Rebellion Era Campaign Guide

Chapter 1 begins with an analysis of how to play a Rebel Alliance cell, with each PC taking on a role like Command, Intelligence, Medical Officer, etc. — not anything that affects gameplay, but just defined military roles to get everybody in the spirit of it. It's pretty in-depth, even going so far as to say how each class might function in each role. The book is off to an impressive start.

There are no species in the book; the book dives right into the new Background system. Backgrounds are just like they are in D&D — based on your background, you pick up an extra class skill you wouldn't otherwise, and you gain some other bonus as well. The book recommends using them instead of Destinies in more "realistic" campaigns where big, epic moments aren't as common. It also says you can use both in a campaign, though characters should have either a Destiny or a Background; a Destiny is focused on the future, where a Background is focused on the past.

There are three types of Backgrounds, each of which works different. There are Events, which are things that happened in your past that affect who you are now: Bankrupt, Conspiracy, Crippled, Disgraced, Enslaved, Exiled, Imprisoned, Marooned, Orphaned, Scarred, and Widowed. There are also Occupations: Academic, Celebrity, Criminal, Executive, Labor, Law Enforcement, Medical, Military, Pilot, Politics, and Technology. Last are Planet of Origin, which only work if your species isn't typically from that planet (a Gungan from Naboo wouldn't gain any special bonuses, for example) or if you're a species that doesn't have a defined homeworld (such as Human or Ryn). The planets of origin are Alderaan, Bakura, Bespin, Bothawui, Cerea, Corellia, Coruscant, Dorin, Duro, Fondor, Gamorr, Iridonia, Ithor, Kashyyyk, Mon Calamari, Naboo, Nar Shaddaa, Rodia, Ryloth, Socorro, Sullust, Taris, Tatooine, and Trandosha. The book also contains simple rules for creating your own planet of origin.

Next come the talents. The Jedi gets some good talents, such as Guiding Strikes, which gives your allies bonuses to melee attacks against targets you damage, and Recall, which lets you regain 2 Force powers when you spend a Force Point instead of just 1. The Noble gets an interesting new tree: the Gambling Leader, which focuses on giving you big bonuses when you risk your neck. For example, Face the Foe gives you a +1 bonus on attack rolls against targets you don't have cover from, and Assault Gambit lets an ally and enemy make immediate Initiative opposed rolls, the winner getting to make a free attack against the loser. It seems like these are some good abilities to give Nobles an excuse to risk their puny hit points in combat.

The Scoundrel gets the Recklessness talent tree, which let you risk your own neck for big bonuses, similar to the Gambling Leader. Hit the Deck gives your allies Evasion against your area attacks, for example, and Risk for Reward lets you make (once per turn) an extra attack every time you get damaged by an attack of opportunity. These talents go pretty far in getting you to do things you wouldn't ordinarily do in combat.

The Scout's Unpredictable talent tree lets you constantly run around the battlefield, avoid attacks, and strike back out of turn when you're hit by attacks. While I'm not always impressed by some of the talent trees the Scout gets — the Legacy Era one comes to mind — this one seems unique and flavorful.

The Soldier gets the Ambusher talent tree, which keys off of the surprise round, and in fact makes the first round always the surprise round for you (so you can use all kinds of talents and stuff that require surprise). You also get to pick a "prime target" to take out, and gather all kinds of bonuses against them. Again, interesting, flavorful stuff that seems like it would be fun and different to play.

And now the feats, of which there are some serious standouts. Assured Attack lets you reroll the lowest damage die on any attack you make, making it one of the nicest feats I've ever seen. Vehicular Surge lets you take a second wind for vehicles you pilot. And there are four feats keyed off of second winds that let you do all kinds of new things with them, like take them as a free action, or take them even when you're not at half hit points.

The book also introduces Species Feats; every species from the Core Rulebook gets 3 feats, except Humans. They're not all mind-blowing, but they're all pretty flavorful and fun. The Duros ones in particular would make Rek Luk a flying machine. I'll just point out those that are relevant to our party members: Gamorreans get Increased Resistance (+2 Fortitude for one round when an opponent's attack or skill check targets it and fails), Primitive Warrior (+1 die of damage with simple weapons), and Quick Comeback (once per round, you can move up the condition track with only a single swift action the round after you get knocked down the track). Gungans get Gungan Weapon Master (whenever you spend a Force Point while attacking with an atlatl or cesta, increase the die type by one step, d6 to d8), Perfect Swimmer (whenever you reroll a Swim check, you take the best of the two rolls, not just the second one), and Warrior Heritage (+2 to Will while wielding an atlatl or cesta). The book closes out with a new Force tradition, the Kilian Rangers, who first appeared in the Revised Core version of the Rebellion Era Sourcebook.

The ace pilot and officer get new talent trees that are really awesome. The ace pilot gets the Wingman tree, which gives big bonuses for aiding allies and staying in formation with your squadron. More impressive is the Officer's Rebel Recruiter tree, which lets you convert a dying enemy to your cause for the rest of combat. It's a really cool mechanic that I think would be fun to try out for an Officer character. There are two new prestige classes: the Improviser and the Pathfinder. The Improviser is all about using improvisation to do stand-up comedy shows that distract your enemies... no, it's actually about getting and using gear. It's open to a wide variety of classes — Scoundrel, Soldier and Noble all qualify — and it specializes in acquiring black market gear or creating your own out of whatever's laying around. The Pathfinder is for Scouts, and its big mechanic is creating a "Safe Zone" aura that is beneficial for your allies but harmful for your enemies. It also has the ability to create cover out of thin air.

Next comes Equipment & Droids. There's a few standouts here — the Concussion Grenade, the Flechette Launcher, the Gas Grenade — but no must-haves. The droids detailed are the FX-7 medical droid, R4-series agromech droid, WED Treadwell repair droid, LOM-series protocol droid, BT-16 perimeter security droid, and RHTC-560 Hunter Trainer, as well as a sidebar about the B'omarr Monks.

Vehicles and Starships shows a lot of things that I, frankly, don't recognize (as any really identifiable Rebellion-era stuff has already shown up in the core book or Starships of the galaxy). But it does have cloud cars and racing swoops, as well as a nice assortment of starfighters and transports.

Rebellion Era Campaigns talks about how to play as the Rebellion or the Empire and points out the similarities between their playing styles (military command structure, etc.). It has a lot of campaign ideas and themes that can be put to good use. Super-useful is the table News of the Worlds, which details how much you know about the Empire and how much you believe its propaganda by Knowledge (galactic lore) and Knowledge (social sciences) rolls. More educated characters who know where to look will see past the lies, which is kind of cool.

The next chapter is The Rebel Alliance, which begins with a history of the Rebellion dating back through The Force Unleashed. It spells out the command structure of the Rebels and details how these hierarchies might be used in a campaign. It's been done before in Clone Wars and Legacy Era, and it's always nice to see this kind of organizational information to help teach more about how the group functions. Aside from some generic NPCs, the chapter also stats out Admiral Ackbar (though how they didn't give him the It's A Trap! talent from Starships is beyond me), Wedge Antilles, Tycho Celchu, Airen Cracken, Nera Dantels, Biggs Darklighter, Wes Janson, Derek "Hobbie" Klivian, Nien Nunb, Carlist Rieekan, Deena Shan, Wicket, and Winter. The chapter also comes complete with a section on Cracken's Tactics, explaining how to do such things as sabotage a shield generator, jury-rig a power-pack bomb, and overload vehicle weapons. It's some fun stuff. The chapter closes with some new weapon emplacements (now you, too, can have your very own Planet Defender Ion Cannon to take out Star Destroyers in orbit), combat vehicles, and starships.

Next chapter is The Empire. After the organizational stuff, we get into NPCs: the Blackhole stormtrooper, novatroopers (with badass armor), seatroopers, spacetroopers, storm commandos, and swamptroopers. The NPCs detailed are Grand Moff Trachta and Janek Sunber, both from the Empire comic book series. The chapter also details some Imperial equipment and armor, as well as Imperial Espionage Droids, and Phases I, II and III of the Dark Trooper droids from the Dark Forces video game. The chapter ends with all manner of vehicles and starships, including the funny TIE Mauler tracked vehicle and lots of different variations of TIE Fighters.

Fringe Factions launches by statting out some of the neglected bounty hunters: 4-LOM, IG-88 and Dengar. Some of Black Sun's starships are then statted out and illustrated. Lobot and the Cloud City guards are then shown, as well as a sidebar for Lobot's BioTech Borg Construct Aj-6, for computer users going for that Jean-Luc Picard look. Plenty of room is given to Jabba the Hutt, both statting out him and Bib Fortuna and explaining how to incorporate characters who would work for Jabba's organization. A few Zann Consortium vehicles are statted out from Empire At War, and then some Corporate Sector forces. The book ends with the Cracian Thumper creature from way back in the original Star Wars RPG, followed by an index and CL table.

All in all, it fills in a lot of the blanks left by the Core Rulebook. It's a bit haphazard at times, and suffers a bit from the fact that all the really iconic stuff has already appeared in other books, but overall, between the campaign advice, the Background system, and the Species Feats, I'd call it a winner.

I got Rebellion Era!

I picked up the Rebellion Era Campaign Guide today from Jake. I'll do a detailed write-up of it soon, but first, chew on this: no new species (not even in sidebars) and no new Force powers (or anything), but every Core Book species (except humans) gets 3 new species feats. Gobmush and Kelif rejoice!

July 15 recap

•Yvegeny establishes his role in the party.

•Lyta awakens to the Force while investigating her mentor's murder.

•A longtime foe is captured.

Yvegeny contacts Kelif, claiming to have information about his father and saying to meet at the Force of Personality bar near the Jedi Temple. Kelif, suspicious that this could be one of his enemies laying a trap, asks Lyta to go in his stead; Lyta requires him to sign a form stating that she would always act as his personal physician.

Yvegeny first meets with Oro, who quickly determines that Yvegeny is probably who he says he is and reports back to Lyta, who then meets with him herself. (Neither Oro nor Lyta recognizes Yvegeny is a surgically altered Kazbich.) Yvegeny claims to be a black-ops Republic Intelligence agent who has been ordered to overtly monitor the Raraza crew because of their recently harboring the dangerous criminal Kazbich. Lyta leads him back to the ship to meet Kelif, but when they get to the Raraza, there's no one there except for Marina, who was recently hired by Ras to serve as the ship's pilot. Marina doesn't recognize Kazbich either, but reluctantly takes him aboard the ship, saying they already have a Jedi, a doctor, and a "frog... person... thing."

At about this time, Ras informs Lyta that her former Jedi Master, Neyeria, has been found murdered, and Lyta realizes her command of the Force is growing, as she was able to sense it (but not know what she sensed). Yvegeny, Ras, and Lyta go to the lower levels to the warehouse where Neyeria's body was found. When they arrive, they find scavengers outside, including the Twi'lek who hassled Kazbich for booze money a few weeks ago. The Twi'lek, under intimidation by Yvegeny, admits he swiped Neyeria's lightsaber after her death; Yvegeny retrieves it and hands it to Oro.

Upon investigating the crime scene, they find open spice canisters, and Neyeria's body has stab wounds, blaster wounds, and lightsaber wounds, and they were all on her before she died (i.e. the body was not marked up after death). Yvegeny's superior information-gathering skills finds that the spice belongs to a small-time Hutt named Prello (who hangs out at a nearby bar called Under the Table), and an attractive human woman, a Cerean, and a yellow-gold protocol droid were spotted going into the warehouse before Neyeria's death. Ras makes a call to the Jedi Temple — Neyeria was investigating the spice shipments when she was apparently ambushed.

Ras stays behind at the crime scene to meditate (and members of the Jedi Order arrive at the warehouse to pick up Neyeria's body for ritual cremation) while Yvegeny and Lyta hit up Under the Table. Prello's none too smart, hanging out in the open with a bunch of Bothan smugglers, telling stories about crime gone awry (think Mr. Orange in "Reservoir Dogs"). Yvegeny intimidates Prello, who doesn't know anything about the murder or even that the Jedi were on to him. Prello calls in his contacts, who turn up a Chadra-Fan named Teek, who saw the whole thing: Neyeria was investigating the spice, when the human woman attacked her with a red-bladed lightsaber, asking about the Selkath (Lyta) and the pale-skinned woman (Ras). The Cerean shot at Neyeria while the droid extended vibroblades out of its arms and sliced at her. Yvegeny realizes this lightsaber-wielding woman is probably Cariaga Sin, which means there are Sith on Coruscant and they're looking for the party. (Lightsabers: Color-coded for your convenience!)

Rather than let the Sith try to track them down, Lyta and Yvegeny hit upon a plan: They're going to release new advertisements for the clinic where Lyta is working, heavily advertising her presence and the fact that her Jedi Master was just killed, in an effort to lure the Sith out. The Toydarian doctor there is less than impressed — he doesn't buy Lyta's lie that it's to lure more corporate sponsors — but goes through with it anyway. Ras and Yvegeny will stake out the clinic lobby while Lyta and Oro do their doctor thing. Ras intimates to Yvegeny that she knows he's really Kazbich.

After a few hours, a Cerean comes to the clinic with a protocol droid matching the description, saying their friend is seriously sick and they need an ambulance right away. They provide an address and hurry back. The party hops into a rickety speeder ambulance and heads off to the apartment complex.

On the second floor, the party enters the shabby apartment, which contains very little furniture but holds the Cerean, the protocol droid, and Cariaga Sin, who appears to be dead (though Lyta and Ras both recognize she's in a Force trance). Lyta loads a syringe up with tranquilizer and prepares to inject Cariaga just as she wakes up, realizing the party has come to them. Lyta quickly (using a Destiny Point) injects Cariaga before she can act, making Cariaga visibly more woozy.

Melee breaks out as the Cerean uses the Force to super-heat his fists and slam into the party, as the droid reveals itself to be an HK-48 droid and retracts its twin vibroblades from its arms. Ras quickly turns the tide of combat by quickly hurling the droid out the window, crying "Staaaaaatement..." as it falls. Cariaga activates her lightsabers, but looks worse for the wear as the tranquilizer works through her system, and Lyta debates using dark side powers to avenge her Master's death. Ras hurls the Cerean out the window as well before he can cause any more damage — disrupting his convection Force power — as the party gathers to face Cariaga. Lyta successfully convinces her to surrender, just before she's knocked unconscious by the tranquilizer. Ras drains the energy cells of the damaged HK-48 unit through the Force, but the Cerean makes his escape. The party hauls Cariaga Sin to the Jedi Temple.

DM's Note: Yvegeny uses a heavy blaster pistol, not a sonic pistol, as was incorrectly recorded in the previous recap.

July 9 recap

•Ras finishes her lightsabers and learns more about Marina's goals.

•Kazbich has astoundingly bad luck with the legal system, but gets a new lease on life.

•A Jedi Master is found murdered.

With Alhu-Zun, Wertsnik and Nemor having escaped the Royal Icqui Aquaria, the party resumes its business. Ras continues working on her lightsabers; Kelif goes to the University of Coruscant to research Naboo; Lyta and Oro head back to the clinic with Bekk Stath, the Zabrak doctor who helped them find Gaph; Gobmush is missing in action.

Kazbich, meanwhile, has been in a holding cell as he awaits trial for his criminal activities at the aquarium. He contacts Ras, who lets the party know that Kazbich is in jail again, and begins working on his defense with Jazz. He plans to argue that since he's a Republic agent, he was on Republic business, and the security guards were already aware of the mission to eavesdrop on Wertsnik and his buddies, he should be acquitted. Rek Luk arrives on Coruscant and visits him in jail, admitting that he's been subpeonaed by the prosecution as a character witness and that while it's nothing personal... well, Kazbich is a dangerous guy and does have a death stick problem, so maybe he should go where he can't hurt anyone.

Jazz has the presence of mind to have Kazbich tried separately for the three crimes he's accused of: attempting to bribe a peace officer (a major misdemeanor), attempting to smuggle guns in protected Republic territory (a minor felony), and transporting/selling death sticks, an illegal substance (a major felony). In the bribery trial, Kazbich defends his actions as necessary for protecting the Republic, and surprisingly sways the judge enough to receive the minimum sentence: a 1,000 credit fine.

In the smuggling trial, however, the prosecution is much more on the ball, and Kazbich is quickly convicted, owing 2,000 credits and requiring a year of incarceration (though later post-sentencing negotiations remove the year in prison). At the death stick trial, the prosecution has a pretty airtight case, buoyed by Rek Luk's admittal that Kazbich has shot death stick dealers and exhibited problems associated with their use. Kazbich offers up a stirring defense, arguing for the legalization of death sticks and saying that if he needs a little upper to keep him defending the ideals the Republic stands for, that's a small price to pay. [DM's Note: It was seriously awesome. He should've had an American flag billowing behind him during that speech.] The judge is not swayed, however, and Kazbich is soon carted off to a maximum security prison, while Jazz tearfully says she'll try to get him out on appeal.

Ras meets up with the rest of the party, who have mixed reactions to Kazbich's being locked up. Back at the ship, Marina expresses some surprise and asks what happens to her now. Since Kazbich had been the Raraza's pilot, Ras agrees to hire Marina as the new pilot. Marina also inquires about the possibility of gaining access to the Jedi Archives; she's been searching for a "treasure planet" called Iego. Ras doesn't know much about it, but agrees to escort Marina to the Archives, where they learn some about its general location in the Extrictarium Nebula, a dangerous region that is clouded by black holes and mysterious nebulae. It has a reputation as a treasure planet because it's inhabited by mythological creatures called Angels, and most ships that do find it never leave (so theoretically, all of their booty is just sitting on the surface of Iego, waiting to be claimed). While in the Archives, a young Jedi approaches Ras and tells her there's been a terrible emergency: Lyta's former Master, Neyeria, has been murdered.

As Kazbich is transported to prison, his speeder truck fills with knockout gas. He awakens hours later in a place he doesn't recognize, quite groggy from anesthesia as a 2-1B droid enters. Looking in a mirror, Kazbich realizes that his face and body have been altered — he has been given a new identity, and he is now black. In walk Kelly and another man, who tell Kazbich that he has been delivered into "custody" (showing a live video feed with a man who resembles Kazbich being led into prison as planned) and that as far as the galaxy is concerned, Kazbich is serving his legal sentence.

When Kazbich asks who they are, Kelly's friend introduces himself as Rulan, a member of the Genoharadan. Kazbich says the Genoharadan are a fairy tale to scare little children, but Rulan assures him they are quite real; the Genoharadan are a secret band of assassins who have been manipulating galactic politics for thousands of years. Rulan intimates that Kazbich has been chosen to join their ranks, and the Genoharadan has gone to lengths to give him a new identity. Rulan goes so far as to hint that Kazbich's father (who Kazbich never knew) was himself once a member. Kazbich is extremely skeptical and doesn't believe Rulan, but decides to go along with it.

Rulan says that Kazbich's companions will not believe him if he says he's with the Genoharadan, as most sentients believe the organization to be a myth or conspiracy theory, and thus they are in no danger of exposure (though if Kazbich pushes too far, he'll never see the agents coming). He says Kazbich will serve as an assassin with their organization, receiving orders secretly and being well-rewarded for his work, and then reveals his shapeshifting nature to mock Kazbich's skepticism. Kazbich decides to take on a new identity: Yefgeni Reminski, from the planet Ojom in the Deep Core. With that, Rulan and Kelly return Reminski's gear (which had been impounded) and leave him at the Force of Personality bar.

Reminski begins retooling himself to appear less like Kazbich — the Genoharadan provide a cybernetic arm that looks just like a real arm, and he begins training with sonic pistols instead of slugthrowers. At the bar, Reminski calls Kelif, saying he has information about his father on Naboo. Though Kelif doesn't know who Reminski is (his vocal cords were also changed to give him a different voice), he agrees to meet with him.

[DM's Note: Here's where we have some fun with in-character knowledge versus out-of-character knowledge. Out of game, everybody knows that Yefgeni Reminski is a surgically altered Kazbich, but in-game, that's going to be subject to a Perception check versus Kazbich's Deception roll, to be made when Reminski meets the rest of the party. And what you choose to do with said information is up to each individual player. What happens to Jazz (being Kazbich's follower) is still up in the air and up to Kazbich.]

Character Composite: Cariaga Sin

(Taken from the Jedi Archives' files.)

Subject: Cariaga Sin

Homeworld: Dachat

Youngling Clan: Nashtah Clan

Jedi Master: Var Cashral (Kerkoiden, deceased), Vee Naaq (Gran, deceased), Tyria dal Rozess (human)

Course Study: Lightsaber study (master level), alter (remedial level), sense (remedial level), control (apprentice level)

Age: 29

Personal History:

Cariaga Sin was born on the Core World of Dachat. The planet experienced a period of relative peace after Jedi Master Arca Jeth's successful campaign against the Nelori Marauders, a well-organized group of pirates who used the planet as a base to prey upon the Core Worlds. Still, years of oppression under the pirates had given the planet's colonists a combative edge, and even after years of peace, they still trained extensively to defend themselves. When she was discovered by the Kerkoiden Jedi Master Var Cashral at age 4, she had recently been orphaned when her parents and older brother were killed in a heavy weapons accident. She was already proficient in hand-to-hand combat, and Master Cashral sensed the Force flowed strongly through her when she fought. He took her to the Jedi Enclave on the isolated plains world of Yinn'al, where she began her training under the Twi'lek Jedi instructor Malazi Veri.

Coming from a homeworld that believed strongly in self-sufficiency and defense training, Cariaga easily took to the lightsaber, quickly becoming the best dueling student in her class (even being so skilled as to wield two at once), though she lagged behind in other skills, such as diplomacy and telekinetic Force use; she placed all her faith in her lightsaber, and being a very attractive young lady, she grew up believing her looks were all that were necessary for diplomacy. Malazi Veri sensed that Cariaga Sin might one day become the greatest duelist in the Jedi Order. When Cariaga turned 16, Var Cashral took her as his apprentice.

Master Cashral was known for being one of the preeminent lightsaber duelists in the Jedi Order; several techniques and maneuvers associated with the Jar'Kai form have been attributed to Cashral's mastery of the form. Cashral was also something of a maverick, leaving the safety of Republic territory for months at a time to fight injustice and bring aid to others. Cariaga followed Cashral to troubled hotspots around the galaxy in the aftermath of the Great Sith War, helping the Jedi stamp out Krath survivors and restore peace to some of the lawless regions of the Outer Rim. Together, they were responsible for restoring Republic control of the Besloruk Sector, defeating the Krath warlord Urias Kato, and rescuing Senator Eewenn Awmod from terrorists. Cariaga was but a teenager, but she was quickly proving herself capable of feats of daring and heroism. She even took to wearing Jedi battle armor, though such a practice had been out of favor since the Great Sith War.

However, three years into training Cariaga, Master Cashral, while undertaking a solo mission in the Homon Sector, was ambushed and killed by war droids. Though she was ordered to stay at the Jedi Enclave on Dantooine for safe keeping, Cariaga defied the Council and searched for her master's killers. Though she found the droids that had killed him, whoever had programmed them had long since disappeared, and the trail went cold. Cariaga swore revenge, but she never found another clue as to who killed her Master.

The Enclave Council on Dantooine, recognizing Cariaga's defiance, assigned her a new Master, the Gran consular Vee Naaq. Where Cashral had been more loose about his association with the Jedi hierarchy, Naaq was more obedient to the will of the Councils, and the Council hoped that Naaq's subservience would rub off on the more independent Cariaga.

Cariaga chafed under the direction of Naaq, who had taken it upon herself to bolster Cariaga's lackluster Force abilities. Cariaga resented the meditations and the training exercises, and hated that Naaq refused to knight her until her other skills were up to snuff. For several years, she spent most of her tutelage struggling to master her Force abilities; the Force came most easily to her when she held a weapon (though she did eventually, begrudgingly master a few). Worse, rumors had begun to filter in that the Mandalorians were raiding outside Republic territory, and Cariaga longed to prove herself; she had not faced a worthy foe since Cashral's passing.

However, her training under Naaq came to a sudden and violent end when Vee Naaq brought her to the Outer Rim planet of Lesu, to meditate in a jungle that was strong in the Force. Unfortunately, while meditating there, the planet fell under attack by the Mandalorians, who were still probing the defenses of the Republic and looking to conscript the Lesu colonists. Naaq was surprised by a Mandalorian sniper and killed, but Cariaga was quickly able to save herself, slicing her way through nearly an entire platoon of troopers before stealing a Mandalorian ship and escaping. On the trip back to Republic space, Cariaga rued Naaq's teachings, noting that the consular had been unable to detect the approaching enemies or save herself, and believed that the lightsaber was the only way to stop the Mandalorians and save the innocent.

Troubled by Cariaga's growing defiance of her Masters, the Dantooine Enclave Council voted to censure Cariaga, requiring her to perform menial labor with the local farmers in hopes of teaching her humility. They also assigned her a new Master, the human Tyria dal Rozess, a noted humanitarian who devoted her time to tending to the less fortunate on Dantooine. Cariaga was miserable, uncertain of her future in the Jedi Order but feeling that she was being repressed by a Council that wanted to keep her in line.

When she first heard of the Mandalorians attacking Republic settlements, she left Dantooine behind and joined Revan's call to war, believing her superior lightsaber skills would help bring a swift end to the emerging war. Free from the confines of the Jedi Masters, Cariaga took great pleasure in exercising her lightsaber mastery at every opportunity. Though she was not much of a leader (still preferring to use her looks to get things done), her experience on the battlefield soon earned her the command of military platoons, and she was soon responsible for successful campaigns on Eres III, Iktotch, and Daluuj, though she soon gained a reputation as a Jedi who enjoyed battle more than most. For her valiant service, she was awarded the Republic Emblem of Valor by Admiral Saul Karath.

Cariaga disappeared with Revan's fleet after the Battle of Malachor V, ostensibly to pursue Mandalorian survivors in the Outer Rim. For a year, she was presumed missing or dead by the galaxy at large; the Jedi Council believed Revan's followers may still have been alive, and organized an extensive search for them, Tyria dal Rozess being among the Masters sent into the Unknown Regions. When Revan and Malak returned as Dark Lords of the Sith and attacked the Republic shipyards at Foerost, Cariaga Sin led the ground forces that seized control of the main orbital facility. She was likewise present at the Sith capture of Korriban, where she quickly distinguished herself for her savagery in combat. Where she had once worn Jedi battle armor to honor the Order, she now has been seen wearing thick leather and bone armor, believed to have been constructed from the bones of a hssiss, or "dark side dragon."

Cariaga Sin remains at large, and is believed to be commanding the Sith interdictor Malak's Fist. She was present at the Battle of Ithor and was in command of the Sith embassy on Myzil V before the Techno Union affirmed its commitment to the Republic. Her present location is unknown.

DM's Notes: Cariaga Sin is actually not my original creation; in KOTOR 2, when you go to the tomb of Ludo Kressh, you are first visited by an illusion of when Malak first recruited you to fight for the Mandalorian Wars. There are several other Jedi with you who choose to join Malak, and they're all individually named (Cariaga Sin, Nisotsa, Talvon Esan, Xaset Terep, and Bastila). I thought it would be interesting to expand on one of the characters who's seen choosing to join Malak and make her one of the primary villains.

Jake also inquired about whether she had been knighted; Cariaga never formally received the title Jedi Knight, but took it upon herself after joining Revan's crusade against the Mandalorians.

June 15 recap

•The party stakes out the Royal Icqui Aquaria.

•Kazbich pays dearly for making a poor choice.

•The architect behind the Myzil V sabotage is revealed.

With Gaph successfully healed, the party takes its leave of the deep catacombs he calls home and returns to the surface. Ras is intent on arresting Gaph, but notes that his compound is heavily fortified and they have now lost the element of surprise, so the party decides to put that off until a later date, preferring to investigate Wertsnik further before moving against Gaph.

The party splits up for the rest of the day. Ras looks into surveillance droids and recording equipment to be able to capture what Wertsnik says on tape, with Kelif in tow. Lyta works at the clinic some more, and meets up with Novin, the Arkanian lawyer who helped them on Myzil V, who has learned that his old clients are on Coruscant now. Gobmush leaves the group for a short while. Kazbich decides to take care of a loose end in his life and begins searching for someone who can find and kill Zhen Cravel, the Zabrak commando who helped them on Nal Hutta. He searches for Exchange members on Coruscant, but finds nothing to work with. On the Raraza, Marina is dubious as to Kazbich's intentions and does not call in her contacts. Kazbich tries to call Gorrak the Hutt, but is blocked by his receptionist droid, who does not want Kazbich to kill one of Gorrak's top men. Mr. Skee is similarly suspicious and is unwilling to make a deal. Rek Luk, now a bounty hunter, doesn't mince words about it being a dumb idea and refuses to connect Kazbich to anybody in the Bounty Hunter's Guild who might be willing to help, as Kazbich doesn't seem to have a good reason to want Zhen dead. All avenues blocked to him, Kazbich relents on the idea... for now. Ras purchases a bunch of recording equipment and a probe droid, and goes to the Royal Icqui Aquaria and convinces the Bothan security chief to let them conduct their sting operation.

The next day, the party separates and stakes out the aquarium. Kazbich makes the mistake of hanging out outside the aquarium posing as a death stick dealer; security forces ask him to either come inside to the aquarium as a tourist, or leave. Kazbich enters, but must stow his guns before entering — absolutely no weapons. (Ras has maneuvered around this liability by using her Jedi credentials.) Kazbich tries to smuggle his slugthrowers in anyway, but is patted down by a security guard, who forcefully pulls him into a back holding cell, where security guards whomp his ass around the clock and a medical droid submits him to a full cavity search.

After a couple of hours, the party spots Wertsnik, who enters the aquarium alone, looks at the various aquatic life, and sits on a bench in front of the firaxa shark tank. He doesn't notice Ras' probe droid watching him; nor does the Yarkora, who arrives an hour later and quietly sits next to Wertsnik. The probe droid picks up a snippet of conversation that they're waiting for their third party to show up.

Another hour later, Kazbich is still getting gang-probed, and Wertsnik and the Yarkora are joined by a Draethos holding a walking stick — who does notice the probe droid. He contacts security, who hauls the droid away (they're well-alerted to its presence already by Ras, so they don't destroy it). The Draethos reaches out with the Force and senses two Force-users nearby — Ras and Lyta — and warns Wertsnik and the Yarkora that there are Jedi about. He telepathically contacts both Ras and Lyta, inquiring as to who they are; Ras agrees to meet with him, but Lyta declines, watching from a safe distance. Ras meets up with Kelif, and together they decide to meet the enigmatic Force-user.

The Draethos introduces himself as Alhu-Zun, and the Yarkora introduces himself as Nemor-Jelak. Wertsnik instantly recognizes Ras and Kelif. ("Didn't I threaten you with a blaster rifle?") When pressed about his motives, an overconfident Alhu-Zun explains that he sabotaged the Myzil V negotiations in favor of the Republic by turning public opinion against the Sith; he convinced Umoe to have someone (who turned out to be Kazbich) pump Krosix-9 into the Pit, believing that most Skakoans would assume that only such a brazen terrorist act would be performed by the Sith. The Sith would similarly take the blame for the exploding droids, which would be seen as an assassination attempt on the Republic ambassadors. Alhu-Zun explains that he's been stacking the deck in favor of the Republic all across the galaxy; being a member of a long-lived species, he remembers well the devastation caused to the galaxy by the Great Sith War forty years ago, and he's willing to use underhanded means to keep that from happening again, even if that means killing a thousand to save a million.

Naturally, the party disagrees and assembles a security team to arrest Alhu-Zun, but the Draethos uses his powerful mental abilities to disorient the party and security forces, and beats a hasty escape, with Wertsnik and Nemor in tow. By the time the party recovers, Alhu-Zun has left the aquarium. And with the probe droid discovered and moved away, nothing they said was recorded.

June 10 recap

•Mr. Skee taps the Untouchables for an assignment.

•The trail for Wertsnik leads to the Galactic History Museum.

•Lyta saves the life of a ruthless crime boss.

Picking up where we left off at Wertsnik's G-type shuttle, it appears the trail has gone cold; Gobmush's tracking has shown that Wertsnik boarded a speeder and left the landing site.  Looking for a lead, Ras searches the ship for anything that Wertsnik has handled, eventually settling on some ration wrappers in the trash disposal.  Her plan is to see if there is anybody at the Jedi Temple who might be able to use the Force to use them to find Wertsnik.

At the same time, back on the Raraza, Catchy receives an incoming transmission from Mr. Skee and patches it through to Kazbich.  Mr. Skee remembers the legal help he provided to the Untouchables on Myzil V, and thinks it's time to call in a favor: The Ryn crime lord Gaph has been waging a bloody campaign through the Coruscant underworld, deep in the bowels of Republic City itself, yet the Jedi have been powerless to do anything to stop him.  Mr. Skee wants to know how Gaph is able to pull this off time and time again.

While Ras goes to the Jedi Temple in search of a Jedi Master who can help her, the rest of the party goes into the lower levels in search of information about Gaph.  Crask is unwilling to make the drive, so he sends a Bothan driver instead, who drops them off but is not willing to wait around for them.  Upon landing, the party is accosted by beggars.  A Twi'lek claims to be a Mandalorian Wars hero and tries to shake down Kazbich for money; Kazbich refuses, but when the Twi'lek says he just wants some booze, Kazbich offers up his hip flask.  This gets all the beggars coming, since hey, someone's actually listening to their panhandling.  Lyta and Oro take the initiative to lead all the homeless to the clinic of their Toydarian doctor friend, Bumo.  At Bumo's clinic, Lyta learns that Gaph's men have been stealing lots of medical supplies, creating a crippling shortage in the lower levels; the Republic police don't act on it, since most of them don't really care what goes on in the dangerous lower levels.  Bumo does provide, however, a comm number for an associate he knows who is trying to track down the missing supplies himself.  At the same time, Kazbich fends off a Talz death stick dealer.

Kazbich makes a call to Bumo's contact, who turns out to be a Zabrak doctor named Bekk Stath.  The party meets up with him at a bar in the lower levels, and Stath says he's been tracking where Gaph has been stashing the supplies he's been stealing.  He leads them to an abandoned turbolift tube, where they climb down 12 stories (which is physically exhausting) to Gaph's warehouse, in a dark, abandoned level.  The warehouse is full of medical supplies, and a single Twi'lek is organizing the loader droids to lift supplies out of a speeder truck while security droids stand watch.  Kazbich tries to bluff the Twi'lek by saying he works for Gaph, but the Twi'lek sees right through it and tries to stab him.  A brief fight ensues, with Stath (an accomplished martial artist) charging into melee and Gobmush smashing droids willy-nilly.  After a brief fight, the Twi'lek surrenders and says he can tell them where Gaph is; he also says Gaph is stealing medical supplies because he's got some illness he can't shake.  The party ties him up and decides not to kill him anyway.

The next day at the Jedi Temple, after finishing building her lightfoil, Ras meets up with Master Gonar Vos, who uses his Force powers to locate Wertsnik — meeting a Yarkora at the Galactic History Museum, near an exhibit about the founding of Coruscant.  The party goes to the museum, but Wertsnik's already gone.  Ras convinces the security team to allow them access to the security camera footage, and after a long search, they find footage of Wertsnik meeting with a Yarkora in a rancorskin jacket, but there's no audio.  After bringing the footage to the Jedi Temple, Asa Ulara reads their lips and says they're meeting a third party the next day at the Royal Icqui Aquaria.

The party then decides to check out Gaph — the Twi'lek leads the way deep into the catacombs beneath the city to an abandoned factory, where well-armed Ryn stand guard outside.  The party convinces the guards that they're doctors sent to help cure Gaph.  The Ryn lead them inside the factory, which has been turned into a Ryn enclave.  Gaph is staying in the control room — he's the leader of the colony, a tall, imposing figure who hides behind a heavy cloak.  Lyta convinces him to let her try to treat him, but Gaph warns that if she can't help him, neither she nor her companions will leave the enclave alive.

In a private room, Gaph shows Lyta the cause of his condition — he found a spinal implant years ago which grants him nondetection from Jedi.  (Ras confirms this when she can't get a firm sense of him through the Force.)  He says that he stole it off a corpse at the wreckage of the Draay Estate after the terrorist attack there five years ago.  Lyta's diagnosis is that his body is rejecting the implant and the implant itself is causing necrosis of nearby tissue, literally poisoning him to death.  She says he'll need regular blood transfusions just to stay alive; there's no cure for him other than removing the implant, which he's not willing to do.  Lyta is briefly tempted to kill the brutal crime lord now, but decides in favor of her hippocratic oath and does him no harm.  Satisfied with the diagnosis and her makeshift treatment, Gaph lets them go, but warns them to never return on pain of death.  Kazbich contacts Mr. Skee, who is satisfied with the information but says their debt is not settled yet.  Ras is noticeably uncomfortable with letting go a crime lord in possession of what appears to be a Sith artifact.