Story Ideas Please

By GM Hooly, in Game Masters

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Hello Guys and Gals!


I'm about to start the "Third Season" of my Dragon Squadron campaign. This season, I decided on this as the main theme:


When the Galactic Empire steps up their relentless pursuit of the Rebel Alliance across the galaxy, will a squadron of rag-tag pilots be able to courageously work with an unusual spy network to track down the plans of a new Super Weapon, more powerful than the first Death Star, before Emperor Palpatine launches an all-out attack on every star system that is known to support freedom in the galaxy?


The setting is between The Battle of Hoth and The Battle of Endor.


The crew are members of an elite squadron similar to that of Rogue Squadron.


I want to have the involvement of Bothan Spies, the Inquisitorium, and a major deception which causes the deaths of thousands of Bothans. Any ideas before I start making notes?

Edited by GM Hooly
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Whats your starting point?

I tried to set up a game around a mercenary unit that functioned like privateers in the mold of

The group would inherit an outdated ship modified to carry a small number of fighters mostly on the exterior, but the idea they would rebuild their forces as well as finances in various missions which wouldn't involve the Empire initially but would inevitably have an ISB nemesis who comes after them seeking proof to back up the initial trumped up charges.

In your case I was wondering if you'd consider establishing some side business to cover their tracks as well as give them a means to enter Core systems without alerting the authorities?

Edited by copperbell
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The scene: Palpatine is becoming more paranoid by the day. The Rebels are serving their purpose, allowing him to consolidate his power in the name of security, but the loss of the Death Star was unexpected. However development on the "full-scale" version of the weapon proceeds apace. Finding out that Vader's child survived and was responsible for that has caused him to rethink a few things. It's conceivable that he might finally have an apprentice worthy of his majesty -- Anakin before Mustafar.

The objective: In order to ensure that the path is cleared for the son of Skywalker to join him, all other paths of enlightenment about the Force must be pruned.

The plan: Therefore the Inquisitorius must be dispatched throughout the galaxy on a secret mission that is critical to the Empire. They must search the galaxy for Force-resonant artifacts that will allow the Emperor to amplify the Force-power capable of being channeled by his right hand, Vader. They will be dispatched to all the corners of the Outer Rim in this search.

The opportunity: They will be sufficiently far from one another to be unable to support each other -- drawing attacks.

The bait: This mission must be held as the most closely guarded secret within the Empire -- therefore it's the one that is most likely to be pursued by the most capable spies of the Rebels -- and, since it involves significant involvement of Dark Side Force users, it will naturally draw all relevant Light Side Jedi in opposition.

The secret: The crux of the situation is that it is all a wild goose chase and even if such artifacts are found, they're not going to be able to do what the rumors say they will. The entire plan exists to distract the Rebel spy network, busy the Jedi, and pull them away from the son of Skywalker. That way his new apprentice will not have sufficient training to stand up to his influence and will bend the knee as his father before him.

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Wow! That's awesome!

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Is your game going to be canon agnostic? If not, then there are several major issues with your premise.

First, the Inquisitorius was disbanded prior to the Battle of Yavin. Second, Pablo Hidalgo has essentially confirmed that the Bothan's didn't steal the second Death Star's plans. In fact, there wasn't anything stolen in the first place, and he speculates it was a recon flight like Snap performed to get info on SKB.

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a new Super Weapon, more powerful than the first Death Star, before Emperor Palpatine launches an all-out attack on every star system

Reality holoshows?

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Is your game going to be canon agnostic? If not, then there are several major issues with your premise.

First, the Inquisitorius was disbanded prior to the Battle of Yavin. Second, Pablo Hidalgo has essentially confirmed that the Bothan's didn't steal the second Death Star's plans. In fact, there wasn't anything stolen in the first place, and he speculates it was a recon flight like Snap performed to get info on SKB.

His campaign might be what caused the disbanding of the Inquisitorius.... And the reason the Bothans didn't get the plans for the second Death Star could also be because they were busy with his campaign.... Creativity is useful.

Posted at

Is your game going to be canon agnostic? If not, then there are several major issues with your premise.

First, the Inquisitorius was disbanded prior to the Battle of Yavin. Second, Pablo Hidalgo has essentially confirmed that the Bothan's didn't steal the second Death Star's plans. In fact, there wasn't anything stolen in the first place, and he speculates it was a recon flight like Snap performed to get info on SKB.

That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. The quote: "Many Bothans died to bring us this information" indicates that they died for a reason. I guess that if Pablo has said they didn't steal anything and there is no canon information, whatever I present to the players is "Game Canon" I guess.

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So here is what I came up with. They got about half way and the plot changed thanks to player involvement :)

SCALES OF WAR
EPISODE I
Trail of the Celestial Shadow
The destruction of the DEATH STAR and the TARKIN sent a decisive message to the galaxy, that the REBEL ALLIANCE was capable of fighting the evil GALACTIC EMPIRE. Unfortunately this act caused the Emperor to send his most fearsome agent DARTH VADER to deal with this threat.
Under Lord Vader’s command, the Empire forced the Rebels to flee from their hidden base on HOTH and take to the stars. Without a home, the Rebels now find themselves lacking the resources to continue their fight for freedom.
DRAGON SQUADRON, fresh from their latest victory, takes the lead in the search for further assets to help sustain the Rebellion while one of their newest recruits uses the opportunity to follow a lead of her own....

HOOK
Several months have passed since the end of the last adventure. The rebels have retreated to their home base where they monitor the situation that they left behind in case of further Imperial retaliation. Meanwhile news has spread of the Empire’s escalation of force throughout the galaxy, and in turn has shown the Rebellion lacks the resources to continue their fight for freedom. Will Dragon Squadron be able to help in the Rebellion's search for those much needed resources, or will their personal goals stand in their way.
CLIFF HANGER
The PCs are flying through the swamp world of Nal Hutta, homeworld of the Hutts after following a lead not only for the supply of illegally obtained weapons for the Rebellion, but also on the whereabouts of Vixto Lenoshi’s ship, the Celestial Shadow. The PCs must fend off the guards of the starship salesman and con artist Drex Furlow who has somehow become entangled in the sale of Vixto’s vessel. Drex is in debt to Mallic the Hutt.
DEVELOPMENT
When the PCs catch up with him, Drex admits to being spooked. Its not often the Rebellion comes packing the sort of heat they have with them. He claims to not immediately know where the ship is, but can follow up on a few leads. He offers to sell the PCs the whereabouts (at least that he knows anyway) of the Celestial Shadow once he finds it, providing the PCs can collect a cargo of parts that were impounded by the Empire on Yaga Minor. If they haggle, he can offer to sell them several crates of weaponsas well. He explains that rumours indicate that the Rebellion is running low on resources, and that the Empire is certainly taking advantage of that fact. He provides them with the exact allotment then can collect the cargo from, and explains that they can expect to encounter “some” resistance.
CLIFF HANGER
The PCs must make their way to Yaga Minor. When they arrive, the system is brimming with Imperial activity. They will need to make it to the planet without attracting attention, a task which will be met with several checkpoints (skill challenge), and will be dependent on how the PCs got to the system.
DEVELOPMENT
The PCs will learn that Yaga Minor is the home of a secret Imperial Weapons testing facility. Two ominous shadows loom over the planet, one being covered in construction equipment. The vessels are two freshly constructed Torpedo Spheres, a terrifying weapon used by the Empire to subjugate worlds that protect themselves with orbital shielding. The PCs will need to make their way to the planet to a storage depot. They can do this by conning their way into the facility (or blast their way).
CLIFF HANGER
The PCs need to make it into the facility. When they find the cargo, a task within itself, they are befriended by a female technician and her astromech droid. She offers to pay the crew to take her droid with them and deliver it to a friend on Hypori. The technician is named Neva Sang, and is the girlfriend of the Nath Alico, the Rebel Intelligence agent who infiltrated Capatain Motti’s command and was able to report on the imminent attack on Hypori before it occurred. The droid QT-H7 contains data on a another secret facility on the world of Lotide, but she refuses to divulge that information. The person she asks they deliver it to is the head of security there, a man by the name of Chief Bellows (CT-4503).
There may be other opportunities to obtain additional Imperial weapons and equipment for the Rebellion. Doing so will add to the escalating problems, as the PCs will soon learn that they have been discovered.
CLIMAX
The PCs cover is blown and they must make their way out of the facility. Their ship is covered with stormtroopers, and it is up to them to either blast their way through them, or steal a shuttle.
RESOLUTION
The PCs have data vital to the Rebellion in their hands, but they don’t know that yet.