I'm starting to come up with a new adventure for my players and since some of my last adventures weren't planned well enough (I'm a n00b), I decided to post it here for others to see and give input.

This is just basic so far

They are currently working for the Black Sun and they have been commissioned to protect a small mining colony on the jungle planet, Vestar. Once they get there they realize that most of the colonists have been exiled into the nearby spaceport after they are not allowed to land in the colony. A smuggler (I have a name for him but I currently forget it) has taken over the colony and is taking the profits for himself. They will have to take the colony back to get paid by their employers. The head smuggler is secretly and ex-Jedi who has turned to the dark side.

Thoughts? Tips?

Interesting story, but it may be lost on new players. They may be getting used to the rules, and an intricate campaign like that might be better saved for later.

Of course, if they know the system of the game, and are okay with a detailed campaign, then you have something to work off of.

First off, you want to check around for some of the other "Advice for Novice GM" posts. Off the top of my head, here's some of the advice I remember:

Expect everything, because the players will do what they want.

Plan ahead, so you don't have to make up story as you go as much and so you don't have to stop and slow down the game.

Take notes. This is very useful, and you want to write down the stats of individuals the PCs will be encountering.

Make a flow chart. Basically, write down "Do you do this?" with a "No" and a "Yes" path, each leading to a separate generic scene.

Just say no, because giving them that overpowered super weapon will obviously throw the game off the rails, no matter how much they want it.

Have fun. In personal experience, it's better to have a fun game than to have a game where the PCs die on level one. Fudge the rules a bit, and maybe have a screen of some kind so they can't see that you let them survive an attack that should of been fatal. That said...

Punish stupidity. If a player does something outright dumb, like shoot the main story character without provocation, then yeah, let that PC die. It's the players fault for goofing off.

I hope this was helpful. Remember, the game is meant to be fun, so just go with it.

My first thought is why would the smuggler kick most of the people out? Any useful people would probably be put to work in even worse labor conditions than Black Sun already had them in. Think of Black Sun as running a factory town where they own the housing, company store, pay the workers with scrip they can't exchange for real money, etc., where the smuggler is forcing anyone who can work to be slave labor and using everyone else as leverage to ensure compliance. Black Sun isn't going to take kindly to the interruption in income and would send the PC's in to fix the problem. As to how they fix the problem, that would be up to the party based on their character's motivations, but it's entirely possible that rather than taking out the Jedi they may just reach an agreement over terms and leave the guy in charge. Another option would be to try to capture the Jedi and turn him in to the nearest Imperial garrison for the bounty, which would earn them some nice credits on top of what Black Sun was paying them. Of course, the Jedi may want to make an example of anyone Black Sun sends and forces a confrontation if you want to make sure it goes the combat route.

If it were me, I'd change it so that the smuggler hasn't "taken over" the colony. Instead, he's smuggling in goods (maybe weapons and narcotics) to the workers and smuggling out a take of whatever the mine is producing. This would let you skip creating a separate spaceport - maybe there are a few landing areas around the mine town. Black Sun has sent the players in to deal with the mine boss over the drop in revenue. This could add an investigative component to the mission as there may be a couple of ships there which could be the smuggler as well as a chance for the players to work for or strong arm the mine boss. Finally, by keeping the ships close by, the ex-Jedi would have a better chance of getting away - giving the players a recurring villain to chase down.

Great advice from the 2 posters above.

Heres a variation that might be a little easier to pull off for new GM/players. How bout the factory town/colony is not meeting their quotas because of 'union' or 'workers rights' talks. They're striking or intentionally sabotaging production. So you have convinced BlackSun that you are expert consultants in the 'quota meeting' specialty field.

So the players have many ways they could figure this out and quell the uprising before it gets out of hand.

• Sneaky . Infiltrate undercover and pretend they are new workers, find out who the leaders of the strike are
• Strong Arm . Come in and start making examples of people (intimidation/coercion), get someone to rat out who is behind organizing the workers
• Ambitious . Remove the existing BlackSun leadership at the Colony and take it over themselves. (Deception, assassination, leadership, forged papers)

It's a good start for a scenario. What it needs is urgency for the player characters.

What are their motivations? What are their obligations? Those should tie in somehow. Do they know anyone in the colony? Maybe they know the smuggler, which makes dealing with him difficult. Does completing the mission for the Black Sun tie into a motivation (maybe status or fame)?

Make your adventure important to your PCs' individual stories and the rest won't matter much.

Ok, maybe some workers weren't kicked out but they are enslaved. They still cannot land in the colony and when they go to the colony they are not allowed in. This could allow for some stealth and/or deception to get in and find out what is going on. Two of the four players have a family obligation so perhaps one of the players brothers is working for the smuggler.

The group has a 'history' with the Hutt's so maybe the smuggler is selling to the Hutts. Just mentioning Hutts should get them riled up enough to complete the story.