Star Wars - Some setting exploration

[Old Fezziwig]

I think if you're looking to keep the Star Wars feel, but advance the timeline that much, you might want to think of things that touch at the corners of the world -- how have astromech or protocol droids changed -- the difference between T3-M4 and R2-D2 as well as HK-47 and C3PO -- or the differences between the Milennium Falcon and Ebon Hawk really struck me as a nice example of how to keep things familiar, but also keep them different. That sort of attention to detail would be really helpful to me as a player. So, yeah, you'll want to be looking at big stuff (Star Wars is firmly rooted in an epic tradition), but also at little stuff, too, and I think that's where things'll really take off as far as achieving some kind of illusion of depth.

Nick

 

[Rhun]

HK-47

Good, 'ole HK-47. Funniest droid, ever.

or the differences between the Milennium Falcon and Ebon Hawk really struck me as a nice example of how to keep things familiar, but also keep them different.

Kajamba Lion makes a good point here. From what I understand of the Star Wars universe, though, is that technology has mostly stagnated. Thus, technology that was around during the KotOR time is not greatly different from the technology 4000 years later. This goes for ships, weapons, droids and a whole lot more. So, while there would certainly be technological advances during the 500 years after RotJ, they may not be all that great in terms of campaign scope.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

I think Luke's Jedi Order would not necessarily resemble the Old Republic's version of the Jedi Order; Luke was successful in many ways because he didn't follow their doctrine. He didn't avoid attachment and focus on dispassion; he got married, hung out with his sister and her family, and let compassion be his guide. Without it, he would never have been able to effect the redemption of his father either. So, I imagine the Jedi Order is a bit more activist, and probably a bit more divided, as multiple opinions about what it's purpose are are voiced. In fact, I can imagine more than one order that either utilizes Jedi like teachings, or even claims to be the "true" Jedi. Probably the one most closely aligned with the spirit of what Luke tried to found is essentially an arm of the Galactic Alliance. There are probably others that feel political entanglements are the wrong way to go, and work as solos, or "rogues." Jedi ronin, if you will. I can imagine a more fundamentalist approach too; a Jedi theocracy that tries to recreate the Old Jedi Order, and administers an entire state. I can imagine that followers of Sith traditions probably exist (although the "rule of two" has probably been long-abandoned seeing as how disastrous it proved to be when Darth Vader killed his master and then didn't ascend into his place) as well as other dark Force traditions or camps.

I like some of this.

My thoughts:

1) Vader ended the Sith. Period. I don't give a crap about the EU, the whole point of Vader's sacrifice was to end the Sith. Dark Jedi? Fine. But no Sith. Maybe some Dark Jedi who call themselves Sith, but it should be clear that Vader won.

2) I like the idea of Luke setting up a compassionate Jedi Order, but having it crumbling. Mabye they could be on the cusp of a new Jedi war with those in favor of passion cheering on "love" and "emotion" while displaying flashes of anger and power that justified the original dispassionate jedi in the first place.

3) Some anti-jedi. There were too many people killed in the Clone Wars and the GCW to not justify some backlash.

My two cents.

 

[ragboy]

Some of those ideas aren't too far from what I was thinking, actually. Rather than have a big sprawling New Rebupic, or Galactic Alliance or whatever, I was thinking the galaxy would more likely have splintered into a number of smaller empires/kingdoms/republics/corporations/theocracies/etc. I also have little interest in the Yuuzhan Vong (sic? Who cares?) but from what I understand from Wookiepedia, it looks like I don't have to mess with established Star Warsiana to remove them, since they went extremely underground if not essentially disappeared following the New Jedi Order series of books

Also have a look at the Foundation series, if you haven't before, or if you haven't while thinking of Star Wars. It's got a lot of good instances of an Empire dying and dead. 500 years should just about do it.

I would definitely keep the characters in constant and rising pain due to the fractured society, degrading technology, and maybe even various problems with the Force itself. Maybe the Force is degrading, or the 'signal' is garbled for some reason...

 

[Desdichado]

1) Vader ended the Sith. Period. I don't give a crap about the EU, the whole point of Vader's sacrifice was to end the Sith. Dark Jedi? Fine. But no Sith. Maybe some Dark Jedi who call themselves Sith, but it should be clear that Vader won.

I didn't used to give a crap about the EU, but the more I think of it, the more I think why not try and accomodate it as much as possible? That's the whole reason I'm moving the timeline forward as much as I am is so that I can write out stuff I don't like without having to actually just pretend like it's not there.

And I like the Sith. There hasn't been a Star Wars movie yet that didn't very heavily feature a Sith opponent. Knights of the Old Republic is all about Sith. Sith feels so quintessentially Star Wars to me that I think it's a shame not to have them.

But that doesn't mean Vader didn't win. For some reason that I can't yet explain, during Vader's time, something different was going on. There had been Sith for millennia prior to that (even according to the movies, if you ignore the EU. Well, at least the novelization of the movies) but they hadn't really had a major impact on anything. For some reason, though, during the era of the movies themselves, something the Sith had been doing was "clouding the Force." Remember that little line, which was never really explained, where Yoda and Mace Windu were talking about their ability to use the Force diminishing? Maybe it was the slow buildup of dark side kludge from thousands of years of Sith. Maybe it was a "vergence in the Force." Maybe Palpatine was some kind of nearly god-like being. Maybe it was Vader himself that caused it. Maybe it was just something that happens once every few tens of thousands of years. So Vader still won. He still brought "balance to the Force."

2) I like the idea of Luke setting up a compassionate Jedi Order, but having it crumbling. Mabye they could be on the cusp of a new Jedi war with those in favor of passion cheering on "love" and "emotion" while displaying flashes of anger and power that justified the original dispassionate jedi in the first place.

Yeah, I like the idea of there being multiple groups that all claim to be the "true" Jedi. I like the comparison you made earlier of Luke to Martin Luther--sparking a Protestant Reformation, if you will, which by this time has led to all kinds of sects, some barely recognizable as Jedi, and many of them more opposed to each other than to even other, more obvious threats.

3) Some anti-jedi. There were too many people killed in the Clone Wars and the GCW to not justify some backlash.

"I find your lack of faith disturbing."

 

[iwatt]

Yeah, I like the idea of there being multiple groups that all claim to be the "true" Jedi. I like the comparison you made earlier of Luke to Martin Luther--sparking a Protestant Reformation, if you will, which by this time has led to all kinds of sects, some barely recognizable as Jedi, and many of them more opposed to each other than to even other, more obvious threats.

You can have some very militant orders of Jedi crusading around the galaxy, fighting wars over the "true jedi way".

From KOTOR, my favorite guy was the "balanced" force user. The guy who used to be a Jedi, but who didn't go for the whole dark/Light side duality.

 

[Desdichado]

Jolee Bindo, yeah. The E.U. has kinda come up with the idea of a heretical Jedi philosophy based on this idea called the Gray Jedi too--I think that philosophy gaining some momentum would be interesting.

 

[Desdichado]

I got sent a lot of ideas, which I'm going to post here to see if they shake some more out of the tree. Muchas gracias a BiggusGeekus for the original list of splinter Jedi Orders.

Grey Marshals - an order of jedi devoted to peacekeeping and order. They do believe in "lawful wars" and militant behavior. They draw the line once one planetary system or nation engages in hostilitise against another. Their protected systems tend to be heavily balkanized as splitting nations and system is easier under this form of law than creating new ones. They have a peculiar form of warfare believing that the lightsaber is only fit to use against other force sentitives and they tend to be skilled pilots and crack shots.

Trans-Mortalists - while the light side of the force embraces life, the dark side works better with machinery. The Trans-Mortalists believe in the supremecy of the machine and note that according to legend, Anikin Skywalker (he who brought balance to the force) created a machine in his own image. They hold the old Jedi Order directly responsible for what they believe is a cencoring and deletion of all of the late General Grevious' writings which they have "reconcstructed" in their holy book The Stolen Words.

Holy Degohbahians - the opposite of the Trans-Mortalists. These two factions would be at war with each other if they knew of each other's existence. however the Holy Degohbahians believe in abstaining from all machinery, even lightsabers. Yoda as a teacher, not a messianic figure, is revered and his exile on Degohbah has been mistakenly adopted as a calling. The HD believe in the living force and are emotionally distant. They do not even engage in acts of procreation as they believe the force will give them children as they once did with Lord Vader (who was clearly fallen due to his prosthestics). They are currently being subverted by one Megaahn Ovel. She has implatnted three basoclists within her womb, each with a timed release two years apart with an inital waiting period of five years. She is currently in her first trimester of pregnancy and the Holy Degohbahians believe her unborn child to be the result of the living force.

Jedi Anarchs - a loose philosphy based on passions ruling over dispassion. They embrace love, hate, greed, desire, agony, sorrow, and joy. They're also a lot of fun to be around and the Anarch smoking death-sticks has become a popular character in modern fiction. They are also without goals or plans and thus do not represent a significant power in the galaxy.

Second Archivists - in the aftermath of the Clone Wars some Jedi managed to sneak back to Corsicant and retreive some of the original Jedi Archives. They believe themselves to be the true holders of the original jedi wisdom. They believe that they are the true owners of any jedi artifacts. One of their peculiarities is that they do not constrcut their own lightsabers, believing the ones of the past to be superior.

Guardianists - these aspiring jedi believe in true order which they symbolically represent as ice. When the words of Luke's vision near the cave on the ice planet hoth reached some, they mistakenly believed it to be a site that was close to the force and where one could gain force sensitivity. This is completely false. However, they do have some of the surviving records of the Rebellion and may be holding secrets that they are unaware of themselevs.

Reformed Havartians - A cult of personality based on the very powerful jedi, Havar q'In. It has grown to four thousand in size. All women are "blessed" by carrying his children. His goal is to create an army of force senstitive children and carve out a new Empire.

 

[iwatt]

Jedi Anarchs - a loose philosphy based on passions ruling over dispassion. They embrace love, hate, greed, desire, agony, sorrow, and joy. They're also a lot of fun to be around and the Anarch smoking death-sticks has become a popular character in modern fiction. They are also without goals or plans and thus do not represent a significant power in the galaxy.

Heh, Chaotic Neutral Jedi. Me like.

 

[Nuclear Platypus]

Awwww. What's wrong with the JustPlain-Wrong race?

Seriously tho, what if its a case of "history repeats itself"? As the Old Republic was the Golden Age (or was it earlier?), the New Republic (after the Empire) is the Silver Age, and so on. Just as the events when the Sith were an empire is ancient history, the events of the 2 Death Stars are almost mythical as well. Heck, the New Republic might splinter like its predecessor did.

Perhaps some relics from the Clone Wars such as battledroids, droidekas, super battle droids, those bodyguards of Grievous or even a new version of the General return. Surely someone might bring him back as he was the ultimate Jedi fighting / killing machine (well almost).

The Jedi are believed to be nothing but a myth, sort of the good equivalent of a boogeyman. Or they're a version of Clint Eastwood's "Man With No Name" (kinda like Samurai Jack I suppose). To make things more perplexing to the normals, not all Jedi act the same either, like those factions mentioned earlier.

Further Kamino clone tech is rediscovered / recovered as another device for good or ill. Who or what is used as the original? Another Mandalorian or something else? Not all clones followed Order 66 like the ARC troopers yet managed to survive the resulting purge of traitors.

After several thousand years, the Sith return as an empire like in the Dark Horse comics.

But those ideas lead towards the shortcomings of the EU novels - little new stuff like yet another attempt to bring back Palpatine, Thrawn, etc. or a new version of a Death Star like the Sun Crusher or Emperor's Eye (?).