Gilead Pelleon or anybody from Fel Dynasty? Oh, sorry I forgot this is real world only.

Well, what historic figures do you feel Mr. Pelleon was based on?

And out of interest, what army do you play in Flames of War?

I believe that the proper approach to playing an Imp is this: There are good people on the bad side. Anyone looking at history can point to people and ask 'WHY are you on that SIDE?'

You can play an Imp who has been misinformed (do not let propaganda indoctrination fool you, it works), agrees with the concept of order after the chaos of the Clone Wars, or just plain ignorant of all the facts (which kinda, not fully, goes to the first point).

A crafty GM can throw some nice situations to the players and see how they react to it. Say they are told to wipe out an entire city for no reason other then to instill fear. Do they do it and fail loosing a bit of humanity or do they find a creative way to get around that (maybe they find out that the Imps want ONE person and they feel wiping the entire city out so now its a man hunt, but one with the clock counting).

I think playing Imps can be a very challenging and rewarding experience with the proper GM and players and imagine what you can do with them as you run them up to Endor and the end of the Empire. What do they do then? The character who loved the Empire because of order now watching the order maker breaking into chaos.

Just my couple of credits on that.

Maelora, put ErikB on Ignore and let's continue! Your OP was very intriguing and I'd like to continue replying in the spirit in which you initiated the thread.

I'm sure the EU has plenty of Imperial examples, and not everyone on the Imperial side is a depraved, sadistic monster. And yet, it's still a very repressive regime run by Dark Jedi. That would seem to require a certain mind-set as PCs. I can imagine even many evil types feeling that Alderaan was kind of over the top - all those resources wasted, not to mention the huge PR fallout.

I can't help but feel that it wouldn't be right simply to use the Rebel scenarios with the numbers filed off. I mean yes, the classes and things would fit, sure. A rebel pilot and an Imperial one are just ultimately flying different ships, they are not different classes.

But AoR seems very much about playing the 'ragtag irregulars against the overwhelming force of the Empire'. Isn't it going to feel different if the PCs are backed up by Star Destroyers? It strikes me that if I was on the Imperial side, I'd be much more worried about being killed by my superiors than the Rebels. The movies make a running joke of Vader bumping off his underlings, after all.

The "Run by Dark Jedi" bit is interesting, but depending on your willingness to use some EU lore (as EotE by necessity does) we get the anti-Sith conspiracy :

The imperative's on us. The universe can't be ruled by a theocracy of two.

The Emperor plans to disband the Senate. But the shift in authority shall be greater than he expects. We shall eliminate the Sith. And save the Empire.

From a Grand Moff no less!

And yeah, you're not the only one for whom had the idea that even "believing Imps" considered the destruction of Alderaan a net negative. I don't recall who said it -- maybe it was only Wookiepedia? -- but the whole "rule by fear of force" thing would have looked a lot more plausible without the Death Star being blown up very soon afterward. My general rule is that the majority of the Empire's own "true believers" was at cross-purposes with the Sith, or rather that the Emperor's public values were what squared with the masses, and that they would have had a rather dim view of his true self... you know, if they ever thought it to be his true self and not Rebel propaganda. But that's two separate people now who have already voiced "Pellaeon".

The simplest answer re: "ragtag irregulars against the overwhelming force of the Empire", and "backed up by Star Destroyers"? You answered it yourself with the elite unit idea, and 'ragtag irregulars against the overwhelming force' is rather relative... after all, who's to say that they're even backed by Star Destroyers?

As for Vader... depending on which canon and/or fanon you choose to go by, that might well be "just a Vader thing". Supposedly in some circles (or maybe fanon) "Vader's command" was regarded as actually being the most meritocratic... remember " Admiral Piett"? I'd probably have it a joke in enlisted circles that Vader's command (whether Death Squadron or otherwise, but basically "as far as Vader's reach") have the nickname of "The Live Fast, Die Fast Express".

Oh, and Cracken's Rebel Operatives (an old D6 book-of-NPCs) offers one option for "defectors from the Empire" that isn't so often brought up... deep-cover "stay behinds"! For example, at some point during the Galactic Civil War, the "leak" aboard the Star Destroyer Adjudicator , flagship of Moff Renquet's sector, was its conscripted cook . Cracken's assessment:

The first time I heard of Vimran Trell, I thought to myself: What could a cook possibly do for us? When the Adjudicator was sent to destroy a Rebel base, Trell proved his worth by warming Alliance agents. The Adjudicator found only a few deserted buildings. My opinion changed. And for those of you who haven’t tried his Fromirian roast queg, you won’t understand Moff Renquet’s decision.

... and yes, that's his flagship because he liked the cook's roast queg so much. Petty fiefdom anyone? Which actually makes a case for a Rebel PC's motivation being "I joined the Rebellion because of my oppressive local moff and the Emperor is too far removed or his courtiers prevent him from intervening..."

Alternately, a would-be Imperial "dispenser of justice" could be fighting for the values that they believe the Empire should stand for against Imperials whose cruelty only validates and vindicates Rebel propaganda...

Gilead Pelleon or anybody from Fel Dynasty? Oh, sorry I forgot this is real world only.

Well, what historic figures do you feel Mr. Pelleon was based on?

And out of interest, what army do you play in Flames of War?

I never felt any strong real world inspiration behind the character, but that just might be me. Definitely somebody with British accent. Oh, I have not started yet, I was contemplating Soviet Naval Infantry, but as friend bought Overlord and Atlantik Wall I probably start Canadian Paras, thank you for asking.

imagine what you can do with them as you run them up to Endor and the end of the Empire.

People have seen Downfall right?

Or it could be that you want to play as a full Imperial character.
Playing with a toy gun does not make you a murderer...

It is a game, for heaven's sake.

Do not get me wrong, I think this discussion is valid, but should have its own topic.

This topic's creator wanted help on planning and running Imperial adventures and wanted to discuss that aspect in the game.

To say that imperials will always be antagonists in this RPG is at the very least premature, considering FFG could just be planning to release a sourcebook on Imperial characters as we speak

To say that imperials will always be antagonists in this RPG is at the very least premature, considering FFG could just be planning to release a sourcebook on Imperial characters as we speak

Someone could always ask what they are going to do. Someone with a podcast or something?

However, I don't think I have seen anything to suggest that they intend to show the Empire as anything other than bad guys. Every reference to the Empire in the add copy tends to have tyranny or oppression somewhere near it. This seems typical:-

--

If people wanna play this kind of Nazi that is pretty fine:-

44. Saw the original films as a kid.

Hey! We're the same age! Mind you, wrong side of the pond - but then you get to live in Doctor Who Central, so I am full of envy right now. (:

*raises glass to the old people in the thread*

To support the Empire is to support those kinds of activities.

Here, go read this: http://www.chick.com/reading/tracts/0046/0046_01.ASP

You do realize that right now, you sound EXACTLY like Jack Chick? Just because I'm playing an Imperial loyalist who gladly works with the ISB to ferret out traitors and seditionists doesn't actually mean that I'm sending my Jewish neighbors to gas chambers, trying to invade Poland, burning crosses on peoples lawns while wearing white hoods or generally oppressing people behind an iron curtain any more than my DM is going to show me how to receive True Ultimate Power now that my cleric is 8th level.

Also, all Nazis* are bad? Every single one of them?

*Nazis, and by extension, Imperials.

We need an Internet Law to cover ErikB's uncontrollable need to jump into any and every Imperial thread to piss in the proverbial punch pool.

Anyone got any ideas on what to call it?

Stepping away from the real world tangent, there isn't a whole lot of demand for sourcebooks for playing orcs under Sauron's command, or for playing minions of the Sorceror-King's in Dark Sun (a D&D setting), or (more personally) not a lot of call for playing Serfs and Z'Bri in Tribe 8.

Purely within the setting, the Empire of Darth Sidious is starkly an ideological bad thing - overtly and often in-setting explicitly self-referentially so. Many of the more repugnant actions they take are proudly taken but masked with a false reluctance. A military that rewards a Moff whose reaction to food riots is to land a star destroyer on the protesters and security forces alike, crushing them with promotion and prestige assignment (talking about Tarkin here) is not a morally grey command structure. The same regime's first actions included declaring long-standing non-human members of the Galactic Republic to be non-sentient and siezed their territories and companies (not merely naming them enemies of the state which may have been reasonable for the Nemoidians or Muun, but non-entities who are now considered objects or animals).

Now, "all this is EU fanwank" you may claim, but they are the accepted setting elements of the license. Ignoring this, or trying to carve space for "not so bad" versions of the Empire runs afoul of contradicting these elements, and that runs afoul of the license and in particular the requirement for all official published products to be approved by the licensor. So expecting Imperial material that casts them in a positive light is unlikely. The sole exception in the published materials was the Tie Fighter video games - I am not familiar with the context that resulted in their approval but it does seem to be the outlier to the vast majority of other materials.

This is why I feel the closest you will get to an Imperial book would be something like the old ISB from WEG - a book whose primary purpose is for GM's and primarily to provide information on the Imperials-as-antagonists. The setting and the license do not seem to lend themselves to a morally ambiguous framing of the Sidious Empire, not in the same way that the 40K license/setting does.

Now, fan-made stuff doesn't need to adhere to this rigid framework.

Now, fan-made stuff doesn't need to adhere to this rigid framework.

Which here comprises such things as unofficial campaigns... not like "official sourcebook" was what the OP was looking for.

The first thing I thought about when this game came out was getting my players into an Imperial campaign where they serve as a special Imperial response team sent to handle uprisings, quell rebellions, hunt down rebel commanders, smugglers, shut down slavers, and covertly go against the crimelord Hutts.

Just because they're backed by the Empire doesn't mean they'll have an easy time of things, especially since they'll be sent in with the whole " we disavow any knowledge of you if you get caught " line half the time.

And on the topic of " space nazis " ( which I think it a hilarious argument against playing as the Empire, btw ), while Lucas might have truly modeled the Imperials after the nazis, that is a supposed fact that is neither here nor there for me, nor my players, and would not dissuade us from such a campaign.

In Pathfinder, we've played evil campaigns before. My PCs have stomped through villages, subjugated and extorted people, and been murderous, evil villains. This has no reflection on them as human beings, nor will playing as the Empire.

It's a roleplaying game. If you have a problem with that, then move along, this isn't the game you're looking for .

shut down slavers

Don't you think it would be more in character for an Imperial ops team to be hunting down escaped slaves or killing members of the underground railroad that smuggles escaped slaves to safe areas?

shut down slavers

Don't you think it would be more in character for an Imperial ops team to be hunting down escaped slaves or killing members of the underground railroad that smuggles escaped slaves to safe areas?

Not necessarily - it would depend on what species are being traded as slaves, who is doing the selling who is buying and where the profit is going.

The Empire's stance on slavery is a muddled mess. Notionally it still outlaws slavery - but it plays around with this in terms of jurisdictional discretion (so a Sector Governor can decide to not prosecute), it also redefines certain races as being not protected by Imperial Law, it also plays with nuance (so "conscripts" aren't technically slaves, and "indentured servitude" or "penal labour sentencing" is not considered slavery, nor is "freelance contract" (like those for Twi'lek dancing girls) and from the write-ups about the Corporate Sector the situation there reads pretty close to wage-slavery from the cyberpunk gnere). It also goes after slave rings run by aliens more often than, say, a group of humans or with a paid ally in the imperial bureaucracy.

Which is a long-winded rationalization to say they are against it in all cases except those where it sees slavery as okay, or practices slavery itself, or merely benefits from an "unfortunate circumstance." But if an alien organization is kidnapping and selling humans, or pro-Imperial aliens/near-humans, or if they refuse to pay bribes to Imperial officials when they travel through imperial territory, or they take the money and use it against the Empire, or if the slavers become too brazen, THEN the Empire hits them and hits them hard and as publically as possible. This is how the Empire became popular with human colonies in the Expansion and Mid-Rim regions - by cracking down on things that made those worlds feel threatened/uncomfortable.

Remember the Empire can be remarkably laissez-faire with it's subordinates, allowing them to run their own personal fiefdoms however they saw fit ... there's just the understanding that at a moment's notice that can change drastically and you are bleeding to death from an assassin's attack, or gasping for air as Vader or an Emperor's Hand "corrects" the situation.

Look at the game Tie Fighter , one of my all time favourites, for how you could run an Imperial campaign that doesn't inherently make you evil. Dealing with pirates and traitors within the Empire are good hooks that deal with loyalty and duty.

As much as I was disappointed by the game, the Sith side of the Old Republic is a pretty good idea about how to run Bad Guys too. Okay, the specifics of the setting are 4K years out of date, but file off the serial numbers, tweak things around a bit and you've got some solid mission concepts.

Maelora, put ErikB on Ignore and let's continue! Your OP was very intriguing and I'd like to continue replying in the spirit in which you initiated the thread.

Thank you. I didn't want to ignore ErikB, because I by and large enjoy robust debate, and don't mind listening to opposing views (I'm a complaints manager for a large insurance company, a skill which serves me well as a GM!). But he doesn't really want to engage, does he?

Which is really ironic, as I'm probably on his 'side' in the debate. I'm not great fan of 'evil' games, but as GM I do want the Imperials to be something other than hateful cardboard cut-outs. I want their motivations and beliefs to be just as plausible as the PCs.

The "Run by Dark Jedi" bit is interesting, but depending on your willingness to use some EU lore (as EotE by necessity does) we get the anti-Sith conspiracy :

That's intriguing, thank you. I actually intend to have factions in both the Empire and the Alliance. I prefer 'shades of grey' to good guys and bad guys. I understand why Lucas couldn't do that in his films, but EoE seems to be about the seamier side of things anyway. I feel the Alliance is the 'nicer' side but I don't see any fun in the Imperials all being one-dimensional sociopaths either. Even as adversaries, they should be interesting and unique.

And I'm open to using some EU stuff. I'm tempted to actually read the Zahn stuff, I hear good things about it. Though quite a bit of the EU things I've seen feel like '90210 in Space' And I just feel that the Yuuzhan Vong feel out of place in SW, like they stumbled in from some bad anime...

And yeah, you're not the only one for whom had the idea that even "believing Imps" considered the destruction of Alderaan a net negative. I don't recall who said it -- maybe it was only Wookiepedia? -- but the whole "rule by fear of force" thing would have looked a lot more plausible without the Death Star being blown up very soon afterward. My general rule is that the majority of the Empire's own "true believers" was at cross-purposes with the Sith, or rather that the Emperor's public values were what squared with the masses, and that they would have had a rather dim view of his true self... you know, if they ever thought it to be his true self and not Rebel propaganda. But that's two separate people now who have already voiced "Pellaeon".

I can see it being a moment of clarity for many Imperials. It's the moment they abandoned the moral high ground (assuming they had at least some in the first place). Many real-world dictatorships are very canny about covering up the bad things they do (the existence of say, concentration camps only came to light after the war started) but using the Death Star seems to indicate the Empire doesn't care about PR. Tarkin's 'total war' doctrine makes him pretty hardcore, like Caesar in Fallout New Vegas. I'm betting many Imperials assumed the DS was going to be used mostly as a threat, or to blow up implacable alien races that couldn't be reasoned with. Not blow up human Core Worlds. It almost feels like they just did the most evil thing in history, 'just for the lulz'.

Also, in real life dictatorships, there's frequently serving army types who disagree with the dictator himself. Hitler and Stalin both had assassination attempts. Not that I want to dwell on real-life things here.

As for Vader... depending on which canon and/or fanon you choose to go by, that might well be "just a Vader thing". Supposedly in some circles (or maybe fanon) "Vader's command" was regarded as actually being the most meritocratic... remember " Admiral Piett"? I'd probably have it a joke in enlisted circles that Vader's command (whether Death Squadron or otherwise, but basically "as far as Vader's reach") have the nickname of "The Live Fast, Die Fast Express".

True But I get the feeling that the Alliance cares a bit more about their rank and file than the Empire. Aren't a substantial number of stormtroopers clones? I could see some Imperial leaders seeing them as little more than 'biological droids', just resources to be used. Not all of them, of course.

Oh, and Cracken's Rebel Operatives (an old D6 book-of-NPCs) offers one option for "defectors from the Empire" that isn't so often brought up... deep-cover "stay behinds"! For example, at some point during the Galactic Civil War, the "leak" aboard the Star Destroyer Adjudicator , flagship of Moff Renquet's sector, was its conscripted cook .

Alternately, a would-be Imperial "dispenser of justice" could be fighting for the values that they believe the Empire should stand for against Imperials whose cruelty only validates and vindicates Rebel propaganda...

That's actually the kind of offbeat personal story I was thinking about. I'm sure there are those who think the Empire is necessary but that the Emperor has lost it.

That's another reason I went for Tarkin as Emperor. Palpatine is a bit too much the 'evil wizard' for me. Tarkin is ruthless, brilliant and cruel, but he's only one man. And he doesn't want the Sith gaining any more power than is necessary, and would probably be happy to be rid of all of them if they weren't so useful. So you have factions in the Empire of pro-Sith, pro-human emperor and the 'reformers' who would want someone less sadistic in charge (Thrawn or somebody). Add in those few alien races that are pro-Empire and you have significant factions for an Imperial campaign, or at least a good background for a PC.

And I aim to do the same for the Alliance. As when the Jedi turn up and are told they are no longer wanted.

Maelora, not really sure what happened to your post up there, but you mentioned (or someone mentioned), shades of gray versus good or bad, and I concur. While I don't shy away from good vs bad, I think shades of gray are more true to reality.

Even typically the most evil murderer has some good elements within him or herself, some reason they did it, some greater goal they were trying to achieve. Hitler, pretty evil, but he revitalized the German economy, built the autobahn, and founded Volkswagen. Still pretty darn evil, but with a couple streaks of gray there, and the same can be said for pretty much every single figure in history.

Perhaps that Imperial officer joined the Empire to help fight trandosian slavers that were threatening his family, and eventually that defensive role went to more of an offensive role, and before he knew it they were hunting down and killing all trandosians in the system. Good intentions went wrong. Is he an evil guy? No.

What about all of those contractors working on the Death Star who were killed when Luke blew it up? How many families did Luke doom? When the Empire fell, how many regional Moffs became dictators, or how many criminal elements sprung up to take power and terrorize the populace? So is Luke truly a "good guy" or does he too have a lot of gray in his character?

I think you're on the right track and would like to see what you come up with for Imperial PCs.

Hey! We're the same age! Mind you, wrong side of the pond - but then you get to live in Doctor Who Central, so I am full of envy right now. (:

Cool! All my players are around my age - the first generation of SW fans, which is why we cut the originals so much slack, I think.

I'm always glad to see that some of our US cousins like 'Blake's Seven' or 'Dr Who'. I'm surprised at shows that are so offbeat and quintessentially 'British' translate well to other shores.

*raises glass to the old people in the thread*

Raises glass too. Though I only _feel_ ancient, I'm not that hideous when I put some slap on!

I will, however, bee the coolest old lady EVER in the old people's home...

"Star Wars XII, hah! In my day, we all complained about 'Phantom Menace'! You whippersnappers don't know you're born...!"

As much as I was disappointed by the game, the Sith side of the Old Republic is a pretty good idea about how to run Bad Guys too. Okay, the specifics of the setting are 4K years out of date, but file off the serial numbers, tweak things around a bit and you've got some solid mission concepts.

Imperial Agent story should be very good blueprint for Empire campaign. But I dare to say any lightside run of Sith Empire stories can do, I chuckled when after interrogating prisoner without the Force Lightning as Inquisitor was commemorated by NPC as "Unorthodox, but possible applicable in future."

I was recomended the novel Allegiance and it is rather inspirational for playing Imperials, as the main characters seem to me as anti-corruption/evulzness vigilanties.

Maelora, not really sure what happened to your post up there, but you mentioned (or someone mentioned), shades of gray versus good or bad, and I concur. While I don't shy away from good vs bad, I think shades of gray are more true to reality.

Unfortunately, for all my nerd leanings, I suck at websites.

I can tell you what a 'Quarren' is though. Not many soccer moms can do that

Even typically the most evil murderer has some good elements within him or herself, some reason they did it, some greater goal they were trying to achieve. Hitler, pretty evil, but he revitalized the German economy, built the autobahn, and founded Volkswagen. Still pretty darn evil, but with a couple streaks of gray there, and the same can be said for pretty much every single figure in history.

A peculiar fact about the Nazis was that they were surprisingly 'green'. They wanted to conquer the world, not destroy it. It's fact that surprises a lot of people, because they assume they were evil about everything.

But hey, I'd sooner not go the real-world route, just because that's precisely what seems to derail these threads. 1945 wasn't THAT long ago, historically, and I guess to many it's still very raw if you're Jewish.

Perhaps that Imperial officer joined the Empire to help fight trandosian slavers that were threatening his family, and eventually that defensive role went to more of an offensive role, and before he knew it they were hunting down and killing all trandosians in the system. Good intentions went wrong. Is he an evil guy? No.

What about all of those contractors working on the Death Star who were killed when Luke blew it up? How many families did Luke doom? When the Empire fell, how many regional Moffs became dictators, or how many criminal elements sprung up to take power and terrorize the populace? So is Luke truly a "good guy" or does he too have a lot of gray in his character?

Didn't they retcon that or something, saying that it was 'only' Genosians on the DS?

But yes. I can see some Alliance types being troubled by killing non-combatants. And more hardened ones thinking 'hey, they shouldn't have been on the fricking DEATH STAR'!

War is very horrible. Everyone involved loses something within it, to a greater or lesser degree.

As for Luke, I feel sorry for the Womp Rats. We should respect our Muridae brothers, not use them for target practise.

I think you're on the right track and would like to see what you come up with for Imperial PCs.

I don't have the AoE book yet (ordered it but I'm in the UK) but we're discussing character ideas. One of the players wants to play someone who is pro-Imperial, but anti-Emperor, and very reluctantly joins the Rebels. I get the feeling he'd probably be happier with the EoE gang though!

I also have an Imperial Agent NPC lined up for the EoE game, a possible romance option, even. He's nothing like the sadistic monster people might expect. I'm hoping to do some kind of 'Enemy Mine' scenario where the scoundrels and the Imperials have to unite against a common threat, and grudgingly start to appreciate the other side's thinking.

Purely within the setting, the Empire of Darth Sidious is starkly an ideological bad thing - overtly and often in-setting explicitly self-referentially so. Many of the more repugnant actions they take are proudly taken but masked with a false reluctance. A military that rewards a Moff whose reaction to food riots is to land a star destroyer on the protesters and security forces alike, crushing them with promotion and prestige assignment (talking about Tarkin here) is not a morally grey command structure. The same regime's first actions included declaring long-standing non-human members of the Galactic Republic to be non-sentient and siezed their territories and companies (not merely naming them enemies of the state which may have been reasonable for the Nemoidians or Muun, but non-entities who are now considered objects or animals).

I agree. The games are strong ties to the films, and AoE assumes you will be pro-Rebel.

But as a GM, I want some adversaries who can make the players doubt or question themselves. Not every Imperial is as ruthless as Tarkin, or supportive of the Sith. The Empire is mostly made up of humans, with different thoughts and opinions, albeit under a rather repressive tyrannical rule. They're not some implacable alien race you can't talk with.

So some Imperial adversaries will live down to the stereotype as callous tyrants, others won't.

It strikes me that EoE is particularly geared towards moral greys, so it might be a good place to explore this. The PCs are not sociopaths, but they're not really heroes either. They care about 'me and mine', and are basically trying to make it through the day in a tough world. That could lead to all kinds of odd alliances and strange bedfellows.

Maelora, with the arrival of ErikB, your thread is now derailed. Take what you have and run!

Actually, just put him on "Ignore" in your profile.

Makes forum conversations a lot more pleasant if you don't have to see his off-topic tripe.

That or if his posts are really offensive, report him to the moderators.

Never claim that PCs are not sociopaths. Just because it hasn't been diagnosed doesn't mean the symptoms should be ignored.

One of the things I sometimes have confusion with, and it is present a little here, is that in the search for 'grey', it seems implicit that the Rebellion are good guys, something that tends to focus the discussion on carving out some "good" in the Empire to play around with.

The Rebellion is an interesting thing to play with if you are looking for "grey". At the superficial level you have the Endor Massacre/Death Star tragedy sort of thing where the idea of "every freedom fighter is another man's terrorist" writ large. But even without resorting to that level, there is plenty grey in there, some of it even touched on in canon sources!

1. The Enemy of my Enemy is my... what?!

Not everyone who put on the red phoenix of the rebellion did so to restore freedom, democracy and ineffective senate debates over taxation of the Trade Federation (and Jedi too). There were a lot of people who did it for far more selfish, and even outright reasons. A clear go-to here is the Bothans - they essentially played both sides of the civil war for suckers to keep their piece of the pie (and enlarge it where they could). The canon bit here is their role in the Caamasi genocide. Then you have your anti-human aliens, your anti-Core World extremists onthe Outer Rim, your isolationists, your CIS hold-outs, crime lords, smugglers, etc. The Alliance often was just happy enough to have someone willing to point a gun at an Imp or give them money, they didn't ask or even want to know why most of the time, I'm sure they hoped in time that working with idealists the more self-interested would come around, which sort of segues into the next bit...

2. We win, now what?

Again, touched on in the novels but not everyone had the same destination in mind despite walking the same road to Coruscant. Mon Mothma et.al. had some nostalgic obsession with an idealized (possibly never real) Republic where there was never any corruption, or backstabbing or discrimination against the newer colonies/less humanoid aliens, etc. But for every starry-eyed person with rose-coloured glasses there was a realpolitik backroom sort of person who wanted all of that to start back up so they could go back to their bribes, their good alcohol, and getting even with the names on their personal vendetta lists. Then you have the revolutionaries - those with no particular love for either model of government and wanted something newer - rep by pop, a United Nations system of multiple governments, a return to rule by planetary aristocracy (I used this group in an Infinities campaign, calling themselves The Commonwealth - essentially a mix of noblesse oblige with some heavy paternalism towards those "unable to govern themselves properly"), rule by corporation, restore the Empress Teta system as the capital (or move the capital to the Mid-Rim, etc).

3. Ends Justify the Means.

A mix of the first with the realpolitik of the second - here you get Rebels torturing Imps (for revenge, out of misplaced sense of justice, in the belief they are getting information, or just because they can), privateers with a far less discriminating eye for targets, slavers (those alien slavers taking humans as fodder I mentioned in a previous post). The white knights and the moral high horse brigade can't be everywhere, stop everyone. These are the guys that live up (down?) to the COMPNOR propaganda about the Rebellion.

In such a grey campaign, the PCs could be some sort of nascent Alliance internal police, or maybe just a group that's taken it upon themselves (possibly with a benefactor higher up, like Garm or even Akbar) to make sure other Rebels live up to the exceeding perfection espoused by Mothma and the rest. It could be all about hunting down the bad guys within their ranks, or it could turn out you are just doing someone's dirty work for them or maybe the rewards of doing this just turn out to be too much temptation and the group starts falsely accusing other rebel cells just to get their stuff/keep up their prestige/always find a (if not always the/their) man, etc.