Death Star Technical Companion by Bill Slavicsek "Fear will keep the local systems in line. Fear of this battle station." - Grand Moff Tarkin Death Star Technical Companion Design: Bill Slavicsek • Development and Editing: Bill Smith Graphics: Stephen Crane, John Paul Lona • Maps and Diagrams: Rob Caswell, Stephen Crane, Cathleen Hunter, John Paul Lona Cover Art: Lucasfilm, Ltd. • Interior Art: Lucasfilm, Ltd., John Paul Lona Publisher: Daniel Scott Palter. Associate Publisher: Richard Hawran Editors: Greg Farshtey, Bill Smith, Ed Stark. Art Director: Stephen Crane Graphic Artists: Cathleen Hunter, John Paul Lona • Illustrator: Allen Nunis Production Manager: Steve Porpura • Sales Manager: Fitzroy Bonterre Sales Assistant: Maria Kammeier-Kean • Administrative Assistant: Jeff Dennis Special Projects Manager: Ron Seiden· Warehouse Manager: Ed Hill • Treasurer: Janet Riccio Published by t~E, RD3 Box 2345 Honesdale PA 18431 40008 (Ii), 1\1 and 1991 Lucasfilm, Ltd. (LFL), All Rights Reserved. Trademarks of LFL used by West End Games under authorization. ~u~e~a~th~S~ta~r~1e~C!h~n~lc~a~I~c..~O~m~p~a!:!n~IO~n~:.!'!ln~tr~o~d~u~c~t~io~n.:=====================::;W:'~,~ _Introduction Han Solo, at the helm of the Millennium Falcon, Alliance spies and hidden within a simple closed the distance between his craft and the astromech Droid - plans which laid the founda­ escaping TIE fighter. "We'll be on top of him in a tion for Skywalker's amazing shot. Second, there minute or two," Solo informed his passengers. were Tarkin's own journals, a few of which made "He's heading for that small moon," Luke their way into Alliance hands. Finally, there was SkywaIker declared. testimony delivered by eyewitnesses - among As they flew nearer, craters and mountains on them Admiral Ackbar (who once served as the moon became visible. Yet there was some­ Tarkin's slave) and the heroes ofYavin, who not thing odd about the;n. The craters were far too only managed to escape from the belly of the regular in outline, the mountains far too vertical. beast, but played an integral role in its final There were canyons and valleys which appeared destruction. impossibly straight. The surface was much too These sources were pieced together by a spe­ regularized to be attributed to natural formation. cial team of Alliance researchers in order to 'That's no moon," Ben Kenobi breathed softly. prepare Rebel forces for battle against other "That's a space station." weapons in the Empire's arsenal - the similar "It can't be a space station," Solo objected. torpedo spheres, and the inevitable appearance "It's too big. It can't .be artificial ..." of other Death Stars. This volume summarizes "I have a very bad feeling about this," Luke the final report to Alliance command. said. This Technical Companion *** No single volume, no matter how large, could hope to detail every meter of a craft the size and It was 1977, and movie audiences shared the scope of the Death Star, and we won't pretend first view of the awe-inspiring Death Star battle that this book even comes close. It does, how­ stationwith Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Ben Kenobi ever, provide enough about the battle station to and Chewbacca. Throughout the film we learned give you a sense of its size and power. And it a few keys facts about the Death Star. It was huge, provides a variety of personalities and settings cavernous within its armored shell, full of wind­ for use with Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. ing corridors, bottomless shafts, and unending The Death Star was organized both by physi­ lines of deadly stormtroopers. Its surface, mean­ cal location and function. Physically, it was sliced while, was covered with mountainous towers, into 24 equal zones, each one running from the deep trenches, and gaping holes leading into equator to a pole. Each zone was divided into a giant hangar bays. But perhaps its most awe­ number of "city sprawls" that were complete somefeature was its superlasercannon, a weapon communities. The city sprawls were dependent which destroyed the planetAlderaan with a single upon each other for many specialized services, shot before our stunned senses could contem­ but they also were sophisticated enough to pro­ plate such destructive force. No wonder Tarkin vide an essential services for themselves. saw it as the cornerstone of his doctrine of fear. The Death Star was also broken down into Before we could learn more about this techno­ several sectors, which were responsible for pro­ logical terror, Luke Skywalkerfired theshot heard vidingcertain kinds ofservices tothecitysprawls. around the galaxy. The Death Starwas destroyed. Each of these sectors - comm~nd, general, mili­ A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, how­ tary, security, and service/technical-were rep­ ever, select pieces of information survived. First, resented in each citysprawl. Atypical citysprawl there were the technical read-outs stolen by 4 ~,=~I!~======================.~D~e~a!Et!2h";S~ta~r~T~e~c2h~n~j~c~al~C~o~m~p~a~n~io~n!2;.:!!Jn~t~r~o~d~u~c~ti~o~n was dominated by the general sector, including detail a small section of the massive Death Star troop barracks, mess halls, recreation facilities within these pages, areas with similar functions and endless corridors. However, each general will be very similar in design. In other words, one sector would have at least a small detention area hangar baylooks like anyother hangar bayaboard (security sector), a command center to relay the battle station. information on to the zone's bridge (command As a whole, this book should make a fine sector), a turbolaser for defense (military sec­ iHlditioIl to the libraries of Star Wars fans every­ tor), several maintenance areas and at least one where, and as an added bonus it includes much shuttle hangar bay. that can be incorporated into sessions of Star In addition to the typical sprawls, each zone Wars: The Roleplaying Game. had several sprawls dedicated to detailed sector functions such as high-security detention areas, Using this Volume with Star superlaser support sectors, or zone/sector com­ Wars: The Roleplaying Game mand, for example. These sprawls were not as common as the sprawls dominated by the gen­ To players of the Star Wars roleplaying game, eral sector, but they were also responsible for we can hear your questions already. How can we the smooth operation of the battle station. use this in our campaigns? Wasn't the first Death This book describes each sector, and pro­ Star destroyed? Don't Luke, Han and Lando de­ vides information on the coordination of sectors stroy the second one over Endor's moon? Well, within individual city sprawls and hangar bay yes. However, this book still has many applica­ areas. Each sector description includes location tions to Star Wars campaigns. notes, maps of typical and specialized areas within The Empire has gone to great effort and ex­ the sector, descriptions and scenario ideas, crew pensetodevelop the technologyof thesuperlaser. details and missions, and other important infor­ It's conceivable that this technology could easily mation. At the end of the book, we've collected all be applied to other weapon systems. While the of the crew and Droid game statistics for easy Death Star is certainlyan overwhelming obstacle reference. to throw at a group of players, the Imperial war Keep in mind that the Empire is a master of machine would certainly not be adverse to scal- modular technology design. While we may only 5 ~D~e~a!i!th~S~ta~r~T~e~ci.!:h~n~ic~a~I~C~o~m~p~a!:!nlSio~nl:.!J~n!lt~ro~d~U~C5lt~io~n~=====================:W='~'== ing down the superlaser technology, perhaps for also the possibility that the rumors have been use as part of a unique space platform. The planted by Imperial spies to root out Rebel gigantic Torpedo Spheres are based on the plans sympathisers. from the original Death Star, even though they Also, the Empire is known for its factory­ are smaller and lack the energy generators to stamped equipment. Every TIE is cast from the power a superlaser weapon. same mold, and so is every detention block. So, if In addition to the physical presence of such a you need an Imperial detention block or a com­ weapon, the mere threat of the appearance of a mand bridge or even a turbolift cluster, just use new weapon of this magnitude could provide the the examples found in this book. Remember, plot threads for several adventures. While Star though, that the Death Star has some of the best Wars: A New Hope begins in media res (Latin for trained Imperial soldiers and technicians in the "in the middle of things"), the opening crawl galaxy. If you use its detention block as a model points out that Rebel spies somehow stole the for the prison camp on Ferros VI, you'll have to plans to the Death Star (we now know it was the adjust game stats to match your view of that mission that rescued Ackbar from Grand Moff particular planet. They could have as highly pro­ Tarkin). fessional wardens as the Death Star does, or they In your campaign, it's very likely that the could have frontier types trying hard to follow characters will hear about rumors of a new and the Imperial codes but falling far short of the powerful superlaser weapon and will be the only mark. Rebels in a position to investigate. The charac­ In other words, be creative and inventive. ters then have to be the crafty spies who are That's what Star Wars and roleplaying games are willing to die for the Alliance.