Cooperation between an Inquisitor and an Emperor's Hand

By jmr398, in Game Masters

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I am running a campaign with PC characters from EotE, AoR, and F&D. I have an inquisitor as the main BBG through the story. However, I don't want him showing up every game session and diminishing his stature as a BBG. I was going to introduce an Emperor's Hand as another Force sensitive Imperial to challenge my PCs. I have not found any EU references to either parties working together or references to indicate if the Emperor would allow these two factions to work towards the same goals for him. The Hand's mission goals will not necessarily line up with the aim of the inquisitor all the time.

My PC unknowingly revealed their Force abilities and lightsabers in front of the inquisitor while attempting to rescue captive Jedi survivors from the Imperial prison on Dathomir. Needless to say the intel that led them to these actions was false and planted in the ISB databanks by the Inquisitorius to root out any remaining Jedi or Force users intent on finding Jedi. Any feed back and suggestions would be appreciated.

The rough outline of the campaign:

1. Party is formed and carryout the mission from EotE GM screen with an added twist that they find an 8 year old girl stashed in a crate inside the abandoned ship at the mining complex. Unkonwn to the party at the time, the girl is very strong in the Force and the Emperor felt her birth and has been searching for her the entire time she has been alive. The girl is the daughter of a Jedi padawan that managed to survive Order 66 and a confrontation with Vader before she went into hiding (Olee Startone from the Rise of the Dark Lord novel).
2. The party received intel about a secret "ghost prison" on Dathomir that held several Jedi captured by the Empire. However the intel turns out to be planted by the Inquisitorius to root out remaining Jedi/Jedi sympathizers. The party went to free the Jedi and found no force users in the prison and found the holding cells devoid of the Force altogether. The party confronted stormtroopers and an Inquisitor outside the prison as they were making their escape.
3. Party goes into hiding on Nar Shadda after the encounter and take a mission from a disguised force user to locate Tython and the ancient Jedi temple (adapted Echoes of the Past adventure that was posted on the FFG boards). Here is where I want to introduce the Emperor's Hand instead of the Dark Jedi and avoid using the Inquisitor again until the next adventure. The disguised Force user has actually been trained by Olee Starstone and sent to find her daughter. The Force user will either be captured by the Hand or severley injured based on the party's actions. Additionally, the Hand will kidnap the girl and take her to the Emperor or the Inquisitorious HQ on Prakith.
4. The party will have to train, gain more Force experience, and acquire better lightsabers (through upgrades) to be able to fully execute the end goals of the campaign which is to take down the Inquisitorious, along with Vader and the Emperor himself to complete the campaign. This is the long-term aim mind you and will take many adventures to achieve. However, based on the party's decisions, they have a surviving Jedi student and some Force users at their backs to train with in addition to the opportunity to gain some Rebel support along the way.
Edited by jmr398
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I'm extremely interested in your concept. While it seems it would be more suited to Force and Destiny, a group of light side oriented spacers could easily find themselves wrapped up in this quest. As far as I'm concerned, hell yes, the Inquisitor and the Hand would work together, for a number of reasons, not least among which is THE EMPEROR'S PERSONAL INTEREST in the kid. It could make for some awesome storytelling possibilities. For example, what happens when their interests diverge? Say a squad of ISB Stormtroopers run into a squad of Stormtroopers under the command of the Hand, a la "Allegiance". Or say the Inquisitor finally catches the kid, and the Players launch their crusade to smite him down, only to have their final battle interrupted as the Hand crashes through the window and takes off the Inquisitor's hand as he's about to waste the kid, forcing him to flee and live to fight another day and giving the Players a much needed opportunity. What if the Hand tracks the Players down, and is then ambushed by Olee Starstone herself? So many awesome cinematic possibilities.

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Thanks for the interest and suggestions. I am amused that you picked up on the stormtrooper squad via "Allegiance", b/c that was my thought exactly. The Hand would have recruited the squad at this point and the squad may keep the Hand on a somewhat more moral path, while the Inquisitor's aims are purely personal to increase his power and influence with the Emperor. As to your comment about more suited for F&D, the campaign started before it was released and after reading the beta release, my PCs decided to up the stakes and take on Knight level play. Mainly they just wanted to play with their lightsabers. However, my players are not as versed in the SW universe as I am and have been discovering that whipping out your lightsaber in every conflict is not a good idea. Now they have an Inquisitor, the Hand, a Hutt, and a band of experience bounty hunters that have a familial connection to one of my PCs. Additionally, the player that is the leader of the PC group has expressed interest in slipping to the Dark Side through the course of the campaign. We have lots of possibilities. We only play once a month, so this story will take a lot of time to fully develop. I can see us playing this arc for a couple of years before the PCs are strong enough to take down Vader and the Emperor. As you can clearly tell, cannon went out the window quickly in this story, but that is the most fun aspect of the campaign. The PCs are the heroes and not necessarily Luke. Hell, I might even add an element that the Emperor was overthrown by Vader and Luke, and now they have to defeat the father and son. Who knows, my players are tricky and love to challenge my ability to adapt the story as we play. One example of this is while playing the Long Arm of the Hutt adventure; they used the repulsor dozers on Ryloth as a shield when attacking the mobster’s base, ala Lethal Weapon 3 style.

Edited by jmr398
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Maybe the Inquisitor/Hand doesn't want the other to share the glory, and before one can hand the girl over, the other attacks and its up to the PCs to save the girl/eliminate both the Hand and the Inquisitor at once

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In your game, there is no reason they can't work together. The bad guys don't always have to be at odds with one another. Some people are more than happy enough to do their job and not try to claw their way to the top at the expense of their peers.

My only question stems from my own lack of knowledge about the EU. Wouldn't a Hand typically be a more powerful bad guy than an Inquisitor?

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The fun thing about Hands is that they're like A-Teams in Syria. They "don't exist". When they commandeer materiel, the Imperial officials involved have no idea who the Hand is or what their position is, only that the codes match the Emperor's personal catalogue. Meanwhile, an Inquisitor is a big deal. Nobody can miss the lightsaber, yellow eyes, or general sense of brutal competence. A Hand, on the other hand, (heh) will simply blend in with one of any number of false identities.

Posted at

In your game, there is no reason they can't work together. The bad guys don't always have to be at odds with one another. Some people are more than happy enough to do their job and not try to claw their way to the top at the expense of their peers.

My only question stems from my own lack of knowledge about the EU. Wouldn't a Hand typically be a more powerful bad guy than an Inquisitor?

No, all the literature going back to the WEG days states that the Inquisitor has more power than the Hand.

Edited by jmr398
Posted at

The fun thing about Hands is that they're like A-Teams in Syria. They "don't exist". When they commandeer materiel, the Imperial officials involved have no idea who the Hand is or what their position is, only that the codes match the Emperor's personal catalogue. Meanwhile, an Inquisitor is a big deal. Nobody can miss the lightsaber, yellow eyes, or general sense of brutal competence. A Hand, on the other hand, (heh) will simply blend in with one of any number of false identities.

Good point. Didn't think of it that way. That is exactly how Mara is characterized in Allegiance.