Pirates of Drinax: Game of Sun & Shadow

[paltrysum]

Looking over the adventures in "Pirates," I'm curious to know how people's experience with "The Game of Sun & Shadow" have gone. Did you have your players create naval characters? How did their adventure go? Were you able to coalesce the two into one cohesive adventure?

If you haven't run it yet, how do you intend to do it? If you actually HAVE run it, how did it go?

 

[PsiTraveller]

I am running a Drinax campaign and never used that adventure. My group went political and trade in doing the adventures and farmed out the piracy to Darokyn and other pirate groups. Piracy became a meta event while the group targeted GeDeCo interests and trade alliances on a personal level.

 

[RogerMc]

It also raises the issue of why would the Imperium attempt to destroy a new buffer state between them and the Ihatei hordes? (who canonically will c.1117 overrun the Trojan Reaches anyway).

Yes the piracy would be an annoyance but they already tolerate not one but at least two worlds full of pirates in the sector - plus the slavers of the Glorious Empire - so a third should hardly require extraordinary measures.

And if the timeline starts in 1105 and you follow roughly the order of events in the campaign this whole episode will probably take place during the Fifth Frontier War from 1107 to 1110 when every available squadron would be rushed towards the Zhodani frontier.

So I rather doubt I'd run it as written unless the players go really out of the way to target the Imperium.

Or I'd run it as not a naval attack in what from the book looks like overwhelming force for anything the players are likely to confront it with but as a punitive raid sponsored by GeDeCo using a less formidable mercenary squadron.

 

[ShawnDriscoll]

Looking over the adventures in "Pirates," I'm curious to know how people's experience with "The Game of Sun & Shadow" have gone. Did you have your players create naval characters? How did their adventure go? Were you able to coalesce the two into one cohesive adventure?

If you haven't run it yet, how do you intend to do it? If you actually HAVE run it, how did it go?

I'm reading through the 1st edition version I have. That adventure is pretty thick. I'm thinking of running the adventure from the Imperium side. So Navy characters for the players.

 

[MonkeyX]

This is the one adventure that bugged me as I’m already using two groups, one diplomatic and one pirate. If the piracy arm pulls off some major stuff like stealing the Treasure Ship I’ll at least use the Imperium hunting for pirates but not sure I’ll use Navy characters.

 

[Putraack]

I'm working off of the 1st edition. I ran adventures 1, 2, 5, and 3 (in that order) almost 4 years ago :shock: I'm currently kicking around the idea of restarting the game, with the players as the Navy PCs. I think I can make it either a short campaign, or weave it back into the overall storyline.

A difficulty I'm having in thinking about this, is that the players in my game have already done a lot to draw the Imperium's attention, I'm just not sure how much the Imperium has connected the dots. They drew Imperial attention after the Treasure Ship (a botched attack) and the Treasury of Sindal episodes, and then organized a pirate fleet to preemptively attack the ihatei. I feel I need a reason to explain why the Flotilla doesn't head straight for Drinax. :idea: Maybe there's some GeDeCo interference?

 

[paltrysum]

Could be that the admiral wants to make a show of it first before the big finale.

 

[allanimal]

Just finished that arc a month or two ago. My players in the pirate characters prevented both Theev and Drinax from being pummeled by the Imperium as the Pirate Planet, and solidified their place and the #1 pirate gang in the Reaches, after freeing a lot of pirates, even some of the big names, from the prison camp.

On the flip side, the imperial characters were loyal to the imperium to the end. They narrowly escaped Krond's fate when their ship misjumped into the rift while leaving for a patrol. (Using that as a possible future campaign after Pirates of Drinax concludes.)

 

[paltrysum]

My players in the pirate characters prevented both Theev and Drinax from being pummeled by the Imperium as the Pirate Planet, and solidified their place and the #1 pirate gang in the Reaches, after freeing a lot of pirates, even some of the big names, from the prison camp.

Just out of curiosity which planet, if any, did get pummeled?

 

[allanimal]

My players in the pirate characters prevented both Theev and Drinax from being pummeled by the Imperium as the Pirate Planet, and solidified their place and the #1 pirate gang in the Reaches, after freeing a lot of pirates, even some of the big names, from the prison camp.

Just out of curiosity which planet, if any, did get pummeled?

*** spoilers ahead ***
The players had spread enough false rumors that Tanith was the Pirate planet. The Naval PCs were on the way there to investigate when their misjump happened.
Before Krond knew they were missing, the pirate PCs enacted their master plan.
They had captured Eridani and her escape pod, and through a series of incredible (both high and lucky for them, unlucky for the Punitive Flotilla) rolls, managed to use it to smuggle a nuke (part of the ancient Treasure of Sindal) onto the Eurisko and detonate it, effectively crippling the Punitive Flotilla (The Naval PCs were on the Gorluun when it misjumped and suffered significant damage).
So yeah, they got some really lucky breaks. I'm actually shocked how the dice gods were behaving on that night...