My table is going to take down a nemesis. This nemesis is a crime lord they attacked early games. Almost 100 hours of gameplay later, they stayed long enough onto the same spot (85 days in a row) Wich is nar shaddar. This nemesis came for them. I leave them 48 hours to prep to make the hit. I just don't know how many badguys or hired thug should I place in the same spot of the loan shark nemesis. I know my table is planning to go head first and guns blazing... And I want it to be quite hard for them but without making it impossible. So GM a little tips or alot would help. Yes it's me the GM who made the nemesis come to them. They still can run away or fight him. So what should I do ?

Thank you in advance.

Prep reinforcements that the bad guys call for if they're needed to add more challenge.

Well, if the nemesis knows that the players are coming, hes not going to just sit there and wait. He's going to be doing some prep work of his own. Such as:
The PC's get to the nemesis' hide out, only to find the door has been reinforced and is locked. As the PC's start to hack the lock, or hack down the door, 2 or 3 Rival-level snipers across the street and up high start taking shots at the PCs.
Once inside, the PC's run into traps consisting of stun grenades, or one-shot weapons that may not kill, but will wound and 'slow down' the players.
Minion groups ambush the PC's from doorways, halls, rooms, etc., but only shoot for a couple of turns, then take off. They aren't trying to stop the PCs, they are more like the traps...trying to wound and slow the players. Make the PC's burn resources like stimpacks, grenades, ammo and such.
The nemesis is going to stack the deck in his favor, as it were, before the PC's even get to him.

I'd have the nemesis secretly establish an underground escape tunnel then use it after they arrive at the front door casually having a small transport crash atop his former base.

They have a bit of time to realise he's fled the base before the transport arrives with his henchmen and minions fleeing the base once they realise what's going on.

How would your players react to that?

this nemesis already left once in such a way. If I do it twice I know my players will feel I don't want him to go down. I want them to be able to finish the job, by talking or killing him even blackmail him maybe. I just want it to be quite hard that they see that it is harsh to take down a crime lord. My players are the kind that if they manage it easy they will do it again. That is why it must be exhaustive and expensive to be able to do so. But thank you for your ideas they are all good and will of course help me.

If the crime lord knows the pcs are coming maybe he knows there location and can strike them while they are preparing. Catching them with there pants down. Or he could attempt to contact the pcs and give them a reason to attack his enemies instead of him or he leaked the location and it is a secret imperial base.

If they plan on going guns blazing against a prepared enemy there should be waves of minion groups, secure doors, rivals etc. The pc should be pressured at all times by someone, thugs looking to raise in the ranks, bounty hunter guest staying at the location, slicers working against the party, medic pretending to help but drugging them. Think of what happens when a bee hive gets kicked. The party should be rewarded if they have a good plan, do a recon and plan a raid. they should be hammered if there plan is only going in guns blazing an see what happens.

Well, a loan shark nemesis isn't going to be a threat by himself, but lining up columns of minions and rivals to mow through isn't much fun, either. Here are some ideas...

In their approach, (at a door, or doors) have a holovid screen pop up with the nemesis. He insults and admonishes them, "Do not go through the green door!" This will play with the PC's minds. Does he or does he not want us to enter through the green door??? Truth could be that there's a secret door to use (or, other entrance) and the green door is rigged with detonite (x2) (explodes out to short range, 15D). Could be a box or chest, as well. Loan shark has great Deception skills.

Have him old up at a garbage processing facility. Some compactors there, catwalks, scaffolding, etc... Rigs one with explosives (or, has a lever to pull) to send some of them into an incinerator or compactor. He tells his henchmen, "Time to take out the trash!" Villains always have cool lines or terrible puns.

A later holovid or screen offers them a 'buyout'. An ample offer to go the other way. Perhaps, before the final heavy durasteel door.

Offer one a sum of credits to turn on their friends.

(Deception) Says he retiring through a holovid message. Bids them, farewell!

The loan shark says he has a NEW business partner....a Hutt! Loan sharks have a YYYY Deception skill. You could even have them make a Fear check to push forward if the deception is successful.

The loan shark ends the showdown with a Thermal Detonator. "If I go, we ALL go!" They'd have to be creative, maybe win initiative, then do a called shot (+2 SB w/o Aim benefits) to shoot it out of his hand. If successful, it maybe blows away some flooring or scaffolding and create an environmental disaster to overcome. Otherwise, he wastes most of the group if he hits or activates blast. This leaves 1-2 survivors to finish him off if they can.

Maybe has a skiff, like Jabba, to float around on. Two floors, a roof, potential falling damage, people popping out from behind panels to shoot them, etc... Some melee guys.

Anticipate their moves, have men with 'nets' toss them on the group from above.

One crackshot sniper peppers them as they advance through minions.

I wouldn't waste more than one minion group encounter or more than a handful of rivals. Maybe 12-16 minions for them to chew through. Yes, have them flee instead of wasting 10 R's of combat. Once they take out half, the rest flee.

Nice that's all good material here I'll skip the thermal detonator since we made a homebrew rule of double your wound treshold and your dead, and the thermal idea was done 3 games ago and a PC died. Sure if they come up with a sweet plan I'll be happy. But 3 out of 5 players will go for : man grab the guns and it's killin time! Haha game is Saturday I'll write here what happened.

Fake an attack whilst they're posing as prospective buyers aided by one of the crimelord's lieutenants whose planning on replacing him with your players help?

Using a NPC who wants the crime lord dead is a good idea.

The party got tangled into crime alot. Then they got all down into a big fight over spices : I made the black sun save them so they woke up alive and well, but they owed the Vigo from the sector (nar shaddar). Now they must repay by raiding a spice cache. They discovered by the end that it was the crime lord they once fought that was there.. so they plan on taking him down and they already asked help from the black sun's. I am planning to send maybe 10 black sun's thugs with them with of course a backfire if they die. Let just say 1000 credit a life ? Black sun goals are to make them so much on debt they have to do insane jobs. Wich brings to very good rp and adventure.

If you want to mess with them, have them break into the nemesis base, and find nothing but bodies. Someone beat them to the punch. The question is who, and how to keep out of their way. You could have someone like the Punisher still roaming the halls, mowing down anything that moves. Or an Imperial kill team, who sees the PC's as convenient patsies to pin the crime on. Or the rancor got loose.

On ‎11‎/‎21‎/‎2017 at 6:49 PM, TEK said:

If the crime lord knows the pcs are coming maybe he knows there location and can strike them while they are preparing. Catching them with there pants down.

I like this idea. For example, if you know the PC's will probably stop by their local gun shop to gear up before hitting the nemesis base, have it mapped out and ready. Then, while the PC's are at the shop calmly making notes of spare ammo reloads, marking off credits, etc, spring an ambush. Melee-armed thugs suddenly come barging out of a back room of the shop while a repeater-armed speeder pulls up in the street out front and starts raining blaster fire through the front windows. All while the party heavy starts screaming his repeater is back on the ship!

This doesn't have to be all of the bad guys. Just a preemptive strike in an attempt to take care of the PC's before they come for the nemesis. So, after this encounter has spiked the excitement and tension, somehow force it to keep going making the PC's hit the base immediately without being completely prepared and pre-planned.

Got major surprised they planned the moves and it was awesome. Made the hideout of the crime lord in an old dumpster truck garage with an underground ameliorations. The crime lord attacked first and at the end had 3 waves of 20-30 thug attack till a couple died. Then at the final step of getting the crime lord after finding a very important NPC dead after alot of torture, the crime lord made a bargain with the kid of the Npc for is escape. Was awesome one player used a felebrek to disable the escape pod before and on the crime lord when he was showing off is Deadman switch thermal detonator. The thing is it's a dub, a fake but the players didn't find out and now one of them is waiting for for the right time to use it... Overall it was good and with all your tips made it even better.