Aftermath - Mythic and Lego Star Wars #2

 Kha-sa wandered through the arena, completely stumped by what he saw and heard, or rather by what he didn't see or hear. What remained of his brothers were clumps or body parts and robes. Before Palpatine's throne, he only found burnt marks on the ground. Smoke still rose from parts of the throne, and the entire room held a charred odor. 

Footsteps broke the silence, and Kha-sa turned. "Snoke."

Snoke approached him, but his arms were in normal condition, so this was a different clone. "You survived, Sith cult brother."

"I was outside the arena. What happened?"

Snoke stared at the throne. "The Jedi defeated Palpatine and escaped. I shall seek revenge for us."

"Revenge?" Kha-sa tilted his head to the side. "This was a trial between the Jedi and the Sith and the Jedi won. If the trial ended, there is no need for revenge, only rebuilding."

Snoke smirked. "You misheard me, petty one. Revenge shall be solely mine!" Holding out his hand. He lifted Kha-sa into the air, while the young cultist gripped his own throat.

Before this fight begins, I need stats for this Snoke clone.

(Q)  Is Snoke Level 1?  (Likely)  No.

So he's level 0.

(Q)  Is his Force +1?  (Likely)  X-Yes.

(Q)  Is his Think +1?  (Likely)  No.

(Q)  Is his Talk a 0 (Likely)  Yes.

So we have -2 Do, 0 Think, 0 Talk, +2 Force. He's deadly against Kha-sa when using his powers but not to much in physical combat.

Also, from the previous post, Kha-sa gained 2 Saga Points, 1 for helping Snoke and the other for winning his clash against Nek-Va.

This first Clash is Snoke lifting and choking Kha-sa, who's just trying to survive.

(Clash)  Does Kha-sa win the Clash?  (+1 Think vs. +2 Force = Unlikely)  Yes.

Controlling his mind and wriggling with all his strength, Kha-sa managed to break free. Collapsing to the ground, he gasped for air.

Snoke circled him. "This is just the beginning, petty one."

Kha'sa managed to speak again. "Why are you doing this? I'm no threat to you."

"I require strength," Snoke answered. "By destroying you and any others in my path, I shall gather enough to become invincible."

"Seriously?" Kha-sa reached his feet. "What kind of lunatic attacks random foes just to get stronger?"

(Clash)  Does Kha-sa win the Clash?  (+1 vs. +2 = Unlikely)  No, Random Event.

(Event)  "Control, Danger."

Kha-sa suffers -1 RS.

Kha-sa tried to escape, but Snoke used the Force to lift a rock. It slammed into Kha-sa, knocking him into the ground. Rising to all fours, he felt his head ringing.

Kha-sa needs something to help him fight. Maybe he can locate a weapon.

(Ability)  Does Kha-sa find a weapon to use?  (+1 vs. Unlikely = 50/50)  X-Yes.

The Exceptional result, I'm interpreting as a weapon with +1 Damage.

Fingers searching the ground, Kha-sa frantically tried to locate something to help him. Then he found it, a spear, or the remains of one. Rolling to a sitting position, he forced himself to his feet as Snoke approached him.

"No more games," said the clone. "Once I snap your neck, I can move on."

I'm using both of his Saga Points here for combat.

(Clash)  Does Kha-sa win the Clash?  (+2 Do, -1 RS, +2 SP vs. +2 Force = Likely)  X-Yes.

+2 Damage vs. -2 Toughness means a roll for Incapacity.

(Incapacity)  Is Snoke Incapacitated?  (Very Likely)  Yes.

As Snoke approached him, Kha-sa gathered all his strength and hurled the spear. It struck Snoke right in the chest, and the clone howled in agony before crumpling to the ground. 

But the effort caused Kha-sa to fall back as well. Collapsing against the throne, he saw images;

The rotted Palptine regaining his body.

Palpatine hurling lighting at the stars.

Palpatine hurling lightning at the Jedi.

The Jedi using a laser sword to reflect the lightning back.

Palpatine crying out as the lightning disintegrated him.

Ceaseless fury over generations twisting into infinite terror in a matter of seconds.

I want Kha-sa to eventually gain the Force, so falling into the spot where Palpatine died and possibly absorbing some darkside energy would do the trick. The real challenge will be using it without turning to the darkside.

Shuddering, Kha-sa regained his feet. The arena suddenly chilled him to his bones. 

Rushing through the tunnels, he sought a way to escape. Finally stopping before some statues, he found himself rising as the lift brought him to the planet's surface.

Kha-sa kept his eyes, however, on his own feet. Feeling the dread now inside, he couldn't bring himself to view the faces of the statues.

Finally, a breeze struck him, and he saw he had reached the surface., but still under the floating megalith above. Walking as fast as his legs could carry him, he slipped past the darkness and now found himself in the open. He continued walking, not risking any look back, until a new shadow fell on him.

A ship stood before him. Looking around, Kha-sa noticed no one else in the area, so he climbed up and into the craft. Searching the cockpit, he found a flight manual and read through it.

This would explain his +1 Think, despite being a scientist. He picks up new skills quickly but has yet to master any.

Since he has a manual, I'm putting the Diffculty in learning to fly at +1.

(Ability)  Does Kha'sa learn to fly the ship?  (+1 Think vs. +1 Diff = 50/50)  No, Random Event.

(Event)  "Positive, Deceit."

Kha-sa struggled to understand the manual, which he found strange because he thought he recognized the language. Then he realized he was holding it upside down. Turning it the correct way, he tried again.

(Ability)  Does he fly the ship?  (50/50)  Yes.

This time, he understood the language. Following the instructions, he flipped the switches and turned the dial. The cockpit closed and the ship slowly hovered just inches above the ground. Kha-sa then pivoted the ship so it faced upward. 

He expected it to takes it time climbing into the sky. Instead, it shot up like lightning, shrieking like some terrified animal.

And Kha-sa screamed along with it.

Since Kha-sa has gained 3 SPs, I'm going to see if he levels up.

(Q)  Does Kha'sa Level up?  (+2 Diff = Very Unlikely)  No.

So, not yet, but he did gain another SP so he's back to +1.

I'm also altering his name to Casa to show that he's leaving that life behind.

Now I just have to figure out where he'll go next.

Lego Binds the Galaxy Together! - Mythic and Star Wars

 I know I haven't done Part 2 of the Adventure Crafter yet, but I'll get to it eventually. Maybe. But first I wanted to play a Star Wars game.

I bought Lego Star Wars the Skywalker Saga not long ago and am having a blast. You know there's a lot to the game when you complete all 9 movie missions, but the progress bar reads only 33% complete. The rest is completing side missions, unlocking characters and ships, finding collectibles, and running/flying around while exploring.

So this is a blog post about the video game, right?

Correct.

But, wait, Mythic is in the title. So is this about a video game or Roleplaying game?

The answer:

Yes.

Mythic Magazine #37 has an article on adding roleplaying elements to your videogames. I was originally going to try it with Skyrim. However, after playing Lego SW, I came up with ideas that I wanted to try out after exploring a bit. So I'll be jumping back and forth between the video game and roleplaying.

Now I have the old SW RPG d20 rules, but I wanted something simpler. So my plan was to tweak my Discworld rules to fit in SW. Once again, I'll use Mythic for combat, story-telling, and skill resolution, and my rules for characters themselves.

A quick recap and summary of the tweaked character rules:

- There are 3 Abilities:  Do (anything physical, including combat), Think (anything mental, including computer use and sneakiness), and Talk.

- A Zero is considered average for an Ability, with higher numbers being better.

- Characters get 2 Ability Points per level, plus 1 additional point at Lvl 1 for Race (I play fast and loose with this).

- Level 0 characters have a total of 0 for their Abilities. So if one Ability is +1, another must be -1.

- Level -1 Characters are similar, but their Abilities must total -1.

- Force Using characters have a fourth Ability: Force, but the same number of Ability Points. Force, however, is added to other abilities for Force Powers. For example, Force + Mind for levitation.

- Successfully completing a Clash or Ability check results in gaining a Saga Point. SPs can be spent to gain a bonus on any future rolls, but once they're spent, they're gone.

- After gaining 3 SPs, a character can roll to level up. The Difficulty is the next level. So for a lvl 1 character, the Difficulty is +2 or Very Unlikely. SPs can be used here as well.

- I'll get to ship rules later.

So let's get started. This takes place near the ending of Episode IX, The Rise of Skywalker. Spoilers ahead.

Inside the Sith Temple on Exegol, Snoke paced the cave. Staring at his limp arm, he found he could only raise it by using the Force, but that only brought more pain.

Hearing a shuffling, Snoke looked up and saw a figure approach. The figure, like so many others in the temple, wore a black robe with a black robe concealing his face.

The figure stopped before Snoke and bowed. "A'hil un 'krii inSnuuk t'e."

Snoke stared at the figure while tilting his head.

Seeing the other's reaction, the figure gave a nod. "Apologies, Snoke. I forgot you speak not the language of the Sith."

The figure in black is my PC. In the game, he is referred to as a Sith Acolyte, one of the robed figures you see watching the final fight at the conclusion of the film. However, with the upcoming series having the same name, I'm instead using the term Sith Cultist.

My plan is to see if I can take this character and turn him into a hero. Now in the game, the cultists spend their time either tending to Palpatine or conducting experiments. I'm going with the latter for this character.

Using Mythic 2e, I rolled for his name and got, "Kha + Sa." Sith cultists tend to have hyphenated names, so Kha-sa makes sense.

He is Level 1 and not (yet) Force user, so he has 3 Ability Points. I'm keeping his Talk at 0 because he's spent most of his life within the temple, so while he is polite, he is not the best in social skills. That means either a 2 Do and 1 Think or 1 Do and 2 Think. Since he's a scientist, the latter seems likely.

(Q) Does Kha-sa have a 1 Do and 2 Think?  (Likely)  No.

Okay, so 2 Do, 1 Think, and 0 Talk.

The figure bowed his head. "Greetings to you, Snoke, my name is Kha-sa." He then noticed the other's arm. "You are injured."

Snoke groaned. "I emerged from the vat like this."

"I see." Kha-sa stepped for and examined the arm. "Possibly an imperfect experiment."

Seeing where this was going, Snoke pulled slightly away. "And what usually happens to these imperfect experiments?"

"They tend to be destroyed." Kha-sa lifted the arm and turned in his black-gloved hands.

 Kha-sa will attempt to repair Snoke's arm.

(Q)  Is the Diffuclty +1?  (Likely)  Exceptional No.

This means it's only -1.

(Ability)  Can Kha-Sa repair the arm?  (+1 Think vs. -1 Diff = +2 or Very Likely)  Yes, Random Event.

(Event)  "Control, Increase"

I'm interpreting that rather loosely.

Reaching into a bag that hung from his shoulder, Kha-sa, pulled out some cloth and a long rod. Placing the rod against Snoke's arm, he wrapped it with the cloth. Finally, he used a pin to keep the cloth in place.

"There," said Kha-sa, "I would suggest you move your arm as little as possible, but it will now heal correctly."

"You don't believe in destroying imperfect experiments?" Snoke asked.

Kha-sa closed his bag and shifted it back under his robe. "How can we learn if we destroy everything that fails to meet our expectations." Hearing murmuring in the distance, he motioned to the other to follow. "Come, it sounds as if they begin soon."

Snoke followed him. "What begins?"

"Palpatine has invited the Jedi to a final confrontation," Kha'sa answered. "The arena is already filled with people."

As they walked through the cavern, Snoke thought for a moment. "Tell me, Kha-sa, I was born with knowledge of thousands of worlds, of countless languages, and untold generations of wisdom in the Force. Yet I know nothing of the Sith. Why is that?"

Kha-sa didn't even seemed surprised by that question. "For reasons we've yet to understand, Snoke clones, their bodies, and most importantly their minds are incompatible with Sith language and wisdom." He glanced at a shattered portion of a wall. "We learned that in a rather unfortunate manner."

Seeing his reflection in one clear rock, Snoke stopped, turned,  and studied himself. "So I am a recent clone then." He turned slightly. "That must mean I am a vast improvement over the original Snoke clone, wouldn't you say?"

But Kha-sa said nothing, at first. Having never met the original Snoke clone, he lacked the basis for comparison. However, the last thing this clone needed was an existential crisis. "In time." Passing a room, he slipped in and quickly returned with another robe. "Here, put this on, at least for the moment."

Snoke put on the robe so that he blended in. They then entered the arena, where countless others in similar robes awaited in the stands.

Now, in the film, Palpatine's death (I warned you of spoilers, remember?) also destroyed much of the arena, killing nearly all the cultists. Somehow, Kha'sa needs t survive, but how? 

Time to ask Mythic.

(Q)  How did Kha-sa Survive?  "Help, Fight."

Well, Kha-sa, being a lvl 1 character, is nowhere near a help in any Sith fight. However, I remembered in the game that cultists spent a lot of time stabbing each other in the back (sometimes literally), so I went with that.

"Kha-sa, a moment."

Kha-sa turned as another figure in black approach.

This figures needs a name, so back to 2e's Name Generator:  "Location + Va."

For the location, the first thing I thought of was Necropolis (given the temple), so I chose to make his name Nek-Va. It sounds like another cultist name.

"Nek-Va," Kha-sa said. "What is it?"

"We're needed to guard the lift in case the Jedi brought allies," Nek-va answered.

"Or course." Kha-sa turned to Snoke. "I'll return soon." He followed the other back through the tunnel.

I now need stats for this new character.

(Q) Is Nek-va Level 1?  (Likely)  No.

So he's Level 0.

(Q)  Are any of his Abilities +1?  (Likely)  No.

So, Nek-va has all 0 for his 3 abilities. To allow him a slight edge, I'm giving him a knife, which adds +1 to Damage.

 Exiting the tunnel, they approached bridge that passed over a chasm. 

Kha-sa stood at the edge of the bridge. "Do you think they'll enter from this end, brother?"

"Oh, I can assure, brother, that something shall end." Standing behind Kha-sa, he pulled out a knife and lunged forward.

Nek-va is performing a Damage in the Clash, while Kha-sa will attempt an Escape to avoid damage.

(Clash)  Does Kha-sa win the Clash?  (+2 vs. 0 = Very Likely)  Yes.

This explains Kha-sa's +1 to Do. He has a lot of experience in defending himself from sneak attacks from the others.

Kha-sa easily dodged the attack, spinning around to face other other. "Our brothers attempting to strike at each other surprises me little. Yet, I always find astonishing that you prefer to all speak first and then attack."

Nek-va growled. "A mistake I shall not replicate, as I know enough to destroy mine."

Kha-sa tilted his head. "Is that what this is about, my sparing a Snoke clone?"

"You were to destroy failures," Nek-va snarled.

"I violated no law," Kha-sa answered.

"But you showed weakness," Nek-va responded, "and by destroying weakness, I shall grow stronger."

For this Clash, Kha-sa will fight back, though he's unarmed. I imagine his fighting style is a mix of throws and escapes combined with basic strikes.

(Clash)  Does Kha-sa win the Clash?  (+2 vs. 0 = Very Likely)  Yes.

Nek-Va suffers a -1 Rank Shift.

Nek-Va lunged again, but Kha-sa blocked it with his forearm. He then struck with his other open palm, causing his opponent to stumble back.

In the distance, they heard Palpatine's cackle, followed by lightning slashing above.

"We're missing the event," said Kha-sa. "Should we continue this at a later time?"

"This event belongs to me," said Nek-va. "Today, I shall become one of greatness."

(Clash)  Does Kha-sa win the Clash?  (+2 vs. -1 = Nearly Certain)  Yes.

Since, even unarmed, Kha-sa's Damage is 3 ranks higher than Nek-va's Toughness, Nek-Va must roll for Incapacity to see if he's dead.

(Incapacity)  Is Nek-va incapacitated?  (+2 vs. -2 = Certain)  X-Yes.

Nek-va growled and lunged one more time, but Kha-sa dodged it. Tripping on a wrong, the other cultist tumbled over the edge, and disappeared into the chasm.

Kha-sa shook his head. "How unfortunate." He then jumped as he heard Palpatine's voice again. But this time, instead of a cackle, he heard the Sith master screaming in agony. Suddenly, there was an explosion, and gusts of debris shot through the tunnels. 

Ducking behind a statue, Kha-sa braced himself as the entire temple shook. Even the statues began to crumble. He tried to avoid them, but something slammed into his head, and he fell to the ground. 

Waking up some time, later, Kha-sa found himself in near darkness. Wandering through the temple, he found nothing but silence. Entering the arena, he saw no sign of Palpatine, and among the ruins in the stands, only torn robes and burnt bodies.

 "Master?"