So I recently convinced several of my party members to join up with the Empire. Starting next Sunday, I will be running two opposed campaigns, one Rebwl and one Imperial. Both will be fighting for control of the Outer Rim around Dantooine. This whole experience has made me curious, so I simply had to ask. Has anyone on here run an Imperial campaign before?

For the Empire side of my twin campaigns, I will have two players taking up the roles of Inquisitors (operating as a pair, much like the 5th Brother and 7th Sister). They will be working alongside a Mandalorian-turned-Super Commando, and the son of a Clone Trooper and a Jedi, who has been accepted into the Dark Trooper program. The Inquisitors have been tasked with hunting down the Jedi leadership of my Rebellion campaign. As excited as I am for this dual campaign, I'm kind of wondering how most people on here have ran Imperial games. This isn't quite the same "evil campaign" set-up that I often see people discussing, and I don't really expect to see much, if any, backstabbing among party members (they're ambitions all align quite nicely), so the 'evil' party will all be working toward a common goal. I'm going to replay the 2005 Battlefront II, TIE Fighter, and the Imperial campaign of Empire at War to try and get a good feel for how to run my game.

I have no idea why my phone just triple-posted this topic.

Because Imperial campaigns are so awesome you gotta ask twice.

I ran one a long time ago. Players commanded a small cruiser. Went well, but mostly because the players were down with it and made an effort.

I've heard some horror stories from others where the players spent more time trying to murder each other than the Rebellion...

21 hours ago, Ghostofman said:

I ran one a long time ago. Players commanded a small cruiser. Went well, but mostly because the players were down with it and made an effort.

I've heard some horror stories from others where the players spent more time trying to murder each other than the Rebellion...

I agree here. It will depend on your group, and how you present it to them. If they like to play "evil" characters, it may go well (assuming they don't interpret evil as kill your friends). If they are on the fence, it will be more on you. Do you present the Empire as the bad guys, blowing up worlds, oppressing aliens, murderous darksiders abundant? Or are you running the "honorable empire" where the PC's don't know what the Empire has done, and is chasing terrorists like Saw Guerrerra who kills civilians in his quest for vengeance on the Empire? Are they enforcing order?

The honorable empire can work well, especially when you present them with a moral dilemma, such as being ordered to wipe out a farming community because they won't turn over a rebel. Will they follow through, rise through the ranks, and do more dastardly deeds? Or do they break with orders, free the rebel, and be double agents for the Rebellion? Or just run for it?

But again, it depends on how you run, and what your players like. I only ran one evil game (D&D), and it didn't last long, because the players ended up being Chaotic Stupid.

I'm portraying the Empire much as it's portrayed in Imperial-themed content. The Thrawn novel, Tarkin, Lost Stars, ect. There are definitely evil and corrupt people in the Empire, and some of them are even in positions of power, but most people who serve the Empire do it out of a sense of duty and respect for the stability that the Empire brings. That's the pitch I gave to several of my party members to convince them to join the Empire to begin with.

My players aren't doing an "evil campaign". Sure, they're joining 'the bad guys' of Star Wars, but evil is a point of view. None of my players are the Chaotic Stupid type, and the game will still focus heavily on teamwork, just as it did before the players joined up with the Empire.

My thought on Imperial campaigns, though I haven’t actually run any, is that it’s hard from a storytelling standpoint to create the aspect of actual difficulty. Depending on what time you play in, the Empire is a thousand times larger than the Rebellion.

This makes it harder to create good stories. For example, here would be some scenarios:

1. The PCs need to destroy an enemy capital ship that is attempting to blockade a planet that is allied with their side. If the PCs are Rebels, you have all sorts of opportunities for cool stories: They could go undercover and sabotage the vessel, they might try to unite local forces in order to get enough fighters to defeat the ship, and even if they might have a Mon Calamari Cruiser or something or attack more conventionally, a close battle might still need some heroics. If they fight for the Empire, they probably have a Star Destroyer or two to work with, and the battle becomes much easier and less interesting.

2. The PCs need to destroy a comms tower that is broadcasting propoganda for the other side. If they’re Rebels, there can be plenty of cool stories: They could charge the tower, but they’d no doubt be outnumbered. Anyone interested in bombing will probably struggle with numerous fighters to battle in atmosphere, and also have to worry about collateral damage. Perhaps they do some more sneaky form of sabotage. Regardless, plenty of ideas. If they’re the Empire, they’ll have more than enough TIE Fighters and TIE Bombers to do it easily.

In almost any situation, the vast resources of the Empire reduce the need for clever ideas and heroics brought on by desperation, making up for it in sheer numbers. I’m not saying that it can’t work, it’s just that I would guess that this will be a problem you encounter when trying to plan sessions.

29 minutes ago, Yaccarus said:

My thought on Imperial campaigns, though I haven’t actually run any, is that it’s hard from a storytelling standpoint to create the aspect of actual difficulty. Depending on what time you play in, the Empire is a thousand times larger than the Rebellion.

This makes it harder to create good stories. For example, here would be some scenarios:

Just because the players are Imperial, doesn't mean they start as Grand Admiral.

You do have to change the story a bit, but the story still exists. To assume the players have the authority or resources to Base Delta Zero every problem is pretty silly. I think part of your problem is you're thinking like the empire, whenin an Imperial Campaign the gm needs to think like the Rebellion.

Check this out:

33 minutes ago, Yaccarus said:

1. The PCs need to destroy an enemy capital ship that is attempting to blockade a planet that is allied with their side.

The Rebels are going to blockade a planet. They don't have the resources.

So you take the concept and change the narrative.

Numerous attacks in your sector indicate the Rebellion has some kind of light carrier moving around covertly. Find it and destroy it. You have your single Neb-B and a reduced TIE Squadron. All other sector resources are devoted to protecting Critical facilities, but that still leaves a lot of targets unprotected.

See? Different, but not unlimited power. You can't just call up a pair of Star destroyers because they are busy. Even if you do finegal your way into getting one, the second you do the Rebellion hits a key target and you get a spanking from the Moff for leaving a target that important unprotected.

43 minutes ago, Yaccarus said:

2. The PCs need to destroy a comms tower that is broadcasting propoganda for the other side.

Again, the Rebs can't set up a permanent position like that or you'd be exactly right. TIE bomber swoop in and kill you.

So again you have to change it from how the Empire operates to the Rebellion.

The Rebellion has set up a pirate comm station on Planet X to broadcast propaganda. The thing is it's not a static facility, it's a combination of simple repeaters, prerecorded programs on "expendable" broadcast packages they can just turn on and dump, and mobile broadcast kits mounted in speeder, hidden in garages, and who knows what else. So you can't bomb it because even when you do, another on pops up.

So you'll have to find and interrogate your way through several cells to track down the people actually running the show.

Even with an entire Garrison at your disposal that could take several sessions to even get a useful lead...

45 minutes ago, Ghostofman said:

Just because the players are Imperial, doesn't mean they start as Grand Admiral.

You do have to change the story a bit, but the story still exists. To assume the players have the authority or resources to Base Delta Zero every problem is pretty silly. I think part of your problem is you're thinking like the empire, whenin an Imperial Campaign the gm needs to think like the Rebellion.

Check this out:

The Rebels are going to blockade a planet. They don't have the resources.

So you take the concept and change the narrative.

Numerous attacks in your sector indicate the Rebellion has some kind of light carrier moving around covertly. Find it and destroy it. You have your single Neb-B and a reduced TIE Squadron. All other sector resources are devoted to protecting Critical facilities, but that still leaves a lot of targets unprotected.

See? Different, but not unlimited power. You can't just call up a pair of Star destroyers because they are busy. Even if you do finegal your way into getting one, the second you do the Rebellion hits a key target and you get a spanking from the Moff for leaving a target that important unprotected.

Again, the Rebs can't set up a permanent position like that or you'd be exactly right. TIE bomber swoop in and kill you.

So again you have to change it from how the Empire operates to the Rebellion.

The Rebellion has set up a pirate comm station on Planet X to broadcast propaganda. The thing is it's not a static facility, it's a combination of simple repeaters, prerecorded programs on "expendable" broadcast packages they can just turn on and dump, and mobile broadcast kits mounted in speeder, hidden in garages, and who knows what else. So you can't bomb it because even when you do, another on pops up.

So you'll have to find and interrogate your way through several cells to track down the people actually running the show.

Even with an entire Garrison at your disposal that could take several sessions to even get a useful lead...

This is exactly the sort of advice I was hoping people might have when I posted this topic! Thank you!!