The Rancor Pit Forum Index
Welcome to The Rancor Pit forums!

The Rancor Pit Forum Index
FAQ   ::   Search   ::   Memberlist   ::   Usergroups   ::   Register   ::   Profile   ::   Log in to check your private messages   ::   Log in

Post-ANH alternate history campaign
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Adventures and Campaigns -> Post-ANH alternate history campaign
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
ebertran
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 202
Location: Miami, FL

PostPosted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 6:20 pm    Post subject: Post-ANH alternate history campaign Reply with quote



I am working on an alternate history Star Wars campaign that follows A New Hope with the assumption being that the Empire was able to use the Death Star before Luke got his shot off in time.

Yavin was destroyed, as was the rest of the Rebellion's top brass, essentially forcing Mon Mothma, who was not on Yavin, to have to rebuild.

This allows the PCs to be the main stars of the story without worrying about bumping into the "big" characters and lets them be the ones who eventually topple the Empire.

Have any of you run alternate histories? What was it like? I'm planning to play this on roll20 and hopefully stream it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14139
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 1:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Who would have survived? Leia was on Yavin. What of han/chewie and luke.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
tonyx33
Cadet
Cadet


Joined: 10 Jan 2019
Posts: 7
Location: Bordeaux, France

PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 9:54 am    Post subject: ALTERNATE Reply with quote

So really alternate indeed...
_________________
Fan of Star Wars d6, Call of Cthulhu and AD&D

TONYX LE BARBARE
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14139
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have wanted to play in a game where part of the premise was that luke's shot into the death star came JUST AS It was firing. so BOTH the death star blew up as well as yavin. BUT LUKE and han, were caught in the blast OF the death star.......
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
pakman
Commander
Commander


Joined: 20 Jul 2021
Posts: 427

PostPosted: Mon Oct 30, 2023 5:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Post-ANH alternate history campaign Reply with quote

ebertran wrote:

Have any of you run alternate histories? What was it like? I'm planning to play this on roll20 and hopefully stream it.


Depends on how you define......History.

In our session 0, we covered a lot of topics - and one of them was the bounds that the gm could alter and not. My group of players, who love star wars content all the way back to KOTOR and animated shows etc. - decided the only thing they wanted to protect from change was EP4,5,6.
(it was slightly more nuanced than that - but you get the idea).

They also decided they wanted to be heroes, play in the late rebellion period, and not interfere with the actions of 4,5,6.
But they did not mind being in parallel with activities in the movies....

So, I have a long and detailed story and plot involving ancient rituals, cloning, inquisitors etc. where - if the party is successful - the emperor will stay dead - forever. no clones, no force anything, no soul transfer no descendants. period.

(it is based on the idea, that as inspired by Darth Plagueis, the emperor was researching ways to either be immortal, or come back - and the party has discovered this effort, and is going to sabotage it).

So, is that history? Depends upon a certain point of view...
_________________
SW Fan, Gamer, Comic, Corporate nerd.
Working on massive House Rules document - pretty much a new book. Will post soon....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)


Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10397
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2023 2:33 am    Post subject: Re: Post-ANH alternate history campaign Reply with quote

pakman wrote:
ebertran wrote:
Have any of you run alternate histories?

Depends on how you define......History.

In our session 0, we covered a lot of topics - and one of them was the bounds that the gm could alter and not. My group of players, who love star wars content all the way back to KOTOR and animated shows etc. - decided the only thing they wanted to protect from change was EP4,5,6.
(it was slightly more nuanced than that - but you get the idea).

They also decided they wanted to be heroes, play in the late rebellion period, and not interfere with the actions of 4,5,6.
But they did not mind being in parallel with activities in the movies....

So, I have a long and detailed story and plot involving ancient rituals, cloning, inquisitors etc. where - if the party is successful - the emperor will stay dead - forever. no clones, no force anything, no soul transfer no descendants. period.

(it is based on the idea, that as inspired by Darth Plagueis, the emperor was researching ways to either be immortal, or come back - and the party has discovered this effort, and is going to sabotage it).

So, is that history? Depends upon a certain point of view...

True, but in general there are two official universes expanding from the original six films and RPGs add their own continuity, so the ask would seem to assume (at least) alternate from the films since the example given is alternate to the events of ANH. What you describe would only necessarily be alternate to TRoS (unless the PCs completely fail). But I see your campaign is allowed to be alternate to anything except the CT. (My current SWU is explicitly alternate to the DT and everything except the six Lucas films, RO and Solo.)

It's an interesting concept. Question about your campaign... It is not public knowledge that Palpatine is a Force user let alone a Sith Master in either canon. Is it public knowledge in yours? Are the heroes Rebels? Does the Alliance learn the truth about Palpatine before RotJ? Luke could have learned from Ghost Ben or Yoda, although it was never explicit in film dialogue).

garhkal wrote:
I have wanted to play in a game where part of the premise was that luke's shot into the death star came JUST AS It was firing. so BOTH the death star blew up as well as yavin. BUT LUKE and han, were caught in the blast OF the death star.......
garhkal wrote:
Who would have survived? Leia was on Yavin. What of han/chewie and luke

Good question. The OP does not even say what happens to Han and Luke.

One possibility is that Luke survived but had to crash land on another moon of Yavin due to damage received from the Yavin IV explosion. Maybe Vader landed and turned Luke to the Dark Side. The OP seems to imply Luke is dead or evil, so the PCs can move into primary galactic hero status.

ebertran wrote:
I am working on an alternate history Star Wars campaign that follows A New Hope with the assumption being that the Empire was able to use the Death Star before Luke got his shot off in time.

Yavin was destroyed, as was the rest of the Rebellion's top brass, essentially forcing Mon Mothma, who was not on Yavin, to have to rebuild...

Yes, please give us more details. Yavin being destroyed without Mon Mothma would not seem to be the crushing blow that ANH makes the possibility out to be. Not to diminish the drama of my favorite film, but the EU (and CU) have that there were many Rebel bases scattered across the galaxy. Destroying the base before a full Rebel evacuation could be completed would certainly hurt the Rebellion but that alone would not require new galactic heroes to come to the forefront of the Rebel movement.

ebertran wrote:
This allows the PCs to be the main stars of the story without worrying about bumping into the "big" characters and lets them be the ones who eventually topple the Empire.

The PCs of all my campaigns are always the main stars of the story, whether they ever bump into the main film characters or not.

Your statement seems to speak to the ol' metaplot criticism of the Star Wars RPG: The PCs can't be heroes of the story unless are the ones who defeat the Empire. No offense if you feel that way, but that view always seemed ridiculous to me. Are all D&D campaigns about saving the prime material plane? Not to my knowledge. I absolutely love the Star Wars galaxy as an RPG setting because it is so vast and there are so many stories to tell. I do not understand the complaint I've heard that Star Wars isn't fun unless your campaign replaces RotJ. And I don't get groups who feel that a linear metaplot in Star Wars is creatively restricting, because it is such a large universe with room to play in, and I've found creative ways to weave adventures into the background of the films without needing to alter them, which is very rewarding and creatively inspiring itself.

There is nothing wrong with doing alternate history campaigns if that's what you and the players want to do. I'm only responding to the mystifyingly common complaint I've seen indicating that is the only way to have any fun with the game. It's sad that so many have that unnecessary, self-imposed restriction, or even worse, don't even play the game at all because of the metaplot.

However...

ebertran wrote:
Have any of you run alternate histories? What was it like?

I have. Sort of. I have a Star Wars multiverse and I am on my 9th (and final) SWU. My second, third, and fourth campaign universes explicitly diverged from sequel film canon, namely RotJ (or both TESB and RotJ) – ANH is the constant in all my universes. These three campaign universes all date back to my 1e days.

One universe accidentally diverged because the adventure went to a film planet and I realized only afterward that the events of adventure would alter film canon that takes place after (The Alliance discovered a massive Imperial construction project in the Endor system long before TESB). The alteration had no apparent effect on the campaign until the final adventure played which involved Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett just for fun. Then I wrote the the direct outcome of the original alteration into a short dénouement ending the narrative of that world.

One universe only diverged for the sake of final adventure of the campaign, a time travel adventure taking place before TESB, where during a space battle with Imperials near a space-time anomaly, the PCs were blasted 15 years into a dark future where the Alliance had lost some Battle in "Endor" (a system unknown to the PCs). All the Heroes of Yavin were dead. Palpatine and Vader ruled the galaxy with three new Death Stars which had destroyed every world supporting rebel bases except the main base. The only good Force-sensitive left in the galaxy was the teenaged son of one of the PC's comrades who had died before he was born. I counted on metagaming to make the players believe that the reason the Alliance lost the Battle of Endor was because their PCs had been missing from the timeline and did not participate in it, so the players were motivated to have their PCs find a way to back to their own time to hopefully prevent that horrible future from existing. In their investigation to find a way to travel backwards through time, the PCs discovered that ever since they had disappeared 15 years ago, the Empire had been researching time travel tech and the research existed only one of the Death Stars, so they played a mission to infiltrate it. While on it, the final Alliance base was discovered and going to be destroyed, so they had to reveal themselves and severely disable the Death Star to give the Alliance a chance to escape, in case their mission to go back in time failed. The leader PC, who had been a Force student of the teen's father, decided at the last minute to stay behind, so he could train his former master's son to use the Force and help this timeline's Alliance in case the others didn't make it back in time. They said their goodbyes and escape separately, dividing their pursuers which made both of their escapes possible. The other three PCs did successfully make it back in time at the cost of severe damage to their ship. Sacrificing their ship they destroyed a secret Imperial space station near the anomaly which they had discovered collected the data that they had found in the future to allow them to go back in time, eliminating the discovery that would ever lead to backwards time travel. "Endor" could not be found on any of the star charts. The three remaining PCs decided to keep the dark future secret to not destroy hope, and that they would have the best chance of positively influencing the outcome of the future Battle of Endor by going their separate ways in their service to the Alliance.

And one universe diverged from sequel film canon when one of the PCs (in a non-heroic bounty hunters campaign) had accidentally destroyed the Millennium Falcon (killing Chewbacca inside) with a lucky shot, and in the moment we all just said 'f- it, let's roll with this and see what happens.' The campaign continued to greatly diverge from film canon. Han Solo became a primary reoccurring antagonist as he wanted revenge against the hunters (killing a couple of the many PCs over the course of this campaign). The campaign ended with Palpatine's body dead and his spirit trapped in a non-force-sensitive Gamorrean (a prisoner of the Alliance), Vader dead, Luke crossed-over to the Dark Side and missing, and Leia on her way to Yoda to get Jedi training.

I started all these campaign universes as a teenage GM in the 80s, and the last adventure taking place in any of them was played in 1995 as a one-shot reunion with my childhood D&D group (pre-WEG SW). Two of the divergences were not planned. The only one that was had only diverged for the sake of a single adventure to complete a campaign, and the divergence was to intentionally make the players feel they had to set things right again (back to film canon).

I've never set out to run an entire campaign that is alternate from the beginning. What I described above is as close as I've come, and I have no interest in doing that again. Not even one shots (and no more time travel adventures). Now I feel it is more fun to work with the metaplot, and creatively avoid contradicting it if coming close to that.
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
pakman
Commander
Commander


Joined: 20 Jul 2021
Posts: 427

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2023 1:23 pm    Post subject: Re: Post-ANH alternate history campaign Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
pakman wrote:
ebertran wrote:
Have any of you run alternate histories?

Depends on how you define......History.

(it is based on the idea, that as inspired by Darth Plagueis, the emperor was researching ways to either be immortal, or come back - and the party has discovered this effort, and is going to sabotage it).

So, is that history? Depends upon a certain point of view...


It's an interesting concept. Question about your campaign... It is not public knowledge that Palpatine is a Force user let alone a Sith Master in either canon. Is it public knowledge in yours? Are the heroes Rebels? Does the Alliance learn the truth about Palpatine before RotJ? Luke could have learned from Ghost Ben or Yoda, although it was never explicit in film dialogue).

That is a great question - and if I understand your implication - not just for anyone's personal game - but in general.

It is not public knowledge that Palpatine is a Force user let alone a Sith Master in either canon.

I don't believe this is covered anywhere to my knowledge - but my perception is that No, it is not public knowledge.
As part of showing distrust toward the jedi, being another "force wizard" might be perceived as problematic - and being a sith lord (evil force wizard) - might also undermine the "I am a victim of a jedi attack on democracy!" etc.


Is it public knowledge in yours?
No, it is not. The party does not even know yet, but they are getting clues as it related to may main story arc.

Are the heroes Rebels?
They are all force users - and have their own path - they will help rebels, but not part of any organized hierarchy.
They are consulting/ helping the rebel cell in their area. They are also going to help establish some contact between cells.
But at about 10 years after the clone wars - the rebellion is still fragmented and not yet widely organized in our campaign.

Does the Alliance learn the truth about Palpatine before RotJ?
Not sure - our campaign will more than likely end LONG before then - although my campaign epilogue will be about 100 years later - content depending on what path the players will take at the end (my campaign has a definitive end point - again, the players voted on that in our session zero).


Whill wrote:
pakman wrote:
This allows the PCs to be the main stars of the story without worrying about bumping into the "big" characters and lets them be the ones who eventually topple the Empire.

The PCs of all my campaigns are always the main stars of the story, whether they ever bump into the main film characters or not.

Agreed. The player characters in our campaign are indeed the stars of that story.

However, they are not alone in their story, nor in the galaxy....(more on this a bit).

Whill wrote:

Your statement seems to speak to the ol' metaplot criticism of the Star Wars RPG: The PCs can't be heroes of the story unless are the ones who defeat the Empire. No offense if you feel that way, but that view always seemed ridiculous to me.

None taken - but that is because I don't feel that way.


Whill wrote:

Are all D&D campaigns about saving the prime material plane? Not to my knowledge. I absolutely love the Star Wars galaxy as an RPG setting because it is so vast and there are so many stories to tell. I do not understand the complaint I've heard that Star Wars isn't fun unless your campaign replaces RotJ.

And I don't get groups who feel that a linear metaplot in Star Wars is creatively restricting, because it is such a large universe with room to play in, and I've found creative ways to weave adventures into the background of the films without needing to alter them, which is very rewarding and creatively inspiring itself.

I agree with a lot of this ...
Sometimes you can just save a village (see - seven samurai - or Yojimbo) or stop some villains (um - there is a whole galaxy of organized crime out there) that and while widely popular (and weighed very heavily in nostalgia by many) the stories in star wars literally span millennia - the empire was a tiny blip on that timeline.

I had one entire campaign that was all about crime syndicates, slavers and the spice trade....there is a lot going on in star wars...

On the weaving stories...I had another set during the clone wars - the party was on Geonosis - they disabled the planetary defense systems which would have otherwise stopped the clone fleet from rescuing the jedi...


Whill wrote:

There is nothing wrong with doing alternate history campaigns if that's what you and the players want to do. I'm only responding to the mystifyingly common complaint I've seen indicating that is the only way to have any fun with the game. It's sad that so many have that unnecessary, self-imposed restriction, or even worse, don't even play the game at all because of the metaplot.



I agree - but there are some challenges.

First off - not all GM's are capable of creating intricately woven stories that engage the overall star wars plot. it is an artform to say the least.

Secondly - star wars is popular - folks love it - and imagine themselves as being as heroic as ...the heroes. This feels like a restriction to many - and not everyone can get past that - THEY want to be the ones who blow up the deathstar etc. My group does not feel that way - but many, might.

Yes, you can have great stories along with it - I mean - after all - without the rebellion - or even the income xwing - luke would have had nothing to pilot.

This is one reason rogue one and andor are so great (and rebels) - you see all the other heroics that had to take place - long before luke ever would have left tatoonie...

Finally - regarding a party bumping into heroes in OUR game - well a couple of reasons - one - because our campaign is about their story - not han luke and leia - that and have to deal with if they do interact - it could break the suspension of disbelief if any interactions would change the timeline.
This is the main reason our game keeps them separate.

Note - I am not arguing against the position that you don't need to change ROTJ as mentioned - I just saying that if a group does not want to change a movie (or three) - then the campaign needs to support that.
_________________
SW Fan, Gamer, Comic, Corporate nerd.
Working on massive House Rules document - pretty much a new book. Will post soon....
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14139
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Mon Nov 06, 2023 3:24 pm    Post subject: Re: Post-ANH alternate history campaign Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
True, but in general there are two official universes expanding from the original six films and RPGs add their own continuity, so the ask would seem to assume (at least) alternate from the films since the example given is alternate to the events of ANH. What you describe would only necessarily be alternate to TRoS (unless the PCs completely fail). But I see your campaign is allowed to be alternate to anything except the CT. (My current SWU is explicitly alternate to the DT and everything except the six Lucas films, RO and Solo.)


Since most folk generally make their OWN canon for their SW universe, it is all dependent on the DM, as to what is seen as canon, from the films and novels etc..

Whill wrote:
It's an interesting concept. Question about your campaign... It is not public knowledge that Palpatine is a Force user let alone a Sith Master in either canon. Is it public knowledge in yours? Are the heroes Rebels? Does the Alliance learn the truth about Palpatine before RotJ? Luke could have learned from Ghost Ben or Yoda, although it was never explicit in film dialogue).


Besides the Jedi council, did even folks in the Old republic, BEFORE palpaltine declared himself Emperor, even know he was a force user OR sith lord? I highly doubt it, as that would have ruined his plans....
But i agree, either Yoda or Force ghost Obi, could have told Luke.
BUT would HE have spread that knowledge??

Whill wrote:
Yes, please give us more details. Yavin being destroyed without Mon Mothma would not seem to be the crushing blow that ANH makes the possibility out to be. Not to diminish the drama of my favorite film, but the EU (and CU) have that there were many Rebel bases scattered across the galaxy. Destroying the base before a full Rebel evacuation could be completed would certainly hurt the Rebellion but that alone would not require new galactic heroes to come to the forefront of the Rebel movement.


BUT if most of their upper leadership is kia, would the rest, even STILL rebel? Or would they do their own thing?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ebertran
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 202
Location: Miami, FL

PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2023 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi... so yes, I subscribe to the belief that PCs in a Star Wars campaign, if the goal is to bring about the end of the Empire, will always play second banana to Luke, Han, and Leia... I don't think there's much arguing there, nor does it mean interesting nd heroic stories can't be told, of course they can... But they will never be the ones to bring down Vader and the Emperor...that's why you have Grand Inquisitor Tremayne and a bunch of other rando dark siders running around.

I have enjoyed being a second banana for thirty years now, but I'd like to try a different type of campaign, as so this alternate history idea came up...

The setup is that Luke dies before he gets the shot off... Vader kills him. Vader will later learn that he killed his son, and it will be a major issue for him (leading him to want to find an apprentice and bring down the Emperor). If the party has a force user/Jedi in it, guess who Vader will seek....

Han and Chewie die, caught up in the explosion as they return to help Luke, as does Leia obviously.

The campaign takes ANH as the only real source of info... the EU is not considered here, and so Mon Motha will be rebuilding the rebellion. Not because it was destroyed at Yavin, but because the Empire, emboldened by their victory, snuff out the remainder of the rebellion and destroy them. They also use the Death Star a few more times.

The campaign picks up about 2/3 years after ANH. The Rebellion is dead. Mon Mothma is slowly rebuilding, hiding out as there is a massive bounty on her head. Vader is angry. Angry at everything and everyone after learning his son was kept from him. Tarkin is dead. The public explanation is that a Rebellion terrorist attack killed him. The truth is that he was killed by an Imperial Moff named Grosso who ascends to the title of Supreme Moff, named by the emperor as governor of all the territories. This angers Vader even more as the guy basically sees Vader as the Emperor's pet, and the Emperor has asked Vader to be Grosso's subordinate. Yeah, Vader is angry.

So yes, the idea is that the PCs are the ones destined to destroy the Empire and bring freedom back to the galaxy.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)


Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10397
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy

PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2023 3:14 am    Post subject: Re: Post-ANH alternate history campaign Reply with quote

Thanks for the details, ebertran.

pakman wrote:
Whill wrote:
It's an interesting concept. Question about your campaign...

That is a great question - and if I understand your implication - not just for anyone's personal game - but in general.

These forum posts are public writings and from the web stats I've seen, there are many people around the world that read these discussions. In general I try to remain aware that hundreds (and eventually thousands) of people will read what I write and that the discussions could be beneficial and/or thought-provoking to them.

In this case I really was just asking you about your campaign.

pakman wrote:
It is not public knowledge that Palpatine is a Force user let alone a Sith Master in either canon.

I don't believe this is covered anywhere to my knowledge - but my perception is that No, it is not public knowledge.

It was covered in the EU. It was not public knowledge that Palpatine was a Sith, and it was furthermore established that the Empire had an official "anti-Jediism" stance that went so far as to encourage disbelief in the very existence of the Force. (The Empire saying that the Force doesn't even exist would be at odds with the Emperor having a public identity as a Sith. His identity as a Sith was secret from almost everyone in the days of the Republic, so it seems it would be best to continue that secret in the Empire.) From what I've read, this seems to have been mirrored to some extent in the DU.

pakman wrote:
As part of showing distrust toward the jedi, being another "force wizard" might be perceived as problematic - and being a sith lord (evil force wizard) - might also undermine the "I am a victim of a jedi attack on democracy!" etc.

Indeed.

pakman wrote:
Is it public knowledge in yours?
No, it is not. The party does not even know yet, but they are getting clues as it related to may main story arc.

Are the heroes Rebels?
They are all force users - and have their own path - they will help rebels, but not part of any organized hierarchy.
They are consulting/ helping the rebel cell in their area. They are also going to help establish some contact between cells.
But at about 10 years after the clone wars - the rebellion is still fragmented and not yet widely organized in our campaign.

Does the Alliance learn the truth about Palpatine before RotJ?
Not sure - our campaign will more than likely end LONG before then - although my campaign epilogue will be about 100 years later - content depending on what path the players will take at the end (my campaign has a definitive end point - again, the players voted on that in our session zero).

I hadn't realized that the PCs were all Force users or that the campaign would be set so early in the timeline. If they succeed in the campaign, it would seem they might have the opportunity to reveal Palpatine's secret more widely, and I wonder if that could be canon-breaking.

pakman wrote:
Whill wrote:
No offense if you feel that way

None taken - but that is because I don't feel that way.

That was in response to ebertran. But glad to hear you were not offended!

pakman wrote:
...I agree - but there are some challenges.

First off - not all GM's are capable of creating intricately woven stories that engage the overall star wars plot. it is an artform to say the least.

True. I was just sharing one reason I (and some other GMs) don't avoid or alter the metaplot. I occasionally weave adventures into the metaplot.

But most of the time, my adventures are far from interacting with the metaplot. That is much easier for GMs to accomplish. It is a BIG galaxy.

pakman wrote:
Secondly - star wars is popular - folks love it - and imagine themselves as being as heroic as ...the heroes. This feels like a restriction to many - and not everyone can get past that - THEY want to be the ones who blow up the deathstar etc. My group does not feel that way - but many, might.

There are other things to blow up... I feel bad for groups who insist 'Death Star or nothing.' One way to address it is, if the CT is the inviolable canon but you still want the PCs to be the big damn heroes, then just wipe the slate clean for after RotJ. My post-RotJ has the Empire fractured into a few smaller Empires and has plenty of adventuring possibilities and multiple Empires to topple!

pakman wrote:
Yes, you can have great stories along with it - I mean - after all - without the rebellion - or even the income xwing - luke would have had nothing to pilot.

This is one reason rogue one and andor are so great (and rebels) - you see all the other heroics that had to take place - long before luke ever would have left tatoonie...

I designed an final adventure of a campaign that takes place on Endor during RotJ. The shield generator was a bit off in the distance from the bunker with a power generator where Solo's strike team planted the demolitions that started to a chain reaction to destroy the shield generator. What if there was another battle going on under the shield generator. What if the Empire had a fail-safe in place to prevent exactly what Solo' team did, something Solo's team didn't even know about? What if something dramatic had to be accomplished at the shield generator to disable the fail-safe and allow Solo's actions to actually work? If the PCs succeed, they helped film canon happen because Solo's actions were still required for the generator to be destroyed so the PCs don't undermine film character accomplishments. If the PCs fail, then Solo fails and we diverge from film canon.

pakman wrote:
Finally - regarding a party bumping into heroes in OUR game - well a couple of reasons - one - because our campaign is about their story - not han luke and leia - that and have to deal with if they do interact - it could break the suspension of disbelief if any interactions would change the timeline.
This is the main reason our game keeps them separate.

Disbelief suspension is of prime importance to me. When metaplot rarely does cross paths with the narrative of our adventures, I give bonus CPs for players coming up with creative ways to maintain film canon.

pakman wrote:
I just saying that if a group does not want to change a movie (or three) - then the campaign needs to support that.

The suggestion of playing in a divergent timeline has very rarely even come up in my game. It is mainly online where I have come across that.
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14139
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Tue Nov 07, 2023 4:32 pm    Post subject: Re: Post-ANH alternate history campaign Reply with quote

Whill wrote:
It was covered in the EU. It was not public knowledge that Palpatine was a Sith, and it was furthermore established that the Empire had an official "anti-Jediism" stance that went so far as to encourage disbelief in the very existence of the Force. (The Empire saying that the Force doesn't even exist would be at odds with the Emperor having a public identity as a Sith. His identity as a Sith was secret from almost everyone in the days of the Republic, so it seems it would be best to continue that secret in the Empire.) From what I've read, this seems to have been mirrored to some extent in the DU.


This is not the force, you're looking for!

Whill wrote:
I hadn't realized that the PCs were all Force users or that the campaign would be set so early in the timeline. If they succeed in the campaign, it would seem they might have the opportunity to reveal Palpatine's secret more widely, and I wonder if that could be canon-breaking.


It certainly would be 'shattering' news Especially if they could provide proof, that palps is a force user/Sith lord.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ebertran
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 202
Location: Miami, FL

PostPosted: Tue Apr 02, 2024 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here is my opening crawl.

https://youtu.be/1ztY6bjkCIk?si=DGFSZWOaGf3xqpDi
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
ebertran
Lieutenant Commander
Lieutenant Commander


Joined: 14 Jul 2005
Posts: 202
Location: Miami, FL

PostPosted: Sun May 05, 2024 12:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I created a website to track the campaign's progress. I'm using Google Sites, which is a pretty simple site building tool.

https://sites.google.com/view/swrsb/home?authuser=0
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Adventures and Campaigns All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


v2.0