Star Wars: Plot kernels, a/k/a HELP!

[Wraith Form]

Alright, I'll concede: I need help.

I'm looking for plot kernels, seeds, scraps, hints or snippets--whatever you'll give me--for a Star Wars: Rise of the Empire era game. Just some ideas to spark my imagination, or full-fledged adventures if you wanna post them.

I have no idea what classes my players might want to choose, so it can be as generic or as specific as you'd like. I'd like to run shorter, two-to-four game sessions rather than a full "campaign" as I tend to experience GM burn out quickly.

I'm at your mercy, or, as someone once put it:

"Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope." *ksrrrt*

 

[Kaffis]

1.) Plenty of options if your players decide they want to play smugglers:

a) The Trade Federation has blockaded Naboo. A wealthy busnessman has managed to get in touch with contacts off-planet before the communications blackout went into effect. He will pay handsomely if the party can deliver certain essential supplies through the blockade. Once through, their ship is captured; the party escapes but must now evade droid army patrols and devise a plan to get back off-world before full-fledged war breaks out.

b) The Clone Wars have broken out, and the Galactic Republic has discovered that a clone army is all well and good, and can be produced quickly -- but they have no logistics infrastructure. They begin contracting private spacers to run supplies for their vast war machine. Your party must deal with piracy, droid fleets intent on cutting off supply lines, and rival spacers to deliver their cargo to fuel the war efforts!


2.) Likewise, military squad options abound, and might lend themselves well to your desired play schedule -- individual missions can be issued without much need to fit into long-term goals and over-arching plots.

a) Your squad has been tasked with infiltrating a top secret R&D lab where a new model of battle droid is being perfected, destroying the preparations for mass-production capabilities and stealing the plans for the new model; the mission culminates with facing the prototype(s) of this fearsome new weapon itself!

b) Your team has been cobbled together from the remnants of several squads that took heavy losses in the midst of a battle. The clone army of the Galactic Republic is gathering for a full retreat, but you must buy time for your front line HQ to destroy or evacuate all sensitive equipment and records of communications before safely evacuating yourselves.


3.) Jedi parties are a little trickier unless worked into a military setting, as to get the most prequel-accurate feel you'll need to cook up some politics to get the Jedi involved. Here are a few standbys:

a) A family member of an influential political figure has been kidnapped by [Separatists, political rivals, emerging popular fanatical cult]. Your small team of Jedi have been dispatched [as repayment of a personal favor done for the Order, to maintain stability, on the request of the Senate], with the mission to discover the kidnapping, rescue the family member alive, and, if possible, find damning evidence to discredit/ruin/convict the figures behind the abduction.

b) The Jedi Council has become aware of rumors that the populace of [insert planet] are growing malcontent with the protection and benefits afforded by the Galactic Republic, and are beginning to call for an alliance with the Separatists. The Order dispatches a team to discover the veracity of the rumors and, if true, root out key figures with whom to negotiate and bring the leadership and populace back into the fold.

 

[Jurble]

This is my favorite era at the moment. There are so many things going on which provide chances for some interesting adventures.

I have always thought of the rise of the empire period as post-Ep3 and since theres already suggestions for pre-Ep3 campaigns i thought id throw in a few for after.

1. Seperatists - remember 90% of these people honestly think suceeding from the republic is the right thing to do. The senate is corrupt and unable to accomplish anything due to beurocracy. Most dont know Dooku is Sith and think of him as an honourable leader.

Following Palpatines rise, the seperatists are a perfect pool for recruitment into what will become the rebellion!

2. Holonet - the imperials take over the holonet and restrict its use to better hold back information they want withheld and to spread their propaganda.

3. Customs patrols increase. The war is over but imperials tighten their hold on galactic travel, requiring permission to move around, hampering the billions of refugees from the war. Thus there is lots of chaos in the spacelanes

4. Alot of people are pissed off. secret rebellious groups begin on Corellia (Bel Iblis), Chandrilla (Mon Mothma) and slowly Alderaan comes into the fold (Bail Organa). Along with many others

5. Xenophobia is on the rise especially against non-humans by the imperials

6. weapons tech is being developed. The emperor places a strong emphasis on havign the might to crush his enemies. Hence the development of not only the death star but other techology. An adventure could be made around the development/implimentation of the:
Y-wing
X-wing
TIE Fighter
TIE Bomber/Interceptor (Or generally the TIE series which came out of the JEdi starfighter)

Victory class STar destroyers start appearing after Ep3 and Imperial class later on
ATATs, AT STs etc.

Senators from the 2000 signatures who demanded Palpatine give back some power to the senate would post-Ep3 be pretty scared. The emperor similarly, would be more likely to do away with certain senators who go against his visions for his empire

VADER. Little anxtey Anni is now big Darth and focuses on hunting down the Jedi, when not doing the biddings of his master.

The Jedi. After the fall of the Jedi Temple, all Jedi still alive (ie not shot by clone troopers) recieve a message simply saying to go into hiding. (Well first vader sends a recall order to catch as many jedi as he can before Yoda and Obi Wan break in and change it). Jedi are on the run, any found are fugitives of the law and likely to have imperials on their tales. And after awhile Vader as well.

Smuggling is on the rise. With the increase in Tarrifs, Customs officials and duties imposedby the empire, Smuggling is becoming more profitable and widespread. Large criminal organisations like Black Sun are starting to make ever bigger profits from it. This leaves open the chance for splinter groups to appear out of these groups.

Similarly the empire is not against slavery (in fact one of the early occurances is the empire attacking Kashyyyk to take wookie slaves). This helps those organisations with iffy ethical values. Then again some good smuggling groups appera like Talon Karrdes group (well more "evolves" into Talons group) although thats abit further down the line

For some interesting ideas, i highly recommend reading "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader". Its like a sequel to Ep3 and lots of interesting stuff about the post-Ep3 period

 

[Wraith Form]

For some interesting ideas, i highly recommend reading "Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader". Its like a sequel to Ep3 and lots of interesting stuff about the post-Ep3 period.

First, thank you both for the replies!

Regarding The Rise of DV, I read quite a few reviews at Amazon.com that the book was utter crap. Are you suggesting that 1) the book was OK, or b) that I should mine it for ideas despite it being utter crap?

Personally, I'd love to explore the idea of ".ALT" force users and/or Jedi on the run from the Imps. I also suspect that at LEAST one of my players will go the Jedi route.

I also had this crazy/neat idea that, what if clone technology was developed around, and infused with, Sith magic? (The adventure The Forgotten Forge in the Eberron Campaign Setting book could be 'adapted' into Star Wars, the point being to find pieces of a Sith device that creates clones.)

Are there other 'fantasy' adventures that seem well suited to be converted into Star Wars?

 

[Wraith Form]

A quick clarification: my definition of "Rise of the Empire" is specifically events AFTER Revenge of the Sith, once the Jedis are killed off / in exile / in hiding, the 20-odd years between the two trilogy movies.

 

[Wraith Form]

Nobody else gonna take a stab?

 

[wingsandsword]

I have an entire campaign written up (or at least short summaries of adventures, I usually run Star Wars with just a loose outline and wing it from there), I've found that the time between Episode III and IV is ripe for adventures.

For ideas, go through the various sources for events that happened in that era and see how PC's could be involved. Earlier on you have a lot of imperial atrocities like the Ghorman Massacre and the Purge of the Great Library of Obroa-Skai, where PC's could be trying to save lives or records for future generations. Later on you have events that lead to the founding of the Rebel Alliance, like the defection of the Incom design team, the attempted assassination of Jan Dodonna, and the Cantham House Meetings, places where PC's can help in establishing the Rebel Alliance and bringing together Garm Bel Iblis's, Mon Mothma's and Bail Organa's separate resistance factions.

 

[LostSoul]

- Make it about a world's decision to join the rebellion. PCs can be the big shots of the world - the Noble is the world's Senator, the Soldier is his Master of Blades, the Scoundrel is a spymaster, etc.

The Empire has done something that the Senator can't stand for. Now he has to win over his people to the side of the rebels while contending with Imperial spies and propagandists. Once/if the planet declares open rebellion, he'll have to contend with the Imperial forces that come to take the planet back.

Hmm... that makes me think of something.

 

[Bagpuss]

A quick clarification: my definition of "Rise of the Empire" is specifically events AFTER RotJ, once the Jedis are killed off / in exile / in hiding, the 20-odd years between the two trilogy movies.

Surely you mean RotS (Revenge of the Sith) not RotJ (Return of the Jedi).

Unfortunately to most people Rise of the Empire covers the 50 years before A New Hope, so all the first three films.

So when I first saw this thread I was going to post my adventure set between Episodes I and II.

Once the Jedi purge is over but before the Battle of Yavin is when the Rebellion is in it's really early years, having achieved nothing much of note. To me this is a pretty boring time, as I like to involved events and characters from the films in my campaigns. Saying that wingsandswords seems to be able to make it appeal a little.

 

[Wraith Form]

Surely you mean RotS (Revenge of the Sith) not RotJ (Return of the Jedi).

Arrrgghh. Yes. Corrected in post.