Yora
2018-06-07, 06:49 AM
I want to start a new game in two months using the REUP edition of the Star Wars d6 system, set in a slightly altered timeline 25 years after Knights of the Old Republic. I already got some solid ideas and would love to hear what others think of it so far and how I might expand on it before the campaign starts.
The Setting
The Republic fleet send to destroy the Star Forge never returned and soon rumors spread that Darth Malak had been replaced by Darth Revan. However, Revan's rule didn't last long and he was presumably killed during his failed invasion of the Republic when his ship was destroyed in battle. The remaining fleet immediately retreated back into Sith Space. Various Sith lords started to fight among each other but also destroyed the Jedi Academy on Dantooine. Neither the Republic nor the Jedi were in any shape to invade and destroy the remnants of the Sith Empire, but over the years news spread of a new Sith Empress who has taken charge of the Sith Fleets and worlds, and that she is focusing more on fortifying her domain than expanding it, at least for now.
If you are using the map of the galaxy, there are really only three interesting regions: Sith Space with Korriban, Yavin, Mandalore, and Kashyyyk; the Core with Corruscant, Corellia, Duro, and Alderaan; and Trade Federation Space with Tattooine, Ryloyth, Rodia, and Sullust. I'm obviously focusing on the most interesting worlds around Sith Space.
The main worlds of the Sith Empire are the capital Ord Radama, the main trade hub Toprawa, Ruuria with its great universities, the restored ancient Sith shipyards at Ch'hodos, and of course the tomb world Korriban. Yavin and Felucia are also within the territory of the Sith Empire but considered irrelevant wilderness, and the Empress is still working on restoring the valuable farm world Telos 4 that Darth Malak had needlessly destroyed.
The headquarter of the Republic Fleet in the Region is on the industrial planet Ord Mantel and the main Jedi academy is located on the Miraluka homeworld Alpheridies. Also important to the Republic in the region are Arkania and Ithor, which are the two main producers of biotechnology in the galaxy.
Other interesting planets nearby are Onderon and Dxun, which have the Tomb of Freedon Nadd; Kashyyyk and Trandosha, Cathar, Mandalore, and Dantooine and Ossus, that both have ruins of destroyed Jedi academies. And Ziost, the capital world of the ancient Sith.
Current Events
There are three big things going on, all of which the players can get tangled up. I got all of these ideas simply by brushing up my knowledge of the planets in the region. Thematic connections seemed to pop up all by themselves.
Mysteries of the Sith
The Sith Empress knows that she is in a very dangerous position. Given the Sith history of the last 100 years, it is only a matter of time until one of her apprentices will overthrow her. Shortly after Revan disposed of Malak and the Jedi were in chaos, she explored the tomb of Freedon Nadd on Dxun and learned that the ancient Sith Lord Marka Ragnos had ruled unchallanged and the ancient empire was destroyed soon after his death by infighting. Whatever power Ragnos had used to keep the other Sith Lords in line could also be the key to keeping her empire together. On Dxun she also found her first apprentice, a mandalorian taung warrior who had been half ripped apart by the beasts of Dxun after they had been defeated by the Jedi on Onderon during the Great Sith War. (wink wink) He managed to remain alive for long enough to make it to the tomb of Freedon Nadd, where he was kept from dying by the Dark Side for fifty years. Now he is more machine than man and a powerful master of the Dark Side.
Going to the Tomb of Marka Ragnos didn't reveal anything useful, but she is hoping to find information about the location of the planet Ziost where his fortress was located, or what happened to his successor Naga Sadow. (He did go into hiding on Yavin 4 after the destruction of his empire and build the temples there.) Clues about Ziost or Yavin 4 could be found in the Jedi ruins on Dantooine and Ossus.
Wookies and Krath
The Sith Empire always needs slaves, and they really like to have wookiees. So they have arranged for trandoshan slavers to hunt woookies on Kashyyyk and transfer them to Czerka Corp on the remote planet Saleucami, from where they are transported to the Sith Empire. The government of Saleucami does not allow it, but Czerka gets help from Krath cultists among the local nobility who are supported by the Sith to take over the planet.
Biotech Smuggling
After Malak destroyed Telos 4, the Sith Empress needs to restore the planet to feed her worlds. For that purpose she has kidnapped Ithorian scientists who worked for the big biotech companies on Ithor. The scientists were able to smuggle out a message to Ithor, reporting that they were using suspicious amounts of Adascorp equipment from Arkania. If it could be proven that Adascorp is secretly trading with the Sith it would greatly benefit the Ithorians, who are the main competitor in the biotech business. But being very honest and peaceful, the Ithorians won't make such accusations without proof.
Both planets also happen to be close to the fleet headquarters on Ord Mantel, though I don't have any immediate ideas how to make this relevant.
I really like the first two plot hooks. One is a setup for planet hopping treasure hunting, the other is a multifaction dark side conspiracy mess.
The biotech smuggling idea emerges very naturally from Ithor and Arkania being in the general area of Telos 4 and Adascorp always having been entirely corrupt. But industrial espionage and corruption don't really scream swashbuckling adventure to me. Given that it involves Adascorp and the Sith there's still lots of room for shoting, but I am still not entirely thrilled by it.
Campaign Considerations
This setup has interesting things going on for Jedi and Scoundrel characters, and a mixed party of both. It even works for parties working for the Sith, which then would be trying to make the plans suceed instead of fail. I don't see much potential for a military campaign with this setup, though I guess individual Republic commandos on a special undercover intelligence assignment could still work as party members.
There are no scripts, but easy to grasp goals: Find Ziost, stop the Krath from taking power on Saleucami, and expose the Adascorp smuggling.
Not quite sure how to introduce the players to any of it, though. I have the vague idea of starting with a ship transporting Jedi to an investigation but crashing after being shot down. First goal is to make it to a spaceport and then somehow running into hooks for the three ongoing conflicts. I think that is the difficult and also most important part. They don't have to bite if instead they decide to pursue another goal that I can build on. But I really don't want them getting stuck in a cantina and waiting for the script to kick in.
While all three hooks work for a party of all scoundrels, two of then involve Dark Side force users. The Sith artifact hunt pretty much requires Jedi in the party and I don't see why an all scoundrel party would be much invested in a political power grab on Saleucami. Not having run a full Star Wars campaign yet, how much do Jedi in a mixed party tend to hug the spotlight?
The Setting
The Republic fleet send to destroy the Star Forge never returned and soon rumors spread that Darth Malak had been replaced by Darth Revan. However, Revan's rule didn't last long and he was presumably killed during his failed invasion of the Republic when his ship was destroyed in battle. The remaining fleet immediately retreated back into Sith Space. Various Sith lords started to fight among each other but also destroyed the Jedi Academy on Dantooine. Neither the Republic nor the Jedi were in any shape to invade and destroy the remnants of the Sith Empire, but over the years news spread of a new Sith Empress who has taken charge of the Sith Fleets and worlds, and that she is focusing more on fortifying her domain than expanding it, at least for now.
If you are using the map of the galaxy, there are really only three interesting regions: Sith Space with Korriban, Yavin, Mandalore, and Kashyyyk; the Core with Corruscant, Corellia, Duro, and Alderaan; and Trade Federation Space with Tattooine, Ryloyth, Rodia, and Sullust. I'm obviously focusing on the most interesting worlds around Sith Space.
The main worlds of the Sith Empire are the capital Ord Radama, the main trade hub Toprawa, Ruuria with its great universities, the restored ancient Sith shipyards at Ch'hodos, and of course the tomb world Korriban. Yavin and Felucia are also within the territory of the Sith Empire but considered irrelevant wilderness, and the Empress is still working on restoring the valuable farm world Telos 4 that Darth Malak had needlessly destroyed.
The headquarter of the Republic Fleet in the Region is on the industrial planet Ord Mantel and the main Jedi academy is located on the Miraluka homeworld Alpheridies. Also important to the Republic in the region are Arkania and Ithor, which are the two main producers of biotechnology in the galaxy.
Other interesting planets nearby are Onderon and Dxun, which have the Tomb of Freedon Nadd; Kashyyyk and Trandosha, Cathar, Mandalore, and Dantooine and Ossus, that both have ruins of destroyed Jedi academies. And Ziost, the capital world of the ancient Sith.
Current Events
There are three big things going on, all of which the players can get tangled up. I got all of these ideas simply by brushing up my knowledge of the planets in the region. Thematic connections seemed to pop up all by themselves.
Mysteries of the Sith
The Sith Empress knows that she is in a very dangerous position. Given the Sith history of the last 100 years, it is only a matter of time until one of her apprentices will overthrow her. Shortly after Revan disposed of Malak and the Jedi were in chaos, she explored the tomb of Freedon Nadd on Dxun and learned that the ancient Sith Lord Marka Ragnos had ruled unchallanged and the ancient empire was destroyed soon after his death by infighting. Whatever power Ragnos had used to keep the other Sith Lords in line could also be the key to keeping her empire together. On Dxun she also found her first apprentice, a mandalorian taung warrior who had been half ripped apart by the beasts of Dxun after they had been defeated by the Jedi on Onderon during the Great Sith War. (wink wink) He managed to remain alive for long enough to make it to the tomb of Freedon Nadd, where he was kept from dying by the Dark Side for fifty years. Now he is more machine than man and a powerful master of the Dark Side.
Going to the Tomb of Marka Ragnos didn't reveal anything useful, but she is hoping to find information about the location of the planet Ziost where his fortress was located, or what happened to his successor Naga Sadow. (He did go into hiding on Yavin 4 after the destruction of his empire and build the temples there.) Clues about Ziost or Yavin 4 could be found in the Jedi ruins on Dantooine and Ossus.
Wookies and Krath
The Sith Empire always needs slaves, and they really like to have wookiees. So they have arranged for trandoshan slavers to hunt woookies on Kashyyyk and transfer them to Czerka Corp on the remote planet Saleucami, from where they are transported to the Sith Empire. The government of Saleucami does not allow it, but Czerka gets help from Krath cultists among the local nobility who are supported by the Sith to take over the planet.
Biotech Smuggling
After Malak destroyed Telos 4, the Sith Empress needs to restore the planet to feed her worlds. For that purpose she has kidnapped Ithorian scientists who worked for the big biotech companies on Ithor. The scientists were able to smuggle out a message to Ithor, reporting that they were using suspicious amounts of Adascorp equipment from Arkania. If it could be proven that Adascorp is secretly trading with the Sith it would greatly benefit the Ithorians, who are the main competitor in the biotech business. But being very honest and peaceful, the Ithorians won't make such accusations without proof.
Both planets also happen to be close to the fleet headquarters on Ord Mantel, though I don't have any immediate ideas how to make this relevant.
I really like the first two plot hooks. One is a setup for planet hopping treasure hunting, the other is a multifaction dark side conspiracy mess.
The biotech smuggling idea emerges very naturally from Ithor and Arkania being in the general area of Telos 4 and Adascorp always having been entirely corrupt. But industrial espionage and corruption don't really scream swashbuckling adventure to me. Given that it involves Adascorp and the Sith there's still lots of room for shoting, but I am still not entirely thrilled by it.
Campaign Considerations
This setup has interesting things going on for Jedi and Scoundrel characters, and a mixed party of both. It even works for parties working for the Sith, which then would be trying to make the plans suceed instead of fail. I don't see much potential for a military campaign with this setup, though I guess individual Republic commandos on a special undercover intelligence assignment could still work as party members.
There are no scripts, but easy to grasp goals: Find Ziost, stop the Krath from taking power on Saleucami, and expose the Adascorp smuggling.
Not quite sure how to introduce the players to any of it, though. I have the vague idea of starting with a ship transporting Jedi to an investigation but crashing after being shot down. First goal is to make it to a spaceport and then somehow running into hooks for the three ongoing conflicts. I think that is the difficult and also most important part. They don't have to bite if instead they decide to pursue another goal that I can build on. But I really don't want them getting stuck in a cantina and waiting for the script to kick in.
While all three hooks work for a party of all scoundrels, two of then involve Dark Side force users. The Sith artifact hunt pretty much requires Jedi in the party and I don't see why an all scoundrel party would be much invested in a political power grab on Saleucami. Not having run a full Star Wars campaign yet, how much do Jedi in a mixed party tend to hug the spotlight?