My players are landing on Ziost needing a quite, non Imperial world to hide out on for a little while. Two of the characters are Force Sensitive but have no formal training, they have been using the Force on instinct, not really aware they are doing it.

Ziost is a dead world- all life (millions!) was extinguished there in 3637 BBY by Sith Emperor Vitiate (as seen in Old Republic MMO) no living things where left and the game cut scenes suggest Tech was effected to some extent as well.

Now the planet was a dark side focal point, but obviously I don't want my characters going all Dark Side. Any advise on how to GM the Force presence here please?

Also given the planet is kinda frozen would the buildings and tech (as seen in the MMO) be still standing mostly intact- just very, very dead?

Ziost (and Korriban) is a major Dark Side nexus. So any Force sensitive is certainly going to be affected by it. OF course, that does not mean he or she will be corrupted and turned to the Dark Side for certain, but the character is certainly going to be tested. As for the buildings and tech, and such left on the planet, given the thousands of years that have passed, those should be seriously deteriorated and eroded by time and the elements, specifically, wind, dust, and sand.

I would make the planet a ghost town. The buildings remain, but they've obviously been aged. They should show the signs of centuries of age. Useful tech should be picked clean by scavengers. As for how the Force should feel, cold and dead. Haunted. There should be echoes of life suddenly ending.

Yes literally ghosts and phantasms of the dark side. They should be hallucinations and temptations and paranoia.

Maybe even echoes from Vitiate himself whispering paths to power into the PC's ear.

When my PCs are on/near a Dark Side Nexus, I allow them to have a Dark Side Pip for "free" (normal dark cost for a light). Which is to say, no FR roll if they want to use that pip (also can serve as a Commited FR point for conflict/Strain/DP), or they can have it as a bonus pip (normal cost) if they want to trigger additional upgrades for their Power that they didn't manage a pip for in the roll.

Three thousand years? The only thing that's going to be left is stone, concrete. Maybe some other shards of other durable materials.

Iron or Steel rebar will rust to dust. Glass will break down to sandy crystals. Wood and leather will be reclaimed and degraded completely.

And 3,000+ years is going to be several feet of dirt accumulation. (I don't know the exact quantity but 10 feet? 20 feet? Maybe 30 feet)?

In short, if no one has been back (permanently) there's not going to be a whole lot to look at. Unless you bring a shovel and start digging in the right area.

If you want to do some homework go look at the "digs" for the Persian Empire era locations and (though early for comparison) Ancient Greek digs (2,000 - 2,500 years old).

The only things that we're finding from that era are stone walls, stone floors, ceramics (fired stone) and some buried metal tools (free from environmental wear and tear). Oh and bones that were buried too. If this is a mostly "frozen" world, then freeze drying might preserve more.

But that's only stuff that you'll find if you're an archeologist and are looking for it!

I really like Emsquared's mechanical suggestion.

20 hours ago, Ogrebear said:

Now the planet was a dark side focal point, but obviously I don't want my characters going all Dark Side. Any advise on how to GM the Force presence here please?

I would describe the Force presence as almost totally non-existent. They would feel faint echoes from the rocks and burned out husks, but since lifeforms give the strongest vibe, they would feel the distinct absence of it on this planet. I would probably use descriptive language to convey a sense of absence, loss, and isolation. Sort of like a memory of a lost loved one, stolen from them but one they can't picture anymore. When traces of the Dark show up, I would have it also be described as echoes of darkness, like faintly remembered anger from a past insult/slight. Whispers of hatred and rage, and fear. I'm sure a planet being wiped of all living beings would leave a huge fear signature.

But I would definitely describe it all in past tense verbage, with descriptions of long lost stuff. Describe them feeling cold, even if it's warm at that moment. How they always feel like something is watching them, just over their shoulder but never in view. They keep getting that "walking over my grave" kind of feeling...as they are walking over a grave of a planet. etc. That kind of stuff. I would maybe try and find some eerie, ambient sounds on youtube to play in the background. Try searches for stuff like "eerie wind sounds ambient" and see what comes up. It's actually quite amazing how much stuff some people have posted. Like a 10 hour loop of creepy forest sounds, or just ambient jungle noises. Or crackling fireplaces while a thunderstorm rolls outside. Seriously there's tons of the stuff, you can find some fitting ambient sounds to help set the mood with little effort on youtube.

20 hours ago, Ogrebear said:

Also given the planet is kinda frozen would the buildings and tech (as seen in the MMO) be still standing mostly intact- just very, very dead?

It's Star Wars, they have ruins that are thousands of years old, sometimes tens of thousands of years old, and still have functioning computer systems and stuff. So yeah, the buildings would still likely be intact, though it does depend on the destructive level of what killed the planet. If it was a lot of kinetic and energy based destruction, I would say the buildings would be mostly destroyed, with husks still standing in some places. If it was some kind of biological or radioactive attack, then the buildings would mostly be in pristine (for 3000+years of neglect) condition. Again, remember this is Star Wars, so ruins tend to be more sturdy than real world. With no, and I mean NO biological component left on the planet, any damage would be due to wind/rain/acid erosion, and light exposure from the nearby star.

What you should ask yourself more, I think, is "Will the machinery still be working on the planet?" Again, this is Star Wars, and it's VERY common, in the EU stuff for ancient computers with tons of information on them to still be functional after thousands of years. So while the planet might be biologically dead, that doesn't mean there isn't something there for them to find, aside from Dark Side exposure.

There is an episode of the annual pigeon that delt with a planet alive with the darkside of the force. I'd suggest scrolling through the thread in (I think, I may be wrong) EOE forum.

Actually in general the quality of that rp is wonderful.