While we haven't finished Jewel of Yavin just yet - still in the midst of Episode I - my players have grown pretty attached to Aris and I don't foresee them betraying her or anything of that sort. It's likely that after they cash out following the adventure, our Bounty Hunter will likely be able to buy his own ship, which has been a plot point from the start, as the Smuggler Pilot blew up his ship in an accident some time before the campaign, so she agreed to let him work off her ship until he could buy a new one.

Since the Explorer and Colonist will probably stay on-board the Smuggler's ship, I had toyed with the idea of having Aris join up with their group and act as something akin to a handler or partner to the Bounty Hunter aboard his ship. If any of you have played Star Wars: The Old Republic , then she'd be in a similar position as Mako is with the Bounty Hunter class. They'd still adventure together as a part, of course, but between the big arcs they'd probably do their own thing, and bounties are slowly becoming more prevalent.

Thoughts? Anyone ever done something like this with one of the published adventure NPCs?

I did something slightly similar with Setenna Hase from Onslaught at Arda I in our campaign - she became the PCs handler within the Rebel Alliance, and for a time they were based out of Arda I (which meant that the players that did know the title of the published AoR adventure had a level of tension). The PCs worked under her for quite a while - through Onslaught at Arda I and its aftermath.

If fhe PCs have impressed Aris, the players like the character and it fits for your campaign, why not? Depending on how things play out with her father that could lead to some interesting complications down the road.

The way I played it is Aris knew nothing of her father's plans to betray the group at the end of the module. Personally, if your group has grown attached to her then I see an opportunity to kill her off and give that module some 'bottom'. That's a dangerous caper, makes sense someone pays the ultimate price.

You could even be creative about it. What if the group at the end of the module needs to decide between stopping Arend Shen and getting their money -or- saving Aris Shen's life? Would your group split?

Is there a chance a character in your group could become romantically involved with Aris? That could cause serious problems considering Aris' husband is a well-connected criminal. That's when you make Aris' husband a Black Sun Vigo.

Or... Aris could just be playing the 'damsel in distress'. At the end of the module when her father betrays the group, she could kill her father and runaway from her loveless marriage with all the money. Her father was a **** to her after all. Now that sucks since the group liked her. Don't expect your group to trust another NPC ever again.

Lots of options here since your group genuinely likes her!

The interesting fact is how the aftermath of the heist will be handled. Her father will definitely betray them given chance. It's noted that he hates lose ends and sees them as one, though it's not hard to see him either letting that go at her urging or, alternatively her warning them of his sellout (more likely, given the implication of him owning a small criminal empire that relies on him being absolved of any crime, and a man who made her accept a loveless marrage.). The handling of that will dictate how things go. Though opportunistic betrayal runs rich in this family.

Our group particularly didn't have a good relationship with either, at the time the undercover rebellion squad had a very deep-seated hatred against backstabbers, so both of them were subject to the batman approach. Aris, after her inital attempt to kill the party was intercepted while making a break for the yaiet (attempting to get away early) and detained, her father soon followed. It wasn't our last dealings with them as several months later her father had his hand in matters behind the bar, so we brokered a peace deal for his release. Only for one party member to smuggle himself aboard the ship that was provided, murdered him and took off to track down a bounty hunter.

Don't feel too sorry for him, he had a good lawyer and essentially had the entire jewel of yavin incident pinned on her, leaving her in solitary confinement while he was just arrested for money laundering. Even so, I've considered making an attempt at liberating her to perhaps gain the aid of his network to track down the man who killed her father in exchange for their services.

A shame it was me.

Seems like a fine idea to me. Since she's craving at least a little excitement, you could use her to urge the group into taking jobs which they wouldn't normally take on their own.

Such Taskmaster should not be on the ship. Make her an office (adventure seed for getting her an office), make it iconic to come to the office and get a job, evolve her through the look and feel of the office.