Okay, here's the final (more or less) version of the game I was trying to hammer out over here . As I mentioned it's strongly based on the old John Wayne movie Rio Bravo and/or the classic John Carpenter flick Assault on Precinct 13 . The game was written with my group in mind, but with just the smallest amount of tweaking - the initial motivation to defend the Fading Sun, for example - it should work with any game.

There's just so many ways for the players to jump - attack the bad guys instead of fortifying, diplomacy, bombing runs with their ship - so I spend more time detailing the setting and NPCs instead of outlining a plot. As a result, it's a very sand boxy game.

Anyway, tell me what you think and all suggestions at last moment tweaks are welcome. . . .

***edit***

Bah - and I misspelled the brothel name in the thread header! Its Fading, not Falling - and yes, it's a sideways Animals shout-out.

Edited January 24, 2014 by Desslok

THE BACKSTORY

The town of Shearer (population 675) on Eltaris is a mining and agricultural production settlement and is under the thumb of Jeris Saxon, owner of the nearby Crystite mines. The Saxon clan has a stranglehold on the town - they're the biggest business in town, run the company store, collect for the Independent Security and Resource Management fund from the independent shop owners and act the big fish in a small pond. Not every business is under Saxon's control and the family has been unsuccessful in bribing the Sherriff and mayor - but Shearer is 75 percent under their sway.

Just outside of town a mile or two is the House of the Fading Sun, a brothel owned by Maya Kiltearn. The ranch consists of the main house, where the business is conducted with several smaller secondary buildings - dormitories for off duty employees, storage and support services, the pump house that taps the well for the ranch's water supply, a machine shop and a couple of spare bedrooms. To the rear of the compound are the crops and livestock - its not much, but it makes the brothel mostly self-sufficient.

Maya became owner and operator of the Fading Sun after the she convinced the previous owner - a real unsavory person who had most of the girls stung out on spice and deathsticks - to retire abruptly. Since then, she runs a clean place and looks after her charges.

Her employees consist of 20 girls and 5 boys, a mix of all races - Zeltron, t'wlek, and rodian are all on staff, with humans making up the remainder. Her on site security consists of the Wookiee Chalkabukk and Indio Sabata, a laconic human veteran of the Clone Wars. A couple of hands make up the remainder of the staff.

Maya pays into the monthly security management fund, but she also has back up insurance. She has, for some time now, been gathering detailed records on her client's "preferences" in case someone tries to take action against her, her employees or her place - including Saxon's son Chandi - who prefers boys, it seems.

RECIENT HISTORY -

Everything was fine, with Maya recording in secret and maintaining the data on her secure server in the basement until a few nights ago several of Saxon's men were visiting the brothel for a night on the town. The activities got a little rough, and the mirror in the corner of the room came crashing down. There, the surveillance equipment was on display for all to see. The John quickly figured that something was up and busted into the room next door to find additional cameras. Maya's secret was up.

Far too outgunned to cause trouble right then and there, the two Good Ol' Boys retreated back to the Saxon compound and reported the news to Jeris. Jeris' son Chandi was mortified at his preferences coming out, having visited the establishment many a time while the elder Saxon realized the potential that the information held. This could be everything he needed to cement his control over the last 25 percent of the town.

EPISODE ONE - WELCOME HOME

The ship touches down at Killen, the closest spaceport to Shearer of any size. Killen is considerably more metropolitan than the neighboring towns, sporting skyscrapers a large population and a complex infrastructure. While there are landspeeders, Cracian Thumpers are much more prevalent and cheaper to rent. Shearer is only a half days ride away, so it's not too much of a imposition. Plus a riding rolls from everyone - one purple and a blue die for their recent 'skill' in riding beasts - are always fun.

It's a largely uneventful trip across some rolling landscape, mountains in the distance coming up quickly. Eight hours later, they catch sight of Shearer - but their route bypasses town heading directly to the Fading Sun (unless they want to divert. It's only a half hour out of their way).

When the players come rolling up to the ranch, word quickly spreads of visitors and people come pouring out to greet them. Maya makes the rounds of introductions, tells everyone to make themselves at home - food and drinks in the brothel lounge are at their disposal.

TROUBLE COMES CALLING -

Later that day after people have gotten comfortable, trouble rears its ugly head. Jeris Saxon and a handful of men arrive at the Fading Sun, Saxon in his (very nice) speeder and his men on Thumper.

"Maya, come out. We need to talk." He booms into a loudhailer. "It's come to my attention that you have certain records in your possession, records that could be of great benefit to myself and damaging to my enemies. I'd like to arrange acquiring these documents from you at this time. You would of course be fairly compensated for your time and effort spent in gathering them for me."

A blaster shot lands at his feet. "You and your little army get off my land! Saxon money is no longer good here!"

"Oh well, I did try and be reasonable. Come on, boys. We're clearly not welcome here anymore." The Elder Saxon says, turning to go. Yeah, they'll so be back later.

WHAT'S GOING ON?

Back inside, Maya comes clean to the crew -

Who are those people?

"The Saxons are the lords of the valley, or so they like to think. They own the mine and his position has gone to Jeris' head, he seems to get off on the power he has, lording over the people in town. His stake in this is that he likes the men over my girls. Since he's paid well for discretion during his time here, I guess he's not ready to come out yet."

What do they want?

"I have been quietly collecting data on my clients during their visits, all about their assorted preferences - mainly to keep people at bay, should someone decide to start trouble. A couple of days ago, some of Saxon's men discovered my information gathering - and it would seem that their boss wants what I know."

Where can we get help?

"Getting help from the local authorities? There's only Sherriff Kane and his deputy - not nearly enough to stand against Saxon's private army."

Could you just give him the records?

"I've been a very vocal, very rebellious thorn in his side for some time now. You think he wont take this opportunity to burn my place to the ground, kill every single one of my girls and salt the ground?"

Why don't we just leave?

"Running? Absolutely not. I used to be. . ." she looked wistful for a moment before shaking it off "I came from nothing, it took me years to build this place - it's my home and I'm not leaving. Period."

Now what?

With the option of fleeing off the table, the choices are limited. The players can gather information on Saxon and his holdings, begin fortifying the Fading Sun for the impending return or take the fight to Saxon.

EPISODE TWO - ONCOMING STORM

The players have several options before them: recon and research, getting more help, taking the fight to the Saxon ranch and fortifying their own stronghold

VISITING SHEARER -

Nestled in rolling foothills, Shearer is a rough and tumble Old West town straight out of the holovids. The center of town is Courthouse Square, with several main avenues off in four directions and several smaller streets branching off left and right all along the way. In order to go from one side of town to the other, one must go through downtown.

Points of interest are the two hotels, directly across the street from each other, the Palace Saloon, an hardware store and general mercantile store (along with a handful of street vendors), a farmers market selling produce, a church, livery stables, a bank, and a law enforcement office. The west side of the town is bordered by the monorail line and station. The largest building in town is the courthouse and clock tower in Courthouse Square.

There are an assortment of homes, farms and ranches in the general vicinity of Shearer, mostly along the main approach leading back to Killen.

Peace and order are maintained in town by Sherriff Kane and Deputy Grayson. Kane does a good job policing the town, but he stays out of the way of Saxon's men. As long as they don't break major laws, as long as they just stick to minor hell raising, he'll look the other way. He doesn't like this relationship one bit, but Saxon is too powerful to touch.

VISITING THE MINE -

Crystite Western Extension Mine 3 is the primary industry of the region, an extensive operation with 300 men working in shifts around the clock. The facility located where the foothills begin to turn into mountain, about 10 miles from Shearer. A monorail runs back and forth from Shearer to the Mine facility once every two hours.

While not quite as impressive as an Imperial compound, Saxon has spared no expense in maintaining security. The mine is surrounded by a low electrical fence equipped with motion sensors, and thermal detectors. Several guard outposts are stationed in the four corners of the encampment, manned at all times. The obvious weak points of access would be the route the monorail follows and down from the rugged topography behind the facility.

The facility itself consists of a several dormitories in a cluster, a processing center, a large storage warehouse, on-site security complex (complete with a stockade), a mess hall, offices and support facilities, a machine shop, a motor pool and a infirmary. And of course the mine shaft head itself.

VISITING SAXON RANCH -

The Saxon Ranch is a scant quarter mile away from the mine - just far enough away to

not be disturbed by the noise and bustle of the mining operation, but close enough for easy access to the goings on. One main road leads to the mine complex while another one heads into town.

Unlike the mine, the house is reasonably light on security - mostly because Jeris Saxon feels that nobody would ever dare raise a hand against him. The main house is surrounded by a low stone wall and a large wrought-iron gate, mostly for aesthetics than defense.

The house itself is an elegant large white-columned mansion on a 14 acre plot. Off to one side is the much smaller, less ornate servant's quarters. The other side of the lot houses the vehicle bays and stables. Around back is the swimming pool, and a shockball court. The main house consists of twenty-three rooms on two floors, including eight bedrooms and bathrooms.

The staff consists of 10 servants and five security guards who live on site full time.

FORTIFY THE WHOREHOUSE -

Unfortunately the Fading Sun is not in a very defensible position. It's out in the wide open, no hills or valleys to provide cover, and the low stone wall wouldn't slow a determined attack down much at all. There is a little bit of high ground - a windmill, the barn - but not much.

They can do some fortification, however - boarding up the windows, making sure that there's enough hose for the water to reach all parts of the house in case Saxon tries to burn them out (plus making sure the pumps are 100% up to snuff), moving some of the heavy equipment for cover, digging pit traps and trip wires and so on.

Plus, they can get all the weapons from the ship. While they're still outgunned, Most of the ladies have a passing familiarity with blasters and it does help even the odds slightly.

GET REINFORCEMENTS -

The obvious route is enlist Sherrif Kane's help. He wont act directly against Saxon and is reluctant to get involved. Some sweet talking and charm will get him to station himself at the Fading Sun, or at the very least has him nearby and ready to move when Saxon comes calling.

While Jeris Saxon is indeed powerful, Shearer is still a very small pond. If they cast a net wide enough, the players could also try and hire some guns to help. It'll strain the budget - if they can cut corners, they'll get what they pay for, Quality guns will cost handsomely.

EPISODE THREE - THE BIG GUNDOWN

Dawn - daylight is just peeking over the horizon and everything is quiet at the House of the Fading Sun. Final preparations in place, one last goodbyes, one last moment of fleeting lust, one last moment of peace before the thundering horde arrives.

The person on watch gets to roll perception against a couple of purple plus a black (for being tired) and a blue (for elevation, sensors, macrobinoculars or other equipment). They spot (or may not) a cloud of dust in the distance. The alarm goes up, its time for a great many men to trade their pistols for a coffin.

Saxon's force consists of 40 men, plus a couple of speeders (complete with mounted vehicle weapons). They're mostly minions - farmers and miners that have been convinced to fight a righteous cause to eliminate these harlots, intimidated and bullied by Saxon or paid well. There are also a couple of rivals in the mix, hired gunmen from out of the area. And of course, Saxon has brought along his bodyguard - a nemesis.

ENEMY TACTICS -

Since Saxon wants Maya's databases intact, simply leveling the farm with firepower will not do. So high explosives and grenades are reserved for emplacements, people behind heavy cover and so on. The thugs do try and sow chaos by setting the outer buildings and other flammable items on fire. Several teams throw rope around obvious fortifications and fences and try to pull them down.

Mostly the thugs rely on their mobility, remaining on their thumpers and circling the brothel, exchanging fire with the targets inside.

ENDGAME -

While the men distract the defenders with blatant tactics, Jeris uses the confusion to slip out of the fight. The elder Saxon and his bodyguard (plus a couple of choice men) exploits a blind spot in the defender's field of fire to drop out of sight. They makes his way to a back door and quietly force their way in.

While Saxon's henchmen start a firefight inside the house, Saxon himself slips into the basement, kills anyone they had on guard down there and extracts the datachips. Under the cover of the inside firefight, he tries to slip away with the information before anyone is any the wiser.

Successful? Sneak versus perception rolls - but it very well might come down to an overland speeder chase once they figure out what Saxon was up to and as he makes his getaway with the Macguffin.

EPISODE FOUR - AFTERMATH

Once the battle is resolved, it's just cleaning up. It's unlikely that Jeris Saxon survived the final encounter - however if he did, Maya puts a blaster through him. There, problem sorted. That leaves

With his death, the balance of power shifts to Chandi - who stayed out of the fight at the Fading Sun and thought this campaign was ill thought out in the first place. Being his father's son, this shift probably means that very little will change for the town in the long run - unless the players have a little talk with Chandi, telling him to clean up his act or they'll be back for another visit (or words to that effect).

Edited January 24, 2014 by Desslok

Sounds awesome. I always enjoy a good Desslok adventure. Hopefully you're not opposed to me incorporating this into one of my campaigns.

No, that is a terrible idea and if you use this in your game, then I shall have to hunt you down and murder you in your sleep. What was your address again?

. . . .

Just kidding (mostly ) - naw, go ahead and use it - that's what I posted it for!

Might need to add something about tying in incentives for the PCs to help Maya in this conflict.

Without that, there are plenty of Edge-themed groups that would either just walk away or end up selling her out to the Saxons who could certainly afford to pay more.

The primary power struggle in this reminds me of a certain Firefly episode.

Well, in my instance Maya is the mother of one of the characters - so there's an instant hook from the get-go. As for other people, it could be just as simple as they've earned a rep as trouble shooting do-gooders or that their crime boss patron wants to see Saxon out of business (and helping the ladies is just a side perk).

As for the firefly thing - that's what I'm told, but I've never actually seen any of the series, so I wouldn't know. Mind you, they very well might be ripping off the plot too - if you're going to steal, you might as well steal from The Duke and John Carpenter.