Last update: 30/October/2006
Campaign background Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11
DISCLAIMER
This article is not authorized or supported by West End Games. This conversion is unofficial and has not been reviewed by anybody at West End Games or Lucasfilm, Ltd. Star Wars (R), TM, & (C) by Lucasfilm, Ltd. All Rights Reserved. Trademarks of Lucasfilm, Ltd., used without authorization, that use isn't intended as a challenge to those trademarks.
ABOUT FUDGE
Fudge is a role-playing game written by Steffan O'Sullivan, with extensive input from the Usenet community of rec.games.design. The basic rules of Fudge are available on the internet at http://www.fudgerpg.com and in book form from Grey Ghost Games, P.O. Box 838, Randolph, MA 02368. They may be used with any gaming genre. While an individual work derived from Fudge may specify certain attributes and skills, many more are possible with Fudge. Every Game Master using Fudge is encouraged to add or ignore any character traits. Anyone who wishes to distribute such material for free may do so - merely include this ABOUT FUDGE notice and disclaimer (complete with Fudge copyright notice). If you wish to charge a fee for such material, other than as an article in a magazine or other periodical, you must first obtain a royalty-free license from the author of Fudge, Steffan O'Sullivan, P.O. Box 465, Plymouth, NH 03264.
DISCLAIMER
The following materials based on Fudge, entitled Fudge Starwars: the Easiest Way, are created by, made available by, and Copyright (C) 2006 by Jorge Arredondo, and are not necessarily endorsed in any way by Steffan O'Sullivan or any publisher of other Fudge materials. Neither Steffan O'Sullivan nor any publisher of other Fudge materials is in any way responsible for the content of these materials unless specifically credited. Original Fudge materials Copyright (C)1992-1995 by Steffan O'Sullivan, All Rights Reserved.
[ Soundtrack music: The Phantom Menace, Star Wars Main Title + The Arrival at Naboo ]
The PCs have travelled to the middle of Hutt space trying to find out where a single ship of a cover company of Ploovo Two For One's criminal organization will go, hoping this way they'll be able to track Eberr Torun once and for all. In this life-filled place, also a very corrupt one, Neelyx doesn't feel Eberr at all, though it wouldn't be hard for a jedi to hide here.
Travelling to Nar Shaddaa isn't hard at all though the place is dangerous and without the appropriate contacts is also expensive (as you have to bribe a lot of people). And in this case is even harder, having in count the bounty offered for jedi characters! It will be much better trying to offer low profiles as often as you can.
[ Soundtrack music: Attack of the clones, Return to Tatooine ]
The PCs may seek a quiet landing platform to avoid attracting unwanted attention. With a bit of luck they can land on private platforms on a moderate degree of decay where they'll be charged an abusive fee of 50 credits/day (in advance) for maintenance and refueling. Besides, the human in charge of the platform (wearing a greasy work overall) tries to scare them to get extra money as protection "ya'know, the gangs lately hav' been very aggresive. I'd rather hire some extra muscle to make sure yer ship is well", around 100 credits or more if he can. If you're mean and the characters didn't bother to pay and had no reputation here, you may want to damage the Falcon, or steal something from it, etc.
Nar Shaddaa is a vertical city where the lower you go the poorer and more dangerous the city becomes. And viceversa, the highest buildings are the home of powerful crime lords, war lords, and smuggler kings. In this place a character can try to find almost anything, even legal stuff!
Remember the roll made when a PC met Neelyx for the first time? Do it again for any main NPC at Nar Shaddaa who sees him, with the same results. It might well mean that such NPC tries to avoid the PCs like mad!
If the PCs bother to look for Torunn around, the best they can find is old reports about an ubese jedi looking for information around 10 years ago, visiting some people (most of them dead or gone, by now) with contacts with slavers and smuggling. It seems Torunn was already investigating the conspiracy so many years ago (when Neelyx was still a child, according to human standards).
After a while, as the characters cross the city to reach their intended destination, they're approached by a well dressed twilek spokesman and his well dressed and quite martial escort (as many as you want, around 6-10), who, hesitantly, requests their attention very politely. Specifically, he addresses to Neelyx and ignores mostly the other PCs as if he was their leader.
"Excuse me master, if your most important business can be delayed a little while, my master Nagga the hutt would like to make you an offer you might find exceedingly profitable in your stay on the Smuggler's Moon."
"We have a vehicle right here to lead you to our master Nagga if you wish, besides this guard of honor we hope pleases you. My master would also like to offer you 1,000 credits as a present of goodwill. You may bring your slaves with you if you wish, of course" (while looking at the other PCs) (he indeed offers the money)
"Aren't they slaves? My most sincere excuses, master." (if asked) "In our ignorance, we thought any retinue your excellency might have would be formed by slaves only. I hope you will forgive this small mistake, master".
What can the characters do in this case? They can either accept and see what happens or refuse right now. Every option is risky, they might attract unwanted attention with either option. However, if they play the role Nagga's thugs think they ought, it's probable it will be easier than acting against it. By the way, does Neelyx still have problems with not quite true arguments?
If they let the thugs lead them to Nagga's headquarters, they're brought to a large, closed repulsorlift vehicle, brimming with luxury. Neelyx is lead to a very comfortable seat in the middle of it and quickly served by several scarcely clothed maidens of different species (who, to anyone with a good empathy, seem scared of Neelyx but can't refuse to attend to). The other characters, unless declared as not slaves, don't enjoy much of this, at least not as much as Neelyx is offered. Of course, he feels very uncomfortable and he shows weirder and weirder patterns on the stripes of his skin. The thugs seem respectful but also nervous of being in the same place...
The vehicle sets off and crosses the heights of Nar Shaddaa, where the characters are struck with the lights of one hundred advertisements and signs. At this height, the moon looks not quite unlike Coruscant, though the towers don't have the same style, and sometimes the corruption is too obvious to be ignored. After a short trip they arrive to one of the tallest towers and land at a dock at the top. There, more guards dressed as a guard of honor escort them inside the building. Lots of security measures can be seen everywhere. An elevator leads them, finally, to a corridor and after a large blast door to a large and rich room filled with guards, war droids and a few more scarcely dressed maidens, where Nagga holds audience. Nagga is small (for a hutt) and seems nervous (on the edge of paranoia), however this isn't caused by Neelyx like everybody else, it is just his natural state of mind.
With a deep and resonant voice (something you wouldn't expect on a small hutt), and slightly fast (something more suitable to a nervous one) he greets Neelyx and his retinue, after his majordomo (Reb, who didn't introduce himself just in case) whispers something to his ear (mostly how they've reacted and about his retinue not being slaves, if told so).
(Huttesse) "Greetings, honorable master. We're most pleased of you honoring us with your presence and your time. To avoid making you waste your time, I'll get to the point. There is someone who is more or less a thorn by my side, and up till now all my attempts to get rid of him have proved fruitless. Would you have the time to remove this nuissance for me, master?
It is clear Nagga (and a few others in his organization) have taken Neelyx for some kind of bounty hunter or assassin... but how or why?
If the PCs act in weird way (that is, not as expected, with Neelyx being the leader, like with other characters asking information to Nagga or requesting money), the hutt would get surprised as this isn't what he expects. If they fulfil his expectations he'll give them more information about the one he wants to kill, a rival hutt called Remus who's always harassing his business. As it isn't expected for the PCs to follow this quest, we'll omit this information (Nagga tells them the location and general security measures -sensors, guards, etc- and as payment he'll pay "almost" anything after the work is done). Alternatively if asked with the appropriate savoir faire he may give them some information they don't know.
"How did I know you're a master assassin? It's pretty obvious master, you're a neelyx. Once you know them and their art, it's hard not recognizing them.
"Don't you work for the Assassin Guild? I'm astonished, I can't believe it!
"Anyone, with the appropriate information knows that your're a neelyx. And that no neelyx is allowed to leave their homeworld unless it is a master assassin..." (this is quite dangerous information... Nagga can easily think there is something strange here and act against the PCs if they don't play their cards well).
If the PCs seem to agree with Nagga's requests and they pretend it well enough, Nagga will let them go in that very moment, using the same vehicle which carried them here to anywhere in the city (let's note that arriving to the SCU headquarters on a vehicle which can be traced to a Hutt's organization isn't a clever way to get information from them). The PCs may want to use Nagga's contacts to get the information and then leave, pretending that they will "remove" Remus later. However, it's very improbable that Nagga will give them more in advance besides the money he's already spent. And killing the other hutt to get the information, isn't a very jedi-like way to solve problems!
If the PCs refused ("I'm on a more important work. When it is finished I'll see if I can dedicate you my valuable time") and they played well their roles, Nagga will let them go too, either expecting for them to return and do the work or fearing incurring in the "master"'s wrath if he insists... however if later he finds out they played a masquerade to him he'll send a lot of people to make them pay for their insolence! Probably, the landing spot where they let the Falcon will become too crowded with people bent on killing the characters!
The SCU headquarters are located in one of the rich towers of the city. Getting inside it isn't a problem, because it is a masquerade of a legal company, however you should wear appropriate clothes and no obvious weapons or armor (being armed on Nar Shaddaa isn't a problem, but being showy is).
A great Streetwise roll lets the characters know that Ploovo's organization here is too far from his own territory. He must have reached some kind of agreement with the hutts or otherwise they'd have openly declared war on his organization. That possibly might help the characters, if the mobsters are afraid of getting intro trouble with the hutts.
In the main entrance, a long corridor filled with columns and a repulsorlift elevator (a very Matrix-like corridor!) a near human female recepcionist questions them about their business there. Besides her, there are two twilek bouncers very obviously armed (with heavy blasters) besides other non obvious security measures. Even the recepcionist is armed and able to start a row if they look for trouble.
Twilek bouncers
Attributes: Good Dexterity, Good Perception, Good Strength
Skills: Blasters Fair, Dodge Mediocre, Fair Melee, Search Fair, Sneak Fair, Brawling Fair, Brawling parry Fair, Repulsorlight operation Fair
Health levels: Ok, Hurt, Out of the fight.
Equipment: flak jacket DF +1, heavy blaster (OF +4)
They may be received by the boss, who is just a puppet of Ploovo's organization, but he's the farther they can reach through this way. They are led from the main entrance 50 levels up through the elevator and then through an small corridor to the boss' office. He's a rodian with a bit of overweight with a protocol droid who translates him from Huttese (he, arrogantly, doesn't speak to them directly, but through the droid). He may acknowledge some characters if they have the appropriate reputation, but won't tell them anything of value (barring jedi tricks, successful intimidation tries, etc). Bribing him isn't an option because he knows he'd be caught and killed. On the other hand, if scared enough (or recognizes Neelyx) he'll give them the destiny coordinates of the ship without hesitation.
The droid, however, isn't merely a translator, it also supervises the boss work to make sure the organic doesn't betray the company "too much". As soon as it notices the "boss" is talking more than he should, it activates a silent alarm so the PCs will find a warm welcome committee when they try to leave.
If the PCs connect to a computer terminal anywhere in the tower, most of them have no access to that information, and the important ones (like the boss') require a Superb Computer roll to surpass the security measures. This way they can get the destination coordinates, too.
If the PCs try to infiltrate during the night, there are some silent alarms besides killer drone droids patrolling the tower.
Killer drone (a lot of them!)
Attributes: Mediocre Dexterity, Mediocre Perception, Fair Strength
Skills: Blasters Fair, Dodge Mediocre
Health levels: Ok, Damaged, Out of Order.
Equipment: armor DDF +2, Light blaster cannon (OF +3), range like a rifle
As said, no matter if they get the information during the day or the night, in the end they'll find a whole bunch of thugs not very prone to just let them go. Unless they decided leaving somewhere else, they'll be ambushed at the columns hall where the thugs will use them as cover.
You may also want to use the following alternative offering the PCs this kind of exit. After these thugs they PCs may reach an small dock for repulsorlift vehicles in the tower, and they might be able to steal a vehicle and flee using it. Then the same chase described below can be used without much effort!
[ Soundtrack music: The Empire Strikes Back, The Asteroid Field ]
Other way the characters may try to get this information is looking for someone working for the SCU who could get the information for them. Request appropriate Streetwise rolls to find such an unloyal employee who will request 5,000 credits to get this dangerous information (they may haggle for it, but he'll want no less than 3,000). He'll request to be payed one half in advance (to make sure they don't cheat him) and will see them later at an open square in the upper city. Said and done, when the characters get near him after he's finished his shift, ready to give them a datacard with the information, he's shot dead by Ploovo's thugs on two repulsorlift vehicles. The characters then can get the dropped datacard (how about the datacard bouncing in the floor, kicked by the beings fleeing in panic, and requesting a PC to make a Superb dodge/dexterity/acrobatics roll to get it in the last moment before it falls to the murky depths of the moon?) and "steal" a vehicle of their own and try to lose them or be blasted for quite a long time for the flying thugs, till they manage to get a roof between the mobsters and themselves. There is a repulsorlift vehicle parked in the same square the characters can borrow (turning it on with a Great Security roll) and flee quickly to their ship.
Just in case remember that stopping vehicles in mid air with the Force is very hard (fast action, moving vehicle, large mass which moves on its own) plus it would let anyone know there are juicy jedi amongst them worth a large bounty.
Hitting the thugs in the vehicles is hard, they have a good cover, like probably the PCs when they get a vehicle of their own. Besides, the PCs weapons aren't probably too powerful against repulsors (they have a +3 scale against character-scale weapons). With a bit of luck a repulsorlift chase amongst the towers of Nar Shaddaa can be very thrilling.
The three vehicles have similar characteristics so only the skill of the pilots will decide the outcome. The chase starts at short range and you need to win a Repulsorlift operation roll with a success degree of +2 to increase it one step (short to medium, medium to long, long to lost), with a +3 increasing it two steps, and so on.
The thugs now use rifle blasters because of their better accuracy. At short range with those weapons you need at least Mediocre to hit the vehicle, and more to hit a character (due to the cover); at medium and long ranges you need a Fair and Good result respectively. There is a pilot and a sniper on each of the vehicles.
This has happened only once amongst all the times I've played this scene, but maybe it will be useful for you (and looks cool!). If the PCs manage to lose one of their followers but are caught by other or close to it, the thugs' vehicle is hit by heavy ion fire making it lose all its power and fall down in the middle of the mists of the city, with a very surprised look on the thugs' faces. Someone has saved their necks again...?
[ Soundtrack music: Revenge of the Sith, A new hope and end credits ]
Is the PC's ship damaged? They may find they need to spend some time fixing it before being able to leave, with Ploovo's thugs chasing them, bounty hunters after their heads and probably hutt gangs also interested in them by many reasons... a hasty take off having to board the Falcon while being blasted by bounty hunters and having to make some quick repairs at the same time, might be enerving enough! The bounty hunters won't follow them off ground because they'd have to destroy the ship and/or it would crash and explode so they'd have no way to claim the bounties... better luck next time.
On the other hand Nagga wouldn't mind killing them all if he's discovered they weren't the ones he thought they were, enraged at their daring. The PCs might be followed and shot by a few Z95 headhunters till they manage to leave the gravity well of the moon and jump to hyperspace.
If everything is okay, the may leave the moon quickly and calculate the hyperspace route to their destiny without further delays. It leads to an uncharted system in the middle rim...
| Campaign background | Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 |
| Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 |
| Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 |
| Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 |
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