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

[KnockingDevil]

So I'm working on a new Star Wars Campaign, the basic premise of it is this. All of the players will all start out as Jedi Younglings and do things from learning how to use the force to finding and building their first lightsaber. Eventually they will progress to Padawans and then Jedi Knights.
That's the only part I'm 100% certain on yet. I'm still trying to decide when to set this. Before movies, if so how long before. After movies, if so how long. During the movies? Any advice/ opinions on this would be awesome.
I'm also not 100% sure just yet which system I want to use for this, I'm not too familiar with most of the SW rps out there and I know there are a few. So any advice on this would be greatly appreciated
I think that's most of it, I guess also if you have any cool things to share about Jedi training/ anything in that vein that would be cool too. So that's it, if you have anything to share please do!!

 

[HardcoreDandDGirl]

my advise... sideways form the movies.

here is a timeline that no longer is cannon... http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Timeline_of_Legends_media
start with that and make up some of your own stuff... like a hombrew D&D world.

 

[Imaculata]

Well, you've got one thing down which I approve of: All Jedi or no Jedi.

I think it all comes down to what part of the story you find the most compelling.

If it takes place after Return of the Jedi, then it might conflict with The Force Awakens and future Star Wars movies. So I'd probably stay clear of that. We don't know where the next couple of movies will take the story, and its a bit dicey to second guess it yourself. Besides, Jedi are not exactly common during this time period, unless you can come up with a good excuse why the force suddenly awakes with multiple characters.

If it takes place during the original trilogy, then it would probably need to be a story that runs parallel with the events in the movies, or which takes place in between some of the movies. I would advise picking a time period between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, or between Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Again you run into the same problem that Jedi aren't exactly common during this time period.

If it takes place during the prequels, then you have a high risk that some people simply hate the prequels. Personally I thought this was the weakest story of all the movies, so I'd stick with the originals and disregard the prequels entirely. But there's still Jedi around, so at least that would not be a problem. But personally, I don't think it feels like Star Wars without Storm Troopers.

If it takes place before the prequels, then you have a lot of freedom, but you also run the risk that players feel that the universe feels less like the Star Wars they are familiar with. Obviously the Jedi problem is less of an issue here.

If it were up to me, I would probably go with the same time period as The Force Awakens. Yes, I realize that kind of contradicts with what I said earlier. But the new movies are fresh and open up a ton of options. This makes your campaign very accessible, assuming most people have seen the new movie. You'll probably have to come up with some excuse why all the player characters are Force sensitive, but there are ways to write around that. Perhaps the death of a powerful Jedi or Sith awakens the Force in other people? You'll have to be careful not to write yourself into a corner, where the plot of the next movie (2 years from now) ends up totally conflicting with your campaign. So stay clear of using established movie characters, and introduce plenty of new characters of your own.

Lastly, you can also decide to completely red con the events of one or more movies. This would make it an alternate timeline campaign. What if Luke and the rebels didn't succeed in blowing up the Death Star? What if Kylo Ren defeated Rey, and a couple of new Force sensitive individuals rose from the ashes? Its risky, but interesting. It removes the original cast from their protagonist roles (they are either dead, or reduced to npc roles), allowing the characters of your players to take the spotlight instead. I lean strongly to this solution as well. It also removes any risk that the players end up just following a character from the movies around who hogs the spotlight. If you're willing to kill off established characters, and take the plot in a completely new direction, that already creates excitement. You don't have to worry about whether the plot conflicts with the movies, since it is already established as an alternate timeline.

 

[Umbran]

I was in a group that did this (using Star Wars Saga Edition). The time was about 5000 years before the movies, after what the EU history calls the "Jedi Civil War" or the "Second Sith War". In a slightly alternate history, this is a period in which the Jedi have been nearly destroyed as an organization, much like in the movies. They delayed entering conflict, and while they stopped the Sith, they only barely did so. And the Republic blames much of their losses in the war to Jedi inaction. They Jedi Temple on Coruscant is closed and empty, and it is a crime to enter it....

Enter our PCs - all force users. To start with an NPC Jedi Knight, who has received Force visions and prophecies, gathers the PCs together, with the intent and expectation that they will be the ones to rebuild the Jedi.

SAGA worked well for this. The typical problem with an all-Jedi game is lack of diversity in characters - the characters all have largley the same abilities. Saga allowed us to have a group of force users (the GM gave us all the requisite feat for free, given the setup), but allowed us to all have different skillsets through multiclassing. At level 1, we were a Jedi, another Jedi (in-story, a Sith apprentice who had deserted his master), a soldier, a scoundrel, and a scout. We later all multiclassed into Jedi, but by that time our basic skillsets and approaches were different, so our party was prepared for things an all-Jedi party simply wouldn't have been able to tackle.

To give you some idea of timescale - in SAGA, you are given a lightsaber by your master at level 1. You learn to build your own as a level 7 Jedi, after which you can move into the Jedi Knight Prestige class. Technically, Jedi Knights are level 8+ characters.

Our mentor was more than a bit crazy, not terribly powerful in combat, and was removed from play by Sith after the characters had gained a couple of levels. This is kind of important, from the role-playing point of view, in that you usually don't want an NPC authority with too much control over the PCs. Obi Wan has to get out of Luke's way for Luke to become a hero.

 

[delericho]

So I'm working on a new Star Wars Campaign, the basic premise of it is this. All of the players will all start out as Jedi Younglings and do things from learning how to use the force to finding and building their first lightsaber. Eventually they will progress to Padawans and then Jedi Knights.
That's the only part I'm 100% certain on yet. I'm still trying to decide when to set this. Before movies, if so how long before. After movies, if so how long. During the movies? Any advice/ opinions on this would be awesome.

I would suggest one of three things:

- Set the game some decades before "The Phantom Menace" and basically do Harry Potter in space. Only without a Dark Lord - instead, I'd suggest dealing with more local troubles.

- Start the campaign just before "Attack of the Clones", with the PCs just about getting to 'graduation' before the events of that movie, and then being rushed into service in the Clone War.

- Start the campaign with the PCs on a field trip of some sort... just as Order 66 is given. And now, they are the Jedi Academy.

I'm also not 100% sure just yet which system I want to use for this, I'm not too familiar with most of the SW rps out there and I know there are a few. So any advice on this would be greatly appreciated

For a Jedi campaign I'd suggest either SWSE or a non-SW game entirely. I was never entirely happy with the d6 handling of Jedi and the Force (it seems ideally suited for a Rebellion-era game with almost no Jedi, but for a Jedi-heavy campaign not so much), and the FFG version just never grabbed me at all.

There's a Star Wars mod for Savage Worlds that might be worth checking out (if you can find it - shouldn't be too hard).

 

[Morrus]

I'll slip this over to our Star Wars Gaming forum for you!

 

[aramis erak]

None of the systems is really set up to do the Student-Padawan-Knight-Master progression at all levels.

The advice on how to work it varies by which system you plan on using.

I'd put FFG on the top, WEG second. FFG, stock F&D characters are about Padawan level. In play, the use of jedi produces a feel not too dissimilar from the Clone Wars TV show. WEG, stock 2E or 2E Rev, doesn't balance with non-jedi too well at higher power levels, but on the lower end of the scale works fine, albeit a bit limited due to the restrictions on what you can do with the force early on.

I'd suggest avoiding any of the three d20 flavors (SW d20, SW rev d20, SWSE aka Saga), because they put progression on rails, and they assume a somewhat higher base level of competence. Further, they so overpower the jedi that it's quite impractical to mix jedi and non-jedi. Further, they're far enough removed mechanically from Stock d20 to suffer for it; d20 players (PF/D&D3.X) will have a bunch of unlearning to do.

Use of Savage Worlds or Burning Wheel (There are conversions for both) are only worthwhile if you are already familiar with them.

As for When?My recommendation is for the Dark Times. A master in hiding with younglings who weren't at the temple. It allows and explains why a bunch of Padawan Learners are doing stuff on their own rather than being sidekicks.

 

[Umbran]

I'd suggest avoiding any of the three d20 flavors (SW d20, SW rev d20, SWSE aka Saga), because they put progression on rails

Any reason why this is an issue? I mean, aside from "Aramis doesn't like D&D-style level progression?" That is fine for Aramis, but isn't helpful to anyone else. Even if it is "on rails" there's a lot of places characters can go, even within the Jedi space, depending on what supplements you use.

and they assume a somewhat higher base level of competence.

I find that a feature, not a bug. Star Wars is not a place where we see main characters drop like flies - characters are competent and robust when we first meet then, even if they have a lot to learn.

Further, they so overpower the jedi that it's quite impractical to mix jedi and non-jedi.

Well, the OP states that the plan is for an all-Jedi game, so this is a non-issue.

Read as, "I found Star Wars Saga Edition to be pretty decent, and would use it again."

 

[KnockingDevil]

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.

 

[aramis erak]

Any reason why this is an issue? I mean, aside from "Aramis doesn't like D&D-style level progression?" That is fine for Aramis, but isn't helpful to anyone else. Even if it is "on rails" there's a lot of places characters can go, even within the Jedi space, depending on what supplements you use.

It's antithetical to a learn-by-use modality implied desirable by the OP. None of the official ones actually support a learn by use modality, but a little logic can extend that modality more easily over the trait trees. The BW conversion is a learn-by-use system, but is ill-suited to casual players, let alone

I find that a feature, not a bug. Star Wars is not a place where we see main characters drop like flies - characters are competent and robust when we first meet then, even if they have a lot to learn.

Well, the OP states that the plan is for an all-Jedi game, so this is a non-issue.

A serious misjudgement on your part, that. At least IMO.

Read as, "I found Star Wars Saga Edition to be pretty decent, and would use it again."

That speaks to your tastes... and nought about it's suitability for the intended campaign.

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

Both WEG and FFG start lower powered, and build steadily; FFG without ever making the non-jedi not-a-threat; this also allows for a wider variety of missions, opponents, and approaches. (WEG grows to notable power eventually, but slowly enough that a starting 1d each C/S/A jedi doesn't become non-threatened for some months of play...).

WEG & FFG offer the richest variety of viable opponents for the longest period of play, coupled to the closest to described by the OP advancement modality.