32 BBY: Battle in the Streets

When I read Battle in the Streets, a Wizards of the Coast RPG mini adventure, I imagined that the principal characters were Deel, Arani, Sia-Lan, and Rorworr from Battle for Theed, a three page RPG mini comic I looked at earlier.  You can find my thoughts on that piece here.  As it is, the scoundrels Dell and Arani, the Jedi Padawan Sia-Lan, and the Scout Rorworr are now the go-to stand-ins for me when dealing with this series of particular RPG adventures. 

At first, I thought Battle in the Streets was the continuation of Battle for Theed, but after a second look at Battle for Theed, Battle in the Streets is simply another episode in the “Occupation of Theed” storyline.  I don’t think Battle in the Streets is a continuation for Battle for Theed (nor do I think anyone was trying making this claim) because at the end of Battle for Theed, when the four characters come around a corner after breaking through a security door, the droid tagging along with the heroes makes the remark “That’s not possible”, which makes no sense if they come around the corner to see a droid starfighter on all fours about to murder random Nabooian civilians, which in the scenario of the Trade Federation’s occupation of Naboo, is totally possible.

So, taking into account the last sentence, Battle in the Streets is a small RPG narrative where presumably four heroes battle a starfighter droid about to kill some civilians.  It’s the heroes’ job to stop the droid, but what the players don’t know is that they are seven rounds away from Anakin destroying the droid control ship.  They have to survive 6 rounds of the droid blasting at both the heroes and civilians, and once the seventh round comes along the GM has to roll a 20 (on a 20-sided die) for the droid to shut down.  If a 20 in not rolled, then at the start of the next round the GM has to roll a 19 or 20 for the droid to shut down.  By the 8^th round, the GM has to roll an 18, 19, or 20, and so on, until either the desired numbered is rolled by the GM to stop the droid, or the heroes manage to destroy the droid themselves (which seems highly unlikely).  Honestly, is seems like an adventure heavily stacked against the heroes.  Maybe one of them is packing a thermal detonator prior to approaching the palace and having to deal with this large Transformer.

Still, the story was all-in-all a neat little adventure.

For my next post I’m going to look at the entire Invasion of Theed RPG book.  I’ve had it for a while and I’ve been looking forward to reading it.  It even comes with a Rorworr action figure, which is tremendously cool.  Though I’ve had to keep this treasure hidden from my son least he rip Rorworr from his mint condition packaging.  I don’t know why I feel guilty about this, but I do.  Anyway, until then my friends, may the Force be with you.