The Frozen Sabotage

Steal the Recondite Crystal before the Empire uncovers its secrets!

The Rebel Alliance has learned of the Empire's excavation efforts on Hoth, aiming to utilize the rare Recondite Crystals found deep within the icy planet. These crystals hold both technological and magical properties, capable of powering advanced weaponry. Players must infiltrate an Imperial military station to retrieve a shipment of these crystals before they can be transported off-world. The station is heavily guarded and located within a stunning ice cavern system. As the heist progresses, players will face escalating challenges, including hostile creatures like ice-dwelling lizardfolk and resourceful Imperial vampires. They must navigate treacherous environments, forge uneasy alliances, and deal with unforeseen complications, all under the pressure of an imminent Imperial transport arrival.

Campaign Image

The World

Context

In this iteration of Star Wars, Hoth is rich with Recondite Crystals that combine rare magical properties with industrial potential. This attracts diverse races, including opportunistic vampires and adaptive lizardfolk, to the harsh environment. The Empire seeks to harness this potential against the Rebel Alliance, sparking urgent action from the players to protect their cause without resorting to heavy-handed political narratives or interplanetary travel.

Concept

Recondite Crystals combine magic and tech, vital for advanced energy.

Impact

These crystals fuel competition and conflict, driving expeditions in Hoth’s icy depths.

The Plot

Summary

Players receive an urgent communique from the Rebel Alliance commanding them to secure the Recondite Crystals on Hoth. Upon landing, they discover that both hostile lizardfolk, inhabiting nearby ice caves, and Imperial forces have complicated extraction efforts. As tensions rise, players must navigate the cold, forge temporary truces, and devise clever tactics to infiltrate the station hidden within the ice. The situation intensifies when they uncover the Empire plans to ship out the crystals in less than 24 hours, threatening an irreversible shift in power. A mid-mission conflict with an Imperial vampire commander forces the team to rethink their strategy, now entailing the control of both magic and technology within a limited timeframe. Success ensures strategic advantage and morale boost for the Rebellion, while failure leaves the crystals in enemy hands, escalating the threat of powerful new Imperial weaponry.

Complication

An Imperial vampire officer vies for the crystals, requiring tactical recalibrations.

Hook

Crystals key to the Rebels’ success are trapped on Hoth!

World stakes

Empire gains a magical and technological edge.

Personal stakes

Player trust with the Rebellion could shatter.

The Acts

Act 1

Summary:

Players receive intelligence of the crystals and make a harrowing landing into Hoth’s frozen surface. The path to the Imperial station crosses a network of ice caverns inhabited by territorial lizardfolk. As they navigate these tunnels, they face environmental hazards and lizardfolk intent on protecting their territory. Players gain crucial insight into using the caverns for stealthy approaches.

Location:

Treacherous ice caverns with hidden crystal veins.

Challenge:

Hostile lizardfolk guarding territory persistently.

Objective:

Reach the ice caverns’ exit near Imperial station.

Set Back:

Ice cave's collapse hazards enforce route change.

Revelation:

Caverns offer a covert ingress to station.

GM's Guide:

Encourage creativity in navigating ice tunnels amidst hostile lizardfolk. Escalate tension with limited resources and freezing conditions. Play up mysterious magical elements of the crystals they first encounter, sowing intrigue.

GM's Move:

Lizardfolk tensions demand stealthier strategies.

Act 2

Summary:

Stealthily emerging from the caverns, players infiltrate the edge of the Imperial station. Among snowtroopers and imposing Imperial tech, they discover encrypted transmissions revealing a new adversary—a vampire commander leveraging the crystals for dominance. Pressured to act faster, the players race against the clock with mounting Imperial activity hinting at impending transport.

Location:

Imperial station's periphery amidst icy winds.

Challenge:

Snowtroopers and active surveillance dominate paths.

Objective:

Locate and assess the crystal storage zone.

Set Back:

Players' presence triggers alarm, change routes.

Revelation:

Discovery of vampires manipulating crystal power.

GM's Guide:

Highlight tension with clock ticking down. Introduce vampire antagonist slowly, hinting at magical influences affecting station security. Encourage improvisation to deal with overlapping threats from multiple patrol units.

GM's Move:

Vampires and snowtroopers tighten security net.

Act 3

Summary:

Inside the heart of the station, players must overcome the new vampire commander and retrieve the crystals. The environment is filled with harmonized magic-tech security systems. Players confront ethical decisions about using vampire knowledge against them and discover a secondary goal: sabotage the Empire's crystal-driven project.

Location:

Crystal storage’s heart wrapped in security hybrids.

Challenge:

Magic-empowered vampire and tech security systems.

Objective:

Secure and extract the Recondite Crystals.

Set Back:

Magic-tech defenses thwart exit plans repeatedly.

Revelation:

Empire’s grand scheme linked to crystals.

GM's Guide:

Convey the gravity of final decisions impacting the Rebel Alliance. Allow for creative solutions to overcome the magic-tech hybrid threats, and encourage considering both short-term gains and long-term impacts.

GM's Move:

Final confrontation with empowered vampire leader.

Climax:

Players secure crystals, crippling Empire’s new project.