[GM Workshop] Building a FFG SW RPG Campaign from scratch

Revised: 9/25/21; 0910 EST
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For many future GMs starting a campaign is a “bridge to far”, a “hill to step”, and a “task to daunting” and other such metaphors implying it can’t be done. I am not going to pretend to be a master of World Building and Campaign Building, there are countless blogs, articles, YouTube videos, and dozens of “GM Sections” in every RPG Core Rulebook, in addition to some excellent guides (which I will reference later) that can teach the basics. I aim to demonstrate how I put all of that reading/research into practice, and actually create something, with the goal of having a (hopefully) fun campaign that players in Central Florida, USA can participate in-person/meatspace in some FLGS and enjoy.
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I have run many a D&D, Pathfinder, Mechwarrior 4E (ATOW), Mutant Year Zero, and other RPGs over the last 20+ years, yet this is the first time I have ever created a FFG SW campaign, AND I HAVE NOT EVEN PLAYED THIS GAME ONCE! That is right, not only have I never played, but I have also never GMed in this system; a combination of hope, experience, and arrogance makes me believe I can do so successfully! :wink:
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I am here to show current and future FFG SW GMs an example of how it can be done, following a few simple rules that has worked for me over the years:
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1-Panic! There is no way I can do this, it’s too damn hard! Its overwhelming and I don’t know where to start! Like any journey of a thousand steps, the hardest part is always taking that first step. Once you start, and the more you travel, you will find that the journey gets less hard over time, and you learn to enjoy the view as you travel.
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2-Relax! Not only CAN it be done, but it has also been done for decades; if other people can do it, so you can you. Yes, it is hard work, but the rewards and satisfaction of seeing the light in a players eyes when they pull off a plan, overcome impossible odds, improvise/adapt/overcome, roll critical hits and failures, do stupid s**t that works, and laugh their asses off, is SO WORTH IT!
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3-Steal, shamelessly steal! There are no new ideas in the universe, just creative applications of existing ones. Take the inspirations for your campaign from those influences that you are passionate about, that fire your imagination, that makes you want to actively PLAY instead of passively watch someone else play or read about. What are your favorite movies, TV shows, books, comics, manga’s, graphic novels, PC games, Console games, Mobile games, Board Games, Card games, Miniature games, Dice games, musicians, actors, artists, writers, directors, animators, and any other form of creative expression? That is where the heart of your RPG campaign is going to arise from, the details and rules will follow afterwards.
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4-Player Types, choose wisely! Before you even put a single word onto a sheet or paper (or WORD document), carefully determine NOW who your target player audience is. Trust me, it will save (or minimize) your mental health a lot of stress, prevent heartbreak, disappointment, and a waste of your creative time (aka GM Lifeforce), money, resources, and most valuable of all, your time. One of the biggest problems in GMing is when there is a mis-match between the expectations of what the GM and Players each want from a campaign. If the GM creates a campaign with a certain theme and playstyle in mind, and that is not communicated clearly to the players, and/or the players are not interested in that theme or playstyle, then eventually everyone is going to be miserable, and the campaign will collapse. AVOID THIS AT ALL COST.
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There are multiple references for different “types” of players, for now I will borrow from the excellent “Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering” and select my choices of whom I am aiming this campaign for (aka, what Players I would prefer at my gaming table):

Yes: Casual Gamer, Storyteller, Method Actor, and Tactician.

No: Power Gamer, and Butt-Kicker.

(Not mentioned, but not wanted: Rules-Lawyers, and players who want to play in the Disney Cannon Movies and TV shows, and are not comfortable with “What ifs” and “alternative history/timelines”, they will not enjoy my campaign as I am NOT following what has come before.)
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5-Don’t think, write! Something I have seen over the years is that aspiring GMs try to create everything in their head before they put anything down in writing, they get overwhelmed with the shear amount of things that need to be created/addressed, and they give up before they even start. Don’t do this, it leads to madness and despair. Instead, just start writing. Doesn’t have to be in any particular order, no need to make an outline or list of topics, forget about creating all the NPCs, locations, weapons, armors, vehicles, starships, monsters, treasures, adventures and “cool scenes” at the start; just write. Things will fall into place and start organizing themselves as you go along, and the words flow out of your brain unto the sheet of paper or WORD document.
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Over the course of the next few months, I will be doing the above steps in this thread, openly so interested people can ask me questions, participate if they like, and slowly build out my campaign in real time as I develop it live. And yes, if any of my future Florida players read this, that is ok, feel free to jump in and contribute, we can work out later how your PC has knowledge of the campaign before the game even starts. :slight_smile:

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FFG Star Wars Age of Rebellion/Rise of the Separatists Campaign Notes

(name of campaign goes here)

Concept : A FFG Star Wars Disney Canon Universe cross-system (AoR, EotE, F&D) Rouge One inspired military themed campaign set in an alternate timeline set at the beginning of the Clone Wars, with the PCs playing as part of Separatist military force fighting for independence from the corrupt and distant Galactic Republic (GR).

Campaign Notes v2 :
Edited 10/21/21 1210 EST; divergent point pushed back to 44 BBY with the death of Ranulph Tarkin prior to him leading the ORSF attack on the pirate Iaco Stark.

Time Period: Fall of Jedi Era, alternative timeline (divergence point in 44 BBY), campaign start date 20 BBY.

Campaign Theme & Mood: A Rogue One inspired war focused campaign with the players as citizens of the Confederacy of Independent Systems fighting for their rights and freedoms from the oppressive and corrupt central government of the Galactic Republic and its Jedi enforcers.

Format, in person/meatspace: One-Shot, Mini-Campaign, and Full Campaign.

Key RPG References: Age of Rebellion, Rise of the Separatists, and Collapse of the Republic.

Age of Rebellion’s Duty system will be used to determine the groups missions, access to gear, and operational independence.

GM Style: I will be running a rules-light narrative heavy gaming style, with a combination of “Theater of the Mind” and “physical minis & terrain” as best fits each scene accordingly. In addition, I will encourage the players to take the game seriously and be mindful of a “there are consequences of your actions” baseline expectations, and in return I will try to be fair, logical, and consistent in my GM rulings, and always give a response to player questions about probability of success/failure, allow to correct for any mistakes (GM or Player), and reward players for being creative and working as a team.

Player Types, supported: Casual Gamers, Story Tellers, Tacticians, and Method Actors (as long as they promise not to derail the campaign, and/or play dark edgy lone wolf type characters).

Player Types, not supported: Power Gamers, Butt Kickers, and Specialists.

Troupe Play: All players start with two pre-generated PCs (one combat focused, the other non-combat focused) that they can chose from depending on the scene, any XP earned is applied to all PCs under that players control. Once a player has advanced his pre-gen PCs to level 3, they have the OPTION to create all new Player Characters to replace one or both of them if they wish of equivalent level, resources, and contacts; from a range of options the GM will provide them in advance. The players can actually start working on creating their custom PC(s) since day one of the campaign in cooperation with the GM, so they can be introduced to the rest of the party in way that fits in with the ongoing story, at the appropriate time.

(see: Player Types from Robin’s Laws of Good Game Mastering)

Rules Lawyers (using Pathfinder 1st Edition Alignment equivalent):
Lawful Good: welcomed and greatly rewarded
Lawful Neutral: welcomed and rewarded
Lawful Evil: booted from game upon detection

Adventure Elements, Emphasized: Combat, Politics, Social Interactions

Adventure Elements, De-emphasized: Exploration, Trade/Economics

Key Changes from the Disney Cannon Timeline (DCT) v2 :

-Major Themes: Order vs. Chaos; Individualism vs. Collectivism; Jedi vs. Sith

-No storytelling focus on the Skywalker family saga (no Luke, Leia, or Rey in this timeline).

-Sith Lord Darth Sidious/Senator Sheev Palpatine did not create the GAR, corrupt Jedi Master Dooku, secretly lead the CIS, create the conditions for the Clone Wars, nor destroy the Jedi Order via Order 66, instead he uses different means of achieving his goal of becoming a future Galactic Emperor.

He manipulates existing tensions between the Galactic Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems, leading to a full scale galactic war between these two Great Powers. He does away with the Rule of Two (see below), defunds the Jedi Order and starts a public relations campaign to discredit them in the eyes of the republic’s citizenry, in addition to making use of corrupt senators, greedy MegaCorps, mercenaries, pirates, and criminals to further his agenda.

-The Sith Order is reborn by Palpatine with a public facing aspect (open recruitment to the Brotherhood of the Sith, a Knightly Order focused on cracking down on corruption, slavery, pirates, and terrorists), and a secret aspect (the Shadow Collective, led by Darth Maul).

The former will serve as a legal law enforcement organization (against “Enemies of the Senate”), while the later will focus on consolidating Palpatine’s control of the black market and the criminal underworld (non-Hut Cartel).

-Jedi Master Dooku does not become Palpatine’s Sith apprentice after he left the Jedi Order in 42 BBY, as he did not turn towards the Dark Side, instead he co-founds with Qui-Gon Jinn a new CIS Jedi order (with its HQ on Eriadu) that does away what he considers the errors of the Jedi Orders rigid and ancient doctrines, and embraces a more fluid “living force” doctrine. This sets off the Jedi Order’s “Crisis of Faith” series of events. Anakin Skywalker is found by this new order’s recruiters and trained by Qui-Gon Jinn directly, and Anakin’s mother is released from slavery and helps raise her son.

-Qymaen jai Sheelal (aka Grievous) did not survive his cybernetic implants surgery as he died on the operating table, and thus did not lead the CIS military forces.

-Provided with military intelligence about the GIS potentially vast Droid army, a military draft is instituted in order to rebuild the GR’s Navy and Army that was disbanded as part of the Ruusan Reformation of 1000 BBY, as the Judicial Forces are not up to the task of countering the growing Separatist threat. The Galactic Republic Senates’ “Military Faction” leads this push to rebuild the Republic Navy and Republic Army, at the expense of the Jedi Orders budget and influence. Jedi’s are not placed in charge of a Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) as this was never built in this timeline, and they remain part of the Judicial Forces.

KDY designed and built for the Galactic Republic’s Navy (GRN) new Pelta class frigates, Arquitens class light cruisers, Acclamator class transgalatic military assault ships, Venator class Star Destroyer, and Victory class Star Destroyer in the years prior to the outbreak of the (unnamed galactic war). This was to supplement the mix of capital and sub-capital ships donated by many Core World’s Planetary Defense Forces that formed the bulk of the reestablished GRN in the early years of the (unnamed galactic war), such as the Corellian CR90 class corvettes and DP20 class gunships, Consular c70 class cruisers, ancient Dreadnought class heavy cruisers, and Maelstrom class battle cruisers.

KDY also designed and built all the ground forces for the Kaminoans Clone Troopers, while other Military Defense Contractors (TBD) built the ground forces for the Galactic Republic’s Army (GRA) non-clone soldiers.

-The Confederacy of Independent Systems (CIS) is established much earlier in X BBY, and Eriadu with it’s Outland Regions Security Force becomes a founding member world. The CIS outlaw slavery in its member worlds, and begins building a Confederate Navy and Army to combat the Galactic Republic Navy, in addition to hunting down slavers, pirates, and criminals, and is composed of both organic and robotic military servicemembers. The CIS was founded with the primary goal to break away from the distant, indifferent, and corrupt Galactic Republic, and create a new government to address the many neglected needs of thousands of planet of the Inner Rim, Mid Rim, and Outer Rim Territories.
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Edit #1: a complete rewrite of this whole section, and merged with the now deleted “Disney Cannon, Discard” topic.

OTL Major Characters, Status (24 BBY) :

-Ahsoka Tano

-Anakin Skywalker

-Asajj Ventress

-Bail Prestor Organa

-Boba Fett

-C3PO & R2D2

-Chewbacca

-Count Dooku

-Darth Maul

-Gial Ackbar

-Han Solo

-Jango Fett

-Lando Calrissian

-Mace Windu

-Mon Mothma

-Obi-Wan Kenobi

-Padame Amidala

-Qui-Gon Jinn

-Sheev Palpatine (Darth Sidious)

-Starkiller

-Wedge Antilles

-Wihuff Tarkin

-Yoda
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Edit #1: changed date from “20 BBY” to “24 BBY”.
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Edit #2 : removed “General Grievous” (dead), “Leia Skywalker” and “Luke Skywalker” (never born) from the list of names.

Organizations :

Antarian Rangers:

Confederacy of Independent Systems:

Galactic Republic:

Hut Cartel:

Jedi Order:

Sith Order:

Major Shipyards:

Bestine IV

Bilbringi system

Bothawui

Byblos

Byss

Corellia

Copero

Duro

Eriadu

Foerost

Fondor

Gyndine

Hast

Hapes

Jaemus

Keltos

Kiris Asteroid Cluster

Kuat

Lantillies

Lehon

Lianna

Loronar

Mon Calamari

N’zoth

Obulette

Ord Trasi

Raxus Prime

Rendili

Rothana

Selonia

Sluis Van

Sullust

Tallaan

Vento system

Yaga Minor

Droids :

? Any plans for them?

Research Questions :

?Type here, research only?

Technology :

?Take a look at Disney Canon, Legends, DK Reference books, and community made guides?

Species :

?Make a list from the FFG RPG lines; take a look at the community made guides?

Specializations and Careers:

?Make a list from the FFG RPG lines; take a look at the community made guides?

Vehicles :

-Look for Disney Canon designs, and see if they can be introduced at an earlier date.

-Look for Legends designs, and see if they make sense to introduce into this campaign.

-Use the existing RPG rules (AOR Fully Operational, Starships and Speeders, Gadgets and Gear…) and use as inspiration for creating for new weapons, armor, vehicles, starships, capital ships, space stations, shipyards/repair yards/salvage yards, as needed for the campaign.

Starfighters :

Z-95s (refitted to Z-100s)

Z-100s

X-Wing (future)

A-Wing (future)

Bombers :

Y-Wing bomber

B-Wing bomber (future)

Shuttles :

U-Wing (future)

Gunships :

?

Editors Note : From SUN-WEN my mind, body, and soul belong to Amazon; I work x4 shifts of 10.5 hours, so don’t expect any new content or replies during those days. THU-SAT my mind, body, and soul is released by my corporate overlords to my possession again, and I can live again and engage in creative writing (and playing on Steam). :)

GMs References (by Tier) :
Revised: 9/30/21
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I- FFG Star War RPG Line :

Age of Rebellion, Edge of the Empire, Force and Destiny
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II- Star Wars: Essential Guides Series (Third Generation):

The Essential Guide to Warfare: Star Wars

The Essential Atlas: Star Wars

Jedi vs. Sith: Star Wars: The Essential Guide to the Force

The Essential Reader’s Companion (pending to purchase)

Star Wars: Essential Guides Series (Second Generation) :

(pending to purchase all six titles)
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III- DK Publishing References Guides :
(insert link here)

SW Complete Vehicles (2015)

SW The Ultimate Visual Guide (2015)

Ultimate Star Wars (2015)

SW Complete Locations (2016)

IV- Online References :

Wookieepedia

SWRPG Community

V- Miscellaneous :

(TBD)

Hello Gergio. I’m Susan from Orlando, FL. I would like to write my first campaign in F&D FFG. I’ll be reading your plans with interest. If you want to message me directly I am Susan.White54 on fb.

Hello Susan,
This work in progress workshop is geared towards new GMs, I will be explaining me reasonings behind everything I do, and I am open to answer and questions to the best of my ability. Thanks for showing interest! :slight_smile:

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[Workshop] Determining Scope of Campaign
Revised: 10/3/21

One of the hardest things to do as a new GM in creating a SF RPG campaign in an already well established IP (Aliens, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica, Battletech, Dune, Firefly, Gears of War, Halo, Homeworld, Mass Effect, Predator, Star Trek, Star Wars, StarCraft, Stargate, Starship Troopers, Terminator, The Expanse, The Matrix, Warhammer 40K…) is to determine where to start. These IP can have (slightly exaggerating) trillions of years of history, billions of systems and planets, millions of different technology & vehicles designs, thousands of sentient species, hundreds of careers and professions, dozens of eras, and a partridge in a pear tree. ;)

In addition, there is the crucial VERY EARLY AND IMPORTANT question of where to focus your GM Creativity/Lifeforce, time, energy, money, and enjoyment. You will never have enough of the above to accomplish all you would like to do in a campaign, especially if you are an adult with a job, a family, and responsibilities. Add to that the challenge of coordinating a time, place, and commitment of getting a gaming group together to actually play a game session.

Another key consideration (amongst many) is how do you want to create, develop, and put into words all things inside your head, in a way that feels comfortable to you. Now, many RPG GM Guides and/or chapters go into details on how to do this, but I will share the three I am most common with:

Big to Small (BTS) ; Greatest amount of preparation and resources needed.

Default to Custom (DTC) ; Intermediate amount of preparation and resources needed.

Small to Big (STB) ; Least amount of preparation and resources needed.

BTS : I start with the largest scope and access to lore and gaming materials, think of the key concepts, themes, and types of adventures I would like to run, and begin with broad strokes of ideas, then slowly refine each aspect of a topic into much detailed information. I lay out the major power blocks and areas of conflicts between them, determine a technology level and historical period/timeline, set a campaign theme/mood, and write adventures with a specific set of player types in mind, while drawing from ALL the rulebooks, sourcebooks, adventures/scenarios, Wikipediaes, community created content, and options I can access.

DTC : A middle ground where I start with the default setting established in a RPGs core rulebook and GM screen (if any), use the introductory adventures they include, any Pre-Gen PCs, and run already created adventures & scenarios that are available for purchase. This focuses on the material readily available, and allows me to expand with additional sourcebooks as they game continues, and customize the campaign as I learn the players playstyles and what they find enjoyable.

STB : The exact opposite of BTS, I open a games Starter Box (a key requirement this be available), hand out the pre-gen character sheets to 3-5 players, give a summary of the rules and explain what the key points of the character sheets mean, explain the way the dice rolls work and how to read the weird symbols (if any), and dive into playing the games starter box into adventure. Improvise from that point forward and see where the players interest takes you. I make no other purchases unless I determine it is worth the time, money, and effort, and I build a campaign WITH the players and slowly add new rules, materials, options, as needed.

A related matter to determining the scope of a SF RPG Campaign is what FORMAT you will be running your game, be that digital, in-person/meatspace, and/or a combination of the two. But that is a different topic for another day.

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This is how I determined the scope for my unnamed FFG Star Wars RPG campaign, using a combination of previous GM experience, the information I learned from MANY GM Guides, and my own interests.

I decided to go with the “Big to Small” approach as I have already purchased a STAGGERING amount of the FFG Star Wars RPG line (plus many Star Wars Armada ships), I got almost all of the “red books”, a few of the “white books”, a few of the “black books”, and all of the “multi-use black books with blue letters” sourcebooks, in addition to multiple DK SW reference guides, and “Essential Guides” books. I also have access to a huge amount of information from multiple online wikis and community created content. I don’t have a current group of players that I need to cater to, so I don’t have a time limit or deadline to worth with, thus I can take my time to create the type of campaign I want, and determine the audience (player types) I want to create it for.

While there are a large options of when and where to set my campaign, given the new SW Disney Eras, I find myself interested in the “Fall of the Jedi Era”, set around 42 BBY-24 BBY, just before the Clone Wars took off with the First Battle of Geonosis in 22 BBY. My three main RPG reference books will be Age of Rebellion, Rise of the Separatists, and Collapse of the Republic; all other materials I have access to will build upon this foundation. And more importantly for me, I like the new Disney Cannon lore, but I don’t want to be beholden to the movies and tv shows, so I will create my campaign set in an alternative timeline with a divergence point of 42 BBY when Jedi Master Dooku left the Jedi Order, and (new) began laying the foundation for a new Jedi Organization.

A lot of material has been developed for the Fall of the Jedi era from the viewpoint of the Galactic Republic and its focus of the Skywalker Family Storyline; I wanted to challenge myself as a GM and instead develop material from the perspective of the Confederacy of Independent System, and completely ignore the Skywalker Family storyline. Finally, of all the movies and tv shows, Rogue One has the best theme I can relate to, as described by its director Gareth Edwards “a grounded, war-based movie, one in which normal people have to come together to fight the Empire as opposed to relying on the Jedi or the Force”. Even though Star Wars is a Space Opera with World War II physics, Space Wizards with Laser Swords, countless bizarre aliens, highly unrealistic spaceships, and insane amount of plot armor setting, I feel I can create stories for “normal people” around a central theme of “order vs. chaos and individualism vs. collectivism”.

So I have chosen the scope of my new campaign (Big to Small), determine a time period (alternative timeline sent in the Fall of the Jedi Era), selected the technology & vehicles baseline (availability 42 BBY to 20 BBY), chosen the major power blocks (GAR, CIS, Jedi Order, Sith Order, Crime Cartels), a theme/mood (war focused with normal people fighting for their rights and freedoms from an oppressive and corrupt central government), narrowed down the key references for the GM and Players (Age of Rebellion, Rise of the Separatists, and Collapse of the Republic), thought about the types of adventure elements I want to focus on (politics, combat, and social interactions), and those I don’t (exploration, and trade/economics).

I also know that I will be writing for the following player types: Casual Gamers, Story Tellers, Tacticians, and Method Actors (as long as they promise not to derail the campaign, and/or play dark edgy lone wolf type characters). I will not be writing for Power Gamers, Butt Kickers, and Specialists (they will not enjoy my adventures). I will gladly accept (D&D equivalent) of Lawful Good and Lawful Neutral Rules Lawyers (and will reward them greatly), and I will kickout any Lawful Evil Rules Lawyers as soon as I detect them (they have been warned). I will be running a rules-light narrative heavy gaming style, with a combination of “Theater of the Mind” and “physical minis & terrain” as best fits each scene accordingly. I will encourage the players to take the game seriously and be mindful of a “there are consequences of your actions” baseline expectations, and in return I will try to be fair, logical, and consistent in my GM rulings, and always give a response to player questions about probability of success/failure, allow to correct for any mistakes (GM or Player), and reward players for being creative and working as a team.
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Edit #1: The campaigns starting date is in the year 24 BBY (not 20 BBY, oops), set 2 years before the First Battle of Geonosis in the Disney Canon Timeline (DCT). I updated the second paragraph from “set around 42 BBY-20 BBY” to “set around 42 BBY-24 BBY” accordingly.

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Brainstorming #1
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I have been doing a lot of Star Wars YT video watching, and SW related dead tree reading, so writing has gone down (hopeful it will pick up soon).

I trying to find a middle point between “keeping to the established Disney Canon” and “make up new s–t, f–k canon”. Finding a path between what is and what might be, is some deep Yoda level stuff. (grin)

Given what I have written above, you would think I have most of it figure out, but I don’t, this is very much a work in progress. My biggest “roadblocks” are Palpatine’s role in the upcoming Great War ™ and the Prophecy of the Chosen One ™.

Let’s tackle Palpatine first. In Disney Canon, he is in control of both sides of the Clone Wars, and directly or indirectly controls the flow of the war by manipulating the leadership of both sides GAR and CIS. I don’t want to follow this path, as it is already well established, and I assume all my future players know the outcome.

I don’t want to kill off and replace Palpatine either, as any “new guy/gal” will lack the inherent threat and “manipulative malevolence” that the players already have expectations built in by their knowledge of the movies and tv shoes.

The more I learn about the history of the fall of the republic (32-19 BBY) and the tail end of the twilight of the high republic era (40-33 BBY), the more I see that I don’t need Palpatine to actually have full control of both sides of the war to get his way. I can have the GAR and the CIS fight a real war, with Palpatine just “nudging” events here and there as benefits his plans. With access to dark powers as a Sith Lord and its resources, making use of the corruption of the Republic Senate and the MegaCorps ™, diverting funds to “freedom fighters” in the CIS, keeping the Jedi busy and off-balance with a few well-placed “terrorist” attacks, publicly decrying the war and looking for a peaceful outcome while supplying weapons, credits, intel, and atrocities to both sides, he can work towards the same end results as he did in the Disney Canon, but via different means.

Something I am considering, is having Palpatine slowly reveal to the citizens of the Republic his true nature, after many years of making the Jedi Order look weak, foolish, and useless, by openly reveling he is a Sith Lord, undergo a massive campaign of public relations and historical “white washing” of the history of the Sith (making THEM the good guys and the Jedi the bad guys), actively recruiting new members of the Sith Brotherhood as a “knightly order” that works to fight corruption, crime, slavery, and maintain order; promising peace and prosperity to a war warry republic citizenship (of course, some of the Core Worlds must suffer real damage so this point does hit home), and most of all, provide REAL RESULTS that show that he is serious and can deliver.

I figure 99.9% of the galaxies citizens don’t know what a Sith is and don’t really care as long as they have a job, their kids can go to school safely, there is food on the table, fuel in the family car, enough credits for “nice things” and travel, and most importantly, not suffering from the horrors of a full scale galactic war. If that means they need to give up some of their freedoms, their leader is a creepy looking dude, law enforcement is handled by “Sith” policeman in black robes and red laser swords, the Jedi are gone (who needs them), and some species (not us) are now second class citizens, so be it.

That this happens in plain sight and is accepted by the Republic at large, would probably freak out my future players as THEY know what happened in the Disney Canon and how bad the Sith really are. In other words, I plan on using their “meta knowledge” against them.

I still need to work on the details, but I think I got something here…