Sunday, April 21, 2013

Li's Cantina


In Return of the Jedi, the Emperor tells Luke that "It is unavoidable. It is your destiny." He's referring, of course, to Luke turning to the Dark Side of the Force. He could just as well have been talking about the likelihood of a group of heroes in any Star Wars RPG ending up in a cantina during any given gaming session. With that in mind, this article presents one such establishment that a GM can drop into a campaign. Additionally, it provides a connection to Dibs Nkik the Jawa and his droid spy ring.

The Cantina
This is another simple pourstone building, one story tall. It fronts on a main thoroughfare, with a back door opening on an alleyway. The main room (1) features a broad, curving bar, with booths along the walls for a little more privacy. There are also a couple of refreshers (2) for patrons to use. Behind the bar a door leads into the kitchen (3), where the cook prepares such favorites as bantha burgers, dewback ribs and the like. From there, one door provides a rear exit, while another opens into the storage room (4). The final room is the private quarters of the cantina's proprietors.




Seron Li
Brawn 3 Cunning 2 Presence 3
Agility 2 Intellect 2 Willpower 2

Soak: 4
Wound Threshold: 15
Strain Threshold: 12
M/R Defense: 0/0

Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Coerce 1, Cool 2, Coordination 1, Deception 1, Medicine 1, Melee 3, Perception 1, Ranged (Light) 2, Resilience 2, Stealth 1, Streetwise 2, Survival 2, Vigilance 1

Talents: Frenzied Attack, Toughened

Abilities: One free rank in Charm or Deception

Equipment: Heavy clothing, cudgel, blaster pistol, vibro-blade (not usually carried)

At one time Seron Li worked as an enforcer for an influential Twi'lek family on Ryloth. Two things led to him ending his employment, however. One was that he gradually grew sick of the job, developing a distaste for roughing up those who crossed his employers. The other was a beautiful Twi'lek thief named Vesa. When he was forced to choose between doing his duty, and thus never seeing her again, or leaving the business but staying with her, he chose the latter option. Since then the two have been married, and have started new lives as the proprietors of a small cantina. Seron is not the friendliest of beings, but his gruff manner can be useful when dealing with the rough-and-tumble clientele who often frequent the establishment.

Vesa Li
Brawn 2 Cunning 2 Presence 3
Agility 3 Intellect 1 Willpower 2

Soak: 2
Wound Threshold: 13
Strain Threshold: 13
M/R Defense: 0/0

Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 1, Charm 3, Cool 1, Coordination 3, Deceit 2, Melee 1, Negotiate 2, Perception 2, Ranged (Light) 2, Resilience 1, Skulduggery 2, Stealth 2, Streetwise 1, Survival 1, Vigilance 2

Talents: Inspiring Rhetoric, Kill with Kindness

Abilities: One free rank in Charm or Deception

Equipment: Light clothing, light blaster pistol, comlink

Vesa's personality is complimentary to Seron's; while he is gruff, she is outgoing and friendly (It helps, too, that she is beautiful by the standards of many different species). In this way she acts as the face of their business, while he handles more of the mundane work. In spite of her open and flirtatious ways, however, she is completely loyal to her husband--just as he is to her.

R2-D6
Brawn 2 Cunning 2 Presence 1
Agility 1 Intellect 3 Willpower 1

Soak: 2
Wound Threshold: 13
Strain Threshold: 13
M/R Defense: 0/0

Skills: Astrogation 2, Computers 3, Cool 1, Deceit 2, Mechanics 3, Perception 2, Pilot 2, Ranged (Light) 2, Skulduggery 2, Stealth 1, Streetwise 1, Vigilance 1

Talents: Bypass Security

Abilities: Inorganic, Mechanical Being

Equipment: Integral blaster pistol, hidden storage compartment, standard R2 unit features

R2-D6 functions as a serving droid for the Lis, along with handling maintenance for them. What they don't know is that the droid has been reprogrammed by Dibs Nkik, and now serves the Jawa as a spy.


Using Li's Cantina in an Edge of the Empire Campaign
Seron and Vesa Li, along with their droid assistant, can be used in a campaign in may different ways, including some of the following possibilities.
*As always, the cantina can be a good place for the PC's to meet a contact, celebrate a victory or recover after a defeat.
*An old acquaintance of the Lis from back on Ryloth could come looking for them, perhaps even hiring the PC's to help find them in order to settle some unfinished business.
*R2-D6's snooping could capture a lucrative piece of information, something that an employer hires the PC's to investigate.
*The PCs might just happen to be present when someone is killed via poison, and it takes their cool heads to solve the mystery--especially when the wrong person is accused of the crime.

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