After reading the articles on Far Horizons, I got to thinking about the way the supplement seems to be going, characterized by this paragraph: "Meanwhile, [Far Horizons] also explores the concept of the Colonist’s homestead and how the Game Master can use a homestead to shape a campaign. Whether or not your campaign features a character with the Colonist career, the homestead is an idea that transcends a single class and can lend an immediate focus and urgency to your campaign."

Right now (or at least in the EotE games I've read about/been in), this isn't a focus for players & characters at all, Colonist or no. Everything I've seen has been very Firefly-esque: starship-based; operating outside the law; a small group against the galaxy. The concepts being teased in Far Horizons (FH) sound like they go against that grain.

Now, a career like Colonist can just be a background, and homesteads can be bases or sources of Obligation. The gear can be used by anyone, as can the vehicles and droids, no matter the campaign's focus. But what if we abandoned the Firefly model?

How would this sound to you: a game where the PCs are only a few of the people involved in an effort to colonize a newly-explored frontier world? The doctor isn't a ship's doctor, they're the doctor. The Marshal isn't some crew-member with a past in law-enforcement, they're the only law in town. The politico isn't a silver-tongued hanger-on who gets the ship out of tight spots, they're the deputy-mayor. The entrepreneur runs the general store, the entertainer actually entertains for part of his living, the scholar runs the local holo-paper.

In short, everyone has actual, vital connections to their colony and the people in it. Their livelihoods, maybe their families, are all tied to the success and/or survival of this small patch of tamed land on a (probably) hostil planet.

And it needn't just be Colonists (although that's how the idea germinated). Explorers would be ideal for this kind of campaign. Perhaps the colony is successful enough that it branches out onto the other two habitable worlds in the system, or the planet's moons. You're gonna need a fringer to get people & supplies back and forth! Maybe there's a political/religious rift that causes some colonists to split off and try to form their own colony further inland. You're going to need that scout for sure, and the big game hunter won't hurt. The trader is instrumental for getting good deals on supplies and trade goods from the rest of the galaxy, and can help the politico deal with native species. Found some scary old ruins? The archaelogist is there (hopefully)! And boy, that driver can sure drive!

I think the possibilities for adventures are exciting.

• Exploring new areas;
• Searching for lost colonists;
• Dealing with native species (sentient & otherwise);
• Defending against pirates who come raiding;
• Handling the Imperials, who want to establish a garrison;
• Dealing with the Rebellion, who want to set up a remote base;
• Pursuing slavers who've depopulated part of the colony;
• Re-establishing safe hyper-space routes when space-disaster cuts off trade;
• Negotiating new trade partners when your only supplier of medicine raises their prices;
• Others: internal political strife; natural disaster; murder mystery; etc.

What do you all think? Would this campaign be interesting to you?

That sounds like a cool concept for players who are especially interested in playing Colonists.

In our group, my wife was especially interested in Archaeologist and we were inspired by Enter the Unknown, so our campaign has an exploration theme.

There are definitely plenty of westerns, as well as stuff like Deep Space Nine, and the like to use as models for a campaign based around one location, and it looks like you've got a lot of great ideas!

EoE shouldn't just be about criminals, it doesn't have to be 'Shadowrun In Space'.

I can't see my group wanting a homestead, to be honest, but it's nice that they are covering more 'civilian' rules in Far Horizons.

I think that, with the right planning, this could make for an awesome campaign. I tried it once, and it was fun for a bit (even with my blunder of a first mission and the ease of expanding the base after one mission), but unfortunately I ended up getting the group embroiled in the Rebellion, and the PCs ended up playing outside of the colony. Also, like I said, the home was way too easy to finish. Plus, supplies weren't an issue at all.

However, having the PCs stuck in a Western style frontier world with only a handful of towns on the planet could prove to be very fun.

Not for the first time (and definitely not for the last), I find myself wishing that my brother (a very skilled GM) had more time and more drive to play EotE. Aw, well. I'll just go curl up and cry myself to sleep over how I have to GM every game in my group...

As a random thought, having a homestead opens the door for a pretty classic trope for bringing an otherwise peaceful group of folks into a war. The Mel Gibson movie The Patriot is a good example. The war was something going on around Gibson's character, but he kept his family out of it, until he didn't have a choice anymore. Running a campaign with a homestead early on is a good motivator to transition from an Edge to an Age campaign. I hope to be able to talk more about this aspect of my work on the Far Horizons book soon!

Or the classic and always recyclable Seven Samurai.

The party could meet up after getting recruited into helping protect the homestead from outside enemies, and then decide to set up shop there!

As a random thought, having a homestead opens the door for a pretty classic trope for bringing an otherwise peaceful group of folks into a war. The Mel Gibson movie The Patriot is a good example. The war was something going on around Gibson's character, but he kept his family out of it, until he didn't have a choice anymore. Running a campaign with a homestead early on is a good motivator to transition from an Edge to an Age campaign. I hope to be able to talk more about this aspect of my work on the Far Horizons book soon!

The only issue I have with this is that it would be natural for the PCs to move away from the homestead. It could be the evolution of the campaign, I suppose, especially if the players were getting a little bored with the status quo, but it would change the nature of the campaign drastically.

If the players were keen on the Rebellion but wanted to stay "at home," then the campaign could turn into an effort to push the Empire out of the system/off-planet. So lots of ways to go with this, depending on what the characters want.

Thanks for the ideas.

I was thinking that the show Defiance has many of the elements that the OP is talking about. They have the Politico, the Marshal (on a Soldier) and many of the others.

In Star Wars, combining such a homestead with a (hidden?) Rebel base allows a great Age/Edge interface.

Love the sound of this... Have been watching Deadwood just recently & thought it would make a great star wars frontier world

When the OP mentioned "Firefly"-series into my mind came that one Colony Mal and the Crew frequently visited when they had to lay low or something.

Its so long time when last watched that series or am I remembering wrong series.

My thinking for EotE is that even though PC might have spaceship, that they use as their base of operation, they should always have some port of call when they are in deeper end of the pool with Imperials or use for repairing/upgrading their ship.

And it would be nice to tie Obligation: Dutybound/Family/Oath/Responsibility to that one place.

Deadwood. Rent/buy Deadwood.

That's good advice full stop, but I mean it'd make a good Colonist campaign.

Hopefully they will post the Homestead focused preview soon, so I can talk a little more about this. A lot of you have great ideas that the rules should accommodate quite nicely, though.

Col Orange.... Or watch it for free with Amazon Prime's 30 day free trial through the PlayStation! Loved every episode so far!! Can't recommend highly enough... I've already started to write up a planet based on it

Deadwood. Rent/buy Deadwood.

Listen, ********er, you can bet yer ****in' *** I've ****in' seen ********in' Deadwood.

The funny thing is, Deadwood is one of those shows that doesn't translate well to RPing. In the show, Raylan Seth had an uneasy relationship with Swearengen. In a game, the PCs would just try to kill him over and over.

Swheelock.... Well ultimately they might, but less of fun to be had up to the point where they actually succeed

Deadwood. Rent/buy Deadwood.

Listen, ********er, you can bet yer ****in' *** I've ****in' seen ********in' Deadwood.

The funny thing is, Deadwood is one of those shows that doesn't translate well to RPing. In the show, Raylan Seth had an uneasy relationship with Swearengen. In a game, the PCs would just try to kill him over and over.

Unless he can make himself useful to them some how

I have had NPC's that are pain in the butt, but nevertheless they have been integral to PC's someway. From gaining important intelligence to equipment etc etc. Not every NPC must be helping PC from good will and heart, sometimes its money or prestige

Not sure what Kieth's homestead rules are going to look like, but combining that idea with the mention of firefly makes me think of the Cat House that Mal and the gang held up in to defend against some gun-toting rich nobles.

A brilliant idea. Surprised no one's mentioned Shenandoah vis-a-vis the Rebel Alliance. A homestead, or rather, "normal life," makes for a fine starting point for a larger campaign, but there's no reason you couldn't make it the focus of one, and it's super-easy to transition to a space-faring campaign later.

I would definately play in a game like that.

Even if it doesn't become spacefaring, there is so much that can happen.

A hutt decides to set up shop.

A corporation, like the trade federation, starts exploiting the planet.

The colony grows over time or a important resource like phrik is found, leading to the empire exerting influence - this us perfect for a game where regular folk fight the empire.

A Jedi askes to be hidden while an inquisitor searches for them.

Your stepdad purchases a couple stolen droids to help on the farm...

Scratch the last one.. kinda lame.

First off, I love this idea. A colony game would be incredibly fun.

Second, I'd like to discourage you from allowing people from taking something like Obligation : Colony. Sure, on the surface it seems good, but the goal of your campaign is probably building up the colony already, right? So it's kinda a two-for. If you are winning at the campaign, you are paying down your obligation. Also, the best thing about an obligation is the way it introduces complications, new twists, and new problems. The colony isn't that. On the other hand, if you have an obligation to your disabled sister who happens to be in the Colony... Now we've got something that fleshes out the game, provides new twists, and isn't just an added bonus when you do well.

Second, I'd like to discourage you from allowing people from taking something like Obligation : Colony. Sure, on the surface it seems good, but the goal of your campaign is probably building up the colony already, right? So it's kinda a two-for. If you are winning at the campaign, you are paying down your obligation. Also, the best thing about an obligation is the way it introduces complications, new twists, and new problems. The colony isn't that. On the other hand, if you have an obligation to your disabled sister who happens to be in the Colony... Now we've got something that fleshes out the game, provides new twists, and isn't just an added bonus when you do well.

Good points. I think most of the standard Obligations could work, either as starting Obligations or those introduced during the campaign.

First off, I love this idea. A colony game would be incredibly fun.

Second, I'd like to discourage you from allowing people from taking something like Obligation : Colony. Sure, on the surface it seems good, but the goal of your campaign is probably building up the colony already, right? So it's kinda a two-for. If you are winning at the campaign, you are paying down your obligation. Also, the best thing about an obligation is the way it introduces complications, new twists, and new problems. The colony isn't that. On the other hand, if you have an obligation to your disabled sister who happens to be in the Colony... Now we've got something that fleshes out the game, provides new twists, and isn't just an added bonus when you do well.

I would love to speak to this at length after either the article teasing the rules is out, or the book itself is out.

Let's put a saberdart in this topic.

Basically, Thantrax has it sort of right. While the Homestead does function as a group Obligation in the general sense, which just represents the stress of running it and keeping it afloat despite natural disasters and shortages and employee issues, individual Obligations should ALSO be tied to the homestead whenever appropriate. The family Obligation should almost certainly put some of that family ON the Homestead, Favor Obligation might be owed to someone local that has helped the Homestead, or even someone living or working at the homestead. Debt, Dutybound, Oath, and responsibility also tie in to the Homestead very easily.

With a little work, Betrayal, Blackmail, Bounty, and Criminal can also be tied to Homesteads. An employee might betray the homestead to work for a competitor, bringing a client list with them. A PC might be feeding the competition information as well, betraying the rest of the PCs all along. Blackmail can also be accomplished by a competitor to achieve similar results. The bounty and criminal could be on a PC or NPC character from before their time on the Homestead, or after a particularly crazy night in town. This might bring danger and destruction to the homestead when it triggers, or simply cost legal fees.

Personal obligations tied to the homestead should generally be narratively "bigger" than the homestead obligation itself, which is a more general stress of keeping the homestead's bills paid and in the black.