So I am a new GM to the system and I am finding a lot of adventure are understandably so anti imperial, however I do have an ex-isb character in my group, he left on good standing after the death of his wife. The character is solid and one of the better Role played pcs in the group as a GMt i hate stepping on player creativity more so when they step out of their comfort zone to try something new. My campaign has begun earlier than the usual Etoe time line essentially at the start of the Rebels TV show. I did this because they are a crew with a well off logistics Corp and i wanted their personal contacts and trade partners in place before the rebellion begins or in truth becomes something significant. Does anyone have any suggestions for how to deal with the 'evil' empire aspects of adventures that would not railroad my pc into being branded as a rebel. Timeline is too early for the imperial remnant time of in fighting factions(the emperor would roll over these being at full power).

he could be a double agent not attached to the imperials but feeding intel from a civilian life. while this works it does pit him against the group in some cases.

Just hoping for some other thoughts or avenues to still run certain published modules with out trampling player creativity.

The story so far:

The group has been issued a GX-1 short hauler(stock) with modded escape craft(this was done to get the whole group into ship combat and acts like the phantom from rebels)

Debts to pay: Removed bargos the hutt part and inserted the Company CEO as the Sabacc winner. The 100k credit marker was made the astromech was damaged and disabled. the supervisor droid destroyed. (in this case there was enough money to pay the miners full wages. They even opted to pay full shares to the families of the deceased miners. much like deadliest catch where they took the idea from) -- anyone think this should have netted an addition xp reward?-- ( I do feel it was a bit above and beyond but another player and gm of our other Etoe campaign has been feeling published xp rewards are too high) At The miners after their rescue and new non hutt employer have request the pcs over see the mine this has made it the base of operations for their crew. Also i changed the Gand Corek to injured not dead.(next entry) The gunrunner ship i named as a g7 Rigger(essentially an earlier g9 model to make hd x5 drop a bit of encumbrance and hull strength as a supply vessel for the mines not fully under pc control but saving mundane supply needs and something for them to rescue from time to time when im flat on ideas)

Two custom split group sessions due to real life complications:

A Gand Expedition on Gavos: Because I needed a fast session for our Scout I made him brave the surface to rescue Corek. I had decided already that Gavos could be a good supply contract. Lookout and the Gand had a friendship so rather than just shoot him down Lookouts resistance to the "stop him command was destroying the speeder bike" Corek was injured and in need of medical attention. i made him trek the surface on his spare times finding a survey drop shelter essentially a second mine option in the barrier with a med droid and basic supplies Corek kept this ace to bring rations and simple supplies if their new owner (assumed to be another hutt was worse than the first) Also as this moved very fast I added the location of a secret research facility that was checked and locked down.(an adventure for when group is whole.

The Hyperdrive upgrade: with the group wanting to and having the cash to get the hd to an x1 modifier one player suggested trying to slavage some parts to lower the price. (essentially i wanted a ship theft attempt at the ship yard but their triumph and advantages on a daunting test to find an old battle site was too good to pass up i rolled with it) A race against air supply of their suits for parts was born. Real life reared its ugly game interrupting head again so our smuggler stayed on watch on the ship their last private move using the ships thrusters to align them for a fast get away before powering down. Their entrance set of a sensor of pirates looting the wrecks i used a space drift sensor sweep analysis to give the pirates their location. In haste I had them identify themselves as the Zann Consortium( i had just been working on my mask of the pirate queen for later use. realizing it a few minutes later i was upset with myself). Running from fighters to make the jump to hyperspace( with no pcs having gunnery one said 'fire wildly make it harder for them to get on top of us') two pcs manned their two weapons firing wildly around debris they were weaving through for cover i assigned a black die to fighters following from the general shot locations. On a 1 triumph and 3 adv from one and 1 triumph 1 adv from the other(i allowed each to have a yellow die since they had committed xp to be spent after the getaway on gunnery) as they entered hyperspace i gave them a chain reaction wiping out the ships after them.(to not have to retcon the zann part).

My group is loving the fast pace and my ability to not bend force them into things. (i generally give 2 to 3 choices in form of session titles.

1 A better ship (their hyperdrive choice) 2 A solid foundation(modding base facilities to their needs) 3 supply run(hiring replacement miners and picking up supplies) so if you want to suggest adventure titles as well go ahead( if your suggestions are picked i will let you know and give you a run down of how went)

Thanks for any and all help

So is this character basically Joe Everyman who happens to have had a government job in the past? I think if you put him in a module where he has legitimate conflict with Imperials he will suffer the same fate as everyone else who crosses the Empire and will be branded a criminal. I guess you could just run the game so that the characters have factions other than the Empire that they deal with and the Empire is just background noise.

Like Shepherd was in Firefly at least initially anyway?

Couple thoughts, there are each unrelated:

1. I am not saying a neutral character can't work. I'm running an Edge game and my PCs care little for the Galactic Civil War. They just deal with crime bosses and the like, an ex-ISB officer would have no issues fitting in. However if your campaign is set directly in a Rebels vs Empire manner I think a Neutral character will be more difficult. This is somewhat hyperbole but " those who don't pick sides tend to sit on the sidelines" (aka not hero type stuff).

2. Let him decide. Characters grow and change, **** happens, and people change their minds. Have the story encounter some "evil" atrocities by the empire, let your player decide if his character defends the actions or he has to wrestle with this and ultimately realize "the error of his ways". But it's his issues to work out and roleplay.

3. Being an ISB he would know that even with all the power of the emperor there are still plenty of ambitious, greedy, corrupt imperial moffs. Sure the emperor cracks down on this but who do you think handles the day to day? ISB.

On 10/31/2017 at 4:23 PM, Archlyte said:

So is this character basically Joe Everyman who happens to have had a government job in the past? I think if you put him in a module where he has legitimate conflict with Imperials he will suffer the same fate as everyone else who crosses the Empire and will be branded a criminal. I guess you could just run the game so that the characters have factions other than the Empire that they deal with and the Empire is just background noise.

So I like your point but it was more i dont think i was clear enough how to run some of the more basic modules that are against the empire. He knows it will come to that eventually though with our start in timeline at the start of rebels show there isn't enough atrocities know by the empire or a good enough group of resistance(his words ' my character drank the empires kool-aid for 15 years it will be a long change i want rp out') thats what im trying to give him

On 10/31/2017 at 4:25 PM, copperbell said:

Like Shepherd was in Firefly at least initially anyway?

pretty much

On 10/31/2017 at 4:51 PM, ThreeAM said:

Couple thoughts, there are each unrelated:

1. I am not saying a neutral character can't work. I'm running an Edge game and my PCs care little for the Galactic Civil War. They just deal with crime bosses and the like, an ex-ISB officer would have no issues fitting in. However if your campaign is set directly in a Rebels vs Empire manner I think a Neutral character will be more difficult. This is somewhat hyperbole but " those who don't pick sides tend to sit on the sidelines" (aka not hero type stuff).

2. Let him decide. Characters grow and change, **** happens, and people change their minds. Have the story encounter some "evil" atrocities by the empire, let your player decide if his character defends the actions or he has to wrestle with this and ultimately realize "the error of his ways". But it's his issues to work out and roleplay.

3. Being an ISB he would know that even with all the power of the emperor there are still plenty of ambitious, greedy, corrupt imperial moffs. Sure the emperor cracks down on this but who do you think handles the day to day? ISB.

Thank you I can use much of this

So some suggestions I have based on having a player who’s character is also former imperial:

her departure from the empire was much more abrupt than the one you described for your players character, and it accelerated her realization of things, but she has come to the conclusion that their is something wrong with the empire. This does not mean that the problem is the empire but that their sis something within it that is harming the soul of the empire and the “ideals” that it is supposed to represent.

talking with the player we have made it a story goal for her to gain a prominent position within the imperial remnant, and I understand that the imperial remnant is a long ways off for your campaign given your description, but i think it could still work.

right now I’m giving the character options to form connections with malcontents within the empire who have still, despite thier unhappiness, maintained their belief in the ideals of the empire. They will eventually form a group that accepts the fact that the empire will fall and that although they can not maintain s of thier previous territory they could still maintain a remnant that holds up the ideals of what they thought the empire represented.

like the rest of the group they will eventually participate in the rebellion but not as someone trying to destroy it outright but as someone who is also a member of a covert para-rebellion insurgency who’s goal is to overthrow the old guard and the emperor in order to preserve what they see as the soul of the empire

On ‎11‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 3:59 AM, selrenna said:

So I like your point but it was more i dont think i was clear enough how to run some of the more basic modules that are against the empire. He knows it will come to that eventually though with our start in timeline at the start of rebels show there isn't enough atrocities know by the empire or a good enough group of resistance(his words ' my character drank the empires kool-aid for 15 years it will be a long change i want rp out') thats what im trying to give him

Ah ok I see. Thank you for the polite response.

On 11/2/2017 at 6:59 AM, selrenna said:

So I like your point but it was more i dont think i was clear enough how to run some of the more basic modules that are against the empire. He knows it will come to that eventually though with our start in timeline at the start of rebels show there isn't enough atrocities know by the empire or a good enough group of resistance(his words ' my character drank the empires kool-aid for 15 years it will be a long change i want rp out') thats what im trying to give him

Another former Imperial as a recurring NPC could open a few opportunities, depending on the angle you playedwith them. A dogmatic and close-minded one could give your player's character a source of bias confirmation while also causing them to question the rationality of their beliefs, while a more skeptical and inquisitive one might do the opposite, et cetera.

If this is a former intelligence operative, I would recommend taking the stubborn and dogmatic route for a bit of a character foil. If you think this approach is a good idea, which you may very well not.

On 03/11/2017 at 0:28 PM, Degenerate Mind said:

Another former Imperial as a recurring NPC could open a few opportunities, depending on the angle you playedwith them. A dogmatic and close-minded one could give your player's character a source of bias confirmation while also causing them to question the rationality of their beliefs, while a more skeptical and inquisitive one might do the opposite, et cetera.

If this is a former intelligence operative, I would recommend taking the stubborn and dogmatic route for a bit of a character foil. If you think this approach is a good idea, which you may very well not.

I do have one she was created before i had his pc She is an ex tie pilot who was abandon by a superior officer for turning down his advances. im hoping they develope a friendship

On 11/2/2017 at 0:52 PM, Norr-Saba said:

So some suggestions I have based on having a player who’s character is also former imperial:

her departure from the empire was much more abrupt than the one you described for your players character, and it accelerated her realization of things, but she has come to the conclusion that their is something wrong with the empire. This does not mean that the problem is the empire but that their sis something within it that is harming the soul of the empire and the “ideals” that it is supposed to represent.

talking with the player we have made it a story goal for her to gain a prominent position within the imperial remnant, and I understand that the imperial remnant is a long ways off for your campaign given your description, but i think it could still work.

right now I’m giving the character options to form connections with malcontents within the empire who have still, despite thier unhappiness, maintained their belief in the ideals of the empire. They will eventually form a group that accepts the fact that the empire will fall and that although they can not maintain s of thier previous territory they could still maintain a remnant that holds up the ideals of what they thought the empire represented.

like the rest of the group they will eventually participate in the rebellion but not as someone trying to destroy it outright but as someone who is also a member of a covert para-rebellion insurgency who’s goal is to overthrow the old guard and the emperor in order to preserve what they see as the soul of the empire

Thank you for a bit of a new look on the imperial remnant line and motivations. I have already begun implementing some of this.

58 minutes ago, selrenna said:

Thank you for a bit of a new look on the imperial remnant line and motivations. I have already begun implementing some of this.

I’m glad you liked it, it just happened to be very convenient for my character, easpeacially since we already have two mandalorian characters focusing our attention on that sector and the canonical imperial remnant is/will be close to that part of space