Imperial I - STEADFAST

By Roy Stone, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

"In the year 22 BBY the Imperator Class Star Destroyer first started to appear. By the time the Galactic Empire was born there were a number of these mighty vessels which became known as Imperial I Class Star Destroyers. Among these Star Destroyers was the STEADFAST, flagship for Republic/Empire anti-piracy operations in a region of space along the borders of the Outer Rim. Anyone profiting from the Clone Wars, and later the Rebellion, by selling weapons and equipment to those who oppose the rule of Coruscant, were hunted down and destroyed...."

STEADFAST

An Imperial Campaign on the Edge of the Empire

Greetings Edge of the Empire, and hopefully some Age of Rebellion, FFG community. By now you might be wondering why I have given such an introduction when I haven't yet got the EotE rulebook. Well you've only yourselves to blame because I've been looking over some posts and decided I wanted to get into this RPG. But with a difference.

Earlier today I was on YouTube looking at some Star Wars related videos when I came across a fan movie by the name of "IMP Relentless season 1". Was only about 41 minutes long, but it gave me some inspiration to do my own adventures, only from an Imperial perspective based on a Star Destroyer as part of a small fleet.

Before I get too carried away with this idea I'd like to know your thoughts.

Future posts about STEADFAST will be posted here.

My own thoughts on the topic are that it anyone working for the Empire will use Age of Rebellion's Duty mechanic.

Character creation won't need much altering since there are pilots in EotE and I don't doubt there'll be plenty of soldier types in AoR.

My own thoughts on the topic are that it anyone working for the Empire will use Age of Rebellion's Duty mechanic.

Character creation won't need much altering since there are pilots in EotE and I don't doubt there'll be plenty of soldier types in AoR.

The Empire tended to promote individuals that had managed to viciously claw their way through others to get where they were. In order to make it, most Imperials owed somebody something or else had skeletons in their closets. Either way, Obligation works very well for such characters.

My own thoughts on the topic are that it anyone working for the Empire will use Age of Rebellion's Duty mechanic.

Character creation won't need much altering since there are pilots in EotE and I don't doubt there'll be plenty of soldier types in AoR.

The Empire tended to promote individuals that had managed to viciously claw their way through others to get where they were. In order to make it, most Imperials owed somebody something or else had skeletons in their closets. Either way, Obligation works very well for such characters.

Cool! I won't complain about that. Some ready made allies/enemies can be created from such a background.

There is a point in showing that clip.

I might take a while to get there but trust me there is a point.

Part of my plan with STEADFAST is to create YouTube videos of the gaming. Since I don't have the skills for a CGI production, nor the number of friends and props to make a movie, I'm thinking of going for a more graphic novel/comic book feel with the videos. To make this an enjoyable experience for the viewer, I need three things.

1-MUSIC

No problem here. Just buy the soundtracks to all six movies and pick an appropriate tune to go with the scene. Other soundtracks can be added in too.

2-SOUND FX

This is something I'll be searching for after my 3rd thing, but I'm sure there will be a CD or downloads of Star Wars sound FX. Perhaps other sounds too, since I want to add environmental sounds and the sounds of local creatures and races. I've already seen one place that makes sound FX, they had a kickstarter a while ago, so I know this won't be too difficult.

3-IMAGES

I'm no artist. Nor do I have the necessary patience to spend hours of my free time drawing and painting images to represent the events of a game. Instead, I wanted to collect Star Wars miniatures to use on gaming boards and take lots of pictures while notes are made of any conversations between characters and NPC's. At times I might print some images off for backgrounds to the board, or I might invest in something to use as a green screen. That way, instead of seeing a games room wall, you'd see the skyline, cityscape or inside the ship.

But where to get Star Wars models?

Knight Models did do a range, but now they've stopped and the models are gone. There's no Stormtroopers on ebay, and last time I checked there was a Aayla Secura for $99.99. No way!

Troll and Toad have a range of Star Wars models, but these generally come in 1, 2 or non in stock. I don't mind the poor paint job, since my painting skills are rubbish anyway, but what puts me off is not knowing whether they will have enough supply for my needs.

Recently I saw what I thought was a Jabba the Hutt model. To my surprise it was a "Star Wars 6" Black Series by Hasbro", and my eyes were instantly drawn to some cool Stormtrooper, Sandtrooper, scout trooper and scout trooper on speeder bike that came at the same size. Going to Amazon nearly put me off, but I followed some links to where the Stormtroopers were $19.99. There is a positive and a negative to choosing this route:

Positive: Moving parts and the ability to swap weapons or leave them unarmed. For someone who wants to do a comic book style video, being able to move arms, legs and heads would be much better than single pose models. When a PC or NPC is taken out of action, it's no hardship to lay the model down. I can even have weapons scattered around. At first glance, this seems the perfect solution.

Negative: Not much choice. When it comes to the Stormtroopers that isn't an issue as they all look the same in their armour anyway. But it doesn't leave much room for other unique characters. There are no 6" ( about 150mm) miniatures out there from other companies; or at least non that I've found.

I'm going to have a think about this.

But there is good reason not to go the Hasbro route.

You never know when Colonel Sanders might walk in.

WOTC's miniatures line is perfect for the job honestly.

WOTC's miniatures line is perfect for the job honestly.

I hope so.

They're more in scale with "normal" miniatures of between 28/35mm. Meaning I can get some unique characters too.

Including some VERY non-canon models.

AvP

Starwars.com has a soundboard that is pretty impressive...you might even say, most impressive. And you can put your selected sounds together to create a whole series of sounds together, layered after or even on top of each other and saved. Pretty spiffy!

The Duty mechanic would work very well for an Imperial Campaign, especially one focusing on Imperials in a sector of space that lacks the same type of resources given to fleets in the Core or actively engaging rebels during the Galactic Civil War. There are people on the forums who have already made conversions for the Duty chart as well.

If you have an Android tablet (or phone, I suppose), and are going for immersion, you might look into the "Scroll Words" program. The only downside I've found to that crawl generator is its inability to display "A long time ago," or the Star Wars logo at the beginning. (Which, those were probably omitted due to copyright concerns anyway.)

Music is another great area where your game can shine. Outside of the soundtracks for the original six films, you might also try using the soundtracks to Shadows of the Empire, Knights of the Old Republic I & II, and The Old Republic. All of those manage to "sound" like Star Wars, but without the baggage of association with a specific scene from the movies.

When using music for games, I've found that I prefer that the songs don't abruptly change from one song to the next. This is especially true if I'm doing it for plot reasons and I don't want my players to break immersion and think, "He changed the song, something's up." To address this, I recently found a media player (for Android) that allows crossfading between songs. "PlayerPro Music Player" with the "DSP Pack" does this very well, but it's not free. If you're using a laptop or some other platform, you might be able to find similar programs.

Wizards' minis may work well for your purposes (their quality and detail varies), but they're prohibitively expensive and rare at this point, especially if you're looking for multiples of a specific miniature. Miniature Market still sells singles, but their selection isn't what it once was, and prices have gone up as supply has dwindled. You can (for now) still find reasonably priced random boosters. I've been playing in a map-less, mini-less game for some months now, and if anything, the experience has been better for it. Your own experiences and preferences may vary.

If you're just using minis and models for art, then I'd like to point you towards the Star Wars Artists Guild (for paid commissions) or DeviantArt. You might have to dig to find what you're looking for, but there's a lot of good stuff out there.

Finally, sound effects can be found at a variety of places. There are a variety of free Star Wars sounds players out for Android, but their quality varies tremendously. The best one I've found is the official one at StarWars.com. The only drawback is that it's not as "portable" and you can't use it without a computer and internet access.

When using music for games, I've found that I prefer that the songs don't abruptly change from one song to the next. This is especially true if I'm doing it for plot reasons and I don't want my players to break immersion and think, "He changed the song, something's up." To address this, I recently found a media player (for Android) that allows crossfading between songs. "PlayerPro Music Player" with the "DSP Pack" does this very well, but it's not free. If you're using a laptop or some other platform, you might be able to find similar programs.

If you're just using minis and models for art, then I'd like to point you towards the Star Wars Artists Guild (for paid commissions) or DeviantArt. You might have to dig to find what you're looking for, but there's a lot of good stuff out there.

Finally, sound effects can be found at a variety of places. There are a variety of free Star Wars sounds players out for Android, but their quality varies tremendously. The best one I've found is the official one at StarWars.com. The only drawback is that it's not as "portable" and you can't use it without a computer and internet access.

Thank you for all the tips. I'll check them all out.

I really like your suggestion for the crossfading. Sadly, I was going to abruptly change music but I'd rather one tune faded then the next one hits. Especially want that for dramatic or tense moments.

If I can write the script of what took place in a game, perhaps with some descriptions of the environment and "bigger picture", then I'd love to commission someone to do the expert drawings. Being sure to give them full credit in the actual YouTube video.

Not being portable for sound effects is no problem. What I want these for is to add to the video so that people are not just sitting in silence watching, for all intents and purposes, a slideshow. When gaming, I'd probably have a computer sitting around anyway.

Another thing you mentioned was the "long time ago" and "star wars" logo. Not a problem there either.

Screen lights up to the sound of "Imperial March" and the sight of

STEADFAST

As that shoots off into the distance the opening prologue of that Episode scrolls back.

EDIT: after the writing has almost gone, instead of the usual Star Wars tune that follows the usual main theme I was thinking of using the tune normally heard whenever the Emperor is about. Not sure the name.

Edited by Roy Stone