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Which system for a Star Wars game?

Diggus, thank you for the feedback. I appreciate the comments, and your suggestion sounds excellent.

I’ll clarify what the state of the galaxy is and some information without giving too much away of the plot. I know at least one of my player’s lurks about! Your input, ideas and honest opinion (and from everyone else for that matter) are welcome.

I am not going to follow the plot of the prequels as I’ve stated ad infinitum by now. I may use some names and characters, hopefully recasting them in the story in ways that may surprise the players, and there of course will be the mandatory ones so when this is all said and done it will (hopefully!) sync in with episodes 4 to 6. I may use some EU characters or concepts, from Timothy Zahn mostly because I liked his original trilogy of books, haven’t read much beyond that.

Why is the Senate powerless?

This one requires a little background. As I envisioned the setting, about a thousand years ago the galaxy was almost torn apart by internal bickering and conflict. The Republic had grown too large, powerful planets and military leaders within the Republican army begun to fight for control, local quarrels degenerated into armed conflict. Military leader sent to quell the combatants often ended up supporting one side or the other.

The Jedi, while powerful, could not contain every single conflict. Their numbers dwindling (I’ll get to this in the third question) they negotiated peace. The Republic dismantled its standing army and navy, planets, sectors and groups within the Republic gained a greater degree of autonomy to govern themselves. Instead of having one centralized power the Republic became a tapestry of semi-autonomous alliances, federations and conglomerates. The Senate and the Republic bureaucracy became an arbiter in financial and legal matters between these groups.

They keep a token peacekeeping force and ships to regulate trade, without the bite for any real military action. I imagine the Senate acting as a sort of United Nations for this many groups and the galaxy as Europe after the World Wars.

The Senate has little real power over these systems that have mostly respect the peace, but have armed themselves against the perceived threat of other systems/alliances.


Why are the citizens leaders powerless or indifferent?

Most leaders of theses factions are preparing for what they see as an inevitable conflict. Raising armies and navies to protect themselves, slowly trying to annex or ally themselves with satellite systems to create protections and buffer zones from potential enemies. At the same time with few safe commercial routes, piracy on the rice, no way to impose galaxy wide commercial agreements and communication, may political leaders find themselves either too preoccupied with other matters or powerless to help their people. The masses long for the old glory, stability and might of the Republic of old.

What dwindled the Jedi's numbers? Why hasnt the council met?

The Jedi were the champions of old. Once membership in their ranks meant greatness and their exploits were know the across the galaxy. Before the conflict a thousand years ago their role had changed. The Republic had expanded to near their current know limits, created a proper army and with hyperdrives could patrol their territory effectively. The time of the lone Jedi, or groups of Jedi protecting distant systems, leading the people, was no more. They had taken different roles, as advisors, military leaders, mystics.

In my version of things Jedi USED to take candidates as infants, but that is a tradition mostly abandoned (more of this in a moment). Jedi are now trained as adults, from possible candidates, most who actively seek masters, instead of the orders (yes plural) coming to them. Possible Force sensitive individuals no longer see the need or the prestige in becoming a Jedi and often go untrained. As there is no measurable, scientific way to determine who has the innate ability to become a Jedi many go untrained.

There is likewise no unified order of Jedi. The Council arose during the times of conflict with the Sith as a way to unite the philosophies of those that opposed the Sith. They remained united during the expansion of the Republic and the decision that fractured them was the peace that many of the Jedi decided to support and that effectively left the senate powerless.

The orders themselves profited from the “peace”, taking under their wing some systems as protectorates and in fact becoming part of the political landscape. There are three main orders, a militaristic order that is seeking to bring back the glory of the Jedi and have begun taking young children who display talent in manipulating the force, a meditative order that is getting away from politics despite still having some systems under their wing, and a religious order that preaches of the force and has more non-force using members than Jedi.

The meditative order is seen as ineffectual, taking few new trainees under their wing, and the religious as nuts who try to force their beliefs on the people.

I hope the rant made sense, it is almost 2 am!

I hope it makes sense and doesn’t seem TOO simple. There is no underlying political agenda to this and hope it doesn’t give anyone the wrong idea.
 

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Lovely:

"The selfish autonomy of systems has rendered the Senate a token authority, at best."

"Citizens seek hope but are met with only indifference from their leaders -- interested more in protecting their own assets."

"Divided along internal lines, the Jedi Order is no longer focused. Few youths see any honor in this ancient tradition."


Splice or paraphrase these into the scroll and you'll give a good picture of things I think without giving away too much.
 
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I could not go to sleep and came back, lo and behold an answer! Diggus sir, my hat is off to you! Thank you for that, I will rework and post maybe tomorrow.

Posting here has proven incredibly helpful. For good or ill, my closest friends are also my players, and while I bounce off some ideas from them, creating campaigns has so far been a solitary exercise. I am infinitely grateful to all that that have contributed.

Back with more soon Diggus! Anyone else is welcome to chime in…
 


iwatt said:
Will there be an order at Coruscant? Which one?

iwatt, No I don’t think there will be one Coruscant. The Jedi have little influence in the core worlds, only the military order has some measure of presence as they protect the Duros.
 

Your welcome, Sunglar. Pro bono copy editing at your service. ;)

Further, I'd put the Citizen problems in the second section about the rampant piracy to solidify the point. This way too you'll have a REpublic, ordinary folk, and Jedi section to the scroll.
 

Sunglar said:
In my version of things Jedi USED to take candidates as infants, but that is a tradition mostly abandoned (more of this in a moment). Jedi are now trained as adults, from possible candidates, most who actively seek masters, instead of the orders (yes plural) coming to them.
That solves the twelve year old adventurer issue quite nicely. ;)

I do have a serious question. How has the galaxy not already exploded into an orgy of civil war? A millennium is a long time for paranoid people to build private armies and arrange private alliances; I would think that over such a length of time someone would have started trouble already.
To reference a historic parallel, Europe wanted to avoid World War I (the treaties were an early form of Mutually Assured Destruction) but it happened anyway because a crazy kid assassinated a foreign leader. From the sound of things, such a situation should have arisen no less than two hundred years ago, probably about eight hundred.
You don't have to answer this question to me, though you should probably have a vague answer for yourself in case your players bring it up. Also, that's another layer of historical detail.
 

Valhalla, minor conflict have occurred, but mostly contained within sectors and the Senate is powerless to do anything. When the “peace” was agreed upon many limitations were in place, armament, amount of ships each system could deploy, little by little the rules have been broken. More powerful alliances/groups/block (call it what you may) have annexed, colonized or made neighbors protectorates. Now the big guys are getting ready for the inevitable big fight they perceive will come no matter what… So in effect even the illusion of the long peace is a sham!

Is that satisfactory? I’ll write more tomorrow, jut got back from my game and I have to go to sleep!
 

WHen I hear taht SAGA has sprouted from d20 Modern, I'm less than encouraged sadly. Modern has never been my cup of tea. It just hasn't ever really clicked with me. The d20 1st Ed was interesting but I never got the newer version. I'll still check out the SAGA edition tho I'm sure.
 
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SSquirrel said:
WHen I hear taht SAGA has sprouted from d20 Modern, I'm less than encouraged sadly. Modern has never been my cup of tea. It just hasn't ever really clicked with me. The d20 1st Ed was interesting but I never got the newer version. I'll still check out the SAGA edition tho I'm sure.

Wow, thank goodness Saga Edition didn't sprout of d20 Modern then. We might have used some mechanical concepts from Modern, but it's its own game.
 

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