A veteran of the Clone Wars determined to avenge the Jedi and crush the Galactic Empire in space. A genius mechanic with a chip on her shoulder and credits in her future. A hotshot pilot determined to face the Empire’s best and burn them down. A back-seat gunner with a recorder, broadcasting the Alliance’s victories from his turret seat. Each Meet the Party article gives you an entire group of ready-to-play adventurers (maybe even some heroes) for your gaming needs for a variety of systems and settings. It’s time to travel back to a galaxy far, far away and launch your Y-wings after you Meet the Party for Age of Rebellion from Fantasy Flight Games!

Unlike the Rebel cell consisting of Blaine, Levat, Jin, and Gumbrai this batch of Alliance operatives makes a presumption as to what starting resource they’ve chosen: a pair of BTL-S3 Y-wings! Two of the following characters are clearly built to be the pilots of the wing pair, and the other two act as back-seat gunners while also bringing their own unique talents to improve the squadron.

Speaking of squadron, there are some interesting options for an Age of Rebellion GM who plays with this (or any other) starfighter-based party. It’s possible that the pair of fighters might act as a special team, but it is also an option for the pair to be part of a complete squadron. The former gives the players a lot more leeway but exposes them to a lot more danger, while the latter gives them a group of NPC friends to help them (and to show them how dangerous the Empire can be when they’re shot down). Either could be an interesting choice for the narrative of your game. Now, let’s get on with the meeting!

Fiolla Novar, Corellian Commander/Squadron Leader

Duty: Space Superiority 10

Motivation: Belief (The Republic) and Quest (The Sith)

Characteristics: Brawn 2, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2,  Willpower 2, Presence 3

Wound Threshold: 12

Strain Threshold: 13

Soak: 3

Abilities: Free Rank in Piloting (Space), May Train Piloting to Rank 3 During Character Creation

Talents: Defensive Driving, Grit, Field Commander

Skills: Piloting (Space) 3, Cool 1, Knowledge (Warfare) 1, Leadership 2, Vigilance 1, Gunnery 1, Ranged (Light) 1

Equipment: Heavy Clothing, Blaster Pistol, Comlink (Handheld), Military Field Manual, 72 Credits

Fiolla is the best flyer in the squadron by virtue of superior training and her cultural heritage as a Corellian. She’s more-or-less equally adept at waiting for the right time to strike and reacting to sudden engagements, while also being the flight pair’s best tactician and leader. Her current talents make her harder to hit and let her grant extra maneuvers to her allies; going deeper into the Squadron Leader tree will only help her boost her allies to an even greater level, and she’ll also be even harder to kill.

Testa Kovani, Chadra-Fan Ace/Rigger

Duty: Tech Superiority 0 (Spent 5 for +1,000 Credits, Spent for +5XP)

Motivation: Quest (Riches) and Conflict (Best of the Best)

Characteristics: Brawn 1, Agility 3, Intellect 3, Cunning 2,  Willpower 1, Presence 2

Wound Threshold: 10

Strain Threshold: 12

Soak: 2

Abilities: Silhouette 0, Free Rank in Mechanics, Acute Senses

Talents: Gearhead, Signature Vehicle, Tuned Maneuvering Thrusters, Overstocked Ammo, Bolstered Armor, Black Market Contacts, Grit, Fancy Paint Job

Skills: Mechanics 2, Astrogation 1, Gunnery 2, Perception 1, Knowledge (Underworld) 1, Negotiation 1

Equipment: AG/L Mk. III Targeting Goggles, Workshop Manual (Y-Wing), Tool Kit, Heavy Clothing, 99 Credits

Testa might not be using the Gunner specialization, but she still makes for an excellent Gunnery user with her skill ranks and her Targeting Goggles. But the real reason she’s around is for the modifications she’ll be making to her Signature Vehicle. Not only will she be extremely capable of maintaining it, but so far it will be tougher, nastier, and fly smoother than any other of its kind. Her craft will only become more extraordinary the longer she’s working on it, and her contacts mean that new parts and mods will continue to flow to it (and, hopefully, her allies).

Poyn’ilim, Twi’lek Ace/Hotshot

Duty: Placard Hunter 0 (Spent 10 for +10XP)

Motivation: Conflict (Adrenaline Junkie)

Characteristics: Brawn 1, Agility 4, Intellect 2, Cunning 2,  Willpower 2, Presence 3

Wound Threshold: 11

Strain Threshold: 14

Soak: 2

Abilities: Free Rank in Deception, Remove Setback for Arid/Hot Conditions

Talents: Skilled Jockey, Shortcut, Grit, High-G Training

Skills: Deception 1, Cool 1, Gunnery 1, Piloting (Space) 2, Ranged (Light) 1, Coordination 1

Equipment: Heavy Clothing, Blaster Pistol, Comlink (Handheld), Emergency Repair Patch

Poy might not have Fiolla’s flight training or Testa’s time on the Gunnery range, but she more than makes up for that with sheer natural-borne talent. While Fiolla might be the best flyer Poy is undoubtedly the best dogfighter, able to chase and out-maneuver some of the best TIE pilots the Empire has to offer. She’s only going to become more dangerous as her skills and talents grow, reducing Imperial formations to colliding chaos and landing impossible shots.

Sha Muuj, Gossam Diplomat/Propagandist

Duty: Political Support 0 (Spent 5 for +1,000 Credits, Spent 5 for +5 XP)

Motivation: Creed (Return the Favor)

Characteristics: Brawn 1, Agility 2, Intellect 3, Cunning 3,  Willpower 2, Presence 3

Wound Threshold: 10

Strain Threshold: 13

Soak: 2

Abilities: Free Rank in Deception, Silhouette Zero

Talents: Positive Spin, Improved Positive Spin, Well-Rounded (Gunnery, Streetwise)

Skills: Deception 1, Charm 2, Knowledge (Core Worlds) 1, Knowledge (Lore) 1, Knowledge (Outer Rim) 1, Perception 1, Gunnery 2

Equipment: Communications Media Manipulator, AG/L Mk. III Targeting Goggles, Heavy Clothing, Comlink (Handheld), Stimpack, 54 Credits

Sha makes for a solid back-seat gunner with good aim and perception backed up by the same Targeting Goggles as Testa. While useful, that’s not the most important skill set that he brings to the wing pair. As a Propagandist he has a solid grasp of the Duty mechanic, boosting the gain of Duty and triggering it when it wouldn’t otherwise. As he proceeds down his specialization tree Sha will be able to further boost Duty, gain information, and hurt enemy morale. His skill set makes him both the most knowledgeable and most socially-adept character. It might be wise to consider other specializations for Sha as well thanks to his solid Intellect/Cunning/Presence scores. Buying into Analyst, for example, could make Sha the squadron’s intelligence officer as well as spin master.

Taking advantage of the universal nature of Fantasy Flight’s Star Wars games (a trait that the company seems to value across multiple lines), both Fiolla and Poyn’ilim get their species from Edge of the Empire. Poy is using the Twi’lek from Edge’s core rulebook, while Fiolla is a Corellian Human from Suns of Fortune. Testa and Poy both get their specializations from the Ace book Stay on Target, while Sha gets his from the Diplomat book Desperate Allies.

Going by the order in which they’re presented one could assume that Fiolla has Testa in the back seat of her Y-Wing, while Poy has Sha manning her ion cannons. This would be a potent pairing, with Testa’s modifications giving Fiolla an amazing boost while Sha is perfectly positioned to see Poy blow the Empire’s finest into space debris. However, this setup isn’t mandatory. It could be that Testa modifies Poy’s craft to bring the Twi’lek’s capabilities to a ludicrous level, while Sha has the best seat in the house to record the rise of a great Alliance Commander in Fiolla. The choice is yours.

Who They Are

Fiolla Novar, like many Corellians, has little use for anyone telling her how bad the odds are. Rather than confidence bordering on arrogance, however, it is her tactical awareness and leadership that lets her disregard the metaphorical sabaac deck stacked against her. Her track record gives credence to this; she fought for the Old Republic during the Clone Wars, and moved to fighting the Empire as soon as it was born. She longs to bring back the guiding light of the Republic on basic principle, but the fight is also personal for her: she knew and fought alongside several Corellian Jedi, and even dared to love one before Order 66 brought the Knights low. She won’t rest until the so-called Star Destroyers of the Imperial Navy are reduced to glowing wrecks.

Testa Kovani has known two things for a long time now. First, she’s the best starfighter mechanic in the galaxy. Two, the humanocentric Galactic Empire would never acknowledge that fact. Determined to create a galaxy where her genius (and the talents of other non-humans, of course) could be recognized she quickly found her way into the Alliance. In the long term she hopes to leverage her veteran status and cutting edge designs into financial wealth and greatly deserved fame. In the short term she’s quite happy to field-test her work, proving her modifications and the Alliance’s starfighter doctrine are the superior weapon in the war.

Poyn’ilim is very fortunate by Twi’lek standards. True, she was living in poverty on Ryloth for most of her life, but she managed to avoid slavery and death, which was better than many. Still, she grew up hating the Imperials, eager to show up the arrogant tyrants. A brief time with the Free Ryloth movement and a stolen TIE fighter later and she’d found exactly how to do so. The danger of a head-to-head snubfighter duel quickly become addicting for the young pilot, but she remains secure both in her abilities and the fact that she can inspire others with a nice pile of dead Imperial aces.

Sha Muuj was like many Gossam living on Coruscant at the end of the Clone Wars: suddenly banned from living on the planet because of his species’s Separatist ties and then immediately hunted without warning. Like other Gossam and others who managed to slip the Imperial net Sha joined up the resistance movement known as Whiplash. For several years Sha did what he could to get the word out about Imperial depredations, with a certain amount of success, but when the Alliance was able to exfiltrate some Whiplash members off-world he jumped at the chance to join the larger fight. Only with outside support could the Coruscanti resistance members stand a chance, and only with a true Alliance to challenge them would the Empire get what it deserves.

How They Interact

Fiolla took a quick liking to Testa; the Chadra-Fan is not unlike the Drall native to the Corellian system, with an admirable dedication to her craft and a surprising fierceness for one so small. Her only issue with Testa is that the rigger sometimes makes ‘adjustments’ to the Y-wings without telling anyone. Poy is a good pilot to have on Fiolla’s wing, but she’s something of a loose cannon. Fiolla has resolved to keep a close eye on the Twi’lek and mentor her where possible. Sha makes Fiolla a little uneasy; it is sometimes hard not to see the Gossam as a civilian who is tagging along, which grates on Fiolla’s military sensibilities. Still, the reporter has skills at the controls of a turret, and Fiolla cannot deny the usefulness of his broadcasts.

Testa finds Fiolla a little chafing, actually; when told that her flight leader would be a Corellian she expected to be working with the more traditional kind: hot-headed, confident, with little restraint when it came to modifying ships. The officer’s no-nonsense demeanor has taken some getting used to, but thankfully Fiolla at least shares her people’s love of a good modified spacecraft (usually). Poyn’ilim is exactly what Testa expected to get from Fiolla, and the Chadra-Fan is always proposing new ideas to the Twi’lek hotshot to get extra potential out of the Y-wings. Sha is potentially quite useful; while not a bad negotiator herself, the Gossam is clearly more adept at ingratiating himself with others. He might be able to get Testa parts that would be otherwise beyond her reach.

Poy’nilim finds Fiolla’s long history both admirable and a little intimidating; if she was on the other side the Corellian would be exactly the kind of target Poy would love to go after. As a result she pays attention whenever Fiolla provides instruction, although orders to stay in formation or hold back are a little more difficult. Testa is an ace pilot’s best friend, and there is little Poy wouldn’t do to stay in the rigger’s good graces in order to keep the tweaks to her Y-wing coming. The better the pilot the better the ship, yes, but nobody ever won a dogfight in a TIE-wing, and Poy wants the best fighter the Chadra-Fan can cobble together. The hotshot appreciates Sha’s presence quite possibly as much as Testa’s. Burning down an Imperial ace is personally satisfying. The little Gossam making recordings and broadcasting her victories isn’t just satisfying, it’s beautiful revenge against the oh-so-haughty Imperials that’s so much better than just killing them.

Sha greatly respects Fiolla, and has the closest personal relationship with her out of the squadron. The Corellian, like Sha himself, takes a long view of the war and a broad scan of the bigger picture. Although he grimaces over Fiolla’s Clone Wars service having technically played a part in his species’ downfall, he knows that he can trust her to forward the cause. Testa is a somewhat irritating character; her somewhat selfish reasons for joining the Alliance rub Sha the wrong way, in addition to her constant attempts to make nice with him. Still, there’s no denying she is talented, and her demonstrations of the Alliance’s superior starfighter doctrine make good propaganda. While many of Sha’s broadcasts do not lack for intellectual or philosophical material, when it comes to straight-up propaganda Poy is the shining star. Her willingness to dive into TIE formations with cannons blazing makes for excellent footage which might just convince others to join the cause.

The Future (A Long, Long Time Ago)

A Y-wing’s shields are strong, its hull solid, and its weapons potent. Still, the individually fragile TIE fighters quite literally swarm the Alliance pilots, Star Destroyers bear devastating firepower and formidable defenses, and the Alliance’s supplies are often thin. Can these pilots and gunners fly to victory, strengthening the Rebel starfighter corps and inspiring others to join the fight? Or will they all end up as kill markers on a TIE ace’s hull? That’s for you (and your dice) to determine!

Originally posted 7/23/15 on the Mad Adventurers Society!