Star Wars writer's block

[Goddess FallenAngel]

So... we're playing a Star Wars Campaign. It's been going for about 7 or 8 sessions now. I played a Scoundrel character for the first 3 or 4 sessions before I had to make a new character (long, unrelated story involving disagreements with GM). So I made a new character, a Jedi, since most of the party (3 out of the 4 remaining characters) were Jedi and it would be easier to fit the new character into the party, and because I couldn't come up with another character concept.

Anyway, so we've just completed a story arc for one of the characters. And the GM asked the rest of us, OOC after the game, if there is anything (goals, etc) for our characters that we would like him to work into the game (since he already focused on completing 1 character's goal, and didn't want to continue to focus on a single character and have it become "<Character Name>'s Game").

I said, "Well, sure! I....." and I trailed off as I realized I had no clue what to do with the character.

Usually I have well-thought-out (and often written-out) backstory, motivation, and goal(s) for my characters, but lately have been running into some writer's block (or gamer's block, whatever ya want to call it). And being that this character was created in the middle of an adventure, practically in the middle of a game session, I have nothing.

So... anyone have any good SW stories that might work for inspiration?

 

[RodneyThompson]

If you haven't checked out the Galactic Campaign Guide, it's got some good character motivations and goals in there.

One of the overarching themes of the classic trilogy is the concept of destiny. It's mentioned quite a bit, especially in Return of the Jedi. If you want to really give your character something to strive for, think about what the character's destiny might be. What is it that, in the grand scheme of things, the Force wants him or her to do. What role does the Jedi have to play in the cosmic story? It should probably be something rather significant -- overthrowing a tyrant, liberating a star system, destroying a superweapon, turning a Sith away from the Dark Side, training a powerful Padawan, etc.

Think big for your destiny, then think of all the small goals that would set you on that path to fulfilling your destiny. For example, let's say you wanted your Jedi to be a liberator, someone that frees people from the oppression of tyranny. You want your destiny be to liberate a large group of people from oppression, so the steps you have to take to fulfill this destiny would be things like:

• Identify the oppressors
• Find the weaknesses in the tyrant's power
• Take action to exploit these weaknesses
• Rally the oppressed people into rebellion
• Engage in larger-scale operations against the oppressors
• Cut off supply lines or valuable resources belonging to the despot
• Lead a massive uprising to reclaim power for the people
• Defeat (capture, kill) the despot in a climactic showdown, thus fulfilling your destiny

Now, obviously, most of that stuff falls to the domain of the GM's responsibility to you, but you can help provide him with ideas. My best advice is just to figure out, conceptually, what kind of destiny you want your character to have, then let the GM fill in the specifics. It sounds like he's going to be very accommodating to you, so don't be afraid to discuss grand-scale destinies with him.

As for specific destinies, I always like the very simple description that Obi-Wan gives in A New Hope: "For over a thousand generations Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic." The Jedi are ancient, ever-present, and concerned with maintaining peace and justice. This gives you a lot of options for destinies, but mostly it seems to me like the Jedi would have destinies that restore freedom to the inhabitants of the galaxy. They might topple local tyrants, destroy crime lords and their organizations, or even something as simple as making sure that a tenuous peace between rival planets isn't broken by local miscreants unable to abide by a recent treaty.

I hope this helps, though I know it's not very specific. Good luck with your Jedi!

 

[Goddess FallenAngel]

Moridin,

Thank you for the advice! It gives me a place to start.

I think one of the problems is that although I have watched the movies (who hasn't?), I haven't played SW before, so the possibilities of what can be done still seem fairly unknown. We have the Galactic Campaign Guide, but I thought it was more of a GM book, so haven't looked at it.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[RodneyThompson]

I think one of the problems is that although I have watched the movies (who hasn't?), I haven't played SW before, so the possibilities of what can be done still seem fairly unknown. We have the Galactic Campaign Guide, but I thought it was more of a GM book, so haven't looked at it.

Thanks for the advice!

Sure thing. Be sure to check with your GM before you look over the GCG, because there may be something in there that he doesn't want you to see.

As for what can be done, my best advice is to think conceptually and let the GM fill in the specifics. Is your character a liberator? An educator? A redeemer? A pathfinder? Does he or she want to root out evil, or merely tend to those who are the victims of evil? Do you want a destiny that hits close to home (Luke redeems his father) or is more far-reaching (Lando blows up the Death Star)? Do you want to find something, or destroy something, or save something? What appeals to you as a direction for your character to go? What complications might your character struggle with? Would you be tempted by the Dark Side, or would your strict adherence to the light force you to have to make difficult decisions about your course of action?

Once you know that, it becomes much easier to apply specifics.