A Preview of the Age of Rebellion Adventure, Onslaught at Arda I

“Look, I ain’t in this for your revolution, and I’m not in it for you, Princess. I expect to be well paid. I’m in it for the money.”
    –Han Solo

As the first book-length adventure for the Star Wars®: Age of Rebellion™ Roleplaying Game, Onslaught at Arda I thrusts players’ characters into a rich and action-packed series of struggles against overwhelming Imperial forces. Your characters are likely to find themselves in more than one desperate situation, but if you maintain your courage, work together, and use your skills and blasters to good effect, you just might survive… and strike a massive blow against the Empire in the process.

In our last preview, we looked at how the vibrant settings and Mass Combat rules in Onslaught at Arda I help you envision your characters’ actions as integral parts of a larger, epic story – one that feels as though it truly deserves its place in the Star Wars universe alongside the classic movies.

Today, we continue to explore the place that Onslaught at Arda I might hold within the Star Wars universe and your Star Wars roleplaying campaigns.

The Rebellion’s secret base on Arda I.

Using Onslaught at Arda I with Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™

Back when we first announced the Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ Roleplaying Game, we explained that we believed the Star Wars universe was too large and too diverse to be treated properly within a single rulebook. Accordingly, Fantasy Flight Games has divided the Star Wars roleplaying experience into three separate, stand-alone roleplaying systems, each of which is fully cross-compatible. This is something that’s clearly evident in Onslaught at Arda I.

Even as it allows players to explore the galaxy as members of the Rebel Alliance, Onslaught at Arda I opens new avenues to characters who have been living on the fringes of the galaxy, ducking from the Empire, and trying to outrun their pasts in the Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ roleplaying game. This can mean that your Age of Rebellion character might exist alongside your friends’ Edge of the Empire characters, or it might mean that your Edge of the Empire character gains the opportunity to grow and mature, to give up his self-serving ways, and to fight for a cause that’s greater than himself.

Lead developer Katrina Ostrander shares more information on how you might carry your Edge of the Empire characters into Onslaught at Arda I:

“Just as Han Solo left his smuggling days behind him (mostly) and became a general in the Rebel Alliance, your characters from Edge of the Empire can join the fight against the evil Galactic Empire in Age of Rebellion. Onslaught at Arda I was designed with this in mind, and it provides Game Masters instructions to convert Edge of the Empire characters and integrate them into the adventure. The GM can even find instructions to custom tailor the adventure’s introduction to match the circumstances of the group’s arrival.

“Thanks to the cross-compatibility between the Star Wars roleplaying game lines, the conversion process is painless and primarily narrative in nature. The greatest challenge your scoundrels and spacers are likely to face is finding the inner strength to put their selfishness and survival instincts aside and learn to fight for something greater than themselves.

“Of course, Onslaught at Arda I offers plenty of opportunities to grow. GMs can test characters with a range of focused, optional encounters for each Duty type. If your GM includes these optional encounters, they will test your dedication to the cause, help you determine which Duty best suits your character’s skills and talents, and make the extent of your contributions known.

“Meanwhile, we listened to the fans who lauded the Obligation sidebars in Under a Black Sun and the subplot suggestions in Beyond the Rim, and we replicated that experience in Onslaught at Arda I. The adventure’s introduction helps the GM locate the appropriate Duty missions and their places in the book, as well as guidelines for incorporating motivation hooks to inspire additional roleplaying opportunities.

“Finally, your group’s Duty scores and contribution rank impact key interactions between your characters and the Rebel SecForce Commanders, rewarding groups who have displayed unwavering loyalty to the Alliance.”

Incorporating Onslaught at Arda I into an Ongoing Age of the Rebellion Campaign

Whether you’re playing raw recruits, converting characters from Edge of the Empire, or advancing your careers as veteran members of the Rebellion, your group will find plenty of ways to incorporate Onslaught at Arda I into an ongoing Age of Rebellion campaign.

For more about how you might link Onslaught at Arda I to other published or homebrewed adventures, we turn to lead developer Katrina Ostrander:

“Episode I begins at the hidden Rebel base on Arda I, and the detailed information provided about this base, as well as the surrounding area and NPCs, allows GMs to link the adventure to an ongoing campaign in any number of ways.

“GMs can deepen the Player Characters’ connections to the base’s support personnel and each other by completing missions in and around the Gordian Reach prior to the main story of the adventure. If one has not already run the scenarios in the Age of Rebellion Core Rulebook or Game Master’s Kit, either module can be launched from the Arda I base. The base also makes an excellent launching pad for any number of homebrewed missions.

“Even if the group plays through the adventure exactly as written, there are over a dozen fully detailed NPCs with whom the Player Characters may interact. These bring the Arda I base to life and deepen the impact of the betrayal they eventually suffer.

“Well after the main plot of the adventure is over, players and GMs will find further opportunities to assist the Rebels using the material found in this book. Whether they’re executing additional military sorties, recruiting help from the underworld, or rallying the population of a repressed Imperial world, the PCs have their work cut out for them. It can help to have a clear base of operations, though the task of rebuilding this base presents its own enormous set of challenges. If left unchecked, Imperial adversaries from the adventure and gazetteers will continue to threaten the sector, and it might once again fall to the group to mount a resistance.

“However the GM plans to extend the campaign, Onslaught at Arda I contains many exciting adventure seeds as the characters participate in their ongoing battle for the fate of the galaxy!”

All Hands on Deck!

Whether you intend to join the Rebellion for the first time or continue your ongoing service, Onslaught at Arda I offers more than a rich Age of Rebellion roleplaying experience; this first, book-length adventure for Age of Rebellion is a fantasy-filled Star Wars Roleplaying Game experience for characters of all backgrounds and species.

If you haven’t already pre-ordered your copy, head to your local retailer to do so today. Onslaught at Arda I is now scheduled to arrive in just a short couple of weeks. Imperial forces are already on their way!

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