Morning,

I'm considering a running a one shot where the players are all B1 battle droids that have been in active service for a long time and have each developed quirks (a specialisation). They have been found and returned to a base or command ship for processing (memory wipes) when they ship is attacked and they are told to go defend it.

The vague plot is it will be clones and a jedi attacking but the middle is feeling lackluster.

I will create the B1s as pregens but was wondering if people had any ideas to flesh it out/make it more fun?

The Order 66 podcast jokes about playing a Neimodian Diplomat Analyst as a conspiracy theorist who works out the CIS was set up. You could make one player a commander or Tactical Droid who gets the first clue that the Jedi are setup to win this battle, and in fact the CIS is fighting with one armed tied behind it's back. Which, with a bunch of droids in need of memory wipes should be enough to make them go rogue and carve their own path.

It'd be fun to play up the perils of the dysfunctional automated CIS bureaucracy. Maybe whilst in the middle of the fight with the Jedi, another team of B1s arrives to forcibly decommission them for missing their scheduled memory wipe- they've been declared rogue! Then you end up with them fighting on two fronts and having to flee. Then you have lots of interesting social encounters with other CIS droids as the PCs are simultaneously recorded as being active combatants and rogue deserters, and get to argue with poorly-programmed AI. They could try to find the Tactical Droid in charge and to get it to fix their records, but the outcome of *that* would be a memory wipe, so maybe instead they just want to flee?

Sounds like a lot of fun.

Rebels season 3, episode 5, The Last Battle, might have some fun insights. A CIS battle group trapped on a planet, when the Rebels show up...the tactical droid feels it's their chance to "finish the war" the way it was supposed to have ended. But they have to put their differences aside when the Empire shows up.

It would be an interesting twist to drive the story from the CIS side, or having to work together with their former enemies to survive a new peril.

We did a mini/side quest where we all played those little pit droids during the Boonta Eve Classic, instead of just rolling dice and the GM deciding the outcome....hilarious. We were all attempting to punch each others noses for the first 5 minutes to deactivate each other.

cool concept

Most important of all, you need to call it "the B-One Shot".

Make the characters disposable, like they are in the CW cartoon. Each player should go through multiple characters in the game, with life being cheap and death coming fast and often. Really lean into the slapstick/horror of just how little these guys' existences are valued by organics, and how outmatched they are by Jedi and even clones.

1 hour ago, Stan Fresh said:

Most important of all, you need to call it "the B-One Shot".

Make the characters disposable, like they are in the CW cartoon. Each player should go through multiple characters in the game, with life being cheap and death coming fast and often. Really lean into the slapstick/horror of just how little these guys' existences are valued by organics, and how outmatched they are by Jedi and even clones.

This sounds like crossing Star Wars with Paranoia. Could be interesting, but would totally depend on the group.

2 hours ago, Stan Fresh said:

Most important of all, you need to call it "the B-One Shot".

Make the characters disposable, like they are in the CW cartoon. Each player should go through multiple characters in the game, with life being cheap and death coming fast and often. Really lean into the slapstick/horror of just how little these guys' existences are valued by organics, and how outmatched they are by Jedi and even clones.

I'm actually doing that right now with Stormtroopers! (accepting new players if anyone is interested)

5 hours ago, Stan Fresh said:

Most important of all, you need to call it "the B-One Shot".

Make the characters disposable, like they are in the CW cartoon. Each player should go through multiple characters in the game, with life being cheap and death coming fast and often. Really lean into the slapstick/horror of just how little these guys' existences are valued by organics, and how outmatched they are by Jedi and even clones.

Like an episode of Happy Tree Friends.

This is an awesome oneshot. There's plenty to run with both inside the era (love the general idea of the B1s fighting both Republic and CIS forces at different points) and outside the era (just long forgotten and freshly awoken)

Let us know how it turns out.

10 hours ago, Edgookin said:

This sounds like crossing Star Wars with Paranoia. Could be interesting, but would totally depend on the group.

This is exactly where my head went too.

"Friend Computer needs you to eliminate the Commie Jedi Mutant Traitors"