OK, I know the title is abit ambiguous, but it goes abit deeper than that… and I ask because I know my players might want more detail on what this place actually is, and I would like to be prepared.

I plan on using this wonderful work ( http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/79796-expanding-mos-shuuta/ ) to expand the settlement itself, but that leaves a few questions:

It’s a small settlement, on top of a rock, in the middle of the Tatooine Deserts.

It only has two docking bays.

Yet it has a dedicated space control centre, employing Imperial Personel.

It is the home of an aspiring Hutt Crime Lord.

It has a single Cantina, a few slums, a junk yard, and not much else.

(If you use the expanded bits, it has an imperial customs office and holding facility as well).

Now…. Why would this tiny settlement;

-in the middle of nowhere,

-with very little in the way of ship facilities and storage,

-no discernable resources,

-no space to expand,

Have;

-A rather significant Imperial Presence (Spaceport control, Customs Office)

-A Hutt CRIME LORD (In a town with a high Imperial Presence)

Its limited ship handing facilities (Two docking bays), limits what can come in and out, it cannot really provide a place for underworlders to hide, supply, etc… simply because it cannot handle that many ships, and it has an Imperial Control centre mere yards away.

Its location on top of a rock means it cannot expand, so it can’t be an ‘up and coming settlement’

The fact a Hutt Crime lord AND the Imperials are both in this tiny place seems.. at odds.

It doesn’t seem to be a mine… if it were; it surely would have a far different makeup and facilities.

If you go with the stuff in the link (Customs Office) Why are they doing this in this tiny place, as opposed to Mos Espa or Mos Eisley?

So really.. what I am asking, is what are others idea of what exactly is… Mos Shuuta… why is it here, why does it have the people it has in it? (Hutts and Imperials), and how might I change things a bit to give my players answers that they will believe without asking incessant questions about silly details?

Cheers

RD

I wouldn't consider it a large imperial presence. A few customs officials and some security droids. The stormtroopers seem to be coming and going. I see this place as maybe the most developed of settlements for a significant distance across the Junland Wastes from Mos Eisley that services the local moisture farmers. The two landing bays were established by the Imperials to provide a easy means of bringing troops into the area in case population control measures are required. Consider US remote firebases and outposts in Afghanistan as an example.

As far as Teemo is considered, Mos Shuuta is just big enough for him to survive, plot, and stay off the radar of any threats. Being located closer to Jabba would be an unneccessary risk to his operations.

Never lived in a rural community eh chummer?

If it helps, think of Mos Shuuta as a rural town.... with a WALMART!!!!!!

See being small and remote doesn't matter if you're still the biggest fish in a small pond. While the town itself seems rather tiny and unremarkable, hundreds of even smaller operations could easily surround it, making it the nearest spaceport. If ole Jimbo Moisture Farmer wants a new whoositz for his vaporator he can either buy one off a Jawa (which will probably be the same broken one he sold the Jawa 6 months ago, just with a new coat of paint and a stench of Jawa B.O.), he can drive half a day to Mos Bigger and get one, blowing both an entire day and plenty of fuel, or he can go an hour away to Mos Shuuta, pay a little extra but spend less time and fuel to get the same thing.

Furthermore, for every Mos Shuuta, there's probably three more Mos Oneblocks within a couple hours.

I've spent plenty of time in rural communities over the years, and places like Mos Shuuta exist. They aren't bustling cities, but they serve a vital purpose, have a healthy economy, are the place for culture and trade for the area (limited, but when you don't got other options you take what you can get) and can have some real color, if you are willing to look for it.

So really.. what I am asking, is what are others idea of what exactly is… Mos Shuuta… why is it here, why does it have the people it has in it? (Hutts and Imperials), and how might I change things a bit to give my players answers that they will believe without asking incessant questions about silly details?

You can easily make it bigger by going underground. Probably a common thing on Tatooine to get away from the heat. It's on a mesa so the map is just the top layer and maybe there are other docking bays around the sides leading to other levels, hence the need for the space port.

Maybe the Empire is there because they are providing resources and intel to Teemo in order to replace Jabba, who perhaps is not as "compliant" as they wish. Not that the players necessarily would know this, which bring me to the next points.

First, you don't necessarily need to have an answer for all these things. If the players express an interest in discovering why the Empire is there, that sounds like a plot hook they just invented. You can just shrug and say "that's a gooood question...". You can hint at knowing without actually knowing ;-)

Maybe let them roll Knowledge Outer Rim, where success tells them that the Empire has fairly regular contact with all the Hutts, but Teemo seems to be getting more attention; 1 Advantage and they've heard Teemo is making a power play; 2 Advantage and there might be droids involved; Triumph and they've heard Teemo wants to make a play against Jabba. You can invent the plot right there, and you don't need to give them enough info to solve it in a single dice roll or a single session. Then you can plan the next session with their interest in mind.

Second, let the players tell the story. In the old days we used to "stock dungeons", but that's no longer necessary. You only create what you need for the story and let the players fill in the rest. Example: the second time I ran the Beginner box, a player wanted to get mechanic uniforms to pretend to repair Trex's ship. He asked if there was uniform laundry service nearby, so I had him roll Streetwise: success and several advantages later he was telling me which building it was in. A bit of Charm and Deception and he got what he needed (...but not without threat...the "real" intended recipient of the uniforms showed up, which led to a good chase).

Last, I'm curious what kind of "incessant silly questions" your players are asking. I have a couple disruptive players who like to ask things like "how many fast food restaurants are on this street", and I usually just say I don't know...but on rare occasions the player will actually manage to turn their "silly" question into something that's narratively fun and might even turn into a plot point. So at that point I just roll dice, usually percentage, to see what the answer is. I might have a range in my head from 0-4 or something and let the dice decide. At that point if the player asks "what are the names of all the restaurants", the other players have usually had enough and pull the disruptor back in line. Is that the kind of thing you're talking about?

Gawds, I just realized...

Big time crime boss of sleepy town.

Folks run in around in a rust orange ship.

Tight knit group making their way the only way they know how...And that's just a little bit more than the law will allow.

Mos Shutta is Hazzard County!

(I wonder how many of our friends from abroad would get that reference)

If the Krayt Fang starts to play Dixie Land every time it goes inter hyperspace, I would laugh my eyes out.

So THAT'S why my PCs ran around everywhere jumping over speeders and firing arrows with sticks of dynamite!

Back to the thread topic -- I didn't really view Mos Shuuta as having an Imperial presence. There isn't a permanent garrison with barracks etc. It just so happens that Teemo was able to call in a favor with a local admiral to do a surprise visit to town to try to help smoke out some small time miscreants that thought they could take advantage of him. In Long Arm of the Hutt by the time the PCs get back to Mos Shuuta the imps have moved on.

As far as starport control I don't really think that counts as a symbol of the might of the Emperor; it's just an office building with some bureaucrats to help regulate the local airspace. And maybe the starport control there is part of a larger network that directs traffic to and between all the local Mos'ses since they all have such limited landing bays. Like maybe they have to route you to Mos Kragle until noon tomorrow when there will be an opening at the Mos Shuuta bay.

It's a ramshackle, run-down town with only the barest hint of local law and order which is perfect for a small-time wanna be crime lord to set up shop.

Honestly when I first heard the settlement's name I thought we were heading into Tatooine's largest Red Light district. Kind of makes sense for the Imperials to have a presence in such a place both those wanting to make use of its services, and those wanting to make sure the first group doesn't blab any classified information while using the area's services

As written, Mos Shuuta doesn't really make much sense. It was an attempt to cram a lot into a small space that had to fit onto a small map handout. If you ignore the map and image that Mos Shuuta is considerably larger it doesn't strain believability quite so much.

Who said the Imperials aren't on the take?

I also didnt see the starport control as being an imperial run operation. Actually, I assumed it was owned by teemo. After all, he wants to control who lands on his little mountain top kingdom.

Teemo called in a favour with the imperial sector commander, possibly as a show of force/intimidation to show people that he can control the empire.

As for Mos Shuuta strainig believability, I disagree as building on a mostly uscalable bluff gives a lot of protection from raids ffon the sand people. Also with only one access by ground, if teemo wants you to stay in or out, he can.

As for Mos Shuuta strainig believability, I disagree as building on a mostly uscalable bluff gives a lot of protection from raids ffon the sand people. Also with only one access by ground, if teemo wants you to stay in or out, he can.

I would have no argument if Mos Shuuta were just a private retreat for Teemo. The part that strains believability is the Imperial Control center and the fact that it's supposed to be a functional 'town' - it's just too small for everything they tried to cram into it.

(I wonder how many of our friends from abroad would get that reference)

If the Krayt Fang starts to play Dixie Land every time it goes inter hyperspace, I would laugh my eyes out.

Yeah, I found a great Falcon pic painted up like the General Lee, and a SW/Dukes mashup video, just can't get them to link atm.

(I wonder how many of our friends from abroad would get that reference)

If the Krayt Fang starts to play Dixie Land every time it goes inter hyperspace, I would laugh my eyes out.

Google search hasn't turned up a result, but I know at one point I came across a picture of a YT-1300 done up as the General Lee.

Shame our group had the Krayt Fang totally revamped (including a less distinctive paint job), otherwise I'd suggest this to the GM as a "quirk" for our ship (now branded the Rascal's Folly).

Edit: Okay, it's not the same image, but close enough:

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y80/flemdog/star_wars_hazzard_general_lee.jpg

Last, I'm curious what kind of "incessant silly questions" your players are asking.

Precisely the kind ive asked.. why does this tiny back water town, that is home to a Hutt Crime lord in his big palace, with two docking bays, have a full staffed Space Port Control centre to deal with just two docking bays?

And if I include the expansion stuff, why does such a small place have a customs office and storage warehouse (Reducing the warehouseing to one for everyone else).

If I expand the settlement down under the mesa, my players may well insist on exploring that, which is alot of extra work when I just want to run the Escape from Mos Shuuta and Long Arm of the Hutt to start with.

Expanding down to add docking bays sufficient to make Shuuta big enough to warrant a control office and customs office makes sense, but complicates things greatly, and I just don't know how to go about doing that well.

If my players would have asked such questions I think the perfect reply would have been "because it is the beginner game, we are learning the rules while having fun. Well, at least the rest of us are, so either get with the program or go home, annoying piece of ****."

So really.. what I am asking, is what are others idea of what exactly is… Mos Shuuta… why is it here, why does it have the people it has in it? (Hutts and Imperials), and how might I change things a bit to give my players answers that they will believe without asking incessant questions about silly details?

Why did Las Vegas become this thriving city in the middle of nowhere? You drive half an hour from The Strip in any direction and you are in the middle of mesas and desert and burning sand. You cut off the water supply and that city would dry up and blow away in a week - and yet, there it is, a rather sizable metropolis of sin and Lounge Singers. And all because some Mormons stopped and decided to build an adobe fort there.

For a more Star Wars-centric example, did you read Kenobi ? The book was (mostly) centered around this general store/watering hole in the middle of the Tatooine Nowhere, but being the only Somewhere for hundreds of miles around, it because an important hub.

Perhaps Mos Shuuta occupies the same position in the geography? Perhaps - for some reason or another, settlers decided to stake a claim there. It's a defensible position from the Sand People, after all. That little outpost grew in size until it dominated the whole mesa, and it's the only hint of civilization of any note for miles around?

Or even better - follow the Vegas history arc: Settlers moved in, the camp turned into the only water stop for miles around, a major construction project moved into the vicinity (Mines instead of Boulder Dam) and then The Mob (or in this case Teemo) set up shop.

Why the customs office? Clearly the customs agents are on the payroll of Teemo, providing "Yeah, that shipment is cleared to proceed" paperwork and an air of legitimacy to his blatantly illegal activities. The Empire - weren't they called in by Teemo? Presumably he had some favors on hand, not that the Stortroopers were on station there all the time.

I think it's meant to be both caricaturish as well as a Ft. Apache-ish kind of place. It reminds me of the ghost town in the movie Last Man Standing. I think suspension of reasonableness is kind of necessary. Governments will push representation down to some pretty remote levels, take a look at some of the places that maintain post offices for an example.

If I expand the settlement down under the mesa, my players may well insist on exploring that, which is alot of extra work when I just want to run the Escape from Mos Shuuta and Long Arm of the Hutt to start with.

Expanding down to add docking bays sufficient to make Shuuta big enough to warrant a control office and customs office makes sense, but complicates things greatly, and I just don't know how to go about doing that well.

Devil's advocate: it's no extra work at all. If they want to explore it, make it up as you go, if you even need to do that. They only real reason they would need to "explore" is if they want something specific, in which case, again, make them roll Streetwise and tell you about it.

If you want a map of a larger port with more landing bays, try Gelgelar from Platt's Starport Guide (an old WEG product). It's supposed to be on a hill, so it works fine for a mesa.

You can find it here and then go to page 66 (67 of 172 on the reader).

So most of what I was thinking has been said in one way or another, but this was my take on the town when I ran Escape from Mos shuuta, followed by Long Arm of the Hutt...

It's not that small of a town - it has two landing bays, a junk shop, cantina, off world traders' store and a slagworks. And those are just the mentionables. Look how many buildings aren't labled. Look at the size of the shanty town. It's obviously no Mos Eisley (the largest settlement on the planet http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mos_Eisley ), but it's still a good size.
As for the imperial presence, I believe one of the two sources mentions that Teemo has some on his payroll (but that could have just been something I added for my game). The barracks in front of Teemo's palace are for his gammorean thugs though (back of beginner game book), so the imp's don't typically stay too long.

My stories would be this... The town was set up with the slag works in mind...
(Option A...) Teemo found the mesa was rich with ore and set up a mining facility. Realizing that he needed workers to work his mine, he set up a shantytown. Wanting to keep the laborors somewhat placid (and looking for an opportunity to keep the credits he was giving his workers), he set up the cantina. Noticing he was loosing money on the transport of the ore, he set up Landing Bay Aurek. Acknowledging the fact that where there's a landing bay, there's a possibility of bringing more money in, Teemo began expanding his town - a junk shop (for those passer-bys in need of repairs), a Dewback stable for those wanting to play nerf-boys and sand people. Before you know it, he's developed a town large enough to warrent a second landing bay and has enough of an income that he can build a palace equal in size to the slag works the town was founded on and larger than either landing bay. Then, just incase the electrogates aren't safe enough, he's bought a local Imperial enforcer off to stop by and show some presence every once in a while - Teemo even allows them to use his spaceport control (which he built to "encourage tourism" but is actually a front so he can manipulate all his illegal goods trafficing).

(Option B...) Someone else built the town from the sand, up; mining the ore in the mesa. They invisioned a great city where people could come visit and miners would be grateful to live and work. They even had a cantina and a trader post built to start getting tourists to come visit. The mechanics shop was doing well - being the only service station within a hundred miles. A space port control was established to get the town on the planetary map - a weigh station of sorts. ...It was right after the second landing bay was installed that Teemo noticed the profitability of this little town and ...persuaded... the previous mayor to step down. He's been in control ever since and the town just hasn't been the same. The mechanics shop is now a shell of its former self - now a junk shop; the Dewbacks are showing their age and all have swayback; even the Imperial presence which used to make the townsfolk feel comforted knowing there was constant security now seem to only protect the thugs.

The way I've played it is that Mos Shuuta is an 'oasis' in an otherwise dead area. I've sited it on the edge of the Dune Sea, probably close to where the escape pod came down in New Hope.

It's got the mines, that have in my version existed for years, and Spaceport Control was built on the mesa to control the landng of cargo vessels bringing in food/water to the mines, and taking away the metals and minerals. Teemo, a wannabe rival to Jabba recently moved in to take control of the mines as well as all the local trade, building the electrogate. He lets the Spaceport continue to operate, for a cut of the docking fees, (which his own bounty hunters have to pay...)

Its the only landing bay in the area, and serves as the docking port for a lot of local communities - bantha herders, vapour farms, the slagworks, and a rodian sand merchant. Illegal trade is present, but not too much, it;'s more locals trying to hide things from Teemo rather than from the imperials

My imperial presence on the mesa is that its the surveillance point for vehicles traveling across the Dune sea from the Jundland Wastes - theres the jawa sandcrawlers that make the journey, tusken raider tribes, and this strange old guy who lives in the mountains that can be seen in the distance...

Why would anyone cross the dune sea to get to anchorage or mos eisley? Well, you'd have to travel half the planet to reach them, but the dune sea has clear tracks, swept clear of rocks allowing for fast speeder travel over smooth sand, unlike the rocky terrain around Bestine. And theres the fact that Bestine is an imperial city... Who wants to move illegal goods from the north of the planet, the Mos Espa/Entha/TaIke area, past Bestine, when you can take a safer route across the dune sea...

Lots of good advice here, so I'll only touch on one thing:

Why are the Imperials here?

Timing: Edge of the Empire takes place shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star. In many other time periods you could make the case that there was no need for an imperial presence on Tatooine and all spaceports were controlled by the Hutt clans, however, the empire already knows that at least 1 rebellion droid landed on the surface of Tatooine, and then left the planet via the Millennium Falcon, the same ship that would later shoot down Lord Vader during the BoY, and lead to the destruction of the Empire's superweapon. Imperial Intelligence determines that Tatooine houses known rebel sympathizers, and chooses to occupy the planet to quash any further dissention before it can crop up.

If my players would have asked such questions I think the perfect reply would have been "because it is the beginner game, we are learning the rules while having fun. Well, at least the rest of us are, so either get with the program or go home, annoying piece of ****."

I wasn't quite so blunt, but similar. The two players were experienced RPers, but new to Edge. I said "Ok, when we get into the 'main' game, we can go crazy. But for this module, we're going to stay pretty much on the rails, k?"

Yeah. That lasted for about the first session

On 5/16/2014 at 6:36 PM, Ghostofman said:

Never lived in a rural community eh chummer?

If it helps, think of Mos Shuuta as a rural town.... with a WALMART!!!!!!

See being small and remote doesn't matter if you're still the biggest fish in a small pond. While the town itself seems rather tiny and unremarkable, hundreds of even smaller operations could easily surround it, making it the nearest spaceport. If ole Jimbo Moisture Farmer wants a new whoositz for his vaporator he can either buy one off a Jawa (which will probably be the same broken one he sold the Jawa 6 months ago, just with a new coat of paint and a stench of Jawa B.O.), he can drive half a day to Mos Bigger and get one, blowing both an entire day and plenty of fuel, or he can go an hour away to Mos Shuuta, pay a little extra but spend less time and fuel to get the same thing.

Furthermore, for every Mos Shuuta, there's probably three more Mos Oneblocks within a couple hours.

I've spent plenty of time in rural communities over the years, and places like Mos Shuuta exist. They aren't bustling cities, but they serve a vital purpose, have a healthy economy, are the place for culture and trade for the area (limited, but when you don't got other options you take what you can get) and can have some real color, if you are willing to look for it.

I feel this post way too much. Growing up in basically a Mos Shuuta I can agree with this 1000% it's very much a small city or town but it is the biggest one around. It acts as the hub for most major activities in the area.