Here's my group's last adventure in quick-to-read outline format for other GMs to grab and use. Tuned for new characters (100-150 xp).
"ZOOLOGISTS ON KOWAK", or, "KOWAKIAN MONKEY BUSINESS!"
BACKGROUND (cue opening crawl):
JUNGLE ADVENTURE! A team from the IMPERIAL ZOOLOGICAL ACADEMY OF CORUSCANT has gone quiet on the jungle planet of KOWAK in the Outer Rim. The research team was sent to study a mysterious alien species speculated to be on the verge of evolving sentience, THE KOWAKIAN MONKEY LIZARDS! The zoological team was supposed to call for resupply and provide an update on their findings seven galactic rotations ago, but haven't sent any communication in some time. With the GALACTIC EMPIRE locked in pitched battle with the ALLIANCE TO RESTORE THE REPUBLIC; this particular delivery job has been outsourced to a group of independent spacers...
SETUP:
[Patron] hires the PCs to carry food, water, and research equipment to the team and provide assistance if needed. If they're dead, provide status update. Payment by the research team on safe arrival.
PART 1, ENTRY TO KOWAK (Pirates Optional) :
Astrogation for Kowak, come out of Hyperspace, Pirates are there (1 freighter [which should have some sizeable encumbrance], 2 fighters, all with ion cannons). Space battle ensues.
*OPTIONAL* - The Pirate Battle adds nothing to this adventure, my group just triggered some obligation with them.
PART 2 (assuming PCs beat Pirates):
Sensors on PCs' ship will show tons of biological life on Kowak; will show a group of humans on a beach who've set up distress beacons and a makeshift camp (the pirates ignored these, instead choosing to use the stranded team as bait). The researchers will explain they can't pay the PCs, their supplies are back at their "real" camp, which has been overrun by hostile monkey-lizards. They have captured a Kowakian Monkey lizard but have not been successful at interrogation/diplomacy. The rest of the Monkey Lizards have made no attempts to rescue the captive. [sTATS FOR MONKEY-LIZARDS FORTHCOMING (maybe).]
- If the PCs use Coerce, Charm, or Negotiation to gain information from the captive Monkey Lizard (probably with Setback]); the captive Monkey Lizard will try to draw on the sand with a stick what the problem is: a gigantihuge predator with mighty teeth and claws!
- If the PCs have a protocol droid, I'd add a Boost (similar to how I see C3P0 working with the Ewoks, he "sorta" understood their primitive dialect).
The problem is that a giant predator (NEMESIS difficulty) and its mate have taken over the Monkey Lizards' village (I used a Rass from LoNH, but called it a "Jungle" Rass and gave it camouflage fur), they attacked the zoologists' camp out of necessity to relocate. If the predators can be removed, the Monkey Lizards can go back to their village and will trouble the zoological team no more.
The Imperial Zoological team would be willing to pay 10,000c for these previously-undiscovered apex predators, IF the creatures could be captured alive! The Zoologists will send a repulsorsled fit with a (very) sturdy cage to hold these magnificent beasts (the cages are modular, and multiple cages can be snapped together to accommodate beasts of larger size)!
- If the PCs successfully Negotiate for further assistance, the Zoologists explain that their hired security expert (a Big Game Hunter) was killed in the initial battle with the Kowakian Monkey Lizards, but left an LBR-9 Stun Rifle (EtU:39) and Net Gun (EtU:42) at the camp where he died.
*OPTIONAL* PART 2.A, WEAPONS AT THE OVERRUN CAMP:
The PCs opt to return to the overrun camp, which is, in fact, overrun with Kowakian Monkey Lizards; they will meet "Chief Blinky", the One-Eyed. He is the alpha of this colony of Monkey Lizards. He has taken the Net Gun and Stun Rifle as battle trophies!
- If the PCs take the captive monkey lizard from the beach with them, and it is on agreeable terms with the PCs, the PCs may Negotiate with Chief Blinky for the weapons.
- If the PCs did not take the captive monkey lizard from the beach, they may select a champion to do battle with Chief Blinky for the weapons (and also that PC becomes the new Chieftan of these Monkey Lizards).
- If the PCs want to slaughter the whole lot, they can certainly do that as well. There's about 30 of them.
PART 3, PAIN IN THE RASS!!! (or different Nemesis monsters of your chosing):
The PCs make their way to the Monkey Lizards' old village by either tracking where the Monkey Lizards Came from through the jungle, or by having a friendly Monkey Lizard along as guide. The village sits high in the trees of Kowak (think Ewok village), but has rope ladders plenty wide from the ground up (since no one wants to haul two gigantic beasts all the way back down from the trees to the beach). There is a high mountain peak that reaches above the tree-line. On this mountaintop is a large cave, which the Monkey Lizards used as a sacred place of ceremony, worship, and sacrifices to their ancient Monkey Lizard gods (most important, the entrance to the cave is too small for any spacecraft to fit through, TAKE THAT, MUNCHKINS)! And right now it's home to a pair of mighty Jungle Rass (or other Nemesis creatures that you want to use), where they feast on the dessicated corpses of dozens of Monkey Lizard Warriors! My pair of Rass stood 6-feet a the shoulder and had a length of 15 feet with their tails. FIGHT!
EPILOGUE!:
If the PCs successfully deal each creature stun damage to unconsciousness, they toss the beasts in the big old cage together, and wheel (rather float) that repulsorsled back down to the beach. Congrats! FIVE THOUSAND CREDITS!
"You mean 10-thousand, right GM?" (believe me your players will ask you this)
To which the GM replies, "no, they give you 5-thousand, the remaining 5-thousand will be paid to you by the Zoological Academy when you take the beasts to Coruscant".
Now maybe the PCs will choose to accept the job, or threaten to un-stun (if you can do that) the creatures and let them go on the zoologists. But any way it goes, the zoologists simply only have 5,000 credits on them at the moment. If the players want the rest, they'll have to haul the two giant, slathering (but hopefully at the moment unconscious) creatures back to Coruscant.
The zoological team will not leave Kowak, and will instead opt to return to their camp (now free of Monkey Lizards) to compile their research results for the Emperor. With their comm equipment back in their possession, they'll message for pickup when their work is done.
THE END
Edited by CrunchyDemon
