Last post I gave the back drop of our campaign using the awesome Strange Stars setting and the kick ass White Star rules. Today we blast off into ADVENTURE!
Players
Liam- A djagga Assassin
Fletch- A kosminok Tech Specialist
Nate- A “Cold Egg” Ksaa Scoundrel
*Race information here.
Adventure doesn’t always go… according… to plan…
So the three of them are traveling on a medium transport by the name of “Within Arm’s Reach” captained by Reeves “Trick Shot” Hammond. Trick Shot was a renowned scoundrel in his earlier age, but had taken ill with a rare wasting disease. He lost his left eye, his right arm, and both his legs before a cure was found. Trick Shot had a cybernetic eye and arm to replace what he lost, but refused to get his legs replaced, and instead uses a hover chair to cart himself around.
The group had landed on the dying planet of Deshret in the Zuran Expanse after receiving a tip from a friend that they had discovered an energy signature that was most likely a derelict ship that had crashed down in one of the few remaining patches of jungle left on the world.
The adventure starts with them roaring out of Within Arm’s Reach on their “Fingers” (hover bikes) along with two NPCs (a djagga named Fix and a human named Smelly) and Trick Shot and two NPC gunners riding in the Palm (a cargo loader). See picture below.
The group roared out of the cargo bay on their “Fingers” and headed into the thick jungle. Starting on the first round and then every two rounds thereafter I rolled a d6 for each player. If the die came up a 1 or 2 that meant the player came across a situation on their Finger (IE. thick vines, fallen or live tree, etc.) The player then had to make a Saving Throw to pull off a cool maneuver to avoid this obstacle. If they failed the ST, then they hit the obstacle and their Finger takes 1d6 damage. Nate was the first to get a 1 on his test and failed, resulting in 2 damage to his ride. The second was Fix (a djagga NPC on a Finger). He rolled a 1 on his ST. I gave him a second save to avoid death- NOPE. CRASH… BOOM… DEAD.
So sad- I actually had some cool thoughts for ‘ol Fix.
The group continued whizzing through the jungle when suddenly a whooping and loud roar echoed through the jungle. Coming out of the jungle towards them was a group of 5 hover bikes that were painted with gold and yellow triangles. “Oh great! It’s Zen’s goons!” Yelled Trick Shot over the comlink. One of the goons took a potshot at one of the players and missed. “Ok boys! Open up on them!”
The combat was fast, deadly, and fun! One of the enemy goons went the same way as poor ‘ol Fix and collided with a tree. I allowed the players to either fire a one-handed ranged weapon at a -4 (none of them were Swoop Racers, so they got modifiers) or they could make a Dex check (roll under the attribute- or use Piloting skill) to do a fancy move and get behind an enemy and fire their front arc lasers.
Nate stopped his Finger and took two shots at a goon, destroying the vehicle and sending the goon flying off to his death, and then took off again to catch up to the action. Fletch tried several maneuvers (failing the first) and then finally destroying the goon’s ride. Liam stopped his Finger and attempted to snipe a goon, but missed, eventually getting back into the fray and zapping a goon with his Finger’s front arc lasers.
When there was only one goon left he made a rude gesture and whizzed off back into the jungle. The group let him go and continued towards where the energy signature was located.
Eventually they came across a large derelict ship.
The group looked at the ship (I’ll post the map once the session is complete) and realized that this was only the back half of the ship (the drive/engineering section). What happened to the front will probably never be discovered.
The group found a massive hole in the front where the ship had been ripped apart. Fletch indicated they should go in through there. As the group made to enter a loud voice echoed through the clearing. “Why have you come to our sacred area! Why are you disturbing the God From Above!? Why is your unworthiness here?” Everyone looked up to see a strange figure standing atop the crashed ship. They were wearing armor and a helmet. In one hand was a wicked-looking pike and in the other a laser pistol.
The group tried to offer some banter, but failed. “You hear that my pretties?! They come here to upset our God! Kill them!” Small arrows and spears suddenly erupted from the jungle. Emerging from the underbrush were small little fuzz balls. The figure with the helmet swung down a rope and disappeared into the bowels of the ship.
When I showed this picture to my players they were elated that they got to kill Critters. 15 of the little bastards surged out of the woods. The fight was a hard one. Smelly and both NPC’s with Trick Shot fell in combat and Liam and Fletch nearly did as well.
Fletch hooked his Finger up to a small energy port on the outside of the ship and hacked it to turn on any light that would still be working. He then projected his voice on the system speakers “You have all angered the God From Above! You will all die!” The remaining little creatures screeched and fled into the jungle. Fletch also heard screeching echoing from within the ship.
After the group licked their wounds and recovered they entered the ship. Fletch stepped in and was immediately attacked by a hidden laser turret. The group took some pot shots at the turret- destroying it quickly. The group continued to the large door in front of them and found a large container which housed a deactivated Scout Robot. Fletch started rubbing his hands together.
The group could hear a humming through the far door on the other side of the room and decided to go through it.
We ended here because Liam had to leave- and the group was already sporting many laser burns and puncture marks from the previous battles. I gave out XP and we said good night.
Next session is on the 21st of June and hopefully they will finish exploring the crashed ship.
