Hi, I am a GM and my story is a clue-based story. The last clue they found was a lightsaber with a rare Etaan crystal. So they have planned to go to the planet of Etai. The fun thing about Etai is there is no info on it, so basically I can make up whatever I want. I found a fan-made website with some info. I'll post a link below. My ideas for the planet so far is:

1. the planet is barren and riddled with crime.

2. The form of government would be lawless, and everyone would do anything they wanted. The people in power would be restrictive, dictator, slavers, who controlled the mines.

3. The only form of sustainable, uncorrupt government is a clan of humans, who control who comes in and out and controls the other mining factions with force.

4. similar to the article, this clan will not take kindly to untrusted newcomers and will not be afraid to use any force necessary to stop someone from taking a Crystal.

5. The clan will be armed with Etaan crystal based weaponry, which will do more damage than the standard version fo the gun, and Etaan crystal deflector shields.

6. my plan is to have the group want to go into an ancient mine, to find an ancient sith sanctuary that lightsaber they have was from. In order to be allowed access to the min, the group, would be forced to leave their imperial escort behind ( long story) and somehow gain the trust of the human clan by doing some kind of mission ( clearing out a mind of raiders, or helping them take out a rebellion) for them to be allowed entrance to the cave.

7. they could also try to destroy the human clan and gain access that way. thinking maybe have a base for them and having a leader.

What I need help with is how to bring this situation alive, making the city (Etaan) feel like an "underground" city riddled with violence and crime. I'm trying to find a way to balance all of the crime with the human clan and make it feel real while keeping the group's options open. also, I'm trying to find a name for the human clan. I'm also trying to find a way to map it all out, with the tunnels and the city. Any ideas are appreciated.


https://aminoapps.com/c/star-wars-rp-amino/page/item/etai/Rr32_2xkHvIwWavZ5P4xGwnE8n3k4evDvb3

2 hours ago, Coalbeach said:

Hi, I am a GM and my story is a clue-based story. The last clue they found was a lightsaber with a rare Etaan crystal. So they have planned to go to the planet of Etai. The fun thing about Etai is there is no info on it, so basically I can make up whatever I want. I found a fan-made website with some info. I'll post a link below. My ideas for the planet so far is:

1. the planet is barren and riddled with crime.

2. The form of government would be lawless, and everyone would do anything they wanted. The people in power would be restrictive, dictator, slavers, who controlled the mines.

3. The only form of sustainable, uncorrupt government is a clan of humans, who control who comes in and out and controls the other mining factions with force.

4. similar to the article, this clan will not take kindly to untrusted newcomers and will not be afraid to use any force necessary to stop someone from taking a Crystal.

5. The clan will be armed with Etaan crystal based weaponry, which will do more damage than the standard version fo the gun, and Etaan crystal deflector shields.

6. my plan is to have the group want to go into an ancient mine, to find an ancient sith sanctuary that lightsaber they have was from. In order to be allowed access to the min, the group, would be forced to leave their imperial escort behind ( long story) and somehow gain the trust of the human clan by doing some kind of mission ( clearing out a mind of raiders, or helping them take out a rebellion) for them to be allowed entrance to the cave.

7. they could also try to destroy the human clan and gain access that way. thinking maybe have a base for them and having a leader.

What I need help with is how to bring this situation alive, making the city (Etaan) feel like an "underground" city riddled with violence and crime. I'm trying to find a way to balance all of the crime with the human clan and make it feel real while keeping the group's options open. also, I'm trying to find a name for the human clan. I'm also trying to find a way to map it all out, with the tunnels and the city. Any ideas are appreciated.


https://aminoapps.com/c/star-wars-rp-amino/page/item/etai/Rr32_2xkHvIwWavZ5P4xGwnE8n3k4evDvb3

Ok so, I will provide advice on how to bring it alive via questions about the points you mentioned. The point of the questions is to make you think about them, and provide an in-game reason for them.

1. It's barren...so why is it riddle with crime? If it's barren, that word implies basically nothing of value, so it's not like smugglers are taking a valuable resource from the planet to profit elsewhere. Compare it to Arrakis from the Dune book series, where it was a barren world, but it also had a REALLY valuable resource. If you're making the planet, an entirely barren rock, then you need to establish why it would be "riddled with crime", and include that in the planet makeup.

2. Mines? What mines? What are they mining? You said it was a barren world. Again, it sounds like a Dune/Arrakis clone (which is fine), and I'm guessing the mines are for the crystals? If so, why are they so valuable? What use do they serve in the galaxy that would make them be the sole resource on this barren world, worth the infrastructure needed to harvest them?

3. So are they a part of the corrupt "people in power" who are dictators and slavers? Or are they like a group of miners, who've basically made a worker's union, to give them some level of influence and pull with the corrupt government? If they are actually part of the government, why are they not corrupt? How are they able to stay "pure" , what are they doing to keep the rest of the tyrannical government at bay? Bribes of resources to look the other way? Blackmail of influential politicians to keep from applying too much pressure on the workers? Sheer numbers or firepower (or both) that makes them too deadly to risk angering?

4. If they don't like "untrusted" newcomers taking resources, perhaps they are willing to trade for them, via lots of credits (if some of your PC's are credit rick, or a Trader for example), or, barring that, they can require the PC's do a job for them, as "payment" for the crystal. And viola, you have a ready made quest dispenser NPC now. This would be a good way to introduce the PC's to the other factions, for example the human clan tasks them with going down and "dealing" with a group of surly slaves, who aren't hitting their quotas this month, and they can do this by any means necessary, short of killing the merchandise. Then the PC's might be able to instead help the slaves (assuming they are inclined to help imprisoned people), while also dealing with the human clan to get in their good graces. Or whatever works for your story, but you get the idea.

5. Are there stats for the more powerful crystals? If not, you really should flesh that out so you know what dice pools to be working with ahead of time. Also, don't make them insanely powerful, which is common for homebrew rules on stuff.

6. Sounds like standard style missions for NPCs, looks good.

7. Probably a good idea to have a leader for a group yes.

1 hour ago, KungFuFerret said:

Ok so, I will provide advice on how to bring it alive via questions about the points you mentioned. The point of the questions is to make you think about them, and provide an in-game reason for them.

1. It's barren...so why is it riddle with crime? If it's barren, that word implies basically nothing of value, so it's not like smugglers are taking a valuable resource from the planet to profit elsewhere. Compare it to Arrakis from the Dune book series, where it was a barren world, but it also had a REALLY valuable resource. If you're making the planet, an entirely barren rock, then you need to establish why it would be "riddled with crime", and include that in the planet makeup.

2. Mines? What mines? What are they mining? You said it was a barren world. Again, it sounds like a Dune/Arrakis clone (which is fine), and I'm guessing the mines are for the crystals? If so, why are they so valuable? What use do they serve in the galaxy that would make them be the sole resource on this barren world, worth the infrastructure needed to harvest them?

3. So are they a part of the corrupt "people in power" who are dictators and slavers? Or are they like a group of miners, who've basically made a worker's union, to give them some level of influence and pull with the corrupt government? If they are actually part of the government, why are they not corrupt? How are they able to stay "pure" , what are they doing to keep the rest of the tyrannical government at bay? Bribes of resources to look the other way? Blackmail of influential politicians to keep from applying too much pressure on the workers? Sheer numbers or firepower (or both) that makes them too deadly to risk angering?

4. If they don't like "untrusted" newcomers taking resources, perhaps they are willing to trade for them, via lots of credits (if some of your PC's are credit rick, or a Trader for example), or, barring that, they can require the PC's do a job for them, as "payment" for the crystal. And viola, you have a ready made quest dispenser NPC now. This would be a good way to introduce the PC's to the other factions, for example the human clan tasks them with going down and "dealing" with a group of surly slaves, who aren't hitting their quotas this month, and they can do this by any means necessary, short of killing the merchandise. Then the PC's might be able to instead help the slaves (assuming they are inclined to help imprisoned people), while also dealing with the human clan to get in their good graces. Or whatever works for your story, but you get the idea.

5. Are there stats for the more powerful crystals? If not, you really should flesh that out so you know what dice pools to be working with ahead of time. Also, don't make them insanely powerful, which is common for homebrew rules on stuff.

6. Sounds like standard style missions for NPCs, looks good.

7. Probably a good idea to have a leader for a group yes.

Thank you. So after seeing your questions here's what I've come up with:

1. The planet itself is barren. There is no plant life or any indigenous animal life. I guess by barren I meant naturally lacking. Underground though it has the Etaan crystals. Id say the planet itself has natural caverns and caves and that the cites are built on the large entrances to the underground system.

2. The mines are mining for the Etaan crystal. This planet is the only place in the galaxy to get this crystal and the crystals themselves are very valuable because of there usefulness in lightsaber tech, defensive tech, and upgrading the overall damage of a plasma bolt.

3. I guess the government doesn't exist, laws and regulations are all set by gangs or mining companies. The Human clan's main purpose is to keep the crystals from getting into the hands of the evil. They have learned to weaponize the crystals, and that is how they keep control over the other gangs and companies. They also control the ports/docks so they have the other companies/ gangs pay tariffs. They are the closest thing to the government. They stay in power because anyone who stands against them gets destroyed.

4. I like the slave idea, and ill probably use that, except the PC's reasoning of coming here was not to find more crystals but to find clues of the lightsaber that they already have in there possession. So instead of trading the job for a crystal, trade doing the job for access to the ancient mine.

5. the stats are more powerful, but they already have set stats. For the upgraded weaponry, I was thinking +3 damage, or +2. and the deflector shield would do +4, but it will be a very hard check to deflect a bolt and hit a target.

So the barren planet has a desperate need for food and water (maybe atmosphere too). Controlling these makes the workforce easy to exploit, although it raises questions as to why droids are not used.

On 6/13/2019 at 4:19 PM, HappyDaze said:

So the barren planet has a desperate need for food and water (maybe atmosphere too). Controlling these makes the workforce easy to exploit, although it raises questions as to why droids are not used.

That is true. I would still rather use living creatures rather then droids. Droids don't give as equal of opportunity to rebel as the living creatures do.