Hi folks

I haven't splashed out on Onslaught at Arda 1 yet but the temptation is there despite apparent mixed reviews. From those of you who have read the book, I was wondering whether the first Act is portable. Could the Imperial assault occur at Whisper Base from the Beginner Box rather than Arda 1?

The reason I ask is because my players are becoming heavily invested in Onderon and I like the idea of the scale of "Onslaught..." (assuming it's a worthy book), but I don't want to run them through the whole of Whisper Base and then have them go to Arda 1 and something very similar happen there as well. They're about to begin the follow-on scenario where the Moff retaliates - could Onslaught replace/supplement this?

Also, what are your thoughts on the story line as a whole?

Many thanks

Pac_Man 3D

It's certainly possible. But it'd take a fair amount of work on your part to have the first chapter of the adventure mesh with Whisper Base.

Also (Important Adventure Spoiler!)....

The end of the first chapter of Onslaught on Arda I results in the Rebels having to abandon the base after it'd been betrayed to the Empire. So if your players have gotten all kinds of invested in Whisper Base, meshing these two adventures may not be the best idea.

Instead, you could treat Onslaught at Arda as something of a "side trek" to the party, in that they are ferrying a bunch of supplies to Arda I and then get caught up in the events of the adventure.

Yeah, Arda I is kind of an 'evacuation on Hoth' scenario initially. That segues into trying to discover a traitor and chasing them down.

I did feel a bit of a disconnect to be honest - 'we just got this cool base and now we have to go to another base...?'

But after the second Onderon adventure, I felt it inappropriate to have to defend the same base again in any event. I made it clear from the start that Arda I was going to be an evacuation, that the PCs would be helping to defend a tactical withdrawal, so everyone knew how things would unfold in that regard.

Even though the Empire/Alliance war is more balanced and more of an even struggle in our games, it still plays to the strengths of the Alliance - hit the bigger foe where it's weak and not expecting an attack; retreat and give ground where the enemy is strongest and deny them any assets if possible.

For what it's worth I enjoyed running both scenarios. Arda has a few plot holes and some things missing in the adventure, but it's fairly easy to fix.

Thanks for the pointers, folks! You might have saved me £15 here, although I do like Donovan Morningfire 's suggestion about this as a side quest - getting caught up in the middle of things is very much how our party likes to roll.

My vision is for the players to be instrumental in establishing the Alliance on Onderon and to bring the fight into the heart of Iziz. I'd like to keep a strong focus on this planet even while they're off galavanting elsewhere, simply because there's a lot of mileage with the whole Freedon Nad uprising, Mandalorians, Beast Riders, etc - which could lead to some tasty links with Force & Destiny further down the (product) line.

Yeah, I hear you PacMan. My players really wanted to make more of the Onderon setup - there are a lot of interesting potential plotlines there, and they really like having a proper base.

As Donovan suggests, getting 'caught up' in events at Arda seems a good way to get involved.

I also like the idea that they could graduate to a larger base later on; the huge garrison mentioned somewhere in the follow-up adventure. Becoming honourary beast riders also has a certain charm...

Arda I could well be your supplier, a main hub through which the Alliance runs weapons and medicine and stuff. Hence the reason for your occasional visits.

Arda I could well be your supplier, a main hub through which the Alliance runs weapons and medicine and stuff. Hence the reason for your occasional visits.

I like that suggestion. It's almost as though you're trying to make me buy the book though, isn't it? Maybe that's why I set this thread up in the first place, but I just didn't realise it...

As Donovan suggests, getting 'caught up' in events at Arda seems a good way to get involved.

I've actually made this suggestion to the GM of the AoR game I'm playing in, as she got the book as part of her Xmas bundle last year (along with the Adversary Decks), but she had already established a "base" for our squad of misfits to operate out of along with various NPCs for us to interact with.

Last I knew, she was mulling it over, but she at least though it'd be a good idea so as to give her some more time to come up with original adventure ideas of her own (still a fairly new GM but learning quickly thanks to the A+ group of players she's got).

Arda I could well be your supplier, a main hub through which the Alliance runs weapons and medicine and stuff. Hence the reason for your occasional visits.

There's a nice element of intrigue with this too: the Empire shows up shortly after the PCs arrive. Might raise questions, particularly since one of the PCs is a bounty hunter who fell in with the rebels while hunting for an Alliance spy.

Arda I could well be your supplier, a main hub through which the Alliance runs weapons and medicine and stuff. Hence the reason for your occasional visits.

There's a nice element of intrigue with this too: the Empire shows up shortly after the PCs arrive. Might raise questions, particularly since one of the PCs is a bounty hunter who fell in with the rebels while hunting for an Alliance spy.

Ah, nice! Good intrigue.

My group actually used the Whisper Base scenario as a precursor for Arda 1...Somewhere here on this forum is a list of adventures that could be used as precursors before you play Arda. I think WB is the 1st...We are going to do the 3rd which is just before Arda.

We liked it.

I figured out that a good prelude adventure for Onslaught at Arda is the Old WEG "The Isis coordinates"

Whisper base is a secret even to Imperials, but is small enough that a small group can take control of it, upgrade it, and expand... but not really big enough to have the scale needed for Arda