I do find it a bit odd that the allied ships enter the atmosphere and participate in stages 4-6, but the Imperial ships do not.

I also find it odd that the Imperial commander has Int 3, Cunning 3 and Knowledge (Warfare) 4 and uses very dull and predictable tactics. IMO, he should at least throw a few curves at the defenders once he sees he has some opposition rather than just plodding forward in a predictable manner.

The GM could definitely change that if so desired

I think it would be useful if there were suggestions on how to change tactics like rebels do X the imperial commander does Y, so the GM has guidelines on how to adapt to the player's actions.

I do find it a bit odd that the allied ships enter the atmosphere and participate in stages 4-6, but the Imperial ships do not.

I also find it odd that the Imperial commander has Int 3, Cunning 3 and Knowledge (Warfare) 4 and uses very dull and predictable tactics. IMO, he should at least throw a few curves at the defenders once he sees he has some opposition rather than just plodding forward in a predictable manner.

The GM could definitely change that if so desired

I think it would be useful if there were suggestions on how to change tactics like rebels do X the imperial commander does Y, so the GM has guidelines on how to adapt to the player's actions.

Absolutely. I plan to do a few of these, likely here on this thread. They will likely come from the "What if the Imperial captain thought like a PC?" approach, and so I'll be starting with an examination of his goals and what he knows at the beginning of the battle.

hey happyDaze, that would be really nice. I bought the book today and... well it was a little bit confusing for me at first. But maybe I should read the adventure from the beginning on and not in the middle of it

anything on the properties of beskar and the worked armor, beskar'gam ?

Not really, no. They do have good armor, but IIRC it's the same as heavy battle armor from EotE Core with the cortosis added.

Would have been nice to get a mention of it though, even if it was just "Beskar is the same as Cortosis rules-wise."

My questions have to do with the artwork, and what stats go with what ships.

It took some time, but I finally figured out that the Icarii-7 is shown on page 83. All you have to do is look at the number of weapons barrels to figure that out. But for the longest time, I was trying to make it the new ship on page 16 (next to the CR-90), and that just didn’t make any sense at all. It wasn’t until I saw page 83 and then tried to figure out which ship that might be, that I finally made my way all the way back to page 16, and then made the connection.

The personal ship of the Zygerrian prince seems to be the Unbreakable Chain (mentioned as a corvette on page 80), but there doesn’t seem to be any reference to this ship in the Zygerrian chapter, and there don’t seem to be any stats for it that I can find. There does appear to be a picture of it on the very last page in the book (page 96), but there’s no indication on that page what that ship is supposed to be. Again, it wasn’t until I saw the picture of the ship and then tried to go figure out what it was, that I made the connection.

We do get the stats for the YV-865 Aurore -class Freighter on page 88, and we get a picture of it on page 87. That is appreciated, but it would be nice if there was a more clear linkage between the two — if you don’t already know what a Zygerrian slaver ship is supposed to look like, then how would you figure this out?

At least the Imperial Floating Fortress stats on page 85 come before the picture on page 86, and since there are very few atmospheric vehicles shown in this book, it is a lot easier to figure out what is what. But it would still be nice to have a more obvious linkage.

We see stats and a picture of the Gladiator -class Star Destroyer on page 79, and it’s nice to have this linkage. But when we see discussion of the Blood Ambition on page 81, the text keeps swapping back between the name “ Blood Ambition ” and the class “ Gladiator ” without indicating which is which. This makes it hard to figure out if two different ships are being talked about, or if they’re talking about the same ship in two different ways. This also happens elsewhere that the ship is discussed.

For the Raider II -class Corvette also listed on page 79, this is a simple typo, because in the description itself, and elsewhere in the book, it talks instead about the Raider I . So which is it? Is it the Raider I or Raider II ?

Also, it’s not clear what is happening with the Icarii-7 . It jumps into hyperspace at the end of Phase 6 (see page 89), but then so far as I can tell it never returns. Yet, on page 95, when discussing rewards for the end of the episode, there is mention of further activities with Captain Skahvi Renlow of the Icarii-7 . But when did he come back? Maybe he returned with the Rebel fleet?

Anyway, that’s all that has leapt out to me so far. I’ll do another read-through and let you know if I spot anything else.

I do find it a bit odd that the allied ships enter the atmosphere and participate in stages 4-6, but the Imperial ships do not.

I also find it odd that the Imperial commander has Int 3, Cunning 3 and Knowledge (Warfare) 4 and uses very dull and predictable tactics. IMO, he should at least throw a few curves at the defenders once he sees he has some opposition rather than just plodding forward in a predictable manner.

The GM could definitely change that if so desired

I think it would be useful if there were suggestions on how to change tactics like rebels do X the imperial commander does Y, so the GM has guidelines on how to adapt to the player's actions.

Absolutely. I plan to do a few of these, likely here on this thread. They will likely come from the "What if the Imperial captain thought like a PC?" approach, and so I'll be starting with an examination of his goals and what he knows at the beginning of the battle.

I thought about tying the battle sequence of Arda 1 with the plot of Friends Like These. Working on ideas for that now.

Started running this with my players at the weekend. We've only gotten through the initial set up, so they're thinking through their options at the moment. I'm told that their current favourite option involves attempting to take out the Gladiator-Class Star Destroyer in space. Should be a fun few weeks, they're nothing if not ambitious.

Started running this with my players at the weekend. We've only gotten through the initial set up, so they're thinking through their options at the moment. I'm told that their current favourite option involves attempting to take out the Gladiator-Class Star Destroyer in space. Should be a fun few weeks, they're nothing if not ambitious.

Sorry to disappoint, but the battle is highly narrative and taking out the GSD never really becomes an option, not even when overwhelming Rebel reinforcements arrive. On the bright side, the same narrative battle never really allows the GSD to go full out against the PCs' ship(s) either.

Not really, no. They do have good armor, but IIRC it's the same as heavy battle armor from EotE Core with the cortosis added.

Would have been nice to get a mention of it though, even if it was just "Beskar is the same as Cortosis rules-wise."

Went back and looked and it is mentioned. +2 Defense and +2 Soak. Also listed as Heavy Beskar'gam battle armor.

Started running this with my players at the weekend. We've only gotten through the initial set up, so they're thinking through their options at the moment. I'm told that their current favourite option involves attempting to take out the Gladiator-Class Star Destroyer in space. Should be a fun few weeks, they're nothing if not ambitious.

Sorry to disappoint, but the battle is highly narrative and taking out the GSD never really becomes an option, not even when overwhelming Rebel reinforcements arrive. On the bright side, the same narrative battle never really allows the GSD to go full out against the PCs' ship(s) either.

Depends on the GM. A good GM could make that the turning point of the battle if the players had a really good story and rolled well.

Started running this with my players at the weekend. We've only gotten through the initial set up, so they're thinking through their options at the moment. I'm told that their current favourite option involves attempting to take out the Gladiator-Class Star Destroyer in space. Should be a fun few weeks, they're nothing if not ambitious.

Sorry to disappoint, but the battle is highly narrative and taking out the GSD never really becomes an option, not even when overwhelming Rebel reinforcements arrive. On the bright side, the same narrative battle never really allows the GSD to go full out against the PCs' ship(s) either.

Depends on the GM. A good GM could make that the turning point of the battle if the players had a really good story and rolled well.

I have a question. Would anyone be able to list the different capital ships that are in this book? I am asking because I'm looking to add specific ones into my games. I'm happy to hear the Raider is one of the ones here, been looking for Imperial Light Cruisers & Venator-Class Star Destroyers, aka Republic Attack Cruisers aka Jedi Cruisers.

Raider

Gladiator Star Destroyer

Crappy Zygerrian ship (Gozanti with way less weapons)

Overgunned and undercrewed modified bulk freighter (Icky-7)

Crappy Zygerrian ship (Gozanti with way less weapons)

Is that the C-ROC?

Crappy Zygerrian ship (Gozanti with way less weapons)

Is that the C-ROC?

Crappy Zygerrian ship (Gozanti with way less weapons)

Is that the C-ROC?

Nope. It's the one that looks like an old-school vacuum cleaner with the handle and bag removed. And coincidentally, it sucks.

Ah, the Action VI Series Bulk Transport. Or as I call it, the handvac.

Crappy Zygerrian ship (Gozanti with way less weapons)

Is that the C-ROC?

Nope. It's the one that looks like an old-school vacuum cleaner with the handle and bag removed. And coincidentally, it sucks.

Ah, the Action VI Series Bulk Transport. Or as I call it, the handvac.

I will be running this book as the next few games for my group. My wife is due to have a baby any week now, so a pre-made adventure means I can keep the campaign going without all the prep for my own games

I have set the game up a little differently than how is starts as written. My last game ended with the PCs already on Xorrn as they are building themselves a Corvette (as per the new FO rules). I ended the game with them discovering an Imperial Scout vessel on the planet. They chased it, and eventually destroyed it, but the question remained, did the Imps get a signal off reporting the Xorrn shipyards? Of course they did! That is how the next game will begin, with the spy on board the Gladiator SD reporting back to Xorrn that the planet has been made and the Imps are on the way...and thus the module begins.

My question to those that have run the game, is more about the big battle at the end:

Have any GMs out there changed the battle to include a space battle with the GSD? I know my players would LOVE to get up there and fight it with their shiny new 'vette, assisting the Rebel Fleet.

Knowing this, I can set the game up a little differently where the PCs will work to recruit NPCs for the ground defenses, and aim for themselves to be in the space battle.

Any shared experiences will be greatly appreciated!

Will you be allowing for the possibility of that shiny Corvette getting destroyed? The setup has the Imperials getting all the way into the heart of the base and the PCs just slowing them down until then. If you allow for other victory conditions, I think it's just as important to consider alternate defeats too.

3 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

Will you be allowing for the possibility of that shiny Corvette getting destroyed? The setup has the Imperials getting all the way into the heart of the base and the PCs just slowing them down until then. If you allow for other victory conditions, I think it's just as important to consider alternate defeats too.

Ha! Well, that might be up to them. If they get badly banged up, then they can do a runner and leave the ground forces to defend.

Mmm. Maybe I need a reread of the battle. I did just skim the end to concentrate on the beginning.

If you are interested enough in doing a non-Mass Combat capital ship fight, the entire ground portion might just be moot. Whoever wins the space battle wins the day. If you go this route, I'd suggest making the countdown to an evacuation rather than to reinforcements arriving and stealing the win (or hand of godding the defeat away).

This module definitely requires tweaking. As written, the Imperials flee when reinforcements show up.

If any Imperials escape, Foundry Four is still lost. There has to be an option where all Imperial forces are captured/destroyed, to keep Xornn's secret.

1 hour ago, salamar_dree said:

This module definitely requires tweaking. As written, the Imperials flee when reinforcements show up.

If any Imperials escape, Foundry Four is still lost. There has to be an option where all Imperial forces are captured/destroyed, to keep Xornn's secret.

Or, more realistically, rewrite it to be an evacuation. Or, have a pod of magic space squid-whales pull the whole base to somewhere else through hyperspace. Hey, it worked on Rebels ...

Sorry @KRKappel , I'm probably going to gut the **** out of this thing. For starters we're playing a Clone Wars game - so gone is the rebels (and probably the buggies, too), turning Xorrn into a small human colony running the factory. The players will arrive running on fumes after hauling across the galaxy, looking to fill up. . . but the CIS resupply ship is couple of days late, so no gas. That means they're stuck there, interacting with the locals giving me a chance to get them emotionally attached (so when the Republic arrives, they have stakes in the fight instead of just "Well, you're on your own. Smell you later!"). And instead of a cutscene spy learning of the factory, I'll probably have some clone scouts discover the factory - the players will probably take the team out, but not before getting the message back.

I'll probably dump the slavers, and I'll be tying the Mando colony (now a mando offshoot colony) to one of the player's back story, rewriting large portions of that "why are they here?" part. I'll keep the Talz, tho. That bit was fine.

As for @HappyDaze 's perfectly valid point of "Well, what about the inevitable followup strike?" - easy. The Republic just doesn't have the resources to draw from other fronts to take out one lone tiny factory. They might down the line, but not right away. This will give the players (who have contacts in the Jedi) a bit of time to go to bat for the colony and perhaps get them to lay off such a low priority target full of civilians.

As for the end? I've never been a fan of the rollathon that is Mass Combat. So maybe one or two rolls to resolve the big fight, and then figure out some microtask for the players to deal with - capture/killing the enemy commander? Don't know yet, but I don't need to know how the endgame plays out for a week or two yet, so no rush there.

EDIT - Oooh, I just had a thought. I'm keeping the original droid factory functionality of Foundry Four. So. . . whats to stop the players from cranking it up to 11 and mass producing their own battle droid army. I'd say lack of central control unit, but they took that little exhaust port out of the droids after Naboo. Will have to think on this.