A Long Time Ago….

In a galaxy…far…far….away

233 BBY

Planet Devoran

The lifeless body of the female Devorian warrior slid from the end of Athaliah Zirkon’s crimson lightsaber. The so-called champion of the village was slain quickly, very quickly. Zirkon sheathed her weapon, and looked around at the other villagers. Each Devorian that made eye contact with her, lowered their eyes slowly in defeat.

Athaliah Zirkon, was a tall woman in her early 50s. Her once chestnut brown hairwas forming streaks of grey and silver. Born into an aristocratic family on the planet Naboo, Athaliah Zirkon always got what she wanted in life. Bright, charming, strong-willed, combined with a mean-streak a kilometer wide allowed her to rise through the ranks of society.

Pirates infested the Devorian village, pointing blasters at the backs of their captives. The conquest of the village was easily enough. The horde of scum and villainy along with their heavy blasters were over-kill. The village defenders were no match for the ruthlessness of Zirkon’s leadership.

Zirkon continued to wait impatiently for her so called experts of antiquity to emerge from the cavern temple that housed the artifact. An hour later 2 out of the 6 members of the expedition team came out with a small box in their possession. If she had waited a minute later, Zirkon would have begun slaughtering villagers out of frustration.

“Do you have it?” Zirkon asked eagerly.

“Yes, my lady.” One of female bandits bent the knee and raised up the box. “There were traps and obstacles that took the lives of…”

“A necessary loss,” Zirkon interrupted snatching the box away from her minion. Athaliah Zirkon opened the box. She smiled like a gold-digger finally discovering that her husband had finally passed away. “THE EYES OF LAQASA! It shall be pleased.”

The village elder stepped forward. Even with his hands bound behind him, the Devorian still had the courage to speak, “The Eyes of Laqasa are only for the pure in heart. For the maker of that relic saved our planet from people like you. Warriors of Light shall bring you to justice. I have seen visions of you being defeated and the Eyes being returned back to us…. UCK..UCK..”

The village elder’s feet rose off the ground. The Dark side of the force compelling him. Zirkon ignited her lightsaber, and brought the elder racing towards her. She then plunged the energy weapon right through the chest cavity of the old Devorian, killing him instantly.

“Quartermaster!” Zirkon yelled to one of the lead pirates with a laugh of delight. “Bring the rest of the horn-heads back to our headquarters. I’ll need targets to practice my powers on.”

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GM NOTE: This is a little ambitious. I’ve always been a fan of the time period between Episodes 1 – 2. The release of the book Dooku: Jedi Lost opened up a personal interest in the period before TPM.

Present Day: The announcement of the High Republic Era has certainly piqued my interest. The “Jedi Knights of the Round Table” & “Wild West: New Frontier/Texas Ranger” idea has yet to be explored and is an open sandbox for storytellers to sink their teeth into. This will be one fan attempting to dip his toes into the water of this new setting, and I hope to invite others along for the ride. There will be no “Nihil.“ This will be pre- “Great Disaster”

The story will compromise of pirates/scum & villainy antagonists led by a power force user with a secret to her power. I will be modifying current FFG publications and bring the FFG written material to the past. The story will be influenced by “Nexus of Power.”

The story begins with the Jedi being asked to free an enslaved people only to discover the culprits are in search of prized Jedi/Sith artifacts.

Who knows, if this module is successful we can build off the material that will be unveiled to us later this year.

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Character Creation Guidelines and Notes:

The High Republic: Artifacts Unbound – Knight Level story

• 215 earned exp in addition to species + morality exp/obligation.
  • Force Users - At least 35 of the exp must be spent on force powers if playing a force user.
    • Mentor rule does apply (5 less exp for learning a new force power. Minimum 5. Does not reduce force power cost to 0).
    • Move strength upgrades 2+ for PC characters is banned (As of right now, no NPC character will have move in their arsenal).
    • Morality will be the special mechanic. Please select an emotional str and weakness
  • Non Force Users - Obligation mechanic
  • No skills above 3
  • May not raise characteristics with earned exp
  • Motivation - Extra exp will be rewarded in between acts for role-playing and additional exp will be provided for role-playing emotional strengths, weaknesses, and motivations.
• Available careers/specializations
  • Force and Destiny - All available
  • Rise of the Separatists/Collapse of the Republic - Jedi Career: Padawan, Knight, and Master specs available. Peerless Interception Career power as well.
  • Edge of the Empire - Colonists/Explorers/Technician - Careers and Specs available
• Species - All official species are available within time frame (IE: Ewoks haven't been discovered. No Clones. Anything else that has not been discovered or created yet. PS - Mandalorian Force Users - shame on you. )
• Equipment
  • Force Users begin with 2,250 (300 of which must be spent on crafting tools for LS hilts) starting credits in addition to any bonus morality points they spend or species bonus
    • Jedi/Force users may begin the game with a lightsaber or an exotic plasma weapon.
      • Mechanics and Knowledge Lore will be the skills used to create a LS hilt
      • Crafting rules from Endless Vigil will be used
      • GM may veto certain crystals. (Krayt Pearl and Nightsister come to mind).
    • Non Force Users begin the game with 10,000 bonus credits in addition to obligation points spent and species bonus
    • Rarity 9 or 10 items - please check with GM about purchasing at CC (negotiation check by 1 PC might be required).
• 6 PCs max - Try your best to not have primary roles overlap. Combat characters maybe the only primary role that can overlap. As long as it is not the same type of combat characters. IE 2 Makashi Duelists, 2 Warrior Colossus, etc. GM May request alterations to characters to fulfill this.
  • @Edgehawk - Counselor: Arbiter/Archaeologist (Arkanian)
  • @Bellona - Jedi: Padawan/Knight/Shien Expert (Arkanian)
  • @Xcapobl - Jedi: Padawan/Knight (Human)
  • @MrTInce - Mystic: Alchemist
  • @P-47 Thunderbolt - Bounty Hunter: Skip Tracer/Marshal (Kyuzo)
  • @April Droid or Hutt
    • Reserve Slots
      • @Shlambate
      • @rocketrobie2
• Team Resources
  • Base of Operations - Coruscant (Initial) - Elphrona (Eventually)
  • Light Freighter - PB-950 Patrol Boat
• Alignment - Light side good characters highly encouraged.
  • Grey - Grey some dark side actions are allowed. I know it can be fun to be evil every now and thenin a role-playing game.
  • Dark - Going full dark side is highly discouraged. There will be consequences for continued dark side actions(PC will become a NPC - Nemesis or Rival or be taken out of the game completely. Thrown in the brig, frozen in carbonite, fed to the Rancor, or thrown to the Sarlacc).
  • PVP - There will be no PVP. Tension between players is okay as long as it is pre-approved by both PCs. If conflict between PCs begins to develop naturally I will send a PM to both parties to ensure BOTH players are fine with the interactions. I am okay with role-playing and character development, but not at the expense of having fun. If one party does not want the tension then it will cease in game.
• Character concepts: Characters will be apart of the Jedi Order. I'm going to try my best to make the Jedi less KOTOR/Prequel Council type and more Knights of the Round Table & Wild West Frontier Lawmen/Women. Non Force users will either be colonists/explorers/or somehow allies of the Jedi.
  • More: "Get the horses. Saddle up cowgirl. Let's ride." and "Fetch me my sword squire. We shall be there by nightfall."
  • Less: "We shall wait. We shall meditate. We shall reflect. We must tread lightly."
• Mentors - Feel free to develop a mentor of your own. Otherwise I can come up with them.
• Backgrounds - This will be uncharted territory for all of us. So try your best!

STICK A FORK IN ME! That's it for now. Feel free to ask any questions.

-

Sounds amazing. I have two potential concepts.

One is a Non-traditional Jedi Force User. Would be a hand to hand combat type rather than lightsaber.

The other would be a Force Alchemist/Healer.

How would this fit with people?

Well, call me interested.

I would say I could build me a Padawan/Knight type character.

Welcome both of you.

@MrTInce - Both sounds great. Warrior/Steel hand adept and mystic/alchemist?

@Xcapobl - sounds good Bellona is making a padawan/shien expert do coordinate with her Should be okay from what I know of the padawan tree

I'm tentatively interested.* I'm involved in a few other PbPs already, so I understand if you'd rather not have someone with split attention (though it shouldn't hurt my posting rate, and I should still be able to stay sufficiently invested).

Are you open to me playing a Sector Ranger assigned to the case? Not set on the concept or sure about specs yet. Probably Bounty Hunter, maybe cross-spec into Fringer. I've already got two active characters in PbPs who dual-wield, so I'm trying not to do that again, but people keep giving me excuses! *facepalm* I might just stick with a carbine or something. We'll see.

(Me: "Oh, I've got an ARC and a Mando who both dual-wield. I shouldn't do that again." @Sincereagape : "Cowboys, everyone!" Me: "Must... Resist... Urge to... Dual-wield...")

*I say tentatively because I know next to nothing about the time period, so I'll have more trouble making a backstory and Motivations/Obligations. If I can't come up with something I find satisfactory, I may decide to drop out (before play begins, of course).

I'm currently thinking Kyuzo Hired Gun: Mercenary Soldier and cross-specing into Marshall. If that set up is okay with you. Still going with the Sector Ranger concept.

@P-47 Thunderbolt -PM Sent!

Mini-update: I'm currently talking with @P-47 Thunderbolt Thunderbolt about playing a Sector Ranger which would fit into the campaign/setting. A Bounty Hunter: Skip Tracer/Marshal. The Bounty Hunter is more "Sheriff/Deputy" as opposed to "Credits/Scum." hence why I am allowing the character to go into the Bounty Hunter career.

Few questions for everyone:

1. Since the force using characters are not starting off with their Lightsabers in ACT 1, would you guys be okay if the Jedi provided a Free exotic plasma weapon for each character? (Fully Modded Ancient Sword can be given too) If so, base beginning credits for Force users would drop to 2,250

2. We have one more slot and the group 'pilot' role unfulfilled. Maybe the last player could fill that role or have one of our pre-existing players take that role? Prefer not @MrTInce since they played Quark in Bounty Hunting Doesn't Pay

Hi, I’m looking for a group to play with, I’m thinking of playing a droid is there any space?

1. Though I initially thought "huh?" to have characters of (more than) 150XP knight level play lack lightsabers, especially when they are part of the Jedi Order, I decided to just go with the flow. With that in mind, I had a counter question... Training lightsabers? And then a second counter question when I read this question... Fully Modded Ancient Sword? (I know the Ancient Sword, but what would be a "Fully Modded" one, and what different options do we have there?)

2. Unless you plan on doing something to the ship when we leave it behind, or when we are in transit (it is Star Wars after all), a non-combattant, non-participating NPC pilot might just as well ferry the characters to and fro. Just in case no one seems willing to take up the pilot slot. I know I nearly have the character finished by now, and it is far from an Agility build with Astrogation (3 Ability ) and Piloting (2 Ability ) and no appropriate talents to support a pilot role.

8 minutes ago, April said:

Hi, I’m looking for a group to play with, I’m thinking of playing a droid is there any space?

Holy crap, April! Welcome!

Just now, Edgehawk said:

Holy crap, April! Welcome!

Oh man nice to see you, it’s been ages!

19 minutes ago, April said:

Oh man nice to see you, it’s been ages!

April, welcome. You seem to be a popular one. And there certainly is room for a droid if that is what you want to play

@Xcapobl and I’ll get to your questions after thinking her through. Good questions!

@Sincereagape great! I'll await your answers.

@April Hi there, well met! As Sincereagape said, a droid is welcome. We all know the Jedi Order did use droids in all manner of functions (just look at the prequels, where those analysis droids had knowledge, but no wisdom), and Obi-Wan had his (integrated) astromech with him on his travels. Might you be willing fill the (non-integrated) droid slot with a bunch of piloting abilities? Jedi had explorers according to some sources (and Legends...), why not a droid?

1 minute ago, Sincereagape said:

April, welcome. You seem to be a popular one. And there certainly is room for a droid if that is what you want to play

@Xcapobl and I’ll get to your questions after thinking her through. Good questions!

Take it there’s need for a pilot? I could do a droid pilot/ smuggler ?

1 hour ago, Sincereagape said:

2. We have one more slot and the group 'pilot' role unfulfilled. Maybe the last player could fill that role or have one of our pre-existing players take that role? Prefer not @MrTInce since they played Quark in Bounty Hunting Doesn't Pay

Apparently there is a pilot slot. 😁

4 minutes ago, Xcapobl said:

@Sincereagape great! I'll await your answers.

@April Hi there, well met! As Sincereagape said, a droid is welcome. We all know the Jedi Order did use droids in all manner of functions (just look at the prequels, where those analysis droids had knowledge, but no wisdom), and Obi-Wan had his (integrated) astromech with him on his travels. Might you be willing fill the (non-integrated) droid slot with a bunch of piloting abilities? Jedi had explorers according to some sources (and Legends...), why not a droid?

If this is set High republic era, ( the droid I’ll be playing is probably sentient) how will the group feel regarding an obvious law breaking sentient robot (if to use a rather hackneyed term) ‘evil’ this becomes rather mute.

Just now, April said:

If this is set High republic era, ( the droid I’ll be playing is probably sentient) how will the group feel regarding an obvious law breaking sentient robot (if to use a rather hackneyed term) ‘evil’ this becomes rather mute.

What do you mean by law-breaking? Just that the droid has gained sentience?

17 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

What do you mean by law-breaking? Just that the droid has gained sentience?

My understanding was Sentient droids were big no no’s in SW especially those who don’t have owners and do their own things, or was this an old Expanded universe thing?

I’m going with a Seer build for my archaeologist (not Sage as I had originally envisioned). Also, unless we need a crack pilot, I can fill that role (unless someone else wants it).

Oh- and dibs on the lightwhip!

3 minutes ago, April said:

My understanding was Sentient droids were big no no’s in SW especially those who don’t have owners and do their own things, or was this an old Expanded universe thing?

That was never my take on it, especially given how pretty much every droid character in Star Wars seems to be sentient. I think the main deal was people frequently wiping their memories to keep them from developing a personality, given the tendency of droids that develop a personality to also develop an independent streak.

Might also depend on how you classify "sentient."

I'll leave it up tot he GM to determine whether droid sentience is illegal, but it is certainly not uncommon in Star Wars.

7 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

That was never my take on it, especially given how pretty much every droid character in Star Wars seems to be sentient. I think the main deal was people frequently wiping their memories to keep them from developing a personality, given the tendency of droids that develop a personality to also develop an independent streak.

Might also depend on how you classify "sentient."

I'll leave it up tot he GM to determine whether droid sentience is illegal, but it is certainly not uncommon in Star Wars.

Well yeah he probably would have a personality, if a rather glitchy one, the thoughts come from in the old republic era ( and later) where droids like the original HK and Droids like mr bones were considered kinda rare

not sure if the old ig88 stuff is cannon with his basically impossible to die download thing, the empire tolerating him as he was useful but he did want to originally kill everyone

3 minutes ago, April said:

My understanding was Sentient droids were big no no’s in SW especially those who don’t have owners and do their own things, or was this an old Expanded universe thing?

As far as I know, the main reason people in the galaxy started to 'hate' droids (regardless of their sentience, as most are advanced AI's anyways), is because of the droid armies in the Clone Wars. Before that, droids, even the 4th degree combat droids, were not shunned automatically. I played plenty of Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic, and while droids of all types remained 'in service' to organics, most had a 'master' of sorts, there wasn't too much of a problem with droids.

Even in the galactic civil war era there isn't too much of a problem actually (look at protocol droids, astromechs, labor droids on the Lars moisture farm, etc.), but combat droids are feared, because of their combat capabilities, not simply for being sentient (and most CLone Wars droids were linked to a droid control ship...). And most droids, like P-47 Thunderbolt mentioned, got frequent memory wipes anyways.

As for your other question, Sincereagape did mention Light Side good characters are highly encouraged. Dark siders aren't, and PVP seems basically out of the question. My guess would be, that an 'evil' droid would be a possible problem (depending on how it is played out, of course). When you say it is an " obvious law breaking sentient robot (if to use a rather hackneyed term) ‘evil’ " it might cause more problems than it seems worth. I can only speak for myself, of course, and I am not the Game Master here, but you may want to reconsidder that obvious lawbreaking evil, yet severely glitchy and bluntly humorous are extremely fine, of course.

My Lawful Good (capital "L" capital "G" "TM" over the "d") Kyuzo might not take all that kindly to an evil robot.

1 minute ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

My Lawful Good (capital "L" capital "G" "TM" over the "d") Kyuzo might not take all that kindly to an evil robot.

@April I did make a Jedi Knight. Though probably not completely "Lawful", do not doubt her "Good" intentions. The main reason why I, too, reacted with discouragement towards 'evil'.