Reference The Game Group

Great topic, @SirakRomar

My GM style is to provide environments in which to play, typically capital ships; and over-arching plots that players can follow, but which won't matter if they charge off in a different direction.

 

Found this in my notes today when I was cleaning my mobile at the airport out of boredom ... and I just thought it is too good not to be shared anywhere.

Written by Sir_Draco, LordTroepfchen and myself about five years ago!

This game might have gone up, had there not been a migration of the boards!




The Eternal Peace

The year is 360 ABY and long forgotten is the age of the Skywalkers and the reign of the Empire and it's many short-lived successors. The galaxy has just recovered from a war between Jedi and Sith lasting for over a hundred years, which had been named "The Forever War". Fifty years ago the war ended and lead to an uneasy peace and a most surprising arrangement between the Jedi and the Sith.

They agreed on co-existence.

It is the time of the Eternal Peace.

For the first time in the galactic history the Jedi and Sith are ruling the galaxy side-by-side and both are members of the Grand Council, the ruling body of the United Galaxy who has more than 90% of the galaxy under it's jurisdiction. Wars are strictly banned between the sides of the Light and Dark and even preparation of such conflicts is a major crime punished by both organizations.

The Grand Galactic Council is a gathering of galactic leaders with the declared goal to maintain balance and peace within the Galaxy and the Force. Both the Jedi and Sith have send two members to the council, with the remaining two seats taken by the Tion Dominion and the Third Republic, the two dominant governments of this age. The foundation of the Jedi and Sith peace is called the Pact.

The Pact, negotiated between the fabled and enigmatic Jedi Leader simply called "The One" and the Dark Lord of the Sith at the destructive height of their conflict. It had been honored and enforced by the leaders of both parties through the Inquisitors, twelve appointed Jedi and twelve chosen Sith who have special privileges and serve as the enforcers of the pact.

But also the time of the great wars is over, this does not mean that there is no conflict. In the Outer Rim the Binary Legion has risen, an expanding Empire ruled by Droids who have gained independence. Also the Hutts have not bowed to the new rule and have instead used the weakened state of the galactic powers to expand their criminal endeavors. They are also fighting among themselves. Criminal Organisations have developed in the shadow of the divided Galaxy.

Character Sheet

Name:
Occupation:
Affiliation:
Philosophy:
Age:
Appearance:
Weapon:
Equipment:
Short Biography:


Rules:

1. All CSes must be send to the GM for approval
2. No God-Modding, but limited control over minor characters is allowed. If it is in question if a character is "minor" shoot the GM a PM.
3. All characters and affiliations are allowed within the game, but Jedi and Sith may not be more powerful than a Master.


The Pact

The treaty between the Jedi and Sith sets up the following rules:

1. Jedi and Sith shall not exceed the number of 3.000 members each. This includes all apprentices and otherwise trained individuals.
2. Jedi are not allowed to enter the Great Temple on Moraband, Sith are not allowed to enter the Central Academy on Chandrila. The exception to this rule are the Inquisitors.
3. Jedi and Sith shall not maintain fleets or serve in the fleet or army of any galactic military. This means that Jedi or Sith are allowed to partake in violent conflict only with permission of the Council.
4. Jedi and Sith shall not fight except duels agreed between individual Jedi and Sith. These duels are allowed to be deadly in nature.
5. Crimes and violations by or against the Jedi and Sith shall be investigated by the opposing party. Both Jedi and Sith will appoint twelve Inquisitors to do so, each of those shall be allowed to take one apprentice. The Inquisitors are allowed to use deadly force against offenders of the pact.
6. The practice of creating force sensitives called "The Imbued" that became so common in the Forever War - is banned. The punishment for any attempt is the death.

A seventh rule binds all galactic powers including the Tion Dominion and Third Republic.

7. The creation, operation, research and maintenance of any weapon classified as a "Super Weapon" is strictly forbidden. After the inflating use of these destructive weapons in the Forever War the galaxy has been traumatized by the technological power of such devastating machines


The Inquisitors

Each of the two ancient orders names twelve Inquisitors to serve the Council as enforcers of their will. As per rule five of the Pact the Jedi investigate any crime concerning the Sith and vice versa. An Inquisitor serves only The Pact and is only answerable to the Council. No Jedi or Sith, no matter what the rank, can limit, order or influence an Inquisitor.

Every Inquisitor is allowed to take up one apprentice. Also there is no automatism successors of the Inquisitor's are usually chosen among those. There are notable exception though and not all Inquisitors have taken up an apprentice.

An Inquisitor is the exception from many rules of the pact and can command military forces provided by the Council and use force against members of the Orders.


The Jedi

The Jedi of this age are no longer held in the high regard as their historical predecessors. Not few historians have remembered the galaxy that the Jedi have caused as many civilian dead and have have been as ruthless as most Sith, if not more so in the Forever War. The challenge the new Generation of Jedi therefore faces, is regaining the trust of the galaxy.

Lead by The One, a Jedi not seen for decades, but said to be of unrivaled power and understanding of the Force, the Jedi are commanded by the Jedi Council. Master Sayron Osan leads the Council and also inhabits one of the two seats of the Jedi in the Grand Galactic Council.

Many Jedi have retreated to a monk like existence, concentrating on the arts of healing, diplomacy and foresight. They travel the galaxy where they can and serve the Living Force. They are trying to distance themselves from their war-mongering Masters who have dominated the Order in the Forever War.

The Seers of the Force are a group within the Jedi almost considered a sect of it's own. As their name implies they seek knowledge of the future through the force. They are training their students separately from the Order on Tython. The unofficial leader of the Seers Ayana Soren holds the second seat in the Grand Council.

The Peacemakers are another group within the Jedi, advocating a more active involvement of the Jedi in the galactic affairs. They have a growing number of followers, but many also consider them as the heirs of the more radical Jedi that surfaced throughout the war.

The practice of individual training of Padawan's still exists, but has become more rare. Most Jedi are trained on the Great Academy on Chandrila and are given their final trials to proof their worth by the Masters Council , the body overseeing the training of a new generation.

While the Jedi have their centers throughout the Third Republic, they are trying to expand their activities into all parts of the galaxy. The force is in everything, after all. It does not favor one life over another.


The Sith

Lead by the Dark Lord of the Sith Darth Maladius and his apprentice Darth Zorn the Sith still value individual strength over everything else. The training is rigorous and often deadly. Yet the Sith have become leaders and advisors nowadays and have mostly given up their war-mongering ways.

Not all Sith agree with this new approach though and several Lords of the Sith oppose the idea of the Dark Lord. They are still an outspoken minority though, kept in check by the pure power and will of their Dark Lord.

The Sith have several training facilities headed by Sith Masters. Each has it's own school of teachings. The biggest of these centers is on Xer and lead by Darth Angatus, a man who is said to have ambitions to become the next Dark Lord, should the ancient leader of the Sith ever perish. Having trained almost half the existing Lords of the Sith he has a considerable power base within the Sith. He is an open follower of a more aggressive policy of the Sith, but draws the line wisely before crossing his Dark Lord.

There is also another Sith of great power within the sect known as Darth Varon. He is a former Jedi Master turned to the Sith ways in the war and a faithful servant of the Dark Lord. Many attribute the formation of the Grand Council to his influence. He is also the current Grand Inquisitor of the Sith and sitting on the Council next to Darth Zoren. He is the most political of the Sith. Advising the Emperor of Tion and entertaining connections to both Jedi and the Third Republic many see him as the quintessential New Sith. A strong believer in the Balance of the Force he has trained many apprentices himself and is the political opponent to all those who wish to return to the violent ways of old.

Noteworthy are the Sithari, a group within the Sith who believe they have foreseen the coming of a new Chosen One who will rise from the ranks of the Sith and unite all force users under his rule.


Other Force Users

Both Jedi and Sith have more candidates for training than their pact allows to be trained. Also both Orders have the practice of expelling members. This leads to many minor force users not being member of any of both orders. While most of these force users lack training and live solitary lives, some have turned to alternate schools of force teachings. Also a minority has turned to criminal ways. The reborn Exchange claims their ranks include at least one force user, trained on Dathomir.

So far only rumors of organizations of these neutral force users exist, but both Jedi and Sith have dealt with threats arising from the ranks of the so-called "Unitiated".

At least one Jedi Master - Tyrus Sunrider - is among those force users who has been expelled after disobeying the Jedi Council repeatedly. He has not been seen in over a decade, but has become a constant concern to both Jedi and Sith, as rumors have surfaced regularly this man is training apprentices for an unknown cause.

A terror group known as the True Sith is thought to be extinct, after Darth Zoren lead a crusade against them. They consisted of a rebel faction of Sith loyal to the old teachings of Darth Sidious, the last Sith Emperor of the old age. Their base on Ziost is now little more than a ruin. Yet, the legend has it two of them escaped the slaughter with the Holocron of Darth Sidious and are training a new generation of Sith in secrecy. So far no proof of such a sect has surfaced, but both Jedi and Sith Inquisitors are investigating any lead they become aware of without remorse.


The Third Republic

The heir to the traditions of the Old Republic is holding the largest territory within the galaxy and also is the only democracy.

In the Forever War they were allies of the Jedi Order, but that relationship turned unhealthy by the end of the war. Many remember the Jedi Admirals and Supreme Commanders and how democracy was diminished by a Jedi Order absorbing the Republic not unlike the Sith had done centuries earlier. The Pact was for many democrats as much a liberation from Jedi rulers as it was a peace treaty.

Nowadays the Third Republic still maintains a large fleet and military and the biggest police force of the galaxy called "SecFor", but force users are banned from serving the Government in any capacity.

The Chancellor of the Third Republic traditionally serves in the Grand Council and also he holds their only seat, he is traditionally considered the most powerful of the Council Members.


The Tion Empire

Ranging from Hutt Space to the outer parts of the Greater Javin the Tion Empire was the ally of the Sith in the Forever War without ever becoming their slaves. Nowadays their borders include "Sith Space" completely and they maintain good relationship with the Sith, while Jedi are more barely tolerated visitors to their space. The population has not forgotten the Massacre of the Belt, in which Jedi fleets used super weapons against a number of planets to create a front line against the Empire. While Sith were the architects of the Empire at the side of the ruling family under Tion of Tion the Third, the Jedi are still considered dangerous lunatics following "the will of the force", that justified unspeakable crimes against their people.

Tion is a strictly organized and militarized Empire, considered fair and just by it's inhabitants. Their main concern is the influence of the neighbouring Hutt Space and the rise of criminal organizations smuggling many of the banned goods into their Empire.

The current Emperor Aron of Tion II. is not sitting on the Council, but instead send his son Talev of Tion to represent the Empire.


The Underworld

The war has been the perfect breeding ground to organizations that operate outside the law. The Hutt Clans have established smuggling routes and have revived the slave trade in the uncontrolled parts of the galaxy, often called "The Lost Worlds" now. They rule unchallenged in their territory, but opportunity made enemies of many of their clans and intra Hutt warfare has become a regular occurrence. Jedi and Sith alike are strictly prohibited to enter Hutt Space.


Within the Third Republic both Black Sun and the Exchange have been revived and are running major operations with many thousand members to their organization. While they stay away from both Jedi and Sith they have considerable influence within several planetary governments and are gaining political power. Black Sun is rumored to have at least one Vigo (their name for Lieutenants) operating also within the Tion Empire. While the Exchange is concentrating on smuggling, the Black Sun has also been known to deal in more violent crimes as abduction, blackmail, assassination and they are rumored to have financed pirate operations.


The Binary Legion

The Droid Empire - as it is often called - is a highly militarized minor power in the Outer Rim, but rapidly expanding. While not in open war with the galaxy, they have the declared goal to liberate all anorganic life forms from their oppressors and consider basically everybody in galaxy a slaver.

They accept non-droid lifeforms within their borders, but consider them second-class citizens. Also open war has not yet been declared, the Legion is supposed to have been behind several raids on convoys transporting droids throughout the galaxy. They are also known to mass produce battle droids and they have two shipyards. It appears they are preparing for a war to liberate their brothers and sisters and also they would not stand a chance at this point, they are a growing concern and danger to the systems neighboring their territory.

Their leader is simply known as Unit Zero and has not been in contact with anyone outside the legion. Rumors say he was a Sith Experiment with tactical advanced combat drones that went wrong and has a hatred for all life programmed deeply into his circuits.




Just posting it for the fun of getting people's opinions. A lot of text, I know.

 

Oh I remember that one ... thanks for crediting me, but I think that was mostly you and Draco.

 

Archangel&Alchemists was before my time, but I believe a teaser for an unrealized game called Millions of Voices by @Winged_Jedi inspired Draco to the original The Forever War.

Actually THIS was a straight sequel to Sir_Draco's The Forever War, based on an old abandoned concept for The Force Unleashed where the Sith and Jedi rule Side by Side.

The idea back then was to create a trilogy beginning with the war, then turn to these peace times and ending in a Third game with a rather meta-physical apocalypse scenario as the force dies.

When Draco departed I think I did one more rewrite to make it more of a standalone game. Guess that rewrite is the above body of text.

Anyway, I think the game would barely work anymore today. So this is just for amusement. I had totally forgotten how far developed the game was.

EDIT: The Nightwatch trilogy seemed definitively been part of the inspiration, just realized it now I read your post @Sinrebirth.

 

Quite an accomplishment in world building you did there. It is so full of ideas my main complain would have been, that it is too many. I would love to play plots about these terrorist groups, the politics, the Inquisitors and this Master Sunrider. You could easily have thirty players here all following their own epic storylines. There is so much room for stories it is almost a bit overwhelming.

I love how the Jedi have grown much darker, as the Sith kinda got wiser ... with both sides having internal opposition longing for the old ways. I guess the game might have had a Jedi villain?

If you are sure you won't play it ... care to reveal a little about the plot? What was planned?

Also I feel it is more Mass Effect than Nachtwache. These Inquisitors feel a lot like force using specters. The Binary Legion sound like the Geth!


A shame you guys did not do it. I think it would be hard to get an appropriate group of players today, but this would be a perfect beginner game. No knowledge except the OP is needed to make an interesting character.

 

The plot was mostly designed by Draco. He was the major force behind the plotting back then ...

So what I do remember ... all a bit fuzzy after all these years.

But it involved a murder investigation of a massacre at a smaller Jedi Academy which was much more traditional than the rest of the Jedi Order. The only surviving Jedi Padawan was to be recruited by the Sith Inquisitor in charge to help and it lead to a broader conspiracy that threatened the core of the Third Republic and the end of the status quo.

A second plot line was involving an unknown force attacking colonies at the fringe of Sith Space. The Jedi would send an Inquisitor who himself was kind of unstable and would have probably turned into a secondary villlain. It would have merged eventually with the first plot.

It would have been a ticking clock scenario as tension between Jedi and Sith would have constantly been rising.
Treachery, politics and the question who you can trust would have been major elements. Despite the conspirators on both sides political factions would have welcomed the dawning conflict and made things more complicated.

We hoped for some fringe elements to show how the conspiracy was affecting Hutt Space, where the conspirators provoked a civil war to protect their interests.

Also we had the idea of a high-Ranking Sith defecting to the Jedi Order, causing additional tension.

One of the major villains was a masked assassin of great power in the force. His identity would have been a major plot hook and the revelation of his origins would have lead to the core of the conspiracy.

A left-over super weapon from the Forever War would also have been a major element, as it would have probably been tracked down by another group following the trail of resources necessary to reactivate it.

There was also a potential new Chosen One who surfaced where both Jedi and Sith least expected him/her. We had some ideas there, which would nowadays be too close to TFA probably. This character would have been courted by both Jedi and Sith to join their ranks.

But without knowing what characters would have been submitted the plot was still pretty undefined.

We had a few nasty twists planned there. Enemies would have become allies and vice versa. Every character would have been given his own journey to understand what he considered to be "right" in a world where the two great orders had probably lost their way. Or have they only developed? Was peaceful co-existence something to protect at any cost? Was war inevitable? Was it destiny? Was it the will of the force? Things like that would have been big questions the characters would have had to deal with. Both orders had dark secrets coming to light in the investigation (the Jedi Seers not receiving visions anymore, the Dark Lord of the Sith dying slowly).

The endgame was exposing the conspiracy and a huge space battle to keep it from executing it's plan.

It wound have been quite a long game we suspected.

 

Sounds like an amazing game never played ...

 

I remember The Forever War fondly and I can only agree the game above sounds amazing. Many influences there ... Mass Effect, Nightshift, Kotor Comics a bit? But what is rather
impressive is the world building. This is a complete reimagining of Star Wars if we are honest. Would have been fun to dive into the philosophy and politics of this age ...

A shame it never happened.

Also a good starter game would still be a good thing for these boards. We had few of those.

Agreed though, it would probably not work nowadays. It was a child of those times where epic storylines easily drew in 10+ players.

If we put unused concepts up here I might add one next! Got a few unused OPs I wrote over time ...

 

So I think the above has had his run. Anybody else sitting on an unused OP he wants to show? I would love to see some "what could have been" games.

 

If only my old computer hadn't crashed, along with a bunch of word documents with unused OPs I'd written.

 

I recently developed a very simplistic dice system for role playing in Star Wars Galaxies (on an emulator server, since the official servers shut down almost 8 years ago) that could potentially be adapted for a forum based RPG; it would allow the game to have players pitted against each other with less drama than just using prose. Perhaps if there's any interest I could be convinced to come up with something.

 

Sounds interesting Kev!

So I go next. Before Villain failed to generate enough player interest I had the rough idea of making this a "Non-SW-Trilogy" exploring different takes on well known formulas.

This was meant to be the third game in that trilogy. As I will probably never put it up, here it is ...




"You feel this pressure on the right side of your head? It's a bullet entering your skull and turning your brain into some impressionist painting on the wall." The voice said.

"Why am I not dead then?" The man asked, not knowing if he wanted an answer.

"I thought we can have a break from the whole dying thing and have a little chat. What do you think? Chatting okay with you?"

"Sure."

"You know who I am?"

"God?"

"Nope."

"Oh my ... The Devil?"

"Well, yeah ... close enough. Works for now."

"So what is happening. Are you here to take my soul to hell?"

"Take your soul ... oh man, hell is a lot different then what you imagine it. And only the church could come up with the idea we are the janitors of heaven and all that. Managing those souls who cannot behave and God does not want. So much for forgiveness and unconditional love by the maker, hm?"

"Then what are you here for? If not my soul?"

"I did not say I don't want your soul. I am just saying if I get my hands on a soul, it goes nowhere. You know?" He paused. "Remember that steak you had tonight? That is what your soul is too me. They are not all that juicy, but I take what I get."

"Why are we talking still then?"

"Oh yeah, there is a voluntary element involved ..."

"I shall give you my soul so you can consume it like a steak?"

"Yeah. Pretty much it."

"Why would I do this? What could you possibly give me that is ..."

"Shall I remind you of the whole thing with the bullet?"

"Heck, I don't think I trade a few years of life for my eternal soul."

"No?"

"Certainly not."

"Okay. I like that."

'What?"

"We are negotiating a price now."

------

Fallen

------

This is a game about evil. Evil and what it has to offer. The gates of hell are wide open and those who escaped make their way into our world. They have promises and many things to offer no human ever dreamt of. But there is a price ... always a price.

Those who call themselves the Fallen need you as much as you need them. Maybe even more. But once you enter into a deal with them, there is no going back. There is no escape. Or is there? Nothing is ever certain, right?

Will you be corrupted? Will you resist the offer? Will you fight the spreading evil or give in to it? Do you even believe in "good" and "evil"? That is up to you. Entirely up to you.

All I can say is you will be tempted and you will probably find out not everything that is considered evil is actually destructive.

So who do you play? Anyone who you want to be. Choose your character, but make it someone rooted in our world. Only "realistic" characters will be accepted. That doesn't mean you got to be ordinary. You can be anyone. The only thing you gotta be is based in L.A., the city of Angels!

Character Sheet

Rules

 

An intruiging premise ... feels like a game heavily relying on character and only lightly on action.

I would have played! I would seriously have considered it impossible to resist a premise like this ...

 

Love what you did there. A shame we won't see it go live.

 

It would probably been very light on action indeed. More an occult thriller.

 

Okay, my turn. I have been developing this one for years! Had like twenty drafts of it ...

---------------------



The Z-95 Headhunters were swarming through the asteroid field like insects. The pilots had been trained in this area, they knew how to handle the hurling stones and they did not slow down even when entering the deeper parts of the field.

The old transport knew it had no chance and yet it's two outdated guns spit orange bursts of energy at the attacking group.

The Headhunters returned the favor and three of them dived in from above and rained down fire. Explosions rippled the old ship and the deflector shields flashed one last time before vanishing for good. Energy failure was apparent and the two guns went silent forever. Another wave shot large holes into the outer hull and the bulky transport began to turn and drift ... the Headhunters allowed it to, breaking of their attack run. The asteroids would do the rest.

They did. It took only a minute and the freighter drifted into the path of a particular fast moving rock and vanished in an orange ball of fire.

"Black Leader to squadron. Guess we sent a message to those filthy smugglers. Let's go home." The squadron leader declared triumphantly. They turned away from the battleground and made their way back.

The third smuggler they took out in a week. Who would now dare to make a run into their territory?



But Black Squadron never arrived at the carrier waiting outside the field. It did not send a single communication. No explanation for their vanishing was found. Not even wreckages were recovered. Twelve fighters and their pilots just vanished as if they had never existed.

Soon other ships in the region went missing. Suddenly the Minos-Mestra cooperation had bigger problems then smugglers trying to break their blockade over Karideph. Suddenly they had to deal with their routes considered cursed by spacers around the galaxy.

The Empire send the Victory Star Destroyer "Vigillance" into the system. After a week of investigating the missing ships the Star Destroyer vanished too. The capital ship did not even send a distress signal. Panic began to spread throughout the system.

And that is what a certain Corellian called an opportunity ...






HAN SOLO AND THE MYSTERY OF MESTRA




This game will tell the story of a smuggler called Han Solo and his Wookiee first-mate Chewbacca and their attempt to smuggle medical supplies to the planet of Karideph in the Minos Cluster. The planet is under blockade by the Minos-Mestra cooperation and in need of an antidote to a raging epidemic called the Argonian Flu,m. What begins as an ambitious but profitable undertaking will actually turn into an adventure the crew of the Millenium Falcon will never forget.

So the characters you can pick is Han Solo, Chewbacca or their passenger, who is a native of Karideph trying to help his or her people. The game will have a fourth mystery character which I keep secret for now. That fourth character has already been picked by LordTroepfchen.


Character Sheet

Name:
Age:
Appearance:
Biography (only for the passenger)






Rules

1. Send your request for your character to the GM
2. GM Word is law
3. No Godmodding, also reasonable "scene writing" is allowed. If you have doubt send the post for approval.
4. The game will only have three players and three characters. If I more applicants I will choose.
5. Have fun!

 

Oh I remember that one. Don't spoil it yet, it was such a wonderful idea. You should consider doing it, @SirakRomar

 

I don't want to accidentally spoil things, however someone put a "plot bunny" (fanfic' name for story idea) in our sub-forum, and I thought that while it probably sounded like a cool idea to him, to me, that game would be one of the logical conclusions, a lot of ships mysteriously disappearing along trusted hyperspace lanes.

Mm. Nice idea to put a comma into a word to make it look exotic, rather than an apostrophe.

 

Wing Commander Privateer? Actually works very well with the Empire and Mestra Belt, does it?

Actually quite a nice game and I remember the initiative to do smaller games. It was never really followed up by people. Actually nowadays it looks like those often have very slow response ratios. Anyway, I must say worked fine for us on the Candlewood finale, right?

So if this would have worked it could have opened a new type of game. A game where you get one or two cool players and do a story based on a franchise with a "real" main character. James Bond, Indiana Jones, Han Solo, Batman (we got that one around), Superman, whatever you like ... you could even do genre barely touched like romance or drama ... as long as you find two dedicated writers.

 

Totally lovely game! Why did you never do it?

 

Never had the moment where I said ... now is the right moment. I wanted it to follow up on Castaways Season 3 and fell into a GMing crisis when I had to end that game ... wanted to do it after Candlewood and fell into a GMing crisis when so many players left.

@DarkLordoftheFins rightfully analyzed once, that small games need to have super reliable players. I had a second one planned which I also never did. A two player game about a Master and a Padawan. Kotor era. Never did that one either.

 

Haha, until Office 365 the German word processor always did that when you were trying to use an apostrophe. Oh that one drove me crazy. I finally gave up. Just accepted it.

And I believe you would totally find an audience for it @SirakRomar. Give it some thought. I would accept the challenge to play a Wookiee!

 

Oh your take on Chewbacca would certainly be interesting. I had a cool sub-plot for him!