Hey all! I have been lurking for several weeks but am now a new poster on the forums! I'm a relatively new GM to this system as we've only been going a few months.

Next week, I will be running a mission based on Christopher Hunt's Imperial VIP Convoy http://www.d20radio....ial-vip-convoy/ . The team will need to kidnap and interrogate an Imperial Admiral. I have added some trucks, bikes, guards, support, and the Chariot with the Admiral inside.

My question is broad but... What things can I do to run this well? What advice can you give? Particularly chase elements. A few more details:

My idea is this convoy will be moving through a city... busy streets... the PC's will somehow jump the convoy. I'll have several vehicles in motion... several PC's (who have their own speeder) in play... lots going on at once. There are some body guards, drop ship reinforcements, and I might have the ISB arrive as there is a jedi-type character with some obligation. So this is more moving parts than I have taken on before. When the stuff hits the fan and everyone guns the gas pedal, it could be chaos, and that's fun. But I don't want to make it clunky or too overbearing.

This IS intended to be an entire game session so I don't intend this to be just a simple encounter. This can last a game session or two.

On chases, how do I handle range bands with all these vehicles? Do the pilots always need to make a pilot check to increase the range bands between the PC's and bad guys? Do the PC's need pilot checks to close distance? If so can they do anything else that round? Do you do 'chase' competitive checks before starting 'initiative' maneuvers and actions?

Any advice others can give would be fantastic.

Scotter23

Do you want it to be a chase or a bunch of vehicles all crowded together with a bunch of Indiana Jones hopping back and forth between the vehicles?

My imagination says a little of both will happen. The VIP will try to get away and run some, yeah?

If it's like 2P51 suggest, Indiana Jones style, then you can treat all the "moving" vehicles as just stationary terrain for the most part. Imagine doing an encounter on the top of a train. The fact that it's moving shouldn't have too much affect. It may only come in to affect when, say, a transport with fresh Stormtroopers comes along side and they hop on the big vehicle.

Think Mad Max.

My imagination says a little of both will happen. The VIP will try to get away and run some, yeah?

OK, but remember if the dice roll funny and they get away, they get away. Is that how you want things to play out?

I think what you really want is a high speed moving encounter with action occurring between the vehicles in the encounter, which means range bands changing is probably not what you want.

I'm not afraid of my PC's failing a mission in a campaign. For this... if the VIP "gets away"... I might start an investigative part of the story to find where he went... catch up with him, whatever. It's a very valid point.

You're right... I want a high speed moving encounter.

Perhaps range bands only come into play when people want to change position in the convoy... (and for shooting ranges) then it's a competitive pilot check. Something like that maybe?

I'd just set the length of the convoy chase as long or medium and everyone makes their rolls accordingly. If they wanna close the distance that's where the Indiana Jones stuff starts with hopping between moving vehicles...

Maybe also hit some difficult terrain along the way forcing them all to make pilot checks to stay safe. It's pretty much a staple in those kind of fights, where for a lot of the fight the movement is just background (eg Fights on top of trains, which is basically just a straightforward fight with interesting stuff in the background, suddenly you get a low bridge or tunnel . . .)

How much planning with the PCs have? Do they have any support? Is one of the PCs flying the speeder or an NPC?

As people have mentioned, run the encounter as pseudo-static. If they are using a speeder, have crap get in the way, nothing too hard, that the pilot has to contest with to keep up. Set an average difficulty with some setback depending on where they are travelling.

Do they have a plan of the vehicles or the layout (which vehicles are where) of the convoy?

For the NPCs, I would set a lot of the vehicles as minions (maybe naval troopers), with perhaps a lead vehicle with a couple of rivals (Imperial Officers). Maybe 2 in the front speeder, and 2 in the rear speeder.

In the main truck/bus/chariot, give it more minion groups of Stormtroopers rather than making them better. Have them use cover - a lot. Also give the main speeder a Stormtrooper Sergeant. They are deadly.

Have the Admiral's chief bodyguard (Nemesis) be always at the Admiral's side, and if you are creating that character yourself, take a look at the Bodyguard specialization tree for inspiration.

When placing stuff in the way, have civilians be the main obstacle if a Despair is ever rolled. Nothing causes PC problems than a moral conflict. Also, make sure you set that up before the adventure by having the PCs notice a lot of beggars, street kids and homeless on the street. It also has the added benefit of making the Admiral seem more horrid when during their research they find holo-pics in news-net gossip mags of him in front of his opulent palace standing next to his top of the line speeder.find out he has just purchased a top of the line speeder.

The thing I would highly recommend is getting the PCs to describe what they want to do. If it sounds cool, always give them a boost dice or two. We aren't playing for sheep stations. We are here to entertain. If they are stuck for ideas, propt them with a scene from a film. Give them something they can relate to.

Just a few random thoughts.

Hey Hooly... thank you very kindly! A few remarks and answers:

The PC's will have about a week to prepare out of the game. They kind of know what's up so they can chat offline about it, that way we don't spend 30 mins of game time with them trying to figure out how to handle this. In game, they'll have a couple days of game time to prep. They will have no support... except... they might have a local Rebel Cell, if they can work their checks right, who might be willing to assist. The PC's do have a speeder they can take with them whenever they want to on missions if they like. So they may or may not choose to use it. They certainly do not have to.

A local Rebel Cell will have some information as the the convoy route, but not necessarily the composition. That is the same cell that might assist if the PC's want to try and convince them. I'm prepped for that.

I love the chief body guard idea. Fantastic. That gives them a BBEG sorta without it being the Admiral himself who, honestly, isn't a combat monkey.

And thank you because yes I want inspiration for those narrative moments. Indiana Jones has been mentioned. So has Mad Max. That's exactly what I hope happens.

The advice on movies is fantastic because I have a mixed group. My family... my wife and son... this is their first RPG experience. My friends, they're all seasoned vets since D&D when we were kids. One even writes published modules for Call of Cathulu so my buds are top notch, but there are times my family isn't sure what to do exactly. So that's awesome I'm going to reference those things.

I appreciate the ideas so far! I'll take any that there are.

Hey Hooly... thank you very kindly!

You are perfectly welcome sir.

The PC's will have about a week to prepare out of the game. They kind of know what's up so they can chat offline about it, that way we don't spend 30 mins of game time with them trying to figure out how to handle this. In game, they'll have a couple days of game time to prep. They will have no support... except... they might have a local Rebel Cell, if they can work their checks right, who might be willing to assist. The PC's do have a speeder they can take with them whenever they want to on missions if they like. So they may or may not choose to use it. They certainly do not have to.

Cool. I know its not in the rules, but if their speeder is faster than the vehicles that are pursuing, you should add a boost dice just so the PCs feel like they are getting the upper hand. Its always nice to make the PCs feel superior. They are heroes after all.

A local Rebel Cell will have some information as the the convoy route, but not necessarily the composition. That is the same cell that might assist if the PC's want to try and convince them. I'm prepped for that.

Can I suggest here that if the negotiations go really well, and they score a triumph, perhaps the rebels DO have the make up of the convoy.

I love the chief body guard idea. Fantastic. That gives them a BBEG sorta without it being the Admiral himself who, honestly, isn't a combat monkey.

Exactly. But make sure the Admiral has at least Scathing Tirade to give them jibes as they fail to deal with his bodyguard quickly.

And thank you because yes I want inspiration for those narrative moments. Indiana Jones has been mentioned. So has Mad Max. That's exactly what I hope happens.

Great movies with chase scenes: The Matrix Series, The 5th Element, The Italian Job, any Bond film, any Fast and Furious film, Lethal Weapon 3, and Terminator 2.

The advice on movies is fantastic because I have a mixed group. My family... my wife and son... this is their first RPG experience. My friends, they're all seasoned vets since D&D when we were kids. One even writes published modules for Call of Cthulhu so my buds are top notch, but there are times my family isn't sure what to do exactly. So that's awesome I'm going to reference those things.

Keeping a game "relatable" to its audience (your players) helps them get into that zone. They can picture that in their minds eye. With FFGs Star Wars RPG being very cerebral, giving your players a point of reference will help them visualize the action and create some amazing gaming moments.

I appreciate the ideas so far! I'll take any that there are.

I'm sure people have more

You said an entire session. I don't believe you would want your players fighting atop moving vehicles for the ENTIRE session only it's a very short one? Now perhaps what you were thinking is they eventually capture the VIP and now they are being chased to their transport, chased through space, etc. That could easily be enough for the session. But if you wanted ONLY the VIP capture (assassination?) to be the entire session, I would suggest at least one change up. Perhaps after the VIP's vehicle gets stuck, crashes, stops at a dead end, a foot chase begins. Running through crowds and leaping across rooftops type of thing. Or he drops down through a man-hole and attempts to escape through a sewer system with a random beastie encounter? Have something else ready in case the convoy chase gets repetitive or abruptly comes to an end way to soon.

You said an entire session. I don't believe you would want your players fighting atop moving vehicles for the ENTIRE session only it's a very short one? Now perhaps what you were thinking is they eventually capture the VIP and now they are being chased to their transport, chased through space, etc. That could easily be enough for the session. But if you wanted ONLY the VIP capture (assassination?) to be the entire session, I would suggest at least one change up. Perhaps after the VIP's vehicle gets stuck, crashes, stops at a dead end, a foot chase begins. Running through crowds and leaping across rooftops type of thing. Or he drops down through a man-hole and attempts to escape through a sewer system with a random beastie encounter? Have something else ready in case the convoy chase gets repetitive or abruptly comes to an end way to soon.

Our sessions are only 2.5 hours due to people's schedules. We often have either 2-3 part modules or try and wrap it up in just a couple hours. So that's why I think this might last. Your idea about the foot chase is awesome as there will be busy streets and people and speeders and shops and all sorts of hazards and obstacles and terrain for both vehicles and people. That's excellent.

These ideas are really awesome and helpful they're all triggering ideas and/or I'm injecting them. It's fantastic!