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

Game Masters
#6

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

#7

Organizations :

Antarian Rangers:

Confederacy of Independent Systems:

Galactic Republic:

Hut Cartel:

Jedi Order:

Sith Order:

#8

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

#9

Droids :

? Any plans for them?

#10

Research Questions :

?Type here, research only?

#12

Technology :

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

#13

Species :

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

#14

Specializations and Careers:

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

#15

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 :

?

#16

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). :)

#17

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

Age of Rebellion, Edge of the Empire, Force and Destiny
.
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)
.

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)

#18

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.

#19

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:

2 Likes
#20

[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.

1 Like
#22

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.
.
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.

1 Like
#24

Brainstorming #1
.
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…

#26

Brainstorming #2

The Prophecy of the Chosen One ™, is “roadblock” #2 in figuring out how to integrate this into my WIP campaign, along the spectrum of “Follow Disney Canon to Make Everything Up”.

In the Disney Canon Timeline (DCT), Anakin Skywalker is found by Qui-Gon Jinn in 32 BBY during the Invasion of Naboo. He is trained by Obi-Wan Kenobi after both Qui-Gon and Darth Maul die fighting each other. The rest they say, is history.

In this timeline Qui-Gon Jinn left the Jedi Order shortly after Jedi Master Dooku did, so he wasn’t present at the that battle. Sometime between 42-30 BBY a new Jedi organization (name TBD) is created by Dooku and QGJ in the CIS and begins the Crisis of Faith*. I would rather have Anakin be found by another Jedi from the CIS Jedi faction at an early age, and raised as a Separatist Jedi (alongside his no longer a slave mother). That should open up a lot of storytelling opportunities. If Anakin is raised as a talented Jedi padawan and trained by QGJ directly, he would be about 18 years old by the time the campaign starts in 24 BBY.

How Anakin would bring “Balance to the Force” is probably the LAST thing I am going to work on considering the major changes that I am developing for the Jedi Order, (unnamed CIS Jedi organization), the Sith Brotherhood (public facing version) and Order of the Sith (behind the scenes version, led by Darth Maul).

*= Crisis of Faith, something I just came up with to cover the splitting of the Jedi Order into GR and CIS factions, which I will develop further in a separate post.

#27

.
Update 10/10/21: complete re-write of the “Key Changes” section, deletion of other topics, various edits to the timeline dates (20 BBY → 24 BBY), and multiple spelling error corrections.

I will answer any questions/comments that may arise, and I will add more content this weekend (THU 10/14 – SAT 10/16).

1 Like
#28

Brainstorming #3 Pre-Gen PCs and their Ship

For this campaign I will be using a “troupe” style play where a player can control more than on PC at a time and any XP earned is applied to all PCs under their control. Only one of their PC can be used per scene, and it allows for some flexibility of play as the adventure session can be adjusted to the number of players that show up to the table (3-6 players).

I will be creating 12 pre-generated PCs sheets for the players to choose from at the campaign start, and I will provide them the option to create their own custom 3rd level PC(s) to be introduced into the story at an appropriate time if they wish. They group will have their own starship and will “deploy” as many PCs are needed (1 per player at the table) for each mission (adventure).

The reason I do this is partially based on prior GM experience with creating new characters at a campaign start, which can take up a lot of time, especially if the player is new to an RPG game mechanics/system, doesn’t have access to the core rulebooks and supplements, and doesn’t really know what kind of PC they want to play until they have more experience with the game mechanics and subsystems. I don’t want to prevent them from creating their own character, so that is why I encourage them to create their custom/new PCs alongside the current pre-gens, so they have time to learn the ins and outs of the rules, find their preferred play style, and have time to read the rulebooks and supplements they need, and to ask questions/clarifications as needed.

Still working on a group name for a CIS independent team of investigators, troubleshooters, and ad hoc problem solvers, that is more then an average combat squad, but short of special forces commandos. It is designed for a wide range of special missions, and while team members have some combat training, only 33% of them are combat focused.

This group was trained at the Tarkin Military Academy on Eriadu, and it’s part of the Confederate Outlands Region Security Force led by Wilhuff Tarkin. It is well trained, equipped, led, and loyal to the CIS.

CIS Rapid Response Team (CRRT)?

CIS Rapid Response Group (CRRG)?

CIS Special Expeditionary Team (CSET)?

CIS Special Expeditionary Group (CSET)?

1- Ace (Pilot)
2- Commander (Tactician)
3- Diplomat (Analyst)
4- Diplomat (Quartermaster)
5- Soldier (Medic)
6- Solider (Sharpshooter)
7- Solider (Trailblazer)
8- Solider (Vanguard)
9- Engineer (Mechanic)
10- Engineer (Scientist)
11- Spy (Slicer)
12- CSI Jedí (Padawan)

This group has a specialized starship built at the Quintad Orbital Manufacturing (QOM) Shipyards over Eriadu, and it is designed to be a mobile base of operations. A limited run of six of these starships were built, and assigned one per CIS Sector (TBD), with the CIS Eriadu Sector receiving the first of this class.

I have yet to design it (going to take a look at @P-47Thunderbolt’s Chapter VII: Starships and Vehicles Comprehensive Overhaul document first), but I am thinking something the size of a shuttle, with low electronic emissions, good sensors, light weapons, moderate amor and shields. It is not designed for dropping troops into a hot landing zone, but for stealth infiltration, and able to be camouflaged once it is planetside.

The team is the shuttles crew (pilot, gunner, engineer…), has berthing space for 14 people, a small galley, bathroom, recreation room/meeting room, armory, medbay, science station, electronics workshop, mechanic workshop, and cargo space for 6 months of consumables. While extra firepower and space for a few grav bikes would be nice, that would have increased the size and cost of the shuttle, so they were not included. This vehicle has zero available hardpoints for modifications, and given that so much is being stuffed into a small hull, it is probably high maintenance, and/or has a “prototype” flaw. As the PCs will be receiving the very first of this new class of starship, I expect it to have “teething” problems that only a real “shakedown” cruise will reveal, and perhaps need to be corrected or modified in a future design or upgrade.

1 Like
#29

My notes from paper to digital format, random!
Revised: 10/21/21 1210 EST

-[44 BBY to 20 BBY] Pre-Campaign Timeline Changes

-Divergent Point from Disney Canon Timeline (DCT): The assassination of Ranulph Tarkin prior to him leading the ORSF attack on the pirate Iaco Stark in 44 BBY.

-General Grievous dies in surgery, the CIS doesn’t employ bio-weapons or terrorist attacks during the Galactic War?

-Qui-Gon leaves the Jedi Order to travel, finds the Jedi temple and documents that appears in one of those movies, doesn’t die by Darth Maul’s lazer sword, starts a new CIS Jedi Order going back to the “basics”?

-Jedi Master Dooku leaves the Jedi Order, founds a new Jedi Order/Tradition in the CIS, the Jedi Council is paralyzed by internal debate and doesn’t interfere, even as many Jedi leave to join this new CIS Jedi Order/Tradition?

-The Jedi Order refuses to join the rebuilt Republic Army and Navy, as they are peacekeepers of the Judicial Forces, and not military officers, and have no interest in building a Jedi Army?

-There is no secretly built Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), instead the Military Creation Act is passed earlier then in the DCT and the restrictions of the Russan Reformations are lifted, and the Republic Army and Navy starts slowing rebuilding in the open?

-New designs of vehicles, starfighters, and Capital Ships for the Republic Army and Navy, built for non-organics servicemembers?

-New designs of vehicles, starfighters, and Capital Ships for the Confederate Army and Navy, built for organic servicemembers?

-House Tarkin and Eriadu join the CIS as a founding member world, and the players are part of their military forces (ORSF); the more missions they succeed in the more responsibilities and freedom of independence they have (using the AOR Duty mechanic)?

-Rename the pan-Galactic War something other than “The Clone Wars”, as in this timeline the Kamino Clones nor the Trade Federation Droids are the central focus of the war, but instead organic species fighting for retaining power/centralized government vs. diffusing power/decentralized government as the primary focus of the conflict.

-References of the Campaign (priority): FFG SW RPG line, The Essential Guide to Warfare, The Essential Atlas, Jedi vs. Sith The Essential Guide to the Force….

-Space Opera Narrative Game in Episodic Format, limited sandbox, or full sandbox campaign style?

-The events of the movies didn’t happen, as the timeline diverges before they start?

-Patreon for Wookieepedia and the SWRPG Community?

-Darth Sidious’s plans don’t follow that of the movies, discards the Rule of Two, and creates a new Sith Brotherhood on Exegol?

-Start campaign prior to 1st movie?

-Sith Eternal and Exegol are founded much earlier?

-Use 5x8 index cards to form outlines of topics, then develop further in WORD document?

-Edit “SW RPG” folder to replace all old documents prior to SEP 2021, and download all SW files from the FFG SW website.

-Make list of famous people and make profiles to figure where everyone is at the campaign start in 20 BBY?

-New CIS Jedi Academy on Eriadu?

-Tarkin family increases Eriadu’s sphere of influence by abandoning its pro-humans stance and embracing multi-speciesim and turning their world into an economic and trade powerhouse, and importing advanced terraforming and environmental cleaning technology to clean the planets pollution, and to rival the Core Worlds in power and influence?

-Go through each year from 40 BBY downwards and take notes of special events at the tail end of the High Republic era (80 BBY – 33 BBY) to see how I might incorporate them into my campaign.

-Systems and Resources to the Galactic West?

-New CIS Jedi order?

-The Chosen One Prophecy?

-The Clone Wars without Palpatine controlling both sides of the conflict?

-No Plot Armor for main NPCs?

-Relationship between Jedi Master Dooku, Qui-Gon, Anakin, and Obi-Won?

-Dathomir as part of the CIS Jedi training program?

-Evolution of the GR Judicial Forces and Planetary Defense Forces to the reborn Republic Navy and Army?

-Evolution of the CIS Judicial Forces and Planetary Defense Forces to a new Confederate Law Enforcement equivalent, Army and Navy?

-Creation of a new Galactic Republic via conscription, robots, clones, volunteers, Judicial Forces, Planetary Defense Forces, no Jedi, mercenaries…?

-Exogel status in 20 BBY?

-Mandolore and Mandalorian status in the CIS?

-Council of Neutral Systems status?

-Cutting off the source of Raw Materials to the Core Worlds before the start of the Galactic War?

-Reorganize Chrome Bookmarks?

-Reorganize RPG folder on OneDrive?

-Create Book reading list?

-Locate RPG Wiki and Master index?

-Check prices of SW Legos Clone War figures vs. Star War Legions miniatures?

-Check VTT support: Roll20, Foundry, and Fantasy Grounds?

-Google Star Wars “Master Index”, “GM Tools”, and “RPG Resources”?

-Download FFG Star Wars DLCs into new folder?

-Jedi Sifo-Dyas died in 32 BBY (DCT), have him leave with Dooku in 42 BBY?