As springtime draws near, we get closer and closer to the rebirth of nature – long-lost flowers peek through the grass and trees blush with forgotten color and vitality. In the spirit of freshness and rebirth, it’s important to talk about the finer things in life: namely, Star Wars roleplaying. Those hoping to bring the theme of newness into their homes to match the scenery outside it can end up stumped in terms of how to spice up their roleplaying – how does a player feel intrigued and engaged with a hobby they’ve known for years?
The answer can seem surprisingly simple: play a new kind of game. This doesn’t have to represent a change in systems or booting out all the old players, throwing out the gaming table or getting new dice – it can be as simple as throwing a one-shot or side campaign into your tabletop activities that approaches gaming in a new light. Typically, tabletop campaigns consist of small, elite groups of player characters being tasked to accomplish some mission – the takedown of an important enemy target or facility, or perhaps the securing of a powerful artifact. Edge of the Empire games especially tend to veer more towards the chaotic side – the players attempting to cure their debts or escape the attention of “five-oh.”
What about alternatives? Ways to change the pace of things? The easiest way to go about this – grifting the player characters, putting them in desolate situations where they can’t do anything – will eventually get old. The soundest way to change the pace is to put the players in a completely different context and allow them to explore it, to use old ways of doing things in a new light.
Roger Roger
One idea that combines the easiness of appealing to the most recognizable Star Wars media and the unique challenge of changing the status quo is that of the humble Clone Wars droid. Plenty of people have thought about the potential for characters to be experienced with the Clone Wars in some way – a Republic pilot, a former Separatist, even a clone ARC trooper – but few ever think about the droids of the Confederacy of Independent Systems, the Separatists that divided the galaxy. As examples like the famous R2-D2 show, droids that go long periods of time without a memory develop what are politely referred to as “eccentricities,” and with the vast gulf of time between the end of the clone wars in 19 BBY and the time period of Edge of the Empire and the other games in the Fantasy Flight line, there are countless ways for a few droids to go by the wayside and end up striking out on their own.
First and foremost come the characters. The CIS didn’t just deploy the spindly battle droids seen in Episode I – between Super Battle Droids, armed and armored like the frontline soldiers they were meant to be, the Droidekas rolling and tumbling across the battlefield to their doomed foes, the Magnaguards made to pummel enemies to a pulp, the Tactical Droids made to inspire allies with their genius, and the Commando Droids purposed to scout out and eradicate targets, the CIS had more than enough variety in their units to go around.
The second consideration is the situation – though a shut-down order was issued after the Separatist leadership was killed at the end of the war, many units either didn’t receive a shutdown call or were reactivated by newly-rogue Separatist generals. Far-away outposts on desolate planets may have been unreached by the shutdown order, classified facilities may not have been linked to the same communications networks, and frigates, corvettes, and battleships alike may have lingered, especially on the Outer Rim. Through purpose – being kept secret from the rest of the Separatist establishment, for instance – or accident – through happening to be in hyperspace, or having the communications array hit by a Republic turbolaser blast or stray asteroid – a shutdown order may have been missed or ignored, allowing players a chance to still be active long after the end of the war.
The third consideration is motive – what do the player characters want to accomplish? Are they tried-and-true Separatist supporters, still mostly dedicated to the cause and trying to fight against the Republic’s Imperial successor, vainly (or not so vainly) attempting to resurrect the independence movement? Are they total rogues, driven more than a little bit crazy by their isolation and age, trying to repurpose themselves for pleasure and profit?
A campaign of Separatist droids may very well lead to the characters attempting to start their own independent movement – ensure that they have a way to connect with, create, or inspire other elements with similar ideals. On the other hand, players involved in such a campaign should feel open to the challenge of roleplaying a “purpose-built” machine, especially one with idiosyncrasies out of the ordinary for droids. Lastly, players should prepare to be constantly undermined by the prejudices of the galaxy – the characters’ allies, or even they themselves, likely laid waste to most locales in the galaxy during the war, and even without looking identical to the droid oppressors, any droid PCs should be prepared for obnoxious behavior from the galaxy’s inhabitants.
Yub Yub
Another, less classical, Star Wars experience can be found on the forest moon of Endor, a vibrant and chaotic planet. Many adventures might touch on Endor as a resource, a playground, or even a battlefield, but few will take the perspective of the planet’s inhabitant: the small, furred cannibals known as the Ewoks. Ewoks are what galactic citizens would no doubt refer to as a primitive species, living on a planet with virtually no technological development. Alternatively, players and game masters would be better off referring to Ewoks as walking opportunities.
First, dealing with player characters, Ewoks are an intense and mysterious people, with a reputation for both their teddy bear-like qualities and their “alleged” cannibalism. Ewoks have to deal with an incredibly hostile world, and do so by virtually dominating it. Ewoks – from their priest class, the shaman, to their fierce warriors and scouts – thrive on the forest planet, and as such are unparalleled warriors in their own little corner of the galaxy.
Second, in terms of situation, the Ewoks’ greatest adversary is the planet they live on. Not only is the forest notoriously overgrown, hence why the Ewoks can make such elaborate treetop villages, but the forest teems with all sorts of predators. Vicious boar-wolves tear the unwary to shreds, but are outdone completely by the enormous gorax, forest giants so fantastically large that Ewoks have to form entire warbands to take them down.
Last, in terms of motive, the aims are simple: even though the player characters may be primitive, the same general goals exist for them as for others: earning riches, gaining status, and achieving conquests. The only difference is in the context of these gains, and their nature: riches, instead of credits or artworks, may be gold or ivory trinkets; status, instead of a posh office job with the Empire, may be a place as the village’s chief or shaman; conquests, instead of over pirates or Imperial lackeys, may take the form of bringing down a gorax or finding a way to drive the ever-present swarms of offworlders from the planet.
An Ewok campaign could present an interesting challenge for the enterprising party. Technical upgrades are minimal; no ships or space stations will be earned. That said, the party won’t be totally deprived of their means of improvement – instead of new ships, the party might earn new vehicles, mounts, or war trophies, and instead of space stations or bases, the party may gain new tree platforms – perhaps their own village! The game master and players should capitalize on the relative ignorance of the setting, explaining lost holograms as ghostly spirits and discarded vibroblades as holy relics. Instead of viewing the “primitive” nature of Endor as a limitation, players and GMs should feel encouraged to exploit unusual problems and conflicts as new ways to experience even the oldest tropes and clichés.
All things considered, the use of new and unexplored settings, characters and conflicts presents a way for players and game masters alike to find new, exciting prospects for their tabletop roleplaying experience. The reinvention of familiar ideas in unfamiliar ways is a classic way to provoke and encourage creativity, even in the most unlike situations.
Dain Simpkins
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- The Praxeum: Legacy Era - April 10, 2017
