[Star Wars] What if the Empire Won?

[Ghostwind]

I'm toying around with the idea of running a Star Wars Saga game set during the Rebellion era. The major storyline would be, however, that the Empire has defeated the Rebellion. The battle of Yavin went poorly and the Death Star wasn't destroyed. What is left of the Rebellion is scattered over the entire Galaxy, in hiding and doing everything they can to avoid being captured.

What other aspects would you incorporate into this setting?

 

[Bumbles]

How much of the post-SW material do you want to include? Grand Admiral Thrawn would be an interesting character to include, as might the the Yuuzhan Vong. Prince Xizor as well. Some of the events from the novel series might be included, such as the Katana Fleet or the Emperor's monitoring system on Coruscant.

Could be interesting to see the Rebel Alliance make a grab for the Katana Fleet.

And hey, you know, the Emperor is obviously getting old. What if he died? Would his clone take his place? Vader? Thrawn? Grand Moff Tarkin? Whose side would the players take?

 

[Ghostwind]

I'm not deeply familiar with the Expanded SW Universe, but having Thrawn as major player possibly even against Vader in a power struggle for control of the throne would be interesting. Also seeing how the Empire reacts to the Yuuzhan Vong could be fun.

 

[drothgery]

Hmm. My Republic and Empire PBP game is set in a universe where the Rebellion's victory in the movie era was less complete (because the end of RotJ and the events shortly afterward played out somewhat differently), but 25 years later the New Republic is probably winning its war against the empire (it keeps gaining territory, and the Empire keeps losing it, but the Empire's still about half the size it was at its peak, and Republic only controls about half of the rest).

 

[Baron Opal]

It never came to anything, but a SW game that I was planning assumed that Luke falls to the dark side and then he and Vader kill the Emperor. They then "rule the galaxy, as father and son." Since they actually can trust another a bit more than the usual Sith master-apprentice relationship their control of the Empire is frightening. Also they develop a squad of semi-force users as a special forces / secret police organization. Vader doesn't trust technology as much as the Emperor did, you see.

Leia and Han escape the disasterous battle of Endor. Leia, being the "one other" that Yoda talked about*, learns the force and trains revolutionaries that continue the struggle 20 years later.

* Yeah, it's a plot hole, but it works well enough.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

I'm not deeply familiar with the Expanded SW Universe, but having Thrawn as major player possibly even against Vader in a power struggle for control of the throne would be interesting. Also seeing how the Empire reacts to the Yuuzhan Vong could be fun.

One would think that the Empire would have much less difficulty fighting the Yuuzhan Vong.

I never actually read the NJO stuff, but the d20 stuff that I read seemed to portray the New Republic as having so tiny a military that they weren't able to render an effective defense against the Yuuzhan Vong fleets. Contrast that with the Empire and its endless armies of Stormtroopers, TIEs, and Star Destroyers.

I can also see a lot of political intrigue, up to and including small wars between Moffs that the Emperor instigates to head off challengers and relieve his own immense boredom. What would be interesting would be if, say, someone opposed to the Emperor got their hands on the Death Star.

Brad

 

[Bumbles]

The Death Star versus the Squid Star....fight!

Actually I have no idea what the YV ships looked like, but that's the idea.

 

[Fallen Seraph]

The Death Star could become something of a production model. Since it succeeded at Yavin 4 it would be a "proven concept" so you could have like 4-5 Death Stars roaming about. Perhaps there is inner-tension in the Empire with each section that has a Death Star vying for more control. The borders between these zones could be very tense, perhaps areas where smugglers could make runs avoiding the main territories.

 

[Asmor]

The Death Star could become something of a production model. Since it succeeded at Yavin 4 it would be a "proven concept" so you could have like 4-5 Death Stars roaming about. Perhaps there is inner-tension in the Empire with each section that has a Death Star vying for more control. The borders between these zones could be very tense, perhaps areas where smugglers could make runs avoiding the main territories.

Ooh, that's a cool idea.

 

[Klaus]

What if the Yuzaan Vong invasion is reversed? The Empire moves three Death Stars into the next galaxy, and hilarity ensues!