I hope everyone enjoyed last week's April Fools day posts. The "obviously omitted" rules from Wednesday were a lot of fun to do, and those who checked back on April 1st itself got some RPG and minis stats for Simon the Killer Ewok. A couple of notes: the rules were far more popular than Simon, and I actually did send a previous version of those midi-chlorian rules to Rodney Thompson (Wizards Saga line developer) back in 2008 for April 1st. Last week's version was much improved, and a few people noted what I thought of as a joke within the joke - you could eventually use them in play, after some more development and tweaking.
I don't report a lot of Star Wars non-gaming news, but for those who missed it, the official forums at starwars.com are shutting down at the end of the month. They'll be read only until June or so, but then they will be removed. No word on the blogs, and I'll keep posting there while I can. I've suspected for a long time the blogs would go away with the end of the Hyperspace online fan club, given the lack of upgrades. Didn't expect the forums to also go away. There was an announcement last year that another company was coming in to help run the Lucas sites, so I gather this is all part of that process.
On to this week. Since it's the end of the current Clone Wars season, I wanted to follow up on the final episodes, without major spoilers. First, they were fantastic. The action sequences around the slave ship were among most enjoyable of the season. The humorous bird vignettes were dead-on Star Wars (a la the Worrt in Return of the Jedi) and great to see. Chewbacca and the Wookiees were a lot of fun. Makes me want to go back to the Trandoshans vs. Wookiees adventures I was leading into in RPGKC game day campaign, way back when.
Speaking of adventures, the "hunt down captives on an island" storyline is tried and true for stories and RPGs. So much so that if you want to see my take on it using Rodians, dig out the Shadows of the Empire Planets Guide, flip to "Rodia" and find the Jungle Hunt mini adventure.
This week also introduced a fun little vehicle - the Trandoshan Hunting Pod. It reminds me of a floating pick-up truck bed minus the truck cab, not to mention the old Crocodile Dundee scene where Dundee uses a kangaroo and a shotgun to scare off a few truck riding poachers. It looks to be a short range transport and weapons platform, suitable for any bad guy to use to patrol their grounds. Well, any non-military bad guy, anyway.
It's an airspeeder. It carries up to 5, though probably 3 comfortably. It has 3 mechanical winches and an array of spotlights. Sensors appear minimal. There's no back gate, so riders better hang on. It sports a gatling-gun style, chin mounted repeating blaster and what appears to be a similar pair, one to each side of the cab. The guns appear to be pilot operated.
You can see images, drawings and info in the Episode Guide.
Saga Edition
Hunting Pod CL 5
Large air vehicle (airspeeder)
Init +7; Senses Perception +6
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Defenses Ref 14 (flat-footed 11), Fort 22; +3 armor
hp 60; DR 5; Threshold 32
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Speed fly 12 squares (max. velocity 100 km/h)
Fighting Space 3x3; Cover none (+5 for pilot)
Base Atk +4; Grp +24
Abilities Str 34, Dex 16, Con —, Int 14
Skills Initiative +7, Mechanics +6, Perception +6, Pilot +7, Use Computer +6
Crew 1 (skilled); Passengers 4
Cargo 400 kg; Consumables 1 day; Carried Craft none
Availability Licensed; Cost 10,000 (5,500 used)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Heavy Repeating Blaster (pilot)
Atk +2 autofire, Dmg 3d10
Dual Light Repeating Blasters (pilot)
Atk +2 autofire, Dmg 4d8
D6 / WEG
Craft: Hunting Pod
Type: Airspeeder
Scale: Speeder
Length: 2.5 meters
Skill: Repulsorlift operation: airspeeder
Crew: 1
Crew Skill: Varies
Cargo Capacity: 400 kg
Cover: 1/4 (pilot 1/2)
Altitude Range: Ground level - 200 meters
Cost: 10,000 (new), 5,500 (used)
Maneuverability: 3D
Move: 75; 200 kmh
Body Strength: 2D
Weapons:
Heavy Repeating Blaster
Fire Arc: Turret
Scale: Character
Skill: Vehicle Blasters
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 3-75/200/500
Damage: 8D
2 Light Repeating Blasters (fire-linked)
Fire Arc: Front
Scale: Character
Skill: Vehicle Blasters
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 3-50/120/300
Damage: 7D
Edit: I also wanted to call attention to the episode guide notes, which show the Trandoshans species name originated in West End Games' Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back.