Star Wars - Edge of the Empire - Crates of Krayts (Beta Rulebook)

CRATES OF KRAYTS "Who in their right mind would transport even a single krayt dragon across interstellar space?" - Pash , seasoned smuggler

INTRODUCTION elcome to an introductory adventure for Edge of the Empire This adventure is designed to send a group of

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beg1nning smuggler-style characters into the seedier side of the galaxy wh1le introducing major game concepts and rules along the way. Ideally, the Player Characters should have an interest in smuggling. However. if they are set on playing a different character type. there are a variety of ways to convince them to play along.

Before begmning, the Game Master should read the entire adventure. The players should create their characters, buy equipment. establish their Obligation, and select the starship to use as the1r base of operations. While this adventure introduces game concepts and rules. it does not necessarily introduce the Player Characters to each other. They should establish at least a broad reason for knowing each other and working together. Alternatively, Sinasu the Hutt, their ·employer," could order them to work together on this smuggling run, enabling them to meet for the first time at the beginning of the adventure.

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ADVENTURE SUMMARY The Player Characters begin play 1n debt to Sinasu the Hutt as part of their starting Obligation. Sinasu is a moderately connected crime lord. based out of the smuggler's moon Nar Shaddaa, which is in Hutt Space. Sinasu rs "giving· the PCs an opportunity to repay part of their debt, should they successfully take a special cargo on a smuggling run from Tatoome to Nar Shaddaa. The adventure starts with the PCs already at the pickup location. which is a small canyon outpost called Vapor Station. The small settlement rs 200 kilometers outside of Mos Eisley on the planet Tatooine. The PCs' ship is in a docking bay near the canyon rim. while the PCs themselves are at a storehouse at the canyon floor. ready to pick up their cargo. The adventure opens wrth Jora. one of Sinasu's Radian assocrates. greeting the PCs and explaining the needs of the unusual cargo. One item is a crate of krayt dragon eggs, complete with an incubator A much larger and stronger crate holds very young krayt dragon. currently anesthetized. Both crates require monitoring. The incubator is old and temperamental. while the dragon must be regularly drugged to keep it asleep until delivery Transporting the creatures through Imperial space requires permits. of which the PCs have only a forgery of an outdated version As Jora finishes his instructions. a band of Tuskan Rarders suddenly raids the outpost. The PCs must get the cargo safely back up to their shrp. battling Tuskan Raiders along the way. They blast off and head either for orbit. or back to Mos Eisley or another Tatooine crty for supplies. The PCs eventually make the jump to hyperspace. Throughout the trip, the crew must work to keep the incubator functional and the dragon under sedation. They also have an opportunity to interact with each other and take care of personal gear or the shrp itself When the PCs arrive at the crty-planet of Nar Shaddaa, they find that Greentop. the docking tower they were directed to use. is a burned-out structure littered wrth starship hulks. They must make their own dockmg arrangements and deal with unscrupulous docking bay personnel The PCs must investigate what happened to the platform and 'or figure out where to make contact with the Hutt or his people. It doesn't take long for the PCs to learn that Sinasu rs embrOiled in a gang war with Noako the Hutt. a hated rival. To make matters worse. if the PCs become known as associates. they will soon be targeted by Cordol's Cham. a local bounty hunter group hired by the Noako They must make contact and deliver the crates as soon as possible.

The PCs learn Sinasu is most likely hiding 1n an out1aw tech shop called Tech Tank. It is deep in the city's lower levels. inside a massrve holding tank in an enormous water processing center. They fly down to deliver the crates After arrival (or along the way). they discover they've been followed by Cordol's Chain. A battle ensues in the shop. complicated by a traitor 1n Sinasu's organization Sinasu demands the PCs get him out. The battle turns rnto a chase. with armed airspeeders pursuing the PCs' ship until it reaches orbit. After succeeding in their escape. Sinasu directs the PCs to a little-used starport where he takes his leave of them (or an alternate location if things have gone poorly), Sinasu disembarks with the crates (assuming they've survrved). He relieves the PCs of a portion of their Obligation, and might even give them a bonus for the rescue.

GETTING THE PLAYER CHARACTERS INVOLVED The Player Characters should work for Smasu the Hutt. and owe part of therr starting Obligation to hrm. The Player Characters may create a specific reason for the Obligation owed, or Sinasu might have simply fronted half of the funds requrred to acqurre therr shrp (the base assumption for the adventure) The Player Characters might regard their relationship as mutually beneficial or a reluctant. necessary evil. Sinasu is only interested in resu lts. and has nothing personal against the characters (unless they specifically add something in their own backstories). He rs ruthless and unforgiving, but also influential and a great source of opportunities. While thrs mission is best suited to smugglers. Smasu feels the interest he has rn their shrp or venture gives him enough pull to convince other types of characters. such as bounty hunters or even refugees and traders. to go along. Characters who find working for the Hutt morally repugnant might go along on the promrse that success will bring them one step closer to removing his influence from their lives. If nothing else works. Sinasu can always threaten to repossess their ship.

PRIOR TO PLAY •

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X I I CRATES OF KRAYTS EDC:E. OF 'THE. 'E.MPIRE.

The GM should make an Obligation check to see if any of the Player Characters' Obligation is activated. If so. the GM should try to incorporate rt mto the adventure. Some sections contarn suggested alterations to the adventure itself for certain types of Obligation. The players roll to generate the pool of Destiny Points for the session.

EPISODE 1: VAPOR STATION Read the Opening Crawl aloud. It IS a time of civil war Throughout the galaxy. the outmanned and outgunned REBEL ALLIANCE battles the GALACTIC EMPIRE. The Rebels scored their first victory. destroymg the fearsome DEATH STAR. Desp1te recent upheaval. the GalactiC Civil War does not dominate the galaxy. In the remote Outer Rim Territories. a band of smugglers and fnngers work to escape debts owed to the ruthless gangster, Sinasu the Hutt Summoned to the planet Ta· toome. they are given a chance to loosen his grip by flying an unusual smuggling run First, they must withstand the darkening underworld and the might of the Empire. Play begins with the characters meeting Jora. Sinasu's local leader. at Vapor Station. They stand in front of a ramshackle clay structure. while their ship 1s parked in a s1milar clay building. open top landmg bay just below the canyon rim, many meters above them. Read or paraphrase the following aloud: Vapor Station - once a small community of failing moisture harvesters. now a tiny community of thieves and thugs work1ng for Sinasu the Hutt. Vapor Station lies at the juncture where a narrow. steep stone canyon forks 1nto two smaller crevasses. Crumbling clay structures dot the dry canyon bed. with a few fronting natural caves in the walls above. With the canyon floor too narrow and rocky for even small starshtps to land, a docking bay lies near the canyon rim. A rough. steep switchback path ties the landing bay to the valley floor far below. You stand in front of a dilapidated clay storage building on the valley floor. where the smaller crevasses join the main canyon. Your ship IS in the docking bay above. Before you is a heavily-scarred Rod tan big game hunter called Jora. He is Sinasu the Hutt's local mouthpiece. To etther side of Jora are two battered. but reinforced. metal crates. One IS roughly a one-meter cube, fully enclosed. with a top covered by an array of blinking lights and read outs The other is much larger. two meters by three meters by two meters htgh. It has open slats at the top and upper sides. but the interior is too dark to make out in the harsh

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Attack: The characters can blow open the hatch. either

using explostves or the ship's weapons Using explosives Mechanics check. asrequires an Average ( sumtng they are simply blowing the locktng mechantsm. If the PCs try to blow the hatch itself. they will need a large amount of explosives. If they attack the hatch with their ship's weapons. they are guaranteed to hit and eventually blow through the metal. The hatch isn't a military grade door. Either attack draws the attention of a patrol.

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DETECTING PURSUIT The approach to TechTank makes it difficult for the bounty hunters to follow the PCs. However. it also makes tt easier for them to conceal themselves along the way. both physically and from sensors. If the bounty hunters successfully attached a homtng beacon to the PCs' ship or speeder. they simply follow at a safe distance and out of sight. However. if they failed. they send a pair of airspeeders to pursue at a discreet distance. They frequently lose contact. and often must find their own way through the tangle of pipework. The PCs might detect one or more speeders with Perception check. plus one a successful Hard ( or more Setback dice for cover and concealment The speeders flee if obviously detected. and try to reacquire their target later on. The Game Master can tum this into a game of cat and mouse through the pipework to build the suspense.

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EPISODE Ill: TECHTANK he shaft descends 500 meters

below ground and opens into an enormous water storage tank two kilometers m diT ameter and a kilometer deep. Read the following aloud: The ship descends into a wide open. cavernous space. It is obviously an enormous metal tank around two kilometers across Agmg, dim lights hang from the gently arcmg ceiltng. The wa ter's dark surface is about 100 meters from the top of the tank. About a kilometer away. you see a cluster of bright lights and machmery on a huge platform in the center of the tank. Through the mtddle of the platform ts a large shaft that appears to run from the top of the tank to the bottom. The platform ts about a meter above water level. There are wide. clear areas separated by parked speeder bikes. metal sheds. and makeshtft accommodations. TechTank has taken over the matntenance and monitoring platform in the center of the storage tank. The liquid in the tank ts stmple water-treated. but not yet to the point of distribution into the water system. It poses no special danger to the PCs. The platform is about 100 meters in dtameter. Much of tt is flat and open. and there ts more than enough room to land a shtp The structure is obviously stout. Maintenance sheds. tents. and repurposed cargo contatners are the heart of TechTank, and cluster around the central shaft. The shaft is mostly superstructure, with a mechanical drive that raises and lowers the platform with the surface of the water Turbolifts. pipes. and conduit fill out the remaining space. The PCs can land anywhere there is space to do so. Initially. the platform looks deserted. The PCs can make an AverageLtfl .1\\,1\ from tllf' placf' Tf'llllCHn