Star Wars: The Great Galactic Race - need suggestions

[ReeboKesh]

Hey guys!

With the coming of the new Star Wars Saga rules our group is about to start a new Star Wars campaign with me as the GM. A while back I wrote and ran a new Jedi Order campaign which was story driven with an definite end in mind and the players loved it. Now its time to write another one and I need some suggestions.

Today I was thinking of plot ideas that I have never encountered in my 20+ years of gaming and I hit upon the idea of a race across the galaxy. Heck Star Wars has used a race in one of its movies (Episode 1) and even in its games (KOTOR 1 & 2).

I ran this idea by some of my players and the first thing that came to mind was "The Amazing Race" which is airing at the moment down under. LOL!

Anyway I envisage to make it possible to run the PCs will have to be in one ship as part of a race team up against other teams. I need the race to be able to last several sessions (ideally the race IS the campaign) so I was thinking that the racers have to travel to different planets (pit-stops) and find the coordinates for the next planet in the next leg of the race. Along the way they will have to deal with the other racers, bounty hunters hired to fix the race, space pirates etc.

So I am throwing this idea out there and asking the creative minds of Enworld for any suggestions on how to run it, obstacles to put in it, plots, subplots, anything that could make this another great Star Wars campaign.

Thanks in advance
Reebo Kesh

 

[RigaMortus2]

That is a really interesting idea. But instead of comparing it to Amazing Race, maybe you can do something like the TV show Drive. I am not sure if it is on anymore, but it was sort of like a cannonball run. Each racer had their own story and secret. So perhaps the players could do this. Maybe 1 person is blackmailed into racing. Another person might be running from a bounty hunter. Another person might want to win the prize money for his family.

I kind of envision a land race. Perhaps a pod race from Point A to Point B, then they have to find passage to another planet to continue to race there. They get riddles that they have to figure out, the answers to the riddles tell the contestants where the next check point is.

 

[atomn]

I would make the prize something that would be useful to a myriad of the different factions. So not only would smugglers want it, but the Rebel Alliance, Empire, Hutts, pirate gangs and Corporate Sector would as well. I think the variety of participants would make for a good intrigue where unlikely allies would partner up for various portions of the race. I enjoy when the heroes have to face non-evil adversaries, so this type of situation could pit the heroes against the Alliance just because the Alliance don’t want the prize to fall into any hands other than their own.

Alternatively, to get more factions involved, some organizations could be interested in the race participants, not the prize. i.e., a Hutt chasing down a smuggler who owes him, Imperials tracking down Rebels, etc. Such factions could not only try to capture the various participants during the race but could also get involved in the race to find the prize because they know that's where their target will eventually end up.

Or later on factions who were just targetting specific participants could learn about the prize and change their sights to go after it instead.

I'd make the race primarily via starship across the galaxy because it would give you great freedom for whatever scenario that you'd want. If you want to have a scene of the racers flying through an asteroid field, you're set to go in space. If you want them to have some sort of speeder race through a forest, they have to find a clue on Endor. If you want them to be part of a large scale battle, have them arrive on Dantooine to get the next clue in the exact vicinity of the Empire surprise assault on a hidden Rebel base. And if your players don't like all of the running around you can leave the rest of the campaign in one locale that they like.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

That is a really interesting idea. But instead of comparing it to Amazing Race, maybe you can do something like the TV show Drive. I am not sure if it is on anymore, but it was sort of like a cannonball run. Each racer had their own story and secret. So perhaps the players could do this. Maybe 1 person is blackmailed into racing. Another person might be running from a bounty hunter. Another person might want to win the prize money for his family.

I kind of envision a land race. Perhaps a pod race from Point A to Point B, then they have to find passage to another planet to continue to race there. They get riddles that they have to figure out, the answers to the riddles tell the contestants where the next check point is.

I immediately thought of Drive too, but I think he should take advantage of the breadth of the SW Galaxy and use that as a setting for the race. Hyperspace makes getting from various points along the trip pretty easy, and the space adds another element of mystery and danger to the whole thing.

Basically, think of Drive as Lost in cars. The show got canned, but it was a good concept and I think it'd be a perfect scenario. But I think the "reality TV" idea could work as well. I'm imagining a small droid camera crew running around with a bunch of PCs in nasty shootout in the alley of dreg-filled city on a some backwater planet.

 

[Randolpho]

I really like this idea, *especially* if you play up the whole "finding out where to go next" aspect, making each stop a full-scale quest to find the next clue, and where each clue is itself a riddle that the PCs need to figure out. You could create branches, embedding clues to two separate locations, giving the PCs a choice (if they can see it). For a real brain-screwing, you could make clues that reference one or more previous clues, forcing the PCs to double-back before they can figure out the next leg.

Great way to tour the galaxy. I'm reminded of KotOR, and that's *good*.

Someone mentioned casting it in a reality-tv/game-show light. That might work pretty well, and you could have fun with an over-arching plot mingled in (i.e. the bounty hunters mentioned).

Wow, tons of ideas flowing... and no time to write them out. I'll check back in later with more.

 

[atomn]

As much of a Survivor junkie that I am, I don't like the idea of it being reality-tv or a gameshow. Just doesn't seem very Star Wars-y to me that way. I could see it working for another more media driver setting (like a futuristic anime setting where the corporations are in charge) but it would feel campy to me in the Star Wars universe.

 

[GoodKingJayIII]

As much of a Survivor junkie that I am, I don't like the idea of it being reality-tv or a gameshow. Just doesn't seem very Star Wars-y to me that way. I could see it working for another more media driver setting (like a futuristic anime setting where the corporations are in charge) but it would feel campy to me in the Star Wars universe.

I don't know, Star Wars is pretty campy and cheesy if you get down to it. But I do see your point; it might not fit well with the drama. You don't have to call it a "reality tv" program. Maybe a bunch of super-rich businessfolk (i.e., crimelords) decide to pool their resources and put on the biggest piece of entertainment in the galaxy. And the prize is a McGuffin that anybody could put to good use.

 

[atomn]

I don't know, Star Wars is pretty campy and cheesy if you get down to it. But I do see your point; it might not fit well with the drama. You don't have to call it a "reality tv" program. Maybe a bunch of super-rich businessfolk (i.e., crimelords) decide to pool their resources and put on the biggest piece of entertainment in the galaxy. And the prize is a McGuffin that anybody could put to good use.

Midichlorians are pure physiological science, there's nothing campy or cheesy about them!

 

[Odhanan]

The idea has great potential.

Personally, I would try my best to make the race feel like Star Wars through and through, though, and not the "Amazing Race" with Star Wars dressing, if you see what I mean.

For something to feel like "Star Wars", you need a few elements IMO, like travels on different worlds (I hate SW adventures taking place on a single world) -that's covered by the Galactic Race, a compelling villain, some shady/criminal elements (bounty hunting, smugglers, stuff like that), something of a legacy, the Force, some witty interactions in the PC group.

Putting Tatooine in is always a plus, as far as I'm concerned.

Also, what era would you choose? If the players can play actual Jedi Knights, what would be the Council's interest in the race? If you consider the Rise of the Empire era, what would compel them to assign Jedi PCs to it as racers? A threat to the Republic? How? A mole is within the race? Carrying some terrible secret to someone who would be waiting at one of the race's stops? Or maybe there are hints of an assassination attempt against the Supreme Chancelor (by Separatists?)? And what if this attempt is masterminded by the Chancellor himself?

Well. Just throwing ideas into the pot I guess!

 

[Shane_Leahy]

Another option may be to not make it a race per say but have the party searching for something that others are also looking for and it becomes a race, with competing groups dropping out, new ones coming in. This allows opens up the possiblity of the players allying with other groups on a short term basis. They could be looking for a legendary fleet that went missing (Katana Fleet) or some ancient jedi thingamagig. This could be similar to that Star Trek eposide when they were gathering the DNA.

This would strike me as being similar Indiana Jones style game.