Before You Begin Your Adventure

Got those dice? Now read over the character template for Cara Dune. She’s who you’ll be playing during this adventure, “Escape Pod Down.”

“Escape Pod Down” is a solitaire adventure — you play it just by reading and following the directions at the end of each entry. Along the way, you’ll be learning how to play the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. And it won’t hurt a bit.

Below is a quick summary of how you use the dice and your template to figure out when Rojo succeeds and when he fails. Read it over — yeah, the examples, too — and then start playing.

Oh, and one more thing… good luck. You’re gonna need it.

Character Name: Cara Dune
Type: Ex-Rebel Shocktrooper
Gender/Species: Female /Human
Age: 23 Height: 1.6m Weight: 49 kg
Physical Description: Black Hair, Brown eyes, Tan skin

DEXTERITY 2D+2
Blaster 4D+1
Brawling parry 4D
Dodge 4D
Vehicle Blasters: 3D
Melee combat
Melee parry

PERCEPTION 2D
Bargain
Con
Hide
Search 3D
Sneak 3D

KNOWLEDGE 4D
Alien species
Cultures
Languages
Planetary systems
Streetwise
Value

STRENGTH 3D
Brawling
Bureaucracy Climbing/Jumping 4D
Stamina
Swimming

MECHANICAL 3D
Astrogation
Beast Riding
Repulsorlift operation 4D
Space transports
Starship gunnery
Starship shields

TECHNICAL 3D+1
Computer prgm./repair
Beast Riding First aid
Repulsorlift repair
Security
Space transports repair

SPECIAL ABILITIES: None

Move: 10
Force Sensitive? No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points:
Character Points: 5

Equipment: Two medpacs, Heavy blaster rifle (5D), blaster pistol (4D), backpack, one week’s concentrated rations, knife (STR+1D), 1,000 credits

Background: Never talked much. Never seen much reason to. Fact
is, most of the time you don’t have anyone to talk to. You’re out under
the high, wide skies of a virgin planet, pitting yourself against the
wilderness. After you come the settlers, the big corporations and the
traders — civilization. But you’re the one to open planets. You find out
what the dangers are and deal with them. You find out how to survive
the strange weather, the dangerous beasts and the rugged terrain of a
whole new world.

You’d be doing that still. But they won’t let you. The Empire has cut
back on exploration; says it’s too expensive. You know the truth,
though; freedom is part of the frontier. You can’t control people when
they can always up and move. If, say, one wanted to impose tyranny on
a galaxy, there’s only one way to do it; stop them from upping and
moving. Close the frontier.

The Emperor wanted to destroy your livelihood. He didn’t leave you
with any alternative but joining the Rebellion, does he? You’ll be an
asset, you hand, and you know how to survive — in comfort — anywhere. Need to set up a base on, say, an ice planet? You know how.

Personality: You’re a ex-rebel shock trooper. Close-mouthed. You have a strong sense of humor, which shows through frequently. You’re tough. Proud of your abilities. You take a perverse delight in tormenting “greenies.”

Objectives: To blaze trails and open worlds from here to the end of
space.

A Quote: “You call these bugs? Back on Danos V, they got sting-insects the size of a house.”

Connection With Characters: Anyone from a recently-settled planet (like a brash pilot) might know you as the shocktrooper who secured his or her world for settlement. You might have met and made friends with any of the fringe characters — gambler, merc, smuggler, pirate, or bounty hunter, for example.

YOUR CHARACTER

Your character in this adventure is Cara Dune, a ex Rebel Shocktrooper stationed at Edan Base. Cara’s template is above.

The right side of the template explains her background, personality and objectives — it’s a good way to get an understanding of the character you’re playing.

All of Cara’s game statistics are on the left side of the template. Cara has six attributes, which are her basic qualities. They are Dexterity, Knowledge, Mechanical, Perception, Strength and Technical. Every character in the game has those attributes.

Cara’s skills are listed under each attribute. Skills are abilities you learn, and include things like blaster, dodge and brawling.

Cara has a die code for every attribute and skill. The die code is the number of six-sided dice you roll when you use the attribute or skill (for example, one die is 1D, two dice is 2D, three dice is 3D, and so on).

Example: Cara’s Perception is 2D, so if she tries to notice something out of the ordinary in a crowd, her player rolls two dice and adds the rolls together. If the player rolled a 4 and 5, Cara’s Perception total would be 9.

Now take a look at Cara’s Technical attribute. Notice that it’s 3D+1. That means you roll three dice, add them together, and then add one to the total.

Example: Cara’s Technical is 3D+1. If Cara tries to repair a broken engine on a Rebel X-wing Starfighter, the player rolls three dice and adds one. If Cara rolled a 3, 5 and 5, and then added one for the “+1,” Cara’s Technical total would be 14.

The same system works for skills. All skills begin at the same value as the attribute they fall under. Skills can be improved.

Example: Cara has the melee combat skill listed under her Dexterity attribute. Since Cara’s Dexterity is 2D+2, her melee combat skill also starts out as 2D+2. Blaster, brawling parry, dodge, melee combat, and melee parry are also listed under Dexterity and they also start out as 2D+2.

Some skills are improved on the template: Cara’s increased skills are blaster, dodge, repulsorlift operation, search and sneak. Don’t worry about just how this works now — we’ll get to it later.

Also don’t worry about the listings for Force Points, Move and other categories. They are used in the roleplaying game, but they’re not necessary to play this adventure. They are provided here in case you wish to use Cara in other Star Wars roleplaying adventures.

How Cara Does Things

Every task that Cara tries in this adventure has a difficulty, which is listed in the text. These tasks might include shooting a blaster at bounty hunters, sneaking past an Imperial patrol, or dodging for cover. There are six different levels of difficulty: Very Easy, Easy, Moderate, Difficult, Very Difficult or Heroic.

There is also a difficulty number. This is the number you have to tie or beat with your die roll to succeed. In the adventure, these numbers are listed. When you are playing with friends, one of you will be the gamemaster and will decide what the difficulty numbers are. (We’ll talk more about gamemasters later, too.)

The chart below lists the levels of difficulty and the numbers associated with them.

Roll the appropriate skill or attribute dice. If your roll is equal to or greater than the difficulty number, your character succeeds. If it’s lower, your character fails.

Example: Cara wants to fire her blaster pistol at the stormtroopers who are chasing her. Her blaster skill is 4D+1. The gamemaster says the difficulty number for hitting a target at this range is 15 (Moderate). Cara’s player rolls four dice (for the “4D”) and adds one more point (the “+1”) to get a total of 17. Since this total is higher than the difficulty of 15, Cara’s blaster shot hits the lead stormtrooper.

If you make a particularly bad roll, or if you want to improve a roll you’ve already made, you may use a Character Point to roll an additional die and add it to that skill roll. Since Star Wars is a game about heroes — and your character is a hero — Character Points give you a chance to improve your character’s rolls, especially when your character needs it most. Cara begins this adventure with five Character Points.

Example: The stormtroopers have taken cover. Now Cara needs to roll a 20 to hit them. She rolls her blaster skill of 4D+1 and gets 17 — a miss. Cara decides to spend one Character Point (she only has four left). Now, she rolls the extra die and gets a 4. She adds this to her blaster roll of 17, raising the total to 21. Cara hits another stormtrooper.

For now, you’ll just be allowed to use one Character Point to improve a single skill roll. Don’t use up your Character Points too quickly. You never know when you’ll really need them. It’s always good to have a few around to help your character through the adventure’s climax!

You now know enough about the rules to start playing. But a roleplaying game is more than rules — it’s about being in a fun adventure! Playing this solitaire adventure will give you a feel for the game. Simply read on and follow the directions.

You’ll be directed to several numbered entries, determined by how well you make your skill rolls. Don’t read the entries straight through, and don’t read entries you’re not supposed to look at — that will spoil any surprises for you. Just follow the instructions and you’ll be okay. Good luck, and clear skies!

Next: Solo Adventure ‘Escape Pod Down’