Players:

Caleb: Byln Kair, Kel Dor. Consular (Sage)

Chris: Pranac "Prawn" Anakhis, Quarren. Guardian (Soresu Defender)

David: Altair Badar, Mirialan. Mystic (Seer)

James: B2-F3 "Beefy," Super Battle Droid. Hired Gun (Bodyguard)

Lucas with a C: Astalos "Dragonbane," Clawdite. Consular (Arbiter)

Lukas with a K: Seyo Nemis, Human. Warrior (Aggressor)

Shane: Literally Everyone Else In The World. GM (Lord of Time, Space, and Reality)

[Note: Whenever players are talking, their words will be in Bold to distinguish it from the story proper.]

Session 1

Shane: [Reading] "It is a dark time for the galaxy. Brave heroes that predate the Rebel Alliance fight against the tyranny of the Galactic Empire, but countless worlds still tremble under the shadow of evil. The Jedi, guardians of order and justice, are gone. At their passing, the forces of darkness gather unimpeded. But all is not lost. In a distant corner of the galaxy, a small band of adventurers seeks to rediscover the legacy of the Jedi. If they are successful, perhaps hope can be restored to the galaxy once again…"

Chris: I dunno man… Only three of us are actually good at doing damage, and one of those three is mostly gonna focus on tanking…

James: Don't worry. I roll five dice on ranged attacks, so I should make up for everybody else's low damage.

Shane: Traveling in pairs, you all arrive on Bespin, yielding to the prodding of the Force. That night, the five Force-sensitives have a vision. [Reading] "A 'star' is hiding a talisman in a library archive surrounded by guards. It glows brilliantly until a black-gloved hand covers it, plunging the vision into darkness. The hand crushes it, and the sand falls onto the planet Eriadu."

Caleb: Wait, how do you pronounce that?

Shane: Uh… "eerie-AH-doo"?

Lucas with a C: Spell it?

Shane: E-R-I-A-D-U

Caleb: So maybe "ear-EE-uh-du"?

Lukas with a K: Needs more hick.

Shane: "UR-uh-dooo"

James: I think "eerie-AH-doo" was probably correct.

Chris: Same.

David: The black-gloved hand in the vision is probably Vader.

Lukas with a K: You think he's the only guy in the galaxy with black gloves?

Chris: He copyrighted it. And dear God, the penalties for infringing on this copyright…

Shane: You all go to the hangar seeking passage to Eriadu. It doesn't take long for you to start recognizing each other for what you are…

Seyo Nemis strides into the hangar with his new Padawan at his side. The computer lists two ships as outbound for Eriadu, and of the two he prefers the ship that seems a bit… sketchy. The "Lumpy Grub-Toad" sounds like it's trying to be dismissed as unimportant. If Seyo's correct about Captain Pe'Tyrbil being a smuggler, he'll take extra care to avoid the Empire.

As master and apprentice near the HWK-290, Seyo puts a firm hand on young Pranac's steely hard shoulder. The little quarren, though only eleven years old, is exceptionally solid and strong from intense devotion to his training. Seyo fought on the front lines of the Clone Wars, and he saw many Padawans fight too, but very few humanoids were so strong at such a young age.

Chris: Yeah… Shane wants to keep homebrewing to a minimum. He allowed me to change little Prawn's Silhouette to 0 instead of 1, but he didn't let me trade 1 Brawn for 1 Intellect. So this preteen nerd has the strength of an average adult. Maybe he's like those extreme child gymnasts? The tiny human machines who can run for hours, are hilariously ripped despite being like fifty pounds, and can do one-armed pull-ups without even trying? The sort of kids that make most men feel pathetic and gross by comparison?

Shane: I'm trying to save Prawn's life. You're planning to play him like a tank. Even with your defensive skills, at Brawn 1 he'd be way too likely to die.

Chris: [under his breath] That's what makes it exciting…

Even so, Seyo feels protective of the young quarren. A thirty-year-old human of considerable size and strength, Seyo easily stops his eager Padawan from rushing ahead. He senses… a reassuring presence. The vast hangar doesn't feel crowded, with passengers spread out waiting to board so many different ships. But very close by…

His eyes widen with alarm at the sight of a battle droid, which triggers painful flashbacks of his time in the war. But the hulking machine shows no sign of hostility. A stripped down B2 Super Battle Droid, it's nearly as tall as the towering Seyo. It looms over most of the organic beings near it, and even with its outer plating and many heavy components removed, it is a massive thing. But it stands alongside a young man, and as the two speak with each other, they seem like friends. The green-skinned mirialan has a vigilant air that suggests keen awareness of his surroundings, and Seyo has a vague sense that he can trust him.

David: Yeah, my character is eventually gonna be kind of extreme when it comes to initiative rolls. Seers are all about Vigilance.

Two others also wait to board the battered craft. The tall, swaggering young man has exotic gray skin and long silver hair, but his companion draws Seyo's attention even more. An indescribably ancient kel dor, he carries a weight of dignity that holds Seyo's eye. Few kel dorians live to see a hundred, but this one feels far older. And for that species, a strong connection to the Force can greatly increase their lifespan…

Now that he's looking for it, Seyo realizes… he recognizes this old kel dor. This is Byln Kair, a Jedi Consular.

Caleb: I wanted to say I'm tens of thousands of years old, cuz an online search said that a kel dor year is more than four hundred standard years, but…

Chris: …but that was obviously just a goober mistyping it as "years" instead of "days."

Caleb: I'm still gonna play him as crazy old. I'm even gonna try having him add the word "the" in tons of places where it doesn't belong.

Lucas with a C: Like "the rap music"?

James: Or "the COVID"?

Seyo smiles at this unexpected discovery. So… he too survived the great betrayal…

And if this venerable sage is a Jedi…

Seyo reconsiders the others. The unique young man with Byln Kair, and the mirialan with the droid…

The ancient sage speaks first. "Ah… it would seem my young friend and I were not the only ones to feel the sudden drive to visit the Eriadu."

Caleb: Whoa this is gonna be hard. Just one unnecessary "the" and I already feel so awkward…

Seyo's little Padawan gasps in recognition, but the Jedi gives his shoulder another squeeze. "I think there will be plenty of time to make our full introductions in private. Even if we must be patient until such an opportunity presents itself."

Prawn gulps, a funny little sound considering his squid-like mouth, and he doesn't speak.

Chris: As a fairly fragile character who plans on functioning as a tank, Prawn's probably gonna get knocked out a lot . So I'm working on funny little squid noises he can make in his sleep whenever it would be his turn but he's unconscious.

Half an hour before the slated departure time, the human captain descends the ramp. "The name's Karrul Pe'Tyrbil." He smiles warmly, and speaks with a laid back, casual air that seems quite friendly. Perhaps a tad too friendly, if he is in fact a smuggler. "So y'all need passage to Eriadu? That shouldn't be no trouble at all. The Lumpy Grub-Toad isn't roomy, but it'll get'ya there in one piece. But say... what's got so many of ya dressed up in them kooky robes?"

Seyo feels a tad suspicious at that, but little Prawn speaks first. "We're gonna be in a play! The 'Poet Monks of Ancient Eriadu!' I get to be the mute grandson! His death scene is sooooo sad."

"I ne'er heard of it," the captain says, his smile unchanged. "But no mind. I can let'ya board, so long as ya' aren't bothered by a stop on the way. I've got a small but urgent cargo delivery on Taris."

Byln smiled, though his breath mask mostly hid it. "If memory serves, that detour won't add much to the total travel time. We will not begrudge it."

The Party files aboard, giving each other curious looks, and Karrul keeps talking. "I hope ya don't mind the accommodations. I don't usually transport so many organic beings at once."

"The journey is not long," the ancient Byln Kair says. "And the lads can sleep on the floor if need be."

The gray-skinned young man traveling with him can't hide his dismay at the thought, but Prawn doesn't react at all. The kid trains very hard to be the sort who never feels the need to complain.

"Feel free to get settled in," the captain says.

All are relieved at the relative brevity of the flight to Taris, as the HWK-290 is not designed for seven. The tight confines make privacy difficult, so conversation is kept light and harmless. Soon enough, they land at a small spaceport.

Captain Pe'Tyrbil nods to Byln and Seyo as he heads for the ramp. "I've got one small shipment to deliver, but I shouldn't have any trouble getting back in half an hour."

He departs, pushing a single crate on a small hover sled. The ramp rises, the door slides shut, and the group can finally make their introductions.

The renowned kel dorian sage speaks first. "As some of you have likely realized, I am Byln Kair… the Jedi Master. I may be old, but I offer the wisdom and the insight few could hope to match."

Caleb: Seriously, it is so hard to talk like this.

David: Maybe sprinkle just an occasional extra "the" instead of dumping a whole truckload on every sentence.

Caleb: Good idea.

Byln continues. "This is my recently-acquired Padawan… whose Master did not survive the Purge."

The silver-haired young man nods. "I'm Astalos 'Dragonbane.' And I'm actually a clawdite shapeshifter. This form just felt like a good choice for seeming exotic but dignified." Just to show off, he briefly shifts his skin color to a far darker shade of gray before returning to his original look. "I'm kinda lousy at impersonating specific people, but I've gotten very good at mimicking a bunch of different species."

"It's an honor to meet you both. I'm Seyo Nemis, Jedi Knight. After a year of checking in with various Church of the Force sites, I finally found one that was sheltering another survivor of the Order. This little one had spent a year brutalizing himself with sixteen hours of harsh training per day, which I appreciate. Don't let his age deceive you. He's harder and smarter than he looks, and his Soresu form is getting quite good. I'm proud to have taken him on as my Padawan."

The little quarren bows formally, and sounds a tad nervous as he addresses the others. "I'm Pranac Anakhis, but you can call me Prawn."

Chris: My character's name, and even his species , all came from a typo.

Lucas with a C: Yeah… I have no idea what I actually meant to type… but I texted "PranacAnakhis" late one night. No context, no hint of explanation… I really need more sleep…

Chris: It sounded like a Star Wars name, so I used it. And since his nickname would naturally be "Prawn," I wanted him to be aquatic. But a mon calamari wouldn't look quite right for a heroic little front line tank character, and I did not want to be a freak'n gungan.

The last organic being introduces himself. "I'm Altair Badar. I was never discovered by the Jedi Order, but as some of you probably guessed, I do have the Force. And I saw enough darkness in my youth that I'm eager to put a little light back into the galaxy." The green mirialan smiles. "And to that end, I made a friend that I ask all of you to treat as you would any organic being."

The hulking B2 Battle droid whirrs a number of its exposed servos. "I am B2-F3. If you respect my autonomy, I shall allow your life functions to continue uninterrupted, and your fragile bodies to retain their current configurations."

Padawan Prawn's eyes widen, and Padawan Astolos loses his smirk, but Altair just chuckles, and the others relax.

The droid continues. "I might even take action to preserve your functions and configurations if you are threatened, provided Altair values you. And you can call me 'Beefy.' My original programming has been supplemented with an additional AI unit, making me truly unique. I still have the urge to blast anything in white armor, but I acknowledge that the clone wars are over. I seek new experience and new knowledge. Interacting with you qualifies."

None of the six feel ready to fully open up with the others about their recent past, though it surely involved much pain and hardship all around. But they do determine that all five Force-sensitives experienced the exact same vision last night. Clearly, the will of the Force is at work, and they will not go against it. Though not especially concerned with such things, Beefy acknowledges that this will certainly lead to events well outside of his limited experience.

Then the scheduled departure time comes… and goes. Captain Pe'Tyrbil is yet to return.

But his laid back personality and casual air might be enough to explain it.

When the captain is fifteen minutes late, they all begin to worry.

"He did ask about our robes…" Prawn says nervously.

"Further, your impulsive attempt at the deception may have backfired, little one," old Byln observes dryly.

"Indeed," Beefy agrees. "Lying is not a skill you possess."

"Sorry! I was nervous…"

"Which I'm starting to be," Astalos says, shaking his long fake hair out of his face. "What could the captain be up to?"

"Padawan, check the ship's computer," Seyo suggests. "Avoid anything risky, but see if you can bring up his shipping schedule."

Prawn does so. With little difficulty, he accesses the relevant file… and comes up with nothing. "Uh… he wasn't scheduled to deliver anything here."

"That doesn't necessarily mean he's deceiving us," Altair points out. "If he's a smuggler like we guessed, he might be delivering something off the books… But if he did guess that you four are Jedi…"

Astalos hurries to the door and hits the control, worried that they may have been locked in. But it lowers without issue. "That's a relief."

Altair raises a hand. "I hate to be contrary again… but this doesn't necessarily mean he's not deceiving us. If he guessed you're all Jedi, he might have suspected you have lightsabers, so locking the door would just get his ship sliced up."

"I wish I had a lightsaber," Prawn mumbles. "My ancient sword is neato and all, but I miss my shoto…"

Shane: Hey, don't complain about that sword. I made a special concession to let you start with it. Nobody else has a weapon that uses the Lightsaber skill.

Chris: I do appreciate that. We all just really look forward to getting actual lightsabers someday.

David: Can I do an Outer Rim Knowledge roll?

Altair grows more uncomfortable with each new unfortunate thought he adds to the conversation. "Would this be an awkward time to share my knowledge of the region? This city is run by a cartel… with ties to the Empire."

Prawn wilts. "So… typical…"

"What if Karrul isn't trying to betray us…" Astalos muses. "What if he's dead?"

"Most inconvenient timing, if so," Beefy observes.

"If he's dead or trying to betray us… let's just steal his ship?" Young Astalos makes it sound so reasonable. Prawn, Byln, Seyo, and even Altair are not impressed.

"We will not steal a man's ship unless we have evidence of ill intent," Byln insists.

James: Oh come on, it would be so lame if nothing scary's going on. We know this guy is trying to turn us in.

Caleb: But our characters don't.

Chris: Yeah, no metagaming. Prawn would never be ok with us robbing someone "just in case" they're evil when we don't actually know .

David: Can we roll any more Perception checks to see if we figure anything out?

More and more of the Party surreptitiously looks out across the space port, but they see no sign of the captain, or anything to indicate his intent.

James: Seriously? That's all we get from multiple successful checks?

Shane: Succeeding at Perception just means you get a good, clear look at everything in the area. It doesn't mean that you magically discover clues that don't exist.

"How about a compromise," Seyo proposes, trying to get everyone back on track. "We could first check the flight controls to see if taking the ship is even possible. If so, we can rest easier, knowing we have the means to escape if the captain betrays us."

Altair gestures to his companion. "Beefy is a pilot of exceptional aptitude, but neither of us are the best choice for attempting to gain access to this ship's controls."

As the one who already got into the ship's computer, Prawn heads up to the cockpit. Fiddling around, he quickly discovers how to start the ship's engines…

…because they start.

"Uh oh…"

Everyone is instantly on high alert.

Seyo grips the boy's shoulder. "Cut the engines, now."

"I don't even know how I started them!"

"I'll head to the back!" Altair shouts. "Maybe I can shut'em down directly!"

A voice comes over the comms. "This is Port Authority. We show that Captain Pe'Tyrbil is not aboard. Why are you powering up your engines?"

"Sorry!" Prawn yelps. "We were just doing some system tests!"

"Are you… a child? Put one of the crew on!"

Prawn flees the cockpit, clearly miserable for having caused the others trouble, and crouches in a corner trying not to cry.

Byln takes the comm. "The lad is correct. We were merely testing the system functionality and have no intention of departing without the captain."

"Then shut down the engines. Now."

Altair shouts from the back, "Working on it!"

Port Authority does not sound amused. "We're sending a maintenance crew your way to confirm there's nothing wrong."

"That isn't necessary," Byln says.

"And yet it's going to happen. You will grant them entry." The line goes silent.

"Young Pranac, you're with me," Byln says. "If they see your obvious contrition in person, they may accept this is all a mistake."

Desperate to make amends, Prawn follows without hesitation. The two of them descend the ramp, waiting at the bottom while a team of technicians approaches. Seyo Nemis looms at the top of the ramp, unwilling to let his little Padawan or the ancient Jedi Master face possible danger alone.

"Our apologies for the inconvenience," Byln calls before the men reach them. "Activating the engines was not our intent."

Prawn literally drops to his knees. "I am sooooo sorry! Please forgive me!"

"We don't care how it happened," the oldest of the technicians says, "we just need to shut the engines down so–"

At that moment, the engines power down. Altair finally figured it out.

"Oh… Well ok then." The technicians march away…

Only for three far more intimidating individuals to march toward the ship. They have drawn blasters, and unlike the technicians, they do not look like they're here to help.

Suspecting that these thugs might board the ship, Beefy lies in wait. With his threadbare robes hanging over his stripped down frame, he can easily pass as junk by curling up and staying still.

Shane: Holy… you roll five dice for Stealth?

James: It uses Agility, same as ranged attacks…

But the thugs never get that far.

When calm, kind words from Byln and Prawn fail, Seyo speaks up from the top of the ramp. With muscular arms crossed over a broad, powerful chest, the looming man growls, "Stay civil and we'll cooperate… but if you insist on threatening violence…"

The leader of the thugs turns pale. "No… No, sorry, we didn't mean to give the wrong impression." The three men holster their blasters. "A misunderstanding."

Chris: Sweeeeet. Prawn is so impressed with sensei right now. Scaring dudes with drawn guns into putting their guns away?

Caleb: That is some glorious menace you've got there.

Lukas with a K: [who is fully disabled and in a wheelchair] Yep. I'm terrifying. You better not get on my bad side…

Voice quavering, the head thug continues. "We really just need all of you to take a few minutes out of your day to check in at our main office. Captain Pe'Tyrbil isn't quite ready to leave yet, and your cooperation with something would be most appreciated."

There is a moment of tense silence, but at last the Party agrees. The thugs don't require them to leave their weapons behind, so the Party files out of the ship. Beefy rises back to his full height, and all six of them follow the men deeper into the facility.

When they enter the main office, four men are already there. Three are unsavory, thuggish security like the men who brought the Party here. The last is Captain Karrul Pe'Tyrbil, who addresses them smugly. "Put your weapons on the desk. We wouldn't want anything unpleasant to happen, now would we?"

Only Prawn complies. Stepping up to the desk, which goes up to his shoulders, he lays his sheathed sword in plain sight… but still within reach.

Lucas with a C: Time for the first Force Power of the campaign…

Reaching out with the Force, young Astalos stokes the fear in the men that escorted them here. Two, badly shaken by Seyo's earlier intimidation, crack under the emotional pressure. "Whoa! This is not a good idea!"

"No joke! If these guys are Jedi, we won't have a chance against them! We should call this whole thing off and–"

The last of the three thugs that brought the Party here cuts him off. "What is wrong with you two? They're not actually Jedi! All that matters is that the Empire's willing to pay for them, just in case–"

Enraged by the disunity and panic among the thugs, Captain Pe'Tyrbil draws his heavy blaster pistol… and guns all three of them down.

Chris: [who has run two campaigns using this system] Technically, that should only be possible with an auto-blaster, but I'm sure not gonna argue about rules when half the thugs just went down…

Stunned silence falls on the room. The three remaining thugs are horrified, along with several of the Party.

James: Dude, if this guy's siding with us, that's awesome! Let's wreck the other three and recruit this smuggler!

Chris: Hold up! I don't think this guy's on our side at all! I think he shot those thugs like a supervillain would shoot weak or disloyal henchmen.

Lucas with a C: Are they even his henchmen tho? This is wild!

Blaster trained on the Party, the captain says, "Over the years, I've turned in a few mysterious, cloaked and hooded strangers that gave me a bad vibe. The Empire pays well for'em. And you weirdos feel a mite suspicious."

James: Darn. I really hoped he was on our side.

Chris: Remember tho… I still have my hands on the table. So the moment he mentions turning in Jedi to the Empire… I draw my sword!

Shane: Everyone roll for initiative!

Prawn's sword flashes from its sheath, and he brandishes it high in a Soresu stance. Hoping to draw attention–and fire–he shouts, "Drop your weapons and no one else has to die!"

Unfortunately, Karrul and the three surviving thugs ignore the child completely, so his desire to act as guardian is totally circumvented.

Fortunately, Prawn's master doesn't waste time. Seyo Nemis pulls his blaster and wounds a thug. Half a heartbeat later, Beefy's arm-mounted blaster drops a different thug in a single shot.

James: Epic! And all I've got is a Light Blaster Pistol.

Chris: Yup. Agility five is no joke man…

James: Thank you so much for encouraging me to go all-in with that stat.

Altair finishes off the thug Seyo wounded, but their alpha strike ends there.

Captain Pe'Tyrbil whirls and blasts Seyo for heavy damage, to Prawn's dismay. The kid hoped to draw any aggression toward himself, but instead his master is seriously injured.

Byln Kair, who has never taken a life, draws his blaster and hits the last thug with a stun blast, weakening him severely. Though the thug is teetering on the brink of passing out, he still manages to blast Astalos for significant damage.

Chris: Yaaaaay. Guilt all around. Prawn feels bad for failing his master, and Byln feels bad for failing his Padawan…

Caleb: Meh… Astalos is kinda irksome.

James: Lucas is next. He should finish off the last thug so we can–

Lucas with a C: [the youngest player by far] Nope! I'm goin' after the Big Bad.

Caleb: See what I mean?

Adrenaline pumping through him from the pain, Astalos blitzes the smuggler captain. Brave, but not especially skilled, he gives it his best shot. But his wound throws off his aim, and his attempts to land hits with his shock gloves miss.

With two allies wounded, and another Padawan engaging the most dangerous opponent at close range, Prawn charges in. Hoping to either trigger a surrender or to finally draw the attention of the enemy, he attacks Captain Pe'Tyrbil, landing a solid hit with his sword.

Chris: Oh good. This guy's Soak isn't actually very high. All of our wimpy starter weapons should be able to mess him up quick if he doesn't surrender.

Lukas with a K: And I've already unlocked telekinesis…

Reaching out a hand, Seyo Nemis yanks the blaster from the weakened grip of the wounded captain. Unarmed, having been slashed by a child, and faced with evidence that one of his opponents really is a Jedi… Karrul surrenders.

Chris: [double-checking player sheets] Lukas would have to invest at least 20 more XP into his Force Move power to actually yank a weapon out of someone's grip… but this is not the time to point that out. No one else at this table has ever used this system before, and I am not gonna be the annoying twerp that says "actuallyyyyyy…" all the time. Especially since I homebrewed both of my own campaigns beyond recognition.

The last thug, staggering from Byln's earlier stun blast, can't handle the stress... and faints.

Chris: Ah crap I totally forgot about my quarren "Ink Spray" ability. I absolutely should have used it to penalize the attack targeting my master…

Shane: It's everyone's first session, we're gonna make mistakes.

Chris: So I can do it retroactively?

Shane: [laughing] Nope!

Powering down his shock gloves, and fighting through the pain of his injury, Astalos reasons with Captain Pe'Tyrbil. "Look, Karrul… Can I call you Karrul?"

Grasping at his sword wound in pain, the terrified smuggler just nods.

Smooth, suave, as if there hadn't just been a deadly shootout, the Padawan makes his case. He can be very persuasive, especially when the facts are on his side. "I have a proposal that could benefit everyone. You probably didn't think it through earlier, but by killing three members of station security, you're probably more wanted than us right now."

Karrul grows even more pale.

"So, how about we all get out of here together? We let you live, and you can even keep your ship and evade capture. In return, you fly us wherever we need to go, and help out in any ways that seem fair."

Maybe it's the smooth, persuasive delivery. Maybe it's the shapeshifter's exotic and glamorous current form. Maybe it's just the captain's survival instincts, and the realization that he blundered to a catastrophic degree. Whatever exactly it is, he leaps on the offer, practically groveling at the Party's mercy.

Caleb: Dude you roll a ton of dice for Negotiation.

Lucas with a C: Presence 4 and Negotiate 2, baby.

Prawn has a small supply of stimpacks, and he injects his master with one of them. Seyo Nemis sighs with relief as the bacta and other drugs ease his pain and accelerate the healing process.

Then, they're off.

They hurry back to the ship, with Prawn staying directly behind Karrul, ready to stab him again if he tries anything. Piling into the Lumpy Grub-Toad, they lift off and peel out.

Chris: This thing's a clown car. HWK-290's are only designed for 4 people. But most of us are young, so I guess we can tolerate it.

"Plugging in calculations for Eriadu," Captain Pe'Tyrbil says. "I assume that really is your destination?"

"Affirmative." The hulking Beefy, who has no need of sleep, intends to stay at Karrul's side at all times to ensure he doesn't try anything stupid.

"Do you have a medkit?" Prawn asks, his hand on his sword hilt.

"In the back! It's yours!"

Nodding, Prawn claims the medpac, which is surprisingly high quality, and goes to work patching up his master. But he accomplishes nothing when he tries to do the same with Astalos, whose wound is less serious but oddly tricky to treat.

Lucas with a C: Dude… how did you roll so bad?

Even so, Prawn is glad to have such a useful tool at his disposal now. Alarmingly, though the youngest in the Party by far, he seems to have the most academic mind, so he might just be the closest thing they have to a doctor…

Lukas with a K: That is so funny… The child is the smartest one here.

Chris: I did want him to be a nerd, but his Intellect is only that high because the Soresu style uses it instead of Brawn. But I agree it's hilarious that nobody else has above-average Intellect. We've got a droid, a Sage, and a Seer, but the eleven-year-old who works out sixteen hours a day is still the biggest brain in the room.

David: Yeah… that's a result of everybody but you being new to this system. I totally should have gone with higher Intellect.

Caleb: And me even more so. I'm a two-hundred-year-old sage who's been a Jedi Master for most of his life, and the kid is better at Lore checks than me…

Chris: It's a good thing the rules allow for Assisted checks. Combining Prawn's Intellect with the higher skill ranks you guys have can add up to a pretty powerful die pool. And I kinda like the idea of the friendly kid always poking his head in and helping out with the nerdy stuff.

Feeling far better, Seyo joins Byln and Beefy in the cockpit. "It goes without saying, but I'm keeping your blaster. I've felt just how hard it hits, and I've earned it. Now… tell us everything you know about Eriadu. The Force is leading us there, but most of us have never been there."

Painfully aware that he's only breathing due to the mercy and ongoing patience of the people he tried to betray, Karrul practically falls all over himself trying to be helpful. He explains that Eriadu is most known for a university that has archeological artifacts from all over the galaxy.

Sharing a look, Byln and Seyo know they've got this guy right where they want him, and he might never be in a position to betray them without getting himself killed. So they relate the vision everyone but Beefy had, and Karrul seems impressed. "That sounds like this university alright. They have heavy security, and their guards wear black gloves.

Caleb: Copyright infringement! Vader is gonna wreck these copycats! Also… I am done trying to add "the" where it doesn't belong. It's weird how hard that was…

Sweating, Captain Pe'Tyrbil clutches again at his sword-wound. Now that Seyo has been patched up, Prawn considers using the medpac on the captain too. But Beefy reaches out, stopping him. "He will mend naturally. In the meantime, the pain will help him reflect on his choices."

Nodding, Prawn leaves the older Jedi to their interrogation.

Karrul continues. "I wonder if that vision of yours might have been referr'n to a specific person. Ashur Sungazer is a super special fancy-pants scholar that works in the university's archive vault."

"Do you know him personally?" Byln asks.

"Yep. I've gotten some artifacts to him over the years."

Seyo, who's intimidating even without meaning to be, commands: "Call him."

After making introductions, Ashur Sungazer's hologram broadcasts a high resolution image of the artifact in question. Despite close inspection, none of the Party recognize it.

Shane: [Reading] "Ashur smiles with excitement. 'I found this in the Archive at Phelar University. The crystallization in the stone reminds me of stories about lightsaber crystals, and yet the engravings may be several thousand years old. I'd prefer not to speak more here; the Empire tends to censor our communications. But if you can meet me on Eriadu, I can show you this in person. Make sure you obtain some credentials; the relic cannot be removed from the University Archive, and you need to be an accredited scholar to gain access. Not that it'll prove to be a problem for you, I think.' Ashur grins briefly. 'Come quickly, my friends, we have much to discuss.'"

Lukas with a K: Wait… are we actually supposed to be his friends?

Caleb: He might just be, well, friendly.

Shane: Actually, I kinda made up the entire opening segment. In the book, the adventure starts when you land on Eriadu.

Lucas with a C: Wait, really? It was pretty great.

Shane: Since most of us are totally new at this, I wanted a little suspense and combat to give us all some experience before the main story starts.

James: Experience? As in XP?

Shane: Hah! No.

David: Even so, I'm glad you added that scene. Now we have an NPC that has no other option but to help us out.

Lukas with a K: And I got this very nice gun.

Chris: And I have a very nice medpac.

Lucas with a C: And I have four wounds from getting shot.

Everyone else: Worth it.

Entering Eriadu airspace, the Party can risk a more secure, shorter range transmission. Clarifying some details with Ashur, they start planning their next move. Getting permission to land, the Party goes about securing some additional equipment. To make Beefy far less scary, they buy a restraining bolt and sabotage it before affixing it to the droid. Now, he will appear to be harmless.

More immediately relevant, Byln and Altair acquire the necessary intel for Prawn to cobble together counterfeit identichips for the university.

Chris: It's still hilarious that sixty pound "Padawan Prawn" is the best techie in a Party of six. He's honestly just built to tank hits by reducing incoming damage.

Secure in the knowledge that Captain Pe'Tyrbil is a dead man without their protection, the Party leaves him with the ship and they walk to the University. As they approach the main entrance, they notice an unpleasant sight off to the left.

Shane: [Reading] "Two security guards have grabbed the arms of a tall, scrawny scholar and pulled him behind a building, out of sight of the public. The scholar struggles, and one guard stuns him with a quick jab to the gut. The guards shove the scholar onto the ground, but the scholar shouts defiantly, 'I wasn't the one who sent your brother to prison. He sent himself. He shouldn't have been selling contraband.' Other scholars notice the one-sided fight, but from their hurried strides and averted gazes, you can sense their fear of getting involved." So… does anyone intervene?

Astalos figures the old guy can handle it, since the beating is probably over. Byln Kair is thinking big picture: If the Force has brought them all together, their purpose is likely far more important than the temporary comfort of one man. And Beefy can't even begin to care about the minor beating of a stranger.

To the annoyance of these three, Seyo, Prawn, and Altair rush over. Altair may not be a Jedi, but he has a strong moral code. And Seyo and Prawn have strong protective instincts.

"Explain yourselves," Seyo commands.

"Mind your own business," the larger guard snaps.

Hoping master Seyo won't have to get scary, Prawn speaks up. "Guys, this is not a good look. Lots of people can see what's going on. Your reputation, and that of the whole university, is at stake here. And anyway, it's too late. This scholar can't get your brother out of prison at this point. You've had your fun… it's time to move on."

Annoyed, but noticing all the onlookers, the two guards storm off. As they go though, one whispers something into his com…

The scholar introduces himself as Psyrel. He gratefully offers to serve as a reference if they have any trouble getting into the archives.

Shane: The players who didn't help suffer one Conflict.

Caleb: Sigh.

The goodie-goodies rejoin the others, who fail to hide their irritation at the delay and risk. Together, the six reach the front of the line. A guard behind the security gate asks why they're visiting.

"Ashur Sungazer is gonna give us a lecture on archeology," Prawn says happily. "Psyrel suggested it."

The guard looks a tad suspicious. "What's with all the cloaks?"

"We're gonna be in a play!" Prawn says happily.

James: Dude! Stop trying that! Your character is not good at Deception!

Caleb: And this is super annoying. "Concealing Robes" are more expensive than the other gear we could have started with, and they're supposed to make it harder to recognize us.

Shane: You are hard to recognize. But these people don't know you anyway. To them, those robes look suspicious.

Narrowing his eyes, the guard asks if they have any weapons.

"Nope," Prawn says cheerily, with total honesty.

Shane: Wait… what? You actually don't have your weapon? You're not just hiding it?

Chris: A child smuggling a freaking sword through security? Prawn's eleven! That sword is almost as long as he is tall! Nah, Prawn isn't gonna risk it. And this is a university. Things shouldn't get violent unless we screw up big time.

Lukas with a K: But this is a Star Wars RPG! Combat is pretty likely!

Chris: Quite frankly, this kid doesn't need a sword to do his job. If shots start flying, he'll stand between the gunman and the target whether or not he has a way to block the shots. All he really cares about is protecting his friends, whether or not it kills him.

David: Oh no… He's a child, and the pic you chose for your character is adorable. You better not plan on dying.

Chris: Not at all. I already love this kid and I hope he survives. I have plans for at least 700 XP worth of growth and improvement with this character. But when the consequences for screwing up involves an adorable nervous nerd child taking hits on your behalf… that's motivation for making good choices.

Shane: Um… Wow. Ok, so… as for the rest of you…

Everybody else: Oh, we're totally armed.

Prawn marches happily through the gate, but next up is his master. Seyo is pack'n. With both his original blaster and the heavier pistol he took from Karrul. As the bored guard in charge of security steps forward to search him… Prawn does the only thing he can think of.

The boy "sneezes." It's a fake sneeze, but his target isn't in a position to realize that. A jet of ink splatters the guard's face and neck. Genuinely regretting his decision, Prawn is 100% honest while he apologizes profusely.

Chris: Technically, this quarren special ability's only rule is related to reducing the accuracy of someone's attack, but…

Shane: With this guard… yeah… this would penalize his roll…

The guard is very quick and perfunctory in his search, and soon the Party is waved through so the guard can go wash up.

Inside, they are then subjected to a wearisome lecture on the rules and policies of the University, which Prawn tries to pay attention to, but which everyone finds tedious. When it's done, they all promise to follow the rules. But a few of them must have seemed some kind of sketchy, because a couple guards are assigned to follow specific Party members. And apparently, little Prawn seems reaaaaaly sketchy, because the soldier assigned to follow him is heavily armed and fully armored.

Chris: Dude, how did this sweet little guy fail his Charm check so freaking hard?

James: Narratively, there's plenty of explanation. You irritated those guards outside by convincing them to stop beating up the scholar. Then you name-dropped really hard at the gate. Finally, you sneezed ink on the gate guard.

Chris: Dang.

Fortunately, the guards still view this as a very common, everyday sort of chore. When they finally reach the archive room they're looking for, the guards remain at the door. Perhaps their only job is to make sure weirdos don't try to smuggle stuff out of the building. The Party thus has relative privacy as they approach Ashur Sungazer.

Shane [Reading]: "Ashur holds up the artifact. 'So, there are two problems with this talisman. Besides not knowing enough about what it is, I'm not sure where it came from, either! The university receives dozens of cultural artifacts from across the galaxy every day. They get put into storage immediately for cataloging. Unfortunately, a lot of the paperwork is incomplete or just missing. It did come with some starship wreckage, but who knows if it's from the same dig site.' Ashur smiles ruefully. 'It's as frustrating as it is exciting.'"

Lucas with a C: He's even nerdier than Prawn…

Several of the Force-sensitives present feel a draw in the Force when they look upon the talisman. But as the oldest, and a sage of great renown, it is ancient Byln Kair who first senses the unique signature this necklace radiates in the Force.

Shane: [Reading] "The talisman feels like a living thing. It exudes calm and serenity. But you also sense sadness, loss, guilt, and mourning. You intuit a wish to do better, to be better, and you feel that this talisman will help you achieve this goal."

Determined, Byln makes contact, reaching out to wrap his wizened fingers around the ancient artifact. The Force flows into him, and he experiences a vivid vision:

Shane: [Reading] "You find yourself on a stone dais, staring at a hidden safe embedded in the floor. A holocron sits nestled in the safe's center. The safe's lid, a stone block the size of an astromech droid, lies off to one side. The dais stands in the middle of a large chamber made of dark stone, perhaps thirty meters wide and just as tall. Stone walkways arc in circular patterns around the chamber. Even as you lift the stone block into place over the hidden safe, the chamber shudders and you hear distant explosions rumble. You turn to your students and the crew of your starship. One, wearing an officer's uniform, looks up from his comlink. 'Master Isa. The Mandalorians have breached the hull!' You nod firmly. 'Go. I will hold them here. You can still escape in the Sanctuary's shuttle.' Your students protest, but you accept no argument. In a moment they've fled, leaving you alone. You kneel down on the dais, your lightsaber sitting on the stone before you. Soon, the sounds of combat fill the halls, and a pack of armored warriors bursts into the chamber. You look at them calmly. 'I do not seek a fight.' The warriors howl and leap at you, weapons drawn. You wait calmly, until they are moments away. Then your lightsaber flies into your hand, and you spring forward to fight your last battle." [Shane moves to the next bit of text] As the vision fades, Byln Kair senses Val's parting words. 'Do not follow my example. Jedi cannot retreat from the world. They must struggle, succeed, and fail with the rest of the galaxy.'"

Byln has the sense that past failures can be faced and addressed, and that growth is always possible. He accepts this Talisman as his own, determined to keep it.

Shane: That's it for today! Great job on your first session. Everybody gets… 15 XP!

Everybody: …

Shane: What's wrong?

Lucas with a C: Just 15? That's barely enough for me to get one talent…

Shane: Everybody wants this campaign to go for a long time, so I don't want you leveling up too fast.

Chris: I kinda get it. In my campaigns, the players started out hilariously OP, so I don't give them XP very often.

James: Does that bug them?

Lucas with a C: I think they realize that they're already epic.

Chris: Yeah… On one occasion, Chuula the wookie got struck by lightning, engulfed in dragon fire, hit by the dragon's tail so hard she sailed over a three-story building, landed on the roof of a different building, was still in the fire, and then got struck by lightning again.

David: I take it she survived.

Chris: She strode out of the fire like a freak'n boss, pulled out a shardbow, and shot a giant rock monster.

Everyone: …

Chris: Did I mention my campaigns have a mountain of homebrew?

Lucas with a C: The hutt in his Party can fly. And see the future.

Shane: [eyes bugging out] So… yeah… you guys are only getting 15 XP…

Author's Note:

I hope you enjoyed Session One. I intend to post a chapter after each session for however long the campaign lasts.