So I'm currently playing in a Force & Destiny campaign at my uni gaming club and I've put my name down to GM an Age of Rebellion campaign next year. I've got a campaign idea that most of the people I've bounced it off seem to like but I'm worried about exactly how feasible it is, especially as I have no guarentee as to who my players are (though I do know which ones already in the society to avoid and veto if need be).

Basically my plan is to have a group of Imperial Academy students who are close to graduation and being stationed on a Star Destroyer together. As they prepare to graduate (maybe in a final exam sort of situation where they have to work together to pass as a nice starter session) the Battle of Endor happens and the newly formed New Republic swoops in to order the Academy to stand down and they have to choose whether to surrender and join the New Republic or to stay with the Empire and fight until Jakku where they can then decide whether to follow the majority of the Imperials or go off to help found the First Order.

Restrictions that immediately leap out are that the PCs will all have to be human or have very, very good reasons not to be (for example, a Spy might be able to wangle it) and I figured if I let the first session end with the New Republic come thundering in and that gives them a week to decide what to do.

Are there any other things you feel leap out as potential problems?

Also, my reading list for the research is as follows:

Aftermath

Lost Stars

Servants of the Empire series

Essential Guide to Warfare

The Imperial Handbook

How much control over their characters do your players have?

This could turn into Biggs Darklighter and the crew of whatever their ship was that they took over and joined the Rebellion with, maybe ask what they'd like in such a game and use that to prepare for the possibility they're not interested in joining the New Republic or the First Order and head off to establish a new home for them and their families?

Maybe they'd declare themselves independent of both organisations after all the Emperor has been proclaimed dead, their remaining leadership are squabbling over whose in charge making it an ideal time to throw a spanner into your campaign idea by selecting another possibility.

So from what you know about your players what are they likely to play?

That's the main problem. I literally won't know who my players are until the first session which would be character creation.

I do have ideas for if they decide they want to go off on their own and become warlords or something, mainly shift the main book focus to EotE.

I'd be happy for them to do what they want within reason (i.e. no stealing a Star Destroyer in the second session to become warlords) so I figured maybe making it clear when I advertise the campaign that with the timeline there will be a lot of player choice and the like and also discuss a bit in character creation what people would be interested in doing.

I strongly advise against any choices that could lead the group to divide in the first session. Have them decide if they're going to join the New Republic, stay with the Empire, or take a third option before play starts. Otherwise, you may well end up with half the group deciding they want to defect and the other half staying loyal.

That was definitely something I've been worrying over. Maybe if one or two of them want to go a different way to the rest of the group, I may suggest hidden motivations and duty with them being double agents but that could go badly, especially if I don't know the players too well. I definitely think I'm going to have to discuss it in character creation and make it clear that having the group fracture is going to result in the campaign ending before it begins.

So either their former CO has them framed for their own illegal activities and they're forced to flee or be destroyed learning only afterwards what was actually going on.

How do they fancy playing the A Team in space?

I'd think you want them invested in the academy before the NR arrives to shut them down. Otherwise, it's just a coin toss.

I think you should come up with a list of players that will most likely play next year and poll them on your premise. If you don't get a solid result, there are still ways to plan out a campaign involving most, if not all, of the themes you wish to incorporate. Create an online social group so that you and the players can maintain contact during your time apart or maybe even coordinate a session or two over Google hangout or PbP. I think the most important thing at this point is communication between you and your future group.

As for feasibility, I can easily see a group of Imperial Academy students fleeing the clutches of the New Republic to the Imperial Remnant, or whatever you call the remaining Imperial forces, and coming to see that the Remnant has no hope to survive. The group flees into the fringe marketing their various skills and experience as former Imperials. As they gain notoriety, the Imperial Remnant tries to quash the group heavy-handedly and forces the group to join the New Republic not because they agree with the ideology, but as a means for survival.

That's just what I pulled out at the top of my head.

Or the reverse say its the New Republic who are hunting them down after all just because the Empire has fallen it doesn't mean all of the bad guys were Imperial in the first place now does it?

Some of those New Republic forces may have been former Imperials or similar to Saw's rebel cell and are taking this opportunity to pay back the Empire for what they suffered the fact their targets don't deserve their animosity makes this more of a potential game plot.

Do they try to redeem their reputation or elect to follow another path?

I think you should come up with a list of players that will most likely play next year and poll them on your premise. If you don't get a solid result, there are still ways to plan out a campaign involving most, if not all, of the themes you wish to incorporate. Create an online social group so that you and the players can maintain contact during your time apart or maybe even coordinate a session or two over Google hangout or PbP. I think the most important thing at this point is communication between you and your future group.

As for feasibility, I can easily see a group of Imperial Academy students fleeing the clutches of the New Republic to the Imperial Remnant, or whatever you call the remaining Imperial forces, and coming to see that the Remnant has no hope to survive. The group flees into the fringe marketing their various skills and experience as former Imperials. As they gain notoriety, the Imperial Remnant tries to quash the group heavy-handedly and forces the group to join the New Republic not because they agree with the ideology, but as a means for survival.

That's just what I pulled out at the top of my head.

While I won't be able to work out who will be most likely to join (incoming first years will be about) I do think I'll definitely spend some more time at the Academy, maybe have them run a few errands (similar to our second session when one of us Jedi Younglings drop-kicked an orphan, which is possibly why we got sent away from Coruscant and thus survived the Jedi Purge)

I'd think you want them invested in the academy before the NR arrives to shut them down. Otherwise, it's just a coin toss.

I agree. Don't have the New Republic show up at the end of the first session. Perhaps the 2nd (earliest) or 3rd even? The senior year students are possibly being field tested perhaps. Home is still the Academy, but they may be sent out on runs with a Star Destroyer assigned to the Academy for training purposes (you mentioned Star Destroyer above). This would help in two ways: 1) More heart-wrenching when they are forced to make that coming big decision, and 2) You get a chance to get a feel for what the group will decide thus be able to more easily plan ahead.

Basically my plan is to have a group of Imperial Academy students who are close to graduation and being stationed on a Star Destroyer together.

Be careful with that Star Destroyer. That's a big piece of bait so I can see many players trying to take that bad boy for themselves and run somehow. If you are planning on it being their future home base, ensure that the NPC Captain and other command staff are very protected and let the PCs know this if you don't want a campaign where the PCs own their own Star Destroyer. Don't let them even think there is a chance or they could try the coup and be disappointed when they fail miserably or you shut them down OOC. If you do want a future home-base SD, I would still go with whatever the PCs decide as a group (join New Republic, stay loyal, strike out on their own), then have the Captain and command staff conveniently agree with the PCs. Thus the campaign starts with them as lower ranking officers with a goal perhaps of growing to command staff level or even someday commanding the ship itself once they are "high level".

I'd think you want them invested in the academy before the NR arrives to shut them down. Otherwise, it's just a coin toss.

I agree. Don't have the New Republic show up at the end of the first session. Perhaps the 2nd (earliest) or 3rd even? The senior year students are possibly being field tested perhaps. Home is still the Academy, but they may be sent out on runs with a Star Destroyer assigned to the Academy for training purposes (you mentioned Star Destroyer above). This would help in two ways: 1) More heart-wrenching when they are forced to make that coming big decision, and 2) You get a chance to get a feel for what the group will decide thus be able to more easily plan ahead.

Basically my plan is to have a group of Imperial Academy students who are close to graduation and being stationed on a Star Destroyer together.

Be careful with that Star Destroyer. That's a big piece of bait so I can see many players trying to take that bad boy for themselves and run somehow. If you are planning on it being their future home base, ensure that the NPC Captain and other command staff are very protected and let the PCs know this if you don't want a campaign where the PCs own their own Star Destroyer. Don't let them even think there is a chance or they could try the coup and be disappointed when they fail miserably or you shut them down OOC. If you do want a future home-base SD, I would still go with whatever the PCs decide as a group (join New Republic, stay loyal, strike out on their own), then have the Captain and command staff conveniently agree with the PCs. Thus the campaign starts with them as lower ranking officers with a goal perhaps of growing to command staff level or even someday commanding the ship itself once they are "high level".

Yeah -definitely going to have to have a discussion about how infeasible it would be for them to take over the Star Destroyer. Maybe if I just point out the standard complement on an Imperial Star Destroyer and how hard that's going to be to somehow inspire a mutiny that won't lead to them being murdered in their beds. I feel the promise of "get enough Duty, you can get promoted and in the course of things you guys might just get your own command later on" will be enough of a carrot to that stick.

As it is, my current campaign of relatively high level characters are having enough difficulty stealing an abandoned and somewhat broken CR-90 corvette from an Imperial junk planet and that's a heap of scrap right now.

If you're looking for an appropriate ship for players to comandeer fairly early in the campaign I'd recommend either a Vigil-class or CR90 corvette. Both are used by the Empire and are both in the Core rulebook. The Vigil is a little dubious in terms of current canon if you care about such thing, if you want to line up more than you could use a Arquittens-class light crusier. They are small enoguh to be feasable but still large enough to give players some options and limited power. If you want to give them a challenge then a Gozanti may be good. It's slow and more of a fleet support workhorse but has a tiny crew complement and large enough guns to hold its ground. In Lost Stars it looks like fresh out of the Academy cadets are given either command or placements on them.

As for an 'in' for the players perhaps give them a leadership figure to look up to. Maybe a junior tutor or senior cadet who has dubious loyalties but a strong sympathy for the players, they could act as a point of unity and advice for the group. Plus they give extra drama if they're killed or removed at an appropriate time. Perhaps they are captured as part of a rearguard action and would give the players motivation to hunt for and rescue them.

I know you've not got to it yet but Aftermath has a short chapter featuring young Imperial Academy cadets. Their bus gets pulled over by New Republic soldiers as its approaching the Academy and see that there's been a skirmish been fought at the Academy and that now most of the tutors and stormtroopers are dead. The cadets negotiate with the troopers who vouch for them to get transferred to a New Republic Academy on Chandrilla. That could act as a curveball to the players, particularly if the NR seem entirely hostile.

In Lost Stars and Aftermath it's revealed that the Empire is stretched thin due to their losses and so most starships, including Star Destroyers, are undercrewed by mostly rookies. The New Republic is trying to capture as many as possible to give them an instant fleet. I ran a one shot during the Summer where the players were able to get the captain of the Star Destroyer to surrender at the Battle of Jakku.

I'm impressed with your reading resources. It appears you want to invest a lot into making an enjoyable, near-canonical experience, and I applaud your motivation.

I wonder if adding 'Strongholds of Resistance' to your reading list would allow you to build a smaller, militaristic base of operations (similarly to how 'Far Horizons' adds homesteads and small business options) for your PCs. Given these rules, perhaps players would be more invested in their OWN mini-base, and more likely to swallow bait, and less likely to split or simply toss a coin about their loyalties.

Overall I do find it viable.

However, GMing is a bit like being a lawyer: Never offer your party a choice in which you do not have an adequate plan for the campaign direction, or at least can live with their choice.

If you are worried about them trying to take the Star Destroyer, I would recommend a smaller ship, like a Vindicator cruiser or a Dominator System patrol craft. The smaller the ship the better, they would be able to get real life practice in their position (Pilot, Commander, Engineer, ect) and have a NPCs as Senior Officers. If your group has the RP experience, you can even have them make an Senior Officer PC (with say another 100XP), with the stipulation that their Big cannot be in the same area as their Little (So the Engineer cannot play both the Department head and the intern) for at least a little bit.

So I'm currently playing in a Force & Destiny campaign at my uni gaming club and I've put my name down to GM an Age of Rebellion campaign next year.

Basically my plan is to have a group of Imperial Academy students who are close to graduation and being stationed on a Star Destroyer together. As they prepare to graduate (maybe in a final exam sort of situation where they have to work together to pass as a nice starter session) the Battle of Endor happens and the newly formed New Republic swoops in to order the Academy to stand down and they have to choose whether to surrender and join the New Republic or to stay with the Empire and fight until Jakku where they can then decide whether to follow the majority of the Imperials or go off to help found the First Order.

Restrictions that immediately leap out are that the PCs will all have to be human or have very, very good reasons not to be (for example, a Spy might be able to wangle it) and I figured if I let the first session end with the New Republic come thundering in and that gives them a week to decide what to do.

If Grand Admiral Thrawn could be in the Imperial Military so could other alien PC's. You might want to abandon the idea that they're all "cadets".

When the Rebels blow up an Imperial ship a random escape pod could easily have three human cadets, a wookie slave, a protocol droid, and a Duros NCO Navigator [or whatever your players want to play.] The pod crashes in the middle of nowhere and they all have to work as a team to survive. By the time they escape the planet a month later they're a team. The non-humans don't want to go back to the Empire and the humans don't want to be shot as deserters if they go back to the Empire.

I strongly advise against any choices that could lead the group to divide in the first session. Have them decide if they're going to join the New Republic, stay with the Empire, or take a third option before play starts. Otherwise, you may well end up with half the group deciding they want to defect and the other half staying loyal.

I have to agree with CaptainRaspberry. If you don't know who your players will be exactly, then the best course of action (IMHO) is to have them start play as a cohesive unit and stay that way. Which ever way you want the story to proceed (a group sticking with the imperials, defecting to the Rebellion en masse, or going off into the fringes), have that choice already have been made (by you and the players) before the characters are even made.

For the first few sessions, the player characters will be, at best, junior officers aboard a large Imperial warship. They will have to follow their captain's orders or be arrested and Court Marshaled. The captain can decide to do whatever serves your story best. Maybe he/she decides to stay with the Empire and the ship must fight a running battle to join up with the Imperial Remnant fleet. Maybe the captain decides to take his/her ship to the New Republic. Either way, before the game even starts, I would tell the players: "You guys are all Academy cadets at this critical time and, for one reason or another, you have all made the same choice and decided to throw your lot in together." From there they will either have to work as a team to get the Star Destroyer to safety, or work to undermine the captain's goals and possibly escape/sabotage/or betray the ship, depending on which way the players chose and which way you want the plot to go.

Once the gaming group gets to know each other a little better, then maybe you can start throwing opportunities at them to split up or whatever, thus increasing the drama. As far as races go, You might limit the starting characters to humans and droids with the understanding that players who want something different will have the option to dramatically kill off their starting character (or have that character be turned into an NPC adversary) and introduce a new one after the first couple of sessions, as the plot allows. It all depends on how you want the story to progress.

Bottom line is, since the players might not really know each other (nor you them) when the game starts, you need to craft the story in such a way that they begin the game working as a team, or at least with common goals. After you guys get used to playing together, then you will have a better idea of what the story can handle from your players.

}GM SPC

Suggestion: Maybe you could say they were stationed at an imperial prison instead, the players who wish to be different races could be like Imperial Prisoners or something.

Suggestion: Maybe you could say they were stationed at an imperial prison instead, the players who wish to be different races could be like Imperial Prisoners or something.

So I'm currently playing in a Force & Destiny campaign at my uni gaming club and I've put my name down to GM an Age of Rebellion campaign next year.

Basically my plan is to have a group of Imperial Academy students who are close to graduation and being stationed on a Star Destroyer together. As they prepare to graduate (maybe in a final exam sort of situation where they have to work together to pass as a nice starter session) the Battle of Endor happens and the newly formed New Republic swoops in to order the Academy to stand down and they have to choose whether to surrender and join the New Republic or to stay with the Empire and fight until Jakku where they can then decide whether to follow the majority of the Imperials or go off to help found the First Order.

Restrictions that immediately leap out are that the PCs will all have to be human or have very, very good reasons not to be (for example, a Spy might be able to wangle it) and I figured if I let the first session end with the New Republic come thundering in and that gives them a week to decide what to do.

If Grand Admiral Thrawn could be in the Imperial Military so could other alien PC's. You might want to abandon the idea that they're all "cadets".

When the Rebels blow up an Imperial ship a random escape pod could easily have three human cadets, a wookie slave, a protocol droid, and a Duros NCO Navigator [or whatever your players want to play.] The pod crashes in the middle of nowhere and they all have to work as a team to survive. By the time they escape the planet a month later they're a team. The non-humans don't want to go back to the Empire and the humans don't want to be shot as deserters if they go back to the Empire.

Based on a line in Lost Stars, it does imply that there were non-human cadets, so that is still a possibility.

I strongly advise against any choices that could lead the group to divide in the first session. Have them decide if they're going to join the New Republic, stay with the Empire, or take a third option before play starts. Otherwise, you may well end up with half the group deciding they want to defect and the other half staying loyal.

I have to agree with CaptainRaspberry. If you don't know who your players will be exactly, then the best course of action (IMHO) is to have them start play as a cohesive unit and stay that way. Which ever way you want the story to proceed (a group sticking with the imperials, defecting to the Rebellion en masse, or going off into the fringes), have that choice already have been made (by you and the players) before the characters are even made.

For the first few sessions, the player characters will be, at best, junior officers aboard a large Imperial warship. They will have to follow their captain's orders or be arrested and Court Marshaled. The captain can decide to do whatever serves your story best. Maybe he/she decides to stay with the Empire and the ship must fight a running battle to join up with the Imperial Remnant fleet. Maybe the captain decides to take his/her ship to the New Republic. Either way, before the game even starts, I would tell the players: "You guys are all Academy cadets at this critical time and, for one reason or another, you have all made the same choice and decided to throw your lot in together." From there they will either have to work as a team to get the Star Destroyer to safety, or work to undermine the captain's goals and possibly escape/sabotage/or betray the ship, depending on which way the players chose and which way you want the plot to go.

Once the gaming group gets to know each other a little better, then maybe you can start throwing opportunities at them to split up or whatever, thus increasing the drama. As far as races go, You might limit the starting characters to humans and droids with the understanding that players who want something different will have the option to dramatically kill off their starting character (or have that character be turned into an NPC adversary) and introduce a new one after the first couple of sessions, as the plot allows. It all depends on how you want the story to progress.

Bottom line is, since the players might not really know each other (nor you them) when the game starts, you need to craft the story in such a way that they begin the game working as a team, or at least with common goals. After you guys get used to playing together, then you will have a better idea of what the story can handle from your players.

}GM SPC

My plan is to take them all aside during character creation and get a proper gauge of what they want to do with their character and their IC attitude towards the Empire. Thankfully the way the character creation stuff works should help with this as I'll have the best part of 2 hours to do so.

I am playing with the idea of them having a mentor figure in the Imperial Academy (an advisor-of-studies type of character) who happens to be an incredibly bitter Alderaanian who as an early twist allows the New Republic into the school, who will dive in to rescue them from being arrested and offers them a choice to defect, and who may still be persuaded to let them flee if they don't want to join the Republic.

I did wonder about having them coming back from a short posting on a ship for their formal graduation, being shot down and the sole survivors (which does leave the possibility of them being the enslaved crew of the shuttle) and then having to do a survivial trek to the school over the course of a few days which gives them time to get to know each other and rely on each other.