Hi folks!
My EotE group (mostly the power-gamer smuggler-pilot) has been humping my leg about getting their hands on a HWK-1000 (rarity 10!). They each have over 600 earned xp, so its probably not out of the question that their crew could eventually find one. But the rules on finding a rare item can get tedious and unimaginative ("OK, roll your Negotiation or Knowledge-Underworld Check... NOPE, no successes.... better luck next time you're in Nar Shaadaa!"), SO.... I decided I will throw them a bone and tell them that there IS a HWK-1000 out there - it's the grand prize for a T47i Airspeeder race on Nal Hutta! (T47i is the airspeeder in the core rulebooks - the civilian version of Snowspeeders).
My players will need to buy a "stock" T47, trick it out, come up with the entry fee (about 25K CR), and then actually WIN the race - but it will still be a lot cheaper than the 120K CR cost for a HWK-1000. The race will be modeled along the lines of the races in "Jewel of Yavin" and "Suns of Fortune" which use a variant of the "Chase Rules." The race course will require a two-man crew (pilot plus co-pilot / engineer / gunner) to navigate through a structured series of natural and manufactured obstacles, and stay ahead of its competitors while doing so. While the pilot tackles the course challenges (largely Pilot-Planetary and Cool checks), the "guy in back" can be helping (co-pilot checks), working to reduce system strain (mechanics checks), taking pot shots at competitors (gunnery), etc - depending on how he/she is built, which speaks to how the crew is built to compete.
The players NOT involved in racing the crew's T47 will probably get to control one or more NPC ships - with some player xp / CR incentives to keep them honest in giving the competing PCs a challenge.
NOW, what I need to do is come up with five or six worthy competitor teams for my players to race against. This is where I'd like to solicit community support for your ideas!
** Basic Requirement: Stat-Out a 2-person T47 racing crew and their airspeeder, given some simple guidelines **
(1) Characters (1xPilot and 1x Co-Pilot / Engineer / Gunner)
* All species from official FFG products are allowed
* NO additional starting xp for Obligation / Duty / Morality options
* Any careers and specializations from official FFG products are allowed - to include the Force-using universal specializations from EotE and AoR
* BOTH crew members must have careers from the same game line (both EotE, both AoR, or both F&D) to simplify the narrative behind them.
* Characters will have flight suits and light blaster pistols, automatically... MOST other equipment details won't be necessary
* AFTER spending starting xp, crew members will EACH have an additional 100xp of "earned xp" to further improve skills, talents, etc.
* A brief list (at the end of your submission) of how you spent "free" starting skills, starting xp, and earned xp would be helpful to validate the builds
* A brief (1 or two sentences) on each character's personality / background, who their sponsor is (openly or secretly), or why the crew is competing in the race would add to the narrative!
(2) Airspeeder - any crew (EoTE, AoR, F&D) can start with the unarmed T47 (EotE Core, p.249)... at NO cost.
* IF the crew has AoR careers, they may optionally start with the armed T47 in AoR Core (p.263) OR the variant armed T47 in "Onslaught at Arda I"... again, at NO cost.
* Race rules prohibit using lethal force to DESTROY another airspeeder, but called shots against a competitor's engines are usually overlooked... so it's about racing style (skills) if the crew wants to race an armed speeder
* Each crew has 10,000 CR to spend on air speeder attachments or crew personal equipment (e.g. cybernetics, etc)
* Any attachments from official FFG products are allowed, particularly those tailored for racing in "Jewel of Yavin" (which are not in any other reference books)
* IF one of the characters has Mechanics 4, you may take a single modification (at 1000 CR cost each) to any attachments ("Passive Checks", EotE Core, p.322)
* IF (unlikely) one of the characters has Mechanics 5, you may take TWO modifications (at 1000 + 2000 each) to any of your speeder attachments ("Passive Checks", EotE Core, p.322)
* Keep in mind that if you choose to build an astromech character for one (or both?) crew, they will require an astromech socket (3000 CR, Stay on Target) attachment
PLEASE post racing team submissions to this Forum posting OR... you can send them to me privately via forum message. I would rather have them shown publicly for everyone to collaborate!
REQUESTED DEADLINE: FRIDAY, 11 AUGUST. That will give me time to select which teams to use before I run the scenario (probably in late August, early Sep)
Thanks in Advance!
GM Khyrith