The Cordan Conflict - Guide Pirates of Drinax

These articles are intended for game masters. If you are players and you know you are going to play the campaign stop reading and pass this on to your gamemaster

Background

I will always explain the background of the existing adventures in a very brief way, since if you have the book you will have all the information. This will always be there in case there is someone who does not have the book and wants to see if it is worth it.

The planet Cordan, located in The Borderland subsector and on one of the Empire's trade routes with the Hierate. The world is divided between three barons, Lux (patron of the players), Fero, and Halley. The situation on the planet is quite tense and Baroness Lux wants to take advantage of this to start a conflict between the other two barons.

Engagement

The hiring that the book gives us is quite interesting. Players are given a package of medicine to deliver to the planet, and the Baroness will meet them. If you don't like it, we can consider the following options. If the players have obtained a shipment of weapons and want to sell it, send them to Cordan to begin relations with Baroness Lux. If you don't like these options or haven't gotten a weapon shipment, the quest can come from Princess Rao. Both princes of Drinax can give a lot of game, but we will see it in more depth in the guide.

The Murder

The goal Baroness Lux gives them is simple. They have to assassinate an official, a corrupt tax collector. She will give them the route to follow. I gave my players the option of being able to assault it en route or in one of the towns. They decided to assault him on the way. Here I would let the players improvise on both options. Whether they succeed in killing him or not, the conflict will begin.

The Conflict

In the mission chapter itself they give us ideas to lead the conflict. I am going to develop and expand them. They don't give us a map of the planet and they don't give us much information about the capabilities of the different Barons' armed forces. The planet is quite wide, I made a mental map where the astroport was in the center and the different baronies around it. I also made up my mind that all the important towns and outposts were less than a day's drive from each other at full speed. With that idea I developed the armed forces. Baron Halley has the most quality troops and the best equipment. Fero has a large number of troops and artillery. Baroness Lux starts out with practically nothing, but her troops are loyal and willing to die for her. From the very beginning, I showed the players that the Baroness was a strong and wise leader. She did everything she did for the planet and its people. In my head, due to the distances she had shuffled and what the book gives us, I imagined them as completely motorized forces. The paramilitary units of the barons are equipped with armored vehicles with heavy weapons, including some tankettes. While the militia units would go in the typical pickup and motorcycles. In short, I wanted it to be a war of movements and that the players never felt safe. You should give information about the conflict through newspapers, radios, etc. Let the players sit in a world at war. Let them see that at first they are mere skirmishes between a few combatants and as the days go by they notice the destruction, abandoned or razed villages, hospitals full of wounded, destroyed vehicles on the highway with graves nearby, etc.

Assault on the baroness's palace

One of the things that was clear to me was that players would never feel safe and feel that they were on a planet at war, or one that was going to break out. When the players go to report to the baroness they will find out that the first clashes have occurred, nothing serious, but note that instability has been created. Many of the towns support the assassination of the official, precisely those that are close to the baroness's border. As they dine with the baroness, she informs them of her plans, she wants to lay low and let the other barons kill each other. Once both are weakened, she will attack them both and take full control. They don't expect the palace to be attacked (here you can decide which baron is going to attack, in my case it was Halley). The formation will be made up of two vehicles (with 6 paramilitaries in each one) and a repulsorlift (which will provide fire support). They have managed to infiltrate and head to the palace at full speed. While talking to the baroness they will start to hear explosions and gunshots (the small formation has broken the baroness's defensive line) Before they know what is happening, a vehicle will crash through the door and they will start releasing smoke grenades (apply a -2 to combat throughout the palace). Let's stop to see the palace, when I was planning this fight I imagined the typical double staircase that goes up to an upper floor, which would be precisely where the players are having dinner.

Players will have cover by being on top. That will be the only advantage they will have. The soldiers will get out of the vehicles and start shooting at anything that moves (they have devices to see through the smoke) This encounter is not intended for players to win but for them to see that they are vulnerable. The main mission is to protect the Baroness and evacuate her from there, in case they stay fighting, the Baroness and her bodyguard will flee through a side door, prompting the players to follow her. Once they get out of the palace, the baroness's reinforcements will arrive and engage the attackers. The repulsor is the only vehicle that will get away.

Here the baroness will realize that her plan has, in part, blown up in her face. She apart from offering to be part of the Kingdom of Drinax and she will offer the players some land on the planet. If the players say no, Cordan's conflict will end with the Baroness's defeat and whoever takes control will want nothing to do with Drinax and they will have lost this planet forever. If the players accept we have two paths to follow depending on the group. If they are good fighters or if they are not fighters. Let's see the non-combatants first (the one my group followed)

Baroness Agents

Stealth and infiltration missions will prevail here. Although there is also room for combat. Players will almost never be on the front lines where there are massive battles, but instead work behind enemy lines or on support missions.

-The Town

One of the towns closest to the border has risen up against their baron in the hope of joining the baroness's side, they tried to storm the police station but were repelled and casualties occurred. This town has a strategic position as it is a crossroads and also has a small arsenal, which would not hurt the baroness's forces. Players will be deployed in the town alongside a squad of paramilitary troops. The paramilitary troops will be in charge of organizing the population to attack the police station. The players' mission is as follows: they must infiltrate the police station, destroy the communications room and assassinate the garrison commander. They will give you an explosive to destroy the room and it will also serve as a signal to start the assault.

One of the best ways to enter the police station is through the sewers, as the nearby streets are protected by barricades. The exit from the sewers leads to the parking lot of the police station (under the open sky) to your left will be the police station and to the right the weapons store. In the courtyard there are half a dozen vehicles and a couple of guards patrolling (almost everyone else is in the surrounding streets). In the police station there will be a dozen militiamen and the paramilitary in charge of directing them. The communications room is on the second floor, in this room there will be the officer and a militiaman. Once they're dispatched and before they detonate the explosive, have them make a recon roll. If someone guesses right, they'll notice a tablet in a secluded spot (have them give it to the baroness, we'll see what's in it later) Once the room blows up, players can either go back the way they came or try to take over the police station while awaiting the arrival of reinforcements.

-The Shipment

A shipment of weapons is waiting at the starport. The starport is considered neutral territory and is closed to land traffic. You must enter with a visa and all cargo will be checked to see that it does not contain war material. Here we have two options, let the players take care of dealing with these problems or tell them that a contact of the baroness has taken care of it and they will not check the truck. Be that as it may, this part of the quest shouldn't be too difficult for the players, that comes now...


Someone has tipped off said shipment and a detachment of one of the barons will be waiting for the players to get out with the truck. The players will arrive in a normal car (so as not to attract attention, although they may be armed) Here I wanted to give it a comical touch, since when they left they saw two vehicles and two dozen motorcycles on the other side of the fence waiting and moving at the same speed as them but on the other side of the fence. Those on motorcycles will be militiamen and those on paramilitary vehicles. The objective is for the bikers to try to unhook the trailer to keep the cargo or eliminate the players. The road is a straight line and you will spend quite some time driving on it, throw at the motorists and let the vehicles follow you. Make opposed driving rolls(the bikers will have an extra +2 to their roll) and let your players entertain themselves by knocking them down, when you see that the end is nearing, let the vehicles go into action(it would not be a bad idea for the players and NPCs had a -1 or -2 when shooting while driving). This mission has to put players on edge, but I designed it to introduce some kind of chase. My players really enjoyed them. At first they were scared, but they realized that they fell easily. If you see that your players have bad equipment, give them a weapon or armor as a reward.

-Ellaton's Cannons

Ellaton is a city that is located in a strategic point, since it allows to cross one of the key rivers of the planet. It belongs to Baron Halley, but to enter you have to cross a narrow bridge. The main gate is on Baron Fero's side. The baroness wants this siege to last as long as possible, because both combatants will commit much of their resources. Baron Fero is the one with the most artillery on the planet, he is very proud of two of his siege pieces, they are the only ones that can destroy the bridge that connects with the city. The Baroness wants you to infiltrate the camp and disable both cannons. They will be given two explosive charges that they must put in their cannons and activate them, they have a timer.

Reaching the enemy camp can be easily reached, especially if traveling at night. I recommend that this mission be done at night. Crossing the river is complicated, it is a quite mighty river. The baroness can give you equipment to cross it without making too much noise, what's more, they have already selected the safest place to cross. When crossing the river they will have to climb a small cliff of 3 meters. They will be far from the defensive pickets but close to the base. Here you can already decide what to do, a road is a couple of meters away. They can take over a vehicle and try to enter or infiltrate the base on foot. The cannon positions are easy to locate, they are at both ends of the camp. In this mission it was clear that the tension was the main thing, since they can be discovered at any time. I have created a list of events that can happen while players are in the camp.

1. Exit of the troops of the besieged troops: From the walls they will begin to open fire towards the camp while a small force goes out towards the enemy camp to destroy the artillery. This can be a boon to players if things get sticky, as it will create chaos throughout the camp.

2. Airstrike: Several of Baron Halley's repulsorlifters have made a lightning attack destroying a powder keg in the camp. Players feel the ground begin to shake and a huge explosion occurs. All the members of the camp will wake up and go to help in the extinction and with the wounded.

3. The officer: A drunken officer comes out of a store surprising the players and inviting them to play cards, thinking they are soldiers on his side. How will they react?

Once they have the explosives planted he will have to flee. The safest thing is to go back the way they came, but if they are in a hurry they can steal a vehicle and you will have to improvise a chase. Running out of cannons, the siege of the city will drag on indefinitely and will have to be taken the old-fashioned way. It will become a meat grinder for both sides.

-The Psionic

The Baroness's intelligence officers have gained access to the tablet and found disturbing news. One of Baron Halley's military advisers is a member of the Zhodani Consulate's military (the empire already knew that this baron had contacted the consulate), the baroness has made an agreement with the Third Empire. If she delivers the psionic alive she will give him material to win the war and take care of Baron Fero. So our players will have to go behind enemy lines.

In this period of the war there are quite a few refugees, since the skirmishes have turned into battles. My players took advantage of this to go to the target city, they would go completely unarmed and a contact from the Baroness would give them weapons (SMGs and stun guns) and a getaway vehicle.

When they get to the city and start gathering information they will realize that he is a very secretive person and everyone believes that he is a foreign adviser to the Third Empire. He hardly ever leaves the HQ except to dine at his favorite restaurant. He is always accompanied by an officer, his driver and two escorts who wait outside, guarding the front door. The players have many ways to deal with it, I'm not going to put anything because each group is a world, let them improvise. The restaurant has a rear setting that overlooks an alley. One of the adjacent buildings is a garage, where your getaway vehicle will be waiting for you.

-The Final

When you take the Psionic to the Baroness's Palace there will be an Imperial detachment waiting for them and they will take over the objective. The commanding officer reports that tomorrow will be the last day of the war and he will have what was promised. The empire will give the baroness 6 helicopters (in my game it was helicopters because one of the players was pretty good at piloting them, he uses whatever vehicle you see fit). Players will lead the assault on Halley's palace. Those who do not know how to pilot will be able to handle the machine guns or other devices of the same. The goal of the players is to land a large part of the baroness's elite forces in the palace of her rival. Being a motorized war, with hardly any aerial vehicles, anti-aircraft weapons are conspicuous by their absence. Landing in the main courtyard will take small arms fire, shouldn't be much of a nuisance. Returning to the baroness's palace, your job will be done.

The empire will deal with the other baron, a detachment of his forces will enter his palace. They know that his people are not happy with him due to military defeats. So they will offer you two options, a bullet or exile. Before this decision roll a D6 from 1 to 3 will be the bullet from 4 to 6 the exile. We will see the consequences at the end of the article after talking about the missions for the groups where the military prevail.

Military Advisors

This serie of adventures are designed for a group where characters who have passed through the armed forces and are good fighters prevail. They will participate in the main operations of the war and lead groups of soldiers.

-The Town

After the attack on the mansion, the baroness realizes that the conflict is going to escalate quickly and decides to call up her men. One of the towns near the border can serve as a stronghold when entering enemy territory. Players will be assigned a force of 55 men (50 militiamen and 5 paramilitaries who will serve as squad leaders), several vehicles (2 of them armored and equipped with heavy machine guns) and command equipment (radios, binoculars, communicators, etc. .) His goal is to gain control of said town. When you reach the surroundings you should ask him for a chained roll of reconnaissance + tactics (so you can inform them about the terrain and the weak points) The town has a garrison of 30 militiamen and two paramilitaries. They have begun to fortify the town with the help of the inhabitants. A couple of machine gun nests are visible in the buildings and barricades are starting to be built. An armored vehicle armed with a rocket launcher guards the main entrance.

The players have several ways to deal with the taking of the town. A frontal attack would be the quickest option, but they can take quite a few casualties. Another option would be to attack it from the flanks, it would take a little longer, but it would take them by surprise, since all the defensive positions are located on the road that leads to the baroness's domain. Taking the town and examining the command post they will realize that a force of 60 men will arrive in a few hours as reinforcement. The baroness will order them to defend the position and send reinforcements. Here the players will suffer the decision they have made, since if they chose the frontal assault they will have had a high number of dead and wounded (about 20 men compared to the 8 they would have had with the flanking assault). Examining enemy vehicles will reveal mines, explosives, and more heavy weaponry. Let them improvise whatever defenses they want. The enemy attack will occur at sunset. The attack will be carried out by paramilitary troops, depending on how difficult you want to make it for your players, choose the number. During the combat, the paramilitaries will reach the first houses of the town. When players are desperate and taste defeat, reinforcements will appear led by the Baroness herself.

-The Convoy

Thanks to the capture of the town, a good base of operations has been achieved to enter enemy territory. The Baroness's spies have learned that a large enemy convoy is headed for Ellaton. The mission is to capture it or destroy it. They don't know the composition, but they do know the route it will take. When players view the route they will see two key locations. A huge bridge and a densely wooded area. If any of the players has the explosives ability he will be able to destroy the bridge with ease. The baroness will see to providing you with the explosives. If you don't have anyone with explosives or you don't think it's a good idea, she'll have to do it the old-fashioned way. The combat group of the players will have replenished the casualties with paramilitary units and improved their weapons and vehicles (this will depend on how the fighting in the town has gone)

The convoy is made up of 3 armored vehicles and 6 motorists that will lead, 8 transport vehicles (loaded with all kinds of weapons and ammunition) that will go in the middle, and a tank and two vehicles that will bring up the rear. If they decide to attack on the bridge, the convoy will be escorted by a repulsorlift. The more transport vehicles you capture, the better equipped your force and the Baroness's troops will be in subsequent battles. Thanks to this action Ellatron will fall in a few days

-The Fall of Ellatron

Ellatron has fallen into the hands of Baron Fero and Baron Halley has begun barricading himself in his palace. The Baroness has a plan, if she manages to defeat this contingent of Baron Fero she will knock her forces out of the game and get field artillery to assault Baron Halley. Players will take part in the biggest offensive in war so far. Much of the baroness's forces will participate and the fate of the war will be decided.

The players have a clear mission. Assault the right flank of Baron Fero's camp and seize one of his siege cannons and powder keg. If you have captured enough transport trucks in the previous mission, you will already have a practically elite force, and the baroness has expanded her force to 100 militiamen and 50 paramilitaries. The attack will be a frontal assault, taking Fero's men off guard. Many detachments are inside the city securing it. Vehicles will charge towards enemy positions while taking all kinds of fire. Upon reaching the enemy positions, they will disembark and will have to secure positions and stretches of trench until they reach their objectives. The longer they take, the more reinforcements will pour out of the city to protect the camp, plus the troops stationed on the walls will fire with their heavy weapons.

The people have never liked Baron Fero and upon hearing of his defeat his troops will rise up against him, capture him and kill him. Many of the remaining forces will join the Baroness. One of the adversaries has fallen, now it's time to finish off the other.

-Assault on Baron Halley's palace

Baron Halley has not been idle and has built a large number of defenses around his palace. He is smart and has nullified the ability to move and use vehicles, the assault will have to be carried out on foot. Imagine the situation as an advance through no man's land during the first world war. Behind this no man's land is a line of trenches and behind these the wall that defends the palace. The baroness's forces have been shelling enemy positions for hours and have managed to open several holes in the wall. The players and their elite force will attack the main breach, after which they must enter the palace and finish off the baron. While they attack the main breach, other units will attack the minor breaches.

The advance through no man's land will be bloody, as they will not only have to withstand enemy fire, but will discover that the area is full of traps. After their advance through no man's land, they will have to clear the trench of enemy troops.

As they pass through the breach they will find that several of the Baroness's units have managed to enter and secure the courtyard, though there will be gunfire from the windows. Including the Baron's shots, he is an excellent marksman. They will have to secure the ground floor of the mansion (they will not encounter much resistance) and go up to the upper floors. On the top floor you will find the Baron, a Psion from the Zhodani Consulate, and his elite personal guard. It will be quite a tough fight and some of the player characters may be killed or seriously injured. By eliminating the baron, Cordan's conflict will be over and the rest of his forces will surrender.

The end of the conflict

Regardless of which path they followed, players will have achieved Baroness Lux's victory. Aside from the promised rewards, they will become honorary citizens and receive the highest military decoration. Upon leaving the planet, an elite force will escort them to the starport and bid them farewell as heroes of the country.

Other possibilities

As you have seen, I offer you two very solid lines to follow that will give you hours of fun, but they are intended to be played as adventures to get the planet for the king of Drinax, although they can also be used if your players play in the sector. But Cordan can be used as a campaign setting without much difficulty. If you want a campaign with a large war component, this is a good opportunity. Players can be mercenaries hired by one of the barons as advisors. You create a map of the planet (when we see the guide to The Pirates of Drinax I will show you the different tools) you assign strategic objectives, cities, the 3 baronies and their territories, bridges, etc. You create some system of points for conquering or fulfilling objectives (I would approach it as a sandbox campaign) and you have a campaign that can last for months and with a multitude of combats and different options.

All the best,


Josue