperial officer in the area - to allow the Hoth dig to continue. Since Kaleb showed up empty-handed, the Imperials have threatened a couple of times to come in and shut the place down. Meanwhile inside the tunnels of the dig, the workers breakthrough a wall, and stumble upon a large network of caves inhabited by Wampas, who run amok through the dig site. Only one man gets out through the site's main door and closes it behind him. Our players arrive on Hoth at this point.

ACT 2 - HOTH

The Players arrive and start talking to the man outside the main door. He urges them to not go in. He pleads with them to get back on the ship and leave, and to take him with them. The players hear fire from outside and an explosion - Imperials have arrived and blown up their ship! Stormtroopers start pouring out of an Imperial transport, and the players are forced to enter the dig site and hide. The Stormtroopers rush down the caves, and we hear blaster fire and wampa roars. The man tells the Players that the only other spaceship on the planet belonged to Kaleb, and you will need his hand to get onto it (security). The players have now picked up the signal of the tracking device Jabba put on Kaleb's clothes - it's coming from deep within the caverns. So the players must trek into the caves, battle stormtroopers, wampas, and ultimately an Icecor (Rancor with white fur) to retrieve the dead Kaleb's hand and get off this frozen hell-hole......

And that's the story so far!
Any positive remarks or negative criticisms welcome!!!

[Cool McCool]

In the first act, how will you handle it if the PCs are not stunned and captured?
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Still funky after all these years

[Gry Sarth]

Well, he can easily extend the chase. If they escape their initial brush with the bounty hunters, they will continue to be pursued by them. Eventually they are bound to be captured, specially with the tracking device. What concerns me more is if the characters don't get involved with the smuggler, if they refuse the money, take no interest in his case of credits or don't care when he's killed. This is where you have to know your players and figure if they roughly follow the path you'd like them to.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Cool McCool]

Um... I think that's dangerous. But hey, if the players like it, cool. Don't try and fake it - tell them after the game that they didn't really have a choice; they were going to meet Jabba no matter what. See what they think about that.

I think they will get involved with the smuggler because he shows up and BAM! he gets SHOT IN THE FACE! Now the bounty hunter TURNS ON YOU!
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Still funky after all these years

[Kalibarr]

Hmmmm

As for them not taking any interest in the case/thief, I was going to have the bounty hunter walk in while the case is on the table with Reeve (NPC thief) and the PC's. The bounty hunter will be taking shots at all of them (not a bright man). And knowing the guys who are playing, they will most likely return fire

These players know I am a beginner and I think will try to follow the path that they are being gently (or not so gently) pushed down. If they don't, well, I will do my best!!!

And yes, I am going to try to talk them down with the bounty hunters outside the Cantina - try to say come and see Jabba - but if they do choose to fight, the bounty hunters weapons will be set to stun...

[Jedi Skyler]

He might simply help this possibility:

[Gry Sarth]

I don't know, I wouldn't go that way. Setting up a completely unproportional ambush outside the cantina seems a bit heavy handed. I think it's more fun to actually make the players think they just might get away of that mess. They might be able to evade the group (4-5) of bounty hunters outside, but wherever they go, there'll be a goon waiting in the shadows. It might create a fun little chase scene around Mos Eisley, and eventually they'll get caught.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Jedi Skyler]

Heck, enlist a mob of midgets, and have 'em dressed up like Jawas. They'll be able to go anywhere, and they'll be invisible, because Jawas are everywhere, always underfoot, and ignored- as long as they're not busily admiring your shiny new landspeeder...

[DrevontheJedi]

Heres a small concept, Make one of the bounty hunters a main NPC, that consistantly tracks them, and actually starts to set a trap for them. Don't let them know, let them continually think they got away from the bounty hunters, and there name is clean, than suddenly a nice ambush, a rope net, a cave lined with frag grenades. Something crazy that would allow the bounty hunter the upper hand and giving the players an ample oppurtunity to think there way out of the situation. I wouldn't let the bounty hunter attack though, thats just me, I beef up my NPC's to much...hehe...but yeah, just let them have a moment of there wits.

The more major NPC's the players run into, the more fun, just look at Kageryu's old campaign I was in when I just started playing the game, Fall of the Republic, great game! Kageryu is seriously one of the best GM's you'll ever read about in my opinion.