STAR WARS: RETROSPECTION- The Cursed Swarm

None of the others can either, but Seth helpfully suggests bringing along his protocol droid, nicknamed Monarch.

Sounds good!

Alright! Seth will radio for the droid to come meet you. You will be waiting around until he shows up.

It is during this wait that you feel the earth begin to stir beneath your feet...

Is there anywhere still standing? A building? If so, get in there and secure the windows etc. Breath masks on!

Nothing that you can really secure! The floors of the huts are dirt anyway.

Ah well, get the fires on!

Starting off with a Molotov cocktail, then?

Yes!

Okay! Arming yourself with a Molotov counts as a Combat skill.

Name the three schticks you want to start with and we'll be underway!

Will I be able to arm myself with my lightsabre easily enough?

Once you toss the Molotov, you will be unarmed, and then you can draw your lightsaber immediately with Swiftness.

(OK, well I haven't been involved in Combat before!)

I'll go for Orthodox Guard, Cleave, Whirling Strike.

Okay! Time to introduce you to the rules, then. I'll give a brief introduction, even if you've read up on the rules.

Basically, in "Combat Time," you are engaged in a fight of two sides- you vs. them. You take turns, and who goes first is determined by a dice roll.

You attack using a skill of your choice- i.e. Lightsaber, Combat, Guns, etc., to attack a target. You name the target and then make a roll using your dice pool to determine if you hit and how much damage you do. The enemy does the same in return.

You schticks- i.e. Orthodox Guard, help give you special talents, extra dice, and Defense! Defense is important in reducing enemy pool so that they may miss or do less damage. You can exert these schticks for special power plays and such.

It'll make more sense in the situations... and as a special present for your first fight, you can use Force powers for free, if you have any relevant to combat.

Ready?

Yup!

Here we go then.

You are in the small clearing around the great tree that you have been reading from. Seth and Aurel have drawn their lightsabers, while Harvik has his flamethrower ready and Trawley is preparing a Molotov cocktail.

The Cursed Swarm is emerging from the ground beneath your feet- hundreds of little black, flat beetles with strong back legs that allow them to pounce up and bite at you with sharp pincers. The swarming insects are collectively tracked- one Swarm group is dozens of these beetle things. They count as Mooks and only need a few successes to destroy.

Soil explodes upwards when the Soldiers emerge- enormous beetles that stand as high as you do. The deafening shrieking starts when they appear... but you are unaffected thanks to the ear plugs you all now wear. They are Supermooks and take damage like you do.

----

VILLAGE ATTACK, Start of Turn 1

Great Tree

Iffa (LS9): 3/0 [OGu CL WS] [RF] (6F)

Aurel (LS11): 1(2A)/21 [BGu CL BG] [OGu CH] (5F)

Seth (LS12): 1(2A)/8 [BGu PS RI] [RF] (5F)

Trawley (G10): 1(1PR)/6 [CC ES] [MK] (3F)

Harvik (HW8): 1(2A)/0 [KB 10B EE] (1F)

Soldier A (C6): 0

Soldier B (C6): 0

Soldier C (C6): 0

Soldier D (C6): 0

Cursed Swarm (C5) x20

----

Here's what all this means:

Name (Pool): Defense/Damage [Active Schticks] [Inactive Schticks] (Force Points)

The others are a little roughed up from their earlier encounter but Iffa is ready to go! He has his Molotov cocktail ready. Going to throw it, I presume?

Yup!

Initiative is yours at 6-3.

Iffa and Trawley lob their Molotov cocktails into the Swarm. Aided by the Force, Iffa has a pool of 7 for this. The cocktail blows up and destroys three groups of the Swarm! Trawley only gets one.

Aurel and Seth do not hesitate and charge into the Swarm! They double-team one of the big Soldiers, Aurel making great elegant sweeps with his lightsaber while Seth dances in and jabs.

Harvik sets one of the Soldiers aflame. Their weakness to fire doubles the damage done.

Some of the Swarm buzzes around Aurel and Seth. Aurel's sweeping motions keep the Swarm off of both Jedi for the most part, but they dive out of the way of the charging Soldiers. Seth manages to chop some of the small beetles up as they jump at him with Riposte.

The rest of the Swarm comes after you and the others! The Soldiers hold off strangely, but the smaller bugs jump at you and you take some damage from their bites. Harvik pretty much ignores the bugs thanks to his bounty hunter armor; Trawley just gets lucky.

----

VILLAGE ATTACK, Start of Turn 2

Great Tree

Iffa (LS9): 3/6 [OGu CL WS] [RF] (6F)

Trawley (G10): 1(1PR)/9 [CC ES] [MK] (3F)

Harvik (HW8): 1(2A)/4 [KB 10B EE] (1F)

Soldier C (C6): 0

Soldier D (C6): 0

Cursed Swarm (C5) x9

Aurel (LS11): 3/27 [OGu CL BG] [OGu CH] (5F)

Seth (LS12): 1(2A)/13 [BGu PS RI] [RF] (5F)

Soldier A (C6): 26

Soldier B (C6): 14 (on fire)

Cursed Swarm (C5) x5

----

I'll take on a soldier with my lightsabre, leaving the smaller ones to the crewmen.

4-1 keeps initiative in your hands.

You move in quickly against a lumbering Soldier and strike! Being a Jedi and using an incredibly lethal Lightsaber, you gain two successes on a pair of 4s, then a third when Orthodox Guard converts a rolled 1 into a 6! So three total for 9 damage on the giant bug, ignoring its armor. You can lop off a pincer.

Trawley is pounding bolts into the ground at his feet to keep back the bugs.

Harvik torches the other Soldier, setting it ablaze.

Seth finishes off a Soldier while Aurel dices up a bunch of the Swarm.

The Soldier you struck scratches you with a claw for 5 damage, and Harvik gets the same deal as the burning Soldier smacks him around. Everyone takes little bites from the bugs.

----

VILLAGE ATTACK, Start of Turn 3

Great Tree

Iffa (LS9): 3/11 [OGu CL WS] [RF] (6F)

Trawley (G9): 1(1PR)/12 [CC ES] [MK] (3F)

Harvik (HW8): 1(2A)/11 [KB 10B EE] (1F)

Soldier C (C6): 9

Soldier D (C6): 14 (on fire)

Cursed Swarm (C5) x6

Aurel (LS11): 3/32 [OGu CL BG] [OGu CH] (5F)

Seth (LS12): 1(2A)/14 [BGu PS RI] [RF] (5F)

Soldier B (C6): 22 (on fire)

Cursed Swarm (C5) x3

----

Attack the same again please!