I thought of a cool campaign idea today and was wondering if anyone has done it?

The players all play Imperials, but their motivation is just to do their job for the Empire. They players aren't evil, or motivated as such, they are just Imperials. They believe the Emperor is a fair and just leader, and have no idea about his evil tendencies.

I would use Conflict through the campaign and as the PCs are ordered to do questionable things, their conflict is tested. Will they go full Imperial evil, or question what they're doing and maybe turn Rebel? Could be an interesting test in moral character.

Has anyone ran something similar?

I really like this idea. Plenty of roleplay potential for the right party.

How would you make Conflict feel relevant to non Force users though? Seems like it'd end up being a bit of a superfluous number without the mechanical implications.

1 hour ago, Tom Cruise said:

I really like this idea. Plenty of roleplay potential for the right party.

How would you make Conflict feel relevant to non Force users though? Seems like it'd end up being a bit of a superfluous number without the mechanical implications.

Yeah, that's the tricky part. Using the Mechanics of Morality and Conflict and making them work for non-force users....

You could always have their conflict impact the destiny pool just as it does for force users. Won't be felt in the middle, but at the margins it would be pretty big.

I've actually been noodling with this idea for awhile, the all-Imperials Game that is.

I play in a living campaign here that is a mix of AoR, EoE and FaD. So we use a combination of Duty, Obligation and Morality and it works out pretty well so far. You just have to be willing to extend the benefits and consequences of moral and immoral acts to non force-users. ie becoming Light and Dark Side. As there is no boost to force powers involved it's pretty simple (and in FaD) Where Light-side paragons get Bonus Strain and add 1-2 Light Side Points to the Pool per rank of paragon and Dark Side Paragons gain bonus wounds and flip an LS Token to Darkside per rank of Paragon. I would retain the option that if any PC drops below 0 Morality they become NPC's, while not Sith they will be given over to cruelty and evil...and can become future villains.

Aside form that I've thought of having all of the characters tart off as Raw Recruits, using the "Recruit" Universal tree to represent newbs into the military then down the road they can choose their Career and Specialization to represent their MoS (Likely Soldier Variants to keep the Group together). Throw in some fun NPC's like the Hardcore Loyal Drill Sergeant, the Sympathetic Captain, the annoying Political Observer etc...8)

This is a campaign idea I've been working on as well, though focusing on morality within the empire as a theme rather than as a mechanic. I normally use Duty and Obligation for all characters and just use Morality for force sensitives.

I was looking to have the players working to setup their own small imperial garrison on a rim world, giving them money to stock it and letting them be mostly the entirety of the ranks on the minimally populated world(so it makes sense to have a variety of classes, a medic, the ISB member, ect rather than them all just being troopers). I wanted to run a few missions this way, capturing a smuggler, dealing with rebellious settlers not liking the imperial presence and the like to establish themselves and get a feel for the roles. Nothing too morally dubious there, though dealing with the uprising could have some tenser moments, but the purpose of that would be to become more comfortable in their status as hands of the empire.

Then I intend to have them hit a turning point, reports of a fugitive on their world to be captured. A force user on the run who can give a bit of an impassioned speech to 'open their eyes' when captured. At that point, I feel the story can branch in two very distinct arcs, both of which would make for a good campaign. Either they fulfill their duty and turn them in earning themselves a better position(perhaps bring brought in to work in the inquisition now that they have first hand experience) or they see what the empire is doing and help the jedi on the run, in essence joining the rebellion.

Using conflict could work in all of these little moral dilemmas, but its much harder to have that kind of pull from the force without being sensitive to it. Perhaps using the numbers without the actual mechanics behind it just as something of an 'alignment'? A way for the players to have something representative of their overall behavior that may influence them in small ways like motivation?

You could modify the Morality system.

Instead of Light or Dark, you'd have have Ruthless? (at 20)/Cruel? (at 10) and Civilized? (at 80)/Cultured? (at 90).
Instead of the Wound and Strain Threshold bonuses, you'd have an upgrade to Coercion and Deception checks if you were Ruthless or an upgrade to Charm and Negotiation checks if you were Civilized. Maybe an upgrade might be too much, perhaps a Boost die at 20/80 and an upgrade at 10/90...
*Disclaimer - these are just suggestions but shows my train of thought on this.

Upgrading a check is actually very powerful and not really recommended. Changing the names is just flavor text really.

On 6/12/2017 at 1:58 AM, Andreievitch said:

I thought of a cool campaign idea today and was wondering if anyone has done it?

The players all play Imperials, but their motivation is just to do their job for the Empire. They players aren't evil, or motivated as such, they are just Imperials. They believe the Emperor is a fair and just leader, and have no idea about his evil tendencies.

I would use Conflict through the campaign and as the PCs are ordered to do questionable things, their conflict is tested. Will they go full Imperial evil, or question what they're doing and maybe turn Rebel? Could be an interesting test in moral character.

Has anyone ran something similar?

Given how many people have posted running Imperial campaigns, I'm close to 100% certain that others have indeed had this idea for a story arc. In fact, I can recall at least a handful of examples from this site alone. So to answer your question, yes, people have run something similar. I definitely think it's a fun direction to try and take a campaign. In fact, a have a PC in a pbp game whose background is essentially your premise. He was a loyal Imperial, who thought they were a just and fair government, that saved the Republic in a trying time.....and then he saw some of the things they did to those who dared to question them. He eventually defected, and has since joined the Rebellion. His personal goal is to try and find a way to shake others loose from the Imperial hold, but he knows how hard that is, from his own experience. He doesn't hate Imperials, and tries to deal with them non-lethally whenever possible. Because they could be just like him. Someone who would turn from the Empire if they saw what was really going on.

I wouldn't mind seeing an imperial game where the empire really wasn't the big evil space nazi empire that everyone loves to portray them as. 90% were good honest people that beleived that they were making the galaxy better. It'd be neat to have a whole sector where everyone was actually mostly content and happy, the empire was fighting back the crime and corruption, and the local Moff really was a decent guy. Then in comes some rebel insurgents who are stiring things up and making trouble. So the PCs have to work to bring order and safety back to the sector.

22 minutes ago, Ahrimon said:

I wouldn't mind seeing an imperial game where the empire really wasn't the big evil space nazi empire that everyone loves to portray them as. 90% were good honest people that beleived that they were making the galaxy better. It'd be neat to have a whole sector where everyone was actually mostly content and happy, the empire was fighting back the crime and corruption, and the local Moff really was a decent guy. Then in comes some rebel insurgents who are stiring things up and making trouble. So the PCs have to work to bring order and safety back to the sector.

I'd be tempted to run that locally but for one guy who believes this is the way the Empire really was...don't want to feed into his argument...8D

But in seriousness it is a great idea and I'd play the heck out of it, and may even run it someday.

3 hours ago, GandofGand said:

Upgrading a check is actually very powerful and not really recommended. Changing the names is just flavor text really.

True but the Morality system affects Force Users and the benefits are thematically appropriate. Changing the benefits to affect Social skills I feel is thematically appropriate for Imperial PCs of a non-Force using variety. You're right that upgrading a check is pretty powerful but in my experience Social skills are overlooked and underused. Perhaps limiting the benefit to be active only while the PC is in uniform or the PC is known to be an Imperial would help balance it.

Maybe just make it a Boost die, 2 at 2nd degree.

As a GM and Player I love making use of Social Skills..."Agitator" is one of the deadliest specs in the game from a Social perspective, and they don't even need a weapon other than their tongues...8D

I have been thinking this about this Campaign Idea and have a few thoughts for you.

1) Use duty mechanic. The rewards would be increased security clearance, rank and/or bonus pay but, not gear/Ships.

2) You should non-human/Non Droid PC. However the closer to human they are the less hassle they will get. I cannot see an imperial army commander getting picky if the alien can fit into a Stormtrooper Armor. Of course they would be sent on the most dangerous missions possible. The Noghri and the Chiss weree the most supportive alien races of the Empire.

3) The Empire will not allow the PC to mod gear/ships/weapons that are issued to them.

I think the strength of social checks is entirely dependant on the value the PC's and GM assign to that campaign; if everyone is soldiers then it isn't important, but I've noted on one or two occassions that the social talker, the character that the player picked begrudgingly was like "oh wow, this is pretty useful and fun."

Duty is a really excellent idea to sue for this as it is essentially an Military Campaign.

I am planning on working up a Reputation System that works much like duty for my upcoming EoE campaign. I really dislike the Obligation system in general and want a campaign that has more of a Firefly/Serenity" vibe where Reputation is everything "We do the job, we get paid." have to think about how to work it but part of it will involve being able to get higher-paying (and higher risk) jobs.

I'm not a fan of Morality when attached to a Jedi game - the game mechanic is DOA for me - so I would say doing it for an Imperial game would be a terrible idea. I'll throw my voice to the chorus of "Go with Duty instead".