Question about the Clones...

By Kainrath, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

Actually I believe that the idea that Humans could not have children with Twi'leks was originally from the X-Wing novels and Traviss just used it. Frankly I think the EU saying the two species couldn't have kids was a bad idea no matter who came up with it though.

Oh, I was just pointing out that the Clone Commando series used the idea as a minor plot point. I'm not sure where it came from originally, but you're probably correct. (I need to re-read the X-Wing series... it's been too long.) That said, I respectfully disagree that it was a bad idea, but to list my reasons would likely derail the thread.

Regarding clones and aging, the Clone/Imperial Commando series (the later novels, especially) are a decent resource for a game that centered around the clones and their accelerated aging process.

Yeah, it's too darn bad that the Clone Army has nothing to do with Mandalorians, and that Jango was not a Mandalorian, and by default, neither was Boba. Jango was just some bounty hunter who somehow got ahold of some Mandalorian armor.

I would imagine that if old papa Palpatine could engineer and bring about the fall of the Jedi Order and bring about his New Order, I am sure he would not want rouge Jango DNA running around and would have thought about that and ensured they could father any offspring.

Actually I believe that the idea that Humans could not have children with Twi'leks was originally from the X-Wing novels and Traviss just used it. Frankly I think the EU saying the two species couldn't have kids was a bad idea no matter who came up with it though.

I can understand it for.extreme examples. like.humans and gamoreans. but near species, like zeltrons and humans, I allow if just a case by case basis for my table.

Yeah there are some species I think should only be able to breed with extensive genetic engineering involved, and some I wouldn't allow at all. Though I know GMs which have included pairings I would put in the never be able to breed category in the can breed with genetic engineering category. I just don't see why Humans and Twi'leks would be incompatible enough to need genetic engineering to breed.

Yeah there are some species I think should only be able to breed with extensive genetic engineering involved, and some I wouldn't allow at all. Though I know GMs which have included pairings I would put in the never be able to breed category in the can breed with genetic engineering category. I just don't see why Humans and Twi'leks would be incompatible enough to need genetic engineering to breed.

For the same reason that humans and chimps can't interbreed, yet we're 97%+ alike. Outward appearance is a poor marker for genetic compatibility.

I can see two species from different worlds having evolved similar reproductive systems (shaft meet hole...), so that two beings might be intimate, but not fertile relative to each other.

ffl travel magic swords, the force, miraculous births, pprophecies and chosen ones. if two of my characters want to have a kid, I don't feel too bound by the laws of science.

ffl travel magic swords, the force, miraculous births, pprophecies and chosen ones. if two of my characters want to have a kid, I don't feel too bound by the laws of science.

except that "miraculous" births are actually possible, and aren't really miracles, heheh. It's known as parthenogenesis. Prophecies and Chosen Ones could just be self-fulfilling tales, or ones so vague that hindsight makes it seem to have happened. i.e. "There is a prophecy of one who will bring balance to the Force...".

so, was anakin a bird or lizard. maybe a fish. Mon Cal in design.

no. Dont use something that doesnt happen in mammals for mammals and then claim it for.scientific reasons. yeah... im closing this argument down now.

self fulfilling prophecy would work if Jedi couldn't see the future.

I just don't see why Humans and Twi'leks would be incompatible enough to need genetic engineering to breed.

Twi'leks aren't Near-humans, just humanoids. They evolved separately.

Yeah, it's too darn bad that the Clone Army has nothing to do with Mandalorians, and that Jango was not a Mandalorian, and by default, neither was Boba. Jango was just some bounty hunter who somehow got ahold of some Mandalorian armor.

Under what is now Cannon you can argue that point, but if we speaking about the EU then your flat wrong. In the EU it states that he is a Mandalorian and so was Boba. In fact in the EU Boba becomes Mandalore.

Of course, that same book series made a point of stating that humans and Twi'leks couldn't interbreed, and The Clone Wars retconned that.

Wait, what? I have watched all the Clone Wars episodes and I don't remember a half-human half-Twi'lek in any of them. Where is that and is it unambiguous?

Actually I believe that the idea that Humans could not have children with Twi'leks was originally from the X-Wing novels and Traviss just used it. Frankly I think the EU saying the two species couldn't have kids was a bad idea no matter who came up with it though.

I can understand it for.extreme examples. like.humans and gamoreans. but near species, like zeltrons and humans, I allow if just a case by case basis for my table.

Chiss are near-human. They're explicitly stated in EotE books to be a lost off-shoot of humanity. So they would have a very good chance of being able to reproduce. But other cross-species? I would think it very unlikely. Of course it would be perfectly possible to do a donor or maybe even tailor a child genetically so that the parents could feel that it was both of theirs to a greater extent.

Half-breeds and mongrels are a staple of fiction both science and fantasy. If it works go for it. Or decide that there is no cross-breeding. There is no right or wrong as things tend to get retconned to meet the needs of the story anyways in any genre.

ffl travel magic swords, the force, miraculous births, pprophecies and chosen ones. if two of my characters want to have a kid, I don't feel too bound by the laws of science.

except that "miraculous" births are actually possible, and aren't really miracles, heheh. It's known as parthenogenesis. Prophecies and Chosen Ones could just be self-fulfilling tales, or ones so vague that hindsight makes it seem to have happened. i.e. "There is a prophecy of one who will bring balance to the Force...".

To view things from a dark viewpoint, these are my takes on this.

In the movie, what is the "miraculous" birth of Anakin? His mother said, "There was no father, that I know of...I carried him, I gave him birth...I can't explain what happened." I think it's not unreasonable to think that a slave was taken advantage of (conscious or not) and there was no father figure to help raise the boy. She didn't want to admit all the times she had been abused and taken advantage of.

As for Twi'leks. Well, if they look like attractive humans but can't have kids with humans, wouldn't that make their price as slaves go up? The master can do what they want with them and not worry about illigitimate children.

That being said, I agree that if two characters in my RPG want to have kids, then I'll let them. As stated in Jurassic Park, nature will find a way. Laws of science have no sway in this fantasy.

Edited by Jamwes

EU gave us half-bothans...

I assumed that since the clones were supposedly more obedient, they were all on board the Death Star when that mass-murdering lunatic Skywalker blew it up. :)

ihadfriendsonthatdeathstar.jpg

okay, going back to an earlier comment, the accelerated growth happened in a chamber. that's in season 4 ep. 8. im watching it now and one of.them mentioned his accelerated growth chamber had a leak in it. made.him hyperactive

thinking about clones too. I mean, making a clone armycosts more than a regular one. all the costs ofarming and training them and transporting them is the same as a regular army, plus the cost of growing them,educating, feeding them while they are kids, accelerated growth and genetic engineering. plus the facilities. its so impracticable. jaw dropping stupid!

I have just decided to drop the entire prequels from my campaigns. I will not let that stupidity stand. the emperor is more menacing than that.

how could the clones.kill the Jedi. we see they use blasters against them, but a blaster is never.useful against one. every example, besides for order 66, that's what we see from every movie account. even nameless Jedi in ep 2.

edit: that includes.repeatin blasters against a half trained.Jedi in ep 6

Edited by miishelle

I think the point of the clone army was not that it was cost effective (though I believe it being expensive was part of Palpatine's plan - as a direct result of the war he was able to seize control of the banking clans), it was that with it he was able to provide a fully functional and equipped army exactly when his master plan called for it, rather than needing to spend the time drafting, equipping, and training citizens... never mind the clones' ability to have secret orders implanted in them with a basically 0% failure rate which is not something that could be done with people pulled from the streets.

Following that - the clones were able to take out Jedi via surprise attacks and sheer numbers for when the jedi predicted the ambush.

On an unrelated note, in The Clone Wars TV show a clone has a child with a twi'lek farmer. I suppose it's never specifically stated the child is his and not there from a previous relationship, but that seems to be what they're suggesting.

the movies don't show he took control.of the banking clans in fact, they were part of the seperatists through mistifar (or however you spell it)

taken by surprise. we're talking experienced field combatants who can see the future and feel danger before it happens, as well as the emotions around them.

no, it was just badstory that sounds like it was written by an 8 year old.

How then, might I ask, would you recommend killing 10,000 plus jedi? The jedi thought they were invulnerable - that was part of the story. And they weren't.

Edit: sorry, didn't mean to be snarky, but I've heard this quite a number of times. People see jedi as undefeatable or invulnerable, but yet we know that there were tens of thousands that were killed during the clone wars. (And that was before the prequels existed).

Edited by Quicksilver

the way it was explainedbefore. they were betrayed by a member of they order and hunted down by the empire. the movies didn't add to it, just added levels of stupidly bad writing. taking away the poorly handled "surprise" attacks doesn't take away from the storey and trims the fat.

while im on it, what did the fight of nameless clones made to be cannon fodder vs mass produced Droid made to be cannon fodder add?

And if you saw stormtroopers going from planet to planet shooting every jedi they found, with the Jedi never surviving, almost none disapearing or hiding, with plenty of time, warning and all their foresight and defensible abilities because of the betrayal of a single member of their order, when they've had 100 similar betrayals in their past, you wouldn't think that was bad writing?

As for the clone wars, It's the ultimate version of an artificially created war. A war whose entire existence was to discredit and destroy the jedi while propelling Palpatine to a dictatorial position. How better to represent an artificial war than with two groups of artificial beings?

At this point you might as well ask: What did having Thrawn try and reforge the empire add, or what did having a story about a bunch of jedi running around 25,000 years ago fightin Sith add?

Edited by Quicksilver

while im on it, what did the fight of nameless clones made to be cannon fodder vs mass produced Droid made to be cannon fodder add?

A better pretext for the Emperor to maneuver his way into power?