Star Wars: Credo of the Grey Jedi . . . I chose something else!

Erekose · Jul 14, 2006

I'm not sure any one else will find this funny but this is a response I came up with when one of my player's wondered aloud what the children of Leia and Han would be like . . .

Credo of the Grey Jedi

Choose the Light side. Choose the Dark side. Choose a monastic lifestyle. Choose a spirit crushing one. Choose all-in-one white robes with matching lightsabre. Choose a black leather battlesuit and a big cloak. Choose a group of nice friends. Choose to dominate them. Choose a small fighter shaped like an X. Choose a small moon capable of destroying a whole planet. Choose intergalactic fights with mindless clones. Choose crushing weakling rebels. Choose DIY starship engineering and wondering who you are when faced with your evil father on Besbin’s Cloud City. Choose sitting in that Super Star Destroyer mindlessly vaporizing the rebel fleet with carefree abandon. Choose a happy ending, watching your sister marry your best friend while you’re hailed saviour of the galaxy. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, dying on yet another blasted Death Star, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish clones that followed you. Choose Light. Choose Dark. But who would want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose either: I chose something else.

andrew_kenrick · Jul 14, 2006

That's immense!

And beyond the joke, it's a great idea too. Is there a middle ground between the Light and the Dark?

Donovan Morningfire · Jul 14, 2006

andrew_kenrick said:
And beyond the joke, it's a great idea too. Is there a middle ground between the Light and the Dark?

Nope. Light and Dark. Good and Evil. The ends never justify the means.

NJO tried to introduce the concept of "no real dark side," but that's quickly being debunked as it's primary advocate, Jacen, is on the fast track to the dark side per the latest SW novel, and Luke even called his nephew on it in prior books.

As a long time player and GM of Star Wars, I've always despised the "grey jedi" concept, as 9.9 times out of 10 it's just an excuse to use the uber-kewl Dark Side powers without suffering Dark Side Points.

Sorry if I'm ranting, but I really am sick of this "Grey Jedi" nonsense. Being a Jedi is a lot more than just some funky powers, a big glowing beatstick, and no consequences, which is what most Grey Jedi concepts boil down to being.

Erekose · Jul 14, 2006

andrew_kenrick said:
That's immense!

Thanks Andrew!

As for the Grey Jedi concept, I'm not familiar with any of the books (just the films) but I suspect Donovan is right. Just good or evil. However I suspect that still leaves a little room for 95% good with 5% naughty!

My take on a Grey Jedi is not so much someone who gets the best of both worlds (in terms of Jedi powers) but someone who only get the powers of the Light side but is a little less than ideal in terms of temperament.

As an aside, compared to the stale, unemotional, rigid jedi order of the new trilogy I suspect Luke would be considered a "failed" jedi as he is in touch with his emotions. And yet IMHO he is the best of the lot; his compassion and love for his friends transcends the jedi ideal and makes him more human and therefore more heroic. Only Luke could see the good (the Anakin) in Darth Vader and save him from himself; and thereby bring down the Emperor.

It would be a shame if, in the books, Luke is depicted as a jedi of the old order rather than the jedi he was protrayed as being in the original trilogy.

Stormborn · Jul 14, 2006

Donovan Morningfire said:
Nope. Light and Dark. Good and Evil. The ends never justify the means.

NJO tried to introduce the concept of "no real dark side," but that's quickly being debunked as it's primary advocate, Jacen, is on the fast track to the dark side per the latest SW novel, and Luke even called his nephew on it in prior books.

As a long time player and GM of Star Wars, I've always despised the "grey jedi" concept, as 9.9 times out of 10 it's just an excuse to use the uber-kewl Dark Side powers without suffering Dark Side Points.

Sorry if I'm ranting, but I really am sick of this "Grey Jedi" nonsense. Being a Jedi is a lot more than just some funky powers, a big glowing beatstick, and no consequences, which is what most Grey Jedi concepts boil down to being.

You are right, to a degree. The question is not so much is their a middle path between the Light and the Dark, its whether or not you can serve the Light without being a "Jedi" as such. To me the Jedi order as we see it in the Old Republic represents the dominant philosophy about the Force, with the Sith as its counter. That does not mean, however, that a Force user with the same level abilities as a Sith or Jedi cannot exist. That would be, to me, a great idea for some out of the way campaign setting in the SW universe. A small planet or system, or sector even, protected by an extended network, maybe a clan, of Force using Guardians. They are the true balanced way of the Force, not the reactionary and self absorbed Sith or Jedi. Perhaps it is the destiny of a Skywalker to find them.

Rhun · Jul 14, 2006

If you look at it from the expanded universe, and include things such as the KotOR games, there is certainly a "middle ground." In the 2nd game, one of your companions (the Jedi Kreia) is continuously trying to teach you a balance between the light and dark side.

Ace32 · Jul 14, 2006

Rhun said:
If you look at it from the expanded universe, and include things such as the KotOR games, there is certainly a "middle ground." In the 2nd game, one of your companions (the Jedi Kreia) is continuously trying to teach you a balance between the light and dark side.

Kreia is a perfect example of a 'grey' stance being a road to the dark side. After all,

she is the main dark side villain

.

Wystan · Jul 14, 2006

KOTOR Spoiler But doesn't Keira [sblock] turn out to be one of the Sith masterminds in that game?[/sblock]

HeapThaumaturgist · Jul 14, 2006

As I said constantly in my own StarWars games ...

"The Force is much like a turkey. You have the Light meat and the Dark meat. There is no Grey Meat.

All the available source material seems to suggest that a balance is impossible to maintain. There's 'something' about the Dark Side of the Force that corrupts. One day you kick a puppy ... normal guy, that's okay. Force user? A week later you're slaughtering kids in a school and helping Darth Dastardly take over the known universe by killing all of your friends. No clue why.

--fje

Ankh-Morpork Guard · Jul 14, 2006

The reason that there is no 'balance' is because there aren't actually two SIDES.

Look at it like this:

The Light side IS the Force. It isn't good...but it isn't bad, either. Its just the natural state of the Force.

The Dark Side is a CORRUPTION of the natural state. It isn't another side, but instead, much more like a disease of sorts. Its the reason for the unnatural effects it has on life and things around it(including the Force itself).