Hussar
Legend
But, that's not true. Or, not necessarily.I get this, but I think the problem is that the players will never be the ones to truly defeat the Empire. That's always going to be Luke.
And that may be cool for some groups, even a lot of groups. After all, few people go into a CoC game thinking they can kill Cthulhu. But it's one of those things where everybody really needs to be on board being second fiddles. Or, the GM has to be willing to create an entire Alternate Universe and let the PCs try to, and maybe even succeed at, destroying the Death Star.
If I were to run a Star Wars game, Luke wouldn't exist. There would be no Skywalkers at all. Maybe Leia since she doesn't actually really do anything in the original trilogy, so, sure, makes a good quest giving NPC. But Darth Vader wouldn't be Luke's father.
That's my entire point. For me, any game set in a, what shall we call it? A storied universe (if that's the right term) will ALWAYS be an "alternate universe". Why would I want to play in Middle Earth where Frodo defeats Sauran and Aragorn gets to be the King returned? Why would I play a Hogwarts campaign where Harry defeats Voldemort? For me, I have zero interest in that.
Now, a Hogwarts campaign where Voldemort is the BBEG and the group must defeat him? FANTASTIC. Great.
Exactly as you say. I will never be on board with the PC's being "second fiddles".
It reminds me of the old Star Wars advertisements:
I can honestly answer, I don't care. That guy's story is totally unimportant. If his story was important, I'd already know what it is. I have zero interest in the group (again, either as a player or a DM) being unimportant. If the party cannot remake the setting, I have no interest.