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  001
  MINI = ADVENTURE
  Horning In
  428.m 1837b
  MINI-ADVENTURE
  Horning In
  A Free Star Wars Miniadventure for the Rebellion Era
  U.S., CANADA
  EUROPEAN HEADQUARTERS
  ASIA, PACIFIC, & LATIN AMERICA
  Wizards of the Coast, Belgium
  Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  P.B. 2031
  P.O. Box 707
  2600 Berchem
  Renton, WA 98057-0707
  Belgium
  Questions? 1-800-324-6496
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  www.wizards.com/starwars
  www.starwars.com
  DESIGN
  JEFF QUICK
  EDITING 
  RAY AND VALERIE VALLESE
  TYPESETTING
  SUE WEINLEIN COOK
  WEB PRODUCTION
  DANIEL STAHL
  WEB DEVELOPMENT 
  THOM BECKMAN
  ART DIRECTION
  SEAN GLENN
  LUCAS LICENSING EDITOR
  MICHELLE VUCKOVICH
  STAR WARS RPG CREATIVE DIRECTOR
  CHRIS PERKINS
  VICE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF RPG R&D
  BILL SLAVICSEK
  ©2001 Lucasﬁlm Ltd. & ™ All rights reserved. Used under authorization. Made in the U.S.A.
  Dungeons & Dragons and the Wizards of the Coast logo are registered trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. 
  The d20 System logo is a trademark owned by Wizards of the Coast. Inc.
  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. 
  This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork
  contained herein is prohibited without the express written permission of Wizards of the Coast, Inc. This product is a work of ﬁction.
  Any similarity to actual people, organizations, places, or events is purely coincidental.
  Based on the Star Wars Roleplaying Game by Andy Collins, Bill Slavicsek, and JD Wiker, utilizing mechanics developed for
  the new DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.
  
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  002
  MINI = ADVENTURE
  Horning In
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  MINI-ADVENTURE
  “Horning In” is a Star Wars Roleplaying Game adventure
  for four 10th-level heroes of any persuasion. As written,
  the adventure’s set in the Rebellion era, but it can be modi-
  ﬁed easily to work in any other era of play as well. Although
  the villain of the story ﬂies a ship described in Starships of
  the Galaxy and the scenario calls for a capital ship that also
  could be taken from the pages of that accessory, the book
  isn’t required to run this adventure.
  Background
  The rumor mill has been grinding out stories lately about a
  new fuel mixture component for sublight engines called a
  Quadronomic Fluxer. If rumors are to be believed, Fluxers
  can improve sublight speed by as much as 20 percent in
  Tiny and Small starships. The component has no effect on
  hyperspace, but all the life-or-death work is really done
  before the jump is made.
  If Fluxers are for real, anybody who ﬂies a transport ship
  even semi-regularly would want one. Whether or not it
  works, both the Rebellion and the Empire would be willing
  to risk a lot to ﬁnd out if it’s legitimate—and to keep it out
  of the hands of the other group.
  In reality, the Fluxer hasn’t been built yet, but the theory
  is sound, and the plans exist. They are currently held at the
  Nessem Shipyards, an orbital shipyard circling the planet
  Nessem in the Expansion Region of the galaxy.
  Nessem
  The inhabitants of Nessem are Human, and they’re very
  pleased by the modest success of their shipyards. The
  Nessem Shipyards aren’t the largest in the galaxy or the
  most modern, but the Nessemites are renowned for their
  craftsmanship and their apolitical tendencies. They build
  and repair ships for whoever has the money. This causes all
  sorts of people to rub shoulders in Nessemite conference
  rooms.
  Because a signiﬁcant percentage of the Nessemite popu-
  lace lives and works in space stations that make up the vari-
  ous orbital shipyards, residential areas on the shipyards are
  like small towns. Nessem is not a Core world, but it’s not so
  far out that the natives can’t persuade traveling entertainers
  and art exhibits to make Nessem a stop on their tours. For a
  loose grouping of space stations, the Nessem Shipyards are
  fairly happening places to be.
  As a result, the Nessemites take great pride in the ship-
  yards, and they don’t take kindly to running ﬁreﬁghts in the
  hallways. Though their clients often are held in ill repute,
  the Nessemites won’t let their shipyards become a smug-
  gler’s haven. Their security is tight, but not fascistic. The
  Empire has an on-site administrator, but the requisite bribes
  keep him busy looking the other way.
  Getting the Heroes Involved
  “Horning In” assumes that the heroes work for the
  Rebellion, or at least some patron interested in hiring their
  services. The patron sends them to retrieve the plans for the
  Quadronomic Fluxer and instructs them to begin by talking
  to the Rebels’ inside man, Roald Lasdal. Roald is a shift
  foreman working on the sunward strut building a capital
  ship, and he has Rebellion sympathies.
  Alternately, the heroes might hear rumors of the Fluxer on
  their own and try to make a grab for the plans. A scoundrel or
  fringer character might have a buddy who works at the ship-
  yards and can pass them inside information. A noble might
  want to negotiate for the plans to augment his home world’s
  planetary defense. And any pilot worth her cockpit would
  be interested in learning more about souping up her baby.
  Scene 1: Customs Procedures
  The adventure begins as the heroes arrive at the main
  station of the Nessem Shipyards. Sharing their landing bay
  is a Trandoshan mercenary named Ssorku. Ssorku arrives at
  the same time as the heroes in The Long Scale, his Koensayr
  ILH-KK Citadel-class cruiser (a model of ship described in
  the accessory Starships of the Galaxy). He tries to push in
  front of the heroes to clear the customs agents sooner and
  waits impatiently through every delay.
  Ssorku is a largely uninspiring Trandoshan. He’s a profes-
  sional mercenary—handy with a blaster and not shy about
  using it. He likes to compete, and he doesn’t like Wookiees.
  The one thing that makes him stand out is his love of music.
  In between mercenary assignments, Ssorku fancies himself a
  decent amateur jizz instrumentalist and music critic. He 
  practically looks for opportunities to argue over the merits of
  musical styles and particular musicians. The mercenary also
  takes his kloo horn with him on jobs in populated areas, and 
  he brought it along to the Nessem Shipyards, as well. You
  never know when a good opportunity to jam will come up.
  A Trandoshan or well-connected mercenary hero might
  know some of these details about Ssorku. The music-lover’s
  not as well known as Bossk, but he’s no lightweight in the
  mercenary world, either. However, it’s not important for the
  heroes to recognize or interact with Ssorku right now. They
  IS IT LEGIT?
  The Quadronomic Fluxer plans are what powers
  this adventure. Whether the device (if built) would
  actually work as theorized is for the Gamemaster to decide. In
  game terms, a Quadronomic Fluxer grants a +4 equipment bonus
  to Pilot checks when a character attempts the Increase Range
  maneuver. It might work quickly and ﬂawlessly, but the modiﬁca-
  tion would probably be more interesting if it were unreliable,
  overly noisy, or very expensive to implement.
  Other options include:
  � It doesn’t work as well as advertised. The speed boost is no-
  ticeable but gives only a +1 equipment bonus to Pilot checks.
  � It only works with a certain model of engine, which the heroes
  might or might not have access to.
  � It just doesn’t work.
  You could also decide that the Fluxer does indeed work, but let it
  trickle down into your campaign and change things more slowly.
  For example, an engine manufacturer eventually could acquire
  the plans, mass produce the Fluxers, and get fabulously rich off
  the contract for speeding up the Empire’s entire TIE ﬂeet. Of
  course, the usual collection of lowlifes, scoundrels, and heroes
  could also get their hands on a version of the device.
  
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  just need to meet him, or at least observe him. (If the
  heroes provoke an immediate battle with Ssorku for some
  reason, you can ﬁnd his game stats later in this adventure.)
  Customs agents at the shipyards are strict and efﬁcient,
  but not necessarily rude. Vibro and blaster weapons are not
  allowed on board the station, and agents are authorized to
  search anyone. Lightsabers are unheard of during the
  Rebellion era, so a Force-user can probably slip her
  lightsaber through customs with a simple enough story (or
  mind trick). Other weapons are allowed, but a weapon-
  owner’s identity is submitted to the station database.
  If any of the heroes do try to bring permitted weapons
  on board, the agents duly inform them that the station’s
  Imperial administrator, Trivyakna Korl, reviews the list of
  new weapons-carriers each morning. They have no desire to
  wake the Emperor’s watchdog and offer every reasonable
  chance for undesirables to alter their plans accordingly. The
  customs ofﬁcials aren’t lax, and they don’t encourage the
  heroes to falsify information—they’re simply interested in
  ensuring the shipyards’ well being.
  Scene 2: Chatting up the Locals
  The heroes won’t have to ask around long before they get
  directions to the sunward strut of the station, where Roald
  Lasdal works the second shift as a construction foreman. Roald
  is a simple type. He’s friendly and straightforward but
  doesn’t like to talk out in the open. If the heroes approach
  him on the job, he greets them and introduces them to nearby
  crewmembers as “friends of the family.” Then he shoos them
  off, gives them directions to his family’s home in the residential
  district, and tells them to meet him there after his shift.
  Once they’re alone at his home, Roald herds his three
  children into another room, sits the heroes down around his
  kitchen table, and ﬁlls them in on the local color.
  Roald is a bit of a political spitﬁre for a Nessemite, having
  sided so strongly with the Rebellion. However, like others of
  his culture, he prefers to cite facts and let people draw their
  own conclusions, rather than try to persuade anyone. If
  asked, Roald’s only comment on his planet’s political
  choices is, “Neutrality’s an expensive commodity.”
  Scene 3(a): Doing it the Hard Way
  After the exposition, Roald asks the heroes what their plans
  are. He listens to any scheme with the same even temper. He
  doesn’t suggest that stealing the plans would be a good
  option, but if the heroes mention it, he sets a datapad on
  the table and leaves the room “to check on the rugrats.”
  The datapad contains schematics of the ventilation
  system for the newly constructed capital ship that holds the
  plans. Choose an appropriate capital ship from the Star
  Wars Roleplaying Game core rulebook, or from the
  Starships of the Galaxy accessory. A Computer Use check
  (DC 15) or Knowledge: Architecture and Engineering check
  (DC 10) allows a hero to ﬁnd the room on the schematics
  where the plans are stored. Since the ship hasn’t been chris-
  tened yet, several insulated air ducts still lead from the
  station to the ship itself, making entry this way fairly
  simple.
  Following the instructions left by Roald requires a little
  more effort. The air ducts in a capital ship are a maze. If the
  heroes follow the foreman’s schematics perfectly, reaching
  the room where the plans are stored takes only 30 minutes.
  However, for each 5 minutes spent trying to follow the
  schematics, the heroes must succeed at a DC 15 Intelligence
  check to identify and travel the correct path. The group
  might want to use the “aid another” rules to help ﬁnd it.
  On the other hand, the heroes might use the station’s air
  ducts to get into the ship, then use the ship’s regular corri-
  dors to reach the room. They can do this in about half the
  time, with no Intelligence checks needed. No one else is on
  board, so they’re not challenged.
  We’re Number Two: When the heroes ﬁnally reach the
  room (by whatever means), they may make a Spot check (DC
  15) to notice something amiss. The door is wide open, with
  security locks disabled. A Computer Use check (DC 15) veri-
  “Okay, here’s what we know. The plans for the
  Quadronomic Fluxer were created by a team of Nessemite
  designers down planetside. Once the government got
  wind of what that was all about, they ﬁgured as soon as
  word got out, Nessem would be dead center of a big
  shooting war. They’re probably right. Anyway, our govern-
  ment ofﬁcials at work—in the interests of fair business—
  have decided to sell the plans to the highest bidder.
  “Now, that’s gonna happen tomorrow in a sealed-bid
  auction. It’s very hush-hush. Not even the Imperial pres-
  ence on the station knows about it, though some spies
  might show up. Only those with proper diplomatic
  credentials will be allowed to enter bids on the plans.
  “In the meantime, the plans are being held on a recently
  completed capital ship on the sunward strut of the station.
  My crew just ﬁnished building it, in fact. It’s a beauty. You
  might want to take a look at it while you’re here.
  “Anyway, anyone who tried to get those plans out of
  here before tomorrow would have to slink around in air
  ducts to ﬁnd them and crack some electronic security on
  arrival. Coming in the front door would be pretty well near
  impossible, what with the droid guards and all. And since
  I’m a front-door kind of guy, I don’t reckon that’s the kind
  of work I’d be up for.”
  TURN UP THE HEAT
  If you want to put a little more pressure on the
  heroes, you might give the ship’s droid guards a
  Spot check (DC 15) to notice life forms moving about in the
  supposedly deserted capital ship. 
  If they do notice the intruders, they dispatch a destroyer droid
  to take care of any problems. The ship has plenty of room in
  which to run and ﬁght, and while the station itself is crowded,
  only the destroyer droid will be on hand in the ship to complicate
  matters. 
  Use the destroyer droid statistics given in the Star Wars
  Roleplaying Game core rulebook. Unlike Trade Federation droids,
  this droid operates independently and hunts down the heroes
  mercilessly.
  
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  ﬁes that the security has already been cracked, the plans
  taken, and the computer’s memory wiped. Someone got
  there before they did.
  A successful Search check (DC 20) reveals a few reptilian
  scales shed in the area of the computer keyboard. There
  aren’t too many Trandoshans aboard the mostly Human-
  settled space station, and only one that they’ve seen. All the
  characters need to do now is ﬁnd Ssorku.
  Scene 3(b): Doing it the Easy Way
  If, while talking to Roald, the heroes ask about attending
  the auction, the foreman can supply them with the materi-
  als needed to forge an invitation. He has no idea what the
  invitation looks like, but a savvy slicer (Computer Use DC
  25) can tap into the station’s central datacore to ﬁnd a
  sample to help generate a forgery.
  It doesn’t matter whether the forgery is successful, since
  the plans will have been stolen long before the auction is
  scheduled to begin the next day. However, if the heroes
  spend the day walking about the station instead of crawling
  in air ducts, they run into Ssorku again. This time, however,
  he comes across as friendly—even to Wookiees—rather than
  brusque and dismissive, and he talks animatedly about a
  concert that evening.
  If anyone rises to the challenge, Ssorku begins a loud,
  forceful, but still friendly argument about nearly any musi-
  cal topic. He just seems ready to argue. If no one wants to
  take his bait, the Trandoshan leaves.
  Give the heroes an opportunity to roll an opposed Sense
  Motive check against Ssorku’s Bluff skill. If one of them
  succeeds, he or she gets the feeling that Ssorku’s friendli-
  ness is the effusively relaxed kind, as if he’d just completed
  a stressful task. His slip in saying “ﬂux” instead of “Plox”
  also indicates that he’s hiding something.
  Later, when the heroes discover (along with the other
  auction attendees) that the plans for the Quadronomic
  Fluxer have been stolen, Ssorku will have already told them
  where to ﬁnd him.
  Scene 4: Hunt the Trandoshan
  At this point in the adventure, the political situation on
  board has gotten understandably hot, and Roald would
  rather not jeopardize his value as a Rebellion contact by
  continuing to be seen with the heroes. They’re on their
  own. It would be messy for the heroes to try to alert the
  appropriate authorities. A dragnet would catch Ssorku, but
  then Trivyakna Korl would get involved, and that would
  mean Imperial entanglements.
  If the heroes want to ﬁnd Ssorku (and the stolen plans)
  on their own, they can ask around and make a Gather
  Information skill check. A success at DC 20 leads the char-
  acters to Sheffel Nan, a female Human concert promoter
  who has a lot of friends in the music world. Unfortunately
  for the heroes, Ssorku is one of those friends. If the charac-
  ters talk to her, she discreetly alerts the Trandoshan that a
  group of people has been asking about him. He’s still going
  to be at the concert, but he’ll come prepared for trouble.
  Note that if the heroes succeed at a Gather Information
  skill check (DC 25), they can track Ssorku down without
  going through Sheffel, which means that the Trandoshan’s
  guard will be down.
  Lounge Lizards
  The Starbirth Lounge is a rectangular room with a stage on
  one end. It has four doors, two in each long wall, one at the
  front, and one at the back. Ssorku hangs out backstage
  before the show with his kloo horn in its case. He emerges
  just before the show starts and sits at a reserved table front
  and center.
  The room is dimly lit, and once the concert begins, a haze
  of smoke rises to hang near the ceiling. Small, round tables
  dot the crowded room. Perhaps 200 people have come to
  listen to the band.
  If Sheffel warned Ssorku about the heroes, he keeps an
  eye out for them during the show, making Search checks
  frequently. If he sees one of them, he waits until the end of
  the ﬁrst set, then tries to escape through the stage entrance.
  If Sheffel didn’t warn Ssorku, the heroes can try to appre-
  hend the Trandoshan at any time. He won’t be watching
  out for them—he’s too busy enjoying the show.
  Ssorku keeps a sporting blaster hidden in his kloo horn
  case. If the heroes seem seriously threatening, the Trandoshan
  will draw it and ﬁre at them three times (thanks to the Quick
  Draw and Rapid Shot feats). Then he breaks for cover.
  And the plans for the Quadronomic Fluxer? They’re
  hidden inside Ssorku’s kloo horn, which remains inside the
  instrument case. Of course, the Trandoshan reveals their
  location to no one without serious persuasion, but a
  successful opposed Intimidation check will crack him open.
  Ssorku: Male Trandoshan Scoundrel 4/Soldier 6; Init +1
  (Dex); Defense 20 (+8 class, +1 Dex, +1 natural); Spd 10m;
  VP/WP 69/14; Atk +12/+7 melee (1d3+3, punch), +10/+5
  ranged (3d4, sporting blaster); SQ Better lucky than good,
  illicit barter; SV Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +3; SZ M; FP 1; Rep
  6; Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 10.
  Equipment: blaster, kloo horn case, kloo horn, datapad.
  Skills: Appraise +6, Astrogate +9, Bluff +6, Computer
  Use +7, Disable Device +7, Entertain (kloo horn) +3, Forgery
  +5, Gather Information +6, Intimidate +6, Listen +8, Pilot
  +9, Repair +7, Search +9, Sense Motive +2, Spot +7, Treat
  Injury +6.
  Feats: Armor Proﬁciency (light, medium, heavy), Heroic
  Surge, Persuasive, Point Blank Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid
  Shot, Sharp-Eyed, Skill Emphasis (Entertain: kloo horn), Skill
  Emphasis (Computer Use), Weapon Group Proﬁciency
  (blaster pistols, blaster riﬂes, heavy weapons, simple
  weapons, vibro weapons).
  Ssorku may be a mercenary, but he’s not the grubby, amoral
  “It’s Hova Mensk and the Blurtones; they’re playing
  tonight in the Starbirth Lounge on Deck 56. Some music
  critics have dubbed them the next big musical sensation
  along the Inner Rim, although I ﬁnd their harmonies to be
  derivative of their jizz forbearers, the Sozzenels. I mean,
  you can hardly believe otherwise when you know that
  their mozz box player studied under the same mozz
  legend, Rem Yonka, as the Sozzenels’ Xornu ﬂux—I mean,
  Plox. But you’d think they would at least try to hide their
  inﬂuences a little better.”
  
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  kind—at least, not grubby. He’s willing to talk before he
  ﬁghts, and he knows when he’s outnumbered. But he
  makes sure he has friends wherever he goes, so he’s rarely as
  outnumbered as he appears to be.
  Cue End Credits
  If the heroes end up ﬁghting Ssorku to retrieve the stolen
  plans, they might need to make a quick getaway. That’s
  because once they’ve recovered the plans, escaping from the
  station itself can be as harrowing or simple as they’ve
  allowed it to be. More destroyer droids might be in line if
  they’ve ﬁred shots. If they caused a serious problem, the
  Imperial presence on the station is aroused, and storm-
  troopers may also be summoned to stop their escape.
  If they can make it back to their ship, customs agents
  don’t even slow them down. They want to expedite the
  disappearance of troublemakers, letting them get into their
  ship so that exterior weapons and TIE ﬁghters can ﬁnish
  them off outside the station.
  About the Author
  Sooner or later you're going to wonder, so I'm telling you
  now. Jeff Quick is the former Senior Editor of Star Wars
  Gamer and Editor-in-Chief of Star Wars Insider. Now he's
  a game designer for WizKids Games. He lives in Seattle.
  These things are all as true as the sun.
  OTHER ERAS OF PLAY
  The Empire, in the form of Trivyakna Korl, keeps
  a lazy watch on the Nessem Shipyards. The admin-
  istrator is only in the adventure to keep the heroes on their toes
  and make them do their own legwork. If they play their cards
  right, Trivyakna will neither know nor care that they’re even on
  board. Replacing the Empire administrator in another era is as
  easy as ﬁnding someone with weight to throw around, and some-
  one the heroes don’t want throwing at them.
  Old Republic Era: The Nessemites have bargained for
  protection from the Trade Federation during the Republic era. A
  Federation overseer keeps tabs on trade practices and keeps
  destroyer droids nearby for emergencies.
  The New Jedi Order Era: A crime lord uses the Nessem
  Shipyards as her base of operations, keeping the place fairly clear
  of opposing criminal elements, but taking her cut of the proﬁts.
  
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