Im going to spin a bottle (or pen) to decide one character to be force sensitive. But i won't tell them they are force sensitive, and im not even sure they will learn they are force sensitive.
Some one else may find out they are force sensitive and hunt them, which could possibly reveal to the player they are force sensitive. But even then they might not find a way to learn their abilities. But i guess that all depends how they roleplay.

If the characters decide to actively seek out abundances of ruins and constantly looking for Force related relics then of course more chance they will come in contact with Force users. But i will try to make other options more entertaining to them.

I do hope at some point, FFG would release a book just for Pre-Death star places/people/ships/weapons. Just so i can understand different stats and give some stuff to use as relics or Knowledge (Lore).

I don't like referencing out of game things much, but i might sparingly make a character based off a game of thrones character or whatever else, just to see my PCs reactions

I run mine the same way. I've gotten rid if anything from the prequels. thatmeans I lost the clone wars, but I don't think that was a great loss. they still happened, but I don't go into details.

The Clone Wars happened off screen, and I told my players that the prequel trilogy "Got the broad strokes right, in the fact there was a war that had jedi leading clone troopers against droids, (Clone War 1)shortly after that war, Palapatine declared himself emperor and when the Jedi rallied against him, he turned the Grand Army of the Republic against the 'jedi traitors' (Clone War 2, see what I did there, Clone WarS)" How Aniken and Obi-wan figure in is anyone's guess, and since one is dead, and the other is Vader, the players aren't finding out.

The Rebellion back story I use is the one from WEG as I -really- can't stand the 'it's all Vader's fault' new background, though the characters from The Force Unleashed will be showing up (Rahm Kota is a General in the Alliance, Cpt Eclipse commands a Mon Cal Cruiser, and the Apprentice and Proxy, well I'm not telling...)

And the Galactic Empire is the collection of Sexist, Racist, Specist old mens' club we've come to know and hate.

By broad strokes the Mandalorians still exist, split into three factions New Mandalorians (the ones from TCW toon, mostly useless), the True Madalorians (again mostly like the ones in Legends, but the Supercommando Codex is a 4000 year old code of conduct rather than 30, the Honorable, Dependable Merc stereotype mando.) and the Death Watch (loosely based on the clone wars Death Watch, they're something like the basterd stepchildren of Vikings and ISIS, ruthless, blood thirsty and seek battle at every opportunity, best known member: Boba Fett)

I try to use as much as possible, mostly because I've had some personal bad experiences with AUs. That being said, I treat almost everything with a grain of salt as necessary. One common statement we've used is that the Movies are the "Based on a True Story" release of the story by the New Republic, or that the X-wing books are pulp novels that a Coruscant Office worker might pick up at their local drugstore. This lets you say that the filmmakers or writers made adjustments for things to look better on screen, or removed secondary characters, or similar.

I don't think characters should start as force sensitive.

A gm could make a player force sensitive if the story calls for it, if they've been in a lot of situations where the outcome could have been unknowingly influenced by the force.

I've gone Force Sensitive from the get-go once, but I discussed in advance with the GM, and we agreed that the character was unaware of his abilities and was subconsciously using the Force (minor things only), and the GM staged things for him to encounter a holocron early on in the game and learn the truth. It worked out well, and preserved the big moment of discovery, which I enjoyed a lot. It was a nice balance between starting Force sensitive and choosing it as the game went on.

I don't think characters should start as force sensitive.

A gm could make a player force sensitive if the story calls for it, if they've been in a lot of situations where the outcome could have been unknowingly influenced by the force.

Having had a GM drop Force Sensitivity on my character. (Suprise!) I'm don't think this is necessary the best solution. There are always things that could be influenced by the Force - every die roll, and arguably every decision.

In my current game, we've had a character who was force sensitive from the beginning but wasn't aware of it for a dozen sessions, attributing it to "luck". From a player's perspective, they've been buying up the Force Exile talents, including force talents, to represent the character's instincts.

In all honesty. I just mainly mine it for source material and information. Cherry picking all the way. the only major one is that after ANH, Luke is the only Jedi (besides Anakin, Ben, and Yoda). There is no Kyle Katarn, Kanan, Ezra or Asoska. There is Mara Jade, but she is never going to meet any of my players. And I do like the idea of inquisitors, but I seem them more as Force users corrupted by the Emporer/Vader and nothing more then lobotomized slaves to them with no real free will.

And the Second death star is not being built in some out of the way forest moon inhabited by warrior teddy bears. it is being built. But i am not revealing where... that is for my players to discover in an "Oh SITH!" moment

Most everything in the EU before ANH has happened. it might not happen after ANH. Clone wars is more of a "Grampa Cody/Rex telling stories to kids"

I much prefer the EU version of the clone wars that the canon version.

Lucas prevented any EU stories being set in the clone wars era but enough hints were dropped about the clone wars to give an idea of what happened, and it didn't involve droids.

When cloning technology was discovered a handful of clone masters realised that they could grow entire armies to fight for them. This led to many wars between members of the old republic and threatened to break up the republic.

The technology to clone bodies had existed for a while, and was used in medical procedures, but what was needed to bring clones to life was a life force. Or more specifically the force, provided by Sith force users.

Palpatine United the fragments of the old republic into the empire and defeated the clone armies, blaming the Jedi for their creation. If the force brought them to life it must have been a Jedi plot to conquer the republic.

That is why in the EU all cloning technology is forbidden, something that makes no sense given the canon use of clones by only the winning side.

The campaign I am planning will start by focussing on the aftermath of the clone wars, during the original trilogy time period, just to set the scene as being different than the prequel trilogy. Maybe finding a bit of forbidden cloning technology and trying to offload it, hunting down a group of old clones like they were Nazi war criminals, or having a friend/PC who will die without some cloned organs.

Then some planet bound fetch quests on alderaan to line the PC's up with a ship and give the players a picture of life in the empire, the good and the bad. Maybe have the pc's saved from a crime Lord by a squad of storm troopers who are just there to keep the peace and do their civic duty I'll lead them to believe it's set a few years before episode 4 and try and get them to have friends and family on the planet.

Just as they get access to a ship the death star will make a surprise appearance, the players will have to decide who they can save on their ship and there won't be room or time to get everyone.

The bit that fascinates me at the moment is what happens to alderaan and it's people after the planet is blown up. It's people will still live on other planets in the empire, will the empire take credit or blame the rebels. If the empire takes credit then it needs to deal with the survivors who will now definitely oppose the empire, possibly with internment camps. What effect would a missing planet have on the rest of the planet's in the system?

Once it becomes known that Leia is adopted its possible that there would be another noble candidate to declare themselves princess. When this candidate finds out that Leia was on the death star and chose to save her beloved rebellion instead of her adopted planet she will have made a sworn enemy.

I'm not sure what I'm doing yet but I definitely want to have an initial focus on the survivors and their place in the galaxy.

Personally I use all sources leading up to where in the timeline EotE takes place (between Episodes IV and V). I make extensive use of Wookiepedia to make sure my designs line up with the chronology now labelled "Legends". I find a certain amount of richness in the material created for Star Wars going all the way back to the excellent job West End Games did with their products.

Regarding events after the time of EotE, I don't get hung up on that. Always in motion is the future. For example, there will be no Yuzzhan Vong invasion if the campaign goes that long in the timeline (we most likely will be starting a AoR campaign after about another year of EotE so we wouldn't get that far into the future anyway). I don't let the Legends material handcuff the actions or effects my players have on the "universe" they interact with.

So in summary, I try hard to make sure the past lines up, mine great ideas thanks to Wookiepedia for Legends material in the present, and don't care about being a slave to the future.

I was discussing the Clone Wars TV show with someone else and expressing my disgust and how it overwrote a lot of novels and established stuff, but I won't get any further into that. It basically served to make me ask myself what was in my universe, as a GM. What information do I take with me to the gaming table?

So I boiled it down.

1. The original trilogy is cold hard fact.
2. The EU basics exist - datapads are a thing, holocrons exist, and the list of general stuff: alien species, planets, the Imperial Security Bureau, Black Sun, the Hutt Kajidics, etc, but no events outside the OT.
3. Whatever events and characters I choose to bring in from the Legends EU, which are re-purposed and given new twists for the sake of the game.

And that's the extent of the universe when I GM. No Gungans, no Yuuzhan Vong, no Waru (look up the Crystal Star novel and you'll understand), and the Clone Wars are just some nebulous thing talked about in past tense. If I ever GM something in the Clone Wars, it will all be rewritten, and if I ever GM something in the Old Republic era, the KotOR games will be our canon and our reference point, just like the OT in most of our games... I choose to have a universe like this because it contains all the things I love without the things that I felt got convoluted and contradictory.

This is not a thread to argue one view over another, but tell me, what's in your universe when you GM? Do you embrace every scrap of fiction and every animated episode, every comic book page in existence? Have you cut specific things out, or are you like me, and cut out all but specific things? Why do you choose one view over another?

I read an awful lot of the EU, not much of the graphic novels. I stopped reading a few books into the Yuuzhan Vong stuff.

I thought of doing an alternate timeline. Start it off with Jedi Academy characters, introduce various characters THEN, put them in a Mirror Universe where Luke turned to the Dark Side & joined Vader.

They could try & avoid notice, or not, not realising they are in a Mirror Universe,

How do they find out what the Divergence Point was when the Empire is cagey with Official History?

Do they try & kickstart the Rebellion from scratch?

Do they get discovered by a now secure Empire & get offered Faustian Bargains by Vader? played off against a Dark Side Luke? Do they try to redeem them based on a belief in the potential due to Luke telling them of Vader's Redemption?

I respect canon 100% but after that, I add tons of things from Legends and other non-SW worlds like Chrono Trigger/Cross, MegaMan, Mass Effect and other show/game series.

Before they separated things, I tried to respect the story as so much as I can, but now... I enjoy a lot destroying and killing things from Legends.... MWA HAHHAHA!! XDD

My main player killed Cronal/Black Hole and I hope that other ones from Legends would be the nexts from the list XDD

I AM A WORLD DESTROYER! XD

All the trappings and tropes of the OT only, but the events have changed substantially -- an alternate universe where the PCs and BBEGs are free to stand or loom (as appropriate) as tall and large as the principal characters in those films.

I read an awful lot of the EU, not much of the graphic novels. I stopped reading a few books into the Yuuzhan Vong stuff.

I thought of doing an alternate timeline. Start it off with Jedi Academy characters, introduce various characters THEN, put them in a Mirror Universe where Luke turned to the Dark Side & joined Vader.

They could try & avoid notice, or not, not realising they are in a Mirror Universe,

How do they find out what the Divergence Point was when the Empire is cagey with Official History?

Do they try & kickstart the Rebellion from scratch?

Do they get discovered by a now secure Empire & get offered Faustian Bargains by Vader? played off against a Dark Side Luke? Do they try to redeem them based on a belief in the potential due to Luke telling them of Vader's Redemption?

Some of the comics dealt with alternative timelines, one of which I plan on introducing when the timeline reaches the right point.

Everything is the same up until the end of a new hope, the divergence point is when Luke makes his attack run. He switches off his targeting computer and then misses (hilarious).

The death star was damaged in the attack and was only able to fire at "low power" burning away the atmosphere without making the planet explode.

Thinking Leia and the rebellion are destroyed because of him Luke becomes consumed by grief and turns to the dark side.

Realising that the attack has failed Han and chewie jump to hyperspace and go back to being smugglers.

Leia and the rebel command were safe inside the sealed bunker, they were eventually rescued and relocate to hoth. Hoth is safe because the empire is no longer looking for the rebels.

A weakened rebellion, an evil Luke and an active death star (without the flaw).

The only hope is that Leia becomes the Jedi Luke was meant to be and whatever impact the players can make.

My setting is fully cannon, barring midichlorians. However, the campaign is not going to tightly focus on the events on the OT. The galaxy is a big place and the PCs are not likely to get tangled up in the mainline events. However, events like the Rebellion will affect them.

I have also stated that if they wish, I will let them face off against Vader before the campaign ends. Some of them want to try and beat him. I have said that I will play Vader straight - only the knowledge and powers that he has with no GM favouritism. I honestly don't fancy their chances but they will get to try.

I heavily rewrite the prequels with a different take on Jedi, Sith, and the Clone Wars, but the games take place in the period just before the Battle of Yavin and most PCs won't know the fully accurate version of history in any event. I had a few old threads on my alternate take, but I'm not sure where they are now.

Everything that was established to have happened up to the end of RotJ. So if we look at the darkstryder campaign (8 years ABY) the new republic hasn't happened yet so those events during the campaign are out but the prior histories of the npc's in that campaign are good.

I decided to keep my Star Wars universe as simple as possible as we've got a couple of players who doesn't know much about the universe past the original 3 movies. I've set my campaign just after the events of A New Hope and I've made things fairly straightforward. That's not to say that I'm not creating a rich background for the party to get involved with but the setting is very much grounded in the 'present' rather than what happened in the past or will happen in the future. I think it's worked out very well so far and I've tried to keep discussion about Star Wars 'lore' to a minimum.

Most of what we have seen on screen is canon for my game. If it is in the FFG books it is canon unless I specificly over rule it. The rest, both Legends and Canon is apocrypha for my games.

I pull in bits from all sorts of sources, Valance the Hunter is in, Bledsoe's Disease is in, giant green bunny people are out.

Most of what we have seen on screen is canon for my game. If it is in the FFG books it is canon unless I specificly over rule it. The rest, both Legends and Canon is apocrypha for my games.

I pull in bits from all sorts of sources, Valance the Hunter is in, Bledsoe's Disease is in, giant green bunny people are out.

The Lepi are pure horror. Anthropomorphic bunnies are not in my universe either.

Interesting question the OP brought up!

I tend to emphasize the main canon continuity of the Star Wars Universe as One, and therefore I constrain myself to almost the same norms I would abide by if our game was to become canon. In fact, I often remind my players that their actions *are* happening in the Star Wars Continuity, but that since the story is written from the future, their destiny was never to kill the Emperor or tell the Empire about the Hoth Rebel base before TESB. The galaxy being so big, inhabited by 100 quadrillion beings, there is more than ample space for them to grow into their own epic destiny without being cheesy.

I try to consider canon as much material as coherently possible, except a few things. Everything after the Battle of Endor is erased, awaiting canon novels and comics establishing the new continuity. Everything before that is OK, but I priorize the New Canon whenever possible, especially if New Canon overwrites old Legends material (Kessel is now round, Ahsoka was part of the Rebellion at some point, Shak Ti never fought Galen Marek since she was already dead, A-wings appeared before the Battle of Yavin, etc.).

I even have a SW Calendar calculator in Excel telling me approximately what Year:Month:Day we are at, using the Great ReSynchronisation as Year 0 in-universe. I try to set up potential events that match the continuity as closely as is feasible.

Most of the EU is in my universe (all the current canon is as well. Yes, even the prequels). My campaign takes place -5BY and (at this point) only on Tatooine, so not much will effect it - Though they may run into Obi-Wan in passing, and they're actively working for Jabba...

In our next session the group will be dealing with what remains of Dannar's Claim, for instance.

Karen Traviss Mandalore

I have Gungans. *dodges blaster fire* No wait a minute, wait a minute, let me explain!

Honestly, as a storyteller, I found a lot to like about the Gungans. They appear gangly and awkward, but are surprisingly nimble. They employ 'primitive' weapons and beasts for their Grand Army. Still, they were willing to put that army on the field as bait. I'll admit that I liked the Boss Gallo story in Galactic Battlegrounds, and probably played Gungans in that game more often than anyone I know.

I knew that if I put Gungans in my game, they would be instant blaster fodder, so before bringing them in, I changed one thing about them. Their speech.

You see, the Gungans in my game are from the moons of Naboo, not the planet. As such, they speak a different dialect. You won't hear a "meesa" or a "yousa" coming from them. The still have a distinct way of talking, but one that I think is much more tolerable.

I also use most of the material out there as a guideline, with the original trilogy as a more 'immutable' reality. And, I like to find unanswered questions like "whatever happened to..." and let players be part of answering those questions. Where the Gungans came in was supposed to be an expedition to Naboo to find an item for their sponsor's collection. Instead, they encountered an old Naboo Royal cruiser escaping, piloted by 2 Gungans, and carrying a now very very old Sio Bibble, former Governor of Theed. He had important information, the location of a hangar where the starfighters of Bravo Squadron were hidden.

I may have to break with some Canon, though. There is one character that I would be interested in using, but was killed in TCW. Oh well. As one of my players says, we're co-creating our own Canon. We get to decide who's still around. I'm not changing major events, however.

There is one character that I would be interested in using, but was killed in TCW.

Ziro the Hutt? I know at least two posters on these forums who have brought the incomparable Ziro back to life. In fact, it is possibly my one and only break with canon.

No, not Ziro. Actually, I didn't watch much of TCW, so I only read later that this character was even on it. It was Jocasta Nu, the librarian. I loved her line in AotC, "If an item does not appear in our records, it doesn't exist." I have a fondness for the venerable sages, wise women and elders who act as guides and mentors, but who still had some fight in them (Gandalf, Wynn...). Even though she was kind of stuck up in her brief movie appearance, I could see her as one of those characters who could surprise you. In the d20 edition, I also favored Jedi Consulars, so....

My story plot would have fit better in a period in between Episodes 3 and 4, but I had an adventure idea called "Bookmobile" that essentially had Nu escaping the Temple with a portion of the Jedi Archives in a shuttle. She would entrust the PCs with the safekeeping of the Jedi lore, knowing that even with her abilities, her end was near. "I am strong in the Force, but not that strong."

One of the things with my story hooks though, is that they evolve from the ending, and with a more open world sandbox style I use now, the end is almost never where I think it will be. I never get to play out most of the endings I come up with. So just for fun, here's what I was thinking.(apologies to MuttonchopMac for a slight derailing)

The PCs were going to encounter her and her shuttle and learn about the portion of the archive she carried on the shuttle, if they convinced her of good intentions (another reason I couldn't pull this story off with my group) My emotional scene had them needing to get away from squads of stormtroopers, and Jocasta telling them to fight their way to the shuttle, she offers to prevent 'these' from following them. "I may be a librarian, and I may be old, but I am still a Jedi" *saber ignites* "Get to the shuttle, the archives must be saved. Take this with you." She tosses them an inert Jedi Holocron, and turns to face the troopers. Later, as the PCs make it to the shuttle, the holocron begins to glow softly.