New campaign: DS9 meets WW2

[gollummen]

I am working on a new campaign idea inspired by Deep Space 9 and the German occupation of Europe during the 2. world war. Now I just need to put it together and make it feel like Star Wars
The idea is to have the players run an old space station for a private firm. They should play the role of the station manager, chief engineer, medical <whatever>, logistics chief etc.
The station should have a small crew so that each of them has 3 employees to help them and maybe some extra helping hands. The station manager could have accountant and communications staff. The medical dude could have a medical droid and an assistant etc.
The station should be placed somewhere interesting just like DS9 is placed at a newly liberated world and a wormhole. Any ideas for a good location? Anyway, the station should have limited traffic with small freighters and the occasional big freighter from the company that owns the station.

I would like the players to run the economy of the station, but without it becoming a game about money and not adventure. I think I will make a simple scale of 1-10 representing the economy state of the station. If the players make a big improvement on the station they pay with a level on the scale and if, for instance, the players attract a new good costumer the economy goes up one level. If the economy reaches the low end of the scale they will start to have visits from angry creditors.

The game will start with the world the station orbits being neutral in the galactic conflict, but soon the empire will come and “protect” the system against the evil rebels. This is where the “Germany occupies Europe” comes in. In the occupied Europe there were many dilemmas for the average company. You had to stay in business in a time of crisis, keep a good relation to the new rulers while protecting your employees and customers against the raging war.

I will have an ongoing story with Star Wars-like adventures and between these adventures there are one or two dilemmas inspired by WW2.

Story:
In the first episode we have the arrival of the empire and the futile resistance by the locals. The station will have to receive and treat many wounded while keeping a good relation to the officers and fleet crew that visits the stations and make agreements about how business will be in the occupied system.
Episode two could be a few months into the occupation where civil war has broken out on the planet as resistance fighters and empire loyalists clash. To calm things down the local parliament has agreed on the empires terms in return for some freedom and a wedding is planned between the world’s princess and some high ranking imperial. A person on the players station (a relative or someone else close) is in love with the princess and the players learn that he is going to try and kidnap her to avoid the wedding. Should the players let him go on a suicidal mission or help him get the princess and risk further violence on the planet?

Dilemmas:
The dilemmas between adventures could be:

• Fugitives from the planet want to hide at the station. They are wanted by the Empire. Do the players risk hiding them?
• The empire has ships in orbit that they don’t want to or can’t service themselves. They ask the station to serve the ships with repairs and consumables. The empire pays well and it would give at least one economy level, but it is not popular among the locals. On the other hand the empire might let them have some more privileges if they served them.
• A high ranking imperial officer is visiting the station and demands that the station from now on deny or even captures all members of slave races.
• The station starts making a lot of money on new companies that has arrived since the imperial occupation. It could be firms making and transporting military stuff for the imperials, media companies serving the empire with propaganda etc. The “old” companies in the area complain that the competition from the new people is tough on them and they have a hard time keeping their employees paid. First the players get a couple of economy levels but then they realize what kind of people that has created this new economy. Will they serve the people serving the empire or help the locals risking poverty and the wrath of the empire?
• The empire makes the players collect taxes for the empire from the visiting spacers. The players notice that smugglers start to avoid the imperial tax. Will they confront the cheaters or ignore them?

What do you creative guys think? Ideas? Suggestions?

[DougRed4]

DS9 was great and I think this is a pretty neat idea, gollummen.

I'd recommend taking a look at a map of the SW galaxy and placing your station right near one of the major trade routes.

I like the idea of keeping just a general idea of the economy, as this will keep things streamlined without the need for massive bookkeeping. Like you say, this can give you opportunities for stories (if they're doing really well, perhaps pirates come a callin').

The occupation idea is a good one, too. You could even do stories of persecuted aliens on the station (akin to the Nazis treatment of the Jews); what do the PCs do when that Wookiee is captured right in front of them? Oops, I now see you've addressed this very thing.

Access to the Imperial ships give an outstanding way of sabotaging them, if they ever choose to side with the Rebels.

Lots of good stuf here!
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[Ral_Brelt]

I would suggest somewhere on the periphery of the Corperate Sector. As an alternative to a trade route, which would have more traffic...perhaps at an entry point to a nebula or a clear spot in an asteroid field instead?

[garhkal]

I like the general idea, but how do you plan on handling things like
1) smugglers. If the imps have that big of a presence there, it will be harder for smugglers to get in
2) i can definitely see it being worse for any force users than even in a standard game, as the capacity to train will be even more limited
3) Imp's end game. If things get to hot, i can easily see the imps pulling everything off the station and just blowing it up. Heck just some targeted shots to take out key engineering areas would make life next to impossible for those resisting on the station.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[shootingwomprats]

1)Smugglers always find the holes in the system. Crooked Customs agents, criminal hookups, they can get in the starbase and out as necessary...unless the wrong faction is angered.

2)Rumor has it that there's a fugitive Jedi hiding aboard the station, making use of its location to avoid detection. The Jedi is actually a Padawan whose master sacrificed themselves to allow them to escape. They can't train much, but it's an adventure in itself to find out who it is and keep the Empire from finding them.

3)The Empire will probably try a scorched earth tactic to keep rebel forces from occupying and making use of the station. However, the station itself has its own resistance that has built up, and is in those areas that would be targeted. There are even ranking officers who have bought into the resistance - unfortunately for their own greedy reasons.
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Don Diestler
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[Whill]