This is not a recruitment. This is a scouting mission. This is my idea. I want to run it. Recruitment will open once I have received enough input and interests. The magic number? I'll let you now but for now, please, please give me your input. Thank you for your consideration. Simply put. I want to run a Star Wars PBP. I have one of the older rulebooks. The Revised version of the D20 system for Star Wars from 2002 by wizards of the coast. however I want all my players to be on the same set of rules. The story is my own and I have a lot of criteria from all the hopeful players out there. So bear with me as you read through my ridiculous post of epicness.
I have a campaign setting that will run three parallel campaigns. One group will be working for the empire, one for the rebellion, and one Zadora the Hutt.
The story will take place one month after the Battle of Endor. There will be no Jedi Classes but if there is a force sensitive or adept in the rules, I will allow that. Jedi is a class I will allow later.
Now there is one thing I want all potential players to take note of. The story is my own. It does not encompass any of the books with the exception of a few ideas. This is my own interpretation of what should have happened after the defeat of the emperor.
The story is that the empire is trying to fill the vacuum left in the emperor's wake. The rebellion is trying to start it's New Republic (Borrowed idea notice) Then in the wake of Jabba's influence comes Zadora the Hutt. An individual who manage to merge Jabba's resources with his own and is now a galatic power has.
The players joining the Empire will be fighting against itself to try and assert a new authority. A new emperor as it were. Lots of work to be done. You will not necessarily be evil. You are among the brainwashed bunch that actually believe that the emperor was a good man and his ideas were correct. Therefore you fight to restore that order under the emperor's own adopted daughter Mirianna Palpatine who your school believes is the rightful heir to the empire.
The players joining the Rebellion fight against stubborn imperial holdouts who keep planets though corrupted leaders or sheer force of presence. Also there are several governments want nothing to do with either an empire or a republic and most respond violently to any assistance or negotiations from either group. Lot of work as you are a squad on board the famous flagship Home One under command of Admiral Akbar.
The players joining Zadora are of a neutral bunch who work for themselves. They will get paid a generous sum to aid Zadora in his hostile takeover of the criminal undergroud. Fighting foes like Lady Valarian, Tyber Zann, Jail Haccorn, Kesh, and Furria Hasan and others to gain as much power as he can before the galactic leadership vacuum is filled. The time is now and no one is better capable of moving credits as quickly and as endlessly as Zadora is. Best to join the winning, not to mention the best paying side in the business.
Things to Note
First Each thread will be running parallel. Things players do in one thread can affect the other two. Now it is possible, but I will tool it to be unlikely, that any player of any threads with cross paths, though this is by no means a promise, with other players in other threads. PVP between threads may happen. When this happens, I run the battle simultaneously and each thread will get an encounter. Players may not always recognize other players as I will never point it out to either group. For all one group knows, it's just another encounter, and vise versa.
Second There will be no starting Jedi players. There are Jedi within the ranks of each faction and if your players catch their attention, you could be trained to be one though I make that path a challenge. I also make it worth it.
Third: Once I open recruitment, which WILL takes some time for me to do, I will initially recruit four to six people per group. However, I will still be accepting applicants indefinitely. I will only start the game once I have at least four people a thread. Players can join at anytime and will be briefed in the ooc thread for this undertaking. I will have a max of six players a thread. I will start new threads for either of the three factions if I end up with more than six players. So for example. One Empire thread has six people, if I get a new empire recruit, I will open a new Empire thread, taking place at the same in game time as the other, for any new imperial recruits. Confused? Well I'm not surprised.
Fourth Attendance: I will not hold ANYONE to a post a day policy. The story will move as a whole. ALL threads will move forward at the same rate. If you want to get some good roleplay in, post regularly. I will try and post daily but the story will "Jump" once or twice a week to move things along. I don't drop players but if your in the middle of a conversation when I do a story jump, I will conclude your talk and move your character accordingly in the plot.
Fifth For all you technical geeks out there. DO NOT get on my case about ANY technical aspects of the Star Wars universe. I will follow the use and use my favorite Cheat sheet Wookiepedia to clear up any questions I have but I reserve the right to make technological and racial, and planetary and even physical adjustments as I desire. I have seen TOO MANY interpretations to go with any one view and believe me, there are a lot of interpretations. So you guys get my own interpretations as to how a hyper-drive works or a wookies cultural or technological advancements or even how the Jedi work. Some geeks might not like this but I use Wookiepedia, video games, articles, books, and other source material I have collected over the years so I know a bit. I honestly don't want to much techy know how battles, I just want to keep this simple for everyone and keep it fun.
Sixth I am setting aside a nice chunk of each of my days for this campaign. I have run it ONCE in high school when I first got the rulebook. Had 12 players that met on three separate nights of the week and we had a blast. In short, the faction that won was one that a player of mine forged. Of the 12 players involved, 7 lived to see the galaxy united. I have run this campaign ONCE. So it isn't perfect but it is fun. I hope that everyone who wants to join is looking forward to one great messed up time because this campaign is one of those with a a lot of possible endings. There is a story, only you get to decide if it will follow its natural course or not.
Now what I want from my hopefuls:
First: Are you interested in playing in a Star Wars Campaign.
Second: Do you have the rulebook mentioned above. If not, what rulebook do you have or know of.
Third: Any insight as to the campaign story. Do you like or dislike anything about it?
Fourth What do is your opinion of how I plan to run this thing. What do you like and what do you dislike.
Fifth What thread would you join? Empire, Rebels, Zadora?
Sixth Any Questions?
This is my idea. I want to run it. All I am looking for in this is input from the possibilities. Recruitment will open once I have received enough input and interests. The magic number? I'll let you now but for now, please, please give me your input. Thank you for your consideration.
I'm always interested in star wars, and it's an interesting plot you have here.
I don't have the rulebook you mentioned, I might be able to find it( if my brother has it, haha) but I do have the saga rules, and I'm pretty familiar with those.
I think i'd be interested in the Rebel or Zadora thread
I love Star Wars, and i have just the ruleset Shanosuke spoke of.
My preference usually is for the rebels, but Zadora also could be interesting. Of course i bet the empire remnants will have the best equip.
First: Are you interested in playing in a Star Wars Campaign.
Yes. I find the possibilities of the universe quite fascinating.
Second: Do you have the rulebook mentioned above. If not, what rulebook do you have or know of.
I have the d20 revised corebook and SAGA, with very slight preference to the d20 revised system, just because the support books do a better job fleshing out available ships and droids.
Third: Any insight as to the campaign story. Do you like or dislike anything about it?
I love the concurrent streams, and especially love the "neutral" line. It never made a lot of sense to me to think that everyone everywhere in the massive universe would have their entire lives wrapped up in the empire vs rebellion storyline all the time.
Fourth What do is your opinion of how I plan to run this thing. What do you like and what do you dislike.
No real strong opinions here one way or another.
Fifth What thread would you join? Empire, Rebels, Zadora?
Zadora (second choice would be empire just be different)
I'm very interested. I think that the SW book I have at home is the same one you described, I'll check tonight. I think the campaign and setup ideas are awesome. I would go with Rebel or Zadora. I don't have any questions that I'm sure wouldn't get answered in the actual recruitment post.
I would love to get in on this campaign! I have always benn a big Star Wars fan and actually my friends and I just started our first Star Wars campaign on Sunday :P
I don't have the rulebook mentioned but I have access to almost all of the Saga edition books.
I like the idea of parallel story lines, I'm a little worried about the mechanics of it but you have done this before and I already trust your skills as a DM so I think it should be great.
I think the jumps in the story might take a little getting used to but it should work out fine. Sounds like it will require that each of us really flesh out our character motivations so that you are able to move the plot along properly by extrapolating our actions.
I would join either the Empire or the Rebels, only because the Zadora thread might be a little too similar to my real life game.
Its nice to see there is a good amount of interest in this idea. Also I know the Saga edition is the more recent though I find it to be ridiculously expensive. The rule book I use can be found for about 30 bucks on most discount sites. I may also try and merge the rules with Pathfinder. That idea we will have to wait and see. For now, I'm looking for more interests
First: Are you interested in playing in a Star Wars Campaign.
Second: Do you have the rulebook mentioned above. If not, what rulebook do you have or know of.
Third: Any insight as to the campaign story. Do you like or dislike anything about it?
Fourth What do is your opinion of how I plan to run this thing. What do you like and what do you dislike.
Fifth What thread would you join? Empire, Rebels, Zadora?
Sixth Any Questions?
Are you interested in playing in a Star Wars Campaign.
Absolutely. It'd be nice to play in one rather than run one.
Do you have the rulebook mentioned above. If not, what rulebook do you have or know of.
I have the all rulebooks released by WOTC and the original WEG d6 system as well.
Any insight as to the campaign story. Do you like or dislike anything about it?
I like that you limiting jedi for later in the campaign. Keeps that at least in line with the near complete repression and destruction of the Jedi order that was integral to the 'Dark Times' and the general story that has been presented in the various sources. One story, three factions, all working towards the same goal for their group. Definate possibilities.
What do is your opinion of how I plan to run this thing. What do you like and what do you dislike.
The three factions affecting each other and possibily crossing paths, being at odds with one another is definately appealing. This is not so much a dislike as a critique: with d20 systems being so codified, it has turned players into rules savvy role-players. For a GM like myself who views the rules as guidleines that can be discarded or altered as the story demands - list what rules alterations and discardings in the recruitment thread when it happens.
What thread would you join? Empire, Rebels, Zadora?
Having done the rebel and crime side of things considerably, Empire gets my interest.
Any Questions?
For Empire, what branch are we talking?
Okay I have reviewed several of the comments so far and here is some clarification on some common....topics.
First. I like the rulebook I have vs the Saga rulebook. The diversity is great and there are more options. It is nice to see that many people have access to that rulebook though I am lacking much of the other source material and will need a good month to collect them all. I hope to open recruitment before then. I will take recommendations as to which books I should acquire first. Though I would like to keep this as simple as possible as far as the rules and options go.
Second. There are several races listed in the initial rulebook are the only ones I'm going to allow for this with maybe a few exceptions. I don't like the idea of having droid players, never been a fan of droids myself but they will be abudant in the campaign all the same. I just don't want any player droids. There are a few races I may add such as Chiss, Dugs, Gran, Tuskens, and a few others.
Third. To avoid too much confusion, I will try and stick to the mechanics of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game revised rulebook. There may be situations where I will throw in new ships, playable species, weapons, droids, force powers, or other strange phenomena or technology. I will post these rules under spoilers in the new and improved "Campaign Description Tabs" That the wonderful Paizo developers have developed for this website. I doubt I will need to make any changes to the actual mechanics of the game itself.
Fourth. Each faction is not a final destination. You start with a faction for guidance. I've run too many games where my players end up living out their lives as farmers or some other unexciting life professions. The worst being a zookeeper (brrr) So I have a story to move things along and to give players something to follow. The factions a NOT divided into the good, the bad, and the ugly. You can be a member of the empire and be a good person, or a member of the alliance and be an out for yourself evil-doer. Each path is a starting point. I also do not require my players to stay together. They can move about as they choose. If you have different goals that you adopt as the story progresses, you can change sides or even create your own side. Most cases I do hope that my players will want to stick together but I wont force it
Fifth. As for the branches of each faction, first take note that the empire is still strong. Billions of planets and leaders across the galaxy. The entire imperial fleet was not at Endor, not by a longshot. I will give more details as to the other sub imperial factions but the one you serve is Mirianna Palpatine. She controls several worlds and tens of thousands of soldiers. You are a recruit that will join her aboard her flagship the Queen's Scepter. It is important to note that each faction is equal in strength to one another at this point in time. If Zadora wanted to war with the a faction of the empire or the rebellion, he could do it with a good fifty fifty chance of success. The Empire is divided and the rebellion is small and barely holding together. The galaxy is in a serious state of chaos and is prime for adventure.
So now that there is some explaining out of the way, these are great comments by the way, do I have any other interests? Questions? Comments? Concerns maybe? I need to work all this out so I can start this thing with confidence.
My only concern would be how to follow all the games i'm applying for, but this is far too interesting, i could drop something else.
As far as books go, i have:
Dark side sourcebook
New jedi order sourcebook
Secrets of naboo
Secrets of tatooine
Tempest feud (adventure)
Alien anthology
Arms and equipment guide
Coruscant and the core worlds
Rebellion era sourcebook
Power of the jedi sourcebook
Ultimate alien anthology
Rule corebook
Starships of the galaxy
I'm definitely interested in this
I'm interested, and have questions. What is your opinion of darker characters? I'm interested in remaking a character that was my one and only voray into d20SW, which lasted all of one session, but he would very much quallify as evil in Pathfinder/D&D terms. Not maniac stupid, not trying to screw the party over, not going to go out and eat a baby the first session, but not a nice person.
Also, would it be possible to get a seperate character in different games here? Not trying to hog all the slots to myself, but say you get a full load for the rebellion and hutt groups, but only have four or five people in the empire set...would you be cool with me creating a new character and applying for said empire game also?
I like the fact that you're making this your own, rather than sticking to the movies/books/whatever. Back in highschool we played a lot of the d6 version of SW, and this was how we played...picked a time period to start at and ran with it, so if the party ran into Vader before he killed the emperor and whacked him, things changed.
The mutliple story lines idea is very cool, but very ambitious. I'm sure you're aware it's going to be difficult, so you don't need me to tell you. Here's hoping it works out eh?
If we can only play in one category with one character, and the morality issue isn't an issue, I'd like to start in the hutt's camp. As for priorities from there, it would go empire, then rebellion.
In another state I have a d20SW core book, though I have no clue if it's the one you're talking about. I think it says something about being revised, but it's been years...Any chance you could give a list of what races are allowed? Mostly concerned with jawa (that's if you let us play in multiple storylines, both the immorale character and what I would play if that idea is nixed would be human)
I'm potentially interested and do have access to that book (as well as a number of other d20 star wars books). My question, regarding moving stories along is that you mentioned that you'd skip ahead every week or two - would this be in addition to daily posting? I'd be worried that if the game only had DM involvement at those times it might bog down. Also, given the scale of the game(s) and your willingness to let people split off from their groups, how would you handle the separate people? Do you think you'd be able to keep all of the fragments moving along?
If I did play I'd definitely lean towards the empire.
I have run several groups like this before. I have only run ONE mutli-thread campaign on forums before. It was a challenge at first but once I organized it better, It ran so much smoother. I ran four mutli group campaigns in real life. Believe it or not I find PBP much easier to manage.
Jumps I need to go over these in greater detail so people understand how they work.
First off I will run the game in a mission by mission format. Jumps take place under certain circumstances.
Example time jump:
Real time increments
Rebel Thread Day 1 - Some roleplay
Imperial Thread Day 1 - Combat is taking place
Zadora thread DAy 1 - Roleplay during mission
Real Time day 2
Rebel - Still on roleplay
Imperial - Still in combat
Zadora - Still on mission
Real Time Day 3
Rebel - Combat starts
Imperial - Still in Combat
Zadora - Still on mission combat starts
Real Time Day 3
Rebel - Still fighting
Imperial - Still fighting
Zadora - Still fighting
Real Time Day 4
Rebel - Still Fighting
Imperial - Concluded combat: Mission continues with some roleplay
Zadora - Still fighting
Real Time Day 5
Rebel - Combat still
Imperial - Mission and Roleplay
Zadora - Fighting some more
Real Time Day 6
Rebel - Finished fighting - Resume Roleplay
Imperial - Finished Mission - Waiting mode Roleplay
Zadora - Still Fighting
Real Time Day 7
Rebel - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Imperial - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Zadora - Finished Combat
Real time Day 8
Rebel - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Imperial - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Zadora - Continue mission
Real Time Day 9
Rebel - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Imperial - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Zadora - Finish Mission.
Real Time Day 10
Rebel - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Imperial - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Zadora - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Real Time Day 11
Rebel - DM wraps up all roleplay
Imperial - DM wraps up all Roleplay
Zadora - DM wraps up all Roleplay
Time jump to next game day, week, month, or in very rare cases months or year, or years.
The time jump is usually until one group starts there next mission
Example
Rebel - Waiting Mode Roleplay
Imperial - Starts new mission or next story arc segment for them
Zadora - Waiting Mode Roleplay.
This way each thread is on the same exact game day.
Waiting Mode Roleplay This is where players who have finished their activities for the segment wait for the other threads to reach the same point. Usually I provide some activities to keep players busy until the other threads reach the same point. Then the jump.
I exaggerated when I said weekly story pushes but daily I will try to wrap up small segments.
Example. Rebels are in combat in game day one. The night before I posted round 4 results. Each player takes their actions.
Alf, Reggy, Abigail, and Craig have all taken their actions, Morris hasn't posted. I will NPC Morris for the round and move on to the next round. I need this to keep things moving. I wont drop players. Usually when I post the results, I will post all players actions and positions at the start of the next round. If you missed a day, just read the results posts to see what I made you do. I need at least a round done a day.
Other mission segments will be allotted more time.
For example. The team from the imperial thread enters a control room. Darcy, Mac and Rich all post their actions over the course of three days. Bill is needed to make a Computer Hack check but has not posted for the Day. I simply NPC his action at the end of the REAL LIFE Day. If NOBODY posts for a whole day, I conclude all actions in that segment and move them along to the next if possible. If not possible I will post additional info or hints to help move along the groups.
Hopefully this long explanation clears things up.
Also, I will consider letting players create characters for different threads. IT is a neat idea with only one flaw, you as a player know more about what is going on than your character usually does. In my opinion this takes some of the fun away. I like it when players from one group have no idea what the other is doing.
One more thing. There is some inherit complication with letting the groups split up. I'm going to try and avoid this as much as possible. For much of the first story arch It will be easy to keep all the folks together. In the second story arch. Not so easy but we shall see. Doubt we will ever get that far.
Too bad there is no srd for us to go from....
I could also pull off an ewok alien student of the force......
I would have to vaporize you on principle!!! :p
I would have to vaporize you on principle!!! :pToo bad there is no srd for us to go from....
I could also pull off an ewok alien student of the force......
"What did I say?"
........famous droid disclaimer
Ewoks are extict now due over fishing.
If I get enough recruits to start this thing, there will be no students of the force. Much of the campaign will be run with mundane. There are force users within each faction and if you impress them enough, they will teach you. You gotta get their attention first through normal actions.
I do have one recommendation. I know the revised d20 Star Wars works with Vitality Points and Wound Points. I'd ask that you do something that was done in Star Wars Saga. They have 1st level characters begin with HPs equal to 3 times the maximum value of the hit die for their class..Soldiers and Jedi start with 30 HP (d10 for hit die) plus Con mod, Nobles and Scoundrels begin with 18 HP (d6 for hit die) plus Con. What I recommend, having seen the game in play in all WotC versions, allow characters to begin play double/triple maximum vitality points at 1st level. The game is lethal enough when a critical hit can completely bypass vitality points. I've seen it occur on more than one occassion where player's are at full VP and WP, only to suffer a critical hit that incapacitates them for the remainder of the encounter.
Interesting concept. I am still reviewing the rules but one thing I don't like is seeing my players die to easily. I am also seeking further interests. Maybe some of you who have shown previous interests know others who may like this idea. I need a few more voices before I commit to this daunting project.
First: Are you interested in playing in a Star Wars Campaign.
Remarkably interested.
Second: Do you have the rulebook mentioned above. If not, what rulebook do you have or know of.
I have the rulebook.
Third: Any insight as to the campaign story. Do you like or dislike anything about it?
I would prefer going about the universe in a DM decided direction. There's always the chance of someone joining who has read every comic/novel/film companion/etc... to get a bit preachy and derail what some of the less informed members are trying for.
Fourth What do is your opinion of how I plan to run this thing. What do you like and what do you dislike.
I think that your method is incredibly ambitious and I mean that in a good way. Having player influenced actions and consequences shifting the environment seems like it make for a lot of unexpected circumstances.
Fifth What thread would you join? Empire, Rebels, Zadora?
I think that Zadora would be my preferred faction. I like playing morally neutral characters.
Sixth Any Questions?
About how long will it take to get this game up and going? I've had a void in my heart for a Star Wars universe RPG since KotOR 2. I would not be opposed to Gendo’s suggested HP system. Dying is quite the inconvenience.
Okay, seems to be a good amount of interest. I'm studying the rules right now and conforming the campaign for PBP. I'm going to give this a shot. I'll be honest. This is a great undertaking and it will be hard for me to adapt to a new rule set. It has been a good year and a half since I looked at a rulebook other than Pathfinder. So I will be something of a rookie in this regard. But I really want to run this thing and I believe my story and GM skills are good. So sometime this week, I will open recruitment. Wish me luck.
And may the Force be with you ^_^
Yes! Good luck, I look forward to seeing this unfold
I will post a link to a fresh recruitment thread once I get it started. I am still figuring out a few things and like I said, I hope to have recruitment up sometime this week. Part of the problem is I have been seriously ill for near three weeks. I have fallen behind on some work. I hope to have that nonsense out of the way soon too.
The number of interests is really helping my motivations. Do tell your friends about this. The more the merrier, though I think I will cap out at 12 to 18 with 4 to 6 players a team.
Da da da
Recruitments are up. The following links lead to each individual faction recruitment.
The Rebel Alliance Recruitment
Thanks for your patience now get those apps in.
Bump
If anyone had any concerns about the jumps, please know that I worked with some other people on the topic to try and make it run smoother. Trust and believe it will work out.