Working on a Star Wars Jedi campaign, need some advice.

aramis erak

Legend
So I have which setting the game will take place in decided (The Old Republic setters, more specifically The Old Sith Wars) I'm now just looking for the correct setting.

The reason I haven't looked at other settings is because I want something that deals with the pull to the dark side, and I'm not sure these other systems will be able to do that (please correct me if I'm wrong).

I'm pretty confident that I can hack the "Youngling, Padawan, Jedi Knight, Master" stages by just slowing down EXP gain, though doing that without making the game stagnant is the tricky part. This being the case I'm more concerned with how the system handles the pull to the dark side.

Given that, WEG is probably not your game. WEG's "pull" is the lure of free Force points. The Dark Side is stronger in the short term, but MUCH weaker long term, due to the mechanics.

FFG doesn't deal so much with the lure, as with the consequences. On the other hand, the Obligation mechanic can mirror the other pulls, and can be used to force the choices. On the other hand, the dark side IS easier under FFG, while the light is, long term no weaker, it's less useful until the third force die. The dark side is easier, more seductive, and long term, the same power level. Unlike the others, turning to the dark side doesn't preclude remaining in play, either.

Likewise, Saga really doesn't give much "lure," either. Like FFG and WEG, in no small part due to designer overlaps, it tracks how far one's fallen, and imposes a "fall" at a certain point. Like WEG, when the fall happens, the character goes NPC.
 

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KahlessNestor

Adventurer
I play in a Force an Destiny game. My character is more than willing to use the Dark Side, but your DM really needs to throw out the conflict at you to beat the 1d10 die. It was surprisingly easy for me to get to light side paragon without even trying.

Not having played other systems, I can't comment on them, but I really do like FFG system. It's designed to keep Jedi lower powered (as per the setting during the movies) and on par with non-Force users.
 

Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
Supporter
It's antithetical to a learn-by-use modality implied desirable by the OP.

There is nothing in the OP that implies the desire for characters to "learn by by use". There's a statement that there's a desire to cover the full breadth of Jedi training, from youngling through master. I think you're reading too much into the OP.

Not that I'd worry about the youngling stage, myself, but to each their own.

None of the official ones actually support a learn by use modality,

Few games do. That's because that design has its own flaws.

In an all jedi game, when the non-jedi are no threat

Stop right there. You're engaging in a massive overstatement. Truly massive, really.

That we might find some issues with the balance of jedi classes compared to others does *NOT* say, "Jedi are no threat". It says that PCs of similar level won't be balanced - so that Jedi will tend to outshine other PCs of the same level in play. It is still an easy task for a GM to create non-Jedi antagonists who are threats and challenges to Jedi PCs. In SWSE, Jedi are by no means invulnerable superpeople.

If nothing else, Jedi can and will be overcome by sheer numbers. You can only deflect so many blaster bolts a turn. :)

then the jedi should be in charge of everything. Which at no published point in the setting, legends nor cannon, is that the standard. Hence, the comment above about misjudgement.

And now we get into the difference between game rules, and fictional world realities.

I've seen this form of argument before, that temporal control would align with personal combat prowess or other game-rule measure of power, but that's a naive analysis that doesn't hold up. Human socio-political control systems don't actually work that way. The strong dominate the weak only holds in small social groups - once exertion of power requires orders be carried out at a distance, by someone who has never met you personally, your personal mechanical power doesn't play so much a role. Other social control systems not managed by the rules come into play.

The Jedi have a Code. Part of being a Jedi is being a *servant* of the people, not a master. There is a social and hierarchical control in place - any Jedi who breaks those vows is going to have the rest of the Order come down on them (and this happens several times in the EU, whenever a Jedi slips to the Dark Side, for example).

As for it never happening.... guess what, when two people with equivalent power (Sith) get it in their heads to take control... Gosh o golly, they *do* control everything for a while - they become the Emperor and Darth Vader!

So, I fail to see how the systems are inconsistent with the fiction as presented.
 

Chimpy

First Post
As I mentioned in the other thread, I'll throw a nod to FFG star wars, although I haven't played the old systems so I can't really say much about those.

Characters in the FFG system start with very little force ability, and it takes quite a lot of XP to build it up, and it comes at the expense of skills and talents. I like this because I think it makes non-Force users just as interesting and useful to have around as Force characters.

Games like Force and Destiny suit quite a narrative and improvised style of play.
 

KahlessNestor

Adventurer
As I mentioned in the other thread, I'll throw a nod to FFG star wars, although I haven't played the old systems so I can't really say much about those.

Characters in the FFG system start with very little force ability, and it takes quite a lot of XP to build it up, and it comes at the expense of skills and talents. I like this because I think it makes non-Force users just as interesting and useful to have around as Force characters.

Games like Force and Destiny suit quite a narrative and improvised style of play.
It also makes you really think about your Force character. You can find yourself spreading pretty thin if you try and do everything. The system makes you think about what you want to do well.
 

Eltab

Lord of the Hidden Layer
I would set my game sometime between the Sith Wars and the first Prequel movie.
- This allows the PCs to meet Yoda when he is just another (really short) Jedi Knight, not yet full of years and wisdom.
- They have only two Sith in the galaxy to deal with - they can kill off an Apprentice by ganging up on him, once or twice.
- They will never meet the Sith Master unless both they and he seek each other out on purpose. (He really should send some competent technician - think Boba Fett - to deal with THAT problem.)
- There may be Sith artifacts and libraries scattered about. Somebody could find one, or deliver rumors thereof to the Jedi.
- There may be lost Jedi installations that were not actually destroyed during the old wars.
- Other Force users are to be recruited into the Jedi Order, or somehow neutralized.
- The Galactic Republic's fatal flaw is corruption at the local level, so there can be lots of chances to deal with pirates, crooked cops, oppressed people, crime bosses, and a selection of individuals who want to connect the existing mafias into a multi-planet umbrella organization.
- Some of the pre-Republic "pocket empires" (ex: Hutt Space) are more than just a regional cultural affectation; they are distinct provinces.
- The Republic has some frontier areas that adjoin "Unexplored" areas, if the PCs want to try that out for a while. Map out a hyperspace route.
- An opponent (not an enemy) like Grand Admiral Thrawn is quietly manipulating events from behind the scenes, according to a generation-long master plan.
- The Corporate Sector Authority (or similar such organization) is skirting the letter and spirit of the law, causing other people distress in the process
 

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