Bounty Postings 5 Scum and Villainy

Meekah Hozard, Leader of the Blood Tachs

Scum and Villainy brings the Saga Edition rules to the fringes of society, introducing new rules and information on smugglers, bounty hunters, crime lords, and anyone else who lives outside the law. Our latest series of articles gives you a variety of targets from that walk of life to use in your adventures. You can work them into your game as scum, as villains, or as unfortunates who happen to be on the run from such types.

History

Meekah Hozard, a Duros, grew up in the desperate slums of the planet Taris, where daily life was a struggle. The toxic environment, grinding poverty, and roving bands of street thugs meant that only the toughest, smartest, or quickest could survive. Meekah fell into the latter category, with highly tuned reflexes that allowed him to avoid the worst the Undercity could offer. The Humans of Taris were cruel and domineering, and the wealthiest of them would often come to the Undercity to harass, beat, and even murder the other species found there.

Although he avoided such encounters where possible, Meekah was discovered by a pack of rich Human adolescents who chased him through the urban maze on their speeder bikes. Cornered, Meekah feigned being hurt and leaped on the leader of the group, killing him with a makeshift knife that he had kept hidden. The rest of the pack ran, but Meekah grabbed the leader's speeder and chased after the survivors, killing three more. Meekah gathered up the abandoned speeders and created his own gang -- the Blood Tachs -- made up of tough, violent non-Human youths.

Over the years, the Blood Tachs grew in size and notoriety until they were easily the most feared gang around. At first they focused their ire on Humans who dared to enter the Undercity, but eventually they took their banditry to the upper levels, terrorizing civilians, hijacking expensive airspeeders, and stealing parts from workshops. After a while, various authority figures grew tired of the numerous raids and high body count, and a bounty was placed on Meekah's head. If security personnel couldn't bring down the swoop gang leader, then maybe other professional hunters could take him out.

Psych Profile

Meekah is cunning and wily, with a keen predatory instinct for survival. He has a notoriously bad temper that quickly flares into violence when he is provoked, threatened, or even insulted (whether the insult is real or imagined). After years of oppression and abuse at the hands of Humans, Meekah saves the worst of his depravations for them. His wanton killing and pillaging has put him beyond redemption, and he sees himself as a bandit king, bringing death and destruction down on the rich and/or innocent alike.

Meekah Hozard by Era

Depending on when your campaign takes place, you can include Meekah Hozard in your adventures in a number of ways.

Knights of the Old Republic: Meekah fits right into this era and could come from any planet with a large urban sprawl, such as Coruscant, Nar Shaddaa, or Taris. Although not particularly interested in competing for fame or glory, Meekah could be found working the swoop racing circuit, along with his gang, taking on young blood looking for their break.

Rise of the Empire: The Separatists hire Meekah and the Blood Tachs to raid Republic facilities and supply convoys, murder targets, and otherwise be a thorn in the side of the Republic.

Rebellion Era: In this era, Meekah changes little, attacking members of the Empire or Rebellion at his leisure. For the right price, he'll do dirty work for either group, but he's just as likely to turn on the person making the bribe if he feels that he could get a better deal.

The New Jedi Order: Meekah thrives in the turmoil of this era, and his swoop gang could grow to a veritable army if located on a planet with a weak government or low security presence. On the upside, Meekah probably spends as much time fighting or avoiding the Yuuzhan Vong as the heroes do.

Adventure Seeds

Here are some ways to incorporate Meekah Hozard into your adventures.

Swoop gangs can be found on almost any planet, and so can Meekah. It's not too much of a stretch to have Meekah and his gang living as bandits on a desert planet or scouting the trade lanes of other backwater worlds, looking for easy prey. His hatred of Humans means that he's drawn to cities and planets with large populations of this species -- the more prey, the better.

The heroes are hired as bodyguards for a Human ambassador who must travel into the depths of the Undercity on a mission. They come across a huge accident involving a derailed maglev train. As they try to navigate this hazard, Meekah and his crew attack, having caused the accident to lure unsuspecting victims and block traffic to make their assault easier.

Hired to infiltrate the Blood Tachs, the heroes pose as potential members to gain Meekah's trust. Always cautious, the Duros leader is rarely without an overwhelming number of his gang around, making a straight attack suicide. The heroes must pass several tests to prove their skill on speeder bikes and their willingness to perform violence and thuggery. If they put up a clever ruse and turn a blind eye to the acts they are ordered to perform, they might be able to get Meekah alone just long enough to capture him.

Saga Edition Statistics

Meekah Hozard

CL 10

Medium Duros scout 3/scoundrel 7
Force 2; Dark Side 10
Init +19; Senses Perception +10
Languages Basic, Durese, Bothese

* If you have Threats of the Galaxy, you can give Meekah a modified R-2000 Raptor speeder bike (page 98) instead.

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About the Author

Eric Cagle cut his teeth at Wizards of the Coast but now lives the extravagant freelancer lifestyle. Look for his name on everything from Dungeons & Dragons to d20 Modern and Star Wars products. Recent credits include the Grimm roleplaying game, Tome of Salvation, and Hollow Earth Expedition. Eric is currently the Managing Editor for No Quarter Magazine. He lives in Seattle, where the coffee is dark and bitter -- like his goddesses.