An old gaming buddy is coming from out of state for a visit. He would like me to run a one-shot adventure while he's in town. I would like very much to hear some ideas.

Here's what I have for parameters...

-- I want to make some pre-gen characters for the group. I want them to be established characters so that there will be some instant familiarity for the players. I'm thinking... Wedge Antilles (ace pilot), Nien Numb (smuggler and face), Lobot (slicer), R5-D4 (astromech (not silly Skippy the Jedi R5-D4 either)), and Dengar (bounty hunter). They'll probably be built on something like 150-200 XP - competent but not overboard.

-- I want the adventure to take place in the time frame during Return of the Jedi, before the Battle of Endor but after Han's rescue.

-- I would like the events of the adventure to be tied into the Rebellion's preparations for the battle, but that's not an absolute thing. It could be just a side mission only loosely linked to the overall Rebellion.

Whacha got?

Based on what you've put above, make sure those Dressellian commandos make an appearance even if they're just extras that die as squadmates.

They could be the go-between from getting the death star plans from the Bothan to the rebels.

Meet on a planet, find contacts, chased by imperials, get on ship, space battle, hyper space.

Alternatively, the adventure could take place in the time after the Battle of Endor when the crumbling Empire is... crumbling.

They could be part of an advanced recon squad, keeping tabs on the various Imperial forces leading up to the ambush at Endor. Perhaps they get wind of an Imperial source that knows about the upcoming attack, so they have to stop the informant from escaping the area to warn the Empire. Yes we know that ultimately the Empire already know, since IT'S A TRAP! , but the PCs don't know that. So you could have a very clear objective, that could involve multiple system mechanics. A chase/pursuit sequence, either on ground or space, likely ending with combat. Some sneaky ability based scenes as they try and figure out who this person is that has been made aware of the attack, and finding them. Perhaps they are made aware of a member of the Rebellion Intelligence, that an Imperial spy has obtained THEIR plans for the attack, and all they know is he is meeting a transport to get off planet in Generic Cantina 27. They have to go there, find the person, and try and stop him. If they escape and get off planet. Well, if Wedge Antilles is one of the PCs, then space combat is going to be something he will likely be very at home with.

21 hours ago, RLogue177 said:

I want the adventure to take place in the time frame during Return of the Jedi, before the Battle of Endor but after Han's rescue.

-- I would like the events of the adventure to be tied into the Rebellion's preparations for the battle,

I see Many Bothans appearing in this adventure...

2 hours ago, Ghostofman said:

I see Many Bothans appearing in this adventure...

..and strangely not there at the end of the adventure

12 hours ago, Varlie said:

..and strangely not there at the end of the adventure

Whoa! Spoilers!

You can always take this story and make it better (also, include Wedge Antilles and Nien Numb). I recall that in the movie they tell that the "codes are old", but they were about to give clearance. Maybe old means 1 or 2 days old. After all, the DS2 is maybe one of the most secure locations in the galaxy.

An alternative? Find out the exact location of Endor.

21 hours ago, Rithuan said:

You can always take this story and make it better (also, include Wedge Antilles and Nien Numb). I recall that in the movie they tell that the "codes are old", but they were about to give clearance. Maybe old means 1 or 2 days old. After all, the DS2 is maybe one of the most secure locations in the galaxy.

I like this idea. I just read through the summaries of the story and the mission in the wookieepedia. There's a lot of good potential there.

One of my friends who will be playing in this adventure has seen my list of characters. He feels it will be super uninteresting for whoever is "stuck" playing R5-D4.

I can't disagree with him, per se, but I'm struggling to come up with an alternative character. Any ideas? I want a secondary character from the movies - someone recognizable.

Do you want it to be a droid? I think that's the toughest part for the original trilogy.

On 3/9/2019 at 8:42 PM, Rithuan said:

After all, the DS2 is maybe one of the most secure locations in the galaxy.

Is it though? I mean, the Emperor implies that he set up everything to bring the rebels there. So it's highly likely they were meant to find the codes for the shuttle, because the Emperor left it open as a gaping hole in their security net.

On 3/11/2019 at 7:48 PM, Rithuan said:

Do you want it to be a droid? I think that's the toughest part for the original trilogy.

Oh, I know! Major Derlin (John Ratzenberger) from Hoth will be the replacement character for R5-D4!

So the five pre-gen characters and their archetype/roles will be:

Major Derlin - military guy, mission leader

Wedge Antilles - ace pilot

Nien Numb - smuggler, ace co-pilot, face

Lobot - slicer, definitely not the face

Dengar - hired (coerced) bounty hunter

I like R5-D4 being along as an NPC. He's definitely in the background. Maybe the only thing he really does is plot astrogation and to stay on the ship in case they need somebody staying on the ship.

I really like the idea of having the story culminate in the theft of the shuttle Tyderium and the codes. So I'm going to steal and mangle parts of that story for this one-shot. No Leia. Just a mission to accomplish [something] and ending up with a bonus Tyderium.

On 3/3/2019 at 2:26 PM, RLogue177 said:

R5-D4 (astromech (not silly Skippy the Jedi R5-D4 either))

If you really needed an astrogation PC, you could use Chewbacca. Also, you could use him as a tough mechanic / co-pilot. You can always say, just a few days before episode VI, before Chewbacca joined Princes Leia into this grand rescue.

I don't want to use any of the major characters. Just the very minor ones. This isn't going to be Leia's mission as told in the book. It'll be something that ends similarly, and that's about it. No Leia, no grand feint - just simple for a one-shot.

I'm thinking an Imperial base infiltration, possibly to get the codes or information on the forces at Endor. Maybe Dengar's role is that he's been to that base before and knows its layout.

Now we're escaping! The ship is out, let's steal that shuttle!

7 hours ago, RLogue177 said:

I'm thinking an Imperial base infiltration.

If your players are anything like mine that Base will be getting blown up. My players cannot do subtle and stealth.

10 hours ago, MrTInce said:

If your players are anything like mine that Base will be getting blown up. My players cannot do subtle and stealth.

In a galaxy where the empire blows up planets... destroying a base is as subtle and stealth as it gets.

15 hours ago, MrTInce said:

If your players are anything like mine that Base will be getting blown up. My players cannot do subtle and stealth.

Reminds me of a Deadlands game I ran once. The players couldn't figure out how to fight a night haunt, so they burned the whole town down.

I mean... it did get rid of the night haunt, but also the town.