Hello

In Episode II of this module there is a section on how the pcs actually go about stealing the Gem from the Museum. Im curious what other GM's thoughts are but wouldn't you think the bidder might have posted some of their own trusted security outside the Museum as well? Did I miss something (quite possible as I am getting old! )

Assuming the module text lacks that consideration, has anyone else done this while running the adventure? If so, what stats did you use? Im assuming the CRB characters that Keltho would use.

Thanks

CC

It’s been a while since I went through that adventure, but the idea is that the book provides ideas for the GM, and then it’s up to the GM to flesh those ideas out.

So, yeah — if the gem has actually now been sold, it would make perfect sense to me for certain buyers to want to make sure that their own security forces are present while it is still on display. Other buyers might be okay with the existing arrangements.

When we ran through it, our GM advised us that the gem was being transported to the buyer's ship at x o'clock and that the museum's security were entrusted with it until then.

We presumed that the buyer would have his own security but we botched a lot of our "research" rolls so we were fairly blind going in to steal it (and ended up botching the heist as well).

I would say it would all depend on how your characters play it as to whether there is extra security there or not. If the party makes a nuisance of themselves at the auction and arouses the wrong sort of suspicion from a buyer, then I would say hell yes there is going to be extra security but if the party is smooth then it's GM's decision.

Well, we just finished the adventure last night- WOW!! We really had a great time. I have to admit, what started like a stinker really turned around- especially with Elaiza's arrival. Here is how the thing went down all said and done (plus some of my opinions )

- My game group meets once a month. I host a "Con" each year at my house where we game for like 4 days straight. We did that in August this year and that was when we started this thing, so it took 4 months to complete (about 30 hours of playing time). I did the kickoff session in August completely off the cuff. I used the CC gazeteer as an inspiration to essentially create an on the fly modular encounter where a droid merc tried to wipe the slicers droid companion with a memory stick in a cantina. The slicer caught him and a fight broke out and the other party members came to his aid.

- The Grand Prix was a lot of fun. I still think it is best to run it without weapons.

- I think the adventure is way too profile heavy for the various bidders on the gem and with various other minor npcs.

- I essentially kept the slicer locked away doing his slicing work. He is the most experienced roleplayer of the group so isolating him forced a lot of the other people to get themselves more involved.

- Last night a bounty obligation triggered. Following the grand prix, the party decided to go about doing their own things and broke up before the gala kicked off at 6. I took the nemesis bounty hunter in the CRB and he found the girl who triggered the obligation. Her friend tried to intervene and got his butt blasted as well. The slicer triangulated their wristcoms to find them. One was in the Wing Guard barracks and one was in a trash chute. The chute was scheduled to purge in 15 minutes. They strained to make it to her and saved her in the nick of time- a classic throwback to a new hope. They started the adventure with 6 light side points against my 1 dark side. At the end of this encounter, I had 4 dark side points!!! The party was split so they had to be resourceful rather than relying on rolls.

- I was surprised but the group did pretty much exactly what the module anticipated with trying to raise the bid. They played it up and got the bid to 220k credits. The love triangles were a bit stiff and tricky to play out.

- The slicing went very well. The slicer got a triumph on the funds transfer and helped himself to an additional 60k credits of Keltho's cash.................... SMH!!! :)

- The break in went really well too. Just the thief and the android assassin went. They climbed up the Trash vane. They got into a gun fight with the security guards and droids. The Assassin picked them off but the thief was stuck and that was when I dropped Elaiza on them. She buddied up with them and headed down the vent to where the slicer was at.

- They then called Arend for the speeder but Elaiza sensed the danger and warned them. In truth, they were catching on as well and were very suspicious at this point anyway. It blew up and they ducked. They blew away Arend's goons.

- we were a little pressed for time so I had Elaiza fall back and use her force powers on the guards chasing them through the "holopics park"- I thought this was a goofy thing to add on. I don't think it added anything to the adventure.

- They then hauled booty to a ship Elaiza had (I had to improvise here since the party didn't have one). She asked for the gem. There was some argument amongst the group but they gave it to her. Fought off the last dozen cloud cars and set course for Nar Shadda. On to what, no one knows................

All in all I had a great time running it. Lots of fun at the table. I found that there were sections of the module that were entirely too lengthy for what was trying to be accomplished. I feel like more could have been provided with the slicing check. I like Beyond the Rim more so I threw it out there to the table which they thought was better and it was an even split between the two adventures.

Initially I wouldn't have recommended this module very highly but after last night and seeing it all fully play out, it is a really fun adventure and very unique in my roleplaying experience and I would recommend it. This one fills in as a great "node" Adventure- it is light on combat and heavy on skill and RP. It also has a tremendous payoff with the gem and wire transfer. Lots of additional directions the adventure can take you in a full blown campaign.

On to the Mask of the Pirate Queen..................

One other thing I forgot!

I unceasingly hit the party for liberal amounts of Strain damage. I think that helps keep the party on edge a bit, to sort of simulate the stress of this entire plan. It helped to that the party had 65 points of obligation to someones obligation always triggered.

Hello

In Episode II of this module there is a section on how the pcs actually go about stealing the Gem from the Museum. Im curious what other GM's thoughts are but wouldn't you think the bidder might have posted some of their own trusted security outside the Museum as well? Did I miss something (quite possible as I am getting old! )

Assuming the module text lacks that consideration, has anyone else done this while running the adventure? If so, what stats did you use? Im assuming the CRB characters that Keltho would use.

Thanks

CC

Depends really, since this jewel is being held in cloud city they don't actually want their security to be independent while they waited for the cash transaction to go through, otherwise the buyer could grab the jewel and run, likewise most people involved probably couldn't afford the security for the jewel.

That being said, I totally some Hutts hanging about, or perhaps even Vorrce will stage his own attempt to rob the jewel opportunistically. the adventure assumes that the party will climb up the back pipe or otherwise hide within the boundary for closing, doesn't mean that the party can't have it harder if they come right out of the front door!