Star Wars: How to seperate the Padawan from the Master

[maddman75]

When do you plan to use Order 66?

I plan to open the first session with it. This is Star Wars, you jump right in on the action!

 

[C. Baize]

I plan to open the first session with it. This is Star Wars, you jump right in on the action!

But..... But.....
It's Star Wars.... it's supposed to open with a Space Battle.

 

[Aeson]

Are you planning on having the padawans hunted later? Is it going to be in the background always a threat but not an active part of the story? Thats a good way to have the story dominated by the Jedi and I'm not sure how the others would feel about it.

 

[RodneyThompson]

Honestly, given that many Jedi are dying during the Clone Wars and every able-bodied Jedi is needed, you can just say that the Master is currently called away on a campaign in a distant star system, while the Padawan (who obviously must be a prodigy if he is to be a member of the party) is given less dangerous assignments, at least to start with. After all, you party members are the heroes of the story, so they must be exceptional in some way. Hell, Shmi Skywalker sends a nine-year-old boy off with strangers she met about two days prior, I think the Jedi Council could see to send a well-trained Padawan with the Force as his ally into the galaxy at large, at least for limited missions. Besides, it makes it more believable that the Padawan would survive the purge that way as well.

 

[Corsair]

Are you planning on having the padawans hunted later? Is it going to be in the background always a threat but not an active part of the story? Thats a good way to have the story dominated by the Jedi and I'm not sure how the others would feel about it.

It will always be a threat. I am using this as a way to force the Jedi players to be a bit more discreet. Go around waving your lightsaber everywhere and someone is bound to snitch to the Empire or a bounty hunter or three will show up on your tail. Of the two players playing Jedi, the one I am more concerned with is the Guardian. He has a tendency to be a tad bit of a power monkey, so this is just a gentle reminder that busting out your light saber shouldn't always be the first answer.

 

[Operator]

Of course, you did mention the Guardian is a Miraluka. A species where every member is naturally attuned to the Force, and with a disporionante number of Jedi. He's goign to be a pretty compotent padawan.

 

[Henry]

Look at it from a different point of view.

Essentially, the Master/Padawan relationship is father/son, mother/daughter, etc. Would a parent send a 15 year old into an extremely dangerous situation(i.e. war) without them? Not to mention at all, but that's not the point right now. The Jedi Masters are responsible for the Padawans until they reach the rank of Knight.

On the other hand, in other times, places and societies, Age 15 was considered full adulthood. In Europe's past, some boys were serving as Squires by then, and expected to be able to handle themselves in a fight, otherwise they were useless to their Knight lords. Add in the Force, and the fact that he's a Jedi Guardian, and you've got a VERY capable teenager, suitable for mopping up B1 battle droids and fleshy separatist grunts.

 

[Khorod]

On the other hand, in other times, places and societies, Age 15 was considered full adulthood.

True. In fact, in some societies 13 was considered to be reasonably adult.

But the greater the civilization, the greater the lifespan, the higher the age that adulthood is seen to set in.

While I can imagine 15 is pretty good for a farmer in the Outer Rim, I expect that the Jedi keep the younglings pretty well cloistered or closely watched until the emotional turmoil of adolescence passes. I expect Jedi-training gets you through that faster... but I don't think the younglings that take up with a Master are let out of his sight for a number of years.

If there was ever a time and place for corruption to set in, its an adolescent on his own with a lightsaber and godlike powers.

 

[wingsandsword]

While I can imagine 15 is pretty good for a farmer in the Outer Rim, I expect that the Jedi keep the younglings pretty well cloistered or closely watched until the emotional turmoil of adolescence passes. I expect Jedi-training gets you through that faster... but I don't think the younglings that take up with a Master are let out of his sight for a number of years.

Let's look at what we know about the entire process. The Jedi apparently scour the worlds of the Republic for children born with the talent to use the Force. With permission (although apparently some cohersion at times, or so the EU implies) these children are taken to Coruscant and trained as "younglings", given basic training in how to handle a lightsaber, how to use the force, and the basics of the Jedi way.

Anakin was taken as a Padawan at age 9, which was considered unusual in a long list of ways (too old to enter the order, normally too young to become a Padawan). Obi-Wan was taken as Qui-Gon's padawan at age 13 (Power of the Jedi soucebook, page 42), and that was seen as quite young as well. Those who are never taken (or apparently not taken by a certain age apparently in late adolescence) as Padawan are sent to "service corps": public service entities run by the Jedi and staffed by force-sensitives with basic training but not accepted to become Knights.

Obi-Wan achieved knighthood at age 25, which was apparently fairly typical. Anakin achieved knighthood somewhere between 19 and 22, and was quite the prodigy. Luke's highly unusual road to Knighthood ended at 23.

So it looks like students aren't accepted for the advanced end of Jedi training: an apprenticeship normally lasting a few years to become an actual Knight, until they are in their teens, and more likely their mid to late teens. Once a Padawan, they are not bound to the temple anymore, and follow their Master wherever they go, which can be right into the heart of danger, and it's apparently presumed that by the time they are taken as a Padawan they are more experienced, have a basic grasp of the Force, and are mature enough to deal with situations, and those who lack that maturity are the ones who never become Padawan.

Remember, the only reason Anakin was accepted into the Jedi was that not only was special dispensation granted to the council for him to be trained, that Qui-Gon (and later Obi-Wan by an promise he made) agreed to teach him. Even if he was allowed to be trained, a rebellious and angry child would normally have an incredibly hard time finding a Master if not for Qui-Gon's intuition that this child had a remarkable destiny.

 

[Drowbane]

....or the apprentice might join a group of non Jedi heros the Jedi Master knows. The Jedi Master trusts his apprentice not to stray too far for too long, or to cause more problems than he solves. Being apart is good training for the apprentice, because it teaches him self-reliance and accountability. It always teaches the Jedi Master how to let go. An apprentice needs a certain amount of autonomy to gain the confidence of a Jedi Knight

Any questions?