Star Wars: Escape from Mos Shuuta, Part 1

So after several months of not being able to get the gang together, we finally met up (sans Robert, who was still stuck at work) only to discover that the cleric and druid did not bring their characters and Bill still had not made a new character yet. This was very frustrating, to put it mildly. Somehow, even though almost everyone had made it known that they would be coming, those three thought we wouldn’t actually be playing D&D.

All was not lost, however, as I had some of the beginner sets for FFG’s Star Wars RPG line with me. I had just gotten them for my birthday, and had only brought them in case the group was curious to see the game. Instead we got to put it to good use! Everyone grabbed a pregen character and we played through the starter adventure from the Edge of the Empire Beginner Game.

Escape from Mos Shuuta

Our motley band of heroes was:

• Human Smuggler, played by Joe
• Wookie Monster / Hired Gun, played by Drew
• Twi’lek Bounty Hunter, played by Thomas
• Medical Droid, played by Thomas’ visiting friend
• Human Guardian, played by Bill
• Togruta Seeker, played by Antony

I’m not bothering with names since I can’t remember them and we didn’t use them during the game. I think the wookie got called Chewbacca a few times, though. The last two characters were pregens from the Force & Destiny Beginner’s Set, since I had 6 players and only 4 EotE pregens.

Hive of Who and What?

The camera pans down to Tatooine. We then see the aforementioned motley group running through the dust-choked streets of Mos Shuuta, a dingy little hive of scum & villainy that’s situated atop a high bluff, with only one road in or out. In pursuit were 4 gamorrean bruisers who worked for Teemo the Hutt, the local crime lord. The party had escaped from Teemo’s service, and Teemo’s thugs were going to catch them and drag them back.

The escapees ducked into the cantina, where a devaronian tended bar and a twi’lek girl danced on the stage to some lively music. The diverse crowd of aliens paid little heed to the newcomers. The twi’lek bounty hunter pushed her way over to the dancer, followed by the guardian, seeker, and droid, and leaned on their shared racial heritage so that the dancer would allow the group to hide backstage. Meanwhile, the wookie ran behind the bar and tried to shove the bartender into a closet, but the devaronian put up quite the fight. The smuggler raced over to assist his furry friend.

The cantina regulars were not pleased with the disruption in the dancing or the drinks, and so the smuggler started pouring drinks on the house! That distracted the crowd long enough for the others to get backstage, but then the gamorreans strode through the entrance and everyone got quiet. The lead bruiser pointed at the smuggler and the wookie and his gang rushed forward, truncheons raised. Their advance was momentarily halted, however, when the wookie threw the bartender at them!

Chaos erupted in the cantina! Peeking out around the edge of the stage, the bounty hunter took aim with her blaster rifle and pulled the trigger. Her shot struck the head of a gamorrean struggling to untangle itself from the bartender, ending the enforcer’s life. Two of the other pig-men rushed the wookie and smuggler behind the bar, while the last one took cover from the blaster fire.

The guardian ignited her lightsaber and sprinted across the cantina to help the wookie. Patrons scattered as she leapt past them with her glowing blade, which she brought down in an overhead arc that sliced through the bar as the combatants narrowly moved out of the way. A subsequent stab of the saber brought the gamorrean low, while the other was felled by the smuggler’s gun. The last bruiser tried to run, but was tackled and held captive.

The group learned from the gamorrean that while the one route out of town was blocked, there was a ship at Landing Bay Aurek – the Krayt Fang. The vessel was owned by a trandoshan slaver named Trex, and it was in port to have its hyperdrive repaired. The gamorrean was shot with a stun blast and the escapees fled the cantina with the intent of fixing, and then stealing, this spaceship.

Horizontal Boosters? Alluvial Dampers?

If you wanted ship parts on Mos Shuuta, you went to the junkshop, so that’s where they headed. The shop was run by a cranky old human named Von. The Krayt Fang needed a hypermatter reactor igniter, but Von only had one, which Trex had already paid for but had not yet picked up. Von was disinclined to believe the lie that this oddball team was here to pick up the part on Trex’s behalf, and so they left. The crew took up positions on the rooftops outside the junkshop, waiting for someone to come get the part. They watched several gangs of Teemo’s thugs search the town for them, but no one came to get the HMRI from the junkshop. When night fell, they decided to break in and steal it.

They wanted to jump the fence to the junkyard, and access the shop through there. The medical droid managed to plug into the security system and disable the alarms on the yard fence, but once the party was inside they ran into a couple of security droids. The droids were quickly blasted and lightsabered to pieces, and the team hurriedly busted their way into the shop, grabbed the igniter, and fled as Von came out of his quarters with a blaster.

Next: grand theft spaceship!