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It's that time again for some notes and reflection on the story just finished... been a while!

Longer than planned, in fact, and this is in part due to these stories being relatively large ones, but also because I stretched out everything as long as I could whilst scrambling to get more off-line play done, which was displaced by at first Judge Dredd and then later Mage. The storyline of our off-line Mage game, probably our largest current RP endeavour, can be seen at Lana's forums, whilst Judge Dredd has been a highly amusing recent success which we have just started a second campaign of- but between Mage and JD2 we got enough Star Wars done to last us here a while, and so I can afford to pick up the pace. Sorry if we lose any players due to games going faster but the overall experience is better if we can keep things moving.

This leads me onto something else- the Campaigns have now finished most of the side stories and establishment. We're now full-pelting on the central Adelmo-SNK plotline, and the years are passing to the point of the start of the Clone Wars. What I am getting at here is that the stories are finite. There's going to be an end to all this and for the first time I think we can start looking at the point where this will be over. Now, in theory there could be a third campaign covering the Clone Wars (there's a potential end point there for the Jedi that was considered a while back) and there's the Original Trilogy game that can pick up both its own stories and those left dangling from the PT one, but here we must also accept that time is passing and we're all getting older! You guys are getting busier as players, I'm much busier myself, my general RPing group is now in their 30s and whilst there's a marvel that we still get together to game you do have to wonder if it ends, and we have to rely on my brother as well, so I am just saying... don't necessarily count on it. I'm going to make sure the current campaign can be finished, but beyond that we don't know.

Still- this campaign will last us a while yet. So let's take a look at what we have been doing.

'Harmony' is where the central storyline really came together for the Light Siders. Remember that the Light Side plotline is the main plotline- it could be a story on its own. The Dark Side storyline is the bonus story, with a differing perspective on things, but that would not really stand as a solo effort IF you look at the campaign as a whole. Their isolated storylines like The Ghost Citadel were perfectly valid stories, of course, but a campaign is different from a story., That being so, it has to be remembered that the Jedi have never met Adelmo (still haven't, in fact) or have any idea about her, her motivations, her powers or the whole concept of Syphar n Kalar. So in terms of the main storyline, this is where the mystery kicks off.

The storyline had been previewed with Roan and Jelena's story on the planet Cassilis, where Kara Katai was seen for the first time, using her weird gravity-defying force powers and stealing ancient Sith-related stuff and destroying the sites entirely so it could not be clear what was stolen. This particular story was proceeded by a transitional ministory set-up for a takedown of a pirate clan, with the final strike being the first event of the story proper. All of that was just an excuse to reintroduce Katai as she made her violent intrusion into the fight- and noticably ignoring the riches of the tombs the pirates were after, stealing dinky stone trinkets from a much older tomb instead. This paired with Cassilis as to showing her target was not money, but ancient knowledge of some sort. Wuith the pirates taken care of, the Jedi's players' new purpose was to catch Kara Katai and, perhaps more importantly, work out who she is acting for and why. The players had some vague ideas- like Gallagher's premonitions (and warnings from Sienar) and the weird effect on everyone's minds on Cassilis- but were basically acting in an information void. Even getting the name Kara Katai had been difficult, though also boring so it was done for them by an NPC (the ever useful Ithrorn, my generic NPC Jedi I use whenever I need a Jedi who is not the players to do stuff).

So, mysterious force-using weirdness beyond anyone's experience... that makes a good excuse to bring Ascar back into the story! Ascar's original appearance, playing both Light and Dark side against each other, was so long ago that virtually no-one still playing remembers it (though Edna originally left just a bit too early to meet him). He'd been back since, at the start of the second campaign, playing a more ambiguous role in the Light Side story where he seemed to help them out a tad. Here, the idea was that he was going to be 100% helpful in spite of the players' suspicions, with his help offered to the Jedi players being both correct and useful. All of which, of course, was a feint for the fact that what he was NOT telling them was much more significant and this re-introduction was all a cover for Ascar's much larger role in the story, which will be on the Dark Side perspective.

The early part of the Jedi story was set on an unnamed world that presents mysteries- the tribe of the Atrii, apparently primitive but living on a world that was once highly advanced, with no visible means as to why they have descended into barbarism (the ancient cities do not seem to have bene destroyed by war, for example). The Atrii have several important elements- their inability to understand time twinned with their painstaking chronicling of their history being the main anthropological trait, which leads them to have a depiction in their jewel-laden caves of the moment they met the people the Jedi are looking for. Of course, the fact that some of them can display the gravity-defying force tricks that Katai used is the main link that is why Ascar brought the Jedi out here in the first place. Thanks to Gallagher, the Jedi also get a look at a depiction of 'the end of the world' that has no visible cause, a link to the later Syphar n Kalar revelation.

Following the clues here, the Jedi move onto Thalos, unaware that Ascar actually went on there himself decades ago when he was last in this area and knows exactly what is there. Here they find another force-using culture, this time female-dominated and where your force-potential coincides with your hair colour. They also have a hazy idea of their own ancient history and their current cultural disposition stems from their hatred of men due to ancient wars, from which they kinda remember the Jedi and Sith (and deep within the Jedi Archives there probably is SOME memory of Thalos as well, but no-one remembered it). Do not necessarily be waiting for direct answers as to why these worlds are the way they are- some interpretations will float around but not necessarily explanations. The whole theme, though, is that the areas of space in which this plotline took place had very, very bad things happen in the distant past and it has caused massive changes to- and in some places the ending of- civilisation. This was also referred to in 'Fall of Damaria', the first of the text adventure stories about the Malphan Wars, where the Jedi is told that the secrets on the Meneleth Opus- like the Syphar n Kalar- are from a time of absolute horrors that should be forgotten, for the good of all.

However, it would be far too easy for the Jedi to just get their answers so the majority of their plotline is spent disentangling themselves from the mess they find themselves in Thalos. Being Force Users, the locals have sensed the Jedi's arrival. Sadly for the Jedi, the trauma caused by Adelmo's rebellion on Thalos have led to it being in the grip of an effective military dictatorship ledd by the Lady Aquilla, who is effectively a Dark Sider. Now, we have a lot of perspective issues here. First, the Thalossians see things in terms of Harmony rather than the Force, an integrated idea of the Jedi concepts of the Force and Balance. This means their idea of Light and Dark Side- harmonious and disharmonious- are different too. Lady Thea- the prime 'Light Side' equivalent on Thalos- refers to Aquilla as disharmonious, but the difference here is that whilst a Dark Sider would accept being called a Dark Sider (though he may argue with a Jedi on that being a bad thing and even on the label of 'Dark', he'd accept the conceptual difference), Aquilla would dispute it, saying she has brought peace and security to Thalos and isn't that harmony? Even Adelmo thought she was ringing Harmony... at least at first. Maybe more on Adelmo later.

Now, remember, this is Star Wars and whilst we want different perspectives, we do not want morality TOO mixed up. Aquilla is a bad guy, even if she has understandable reasons, and that is why the Jedi find themselves so horribly ambushed by the entire planet's military. The Ladies had sensed that the Jedi were coming and this would bring change. And specifically there was this idea that the Jedi would fight Aquilla. Aquilla is too paranoid to take chances and arranges to have the Jedi killed. Of course, this attempt to have them killed is precisely what causes them to fight against her and eventually remove her from power. This is the way of the Dark Side- it tends to destroy itself (a challenge for the Dark Side players to be aware of). You can make the same allegory for something that is disharmonious; not working with itself. Nonetheless, life on Thalos was not some sort of nightmare. It was unaccountable and blatantly anti-man and Aquilla was murderous against threats to her security, but Thalos was being held together and life for most there would have been ok. The cultural pressure of the idea of the 'Harmony of Thalos' means even the likes of Aquilla are not trying to, say, rule or destroy the universe. This is why Adelmo is so very wrong from their standards, and why the entire planet tried to stop her.

We extend this allegory to the super-force powers displayed by the Ladies, with both Light and Dark Side both now understand is actually the power of many force users concentrated through their leader. The Dark Side/Disharmonious types seem to get the better deal here- they simply have to be in the presence of their Ladies-in-Waiting to get the power boost, whilst the Light Side/Harmonious ones need physical contact. As ever, the Dark Side is quicker and easier, but the price is that the Dark Side minions lose a lot of their will, free thought- and actually their power, which gets concentrated more in the leader. Lady Thea's LIWs were still complete people and had more individual power than any of Aquilla's minions. The power when both meet backed by their LIWs should end up as about even. Black haired Aquilla, however, had the edge over Thea because her blonde hair showed Aquilla as one better with the physical aspects of the Force. Thea's dark hair made her better with the more subtle aspects, and this allows her to rescue the Jedi from Aquilla's trap, as she had a far better idea of precisely what was going to happen, and could even make contact with Gallagher to warn him.

Once the Jedi understand what is going on, the rest of the story is simple in concept but long in execution. They have two tasks- rescue Thea's LIWs so she can face Aquilla, and learn about Adelmo. The first is a tad of an ethical problem for the Jedi as they seem to be getting involved in another planet's civil war, but the angle of protecting the person who rescued them should come in strongly, as should Thea's noble intentions (note, though, that Thalos is nothing resembling a democracy). Surviving the ambush was the giant action scene for the episode- and boy, was it!- and there is a smaller one with the prison break out. Meanwhile, in the Great Library the Jedi finally get the 'Syphar n Kalar' name, link the symbol associated with it to the scene Gallagher saw in the caves of the Atrii, and even learn that its meaning is 'the end of the world', much as that helps little. They also get Adelmo's backstory and now have a fair idea that she thinks she can find the mythical SnK.

The Jedi can then escape for certain by leaving Thea to it, or they can try and help Thea regain control, the bonus for which was to get details of a strange Thalossian prophecy about the future, where they see change or death coming, and are not sure whether to embrace the change or fear the death. The symbol for change/death comes with the prophecy and is the extra clue for things the Jedi have, whilst a drawing of some aspects of this prophecy was a link to the OT period with Star Destroyers around Thalos. 'Thea wins' is one of three endings for the story (along with not winning and the war going on) which can possibly affect certain aspects of the OT game should it be played again.

After that, the main story is done, but we have an addendum as the Jedi get another shot at catching Katai and, thanks to what they learned from the Atrii, do it right this time. Starting this ending up gave an opportunity for new players to join and the whole thing was really just a big combat plan in the face of local opposition to the Jedi prying around. There were better ways to get it done bit it all worked out ok in the end. So, the Jedi have Katai in custody and know the name and vague motive of their ultimate enemy, Adelmo. They are going to stay on the Adelmo thing from here on out.

Between story interludes give us a dose of agalctic reality. The Jedi are stuck in the slow disintegration of the Republic and a reminder of how much it sucks to be having to defend the likes of Nebb (who, btw, was simply selling out your presence on Ando in return for his freedom, and, turned aggressive against you so that if you tried to arrest him for it he could strike back).

(And if Jelena had stayed- and someone senior really should have stayed with him- she not only had a shot of trying to speak Nebb's language, she may also have remembered that Ascar revealed a while back that Nebb knows Basic after all...). Nebb is an excellent weapon to hit the Jedi over the head with and as long as they hate him he'll keep coming back- in fact, he's likely still around by the OT game, more successful than ever, and the possibility of the Rebels having to work with him would make a story all on its own.

The was also a point being made about politics- a lot of fans criticise the Jedi for being too political in the films. But as we see it, if going with the 'Jedi are the federal police force' angle as GL decided, then... it's simply impossible for them not to have a political angle. Their power has to come from somewhere; they cannot just assume it. That being so, they have to play the game to a certain extent, as they need political support to survive. If they lose the love of the people, they'll also love the support of the Senate, and then there's trouble. As we are playing in a time when things are falling apart, this will impact the Jedi.

The Renegades get a different type of suck, as we see how people may try to take advantage of them. Their story was hardly a disaster but didn't end as they wanted. As bad guys go, Kessler isn't the worst as he still leaves the general situation resolved; he's just taken a huge cut of other people's money himself (and people died in his machinations). Hopefully we've not seen the last of Kessler, who I have plans for in other possible interludes. His plotline is based on a Blake's 7 episode, btw, a source we normally use for the Dark Side but which works in so many ways.

No time for split storylines for the main campaign though- certainly for the next couple of episodes we'll be sticking with one plot thread, so you guys can re-unite in your pursuit of Adelmo.

Not that you have any idea how to find her. What is it the Council is going to tell you... and why do you need to go back to Coruscant first?

Now, for the Dark Siders this was an unpleasant story.

Not just because we keep dangling the Kuylen carrot in front of them, though that is obviously awesome, and amusingly curious seeing how few of you were actually playing when he was around.

And not because of the dangers of taking on a pirate empire. The Treganna Void under Emperor Rivas was created to give a new set of 'other bad guys' for the bad guys of the Dark Side to fight against. Evil vs evil is a classic way to run bad guy (or at least less moral) games in RPing and works well for us here, though you can't just keep putting Treganna Voids in their way.

It was unpleasant because the Dark Side sometimes needs to be, in this case focussed around the prison of Datura. One problem with the Dark Side is that the limits of heroic play the Light Siders have- the law, morality, having to protect others, sacrificing self-advantage for grater good etc- does not exist for the Dark Side. For example, even if they had to keep him alive, the Dark Siders could have beaten up Nebb until he stayed quiet, and happily slaughtered as many people on Ando as they needed to keep themselves safe. That sounds great for players, but for writers the issue here is that these limits help set the story. Totally free play like that is very dull from a writing point of view, so one of the most important factors for the Dark Siders is introducing different limits. There's the blunt force of the Bureau, of course, there to stop the Dark Siders going on literal galactic rampages, but that is very specific. There's also the challenge of working as a group within the Dark Side, which we try and take a little look at inside every story, full in the knowledge that self-destruction is what generally dooms the Sith.

(There are some GMs who run evil games as literal free for alls, but we would humbly advance the idea that this is not the best approach. It certainly does not fit our style and storytelling concept)

Here, the centrepiece of the story was surviving inside a habitat of pure brutality that was the Datura prison. No morals, no ethics, just power in the hands of others, and lacking their sabres the Dark Siders weren't quite as superior as normal, though they were still the most dangerous people there. The reason getting into Datura was so extreme- causing massive carnage in an assassination to get arrested in such a way as to be thrown into Rivas' prison- was because the Dark Siders were meant to have as much open fun as possible before the limits of being in Datura set in.

So, starting from nowhere, the challenge was to ride up through the strength-based Datuean power structure to try and work out the trail Kuylen left behind, if indeed it was really Kuylen. You THINK it was but... you didn't actually see him., Who knows? And if it was him, did that giant spider eat him? Well we don;t like to give easy answers. Anyway, from becoming people of authority, to leading your rebellion, to surviving the trogs. and then getting out through the airless lower depths, Datura was a barrage of constant harshness to challenge the carefree amorality of the Dark Side players. The stone given to them by Eller Jey was a get out of jail card for ONE of the problems they faced as dictated by myself, and as the trog fight had taken them to the brink (and as they used the geologist- one of my favourite characters- to actually have the route out of Black) I used the stone on the giant spider. This still led to a lot of issues for them to deal with and I also feel that we had not quite got used to the best way to play the battle system yet- it is an attritional system and the je is to try and act in the way that minimises your damage at all times except when extreme heroism is needed. There are no tanks as such in this game but there are those much better suited to front line duty than others, and some best suited to taking on super mooks instead of mook hordes. 'Impervious' was king schtick for the story on Blue level, which goes to show all powers have their day sometimes, as it is useless against people with guns which is your general fare.

Anyway, it was perhaps unfortunate they my great lengthening of the game for practical reasons happened in the middle of the Daturan unpleasantness and really meant we lingered on that more than was enjoyable, but that's just the way of things. Of course, the prospect of destroying Rivas afterwards was the bracket of fun at the other side of the prison, but I did make clear that this was going to be VERY dangerous. Still, whilst it was nearly a disaster, I think a lot of you learned well from it- about basics escape plans, and even advantageous combat behaviour., A turning point, maybe?

Will all your stories from now on be fun and frolics? No- that's still boring from a story point of view, and there will always be limits. The limits the next story, though, are more because of the need for social interaction, so time for those types to shine (let's face it, Datura was a combat story. This being Star Wars, can't be apologising for that...). However, the story after that will put you back in a harsh and evil environment once more, so be ready. You won't be power restricted this time, but the danger will be far greater.

I am talking a lot more about the style than the story That is in part because the style is half the point for the Dark Side, unlike the more traditional heroic Jedi narrative. However, it's also because the story was not the thing this time. The Dark Siders already knew about Adelmo and the SNK, so from a grand perspective they were marking time as the Jedi caught up. You went looking for Kuylen and made (and killed) enemies along the way. You didn't find Kuylen but you do think he was there and you got what seems to be his DNA sample, though you are none the wiser as to what he was up to. Edna's reintroduction to the story allowed me to demonstrate to the Dark Side what affect Adelmo can have on planets- and her way of arranging events o her advantage, much like what happened to your shield generator- much as the Jedi had seen on Cassilis.

Getting his DNA sample unlocks Briande's message, and I am afraid there are issues there as from a practical point of view there is a documentation mess in spring out who is meant to know what about the SNK that will take some time to resolve. The core of the message is that Briande is telling Kuylen he thinks the SNK is real. Now, I have a vague memory of him mentioning a planet, that the Dark Siders noted for future reference as there were practical issues getting to it as it stood. However, my brother thinks it was just more SNK clues, either in the message or from the planet Briande directed them to. We'll get it sorted sooner or later.

All the plot, then, was saved for the final twist as Ascar appears (chronologically speaking, this took place just as the Jedi are trying to catch Katai, so he talks to the Jedi about Briande AFTER he was talking with you guys). This makes several huge differences- the angering of Adelmo, the demonstration that she has a vulnerability, the potential of being able to exploit that vulnerability, and an edge against the oppressive barrier of the Bureau. Of course, none of you trust Ascar, and nor does he trust you, but one point here is that you cannot achieve things without building meaningful relationships. Can you make this work? He's been thrown as a big bone to the Dark Siders, and also to annoy the Jedi. His presence gave the strongest link yet between your storyline and the Jedi's (in fact, both groups were surprisingly close to each other in this game), it allowed an explanation of everything that happened to the Dark Siders from Episode III onwards, and will give plenty of chances in future. Eller Jey will stick around to provide Adelmo's perspective for a while, as the Lady herself is not best pleased with the Dark Siders right now and will stay off-scene for a bit. None of you is sleeping with her, as happened in the off-line game, nor done a great job of being friends with her so she'll be a little distant, but she certainly is of use (like with Ascar, there were opportunities there for new sorts of powers to be learned, and may yet be, though time is a factor).

This leaves you with no precise idea of what to do next. I did give you a slight hook though- Eller Jey's warning about upcoming death. In an out-of-game perspective, I will say this. If you had not met Adelmo, all of you would have died in the timeframe of the next episode... an indication that the troubles you face are not all because of the Lady. This doesn't mean Adelmo saves you, btw, though Eller Jey being there is a help. It just means things have changed for you as a result of meeting her, though Eller still sees extreme danger. The trailer I gave you for the episode also shows that bad things are coming.

Hopefully stronger than ever, let's see how you can meet your upcoming challenge!

Interesting stuff and thanks for great games. I hope we won`t that busy so we may continue playing these games for years.

I hope there will be some opportunities to become more friendly with Eller Jey in the future, since she is staying after all. Was there an option that she was not going to stay at all?

I've a feeling that a few of the guys on the Dark Side are going to take that as a challenge.





YEAH. So guys. Stop making me waste time killing mooks

Anyway, I'll be honest, the Datura parts were...probably my least favorite thing so far in SW, but I also think it's mostly because it got dragged out for so long. Especially the trog escape. Good lord I was so glad when that bit wrapped up...

Really, despite the number of stupid moves made during the Rivas fight (like people going the wrong direction), it didn't go terribly poorly, really. I mean, had we been doing that a few years back, we probably would have had no hope at winning it. We're getting better at this sort of thing, though yeah, probably should have worked out a better escape in advance. Though to be honest, we also didn't expect Edana's smugger ally and the Mecrossans to show up

Originally posted by Peach
I've a feeling that a few of the guys on the Dark Side are going to take that as a challenge.





YEAH. So guys. Stop making me waste time killing mooks

Anyway, I'll be honest, the Datura parts were...probably my least favorite thing so far in SW, but I also think it's mostly because it got dragged out for so long. Especially the trog escape. Good lord I was so glad when that bit wrapped up...

Really, despite the number of stupid moves made during the Rivas fight (like people going the wrong direction), it didn't go terribly poorly, really. I mean, had we been doing that a few years back, we probably would have had no hope at winning it. We're getting better at this sort of thing, though yeah, probably should have worked out a better escape in advance. Though to be honest, we also didn't expect Edana's smugger ally and the Mecrossans to show up I just want to point out that Xavier ha d abig part in getting us out of there through the Rivas fight as well

Yeah, you and your crashing speeders...

Hey Xavier is like the Joker, it may not make sense but it works

Hah

Also, with the whole thing about the fact that we're all getting busier and time is passing and at some point this is going to end...I was just talking about that the other night, and how weird it will be once it reaches that point. I mean, I was in high school still when I joined the game, and now I'm 26 with plans that will lead to some pretty major changes over the next couple of years...yeah.

Still, I'm sticking it out as long as there's games to play!

Same here Lana

Originally posted by Peach
Hah

Also, with the whole thing about the fact that we're all getting busier and time is passing and at some point this is going to end...I was just talking about that the other night, and how weird it will be once it reaches that point. I mean, I was in high school still when I joined the game, and now I'm 26 with plans that will lead to some pretty major changes over the next couple of years...yeah.

Still, I'm sticking it out as long as there's games to play!

I do not think I am going to become much busier in future than I am now, I actually hope for less. I am playing such games in my twenties, I can play it in my thirties.

Originally posted by Lord Melkor
I do not think I am going to become much busier in future than I am now, I actually hope for less. I am playing such games in my twenties, I can play it in my thirties.

Haha, I know that I'm going to become busier over the next few years.

Doesn't mean I won't set aside part of my free time for this though

It's hard to say how much time I'll be able to spend on this game over the next few years but I'm sure gonna give it a try

Considering I've been playing ten years now...

Good episode overall. I think the trog delays mainly came from us agonizing over every little step since we couldn't just hack our way through like we usually do.

I'm certainly in it for the long haul, I really enjoy these games.

Battlefield is still my favorite, but Harmony was really interesting. We Light Siders certainly need to work on communication a bit. That bridge situation still haunts me.

As for Payday... Man, Payday was frustrating, but not in a bad way and I still really enjoyed it. Despite Kessler managing to fool us easily... actually that guy makes me wonder if Nostrum or the Golden Serpent will ever come back to take their revenge on Wentar.

This episode was really well constructed, Ush. I definitely enjoyed that Rand was able to play a significant part on Datura despite being less capable in a fight.

I am not sure if it is okay to mention it here, but new people may not know that we are also playing some role playing games on Peach's message board, including an epic Prince of Persia game which does not get enough player activity.

Originally posted by Craft
As for Payday... Man, Payday was frustrating, but not in a bad way and I still really enjoyed it. Despite Kessler managing to fool us easily... actually that guy makes me wonder if Nostrum or the Golden Serpent will ever come back to take their revenge on Wentar.

Payday was the most visceral action sequence I've been a part of, so it was fun for me. I've had combat in my side campaign of Rexx's, but they've been smaller skirmishes. And I was only there to look pretty and absorb some blaster fire in the wrangling of Katai, and mostly felt out of place at the end of the campaign.

Honestly, you guys have been a part of the campaign longer than me, and I tend to see Ti as staying out of the grander machinations anyway. Most of my success/failure will be determined by how well I act in my capacity as a "hired" sword.

Originally posted by Lord Melkor
I am not sure if it is okay to mention it here, but new people may not know that we are also playing some role playing games on Peach's message board, including an epic Prince of Persia game which does not get enough player activity.

Perfectly ok.