[Saga Edition] Star Wars: Legacy of the Republic

Started by The Great Triangle, February 06, 2009, 10:41:48 PM

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HairyHeretic

Hairys Likes, Dislikes, Games n Stuff

Cattle die, kinsmen die
You too one day shall die
I know a thing that will never die
Fair fame of one who has earned it.

The Great Triangle

Faction Spotlight: the Sith Empire

Life in the Sith empire is, to put it simply, not pleasant.  The Sith Lords and Ladies have crafted for themselves a society that resembles a mad cross between 1984, the mosh pit at a metal concert, and A Clockwork Orange, except that to be a droog is not only accepted, but socially expected. 

There are four descending castes in Sith society.  The Sith Lords, The Warriors, the Common People, and the Force Sensitives.  Every live birth in the Sith Empire is required to be tested for Medichlorians, and those with a sufficiently high concentration are tossed into the special hell reserved for those in the Sith Empire who might have a talent for the force.  medichlorians, however, are only an indicator of force sensitivity, not the actual fact of force sensitivity, and more than a couple of noble houses have risen in the Sith Empire thanks to their antibodies against medichlorians.  (Characters with medichlorian immunity or that have been vaccinated against medichlorians suffer a -2 penalty on use the force checks to use force powers with the [light side] descriptor, due to the lack of a harmonious living system inside them, but otherwise suffer no penalties.)

Sith society is a machine, designed to stamp out identical sociopaths, and the key struggle in any Sith's life is to assert his, her, its, or their individuality.  Force sensitive children of the Sith Empire are placed in a creche from birth, and encouraged to compete with each other for limited resources.  Deadly, (but usually not lethal) weapons are often placed into the creche environment as "toys."  Sith creches typically have their efficiency rated by what percentage of their charges end up dead versus how many "graduates" of the hellholes end up getting picked as personal apprentices by Sith Lords.  Life in a creche is a combination between survival of the fittest brutality and the most sadistic reality show ever.  Children in the creche are often given cybernetic modifications for trivial injuries, "vaccinated" with sith poisons, and experemented on with Sith Alchemy, all in the name of creating a stronger Sith.  The children receive a very robust education in hand to hand combat and methods of torture, as well as a major focus on weapon maintainence and design.  Occasionally, piloting is also taught, quite often with brutal speeder races or painfully realistic and constantly repeated flight simulations.

Frequently, friendships are formed in the creche as a means of survival, and the attachments from such can last for a lifetime.  At age 14, children placed into a creche are divided into four groups.  Those personally picked as apprentices by Sith Lords, those that died, those who have been ground into the base material of the Sith Stormtrooper corps, and those who graduate to study at the Sith Academy.  The Sith Academy on Courascant is a five year educational course held to be the most intense in the galaxy.  Nearly every student of the Academy is a hardened killer, and the Academy prides itself on the fact that a full quarter of all students die before graduation.  Yet, if the creche is ruled by unbridled chaos, the Academy is ruled by an outward appearance of regimentation and calm.  Students are treated as military cadets, and tortured for even minor failures.  Major failures usually result in being killed by other students, but on rare occasions the Academy has had to execute a student for failure. 

Alliances created in the creche typically blossom into full blown sexual relationships at this stage.  Heterosexual relationships, Homosexual relationships, asexual relationships, and relationships in which the couple mutilates each others' genitals for sexual pleasure are all quite common, leading to a social environment that approximates a typical high school turned up to 11,000.  Graduates of the Sith Academy most commonly become naval officers or dark knights of the Sith, depending on their aptitudes.  Dark knights of the Sith are essentially Stormtrooper commanders, completely at the beck and call of their masters, the Sith Lords.  Ultimately, the aim of any Dark Knight is to become a personal apprentice to a Sith Lord, or even better, accomplish something so great that he or she warrants the title of Dark Lord of the Sith without even having to go through an apprenticeship period.  (Typically only Darth Krayt can grant this honor, however)

The Dark Lords of the Sith rule Sith society like warlords, each ruling over at minimum a large section of a planet, and quite often an entire system.  Sith Lords are predatory, and the annual casualty rate among them makes the Sith Academy look like a walk in the park.  And yet, in the current generation, the mold that they were cast out of gives them a strange unity, all wielding the red bladed lightsaber made from their artificial crystals.  To put any more effort into a lightsaber would be a waste.  Sith Lords have immense power, and notably a very few non force sensitive beings have risen to the title, although most of them were suspected of simply being good at hiding their force powers.  Most force users in the Sith Empire resent force users outside the empire, taking out their rage on the soft gullible light siders whenever possible.  To have compassion and to be sith are two diametrically opposed things, although many people who get squeezed through the Sith system become charming sociopaths, capable of smiling and speaking eloquently even while plotting the downfall of their foes. 


The Alliance estimates that for every Sith Lord who comes to power, 1,000 medichlorian positive sentients die.   


New Equipment:  Rage Implant

Often installed in creche to make the social dynamic more exciting, the rage implant is a device that stimulates the parts of the brain that control emotions like anger, fear, and agression.  By interfering with the normal operation of the mind, the device inflicts a -2 penalty on all use the force checks except to activate the power dark rage.  The implant grants the racial ability rage, as per wookies, or grants an additional +2 bonus to melee attack and damage for races with the rage ability.  Additionally, the user of the implant can take feats which require the rage ability as a prerequisite.  The downside of this implant, however, is that if the character using it is pushed 3 steps down the condition track, (to -5) he flies into an uncontrollable rage, and becomes unable to distinguish friend from foe.  In addition to the normal bonuses and penalties from raging, the character can recover his condition with two swift actions, and automatically attacks the closest target in melee each round.  (if there are multiple closest targets, the player may choose which one to attack.)  This psychotic rage lasts for a number of rounds equal to 5 + the character's constitution modifier.

Cost: 3,000 credits or 5 dark side points for non dark side characters.
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Vice

Is it safe to assume that Imperial Knights have access to the Jedi Knight and Jedi Master prestige classes?

The Great Triangle

Quote from: Vice on February 13, 2009, 09:05:17 PM
Is it safe to assume that Imperial Knights have access to the Jedi Knight and Jedi Master prestige classes?

Yup!  They count as a Jedi tradition.  They tend to focus on the martial aspects of Jedi study, while the New Jedi Order tends to be about wisdom and balance.  (even going so far as to freely allow adepts to openly experiment with and learn about the dark side.  Imperial Knights, however, must follow the light, even so far as having a duty to assassinate the Empress if she turns to the dark.)

The current leader of the Fel Empire (and thus the Imperial Knights) is Empress Kreia Fell, better known as "The Crimson Lady" or simply "The Crimson Empress."  Unlike the previous martial Emperors of the Fell Empire, the Crimson Empress comports herself like a traditional noble, beloved by her people and an extremely wise ruler.  She does not fight, but nobody has ever survived an attempt on her life.  She is also scarcely detectable in the force, leading most to believe that she doesn't have much force aptitude.  This could be due to the death sticks she is always seen smoking.  She's also known to never sleep, and yet at age 40 she doesn't look a day over 19.  She is so beloved that even outside the Fel Empire, her likeness (A brown haired woman in a long but form fitting black dress smoking a death stick)  has become the image on the Queen of Air and Darkness card on sabacc decks even outside the Fel Empire. 
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Vice

I thought the Imperial Knights were considered Gray? Wouldn't they have to make use of some dark side powers? I'm thinking judicious use of force grip here. :)

ShamshielDF

I would look at Wookiepedia for more info:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Imperial_Knights

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It was said that the first loyalty of the Imperial Knights was not to the Force, but to the Empire as personified in the Emperor.[1] Imperial Knights were in the service of the Emperor for life --- only one knight ever left the order, and in the words of Marasiah Fel, "his life proved short".[11] Though the Imperial Knights ultimately served the Force through the Emperor, this was only true if he served the light side of the Force. If he were ever to turn to the dark side, their duty was to either bring him back to the light or remove him from power. .[12] This policy had been in place since the Order's founding, and as such, Ganner Krieg maintained that it was ultimately the Force that they owed their allegiance to.[12]

The Imperial Knights did not draw on the dark side, but were said to not strictly follow the light side either, obeying the orders of the Emperor before anything else. As such, the Jedi viewed the Imperial Knights as "gray".[1][2] The Imperial Knights were also considered Gray Jedi by the Jedi Order due to the Jedi's belief that they did not truly follow the way of the Force.[1] This view of them was reminiscent of the Gray Jedi of the Old Jedi Order, such as Qui-Gon Jinn.[13]
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I've been doing far too much reading on there, doing background ideas for my character...
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A&A

Vice

Is there any room left in this game? Has it started up already?

Myrleena


The Great Triangle

There's been a delay in getting the game started while players work on their characters. 

Also, I've been a bit slow in posting the setting information.   :-[

I'll get to work on it, especially if players have aspects of the setting they want to hear about.
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Vice

I'd like to hear about the culture of the Imperial Knights; it seemed like they weren't getting much love so far, so I might make one. I'm thinking of a suave imperial operative, perhaps a bit of a maverick, who prefers to be out on assignment where regs can't cramp her style. Her style, incidentally, is sort of a James Bond "love 'em, then blow up their volcano base" technique.

Tonalberry

I wouldn't mind hearing a bit more about the Mandalorians, since I'd like to try playing one.  It can wait till you've handled Vice's request though.

The Great Triangle

The Imperial Knights have as their prime obligation service to the Empress.  Everything else is secondary.  Imperial Knights are recruited from birth. (through testing via the force; in previous generations the emperor did it personally, however, with the current Empress' apparent lack of force talent, it's most likely done by Knight masters in the current era)  They grow up in the Imperial palace, as both playmates and companions to the Emperor's children, and the children of other Imperial Knights.  Along with the scions of the Emperor and the knightly order, neophyte knights are trained in the ways of the force.

To be an Imperial Knight is to be in the line of succession for the Empire.  (although quite often at a fairly low position in the line)  Imperial knights have quite often grown up with the Emperor, and generally direct their sexuality towards him or her.  The Knights are not merely the Empress' bodyguards, but also her advisers, companions, and concubines.  Although the majority of Imperial Knights work in close contact with the Empress, there are more than a few who get sent on long term missions, perhaps with COMPNOR, the propagandal/special operations branch of the Imperial government, or the ISB, the Imperial law enforcement branch.  Another possibility is to be an Imperial commando in the 501st legion, a powerful Imperial military unit dating from the days of the old republic.

Imperial Knights are allowed to engage in sexual relations with those outside the royal lineage, and are in fact required to if ordered to.  Any marriages are granted by the Empress, who happens to favor placing her servants into arranged marriages. 

Imperial Knights typically wear armor, and receive training in combat in heavy armor.  (this typically translates into at least three levels of the soldier class)  They each silver bladed lightsabers constructed to a standardized design.  Imperial Knights heavily favor wielding a single lightsaber and using the makashi and soresu forms, but Knights who spent time working with the Jedi or the Sith might know other lightsaber forms.  Many Imperial knights dip heavily into the soldier class, taking multiple talents from the commando talent tree, such as harm's way and draw fire.  The noble class is also reasonably common, alongside the jedi class.  A few Imperial Knights even take levels in the bounty hunter prestige class (mostly those assigned to apprehending the enemies of the Empress.)
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The Great Triangle

As for the Mandalorians, their culture is not unlike that of the vikings, except in space.  Mandalorian culture has two key aspects; the mandalorian language, and the tradition of military service to the Mandalore.  Any individual within Mandalorian space who speaks the language and pledges his or her military service to the Mandalore is considered a free individual.  The Mandalorians don't particularly respect technology, although they do respect cunning in battle and in equipment design.  Using labor saving devices is considered taboo in Mandalorian society, and creating them dangerous.  The Mandalorians hate war droids meant to replace main ground forces with a passion, although they have a slight respect for clones, and consider the use of war droids to supplement one's forces an example of a cunning strategy.  (thanks to the accomplishment of Jango's progeny)

It is considered important to constantly ready oneself for battle in Mandalorian society.  The Mandalorians have made it a cultural norm to make ends meet in their budget by fighting other people's wars, taking the spoils to keep them in business in spite of their predominantly agricultural economy.  Much equipment in Mandalorian space is handmade by cottage industry, and nearly all Mandalorians who don't have the Knowledge (Life Sciences) skill trained (being farmers) have the mechanics skill trained, and work in cottage industries when not off at war.  Making your own equipment is considered a Mandalorian tradition, and the Mandalorians freely circulate schematics of devices the Mandalore considers useful and necessary for every Mandalorian to have.

Of all the devices important to a Mandalorian, the most important is his armor.  Mandalorian armor is in the best circumstance made from Mandalorian iron, a substance capable of resisting lightsaber blows and most blaster shots.  Although the Jedi, the Republic, and the Hutts shy away from the wearing of armor, Mandalorians consider armor to be an important advantage, and typically undergo training to fight in it effectively.  When wounded, Mandalorians rarely use bacta, instead relying on standard medkits, often stocked with remedies made from local chemicals.  Mandalorians frequently train the treat injury skill, and in any squad of them, it's almost guaranteed one of them has the surgical expertise feat.  Mandalorians have no particular phobia of cybernetic limbs, although they try and save limbs when possible.  Mandalorian cybernetics are bulky and artificial looking, but if kept in proper tune, can outperform the limb they replace.  (a mandalorian with cybernetics, the cybernetic surgery feat, and the tech specialist feat may apply his tech specialist feat to modify his cybernetics as if he were a droid)
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Tonalberry

Quote from: The Great Triangle on February 22, 2009, 10:53:35 PM
As for the Mandalorians, their culture is not unlike that of the vikings, except in space.  Mandalorian culture has two key aspects; the mandalorian language, and the tradition of military service to the Mandalore.  Any individual within Mandalorian space who speaks the language and pledges his or her military service to the Mandalore is considered a free individual.  The Mandalorians don't particularly respect technology, although they do respect cunning in battle and in equipment design.  Using labor saving devices is considered taboo in Mandalorian society, and creating them dangerous.  The Mandalorians hate war droids meant to replace main ground forces with a passion, although they have a slight respect for clones, and consider the use of war droids to supplement one's forces an example of a cunning strategy.  (thanks to the accomplishment of Jango's progeny)

It is considered important to constantly ready oneself for battle in Mandalorian society.  The Mandalorians have made it a cultural norm to make ends meet in their budget by fighting other people's wars, taking the spoils to keep them in business in spite of their predominantly agricultural economy.  Much equipment in Mandalorian space is handmade by cottage industry, and nearly all Mandalorians who don't have the Knowledge (Life Sciences) skill trained (being farmers) have the mechanics skill trained, and work in cottage industries when not off at war.  Making your own equipment is considered a Mandalorian tradition, and the Mandalorians freely circulate schematics of devices the Mandalore considers useful and necessary for every Mandalorian to have.

Of all the devices important to a Mandalorian, the most important is his armor.  Mandalorian armor is in the best circumstance made from Mandalorian iron, a substance capable of resisting lightsaber blows and most blaster shots.  Although the Jedi, the Republic, and the Hutts shy away from the wearing of armor, Mandalorians consider armor to be an important advantage, and typically undergo training to fight in it effectively.  When wounded, Mandalorians rarely use bacta, instead relying on standard medkits, often stocked with remedies made from local chemicals.  Mandalorians frequently train the treat injury skill, and in any squad of them, it's almost guaranteed one of them has the surgical expertise feat.  Mandalorians have no particular phobia of cybernetic limbs, although they try and save limbs when possible.  Mandalorian cybernetics are bulky and artificial looking, but if kept in proper tune, can outperform the limb they replace.  (a mandalorian with cybernetics, the cybernetic surgery feat, and the tech specialist feat may apply his tech specialist feat to modify his cybernetics as if he were a droid)

Space vikings, F Yeah!!!  Awesome.  Sounds like my kinda party people.  Speaking of Mandalorian armor; in Scum and Villainy it lists the Beskar'gam, the traditional Mandalorian armor.  It's priced at 33,500 for light, 37,000 for medium, and 45,000 for heavy, but it also states that GMs can take off 30,000 credits for a Mandalorian PC.  Will you allow that for me, if I take the armor?

The Great Triangle

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Tonalberry


The Great Triangle

A bit more information on the Sith Empire:

The most important document to the Sith Empire is a series of seven holy books known as the Dark Side Compendium.  These books contain the political and practical means by which the Sith maintain power.  Any Sith is required to memorize the first book, the Book of Anger, and many draw heavily on one of the other six books.

The first book, the Book of Anger, was written by St. Sidious, considered the greatest Sith Lord to have ever lived.  The book details the means by which one draws upon the dark side of the force, and it is considered the most important work of literature in the entire Sith Empire.  The book teaches several important basic sith techniques, such as how to employ force lightning, and contains speculation on how to create force storms.

The second book, On the Weakness of Inferiors was also written by the dark Saint palpatine, and is the key book for leaders in the Sith Empire, the dark manipulators.  The book details the finer points of using the force for mind control and illusion, as well as a unified political philosophy that guides many Sith administrators.

The third book, The Creation of Monsters was started by St. Sidious, and completed by Darth Caedus.  It details both the principles of educating people in the dark side, and the use of Sith Alchemy.  It is the key book for alchemists and educators within the Sith Empire.  It contains a number of unpleasant secrets, as well as a very large appendix concerning the biotechnology of the Yuuzhan Vong.  The modern edition of the book also contains a substantial section on the training and leadership of Sith Stormtroopers.

The fourth book, The book of Prophecy was written for viziers and advisors who look into the mirror of the dark side, by an Emperor's hand named Cronal.  Despite the humble origins of its author, the book is a very practical text on the nature of prophecy and destiny, although there is some dispute concerning its authorship.  When the Dark Side Compendium was compiled by the Dark Lady Lumiya, the fourth book received the most extensive editing and modification.  Many outside the order of Sith prophets greatly doubt the accuracy and usefulness of the information contained within the book.

The fifth book,  The Shadows Within, was written mostly via extrapolations from the memoirs of a being named Vergere, a Sith who infiltrated so deeply into the Jedi that she could barely even remember she was a Sith.  The book itself is concerned with the issue of how to lie, particularly to oneself.  It is the key book for Sith Infiltrators and spies, and contains many meditations on using to force to become invisible.

The sixth book, The Power of Hate was compiled mostly via the holocron of Exar Kun, and details the nature of the perfect Sith Warrior.  Thanks to editing, much of the book's content dovetails nicely with that of The Weakness of Inferiors, and many passages build directly off of the theories presented in the book of anger.  Most notably, the book contains in depth descriptions of all seven lightsaber forms, as well as velocities and katas for fighting with two lightsabers, and using the unorthodox technique of trikata.  An appendix discusses the fighting styles of Aurra Sing and General Grievous, noting how hate can enable even a non force user to fight proficiently with a lightsaber, and discussing some of their confusion tactics.

The seventh book, The Book of Freedom contains no internal assertion of its authorship, although it draws most of its historical examples from the stories of Darth Revan and the Jedi Exile, asserting contrary to history that they lived and died as great Sith Lords, using the force to gain their freedom.  The principles discussed in the final book are strange and esoteric, and deal mostly with the idea that the power of the force is unlimited.  Several times, the book references the feats of Galen Marek and Luke Skywalker, postulating that a true Sith could acheive power ten times greater than even those powerful beings from history.  In general, the book of freedom is either treasured or ignored.


The text of the dark side compendium is freely available throughout the Sith Empire, and most datapads come with at least a portion of the Book of Anger preloaded.  Each volume of the compendium is the equivelent of about 2,500 pages in length, and studying the dark side compendium is the bulk of any educational effort in the Sith Empire.  Bound copies of the compendium are considered status symbols in the Empire, and a full presentations set with gold trim, covers made from human skin, and large amounts of sith alchemical reinforcement generally costs about 10,000 credits.  A more humble mass produced reproduction costs about 3,000 credits.  Electronic copies of the compendium cost about 500 credits. 
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Vice

General rule questions:

1. With Attract Minion, it states that if you lose a minion, you can send for another one if you have one (i.e. have taken it more than once). Does that mean that if your minion dies, you basically lose the use of a talent? Or can you still attract a replacement after a period of time?

2. With the Impel Ally talents, you can grant an ally the ability to move and act on your turn; do these actions replace their own actions, or are they in addition? Could I order a minion to move into cover, fire on my enemies, and then have them continue to fire on their own turn?

The Great Triangle

Quote from: Vice on February 25, 2009, 02:58:36 AM

1. With Attract Minion, it states that if you lose a minion, you can send for another one if you have one (i.e. have taken it more than once). Does that mean that if your minion dies, you basically lose the use of a talent? Or can you still attract a replacement after a period of time?

2. With the Impel Ally talents, you can grant an ally the ability to move and act on your turn; do these actions replace their own actions, or are they in addition? Could I order a minion to move into cover, fire on my enemies, and then have them continue to fire on their own turn?

1.  Actually, getting your minion back is a function of having another minion on the payroll.  Minions have a variable cost, but if they don't have any special skills and are of a common archetype (like Gammorean Guards, Bith Accountants, Nitko Muscle, ect.)  Then they cost about 100 credits per level to retain.  More complex assistants, such as sharpshooters, engineers, and pilots, cost around 250 credits per level to retain.  Truly exotic minions, like force sages, Miraluka, assasain droids, and Falleen, cost 1,000 credits per level to retain.  You can only have a number of minions accompanying you equal to the number of times you've taken the attract minions talent, but you can hire any number of minions.  You must also pay for any equipment that minions have, although you can make free use of that equipment while traveling with that minion.  (relevant for tech specialist minions)  Hiring a new minion takes 24 hours for a common minion, 2d6 days for an uncommon minion, and a full month for an exotic minion.

2. Impel minion gives minions actions in addition to their normal actions.  :)  As long as you can grant a minion a standard action, you can have that minion take multiple standard actions.  If you have levels of officer in addition to your crime lord levels, this can get just plain deadly.
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