Merchant Princes, Star Frontiers, and Commentary On The Free Star Frontiers Adventure Dramune Run (Star Frontiers module SFKH1) by Doug Niles

So last night two of our players didn't show up for our Star Frontiers game due to a family emergency. That left us drinking beer and discussing the Star Frontier adventures that were planning on being run as part of an on going campaign. The DM began to delve into the background of the Sathar war and the looming clouds of intergalactic war gathering on the horizon. One of the adventures that kept coming up was the Dramune Run (Star Frontiers module SFKH1) by Doug Niles because the players wanted to make a profit from the rumored war  and set themselves up as merchant princes. Dramune Run was created to be run with the Knight Hawk's rules and takes the PC's into the world of smuggling, trading, and they end up making a cargo run for a man on the run from the Mob.


GRAB IT RIGHT HERE

The advantage to this module is the fact that it takes place on a very well known and more then slightly dangerous intergalactic trade route. This can lead to all kinds of adventure opportunity for the DM if he's willing to plug in and take full advantage of his own campaign's Star Frontier's background.

"Dramune! A system of conflict at the edge of the frontier. Its two life-bearing planets stand poised on opposite sides of an uneasy peace. Only the thin leash of one planet's democratic idealism prevents interplanetary war.
Far across the galaxy, a dying captain carries an explosive secret. In his battered but swift freighter he hides a curious cargo. A cargo that will snap the leash preserving Dramune's peace.
The captain has one last wish: to find a new crew and take his secret home. And he has one great obstacle: a notorious crime czar with a troop of slimy thugs. The odds are against the captain and his new crew, but together they must make this last voyage — the Dramune Run.
Dramune Run is an adventure designed for the STAR FRONTIERS game system, including the original role-playing game, Alpha Dawn, and its space-faring sequel, Knight Hawks. Both games are needed to play Dramune Run, which combines boardgame space combat with mystery, intrigue, and fantastic new characters for a thrilling science fiction role-playing adventure."

Download the Knight Hawk Rules Here

 So why take full advantage of this style of adventure for your old school Star Frontiers game? Because it gives the PC's extra income between adventures and also draws them deeper into this region of space. A perfect set up for extended campaign play for getting them back to the table. Here's why;"Four planets orbit Dramune. In order from the star they are Close Reach, Inner Reach, Outer Reach and Lost Reach. The middle two are habitable. Tendrils extend from the Xagyg Dust Nebula into the system, reaching beyond beyond the orbit of the outermost planets." There a ton of detail right over here on this Wiki. but there are also some major spoilers as well.

This adventure can be set up from the  Mission to Alcazzar (SF4) adventure or back tracked into Dramune Run through the Mob and smuggler contacts in both adventures. This gives a back consistency to the entire intergalactic affair and highlights one of the strengths of the Star Frontier systems. The idea of a dynamic, evolving, and changing sandbox on intergalactic scale set against the backstory of the Sathar Wars.(WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD)

  Is this a perfect module? Not by any means but it does give a nice blueprint for creating your own campaign level adventures set against the backdrop of the Star Frontiers universe. It also has plenty of room to DYI your own set ups and ideas for all kinds of Star Frontiers and intergalactic adventures. Star Frontiers still remains a cult classic intergalactic set of go to old school rpgs.

Character Workshop for The Star Frontiers Adventure - Mission to Alcazzar (SF4) Actual Play Event

So I'm finally back home and I got together with friends to do a quick primer, brush up, and overview of Star Frontiers. Tonight I got together with friends to tackle one of the tougher and more dangerous Star Frontiers adventures Mission to Alcazzar (SF4). This is an adventure to be respected for its plot, tightness of design, and dangerous encounters for Star Frontiers adventurers.
The set up is classic Frontiers ; "You press against the steel hatchway,as the explorer bounds up the river bank, out of the water. Over the: roar of the engines comes the unmistakable whine of a high-performance groundcar. Quickly, you scan the horizon. At first the plain appears empty. Then you see them.
"Bandits at 11 o'clock. Three of them!'7 you shout into your chronocom. Instantly, the driver slams the heavy explorer into reverse, backing down the bank for cover. The rear doors burst open as Rocton dashes out to set up a heavy laser. Harradd, the Yazirian, follows right behind carrying five power beltpacks. Already someone is handing extra ammo up to you.
At 80 kph, those ground cars are closing fast. Targeting the lead car, you squeeze the trigger and a rocket flashes out of the tube. At the same instant a shell streaks past you, exploding in the river and spraying steam into the air.
You came to Alcazzar on a tough mission — it just got a lot tougher.""
Basically what we did was went over the rules, brushed up on any rough spots, set up PC's and gave the whole party background for this module. This module is one part sandbox, two parts plot driven corporate and military adventure and three parts adrenaline rush. This module gives everything the PC's are going to need to get themselves dragged into a planetary cluster hurt with all of the trimmings.


 
The basic idea here was to pull all six players into the deep end of the module to get the players hooked into a party of adventurers right out of the gate. We basically picked PC's together and had the whole group helping each other with generation and application of the Star Frontiers rules. We as both a group and players were pretty damn rusty. But things got off the ground rather quickly and we had to deal with the well organized kitchen sink approach that this module takes. This is in stark contrast to the way the Volturnus series of adventure handles its encounters. This module was a welcome change up, here everything is well organized and concise. This is not a module for the inexperienced or those who want to be hand held through the adventure. This is a wild planet with lots of dangerous encounters for an experienced set of adventurers.


Like many of the other Star Frontiers adventures everything is supplied straight out the gate for PC's with background and more boiled down right in the first couple of pages. Here the DM and players are given everything that their going to need to run and enjoy this module and this includes mission details, equipment, starting pay, and more. Everything in this module shows off the system just like the first series of adventures did but in a more one on one style of focused gaming. This isn't a bad thing at all, this style of gaming keeps everyone focused on the adventure and not really what's happening in the greater universe of Star Frontiers.
By doing a character work shop we do not only the PC builds together but keeps everyone on the same page. This adventure has a nice focus on bringing to the fore the military and corporate war aspect of the Star Frontiers game an aspect that many players seem to forget. But came through loud and clear in the various Dragon magazine articles with the Star Frontiers support.  This adventure takes that old school sand box corporate & military elements and brings them center stage.


So over the next day or so I'll be posting updates and keeping you informed as to this latest venture into old school gaming. But now I'm off to bed, we'll talk in the morning.