Fun times at a Inquisitor training facility?

By Desslok, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

I'm shamelessly stealing this idea: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/199496-adventure-aboard-the-executor/ and as I'm fleshing it out, I'm coming up with stuff for my players to stumble into, like. . . oh say an Inquisitor training facility. I'm thinking a big ol' room with death rays, collapsing and rising floors, deathbots with lightsabers - all lethal, of course because Dark Side. But one GM is not as clever as all GMs, so I thought I'd try and pry you guys away from your new shiny Genesis books and see if you had any "Oh, do this!" obstacles could throw at them.

So do your worst. My players will love you for it. . . .

Hallucinogens pumped into the “Danger Room.” They instill paranoia and hallucinations...so not only do the death traps appear more fearsome, so do the other party members...each of whom is convinced that the others are out to kill him/her.

You need at-least one room that seems normal upon entry. But once the players are inside and looking around, the door seals itself shut and the room starts to get flooded. Thus begins an "Endurance Trial" aka. See how long Inquisitors can hold their breath in a flooded room before falling unconscious. Normally there is a droid or operative monitoring the room to drain the room and free the inquisitors. But...well, nobodies there because nobody scheduled to use it.

Naturally there will possibly be some kind of convenient way out/to deactivate the flooding. Buuuut...that's something I can leave in your hands.

I had to suggest this one, slowly flooding room is a classic after all.

To rip a page from the Illustrious Terry Pratchett's playbook, you should have an old guy that is the janitor/Sweeper, who frequently pops up in the background to clean. Perhaps he never gets utilized, but if your players decide to act like a**holes, since you know, Inquisitors, have him secretly be a Sith bada**, who could easily whip them if they mess with him. And I do mean EASILY whip them. Have him be of the school of thought as Palpatine, in the "I'm going to hide my true power and use it to exploit your expectations." You could even have him hide his lightsaber in his broomstick, or maglev cleaner stick, since this is Star Wars.

There is this really weird anime, I don't remember the name, but it's got this homicidal teddy bear that is black and white down the middle. He has several kids locked in this mansion, and they have to kill each other. When someone dies, the other kids have to find out who actually did it within 24 hours, and do a mock trial, presenting their evidence. Once that's done, if the person chosen as guilty is ACTUALLY guilty, they are killed. If they are actually innocent, the accuser is killed instead. I could see this easily translating into an Inquisitor lesson, and would give your PC's who have invested in non-combat skills a chance to flex their muscles in something that isn't all Stabby Stabby.

Toss them onto a nearby planet, and tell them that they have to get to the top of a nearby mountain and light the signal fire that is at the summit, before dawn. They are each given a torch (or equivalent because Star Wars), that is lit at the start. They must get to the top by any means available, and they cannot reach the top without a torch. The trick, and this is an important bit of wording in the instructions, is that there is nothing stopping them from taking someone else's torch if they lose theirs, or sabotaging someone else due to infighting. Anyone that doesn't have a torch at the end, is left behind. Be sure to state the rules in a way that implies, without directly stating that there isn't anything preventing them from taking each others torches if they are lost, but try and be subtle about it.

Use a mimic droid, like the one from Force Unleashed (Proxy), and bring each of them into a room for a "Quarterly Review". When they enter the room, they see some person they care about tied up in the chair in front of them. Obviously, this assumes your PC's actually HAVE families, which isn't guaranteed when we are talking about gamers. Assuming they didn't do the "I'm a Lone Wolf Loner Who is Alone and has no family ties/friends/loved ones, because of my Loneliness....did I mention I'm a Loner?" character background, they will hopefully find themselves feeling some of those pesky positive emotions, mixed with fear and anxiety. Tell them that "We've recently discovered that your *insert loved one's name here* is actually a Rebel sympathizer! They have been using their connection to you to manipulate others and steal information, that they've been passing onto the Rebellion! Given their close ties to you, we question whether or not the Space Apple falls far from the Space Tree when it comes to this kind of....sentiment. If you wish to keep your place in the Inquisition, kill her." And see what they do. Obviously it's a droid, but hopefully the player won't know that, unless they are really genre savvy. But, this isn't Kingsman, where they are good guys, and the bullets are blanks, and it's a cute puppy they get to take home after. No, they will be forced to kill the person, and since this is an evil organization, it's within the realm of possibility that they would do something like this with a real person. If they kill the person they love to serve their own ambition (or simply dedication to the Empire), they pass. If they refuse...well, that could lead to some interesting things depending on how it plays out.

I can probably come up with some others, but it's late and my Advil PM is kicking in, so I'll call it a part there and end it.