TEXT: By Eric Cagle 
  Cat and Mouse
  A Star Wars Miniadventure 
  Using Ultimate Adversaries
  
  CAT AND MOUSE
  002
  DESIGN
  ERIC CAGLE 
  EDITING
  RAY AND VALERIE VALLESE
  TYPESETTING
  NANCY WALKER
  WEB PRODUCTION
  BART CARROLL 
  WEB DEVELOPMENT
  THOM BECKMAN
  ART DIRECTION
  ROB RAPER
  LUCAS LICENSING EDITOR
  JANE IRENE KELLY
  STAR WARS RPG DESIGN MANAGER
  CHRIS PERKINS
  DIRECTOR OF RPG R&D
  BILL SLAVICSEK
  “Cat and Mouse” is a Star Wars Roleplaying Game mini-
  adventure for any era of play, but it’s probably best suited
  to the Rise of the Empire era. It’s designed for four to six
  heroes of 3rd to 5th level. Because the adventure deals with
  shady deals, gambling, and the black market, at least one of
  the player characters should be a scoundrel, noble, or other
  character with ties to the seedier side of the galaxy.
  Introduction
  Kelna Toodo is a gambler with a serious problem. A former
  pilot’s apprentice turned gambler, the Duros discovered early
  on that he had a talent for almost any game of chance.
  However, like any gambler, Kelna had a turn of bad luck,
  which unfortunately happened in Beeda the Hutt’s ﬂoating
  casino. Instead of losing his life, Kelna found himself deeply
  in debt to the Hutt and was forced to act as his messenger,
  snitch, and general errand boy.
  Desperate to get out from under the Hutt’s grasp, Kelna
  will resort to almost any measure to repay the debt and
  move on with is life. Two recent events have given him an
  idea for a plan of escape. First, in a game of dice, Kelna
  managed to skin a sucker for almost everything he had,
  including his ship and its cargo. The ship, a vessel called the
  Radiant Splendor, was anything but—the aging hulk was on
  its last legs, but Kelna ﬁgured he could sell it as scrap for a
  bit of cash toward his debt. While most of the cargo was an
  almost worthless mix of textiles and holocubes, there was
  one item of interest—a huge enclosed cage that held a rare
  Corellian sand panther. The creature was worth a hefty sum
  on the black market, but Kelna worried that he’d never ﬁnd
  a buyer for such an exotic and endangered species—not to
  mention that he didn’t want to risk his life handling the
  beast.
  Kelna was about to space the creature and skin its hide
  when he received a message from Beeda. The Hutt ordered
  Kelna to deal with a group of meddlers (the heroes). Kelna,
  unable to refuse, was terriﬁed—he was a gambler, not a
  mercenary. However, he saw an opportunity to kill the inter-
  lopers and deal with the sand panther at the same time by
  releasing it on them unawares. With luck, the heroes and
  the sand panther would kill each other off, or at least
  wound each other enough so that Kelna could dispatch
  them all without much fuss.
  Ever the sneak, Kelna used his skills as a crooked gambler
  to snare the heroes into performing a “job” for him in
  payment for their debt. In exchange for overlooking their
  debt, Kelna demands that the heroes pilot the Radiant
  Splendor into Hutt space to deliver the ship to Beeda, while
  he pilots his own ship, the Hot Streak, behind. En route,
  Kelna plans on using a remote to unlock the sand panther’s
  cage, letting it prowl the ship and hunt down the heroes.
  Once the damage is done, Kelna will board the ship, ﬁnish
  off any survivors, and scuttle the ship to hide any evidence.
  Then he’ll return to Beeda and ask for his debt to be
  considered paid in full . . . he hopes.
  Getting the Heroes Involved
  To bring the heroes into the picture, you’ll need to tailor
  the ﬁrst scene to your speciﬁc campaign. In general, the
  heroes need to run afoul of Beeda the Hutt in some way, so
  the adventure should begin on a planet in or near Hutt
  Space. The initial meeting between Kelna and the heroes
  should take place in a seedy frontier town, port, or any
  other spot that offers gambling.
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  This d20 System™ game utilizes mechanics developed for the new 
  DUNGEONS & DRAGONS® game by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, 
  Skip Williams, Richard Baker, and Peter Adkison.
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  003
  003
  Here are some ideas:
  • If the heroes are working for a higher authority such as
  the Jedi Council, they could be sent to investigate
  Kelna, who’s been implicated in a spate of recent
  smugglings. They’re instructed to maintain a low
  proﬁle and get in close to study his scheme and ﬁnd
  out who he reports to.
  • If any of the heroes are gamblers, they’ve heard rumors
  of a Duros named Kelna Toodo who’s looking for high
  rollers in a game of cards.
  • If the heroes are of a more criminal bent, they’re told
  by a contact that Kelna recently came into a vast pile
  of illegal wares and was looking for new partners to
  help him peddle the goods on the black market. This
  rumor is false, but Kelna’s happy to play along in order
  to spring his trap on the characters.
  The heroes don’t need to meet Beeda in person in order
  to earn his wrath. Perhaps they disrupted one of his plans or
  got tangled up with one of his many minions. Either way,
  the Hutt holds a grudge and wants the troublemakers out
  of the way—permanently. He’s also cruel enough to make a
  weakling like Kelna do the dirty work. The heroes shouldn’t
  know that Kelna has any connection to Beeda, much less a
  debt to him.
  Scene 1: A Turn of Luck
  The heroes ﬁnd themselves in the seedy port town of
  Akmalla (you can place this on any planet close to Hutt
  Space that you see ﬁt). Thanks to a tip or just by chance,
  they ﬁnd themselves in a ratty cantina called “The White
  Door.” Read or paraphrase the following to the players:
  Whether the heroes agree or not, Kelna orders them a
  round of drinks and sits down next to the group.
  Kelna then tries to convince the heroes to participate in a
  game of sabacc that he’s arranging with four other people.
  He lets it be known that the game will take place at
  midnight in the back room of The White Door. Find out in
  advance how many available credits the heroes have on
  them, and have Kelna mention that the game’s typical pots
  reach roughly that same limit—the better to bring them in.
  If the heroes agree to the game, Kelna smiles, says he’ll see
  them later, and leaves the cantina.
  If the heroes come back at midnight, they ﬁnd The White
  Door even busier than before, with Kelna waiting for them
  at the bar. He offers another round of drinks and a bit of
  small talk before ushering them into the back room. The
  only characters allowed into the room are the ones who will
  be playing in the game, but Kelna politely offers to provide
  drinks for any characters who wish to remain at the bar.
  The heroes who enter the small room ﬁnd a gaming
  table, around which are seated four people—a male Human
  named Jokot, a female Twi’lek named Lyt Re, a male Cerean
  named Lar-Odo, and another male Duros named Bonna
  Noot. They seem anxious to get the game started. In truth,
  Lyt Re is one of Kelna’s accomplices and has been
  instructed to lose big throughout the evening, but none of
  the heroes or the other players at the table know that.
  The game begins and proceeds for many hours. During
  this time, any heroes who are playing can make up to four
  Gamble checks. Unfortunately for them, the game is rigged,
  and Kelna wears a special micro camera lens on his left
  eyeball (DC 35 Spot check to locate) to let him see the
  players’ cards.
  During the game, Lyt Re pretends to grow more nervous
  and despondent as she continues to lose. In the ﬁnal hand,
  she makes a seemingly desperate move, offering “her” star-
  ship—a cargo hauler called the Radiant Splendor—and its
  cargo as part of the pot. Secretly make a Gamble check for
  the heroes, but in the end, they win the entire pot (ﬁve
  times the base amount that the game started with), and
  the ship.
  The Twi’lek puts on a good show of cursing her luck.
  Alert heroes can make a DC 25 Sense Motive check to
  notice that she doesn’t really seem to mind losing the ship
  all that much, but they’ll discover nothing else out of the
  ordinary. Lyt Re hands them the access codes to the ship
  and tells them it’s dry-docked at a port at the edge of town.
  Then she gulps down the last of her drink and storms out
  of the cantina. If any heroes follow her, they ﬁnd that she
  simply goes to her room at a seedy hotel nearby.
  If the game somehow turns ugly—say, the heroes discover
  Kelna’s camera lens or otherwise suspect treachery—Kelna
  tries to blame any impropriety on one of the other players.
  If a ﬁght breaks out, Lyt Re ﬂees, making sure to leave her
  datapad with the codes to the Radiant Splendor behind for
  the heroes to ﬁnd.
  Refusing the Bait
  If the heroes decline Kelna’s invitation to the game
  during their ﬁrst meeting, or if they agree to meet but
  fail to show up, the Duros will come up with some other
  scheme that ends with their taking possession of the
  Radiant Splendor. He feels the heroes are his best chance
  of getting out of Beeda’s debt, and he’ll do whatever it
  takes to entrap them.
  Kelna Toodo
  Kelna is short for a Duros, standing 1.75 meters tall. His
  skin is dark green, with glossy yellow eyes. His clothes are all
  very ﬁne quality but show a lot of recent wear. He usually
  has a coin or a die in hand, performing small tricks with it
  as he ﬁdgets.
  Toodo leans in close and speaks just loud enough to be
  heard over the din. “I must admit it’s not often that we
  get people of such upstanding caliber here. Most of the
  riff-raff in this place are nothing more than thieves and
  beggars. You, on the other hand, look like the sort of
  ﬁne folks that enjoy a good wager. I happen to be
  arranging a game of skill with a group of high rollers, if
  you will—much like yourselves. Would you be interested
  in testing your talents against some of the local
  rubes?”
  The interior of the cantina is dimly lit and thick with
  foul-smelling smoke. The place is bustling with clients
  who all swagger about in a menacing manner. As you
  sip your drinks, a short Duros with dark green skin and
  glossy yellow eyes saunters up, looking a bit nervous.
  He ﬁdgets with a coin in his hand, doing small tricks as
  he walks. “I couldn’t help but notice that you were new
  to our ﬁne establishment,” he says. “The name’s
  Kelna—Kelna Toodo. May I offer you a drink?”
  CAT AND MOUSE
  
  CAT AND MOUSE
  004
  
  Kelna Toodo: Male Duros Scoundrel 4; Init +2 (+2 Dex);
  Defense 15 (+3 class, +2 Dex); Spd 10 m; VP/WP 21/10; Atk
  +2 melee (1d3–1, unarmed) or +5 ranged (3d6, blaster
  pistol); SQ illicit barter, lucky (1/day), precise attack +1; SV
  Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +2; SZ M; FP 3; DSP 3; Rep 1; Str 9,
  Dex 15, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 13. Challenge Code C.
  Equipment: Blaster pistol, the Hot Streak (Z-95
  Headhunter, except Hyperdrive:2), marked cards, loaded
  dice, miniature datapad with remote (see above), 500 credits
  in cash, 60,000 credits in debt to Beeda the Hutt.
  Skills: Appraise +10, Bluff +10, Computer Use +7,
  Forgery +10, Gamble +13, Pilot +11, Profession (gambler)
  +8, Read/Write Basic, Read/Write Durese, Read/Write
  Huttese, Read/Write Sullustese, Sense Motive +4, Sleight of
  Hand +9, Speak Basic, Speak Durese, Speak Gamorrean,
  Speak Huttese, Speak Sullustese, Spot +8.
  Feats: Point Blank Shot, Skill Emphasis (Gamble), Spacer,
  Trick, Weapon Group Proﬁciencies (blaster pistols, simple
  weapons).
  Scene 2: It Ain’t Much to Look
  at…
  Once the game is over and the other players leave, Kelna
  congratulates the heroes.
  If the heroes want to investigate the ship, Kelna offers to
  come along, as his vessel, the Hot Streak, is parked nearby.
  If they refuse, he will comply and leave, making a hasty
  retreat to the hangar where he can wait for them.
  The Radiant Splendor is located at Dock 3 of the hangar.
  It’s a ragged, stock SoroSuub Barzo cargo freighter that
  looks like it could barely make it into space. The access
  codes allow the heroes entrance, but the ship is mostly bare,
  with a few of the Twi’lek’s personal possessions (giving no
  clue about her true connection to Kelna) and a few boxes of
  textiles and holocubes in the cargo hold (worth about 200
  credits total).
  The cage that contains the Corellian sand panther is
  located in a secret hold beneath the main cargo bay. Kelna’s
  datapad has a remote that activates many functions on the
  Radiant Splendor. By spending a standard action, he can
  do any of the following to the ship from a distance of up to
  10 kilometers away:
  • Open the cage of the sand panther.
  • Open, close, or lock all the doors on the ship.
  • Shut down the ship’s main computer, including primary
  power, lights, and engines.
  If the heroes bring Kelna with them to the hangar, he
  shows his general disgust in the condition of the ship.
  Without seeming too eager to volunteer information, he
  tries to make it clear that the Radiant Splendor has sat here
  for months while the Twi’lek tried to ﬁnd a buyer for it, but
  that there’ve been no offers. Only by taking the ship out of
  the system will there be any chance of making a proﬁt from
  it. Kelna would prefer to wait for the heroes to ask him for
  help directly, but sooner or later, he mentions that he could
  help them take their new prize to another system to sell or
  repair it—for a modest fee, of course—while he follows in his
  own ship to help broker the deal.
  If the heroes did not invite Kelna to accompany them to
  the hangar, they ﬁnd him waiting for them there anyway as
  he “inspects” his ship, the Hot Streak, which sits next to the
  Radiant Splendor. The Duros shows surprise at meeting the
  heroes again so soon after the game, and he does his best
  to convince them to sell the ship as described above.
  Sealing the Deal
  Naturally, some of the heroes might be suspicious of Kelna
  and wonder why he’s pushing them to unload the Radiant
  Splendor. If he detects any sign of this attitude, he pretends
  to be embarrassed to have been “caught,” spinning a tale of
  how he’s already got a buyer for the Twi’lek’s ship lined up
  and is eager to make some quick credits—which he’s more
  than willing to share with the heroes. Kelna would rather
  have the characters believe him to be a bit of a wheeler-
  dealer than to suspect that he’s steering them toward the
  ship for some other reason.
  If asked why he didn’t just buy the Twi’lek’s ship himself
  and ﬂy it out of the system, he sheepishly “admits” to being
  down on his luck and unable to afford the purchase. It
  seems that although he likes to invite people into games of
  sabacc in the back room of The White Door, he’s a poor
  gambler himself.
  Scene 3: A Cat Plays with Its
  Food
  Kelna does whatever he can to get the heroes to board the
  Radiant Splendor without seeming too pushy. If necessary,
  he even acts as if he’s coming aboard with them, though
  he’ll be last in line and pull back at the last second.
  However it happens, he waits for just the right moment to
  spring his trap.
  As soon as all the heroes are inside the ship, Kelna uses
  the remote on his datapad as follows: Close and lock the
  main door, open and jam all interior doors, shut down the
  main computer, and open the sand panther’s cage. If he was
  forced to board the Radiant Splendor himself, he’ll duck
  into an empty room and close and jam its door, sealing
  himself off from the rest of the ship and from the carnage
  that he hopes will ensue.
  When they realize what’s happened, the heroes might try
  to restart the ship’s computers. This requires a DC 25
  Computer Use check and takes 10 minutes. As long as the
  computer remains down, the Radiant Splendor is in near
  total darkness (40% miss chance). Trying to shut any of the
  interior doors while the power’s off requires either a DC 25
  Strength check or a DC 20 Disable Device check, and while
  the doors might close, they won’t lock. Each interior door
  has DR 10 and 24 wound points, while the main door lead-
  ing outside the ship has DR 12 and 40 wound points.
  The sand panther, of course, is irritated from having been
  cooped up in the cage for so long, and it’s extremely
  hungry. As soon as Kelna opens its cage, it leaps out and
  begins hunting the heroes. A crafty predator, the sand
  panther ﬁrst picks off any character that it can catch alone.
  In any combat, it ﬁghts to the death.
  Corellian Sand Panther: Medium predator 4; Init +2 (+2
  Dex); Defense 22 (+2 Dex, +10 natural); Spd 16 m; VP/WP
  26/14; Atk +13 melee (1d6+5, 2 claws) and +7 melee
  (1d8+2, bite) or +6 ranged; SQ species traits; SV Fort +6,
  Ref +6, Will +2; SZ M; FP 0; DSP 0; Rep +1; Str 21, Dex 15,
  Con 14, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 16. Challenge Code D.
  Skills: Climb +8, Hide +12, Jump +8, Listen +6, Move
  Silently +12, Spot +4.
  “I must say, that was a remarkable show of skill, my
  friend. She never saw what was coming. Of course, I’ve
  seen that ship that you won from her. Maybe it’s not
  so much of a prize after all.”
  CAT AND MOUSE
  005
  
  Feats: Multiattack, Track.
  Species Traits
  Claw Bonus: The sand panther’s claws are unusually
  sharp and grant it a +4 bonus on claw attacks.
  Poison: The sand panther’s claws are envenomed. Anyone
  who takes wound damage from a claw attack must make a
  DC 14 Fortitude save. On a failed roll, the poison deals 1d6
  points of Con damage and forces another save 1 minute
  later, which, if failed, deals another 2d6 points of Con
  damage.
  Pounce: When ﬁrst attacking an opponent, the sand
  panther pounces, allowing it to make a full attack even
  though it has already moved.
  Rake Attack: The sand panther often tries to grapple a
  foe with its front legs. If it succeeds, it then rakes the foe
  with the claws of its hind legs (melee attack +8, 1d6 points
  of damage per claw and poison). The beast can make a rake
  attack when pouncing.
  Scent: The sand panther can detect approaching enemies,
  sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell. It can
  identify familiar odors just as Humans recognize familiar
  sights and detect opponents within 10 meters by sense of
  smell. If the opponent is upwind, the range increases to 20
  meters; if downwind, it drops to 6 meters. Strong scents,
  such as smoke or rotting garbage, can be detected at twice
  the ranges noted. Overpowering scents can be detected at
  triple ranges.
  When the sand panther detects a scent, the exact location
  is not revealed. Instead, the sand panther knows only that
  its quarry is present somewhere within range. It must spend
  a full-round action to note the direction of the scent. At a
  range of 2 meters, a sand panther can pinpoint the exact
  location of the scent.
  The sand panther can follow tracks by smell, making a
  Survival check to ﬁnd or follow tracks. The typical DC for a
  fresh trail is 10 (no matter what kind of surface holds the
  scent). This increases or decreases depending on the
  strength of the quarry’s odor, the number of creatures, and
  age of the trail. For each hour that has passed, the DC
  increases by 2. This ability otherwise follows the rules for
  the Track feat. Sand panthers tracking by scent ignore the
  effects of surface conditions and poor visibility.
  Skill Check Bonuses: Sand panthers gain a +4 species
  bonus on Climb, Jump, and Listen checks.
  Scene 4: It Was All Just a Big
  Mistake
  If the heroes manage to fend off the Corellian sand panther,
  they’ll probably try to ﬁnd Kelna. Assuming he wasn’t
  trapped in the Radiant Splendor, Kelna made his way back
  to The White Door to wait for a few hours before returning
  to the ship to see if the heroes and the panther ﬁnished
  each other off. Entering the vessel with his blaster drawn,
  Kelna attacks the heroes if they were seriously injured in the
  ﬁght. Otherwise, he won’t put up much resistance and
  surrenders if his chances seem slim.
  If captured, Kelna reveals the details of his plot, including
  his debt to Beeda and the fact that the Hutt has a grudge
  against the heroes. He does his best to cut a deal that will
  keep him from getting killed or turned over to the authori-
  ties. He’d rather not pay for his long list of crimes, including
  possession of an endangered and dangerous animal.
  Wrapping Up
  As a short adventure, “Cat and Mouse” is worth 1,000 experi-
  ence points, multiplied by the average level of the heroes
  involved and then divided equally among them. If the heroes
  recapture the sand panther without killing it, they each gain an
  additional 1,000 experience points. They also get to keep the
  winnings from the rigged sabacc game, but if the authorities
  learn what’s happened, they impound both the Radiant
  Splendor and the Hot Streak. Finally, if the heroes were work-
  ing for a higher authority, they receive praise for a job well
  done.
  About the Author
  Eric Cagle is a freelance game designer at Wizards of the
  Coast. Recent credits include the Fiend Folio, the Ultimate
  Alien Anthology and Ultimate Adversaries for the Star
  Wars Roleplaying Game, Urban Arcana, and the d20
  Menace Manual. He’s a frequent contributor to both
  DRAGON magazine and the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS website.
  CAT AND MOUSE
  006
  
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