Hey everyone,

I am going to be starting an alternate campaign for our group for when our DM is not available or needs a break.

The group decided they wanted something quite different then our Edge campaign, so they decided on playing and Imperial Campaign. We will be using the AoR Duty mechanic instead of obligation. They will be starting on an far Outer Rim planet near Ilum which has a small Imperial presence with inhabitants who do not like them being there (human 70%, Chiss 20%, Toydarian 10%). As a matter of fact, they prefer to stay out of the whole thing and would like to eject the Imperials from the system all together.

The players are going to be:

* human squad leader

* human marauder

* human medic

* human agitator

I am looking for encounter ideas or plot arcs, in general, as well as ones that would bring up moral dilemmas that shows the evil nature of what the empire is doing. Please throw me some ideas or even quote things the Empire has done in the books. I have read Zahn's Heir of Empire trilogy and that is about it.

Please let us not have the thread derail into discussing the merits of an Imperial campaign. That is decided.

Perhaps we can make this an idea thread that others can use too for running similar campaigns.

Thanks all!!

Well, this whole "Empire is Evil" theme should really be down-played in my opinion. Unless your PCs are interested in playing villains, playing a member of the Empire has its rewards. I mean, consider it:

-Prior to the empire there was a civil war which ended the lives of trillions of people. The Empire winning has brought peace to the galaxy.

-Imperial Star Destroyers are probably a WELCOME sight to law-abiding citizens in the outer rim. In a universe rife with pirates, smugglers, and criminals, the Empire is probably a very helpful stabilizing force.

-The Empire didn't revert everything the Republic had established. In fact, they probably took upon a great deal of the existing infrastructure. The Republic, if you recall, are the good guys! The only difference is that the hierarchy changes with the establishment of the empire, and the rotten core spreads from the source (the Emperor). So, yeah, the closer you get to the inner circle, the more "bad" you'll see. The vast majority of Imperials? Good people. Family men and women. People trying to make some good in the galaxy.

Good sources for plot hooks?
A. The Clone Wars animated TV show is awesome. It has a lot of "filler" episodes with clone troopers running missions. These can easily be converted to fit the setting you want.

B.

I offer ten hooks:

1. You're investigating a murder in some city complex. You've been assigned to track down and find a Gran who is responsible for a mass murder of a small town unwilling to put up with his laundering front. This Gran is dangerous and connected with the underbelly of the city, so any leads the PCs get will have a chance of going sour. Some might even lead to overt hostility as the Gran's cronies decide to fight back.

Eventually the PCs track down the Gran, hiding wherever he may be, and discover that their rendezvous has been joined by a pair of bounty hunters also seeking the Gran. Now the PCs have a dilemma. Can they convince/coerce the hunters to turn away? Will they have to fight the hunters?

2. Two Gamorrean clans have colonized an otherwise peaceful outer-rim world full of law-abiding imperial citizens. Unfortunately the discovery of eachother has lead the two clans to war, as is natural for their kind. Unfortunately, this leaves the human colonists exposed to the violence, their city is caught in between the lines of battle. The regional Governor has asked the Imperials for help and they've deployed the PCs to find a solution.

Can they convince the Gamorreans to stop fighting? Will they rally the town to defend themselves?

A cool end game, assuming they succeed at repelling a few assaults could consist of having a pair of ISDs show up and the PCs calling a "firing solution" from the sky, obliterating the Gamorrean fort/village.

3. Your standard "assault that rebel base" mission. Here's a few hooks into that:

a. These "Rebels" are so good? Well, that explosion that they set off at an imperial customs station also blew up half a city block. The Rebels killed dozens of innocents in the process. Restore justice to the system.

b. Not all imperials are loyal. A planetary governor has decided to align with the rebellion. There's plenty of potential motivators for this. Probably the big one would be his desire to remain in power as systems around him aligned with the rebellion. Problem is, this guy's planet is one of the main suppliers for medi- and stim-packs for the region. The Imps can't simply destroy his facilities. They need a scalpel, not a sword. That's where the PCs come in.

c. Rising tensions in a system have torn brother from brother. A nearby rebel cell has commited it's attention toward recruiting men from the city. The people of the city are distraught, fearing the death of brothers and sons. It's up to the PCs to learn from the citizenry where the rebel cell is located. The people are happy to help on one condition: spare their sons. Imperial command is recommending a different route. What will the PCs do?

4. Hunt a Jedi. They could be fed all sorts of propaganda, too. Maybe have the Jedi kill of a few of their NPC buddies. The Jedi who had once hidden was now emboldened through the rumors that a rebellion is forming.

5. Nothing like a twist on the concept that Imperials always have the resources in their favor. The PCs have been given a temporary guard duty at a remote planet. Dantooine perhaps? It's quiet and boring. There are few locals. They have to put up with endemic predatory life when, all of a sudden, medium transports start landing. Quick-fabricated bases are set up in the distance. The Rebels have arrived and are completely oblivious to the PCs. An easy computer check reveals that if they send a distress signal now, they'll almost certainly be pinpointed by the rebels and destroyed.

What do they do? Do they send the signal and run for their lives, awaiting the arrival of the cavalry? Do they run sabotage missions on the Rebel base? Attempt to infiltrate? Do they attempt to escape the system?

6. A routine inspection stop while serving aboard a customs frigate goes wrong when the massive transport turns out to be holding slaves. Before they have a chance to react, the frigate they are on explodes from the hail of laser fire as the "freighter" reveals a plethora of retractable weaponry. Now the group (and you, deciding what route would be most fun), finding themselves stranded aboard the ship have a few options:

Do they fight the slavers and try to take over the ship? Are they overpowered themselves and sold into slavery deep into Hutt space?

7. A newly discovered alien race threatens a colony on the fringes. When the PCs arrive, they see the consequences of this genocidal species as the colony has been completely obliterated down to men, women, and children. Thankfully some of the colonists have managed to survive on the outskirts, but it's only a matter of time before these aliens return. What sort of unusual weapons and tactics will these aliens use? Will the PCs, as the scouts, be able to hold up before the larger numbers of imperials show up?

8. A local Moff is cracking down on crime in his sector. Unfortunately, he is often quite heavy handed and a huge fan of the Tarkin doctrine. A local planet is one such hive of scum, and a particular haven for pirates, spice runners, and sabacc dens. The PCs, stationed on this planet, are also introduced to a number of well meaning citizens- farmers, workers, tax payers. They are requesting help from the Empire to establish law on their home planet.

The Moff? He's planning on Base Delta Zero as one of his first actions to establish himself as a force in the region. The PCs learn this, meet the Moff and are given an ultimatum: "Very well, if you can demonstrate that a small number of the Empire's Finest are as capable as my methods, I'll belay the order. Arrest or kill the crime lords in one standard galactic week (five 24 hour periods) and I'll spare the planet."

9. A planet has declared its independence from Imperial control. The PCs are sent, along with other imperial resources, to take the planet back. As the battle is won, the local ISB agent instructs the group to eliminate all prisoners and surrounding colonies, judging that the sedition will inevitably return.

10. The good 'ol Special Forces School is awesome as a hook. The PCs, having proven themselves, are invited to take part in Commando School on Cardia, the greatest training planet in the Empire. They're all accepted into the new class and given instruction on multiple skills including:
-Escape and evasion: a little module having them actually evade their instructors who are hunting them.

-Hand to hand and melee combat: a few cool tournament-style modules could be made from this premise

-Infiltration and sabotage: they could be trained in the usage of explosives, slicing devices, and good old skulduggery to work their way into installations.

-Espionage: Perhaps they could be sent to a nearby civilian town with the task of locating one of the instructors, using their resources to piece together enough clues to locate him.

-Assassination: plagarize from the US sniper school. Set up a scenario where they have a simulated target to assassinate. The target will be guarded by Stormtrooper trainees from the academy there.

-Vehicle and heavy weaponry usage. Lots of booms.

-A brief dogfighting course in imperial flight school. Set them up with instructor Baron Fel, if you want to make the SW geeks really geek out.

Hope these help.

I like most of Drix's ideas bt if you go with 5 I would suggest avoiding any of the planets mentioned in the movies. There are plenty of other remote worlds to choose from IMO. Also 9, particularly the ISB part sounds like the kind of thing which led a lot of well meaning Imperials to defect or at least started them considering it.

I would also consider some plots involving intervening to stop a war between two neighboring planets or neighboring systems.

Wow, Drix!! Great post!

I really like everything you posted. You have given me a lot to work with.

The Relentless is short, but good!

Ilum isn't in the Outer Rim, it's pretty far out in the Unknown Regions. Just a minor nitpick.

Yea, I was not sure of that, since I looked at the map quickly. Thanks for the correction. I will fix that! =)