Hello folks. So I’m thinking about running a game set in the Pius Dea era. I’ve read the bits of information on Wookieepedia and the guide its based on. Stats are easy, because you use the current stats and rename everything.

I’m interested in hearing what you think the era might look like.

The cathedral ships are probably going to look like ships from 40K, but what do you the fighters and freighters would be like?

What about armour and weapons?

How would you make it look different from the movie era Star Wars?

What do you think life would be like for ordinary folks during that time?

I saw artwork for the cathedral ships (somewhere) and it gave me the 40k Imperium vibe too. So I read up a bit about the Pius Dea era. I decided to throw a little taste of it into my game. I was running Empire-era game at the time, set just after the Battle of Yavin.

The PCs found a derelict ship on an out-of-the-way world. It wasn't anything as large as a cathedral ship. It was more of a ship designed for constructing pre-fab settlements. The Pius Dea era was one of aggressive expansion and all of the worlds you see named Ord something (like Ord Mantell) were settled during this time. This ship was from late in the Pius Dea Crusades and was parked on this planet, but was not activated, and this world was not settled. Of course, that was 11,000 years ago; time and the environment hadn't been kind to it. It was cool for an exploration scene and to learn a little of the galaxy's past. In the hold, they found a lot of construction material and a few construction droids. I wanted to see what the PCs would do with it, but they just packed up the droids and sold them later on.

Within the derelict, they found a sarcophagus of a Jedi from the Order of the Terrible Glare who had fallen in battle. This would have sat at the center of a Pius Dea cathedral that would have been constructed on this world. The sarcophagus, I decided was in the form of carbon frozen slab. The Jedi laid in state, in heavy armor with a shield and hammer. The slab was "deactivated;" no flickering lights or control panel to unfreeze the contents like on the Han Solo carbon frozen slab. (To unfreeze the contents, the PCs were going to have to hunt down a Pius Dea era control module from far off somewhere else.)

Going with the 40k vibe, I decided Jedi from the Order of the Terrible Glare would have worn heavy armor very much resembling 40k Grey Knights. The one in the sarcophagus has a thunder hammer. The PCs never got to it (they sold the sarcophagus to a collector they found), but picture a thunder hammer powered by a kyber crystal. The armor would assist the wearer through a droid brain. Sort of like getting into a hollow droid that could assist you in battle and take over if something happened to you. There was also the knight's stormbolter in there as well.

Very powerful stuff. But they sold it all for gas money and magic beans. Leading horses to water... or something.

If you like 40k stuff, the Pius Dea definitely gives you a solid opportunity to put some of it into the Star Wars setting. Being that the Crusades took place 11,000-13,000 years before the current age gives you a lot of play for whatever you want to do. Cathedral ships, xenophobia, war, expansion, different takes on weaponry and armor. Fun!

That sounds awesome RLouge177.
One of the reasons for thinking about Pius Dea was several of my players like 40K and its aesthetic.

8 hours ago, DoctorWhat said:

What do you think life would be like for ordinary folks during that time?

Honestly, not much different. One of the relatively unchanging factors about Star Wars across the centuries is the relative humanocentric nature of the two major powers, and the generally poor quality of life of anyone outside the Core. Given the 40k theme of the era, you would likely see lavish opulence in the Core, supported by a caste or slave system, that progressively got more extreme the further down you went on major city-worlds, and the further from the Core you went. Even "slaves" on the upper levels of a Core world may live in relatively good standing. Enforcement of law is likely to be much more common and "the system" appears to work from a micro view of a few well-to-do planets.

But much like current Star Wars, the further you get from the Core the less the law is enforced, the more extreme the gap between rich and poor and the generally more violent the galaxy becomes.

I think thematically you'd flavor it like Warhammer. Lifespans are extended via technology in a gross and imperfect way, with some technological replacement even done against the will of a lower-caste/slave in order to make them more useful to their masters. "Government" looks more like religion, with very fervent, zealous "believers" in "the system". Non-humans are seen as lesser or not even people, even for relatively human near-humans, even among humans discrimination and xenophobia run rampant. Exceptions (to a degree) exist for exceedingly capable, wealthy and "passable" near-humans (like Arkanians).

Good post False God. I hadn’t given any thought to slavery or the use of cyberware and their role.