As the result of a zoo-based catastrophe, my players have a dewback that they want to return to the wild on Tatooine. So far, so good.
However, it’s going to turn out that the Imperial base on Tatooine’s speeders are out due to a parts shortage, so they’ve been buying up every dewback they can get their hands on to use instead. Whilst according to Legends trained dewbacks were raised from the egg, those suppliers can’t keep up and now a ranch is paying for every wild adult they can find, to sell on. If they release Daisy the dewback without fixing this problem, she’s immediately going to be caught and sold.
There won’t actually be a parts shortage- the Imperial speeder tech is lazy, and has fabricated it to get out of all the endless maintenance work, and now gets a kickback from the ranch for every dewback the Empire buys.
I’m trying to figure out ways for them to reduce the Imperial demand for dewbacks so they can safely release Daisy, like:
Discrediting dewbacks so the Empire stops using them and tries harder to get their speeders running, e.g. by organising a stampede/breakout
Maybe the Empire’s demand is so high because they look after them poorly, and the PCs can teach them proper animal care so they don’t have to keep buying new ones
I’m a little conflicted on that last one. I’m not sure if “The empire has a big paddock of sick/lame dewbacks that will recover with proper treatment” enough, or if it kind of requires that the Empire has a big ol’ pit of dead dewbacks out back. Something about that doesn’t seem Star Warsy to me- it’s a very kind of banal, realistic animal cruelty.
Anyone have any other thoughts about how to fix this situation? And opinions on the level of animal cruelty that’s, uh, still fun?
I like your ideas, and the last option feels kind of Star Wars. A lot of the time creatures are treated poorly in Star Wars. So I think it works.
Your players might also have good (or bad) ideas on how to reduce the demand for dewbacks. So you could let them brainstorm solutions, and if they have any good ideas let them use them.
As a player I like when we as a group can come up with creative solutions and actually put that plan into action. And as a GM i love when my players take initiative and brainstorm solutions that might be far better (or worse) than the ideas that I planned for. So if you have the time, you could try to get them brainstorm solutions one session, and then between sessions you could plan some fun encounters to fit with their solution(s).
Obviously great to have a few solutions ready as well, if the players don’t come up with anything themselves.
A few final thoughts.
Your players might decide to Daisy on a totally different part of the planet, that kind of skips the whole adventure. But they might think that’s a convenient solution. But maybe other parts of Tatooine isn’t as hospitable for Dewbacks, so that could create a range of other problems.
Are you certain the players won’t sell Daisy to the ranch (or directly to the Empire)? Probably not since I assume they freed her from a zoo. But it could be good to keep in mind if the players decide to earn a quick buck.
I suggest numbers 2 and 3 best, with the added twist of try having half the group talk to the Imperial Captain and convince him to get parts fro mthe locals or fro mthe Jawas, while the rest cut the dewbacks lose as if to prove those talking to the camptain’s point.
From what I understand, dewbacks can be dangerous, trained or not
That… is a good point. I’m basically hoping to resolve that with the same thing that compels them to land in a city- landing out on a random sand dune is unsafe and likely to have your ship buried as it collapses. Plus canon-wise most of Tatooine is uninhabitably hot, so they’ll have to land somewhere vaguely near civilisation.
She helped the players out in an earlier zoo catastrophe- she was one of the first animals to break from their pen when the stasis fields went down in a power cut, and the force sensitive had her barge open the jammed door to the generator room, so they owe her!
Trying to arrange a session break after they find out but before they act is a good call! I might have to pad things out a bit but can always throw more trappers trying to steal Daisy at them. Otherwise I’ll just end up with a lot of wasted effort trying to out-think 4 people.
You could raise the fact that Dewbacks are herd-dwelling creatures, and stress the importance of finding a herd into which Daisy could be integrated… It could be that her original herd are the ones being held/used by the Imperials.
Edit: I have no idea if they are herd-dwelling creatures, I’m making that up.