Deleted Scenes

In this post, just for fun, I'm going to detail some of the plots and ideas I thought of but didn't use in the campaign, just to give a peek behind the GM's screen.

The Jedi patron who wasn't

My original idea from level 1 was to have the party working for a "patron" who would give them missions and rewards, and my intent was to use Vima Sunrider, an important character from the Tales of the Jedi comics who would be a Jedi Master by now. As the party grew in cohesion, however, I stopped feeling like it was necessary — we already had something of an arc going in Rek's quest to take down Riga the Hutt and Logger's searching for the enslaved Ewoks — so I phased it out. Likewise, Galduran Calrissian was going to be a recurring character, but I didn't really have a good handle for what to do with him and let him fade into the background.

Rek Luk, fugitive from justice

This is probably one of the biggest and most controversial things I would have done in the campaign, and I came this close to doing it. Rek Luk had it in for Riga the Hutt because of an assassination attempt as a kid, and by the time the party was on Nar Shaddaa, Rek was doing everything he could to go after Riga. In an attempt to make a more interesting villain than just another Jabba, however, I'd said Riga was more into blackmail and coercion: he'd rather tarnish your name and leave you friendless than kill you outright, and he had his hands in all sorts of governments and businesses. (I still have plans for Riga, but I don't plan to use this arc anymore, because Rek's no longer in the party.)

Anyways, in the course of the adventures on Nar Shaddaa, Rek came across a datapad from one of Riga's people, detailing some of his schemes, and intended to broadcast it to discredit Riga. Rek was smart enough to read it first and notice his own dad's name was on there (Areta Luk had made some deals with the Mandalorians during the Mandalorian Wars to try to protect his company), so he dropped his plans.

My plan if Rek had leaked Riga's data (without reading it) was twofold. The Republic learns of Areta Luk's deals with the Mandalorians, arrests Areta, and effectively suspends Luk Shipping while they're doing a full investigation. To add insult to injury, Riga frames Rek Luk for the murder of a Republic agent (there was a scene we did play out on Nar Shaddaa where Rek meets with one of Riga's people, who gives him a blaster as a "peace offering"; that blaster would've turned out to be the murder weapon), making Rek a fugitive from justice. He'd lose access to his wealth and status, and the campaign arc then would've been trying to find evidence to clear his name, while on the run from the Republic (as well as corrupt agents in Riga's pocket, who are told to "shoot him in the back and say he was resisting arrest").

Aya Lim the loyal Jedi

I did not originally write Aya Lim to be a recurring bad guy; she was On-Warr's first student before Logger, after all. When they met on Nar Shaddaa, she would've taught him some stuff about the Force and shared some general wisdom. I think I had a small arc planned involving her trying to find a cure for a disease on Nar Shaddaa (she was very much like Mordin Solus, a sort of "slum doctor"). After Aya's first appearance, however, I felt like that wasn't that interesting; I wasn't really sure what she was supposed to teach him, and it didn't really make for compelling roleplaying. So I changed it that she had become very frustrated by her inability to make a significant difference helping people on Nar Shaddaa, and so she worked with the Sith because they offered her greater resources with few strings attached. And that really became the heart of Aya Lim — that she became evil with good intentions — and made her probably one of the most morally complex characters I've ever done in a campaign. I try not to overuse her, but I do like that she is very conflicted about her place in the galaxy.

Dhiel becomes Mandalore

When Dhiel began tracking his "Mandalorian father," I had it in my head to create a big arc that would have the Mandalorians be sort-of allies, sort-of enemies — the party would visit some of their planets in the Outer Rim, and watch them struggle to adapt to their exile — and ultimately, Dhiel would find the helmet of Mandalore and become their leader. This would continue throughout the campaign, until near the very end, Dhiel would pass off the leadership to Canderous (fulfilling his role as Mandalore from KOTOR 2). Of course, Dhiel died, and the arc fell by the wayside, and I decided to go with a group of Mandalorians under a false leader instead on Naboo. As it is, the party has not really met many "true" Mandalorians; those on Naboo were wannabes, and the exiles are still out there.

Marina the Republic agent

This was a rare case of me changing a story to screw with the party. On Myzil V, I was trying to get the party working for the Republic again, to give it a little bit of direction that I felt was lacking. One of the ways the Republic was going to keep an eye on the party was through Marina, Kazbich's old partner. The story was going to be that Marina had secretly joined the Republic after her caper on Taris (in Kazbich's backstory) went wrong — they offered her protection from the Exchange in return for her services — and then sent back to Kazbich in a believable way so the Republic could keep an eye on the party. However, after Marina had already been in the party for a few sessions, Jake casually mentioned that he figured Marina was probably going to betray the party at some point, since most of the NPC allies did, so to go against type, I changed her backstory to be that she'd been on the run since Taris and she wasn't working for the Republic.

I tried to think of interesting ways to integrate her into the party on Coruscant and Naboo, but I never really got a great idea for what to do with her (other than her hunt for Iego, the "treasure planet"), so she kind of fell by the wayside and I replaced her with A9G-E5, who I think has more personality anyway. I do intend to follow up on Marina at some point, but not for a while.

More Jenica Vigil

One of the first characters I thought up when I was conceiving of a KOTOR-era campaign was Bastila's master. I was interested in what kind of upbringing Bastila had that she was sort of a "Jedi princess" and acted all stuck up in the KOTOR 1 video game. I also wanted to explore Jedi personalities, because I don't want them all to be stoic, perfect know-it-alls and KOTOR is the era where the Jedi Order is a lot more liberal and less dogmatic. The answer was Jenica Vigil (whose name I got from a random Corellian name generator in Star Wars Gamer magazine), who had been a very powerful and famous Jedi Knight in her youth — a lot like Bastila herself — so she always pushed Bastila hard to be the best, but wasn't always great about acknowledging Bastila's achievements or reassuring her, and so a lot of Bastila's personality would be explained that she was constantly trying to prove herself to her Master during her training and was always trying to live up to Jenica Vigil's shadow.

I had planned for Jenica Vigil to be a more constant presence in the campaign, but I fumbled a few rolls with her during her first appearances, so the party doesn't seem to have much respect for her. I am glad I brought her back for Chommell Prime, though.

Eutix is watching you

When the group got to Coruscant, one of the recurring things was that after their encounter on Myzil V, the party was going to be constantly harassed by Eutix. It was going to be a lot of subtle things — the party always feels like it's being followed. (Gobmush's corporate contacts would've come into play here.) One scene I had written involved the party traveling somewhere by air taxi and "accidentally" being rammed by a droid-driven Eutix freighter, leading to a big skill challenge-type scene to not fall out of the sky. However, this fell by the wayside once the party got interested in going after Gaph, the Ryn crime lord. Eutix lives on, however; they were behind the beck-tori project deep underwater on Naboo, which gave some insight into some of their darker experiments — midichlorian studies.

Not related to Eutix, but one subplot idea I had for Coruscant was that the Jedi Temple was undergoing something of an upheaval, as there was going to be a group of Jedi Padawans who were planning to leave the Order to join the Sith, and they were trying to convince as many people as they could to join them. I ended up not using it — I think I just plain forgot about it — but I did acknowledge it in my recent Holonet News post, with "54 Jedi unaccounted for, believed to have willingly joined the Sith."

Always in motion is the future

While on Taris studying with On-Warr, Logger had a vision of the future, and I had intended for this to be clues to future events; unfortunately, none of these events ever happened, making me feel pretty silly. The Ewok vision I'll cover in the next bit, but two I have to touch on. One vision was Kazbich in a shootout in what looked like a museum; I had intended at some point to go to Alderaan to get involved in some royal intrigue there, but that never got past the idea stage. The other vision was Dhiel and Gobmush on a desert planet facing a Twi'lek woman on a crashed ship. Back then, half the party still worked for Gorrak the Hutt or was on friendly terms with him, so I'd originally intended him to play a much bigger role. The Twi'lek woman was from Gobmush's backstory (which I cannot find right now), a slave-turned-vigilante who had it in for Gorrak. She would've attacked Gorrak's ship, sending it crashing into a desert planet (possibly Tatooine, I hadn't decided), and Dhiel and Gobmush would've heard the distress beacon, sending them off to rescue him. As we lost Dhiel, however, Gorrak faded into obscurity.

Planets we never visited

Two planets I had fully intended us to travel to and never did were Arkania and New Plympto. Back before we had the planet design contest, I had intended for the Ewoks to be held by a corporate geneticist working for Adascorp on Arkania, using them as slave labor to look for Sith artifacts beneath the planet's surface. Once I decided Andy's planet, Myzil V, won the planet contest, however, I decided to relocate them there and change the story, using Eutix instead of Adascorp and using the Ewoks for genetic experiments instead of slave labor.

New Plympto was originally going to be the planet we traveled to after Taris. I even wrote up the first adventure (though I lost it back in the Great Hard Drive Crash of May '09). The party would've been sent by the Republic to pick up a Jedi Master on New Plympto, only when the party emerged from hyperspace, the Sith were attacking the planet. I wrote out a pretty badass encounter of the Raraza having to duck through a Sith blockade and avoid enemy fighters (I knew Jake wanted more space combat, so I'd planned to open the session with it). The Raraza would've been hit hard enough to force a landing and repairs at a small Republic camp. The party would get involved in helping the Republic and the native Nosaurian commandos hit a Sith supply convoy in the forest, but when they get back, the Raraza's been stolen. Dun dun dun! (Yes, I had the idea for taking away the Raraza, if only temporarily, as early as Myzil V. I'm so glad I finally got to on Naboo.)

However, at this point I was sitting on the planet contest entries, and at the very last minute (I think it was the day of game) I decided to switch to Myzil V because I didn't want to postpone going to the winning planet, and I decided Myzil V would be more about political intrigue than Sith invasion. Hence the hasty "Oh, there's a Sith Interdictor waiting for you when you get out of hyperspace" when the party arrived there so I could get in some space combat. The whole session could've used a lot more planning — I would've liked that starship encounter to be much more organic — but overall, I think Myzil V ended up being the best choice, and hey, we started doing small-group games because of that planet.

February 5 recap

•The party combines its skills to disrupt the Anti-Jedi Alliance rally and free the captive Jedi Plutara.

•Yvegeny waxes poetic with an unlikely ally.

•Bao makes an unfortunate mistake.

•Ras turns up leads on Aya Lim and the Sith.

En route to the docking bay where Plutara is being held, Yvegeny is concerned about his lack of ammo (given that he could only sneak the hold-out blaster aboard the Expanse) and buys a new energy cell, modifying it for his hold-out blaster. Bao returns from his fact-finding mission with Haesh, having learned that there's a Jedi (a Miraluka named Plutara) being held by the Anti-Jedi Alliance, and that their key speaker, a Gotal named Klorr, was the target of an attack by a "pro-Jedi assassin." The party meets up again, where Bao, Haesh, and Devo are introduced. Having surmised that the party was behind the "assassination attempt" (re: Gobmush plan) on Klorr, Haesh gets video of Ras diving out of the hotel with Klorr and grabbing onto a window washer droid and shares it with the group. Ras uses it as a teaching example to show Drallon how there are other ways to deal with problems than using a lightsaber.

When the party arrives at the transport's docking bay, it's guarded by a few idle human mercenaries who shoo them off, giving them directions to the demonstration. So the party goes down to an empty docking bay where the anti-Jedi demonstration is being held, where a crowd of about 150 is gathered. The mood is between supportive and ambivalent, and the party splits up to see what they can see. Ras, Drallon, Bao, and Haesh do their best to blend in, while Devo pushes his way near the front — a stage where some human mercenaries are keeping the crowd back — and Yvegeny runs into another observer, the Arkanian offshoot Sith doctor, Undawai. Undawai admits to being curious about the demonstration (even as she knows that the Anti-Jedi Alliance is just as militantly opposed to the Sith) and begins asking Yvegeny what he's doing there, probing about their mission; Yvegeny, wisely, doesn't reveal anything about what he's doing and Undawai eventually wanders off into the crowd.

Eventually the demonstration starts, with a speeder truck pulling up and a Twi'lek man taking the stage. More mercenaries bring up to the stage an unconscious and roughed up Plutara in an energy cage, and the Twi'lek begins his long, fanatical speech decrying the Jedi for their wars and how they have brought death and sorrow to the galaxy. He points to Plutara and waves around her lightsaber, saying they're not so tough and they're vulnerable just like anybody else. Yvegeny heckles the Twi'lek, and the crowd forces him on stage, where the Twi'lek denounces him as a Jedi supporter.

Devo talks to the mercenary leader, convincing him that having a kidnapped person (even a Jedi) on stage will not look good in the eyes of the Expanse's security, and telling them they should leave before security arrives. Just then, Yvegeny draws a hold-out blaster, prompting the Twi'lek to dare him to shoot him in front of the crowd and prove his arguments correct. Ras comms Yvegeny and feeds him some lines; Yvegeny says in front of the crowd that "they're not paying him enough" and shoots near the Twi'lek's feet. The crowd is suddenly disenchanted with the demonstration — as Yvegeny has convinced some of them that this is all staged — and then Ras uses the Force to make a wide swath of the crowd run away in fear at the shot. The Twi'lek runs for cover, screaming for help. The demonstration successfully disrupted, Devo takes the truck with Plutara aboard and rushes her to a hospital. Undawai still stands in the crowd, gives a golf clap to the party's efforts, and leaves.

The party splits up: Ras and Drallon go to the restaurant where they met Aluni Medon, Yvegeny goes to the lower levels to lay low for a while; Bao remembers giving a Duros smuggler the name of a docking bay he was (fictitiously) staying at, and goes there with Haesh to see if the Duros ever arrived. The docking bay is empty; Bao uses his technometry to access the docking bay's computers, and finds that the Duros was there for a while with two companions, but did not have any weapons. He uses the computer to see if someone (such as the Duros) is tracking him, but turns up no results.

Devo thinks about his past connection to Plutara and decides he doesn't want to be there when she wakes up, to avoid an awkward moment. He calls Ras, saying she should be with her people when she wakes up, and arranges for the Jedi to be there when she's up. Ras contacts Jedi Council member Kavar on the Honor of Coruscant and informs him of Plutara's condition. Kavar says they hadn't known she'd been captured; she was on the station to help oversee the transfer of irolunn gas from the Medons to the Republic fleet. He says he saw the holos of the rally and is glad they were able to end it nonviolently, though he is wary of Ras' companion Yvegeny, who seems like a loose cannon. Ras asks that her image be taken out of the holos, to hide that she was there. Ras then contacts Bao to let him know, and ends up talking to Haesh for a while about the Yarkora language. Haesh agrees to eventually teach Ras' translator droid the language, though it'll take a long time for him to program the droid to understand all the syntax.

While laying low, Yvegeny hides out in a dingy bar and is found by his old nemesis, Kelly. Yev is, as always, on his guard, but Kelly tells him he did good work for the Genoharadan. Kelly buys a round of drinks and they commiserate on their work as "agents of stability," as Kelly calls it. Kelly asks about Yev's having met Darth Malak and points out that if the Sith win the war, the Darths could become their new employers; the Genoharadan is not beholden to any government, merely interested in averting unnecessary bloodshed and keeping the galaxy from devolving into chaos. Yvegeny expresses that he's a believer in the Mandalorian philosophy of "the strongest survive," but Kelly points out that he's glad the Mandalorians lost their war — while they're great warriors, they'd make terrible governors. Before he leaves, Kelly buys another round and tells Yvegeny that word has reached Tarn Medon that someone used his name in the attack on Klorr, and he's not happy. They express their mutual animosity once again — both promising to kill the other — before Kelly departs.

As the party (minus Yvegeny) meets up at the hospital, Ras asks Devo about his past with Plutara, noticing that he's visibly troubled by having run into her again, but he doesn't comment. Yvegeny comms Ras, saying he's heard that Tarn Medon is unhappy about being misrepresented, but he'll take the blame and lay low for a while. Haesh recommends to Bao that there's something else at work behind all this and they should make a big move soon, perhaps try to get Tarn on their side. Bao tries to set up an appointment with Tarn but is repeatedly rebuffed, even after using his Jedi credentials.

Ras and Drallon see Plutara, who recognizes Ras from her days at the Jedi Temple. Plutara recalls that she was working at a Republic docking bay when she was possibly drugged, then woke up a few times in a dark room, but doesn't remember the rally or anything. She asks after her lightsaber, and the party remembers that the Twi'lek at the rally still has it. Plutara asks how they found her, and they point to holos of the rally. She says she'll be fine and is expected to leave the hospital in a day. Devo, outside, tells the party that he worked with Plutara in the past; she was a member of his squad, but he doesn't say much more than that.

Devo contacts Aluni, asking about Tarn Medon's reaction and about the rally. She says she'll talk to Tarn and do some damage control, and points out that both Klorr's attackers and his rescuer used Tarn's name, so it can go either way. She tells Devo he did the right thing at the rally and that she'll have some actionable intelligence for him soon. Devo says he wants to know the reasons Tarn would have for potentially joining the Sith, so he can prepare a counter-argument.

Bao tries to contact Ladow Medon, but he's away from his estate and isn't answering his comm. The party meets up and decides to stay at a hotel and try again tomorrow. On the way to the hotel, they happen to spot Aya Lim talking with a Gand; Ras runs off to buy a surveillance tagger and explains who she is to Devo, while Bao tries to sneakily follow her. Aya spots him immediately and bolts with the Gand in tow. Rather than chase her, Bao decides to use the Force to track her, but soon loses the trail — she's going too fast for him to accurately follow.

After haggling with the Neimoidian working the counter at Yam's Surveillance Equipment, Ras and Devo have a surveillance tagger, but no leads on where Aya Lim is. Bao goes to a Holonet cafe to try to hack into security feeds to track her, but has no luck. He uses his law enforcement credentials to get a computer interface visor (which still works with his Kel Dor goggles) and tries again, only to be caught by security and accosted by a Gen'Dai guard. Bao insists that he's a Jedi working for the Republic, but the Gen'Dai insists that the Medons' rules are law on the Expanse. Bao says he's tracking a fugitive named Aya Lim and gives the Gen'Dai a holo of her, but the Gen'Dai still says he'll spend the night in an energy cage.

The next day, Keane comms Ras (vis-a-vis Aig) to tell her he's got some info. Bao wakes up and telepathically tells Ras he needs help. Ras contacts Master Kavar, who says it looks bad for the Republic that a Jedi was caught trying to sneak into the security feed and that they'll have to call in a few favors to get Bao out. Haesh volunteers to sneak into Bao's accounts to get the 5,000 credits of bail money he'll need, and Bao is released, though the Republic has expended some political capital to keep it hush-hush.

On her way to meet with Keane, Ras is met by the Gand who had been conversing with Aya Lim the previous day. He refers to himself as "this one" (as Gand do not take names until they have accomplished something noteworthy) and asks about Ras' reasons for being on the Expanse. The Gand says Aya Lim is concerned that the Jedi are here to arrest her. Ras suggests a meeting, and the Gand says he'll arrange it.

At the maintenance closet, Keane tells Ras that Aya Lim, the alien he described, is on the station, but now Ras already knows that. He also says that a mercenary ship has been in the lower cloud layers, far away from the corporate gas collection sites. It's possible they've been meeting with the Sith. Keane tells Ras that the ship, the Relevant, is at Docking Bay 34, and they can probably get the coordinates they need from the ship's navicomputer.

DM's Notes:

•I'd originally thought the party would just storm the transport that Plutara was being held on, and statted up some droid guards. Hahaha, shows what I know — and the party's solution worked great anyway.

•Bao first described Aya Lim as a "killer", but it bears repeating (especially for Ras, who has shown interest in Aya Lim's redemption) that she has not killed anybody that you know of.

Galaxy of Intrigue wrap-up

I've been quite slow with posting about the Star Wars books lately — I never did cover Scavenger's Guide to Droids, although I did do some extensive forum posting about it on the Star Wars RPG forums, as I was the first person to get that book. I'm a bit slow to write up that book here, as no one is playing a droid, but I might come back to it soon. However, I will write up, here and now, Galaxy of Intrigue, as that is a book that every player can potentially benefit from.

The book contains several new species: Bith, Defel, Fosh, Givin, Gotal, Herglic, Mrlssi, Neimoidian, and Umbaran. "But wait," you say, "Bith already appear in Threats, Neimoidians are in the core book, and Umbarans are in Clone Wars." Well, yes, that's true, but these versions are a little more balanced for play. I suspect WotC had second thoughts about species that got both Skill Focus *and* rerolls in the same skill (Deception for Neimoidians and Persuasion for Umbarans), as well as the Bith's ability to get an automatic natural 20 on an Intelligence check once per encounter.

The Bith are similar to the Threats version, except +2 Charisma, no Perception reroll, and the Evolved Intellect ability: every time they spend a Force Point for any reason, they also gain a temporary Force Point which must be used for an Intelligence-based skill check. Neimoidians can potentially get both Skill Focus (Deception) and Skill Focus (Persuasion), which is pretty nice, though I do notice their stats are lower than the core book version, and again, no Deception reroll. Umbarans are the most different from their original version; they get +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Con, darkvision (not light sensitivity), a Stealth reroll, and they get Skill Focus (Gather Information). I will be allowing Jake to continue to play his character "as is," however, because to make him change to the new stats would require him to completely rethink his character concept.

The other species are quite nice too. Defel can gain total concealment very easily (no more of this "invisible" stuff like in the old Revised rules, which was pretty broken). Fosh are great medics because of their healing glands, and they're always considered to have a medpac or medical kit (no need to carry medpacs around, although they're still limited to the "one first aid per day" restriction on Treat Injury), plus they get a Deception reroll. Givin have damage reduction, can survive in vacuum, and can reroll all of their Knowledge checks. Gotals can read a target's emotions by making a Perception vs. Will roll, and they can also use Use the Force untrained to Sense Force and Sense Surroundings. Herglics are very strong (+4 Str) but take a -4 Dex penalty, plus they're Large size, they get a bonus to their second winds, and they get Skill Focus (Gather Information). Mrlssi get Mechanics as a bonus class skill, they get any one Knowledge as a free skill at first level, and they get Skill Focus (Persuasion).

On to classes. Every class but Jedi gets some new talents, and nobles make out the best. Nobles get three, count 'em three, new talent trees. The Master of Intrigue tree is all about manipulating your allies, in a good way: You can trade Initiative rolls, let them move as a free action, and force them to stand back up when they're unconscious. The Skill Challenge talent tree gives some new options in skill challenges; the book emphasizes that if your DM isn't running skill challenges, don't take any of the clearly labeled Skill Challenge talents or feats.

Then comes the Superior Skills tree, which is my favorite of the trees. Do you love skills? Do you have a particular skill you really want to pimp out? Then this is your tree. Assured Skill lets you pick a skill; you can lose any competence bonuses on it (i.e. Skill Focus) to be able to roll twice and keep the best die. Exceptional Skill lets you pick a skill; whenever you roll a 2-7 on it, it's treated as an 8. Reliable Boon lets you reroll 1s on Force Points. Skill Boon adds one die step to your Force Points when used with a particular skill. Skillful Recovery lets you pick a skill; whenever you fail a skill check with that skill, you gain a temporary Force Point which can only be used to add to a later skill check with that same skill. There's also Critical Skill Success, which adds to your other skill checks whenever you roll a natural 20 on a skill, and Skill Confidence, which boosts off of that and makes it 19-20, and gives you bonus hit points equal to your Charisma modifier whenever you get it.

Scoundrels get the Revolutionary talent tree, which is all about being a rebel. Bomb Thrower lets you make frag grenades from scratch as a full-round action. Make an Example hurts the attack rolls of any target whose damage threshold you beat; conversely, For the Cause gives you and all of your allies bonuses to attack and damage rolls whenever one of you takes damage beating your threshold. Revolutionary Rhetoric lets you use Persuasion to keep an opponent from making standard actions.

Scouts get the Espionage talent tree, which is focused on stealth and making a quick getaway. Fade Out lets you use Stealth, not Deception, to create a diversion to hide in combat. Keep Together lets you move as a reaction whenever you are hit or missed in melee, as long as you end next to an ally. Prudent Escape lets you move yourself and two allies immediately after knocking a target to 0 hit points or unconscious. Reactive Stealth lets you try to move and stay concealed if you're attacked while you have concealment. Sizing Up gives you a bonus to attack and skill rolls against a target of your choice.

Soldiers get some new Brawling and Commando talents, all of which have a "bodyguard" feel. The Brawling talents are primarily focused on grabbing and grappling, with one, Disarm and Engage, giving you more incentive to disarm. The Commando talents all require Harm's Way, from the core book, as a prerequisite, and they all go a long way to keeping a target protected. Between these and the Elite Trooper talents in the Legacy book, you could build a Soldier/Elite Trooper whose sole function is to protect other people from damage.

Prestige classes get a few talents, as well. Ace Pilot gets a few talents, most of which work to defend the ship you're piloting. Bounty Hunter gets some "detective"-type talents that make it easier to track targets with Gather Information; in particular, the Electronic Trail talent lets you follow a target's "electronic trail," which consists of the amount and location of any credits spent, the routes of any public transportation taken, and the sites viewed on the HoloNet while the target was logged in using its primary identity. Players beware! Crime Lord gets two new talents, including Attract Superior Minion, which is a nonheroic minion whose level equals yours. Gunslinger gets two new talents, including the awesome Pistol Duelist, which, among other things, lets you once per encounter aim and shoot as a single action.

The book does not include any new prestige classes, and it took a little flak on the Star Wars RPG forums for not having a "Senator" prestige class or anything like that. To which one of the designers got on and said that really, they couldn't think of anything new for a Senator to do that existing prestige classes can't do (nor did they want to add a new prestige class just for the sake of doing so), and players should feel free to file the serial numbers off Crime Lord or Corporate Agent and call it a "Senator" class or whatever Noble-based prestige class they feel is lacking. Which I happen to agree with, not that we have players in the campaign lining up to be senators or anything.

Next come feats, which are across the board pretty good, and I'll touch on the highlights here. Adaptable Talent lets you sub out one talent for another; although it sounds broken, you can only do it at the start of the day, it has to be a talent from a class you possess (and that you meet the prereq's for), and this feat is not a bonus feat for any class, so you're spending one of your good feats to get a talent you will only use half the time at most anyway. Cut the Red Tape lets you sub Knowledge (bureaucracy) for Gather Information. Fléche lets you, once per encounter, when you charge, turn a natural roll of 17+ into a critical hit. Grazing Shot lets you shoot two targets at once, for reduced damage. Master of Disguise gives you bonuses to make disguises or forge documents, and lets you do it quickly, too. Recurring Success lets you pick any talent or feat you can use once per encounter; you can now use it twice per encounter. Stand Tall lets you, once per encounter, let all allies make an attack out of turn. Wookiee Grip is just like the old D&D Monkey Grip; you can grip a two-handed weapon in one hand, at an attack penalty.

Chapter 2 is Skill Challenges. Now I know D&D 4th Ed. has skill challenges, and our success with those has been mixed. But this chapter is pretty good — it talks about how to run them, how they can be broken up, how they're not a substitute for actual roleplaying, and provides a lengthy example with commentary. It also talks about what is and isn't a skill challenge, how to build them, and has a handy table of DCs. They also have Challenge Effects. Challenge Effects differentiate Star Wars skill challenges from D&D skill challenges; they're different things you can apply to skill challenges; for example, the Recovery effect makes it so a player who succeeds on a roll by 5 or more can remove a failure instead of accruing a success. Not only is it very nice to codify and write all this stuff out, but there are also feats and Noble talents that can interact with skill challenges by adding or removing these challenge effects.

The chapter then includes various skill challenges, a lot of them directly based on the movies: Breaching the Bunker, The Podrace, Asteroid Field Escape, Covert Infiltration, Interrogation, Investigation, Negotiation, Overland Travel, Searching the Debris Field, Slicing the HoloNet, Smuggling Contraband, Speeder Bike Chase, Tactical Leadership, Traversing the Minefield, and Sabotage Mission. These incorporate a wide variety of skills (Negotiation lists as primary skills Deception, Knowledge (galactic lore), Knowledge (social sciences), Persuasion, and Use the Force) and also use the different Challenge Effects to different degrees. For example, the Podcasting challenge changes from lap to lap, requiring some different skills on the part of both the racers and the "pit team," while the Overland Travel challenge requires every hero to get 3 successes to pull their weight, lest they drag their party down.

I'm sufficiently impressed with skill challenges and I plan to run them in the future; my goal is about one per game from here on out. However, I do need to emphasize that this will require some participation from you guys. I plan to have every individual player act in skill challenges in some meaningful way; for example, a negotiation challenge will not involve the entire party watching Jake roll Persuasion over and over again (not putting down Jake, but I don't want him inadvertently monopolizing the action). I will be looking at character sheets to see how I can use at least one skill every player has in each challenge. (For example, when I wrote up the skill challenge for convincing Keane to provide information, I wasn't sure if Devo would be in the party yet or not, so I included Knowledge (tactics) as an option, as Keane had made pretty clear that he cared a lot about maintaining his secrecy and keeping his operation running smoothly.)

Chapter 3 is Equipment. There are a few weapons: the wrist blaster (disguised as a bracelet, and fires only one shot), the darter, the snare pistol, and the Xerrol Nightstinger (which fires invisible shots, but is very rare and very expensive). There are also a few poisons, which range form the annoying to the deadly. The book also features a lot of equipment: the antitoxin patch, the earbud comlink (which I quite like), the flash suppressor/silencer (for your slugthrowers), the holo converter (for disguising yourself over holo transmissions), panic ring, redirection crystal (which redirects a blaster shot that hits it, for use with the Xerrol Nightstinger), a shield cage, surveillance detector, surveillance tagger (for following somebody), toxin detector, veridicator (basically a bracelet-like device that can determine if someone is lying), and a vid-vox scrambler (which scrambles nearby active recording devices). There is also a new Scum and Villainy-type upgrade, compartmentalization, which lets you break down an item into smaller components, which makes them easier to hide.

There are also quite a few ships, which I won't get into, but which are mostly either stealth recon ships or ships for the nobility. The book also includes a few vehicles, as well as a few droids: the 5-BT Threat Analysis, the NR-1100 Slicer, 3D-4 Administrative, M4-Series Messenger, FIII Footman, BL-Series Battle Legionnaire, and B4J4 Security droid.

Chapter 4 is Campaigns, which talks quite about how to make a campaign that focuses on intrigue and secrets. It discusses how heroes might join together and the common elements to these sorts of campaigns (and emphasizes that these don't have any less action than other campaigns). It provides a few campaign models, then discusses how to write compelling bad guys and encounters (even including a sidebar about having a Jedi be the villain; not even a Dark Jedi, but just one who's meddling where he doesn't belong). All in all this was a pretty good chapter, discussing misdirection, plot twists, trust, and so on.

Chapter 5 is Factions and Organizations. This just discusses some of the intrigue-based groups out there and how they interact with heroes and the rest of the galaxy: Core World Nobles, Droid Equality Foundation, the Firebird Society, the Galactic Alliance Guard, the Hapans, House Korden, Imperial Intelligence, Kashyyyk Resistance, Naboo Resistance Movement, New Republic Intelligence, the Praetorite Vong, the Tagge Company, and Tapani Nobles.

Chapter 6 is an original planet, Nyriaan, which makes use of a lot of the intrigue ideas in the book. It's got a rare material useful in hyperdrives, which has attracted all sorts of corporations to it and created a large miner slave operation. It gives plenty of adventure ideas, details major locations, gives a timeline dating back to the KotOR era, and stats out a lot of NPCs. Chapter 7 is Intrigue Encounters, which are a bunch of mini-adventures that include maps and NPCs, and which can be dropped into any campaign (similar scenes appear in Scum and Villainy and Galaxy at War). Chapter 8 is a small campaign, The Perfect Storm, which is based on Nyriaan and makes use of the intrigue ideas in the book. My only complaint about The Perfect Storm is it doesn't seem to say what level it's designed for, and it looks like somewhere between 2 and 4.

All in all, I think this is a great book, and I plan to make use of a lot of this material — like I said, I plan to make skill challenges a regular thing, and intrigue has been a big part of my campaign from the beginning. I think it's pretty solid if you're playing a noble and I highly recommend it.

January 21 recap

•Ubese crime lord Keane agrees to find information for Ras and Yvegeny.

•Yvegeny is hired by the Genoharadan to harass an anti-Jedi protester.

•Ras gains a bodyguard, Devo Morden, from an ally among the Medons.

While Ras and Yvegeny wait for Keane, the Ubese crime lord/janitor, to end his shift, Ras gets a message from a Pau'an named Aluni Medon. She wants to set up a meeting, and Ras agrees. Meanwhile, Yvegeny gets on the comm with Aig and inquires about hazard pay on the contract. Aig makes the mistake of mentioning that the party will be paid more if a member dies, to cover the funeral and bereavement. Getting some ideas, Yvegeny comms Bao Koon, saying he should really push himself to find out about the Sith, but Bao senses that Yev has some ulterior motive and says he'll do things his way, then resumes his fact-finding in private. Yvegeny then gets a comm message from Shodu, the Rodian member of the Genoharadan who helped them apprehend Gaph on Coruscant, telling him to meet later.

After hanging around a bar for a short while, Ras and Yvegeny go to meet Keane at a maintenance closet. Keane lets them inside — the closet is full of maintenance droids and features a droid recharger and a small break area. Keane is concerned that Ras and Yvegeny will draw unwanted attention to him, as his position as the premier crime lord on the Expanse relies on him remaining under the radar, and he is stubbornly against the idea of working with them. However, Ras and Yvegeny offer him credits and promise that his name will never be mentioned, and Keane eventually relents. Ras says they want information on Aya Lim, Talvon Esan, and Esan's ship, the Devastator, and Keane says he'll have information for them in two days. Ras and Yvegeny provide Aig's comlink code for the information once they've got it.

With that set, Ras and Yvegeny go to their respective meetings, which are in moderate restaurants not far from each other. Yvegeny meets up with Shodu, who informs him that the Genoharadan have a new job for him. A citizens group called the Anti-Jedi Alliance is gaining prominence in the galaxy; they were founded by an Ithorian woman who recently gave up her son for Jedi training, then found her son was killed in the Sith bombing of Telos. They've heard about the Republic/Sith negotiations on Chommell Prime, and they're planning a demonstration on the Expanse to rally more support against the Jedi and Sith. Their key speaker is a Gotal named Klorr, a Republic military veteran of the Mandalorian Wars who left after Revan returned as a Sith Lord. The Genoharadan wants to maintain Republic stability, so they want to neuter the demonstration by not having Klorr speak; Yvegeny's job is to keep Klorr from speaking, but to not kill or hurt him, because making him a martyr would only encourage him.

Ras meets up with Aluni Medon, who brings her security chief, a human named Devo Morden. Aluni explains that she wants the Republic to secure Chommell Prime and is willing to help however she can, but she is "middle management" among the Medon family and does not carry much influence. She does, however, have the ear of her brother, Tarn Medon, who is much more influential, and she offers to make inquiries about arranging a meeting. Not only that, but she can provide intelligence about the Medons and find out whose allegiances lie with the Sith or the Republic. To cement her friendship, she offers the services of Morden, who is knowledgeable about Chommell Prime and has good security clearance with most of the Medons. Morden also demonstrates that he is a capable bodyguard, having been a former Republic commando. Ras tests him with a Jedi mind trick, but Morden capably resists it, impressing Ras.

Yvegeny does some research on the Anti-Jedi Alliance, and finds out they've captured a Jedi on the Expanse, a Miraluka named Plutara, for the purpose of showcasing that the Jedi aren't so tough at the demonstration, though Yvegeny can't find where they're keeping her. He comms Ras, who introduces Devo. Yvegeny tells about the Anti-Jedi Alliance and that they've got a Jedi held captive; Devo is troubled that it's Plutara and is immediately interested in rescuing her. Yvegeny finds out the hotel where Klorr, the Gotal ex-soldier, is staying at, and they decide to meet up to figure out how to stop the demonstration.

When they meet up, Yvegeny introduces himself to Devo about having "fought for freedom" himself, not wanting to admit that he fought as a Mandalorian during the war. While formulating their plans, Drallon, Ras' apprentice, admits he didn't bring his lightsaber — as he's still uncomfortable about using it — which is probably for the best, as Klorr probably won't want to think he's being attacked by the Jedi. The plan is to beat him up and intimidate him into not speaking, posing as someone else to throw him off the scent. Yvegeny makes a Molotov cocktail and considers painting the attack as anti-Gotal to make it seem random. He also spreads the rumor that Calo Nord has been seen on the Expanse, and plans to wear his disguising turban, but Ras balks, saying she won't help if Yvegeny wears it.

The party goes to the hotel, and Drallon waits in the lobby as a lookout during the operation. Yvegeny tries to bribe a bellhop droid into telling him Klorr's room number, but the droid refuses. He then talks to a receptionist droid, who agrees to deliver a message to his room — Devo recommends saying they're representatives for Tarn Medon, which would help their chances of getting an audience — but still doesn't disclose the room number. Yvegeny goes across the street to a cafe and uses his computer skills to hack into the hotel system, finding out that Klorr is staying in room 15D. He also places Calo Nord in the hotel registry to further his story.

The party goes up to Klorr's room, bluffs past his bodyguards, and introduces themselves as representatives of Tarn Medon; Ras is the negotiator, while Devo is her bodyguard and Yvegeny is her financier. Klorr is eager to share his work with them and delivers his Powerpoint presentation on how the Jedi have ruined the galaxy, and why the Republic should learn to stand on its own without the Jedi. As the presentation goes on, Yvegeny sneaks behind him in the dark and aims with his hold-out blaster. Devo gets up and locks the door, but Klorr spots him, and Yvegeny shoots Klorr.

A brief melee ensues, ending with Klorr on the floor beaten (and Ras pretending that she has no idea what's going on). Devo asks where Plutara is, but Klorr is defiant and says he's not afraid of the "pro-Jedi assassins" — go ahead and martyr him, it'll prove him right. Yvegeny tries to intimidate him to staying away from the protest, but Klorr is resolute. Devo proceeds to whack him with his rifle as Klorr's bodyguards finally burst through the door. Devo and Yvegeny disengage to attack his guards (who are martial artists to get around the Expanse's rules prohibiting weaponry), and Ras uses the Force to hurl Klorr out of the room and make him think Ras is carrying him to safety. Yvegeny stabs a note into the table and throws his Molotov cocktail, starting a fire in the room (which, in turn, releases a cold gas into the room to stop the fire). By the end of the fight, the two guards are dead.

Klorr smashes his bed's nightstand through a window and begins climbing onto the fire escape. Keeping up her cover of "rescuing him," Ras grabs Klorr and together they leap from the fire escape onto a passing window washer droid. As they hang on for dear life (being 15 stories up), Ras asks Klorr where the Jedi is being held, and Klorr says she's at Docking Bay 42. Eventually, the droid lands, and Klorr runs off. When she rejoins the party, Ras tells them Klorr is dead, and Yvegeny believes her.

With the location in hand (Docking Bay 42), the party sets off to rescue Plutara. They rejoin Drallon, who kept an eye on the front door, and Ras has a short talk with Drallon about how she used nonviolence to get what she wanted, by convincing Klorr she was rescuing him. On the way to the docking bay, Yev hacks into the Holonet site for the Anti-Jedi Alliance and sets up trackers to alert him to any news about Klorr or the events of the day.

DM's Notes:

•I do so love creating interesting villains, hence the Anti-Jedi Alliance, a group I can reuse as much as I want. They were partially created to show how public opinion is turning against the Jedi, but I do think they've got a point about whether the Jedi have made the galaxy worse, both through their not policing their own members (Exar Kun, Darth Revan) or their inaction (the Mandalorian Wars).

•This session taught me a little more about running skill challenges — namely, mention at the start the skills that are available, so we don't just use the same skills again and again.

•Major kudos to Jake/Ras for the cinematics of jumping onto the window washer droid. Incredibly dangerous, but really cool, and that's the kind of thing I like to see, given this is an RPG based on an action movie.

•Here's the text of Yvegeny's hate-speech note to Klorr, which he stabbed into the hotel room table with a knife:

"Get the hell out you Godel [sic] scumsuckin' geek! If I wasn't ill I'd kick your ass all the way to Naboo! We don't need your kind here on Chommell Prime! —xoxo the establishment"

January 10 recap

•The party meets up with the Republic fleet on Chommell Prime.

•The negotiation team meets with an influential Medon scion, only to find he also invited the Sith to the talks.

•With the Republic stymied by the ongoing negotiations, the party begins searching for the hidden Sith fleet.

In hyperspace en route to Chommell Prime, Yvegeny leaves the cockpit in the hands of pilot droid A9G-E5 ("Aig") to go to the new Jedi training area in the Capanata and meet the new crew. Upon hearing Yvegeny's bluster about how important he is on the ship and how the Padawans need to keep themselves in line, Drallon, Ras' new apprentice, takes an instant dislike to him, and Haesh, Bao Koon's apprentice, smirks to his master that Yvegeny looks just like a bounty hunter they'd fought before on Ord Mantell. Yvegeny doesn't seem to like any of the new arrivals except for Aig, and given the rough first impression, the feeling seems to be mutual.

Ras and Drallon talk more amongst themselves about the right time to use a lightsaber, and though Drallon is still unwilling to use his lightsaber, Ras' positive reinforcement seems to be having a good effect on him. Bao tells Yvegeny that he's actually been following the crew since Myzil V — a vision through the Force told him their paths would cross in a fateful way — and he's been learning all he can about them from afar, though he didn't follow them to Naboo, so he's curious what happened to Kelif. He also intimates that he knows Yvegeny and Kazbich are the same person, having deduced as much from Yvegeny's mannerisms. Aig also meets the rest of the crew, expressing excitement to be working with the crew and explaining his origins — being an archive droid for the University of Alderaan, and being reprogrammed as a pilot by an adventurous professor who met an unfortunate end, leading to Aig's independence. He states that he considers the Capanata itself his "boss," as he's quite attached to the ship, but Ras amends that to say that he should think of the Republic as his boss now.

The ship soon arrives at Chommell Prime and meets up with the Republic fleet — 10 Hammerhead cruisers and an Inexpugnable battleship called the Honor of Coruscant. Docking with the Honor of Coruscant, the party is greeted by Jedi Master Kavar, a member of the Jedi Council. He introduces himself to Ras and Bao, but Yvegeny starts asking about how they're getting paid for this mission (as he's a "Blackwater specialist" and all) and who can work the contract out. Kavar, somewhat taken aback, replies that he can make sure that whoever on the ship is in charge of contracts can figure it out, and A9G graciously volunteers to take charge of the contract himself and figure out the expenses. After some talks, he tells Yvegeny that he'll be making 5,000 credits for helping the Republic.

Kavar leads the party to a conference room on the ship, where they meet the other two Jedi Masters in charge of the Chommell Prime mission — Jenica Vigil, who they met before on Myzil V, and Geis Choi, a pessimistic Aleena who openly wonders which of them he'll be sending to their deaths. Kavar explains that they know the Sith fleet is hidden on Chommell Prime somewhere — a Cronau scan shows their ships haven't left the system via hyperspace yet. However, they're in a holding pattern; the Medons are unwilling to let them just march right in, as Chommell Prime isn't Republic territory, so they're in ongoing negotiations. It's also known that some members of the Medon family advocate joining the Sith, while others want to follow the Republic. The party will meet up with a member of the Republic Diplomatic Corps at the estate of Ladow Medon, a young, influential scion who is undecided but carries a lot of weight. Ras Patul will take the lead on negotiations, while Bao Koon will search for clues as to the location of the Sith fleet, and Yvegeny will act as bodyguard and observer.

They are flown via Republic shuttle to Ladow Medon's private estate by Prinzen, a Snivvian pilot; Prinzen makes small talk on the way, talking about how he's got a cousin who's a Jedi, but that he's all self-righteous and a bore to be around. They soon arrive at Medon's estate — a transparisteel enclosure with gardens and an extravagant estate inside, as well as Utapau-native varactyls crawling along the inside. They dock in a landing bay on the underside, and soon they're met by Ladow Medon, two of his Gen'Dai servants, and Lokksnek, a Trandoshan member of the Republic Diplomatic Corps.

Ladow is gracious to his guests and is very interested in all the members of the party. He invites them to dinner and gives them a changing room to freshen up. In the changing room, Yvegeny and Bao spot a few recording bugs, but decide to leave them alone — if Ladow were to spot that they've been tampered with, he might think the Republic doesn't trust him. Ladow serves a gourmet meal to his guests, and makes delightful small talk over dinner to his guests, but the party notices 3 spots at the table that are empty.

Eventually, a Gen'Dai approaches Ladow and whispers that the other guests have arrived. Ladow excuses himself, leaving the party alone. They spot more recording bugs, but again decide to leave them alone to keep up appearances, at Lokksnek's advice. Ladow soon returns with his guests in tow — an Arkanian Offshoot woman in a white uniform (introduced as Dr. Undawai), a bulky Cathar man in black robes (named Stragos), and none other than Darth Malak! Ladow says they're the Sith negotiating team, and now the discussion can begin in earnest.

Ras points out that the Sith have committed horrible atrocities in the five months of the war so far, but Undawai (who does most of the talking) points out that the Sith aren't merely bloodthirsty conquerors — they've done good things for the planets that have joined them, and the Republic has failed its people plenty of times since the war's inception. The Sith are prepared to offer a lot to the Medon family; not only protection by the Sith military, but financial advice (Stragos is apparently a proficient seer) and medical care (as Undawai has already cured several diseases on Sith planets).

Ras asks why the Sith even need to take Chommell Prime — can't they just let the planet stay neutral? Darth Malak points out that this is a war and the objective is to deny their enemy (the Jedi) resources. Sith do not share; they take. Undawai points out that the unique fuel chemicals on Chommell Prime would be a valuable asset. Ras advocates maintaining Chommell Prime's neutrality, but Malak is adamant, going so far as to say the Sith will simply take over the planet if the Medons don't join them, and the Republic will be powerless to stop them.

Recognizing the cost of life if the Sith don't get their way, Ras pulls Ladow aside and suggests that he join the Sith simply to keep his people alive, but act as a double agent to funnel information to the Republic. Ladow is skeptical — if he were to be discovered, the Sith's retribution would be terrible — but says he will keep the idea under consideration, as he has not made his decision yet.

The dinner ends, and the delegations return to their respective ships. At a debriefing with the Jedi war council, the party recommends a variety of options. Yvegeny recommends a holding pattern, which will not provoke the Sith and will buy the Medons more time, or says they can simply leave if the Sith are willing to destroy anyone who gets in their way, as the planet is pretty much lost then. Ras says if the Medons join the Sith, the Republic can attempt to blockade the planet anyway to deny the Sith a resource, but they should continue to show trust in Ladow Medon, in hopes of using him as a Republic double agent; if the Republic uses the opportunity to attempt to assassinate Malak, the whole deal could go south. Bao suggests they explore the Expanse to learn more about the situation.

Knowing that Darth Malak, Talvon Esan (the Butcher), and Aya Lim are all on or near Chommell Prime, the party decides to do some investigating to find out where they are, by investigating the underworld on the Expanse. They take their shuttle to the Expanse, hiding their weapons to get past customs (the Gen'Dai are quite insistent about no violence on the station). Using his computer skills, Yvegeny learns a significant amount about the criminals on the Expanse; they hide on the far end of the station, near the repulsorlifts, where security is looser and the businesses a little shadier. The party heads down there and splits up.

Yvegeny and Ras go to the Togorian Tapcafe, a rough joint run by Togorians. Some human mercenaries are willing to talk with them, but they're very rude and they provide no useful information. Bao goes to The Repulsorlift, a dingy place nearby, where he strikes up a conversation with a Duros named Valik who is something of a middleman. Bao claims to be a smuggler, and Valik says he'll send some of his guys to pick up the cargo at Bao's docking bay. Eventually, they hear about Keane, an Ubese who is supposedly the big crime lord on the Expanse — and also a janitor. Yvegeny tries to talk to Keane, but he's rebuffed — Keane thinks Yvegeny will draw too much attention. After repeated inquiries by Yvegeny and Ras, he finally relents and tells them to meet him at Maintenance Closet 2A7.

DM's commentary:

•Part of my goal with this entire campaign has been to bring in some of the characters seen in the KOTOR video games in non-intrusive ways. Jedi Master Kavar, who was in hiding on Onderon in KOTOR 2, has been pretty high on that list; in the game, Canderous mentions the Mandalorians had originally thought Kavar would be leading the Jedi against them in the Mandalorian Wars, which led me to think he was a great military leader and would probably take an active leadership role in the Jedi Civil War. This session also saw the debut of Darth Malak, the main bad guy of KOTOR 1. Not only is he there to show how serious the Sith are about taking Chommell Prime, but given the negotiations there, he's playing the unusual role of "head of state."

•Another goal of mine is to expand the personalities of the Jedi NPCs beyond "stoic defender of peace and justice." As evidenced by their first meeting, Drallon doesn't like Kazbich, and Haesh is nonplussed by his bluster. We've also got Geis Choi, the Aleena Jedi Master in the Republic fleet "war council," who's very grumpy and pessimistic. My concept for him is that he's a brilliant tactician, but even this early in the war, he's seen too many of his friends go to their deaths, and that has a wearying effect on him. Also, although we've never really explored them, Jenica Vigil has some layers herself — she pushes herself to be the best, but she feels like she has the weight of the Republic on her shoulders, and this causes her to push Bastila harder than she probably should. A lot of my conceptualization of Jenica Vigil was trying to figure out what kind of Master would cause Bastila to be as full of herself as she is in KOTOR 1.

•I did not intentionally write Undawai as being Evil Lyta, but I can see a resemblance now.

Holonet News Vol. 46 No. 87

JEDI TEMPLE RECONSTRUCTION HAMPERED BY FUNDING SLOWDOWN

CORUSCANT — Despite public statements from senators, business leaders, and investors promising aid, attempts to repair and rebuild the Jedi Temple on Coruscant have slowed to a crawl because of lack of sponsors. The Temple was damaged recently in a surprise attack on Coruscant by Sith warships. 73 Jedi were reported dead at the Temple, with another 54 still unaccounted for; Jedi Master Vandar Tokare would not respond to rumors that many of those missing Jedi willingly joined the Sith. The attack on Coruscant also did significant damage to the Administrative District, slowing down efforts to coordinate repair efforts, as well as the north pole, severely hampering the planet's water supply and forcing most Coruscanti to rely on off-planet shipments. While most efforts to reach previous Jedi supporters have been met with silence, those who have spoken have indicated that the Jedis' failure to adequately predict and protect Coruscant from invasion has shaken their faith in the Republic's ability to win the war.

SENATOR'S DEATH PROMPTS COALITION TO SOLIDIFY REPUBLIC TIES

CORUSCANT — The recent shooting death of Geonosian senator Mazzag has caused a coalition of Outer Rim senators to reaffirm their loyalty to the Republic. The senators were believed to have ties to Sith terrorists that recently attacked Corulag, but held a press conference that not only stated they would fully cooperate with Republic investigators, but produced the locations of 27 Sith terror cells on Coruscant. Czerka extraction teams soon had members of 19 of the 27 cells in custody. "We will stand firm with the Supreme Chancellor against the Sith, who would resort to cowardly tactics to enforce their policies," said Muba Nilco, the senator from Cholganna.

HERGLIC CONSORTIUM SWEARS LOYALTY TO SITH EMPIRE

After weeks of negotiations, the region of the Colonies known as Herglic Space has agreed to become a vassal of the Sith Empire. Herglic leaders agreed to terms set by Revan, including enabling Sith warships to make use of their spaceports and allowing a Sith occupation force. Despite light protesting on Giju, the Herglic leadership appears to support the alliance, stating on a holofeed that it will broaden their trade routes and enable more sharing of technology with other Sith allies. When pressed about Sith officers having a more direct hand in the Herglic government, President Minn Kooda had no comment. No decision has yet been made by the Republic about the possibility of retrieving the 1,000 troops and two Jedi who had been stationed on Giju and have not been heard from in two weeks.

News in brief:

•Christophsis refuses Telos refugees

•Four Jedi killed in anti-Jedi riots on Ord Sabaok

•Dim-U leader arrested on embezzlement charges

•Czerka Corporation announces stock split

•Gamorr to host Lhosan swoop championship

Happy holidays!

Happy holidays, one and all! If you haven't checked your e-mail recently, everybody gets a free feat (any one for which you meet the prerequisites) to celebrate another year of play. (Don't worry, recurring characters like Aya Lim, Marina and "The Butcher" are not enjoying this holiday bonus. This is players only.)

Also, astute readers will note that our next game is posted on the rail — a large-group game, set for Sunday the 10th.