Campaign Idea, looking for some input.

[strongarm85]

I currently have the privilege to GMing a Star Wars game for a rag tag group of smugglers. So with that in mind I've planted the seed for the campaign in their minds. As a result of the events in their first adventure their ship, a nearly stock YT-1300, has the coordinates of the Kessel Run loaded in their Navicomputer, a route leading them right through the Maw itself.

The idea for the campaign is build up towards a chance to strike it rich by gathering a big haul and bringing it through the Kessel Run.

To actually pull it off and stand a fighting chance, they'll likely need to:

- Upgrade their ship
- Make a contact with a higher up on Kessel to set up an exchange
- Raise money to bribe off Imps at Kessel
- Actually complete the run

All the while they'll have an Imperial Customs Agent who is constantly on their heels, a Lieutenant Narocs. Narocs is the most dangerous kind of bureaucrat their is, a true believer. Someone who believes in what he's doing and is personally motivated to stop the players at every turn.

The real question is how to set up some of this stuff. Making contact with an official on Kessel seems significantly difficult. It seems to me like the Warden of Kessel isn't someone you could just meet or easily get in contact with.

[Ral_Brelt]

Meeting the Warden may not be so much if an issue as you think. They need to build a reputation. I'd suggest you have them work some jobs to get credits and or parts for their ship, and get known around the smuggling community, maybe make some rivals and enemies. Once they're in good with their fixer, have an issue come up where the fixer needs a good team to make a run to Kessel. They can double up or it can be the job you envisioned.

Now, the Maw and the Kessel Run are not the same. The Maw is a secret Imp research installation where they designed the Death Star among other things. Its at the center of a series of black holes with only one or two safe routes past the ecretion disks. The Kessel Run goes near one of these black holes, getting closer to the disk saves time, but gets more dangerous as you can get pulled into the black hole. Kessel is just near the maw, not in it.

[cybertroll]

I think he means the Maw Nebulae and not the planet.

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[Ral_Brelt]

Ah, if that is the case I stand corrected.

[DougRed4]

That's a pretty awesome map, cybertroll. Where'd you find it?
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[garhkal]

What's the astrog diff for skirting the maw? mid to upper 20s? 30s?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Dromdarr_Alark]

Is it astrogation? I thought going through the black holes and the Pit was a sublight affair. That is at least what I read in the Han Solo Trilogy.

Or did you simply mean hyperspace through the bulk of the nebula, excluding the Kessel Run?
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"I still wouldn't have a roll for it - but that's just how I roll."

[Ral_Brelt]

I'm not sure they have stats anywhere for the DCs, but I'd make a judgement call based on speed of their drive, and how closed they want to get. Han is a risk taker, but calculated as I see it. So I'd set base DC at 25 if you've got a drive like the Falcon's and you're trying for the 12 parsec run. A worse drive would increase the DC by 5 for each doubling (30 for a 1, 35 for a 2, etc) and reduction in distance would increase as well. I'd most like go 2 extra DC for each parsec closer. Now, how much time it would save on the run, not sure and dont have info in front of me to hazard a guess.

[Darth_Hilarious]

When George first wrote A New Hope I think he may have had a better grasp on Science Fiction than Science FACT.

It wasn't until one of the Han Solo novels was released that they clarified the whole "less than 12 parsec's" thing, which was adequately explained and included a cut scene where he rescued a fellow smuggler who's ship had gotten caught in the gravity well of one of the Maw Cluster black holes.

[garhkal]

[Darth_Hilarious]

the following is from Wookipedia......................


The Kessel Run was an 18-parsec route used by smugglers to move glitterstim spice from Kessel to an area south of the Si'Klaata Cluster without getting caught by the Imperial ships that were guarding the movement of spice from Kessel's mines.

It took travelers in real space around The Maw leading them to an uninhabitable—but far easier to navigate—area of space called The Pit, which was an asteroid cluster encased in a nebula arm making sensors as well as pilots go virtually blind. Thus there was a high chance that pilots, weary from the long flight through real space, would crash into an asteroid.

The Kessel Run was one of the most heavily used smuggling routes in the Galactic Empire.[3] Han Solo claimed that his Millennium Falcon "made the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs". A parsec is a unit of distance, not time. Solo was not referring directly to his ship's speed when he made this claim. Instead, he was referring to the shorter route he was able to travel by skirting the nearby Maw black hole cluster, thus making the run in under the standard distance. By moving closer to the black holes, Solo managed to cut the distance down to about 11.5 parsecs.

In the commentary for Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope DVD, George Lucas mentions that the parsecs are due to the Millennium Falcon's advanced navigational computer rather than its engines, so the navicomputer would calculate much faster routes than other ships could.

It is also where cybertroll got the map from

[garhkal]

If he was going in real space, why would his nav comps (Used for astrogating) be of use?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[DougRed4]

[Kytross]

As your smugglers are making different small jobs for a smuggling chieftan (Like Talon Karrde or Jabba) they are building up a reputation and pissing off Narocs who is always nipping at tier heals. This in turn continually angers Narcos who begins to chase your players the way Ahab hunted Moby Dick.

Eventually they get in good enough with the smuggling chieftan that the chief introduces them to Kessel's Warden.

Or something like that

[strongarm85]

Good suggestions.

The PC's main contact right now is Thakba the Hutt, who is part of the Besadii Hutt clan, bitter rivals of Desilijic that Jabba is the leader of.

I've set the campaign during 2 BBY, which is at a very interesting time in Hutt Politics.

So around 4 BBY Jabba and his father Jiliac decided to bring the Besadii clan down a peg. Han Solo, while running spice for Jabba, managed to narrowly escape a pirate attack. The blaime for the attack was given to the Besadii clan. Although the Besadii clan was cleared of any wrongdoing, Jiliac murdered Aruk Besadii Tai, who was the leader of the Besadii clan.

At this particular point in time, the Besadii clan is leaderless with Durga the Hutt having spent the last two years failing to figure out who was responsible for his Father's death. Durga's own ascension as the head of the clan has also been prevented.

In 1 BBY, Durga the Hutt will turn to Prince Xizor and give up a huge portion of his family's holdings to the Black Sun. The Black Sun will uncover Jiliac's treachery, Durga will become the head of a much diminished Besadii clan and will also become a Black Sun Vigo. After that happens, Durga doesn't really enter the picture again until later with that terrible Darksaber Storyline.

Naturally any actions by the PCs that might derail that storyline are on the table. Thakba is a Hutt lord on Sleheyron, and not the most important one there. The major business there is Tabana Gas Refining and Slaving.