HoloNet Uplink – Bounty Contract – Emilio Vanterak, Smuggler

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One of Edge of the Empire’s most iconic play experiences is that of the bounty hunter. While some Imperial officers may think they don’t need those scum, the truth is the Imperial Office of Criminal Investigations (IOCI) relies on bounty hunters to bring in the most elusive fugitives. This is an article in a series of premade bounty contracts which can be dropped directly into your game or can serve as a starting point for more deliberate bounty hunting adventures.

Using This Entry

This entry consists of the following elements: a text bounty posting which can be provided to your players, character statistics and behaviour for Vanterak, and leads for gathering more information. GMs can use what is provided along with some improvisation to provide an instant bounty hunting session, or they can treat the content as a shell to be expanded into a multi-session adventure.

Name: Emilio Vanterak
Aliases: None Known
Age: 28 standard years
Species: Human
Hair: Black, short
Eyes: Brown
Skin: Olive
Homeworld: Coruscant
Location: Unknown, last seen on Nal Hutta
Warnings: Armed

Bounty: 27,500 Credits
Posting Office: IOCI
Offenses: Trafficking in illicit goods, failure to pay Imperial tariffs (Smuggling)
Return Type: Alive
Jurisdiction: Outer Rim Territories
Remarks: Salvage Rights authorized

Statistics and Tactics

Emilio Vanterak, Wanted Smuggler [Nemesis]

Br 2, Ag 3, Int 2, Cun 4, WP 2, Pres 3
Soak 3, W. Threshold 18, S. Threshold 17, M/R Def 1/1

Skills: Brawl 1, Cool 2, Deception 3, Knowledge (Outer Rim) 2, Knowledge (Underworld) 2, Perception 3, Ranged (Light) 2, Stealth 1, Streetwise 2, Vigilance 3
Talents: Adversary 1, Soft Spot, Shortcut 2
Abilities: Multiple Combat Turns (one additional turn at the end of the round) if 4 or more PCs
Equipment: Heavy blaster pistol (Ranged [Light]; Damage 7; Critical 3; Ranged [Medium]; Stun setting), armored clothing (+1 defense, +1 soak), utility belt, earbud comlink, Dancing Master (a modified YT-1300 [see page 264, GM’s should modify the ship as appropriate to adjust the threat and reward of this adversary]), R2C6 astromech droid

Emilio Vanterak is an experienced and wary, but potentially overconfident, smuggler. He is well aware of the bounty on his head but chooses to continue smuggling with increased precautions. Vanterak hasn’t found a partner capable enough to trust since Fa’lang, and so is currently operating alone except for his R2 unit. Vanterak is focusing on flying under the Imperial radar while running high value cargo such as spice and weapons in and out of Hutt space to Outer Rim colonies.

He is travelling under the false name Davik Bambrii and leaves his R2 unit behind to watch his ship, remaining in comlink contact at all times. Vanterak will avoid conflict if possible by using deception and misdirection, but if caught in an ambush he will fight ferociously to get away. In combat he will try to immediately down weaker enemies before attempting his escape, hoping that some of his pursuers will stay behind to care for their fallen comrade. If cornered, Vanterak will only surrender if it is clear there is absolutely no escape, otherwise he will try almost anything to escape.

Leads

The Ex Partner – Gorshk Fa’lang

Vanterak’s last partner, a grizzled Bothan named Gorshk Fa’lang, has nearly completed a sentence in Imperial detention. Fa’lang is imprisoned in the Imperial penal colony on Garen IV under medium security guard. Word has it that Vanterak abandoned Fa’lang to save his own skin when Imperial Customs caught up to the smugglers on Geonosis. While he has no love for bounty hunters, Fa’lang might be persuaded to provide information on Vanterak’s methods in exchange for considerations. Such information would give a marked advantage to any bounty hunters planning an ambush or giving chase to Vanterak, giving a Boost Die or even an Upgrade depending on the situation. Furthermore, Vanterak may not use his Shortcut talent against anyone with this information as they will be prepared for his usual tricks.

Use the Smuggler statistics (EotE pg. 396) if it becomes necessary to represent Gorshk Fa’lang mechanically.

The Ex Lover – Zani Faruul

This bookish, young Zeltron woman is a former travelling and romantic partner of Vanterak’s. She once accompanied Vanterak as a way to see the galaxy. Despite travelling together for a few months, she was replaced for a more adventurous Zabrak woman on Ord Mantell. As a HoloNet travel writer of middling notoriety, Zani can be tracked down with an Average Computers check. If asked about Vanterak Zani’s normally pink skin will blush deep red, but she will be eager to provide information on his ship, The Dancing Master, including its current statistics and, perhaps more importantly, details on its hyperdrive’s transponder code and Cronau emissions, giving players vital information to pursue Vanterak.

Use the Philanthropic Senator statistics (EotE pg. 408) replacing all ranks in Leadership and Negotiation with Knowledge (Outer Rim) 2 and Pilot (Space) 2 to represent Zani Faruul.

The Ex Client – Neero

Neero is a mid-level Rodian crime broker operating from a seedy bar on the outskirts of the Mid Rim world of Kharan Major. Vanterak used to run jobs for Neero, but as of late Vanterak has gone freelance and is courting Black Sun and the Hutt Cartels for high-level work. While the Rodian is not terribly concerned with revenge, it is likely Neero could be negotiated into selling information on Vanterak’s known routes and potential employers. This information could narrow the search for Vanterak down from the entire Outer Rim to just a handful of planets. Neero will expect a healthy sum of credits or a sizeable favour, either in the form of a mission appropriate to the group’s abilities or in the form of the Favor Obligation applied to one or more of the PCs.

Use the Infochant statistics (EotE pg. 393) with 2 ranks of Discipline and Negotiation if it becomes necessary to represent Neero mechanically.

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Christopher Hunt

Staff Writer at d20 Radio
Christopher Hunt is a long-time gamer and has recently broke into the world of RPG freelancing. Chris’ unofficial Star Wars RPG blog ran weekly on d20radio.com for the past three years. He has written for Rusted Iron Games, Raging Swan Press, and most recently Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars RPG. Chris is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Political Science. Always the gamer, his thesis, which explores conflict short of war by uniting current threats to historical events, was inspired by a historical board game.

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2 Comments

  1. Awesome! Thanks for the write up. Should it say Aliases: Davik Bambrii rather than Aliases: None Known?

    • Glad you liked the article! I left the aliases as None Known so that the PCs could not easily track him down too quickly. If you wanted to speed up the investigation it would be no problem to add Davik Bambrii as one of his IOCI known aliases.

      Happy hunting!

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