Korriban: Planet of Lost Souls

Part 4: The Sith Shall Rise Again

This pair of short log entries from the lost ship Jynni's Virtue, authenticated by Academy experts, features not the voice of Naz Felyood but instead that of his first mate, the Twi'lek female Babbnod Luroon. The date stamp indicates the recording was made five months after planet fall, but as heard in earlier tapes, Luroon claims the time since the ship crashed on Korriban had been much shorter.

Archivist's note: The case holding this log tape also contained a small ring of traditional Twi'lek design and had somehow sustained considerable acid damage.

Jynni's Virtue Ship's Log

The Captain's been gone for three days, and I've officially called off the search. We can't do any [DAMAGE] and the attacks have gotten more frequent. Still can't tell where they're coming from without risking losing another one of the crew, and I'm not willing to do that. It's bad enough we've lost the Captain, Sev, and Derec. And Nrross. Sweet, stupid Nrross. I shouldn't say this on the log, but I don't care anymore -- if the Captain comes back, I might kill him myself. [DAMAGE] believe he didn't tell me how long it had been since he'd restocked the ship's emergency rations. [Sound of pounding from outside the ship] I'll continue this later. Sounds like they're making another run on the [DAMAGE]

[DAMAGE] should have to die that way [DAMAGE] torn apart. Then they got right back up and joined the attackers. [DAMAGE] can no longer believe we are going to survive this. The dead walk [DAMAGE]

We're down to a pair of blaster rifles at half charge. I've given them to Churl and Rutigar and put them on sniper duty, but from the sound of things, they're going through the charges fast.

Jynni's Virtue Ship's Log, Additional

[DAMAGE] ordered Deksi to see if he can rig the generator to blow the ship's engines. If we're not getting off this rock, no one is. Felyood was a fool. This place hasn't got any treasure. These things attacking us -- at first, we thought they were some kind of natives, but they're not. This sounds insane, but [DAMAGE] dead, but they don't seem to know it yet. The reason I know they're dead? Because I saw Sev and Derec out there. Sev's arm was gone, and half his face looked chewed away, but on he came, trying to take my head off with a rusty sword. Derec was in a little better shape, but nothing living should have been walking around with a hole that big in his gut. The blaster bolts I spent putting them down were well spent.

A shot to the head seems to be the only [DAMAGE] and Rutigar are dead. I took their heads with a vibroblade before they could get back up. I've left Deksi and Bunk to finish rigging our little surprise, and I'm going topside to see if I can hold them off. One way or another, this is going to [DAMAGE]

Game Notes: Korriban Zombie

The legacy of Dathka Graush, the ghoulish "zombies" encountered by the crew of Jynni's Virtue, are the result of Graush's experiments in Sith sorcery and the dizzying amount of raw material (corpses) to work with. They lay dormant until disturbed by Captain Felyood's theft of Graush's Heart. Unlike simple Sith spirits of possession, Korriban zombies can spread like a disease thanks to a ravenous appetite for living, sentient flesh. Fortunately for the galaxy at large, even Emperor Palpatine never learned the secrets of their creation, so for now these Sith ghouls are confined to the tombworld.

Curiously, the Jedi researchers that found the logs of the Virtue found no evidence of zombie activity. But since they also found no sign of Graush's Heart, the return of his Korriban zombie army is a danger to anyone who sets foot on that world.

The zombie presented here carries no weapon. Gamemasters can arm zombies with any simple weapons, blasters, or Sith weapons they deem appropriate to the adventure. Former species, sex, and class are irrelevant to a Korriban zombie except for determining Weapon Proficiencies.

Species Traits

Plague: A successful bite attack infects the victim with Sith alchemical elements that cause transformation into a Korriban zombie within 4d6 rounds, unless the bitten character makes a Fortitude save against DC 20. If the bitten character saves, each additional bite adds +2 to the DC, to a maximum of 30. There is no known cure, but there is also no record of Graush's sorcery affecting nonsentients, so that galaxy may be spared the horrifying possibility of, say, a zombie rancor.

Undead: A Korriban zombie functions normally even when it suffers enough damage to reduce it to zero wounds. The only way to put one down for good is a critical hit (GMs are encouraged to make the critical hit a "head shot").

Terrifying Presence: The Korriban Sith zombie has an extremely fierce, intimidating presence; its opponents often freeze in fear. When the zombie first attacks, it can make an Intimidate check as a free action to attempt to awe its opponent. The DC for this check is 15 plus the level of the opponent. If the check is successful, the opponent must make a Will save (DC 15). If the opponent fails, he may only take a move action or attack action on his next turn. If the opponent fails his save by 10 or more, he cowers. (A cowering character loses his Dexterity bonus and may not take an action on his next turn. Foes gain a +2 bonus on attack rolls for hitting cowering opponents; see the Star Wars Roleplaying Game revised core rulebook for details) The opponent continues to cower until he makes a Will save (DC 10), which he may attempt once per round. A creature may only make one free Intimidate check in a given encounter.

Korriban Sith Zombie: Medium-sized Humanoid Predator 9; Init +2 (-2 Dex, +4 Improved Initiative); Defense 14 (+6 supernatural, -2 Dex), touch 8, flat-footed 14; Spd 6 m, climb 4 m; VP/WP -/18; Atk +16/+11 melee (1d3+6, special, bite) or +15/+10 melee (1d3+6, two claws) or +7/+2 ranged; SQ Species traits, darkvision; SV Fort +10, Ref +4, Will +4; Face/Reach 2 m by 2 m/2 m; FP 0; DSP 20; Rep +1; Str 22, Dex 6, Con 18, Int 3, Wis 13, Cha 10. Challenge Code D.

Skills: Climb +14, Intimidate +12, Spot +9.

Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (bite), Power Attack.

Coming in Part Five of "Korriban: Planet of Lost Souls"

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In our latest free miniadventure, Luke Skywalker wants your heroes to stop a rogue Jedi from launching a "surgical strike" against the hated Empire. Has Master Skywalker's former student been seduced by the dark side?