32 BBY: Shadows of Coruscant

Shadows of Coruscant, an RPG adventure from Wizards of the Coast taken from WoTC’s first edition of the RPG Core Rulebook, details for us Star Wars historians some of the events that took place on Coruscant after the rumors of corruption began to swirl around the Chancellor of the Republic, Finis Valorum.  It seems that once the Chancellor returned from the taxation summit on Eridu all hell broke loose.

Though the threat of foreign terrorism in the form of the Nebula Front has been all but quelled during this period in history, it seems there is no shortage of domestic terrorists willing to take the fight to the Republic.  In Shadows of Coruscant, the terrorists in question are a group from Coruscant who call themselves The FLAIL.  They are led by a “former Jedi” named Zegmon Pent whose Jedi heritage is held in question by any player character who is a Jedi. The best bit about this villain the player characters must face is his “lightsaber”:

“Several months ago, Zegmon Pent stole an imitation lightsaber from a technician who had constructed it as an experiment.  The blade functioned more or less as a real lightsaber, but was somewhat weaker and could not withstand energy surges like a real lightsaber.  In other words, it could not be used to deflect blaster bolts and would actually shut down if its blade came into contact with a real lightsaber blade…he uses it mostly for intimidation purposes” (306).

It seems this “Jedi” had a placed a “Jedi mind trick” on his followers, as they lived in fear of the Jedi-turned-freedom-fighter.  What I did find somewhat sympathetic about this character was that he really did believe Valorum was a corrupt Chancellor, and though misguided, only wanted what was best for the Republic.  Pent’s genuine motivation was the removal of a dishonest public official from public office:

“Zegmon Pent’s plans have started to crumble around him, leaving him with only two options: kill Chancellor Valorum or kill Valorum’s supporters.  Either way, Valorum will no longer be Supreme Chancellor, and – as far as Pent is concerned – the central figure in the Senate’s corruption will be gone” (306).

The adventure itself is fairly simple.  FLAIL has vowed to kill the Chancellor and disband the Senate because they believe (and rightly, though perhaps a little early) it has fallen under the control of corporate interests and the Republic no longer belongs to the people:   

“The ‘Flail Manifesto’ indicates that he group believes the Senate is corrupt, that it is secretly manipulated by corporate concerns to benefit specific corporations at the expense of the common sentient” (301)

In response to FLAIL’s threats, Valorum has enlisted the help of some intrepid heroes to put a stop to the terrorist group.   The heroes also get to meet Mace Windu in this adventure, as it is the Jedi Master who debriefs the heroes on their mission objectives.  The adventure ends with the heroes foiling an assassination attempt on the Chancellor before he delivers a speech in front of a large crowd.

Hopefully by the end of the journey the heroes have saved the day with a minimal amount of casualties (there are at least two sections in the adventure that allow the heroes to re-roll and enter a new character into the story in case one of the player characters has died).  To be honest, as a starting adventure it seemed it could be rather challenging. 

One other interesting tid-bit of information I thought rather amusing:  In Chancellor Valorum’s stats he’s equipped with a hold-out blaster, which I found somewhat strange.  Since when is the Supreme Chancellor of the Republic armed?  Also, he SPEAKS, fluent Shyriiwook – an ability I thought only reserved for Wookiees.

As it is, Shadows of Coruscant is a great RPG adventure that introduces this time period to new players.  And I’d like to know from any players who may have played through this adventure to share their experience with me in the comments section underneath.  It’s one thing to read through an RPG adventure, and another thing to play through an RPG adventure.  What characters did you and your fellow players role-play?  Did anyone die?  Did your group, in fact, save the day?  I’d love to know.

For my next post I’m going to take a look at Monica Kulling’s children’s story Queen in Disguise.  Until then my friends, may the Force be with you.