The crew made a deal with Black Sun Agent Lyra Dax: Retrieve a data core from a derelict frigate in exchange for information on the location of Iktotchi refugees the PCs are searching for. The crew has recovered the data core, fighting off a pair of droid rivals and escaping the gravity bubble of an Interdictor-class heavy cruiser —like you do in Star Wars!

The exchange with Black Sun was simple and uneventful. The refugees are in transit to Nar Shaddaa via non-standard vendors. The refugees are being used as leverage on someone outside the organization. Dax would say no more, in fact, offered a sum of hard currency as she concluded the meeting. Our crew of the Blue Harvest prepped to go to Nar Shadda immediately, repairing their ship's gun on the way. I spend a Darkside Force point to drop that Interdictor Cruiser in the system as our crew warps out! This shows the players another use for Force points and ... GM-manufactured drama!!

Darro (PC Technician) expresses concern about the refugees being sent to labor farms and the extreme conditions of those environments. (Obligation Hit; +1 stress). I ask the player how Darro knows about this detail, it turns out he has spent some time on the Smuggler's moon in his past! He takes the crew to The Orange Lady, a place he knows is more forgiving than most, and they're likely to get some information if they spread around some drinks and credits. (Carousing hit five successes! four threats!) For that, they learned that the refugees were being delivered to Shurdi the Hutt. The PCs have arrived before the "couriers" and refugees. The location of where the "couriers" will dock their C-ROC Gozanti; Kanjiklub is looking to settle a score with those "couriers," and the captain of the Gozanti is a blaster-slinging, three-armed droid. Those four threats mean Kanjiklub will create a beautiful, violent mess of things when the PCs make their move! Gotta love those multi-axis rich dice!!

I've been stumbling over the ship maintenance costs and the "keep her flying" mode of play. The Edge of the Empire rules "talk" the talk. But not enough rules to support it, but that seems more like a Traveller thing than Star Wars...still, you want happy players. Outside of the various outcomes of dice rolls, I will assume every hyperspace trip will move basic, legal cargo enough to cover expenses and a smuggler lifestyle. This means I don't have to design for docking, fuel, or regular maintenance costs. Extras, upgrades, repairs, replacements. The players will have to earn credits for it, and there are solid rules for that! Where these trips come up off or remote, otherwise blowing the curve of my assumptions, I can levy stress or hull trauma to the ship, which becomes repair costs! 💸

Foundry VTT fans deliver on the plugins! I've added the Star Wars Enhancements Plugin, which has a TON of stuff, from the Opening Crawler Title Cards ala Book of Boba Fett to hyperspace scene transitions! Nice QoL touches without making play a videogame.

I had all my Edge of the Empire books in the Cull box. It would have been sold off this year! I’m giddy to get more play out of it.

Nar Shadda is an Ecumenopolis, an all-vertical city, all the time. Swoop bikes, airspeeders, and blasters is the vibe I’m catching. Kanjiklub shows up blasting anything that walks out of the Gozanti Cruiser—including refugees! This throws a wrinkle in any ‘let those 3rd parties fight it out’ plan. I can’t wait to see what the players do!!

I'll work up stats for Shurdi the Hutt’s entourage for possible meets. Meeting Shurdi is off the table this early.

I'll look for an opportunity to introduce our Smuggler's Bounty Hunter Obligation. They'll be calling in a marker to help with a bounty that I’ll pull in parts of the published adventure Mask of the Pirate Queen.

I found a BADASS ship, and now I gotta work out who's restored it, flying it, and why they are all up in the character's poodoo...prolly Sith!

I update the current ORB sheet after every session. I don’t always create a new copy. I did after session six. The move to Nar Shaddaa feel like a new arc? Chapter? Direction? Let’s go with direction. You’ll see old business gets shifted to the bottom of their respective sections until I feel like it’s not relevant now and drop it off. I can always go back to previous copies to see it.

Resources:

Gorm (Duros) contactGav, Landing pad ownerThane Rook - Mandalorian.