I'm in the throes of planning a long-term campaign and also moving, and I was hoping to get my new roommates in on it. One of them is intensely interested, but his girlfriend is less enthused. I don't want to leave her out, as she'd be the only person in the house not playing, and my prospective player has said that if she doesn't want to play he probably won't do it.

So I've decided to run a one-shot, to introduce her to the game and the concept of gaming as a whole. This is the story hook:

The group is retained by Kumari Bai to locate and recover a Gran named Gil Pellis. Pellis has possession of vital data pertaining to secret hyperspace routes and colony sites. The catch? He's currently in Imperial custody and needs to be rescued. Of course, Pellis may not want to be rescued by the likes of Bai, especially for the price she's asking…

I homebrewed a planet, Ord Vaago, to serve as the setting. Here's the description:

Ord Vaago is a Mid Rim world with a troubled history. It was one of the regional ordnance depots of the Old Republic, but in its time it was frequently the target of thieves and corrupt officials looking to sell arms illegally. It became known as a hotbed for criminal activities that were frequently overlooked by the bloated Republic, yet it retained its depot status, drawing criticism from a number of senators on pacifist and anti-corruption grounds.

The Clone Wars saw many such depots pressed back into service, but despite being restaffed Ord Vaago only produced a fraction of the arms expected of it. The Separatist war machine gained a foothold in the system, and under very little threat the Quartermaster surrendered the planet unconditionally.

When the Empire rose to power it quickly regained the world and pledged to restore it to a glory age that many believe never existed. However, aside from adding a largely impermanent fleet presence, very little has changed. There's evidence of corruption in the Imperial governance of the world, evidence which is quickly eradicated by the planet's governor, Lon Kilian.

Finally, I have five pre-gens that I built up and added about 50 XP to. There are only going to be three players, so I'll let them choose from among them.

• Smuggler Scoundrel.
• Bounty Hunter Assassin.
• Explorer Scout.
• Technician Slicer.
• Hired Gun Bodyguard.

There's some variety there, but nearly everyone has some combat capability if necessary. The Slicer is the one most at risk, but even though the guy I'm expecting will take him isn't an experienced roleplayer, I know he's also a good sport and a quick study.

Now. I'm far from finished here, so I'm turning to the community for some help. I'm currently putting together encounters, but I wanted input on what sorts of encounters there should be? What do you think is iconic for Star Wars and also roleplaying in general? There'll be a chase scene on a speeder, that much is practically certain. I'm trying to avoid space combat for the moment, as the goal is to expand the players' horizons, not shatter their minds.

I also have no idea how to pace myself. The whole thing should fit into a single four hour session. Should I skip the information gathering step? I want to avoid making it combat heavy, since I'm trying to demonstrate this game has other avenues of conflict resolution, but that makes it trickier to time.

Maybe I'm overthinking it, but I'd like to get other people's ideas on what to do.

This depends on what characters they choose;

Smuggler/Scoundrel

Bounty Hunter/Assassin

Explorer/Scout

Technician/Slicer

Hired Gun/Bodyguard

Will the other two be run as npc's?

What races are they?

Ideally you need a reason to be onworld so I assume the Smuggler is a Trader whose just delivered a cargo and is waiting to pick up a cargo for the return trip and should have the relevant documents to cover such an action.

The Scout should know the area with the Slicer locating where their target is and how to get their target out of the prison ad to the spaceport before the Imperials realise what's happened.

Okay to fit within a four hour session;

1) They've arrived aboard a legitimate trader which is a cover for one player's ship or an npc smuggler who remains aboard waiting for them to return.

2) The Slicer has located their target but he's in an Imperial prison meaning they need to acquire Stormtrooper uniforms to hide the nonhuman members of the group and an Imperial Uniform so they can collect their target using previously sliced orders sent to the prison and then their communication was interrupted to make the orders appear genuine but its only a matter of time before the comlink is restored and they doublecheck the details to make sure they've arrived where they're supposed to and they realise they've been conned.

So first scene they arrive at the prison one PC plays the Imperial Officer the other two in Trooper armour doing their best to appear intimidating, the effort appears successful and they leave the prison with their prisoner but their attempts at the gate will give you the gm the reason why the Imperials decide to do next.

For example they roll a triumph and the Imperial Prison decide to send an escort to insure the safety of the group after all they've impressed them with their authenticity and given them the idea it would look better for them to do something as well.

A success they make the return trip but they may have an hour or so before their ruse is discovered meanwhile it turns out they're not the only ones hired by Bali as a rival group tries to seize the target maybe even thinking the PCs are Imperials!

Maybe that should involve threat...

Despair, they're being held whilst someone is sent to the city to double check however they still have the chance to escape with their prisoner if they can disable the two guards and the Imperial Officer whose stubbornly ignoring your attempts to persuade them otherwise...

Either way this should lead to them racing back but with Imperials in close pursuit...

They're almost at the spaceport when an unexpected event forces their ship to leave and head out of the city to meet them partway...

Could be that rival group seized the ship and forced your npc to coerce the PCs to meet them outside where the rivals can ambush them... say that Imperial escort might come in handy... now if they're hostile that's even better!

You don't have to wait for them to start shooting just leave them to shoot each other whilst you try to get aboard your ship...

Maybe have them captured so the ship flees off world with their target giving them time to turn the tables or maybe Bali never intended to pay them off merely wanted them to recover the target and then eliminate them to keep the secret the target holds to herself?

Unfortunately the Imperials tagged their ship and as they learn of this betrayal the Imperials storm Balli's stronghold giving them the chance to flee... now if only they had some secret hyperspace route to make use of after all if it wasn't secret the Imperials would know about it... maybe you can appeal to the target's best interests... their self interest that is and help them escape?

Stuck in an area of space not in any navigation database with maybe their former boss mad at them along with the Empire maybe its time to go exploring and find that gold mine you were looking for as you end the session here to see if they want to continue this...

Might be a little too much and you sound like you have a better handle on scenes than I do maybe I've been listening to a little too much Fiddleback and his Skill Monkey shorts from the Order 66 podcast?!

Have you thought about the background of these characters?

What's the relationship between them?

You should be able to ignore this with a one shot, but it might be worth adding a line explaining why they're working together.

Do you plan on some of the group being local talent rather than having a ship available they could return to the ship to find out they've been double crossed and end up getting away but knowing that at least one of them can be identified so have a reason to flee off world?

Probably me thinking too much again but I thought it worth a mention in case you do succeed in catching their interest.