SW DD 04 Echoes of the Jedi.pdf

Echoes of the Jedi

Episode IV of Star Wars: Dawn of Defiance

ABEL G. PEÑA AND JF BOIVIN

Design

Abel G. Peña and JF Boivin

Development

Rodney Thompson

Echoes of the Jedi is the fourth adventure in the Dawn of Defiance

campaign, which will take heroes from 1st level all the way through

20th level in a continuous storyline designed to give both players and

Gamemasters a complete Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition

experience. This adventure begins the second act of the campaign, which

consists of four adventures: Echoes of the Jedi, The First to Strike, The

Core of Corruption, and A Reckoning of Wraiths.

By now, the heroes have been on a series of adventures together

and should be well acquainted with one another. Several months have

passed since the last adventure, and the heroes should start Echoes of

the Jedi at 7th level and reach 9th level by the conclusion. With some

modifications, this adventure can also be used as a stand-alone scenario

or as part of your existing campaign. Over the course of this adventure,

the heroes will visit the ruins of a Jedi academy on the planet Almas in

search of a Jedi holocron, confront evil forces brought forth by a Sith

holocron gatekeeper, and come face to face with Inquisitor Valin Draco.

Editing

Ray Vallese

Typesetting

Ray Vallese, Gary M. Sarli

Production

Chad Laske, Matt Burke

Cartography

Corey Macourek, Jason Engle

Art on pp. 5, 21

Elizabeth McLaren

Lucas Licensing Editors

Leland Chee, Frank Parisi

Design Manager

Christopher Perkins

Director of RPG R&D

Bill Slavicsek

Authors’ dedication: To Jim Bambra and all the unsung authors of the early

Star Wars Expanded Universe.

What is Dawn of

Defiance?

Dawn of Defiance is the name given to a series of 10 linked adventures

that Gamemasters can use to create an entire campaign for their players.

Set in the months after the events of Revenge of the Sith, the

adventures in the Dawn of Defiance campaign are designed to provide

players and GMs with the iconic Star Wars Roleplaying Game experience,

set against the backdrop of the tyranny of the Galactic Empire. The

Dawn of Defiance campaign takes the heroes all the way from 1st level

up to 20th level, and features an ongoing storyline that progresses over

the course of the campaign. Each adventure can also be played

individually, and should provide the heroes with ample challenges to

gain two levels per adventure. Gamemasters should feel free to use the

Dawn of Defiance adventures either as an entire campaign or as fillers

for their own home campaigns.

If you are a Gamemaster wishing to run the campaign, read the

GM’s Primer, which summarizes the overall plot of the campaign and the

events of each adventure. The GM’s Primer is available at the Star Wars

Roleplaying Game Web site ( www.wizards.com/starwars ). The site also

features other articles related to the Dawn of Defiance campaign,

including the official campaign standards and an FAQ.

Map on page 43 constructed with tiles from Dungeon Tiles 5: Lost Caverns of

the Underdark, designed by James Wyatt and illustrated by Jason Engle.

Some rules mechanics are based on the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition by Christopher Perkins, Owen K.C. Stephens, and

Rodney Thompson; the original DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® rules created by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson; and the new

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS game designed by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.

This Wizards of the Coast game product contains no Open Game Content. No portion of this work may be reproduced in any form

without written permission. To learn more about the Open Gaming License and the d20 System License, please visit

www.wizards.com/d20.

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Warning! If you will be playing in a Dawn of

Defiance campaign or in a campaign utilizing its

adventures, read no further.

Campaign Update

Echoes of the Jedi opens some months after the last adventure, The

Queen of Air and Darkness. The few Jedi who managed to survive Order

66 are in hiding, hunted down by the Emperor’s Inquisitors and

stormtroopers—and by bounty hunters encouraged by the large sums

offered. One Jedi was recently found inside Darga the Hutt’s palace on

Cato Neimoidia, but luckily it was by an organization opposed to the

Emperor’s tyrannical rule. Thus, Jedi Master Denia joined Senator Bail

Organa’s small rebellion, now headquartered in a secret fleet of ships

spearheaded by the Nebulon-B cruiser Resurgence. The fleet’s focus is

the investigation of a top-secret Imperial military operation called the

Sarlacc Project. The existence of the project has been revealed to Organa

by an Imperial defector, Admiral Gilder Varth.

The heroes who rescued Master Denia have spent the past months

investigating the Sarlacc Project and pursuing other ventures to further

their individual careers, though they never lost contact with Senator

Organa. However, Captain Sirona Okeefe, who transported the heroes

aboard her ship the Banshee during their early adventures, has decided

to part ways and take her chances with a more lucrative smuggling

business. Left without a fast transport, the heroes should have been able

to purchase their own starship in recent months, either with credits they

acquired or by getting a bank loan. (If necessary, Senator Organa used

his influence to smooth out any difficulty the heroes might have had and

recommended a reputable banking institution. He might even have lent

them the credits for a down payment, which could have unfolded as part

of a side quest.)

For the heroes' new ship, you can use the stock YT-1300 statistics in

the Saga Edition Core Rulebook or the Ghtroc 720 statistics in Starships

of the Galaxy. (If you don't have Starships of the Galaxy, you can

download the Ghtroc 720 from the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Web

site at http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=starwars/article/SotG1.)

Aside from furthering the training of Jedi heroes, Master Denia, now

back to full health, has been meditating on the possibility of a link

between the Sarlacc Project and the slaves rescued by the heroes (at the

end of the last adventure). But her ability of farseeing through the Force

is limited, and she has encountered road blocks where there should be

answers. One possible solution has been revealed to her: If she were to

obtain a rare Jedi holocron, she might be able to augment her Force

abilities. By doing so, she could better assist Senator Organa and the

heroes with their goal of foiling the Empire’s nefarious plans. To

accomplish this, she requests the heroes’ help.

Unknown to the heroes, Inquisitor Valin Draco felt a strong tremor

in the Force while they were all in close proximity over Bespin—a tremor

the Inquisitor hasn’t felt since in the presence of his old master. In the

course of Echoes of the Jedi, the heroes will come face to face with the

Inquisitor for the first time inside the ruins of the Jedi academy on

Almas. Although the meeting appears to be one of pure chance, there

might be a greater force at work.

Over the course of the campaign’s second act, the heroes will learn a

bit more about Denia’s past, her tutelage of Inquisitor Draco, and the

Sarlacc Project. Additionally, this campaign arc concludes much like The

Empire Strikes Back, with a series of bad things happening to the heroes.

The events of this act are darker in tone but shouldn’t be a series of

nothing but down notes. The heroes should reel from their battles, but

they also should have a chance to succeed and make progress.

Echoes of the Jedi will give existing Jedi heroes a chance to use

their abilities to the fullest and allow new Jedi trained by Master Denia

to practice what they have learned. But the adventure is not designed

for Jedi alone. Heroes of other classes will also contribute their unique

talents and skills to resolve conflicts.

Adventure

Background

Abandoned and half buried in the sands of Almas for more than a

millennium, Darth Rivan’s fortress has been recently invaded and

pillaged by Jedi and Sith cultists. His tomes, amulets, and other artifacts

have been stolen. Even the corrupt spirit of his failed apprentice Darsin,

left behind as the stronghold’s guardian, has been defeated. But Rivan’s

sarcophagus has been found empty.

In truth, the remnants of his dark influence has lingered for

centuries in a diluted state in the cold, desert wastes surrounding the

fortress, inching gradually toward the Force nexus over which the Jedi

built their academy. This dark energy is responsible for the death of the

world’s kaluthin plant—which Rivan himself engineered so long ago—as

death and decay slowly spreads outward from his fortress. The recent

destruction of the Almas Academy has strengthened this evil energy in

this region. The spread of the dark side across Almas has left behind a

blight of withered kaluthin that is visible from orbit. The power of the

dark side in Almas has also attracted other creatures that feed on the

Force, and they have followed it to its source in the bowels of the

ravaged Jedi academy.

The residents of the city of Forard, still reeling from the destruction

of the academy at its center during Order 66, made an effort to go on

with their lives, but they couldn’t escape the impact of the dark side.

Over a few short months, many local citizens inexplicably became

violent, crime rose far beyond what local police could handle, and some

people simply dropped dead. Fear and death quickly left the city deserted

as residents relocated to other planets in the system with help from the

now-independent Cularin Militia.

After months of interrogating Force-sensitive prisoners, Inquisitor

Draco learned of a holocron in the Cularin system that supposedly

contained ancient Sith knowledge. He swept the system for Jedi who

might have survived the Almas Academy bombardment but did not find

the refugees protected by Cularin’s natives, the Tarasin. Draco arrived at

the academy ruins and was immediately entranced by an intoxicating

surge of the dark side. Attempting to locate the source of this power,

Draco went into the sublevels of the Jedi academy, where he chanced

upon a fortunate discovery.

Deep within the academy was the Sith holocron he sought, which

once belonged to the Sith Lord Darth Rivan. Moreover, the growing dark

side energy on Almas had suffused the Rivan holocron with a powerful

evil. As a result, the holocron’s gatekeeper took on a life of its own,

believing itself to be the actual spirit of Darth Rivan, and it gained the

power to activate itself and act of its own free will. Draco learned much

from the faux Sith Lord spirit, and he remained in the academy to study

the holocron further.

Master Vhiin’Thorla, a Twi’lek Jedi, who had been away on his

homeworld when Order 66 took place, visited the Almas Academy with

his Padawan in hopes of finding survivors. When Draco encountered

them, a fierce lightsaber duel ensued, and Draco’s protégé Raik Muun

used trickery to induce Thorla’s Padawan into a murderous rage directed

at his own master. Thorla was forced to kill his own Padawan in self-

defense, and, wracked with grief, was easily captured. Draco imprisoned

the Jedi Master in a Force-annulling Universal Energy Cage. For a week

leading up to the heroes’ arrival, Draco has conspired with the holocron

gatekeeper to break Thorla and turn him to the dark side.

Adventure

Summary

Echoes of the Jedi opens with the heroes being sent to the planet Almas,

in the Cularin system, to retrieve an ancient holocron from the ruins of

the Jedi academy that once stood there. En route they are attacked by

pirates, and eventually they make their way down to the surface of the

planet. Delving deep into the ruined academy, they fight off evil dark

side creatures, zealous followers of an ancient Sith lord, monstrous

beasts, and the crumbling ruins of the academy itself. Finally they

encounter Inquisitor Draco, who has fallen strongly under the sway of an

evil Sith holocron gatekeeper. After doing battle with Draco, the heroes

should recover the holocron and escape the collapsing academy,

returning with the artifact to the Resurgence.

Opening Crawl

If you wish to have an opening crawl before the adventure, consider

using the boxed text below.

STAR WARS: DAWN OF DEFIANCE

Episode IV

ECHOES OF THE JEDI

It is a dark time in the galaxy. The Jedi Knights, peaceful guardians of the Old Republic,

are all but extinct, exterminated by the Emperor’s sinister agents.

But a few Jedi still survive, exiled from the galaxy they once protected and leaving

echoes in the Force behind. The Emperor has sensed these remnants and seeks to

control them, leaving no chance for future Jedi to arise from the ashes.

Most Jedi stay in hiding, some try to foil the Empire without revealing their existence,

and others seek links to their former way of life, risking the wrath of the Emperor in

hopes of re-igniting the flame of their ancient order . . .

Part 1: Mission to Almas

Before starting the adventure, you should bring the players up to speed

about what their characters have been doing since the end of The Queen

of Air and Darkness. Afterward, read the following text aloud to them. It

takes place in a briefing room aboard the Resurgence, where Master

Denia briefs the heroes on a new mission.

Several hours after leaving the Corellian Run, your starship exits

hyperspace at the calculated point just outside the Cularin system.

Exactly as you were warned by Master Denia, you notice

innumerable comets of all shapes and sizes occasionally colliding

with each other, forming an enormous cloud around the system.

Fortunately, you were supplied with a sensor package that analyzes

their erratic patterns and calculates a safe path through the cloud.

Once past that danger, another jump must be calculated to avoid

flying for weeks at sublight speeds. However, this time the

calculations are trickier due to large, overlapping gravity wells

created by the system’s dense planet cores. But you know people

who’ve made the Kessel Run, and this can’t be worse than skirting

the Maw cluster. An hour later, you again emerge from hyperspace

and the planet farthest from Cularin’s twin suns comes into view,

lambent and mysterious: Almas.

The first thing you notice from orbit is the strange luminescence

that emanates from the planet itself. The twin suns are too distant

to illuminate the planet, and you are approaching from the side

facing away from them. Yet most of the surface emits a faint glow,

except for one dark spot where the Jedi academy happens to be

located according to your nav computer.

“Your help to our cause in the last few months has been invaluable

and your dedication exemplary. During my recovery, I had time to

reflect on our goal—to discover the purpose of the Sarlacc Project.

“While studying at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, I learned

about holocrons—recording devices into which Jedi stored their

wisdom to pass on to future generations. Some holocrons, such as

the prized Tedryn Holocron of Jedi Master Ashka Boda, were tailored

toward helping Jedi Masters penetrate the secrets of the Force. Even

beings already trained in the Jedi ways, like myself, greatly benefit

from such a source of learning.

“I summoned you because the Force has pulled together threads

of knowledge to reveal the location of a holocron similar to the

Tedryn. Shortly after the fall of the Republic, Master Ashka Boda

contacted me with news that he had joined the former Almas

Academy student Halagad Ventor in trying to form a network

between the scattered Jedi survivors of Order 66. During the Clone

Wars, an orbital bombardment decimated the Jedi Academy in the

Cularin system, and if any artifacts have survived, common sense

suggests that they have since been stolen. But the Force tells me

that the holocron we require is there.

"I’ve never been to the planet Almas in person, but I knew the

headmaster there, a serene Jedi Master named Lanius Qel-Bertuk. I

have no current information on the planet, but I can provide you

with coordinates and a path through the treacherous comet cloud

that surrounds the Cularin system. These were obtained at great

expense thanks to Senator Organa’s vast connections.

“I feel this is crucial to our cause, because I have sensed a link

between the Sarlacc Project and the slaves that you rescued above

Bespin. But I have probed the Force tirelessly and at last reached my

limits. With this Jedi holocron, however, I might expand my ability

to see through the Force and find the answers we seek. Furthermore,

I will be able to pass on the lessons it contains to a future

generation of Jedi, thus coming one step closer to restoring peace

and justice to the galaxy."

Almas

As soon as they near Almas, the heroes’ starship sensors start beeping,

alerting them to a nearby ship. A modified consular-class cruiser was

hiding in orbit close to planet’s moon Dorumaa and is now coming at

them fast, with cannons and tractor beams trained on the heroes’ ship.

The Red Fury

Brotherhood

Since the destruction of the Almas Academy, the pirates of the Red Fury

Brotherhood emerged as the dominant corsairs in the Cularin system.

Inquisitor Draco cut a deal to have them patrol the orbit of Almas while

he investigates the darkness saturating the

planet. Policing duties have fallen to one of

the Red Fury’s most hardhearted and

arrogant swashbucklers, the pirate Reddjak.

His menacing scarlet vessel, the Blood

Brother, tries to ensnare and board the

heroes’ ship within moments of its arrival.

See “Seeing Red” (page 23) for more

information on running this encounter. It

might turn into a space battle, but the

pirates prefer boarding the heroes’ ship and

fighting them in person. Either way, the

heroes should land (or crash) in or near the

city of Forard and make their way toward

the Almas Academy ruins (see the map of

Forard on page 6).

The coordinates to Cularin are programmed into the nav computer

of the heroes' ship, which should be consulted for additional information

about the system. If the heroes have more questions before the mission

starts, you should clarify or repeat only what Master Denia already told

them. Don’t reveal too much, aside from what the heroes’ Knowledge

checks entitle them to know about Almas (see the sidebar on page 7).

The trip takes approximately one day. When they drop out of hyperspace

near the Cularin system, the heroes can use the coordinates supplied by

Master Denia to navigate the evershifting comet cloud that blocks the

entire system.

Master Denia

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