SWD20 - Adv (lvl 09-11) - Bloodhawk Down.pdf - SWD20 - Dihercen

Bloodhawk Down

A Free Star Wars Mini-Adventure For Any Era

By Owen K.C. Stephens

"Bloodhawk Down" is a Star Wars Roleplaying Game mini-

adventure for 9th- to 11th-level player characters and is

usable in any era. The scenario uses some new information

found in the Arms & Equipment Guide , the newest Star Wars

accessory.

If you plan to play a character in this adventure, don't read

any further. The information below is meant for the

Gamemaster's eyes only.

Background

Min Erethen is a brilliant weapon and droid engineer working

for Arakyd Industries as a battle-droid designer. For years

she's been kept safely tucked away on the starship Bhishana

Bhaga , a guardian corvette that has been converted to use

as a mobile design lab. The Bhishana Bhaga travels about the Mid Rim region of the galaxy, picking

up supplies when needed and delivering Erethen's work via the HoloNet.

The reason Erethen is kept in this armored and constantly moving base of operations is that

numerous other companies would love to get their hands on her. Erethen has designed everything

from illegal assassin droids to new forms of disruptors, and any company that manages to capture

her would see an immediate increase in profits. Numerous other groups would like to have access to

her genius as well, ranging from terrorists to pirates, freedom fighters, and even military units. To

prevent this, and protect its own investment, Arakyd Industries has gone to great lengths. It doesn't

even refer to the Bhishana Bhaga by name, instead giving it a new code name every few months.

Currently, the ship is called the "Bloodhawk" in all Arakyd transmissions.

Unfortunately, disaster has struck the Bhishana Bhaga . A short in the ship's hyperdrive caused it to

drop into real space in the middle of an asteroid field, and the ship was battered badly. In a

desperate attempt to save it, the captain made an emergency landing on the only available planet, a

harsh world named Krykas V. Krykas V is a totally uncivilized planet with no indigenous sentient life

and is blanketed by a field of electromagnetic energy strong enough to knock out most ship's

sensors. Flying blind with no landing port, the crew crashed the Bhishana Bhaga , killing everyone on

board except Erethen, who was locked safely into her sanctum sanctorum .

The ship will never fly again, but many of its systems are still functional, including the distress

beacon. An automated signal has been playing through the HoloNet ever since the ship crashed:

"Automated distress call, Bloodhawk down! Automated distress call, Bloodhawk down! Please

initiate emergency rescue. Automated distress call . . ."

The race to rescue Min Erethen is on!

Getting the Characters Involved

There are numerous possible ways for a group of characters to get involved in this adventure. If they

own their own ship and spend time cruising through the Mid Rim, they could pick up the distress

beacon and decide to investigate on their own. Any effort to search the HoloNet for information on a

ship called the Bloodhawk reveals that Arakyd Industries is offering a huge reward for its crew,

though there is no record of the ship's size, class, or planet of origin.

If the characters are mercenaries, Arakyd could hire them to rescue everyone on the ship -- or, at

least, all the computer records from the ship. Arakyd won't admit that Min Erethen is anyone special,

but the company does mention that every survivor should be brought back. Alternately, another

company (such as Baktoid Armor Workshop, BlasTech Industries, Cybot Galactica, Drearian

Defense Conglomerate, and Golan Arms) could hire the heroes to get to Erethen first. Of these, only

Golan Arms is likely to be forthcoming about who Min Erethen is and why her recovery is so

important.

If the characters work for any organization from any era, ranging from the Senate of the old Republic

to the Empire, Corporate Sector Authority, Rebellion, or New Republic, they could be sent by their

superiors to recover a valuable war resource.

Scene 1: We're Going In

Krykas V is located in the middle of an asteroid field and suffers regular asteroid hits on its surface.

Because of this, it's impossible to reach the planet without making a very hazardous fight through

the vast ocean of spinning and crashing rocks. So thick is the field that every square occupies at

least one hazard. In order to reach the planet, it's necessary to fly through no fewer than ten squares

with asteroids in them, requiring ten pilot checks. Roll randomly for the size, speed, and direction of

each hazard using the rules in Chapter 11 of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game .

If the characters don't have access to a starship or don't include anyone skilled enough to have a

chance of making it through the asteroid field, assume the same group that sends them to rescue

Erethen provides them with a transport and a droid pilot good enough to make it to the surface -- but

just barely.

A Look at Krykas V

Once the characters are through the asteroid field, read or paraphrase the following.

The last ding of a tiny asteroid bouncing off your ship's hull indicates that you're through the

asteroids at last, and you finally have an unobstructed view of Krykas V. It's an ugly dirtball of a

world, with no sign of oceans, ice caps, mountains, or deserts. Everything is a swirling mass of light

and dark brown, partially hidden by vast clouds of thick, tan fog. If there are any redeeming

qualities to this world, they can't be seen from orbit.

Any attempt to get detailed sensor readings of the world fail. It's possible to check the atmosphere

and see that it's breathable (if stale) for Humans, but scans of the surface are blocked. The dense

fog actually seems to be clouds of particulate matter with strong electromagnetic charges that block

all sensors. Only the Bhishana Bhaga 's HoloNet beacon, which operates independently of any

electromagnetic spectrum, can be pinpointed.

To make matters worse, the planet's thick, souplike atmosphere will play havoc with any ship's

engines. It's safe enough to land and take off again, but it's not a good idea to spend time flying

around in Krykas V's air. If the heroes need to search for survivors after they land near the beacon,

they'll have to do it on the ground.

Scene 2: The Bhishana Bhaga

Although no other sensors or communications gear can operate through the electromagnetic field of

Krykas V, holotranscievers can still find the HoloNet distress beacon of the Bhishana Bhaga ,

allowing the heroes to land near the beacon. Once they do so, read or paraphrase the following text.

As you look out of your ship at the crash site, several things become clear. First, Krykas V is a mud

ball of a world. Thick, brown sludge covers everything, and the only vegetation is an equally brown

mass of tangled briars and thorns. There's no sign of animal life, water, or different kinds of soil.

Everything on Krykas V is the same dull color.

Second, while the atmosphere is safe to breathe, it's not going to be pleasant. A thick, tan fog fills

the air, cutting visibility in half. Sensors are useless and even macrobinoculars can't penetrate the

dense fog to any useful degree. If you hope to find survivors, you're going to have to get close to

them first.

Third, the distress signal is coming from a chunk of rubble rather than an intact section of hull. The

ground at your landing site is littered with broken bits of deck plating, landing struts, broken cargo

containers, and loose piles of wiring. The wreckage continues for more than 300 meters, and then

disappears over the ridge of a valley.

Not only are sensors and comlinks useless on Krykas V, the half-meter thick mud that covers

everything slows movement by half. If the heroes want to use vehicles of some kind, tracked and

wheeled transports also are slowed by half. Repulsorlift vehicles can move normally, but the harsh

conditions of the planet give them a 25% chance of breaking down each hour.

If the heroes search the wreckage, they discover that someone has already been here. The broken

cargo containers are empty, and numerous control panels have been raided for wires, switches, and

so on. (Min's been here once since the crash a few days ago.) A hero with the Track feat can find

tracks (DC 25) leading over the ridge and down into the valley, which is where the rest of the

wreckage seems to be located. If they want to find any survivors, the heroes will need to explore the

valley.

War Droids

Although Min Erethen was the only survivor of the Bhishana Bhaga 's crash, most of her workshop

survived in operable condition. This gave her the tools and resources needed to modify her stockpile

of droid prototypes to operate in the wet conditions of Krykas V and to equip them with polarizing

field insulators to protect them from the planet's strong electromagnetic fields. Since everything that

she's encountered has tried to eat her, and since she has no idea that the ship's distress beacon is

functioning, she's programmed these droids to kill everything that moves. (They've done a good job --

while animals exist on Krykas V, the heroes won't encounter any during this adventure.) She figures

that eventually she'll set up a safe perimeter to build a larger workshop, and then she can build a

HoloNet transmitter to call for help.

Unfortunately, the characters come across some of her modified droids, a pair of old Mark IX

Executioner gladiatorial droids. Read or paraphrase the following text.

The thick fog and dense vegetation make it difficult to see for more than a few meters, and your

nostrils are assaulted by harsh, acrid odors. There are no paths, and you must push your way

through the calf-high mud that covers everything here.

Without warning, two shapes appear out of the gloom. Each appears to be a two-meter tall droid,

with many arms and a huge shell bolted onto its back. Each arm ends in a jagged cutting blade or

weapon muzzle.

The droids whir excitedly upon seeing you.

These droids immediately attack, moving into hand-to-hand range as soon as possible. They're not

talkative, but they make no attempt at stealth, either. There isn't likely to be a surprise round at the

beginning of this fight, as the two droids simply trundle up and begin shooting. They continue to fight

until destroyed. The good news for the characters is that the polarizing field generators negate the

electromagnetic field's effects, allowing comlinks, blasters, and sensors within 20 meters to function

normally. They also give everyone Resistance to Energy (Ion/electricity) 25 in that same radius.

If the characters examine the droids, they can see they've been heavily modified. Each has a large

generator that looks like a turtle shell welded onto its back (the polarizing field generators) and a

Graph 18 surface locator hard-wired into its droid brain. The surface locators are briefcase-sized

sensors that keep track of their motion and can show their current location and a map of the valley.

They also show the route the droids took to get here, thus revealing the location of Erethen's new

headquarters. The polarizing field generators can be removed and made to function with Disable

Device (DC 23) and Repair (DC 26) checks.

Modified Mark IX Executioners (2): Tracked gladiatorial droid, Soldier 5; Init +2 (+2 Dex); Defense

22 (+2 Dex); Spd 10 m; VP/WP 32/11; Atk +10 melee (2d10+5, vibro-ax) or +10 melee (2d6+5,

vibroblade) or +10 melee (2d8+5 or 1d6+5/DC 15, force pike) or +10 melee (2d6+5, spiked club) or

+7 ranged (3d8, blaster rifle) or +7 ranged (3d6, DC 15, flame thrower); SQ DR 5, resistance to

energy (ion/electricity) 25; SV Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +0; SZ M; Rep +1; Str 20, Dex 14, Con 11, Int 10,

Wis 9, Cha 12; Challenge Code: D.

Equipment: Armor, locked access, weapon mount (x10).

Skills: Climb 8 ranks (+13), Demolitions 4 ranks (+4), Intimidate 8 ranks (+9), Listen 2 ranks (+2),

Read/Write Basic, Spot 2 ranks (+6).

Unspent Skill points: 0.

Feats: Ambidexterity, Armor Proficiency (light), Armor Proficiency (medium), Armor Proficiency

(heavy), Cleave, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Rapid Shot, Weapon Group Proficiency (blaster

pistols), Weapon Group Proficiency (blaster rifles), Weapon Group Proficiency (heavy weapons),

Weapon Group Proficiency (simple weapons), Weapon Group Proficiency (vibro weapons).

Scene 3: The Sanctum Sanctorum

SWD20 - Adv (lvl 09-11) - Bloodhawk Down.pdf

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