Well, having read the 1st Edition Star Wars rules from WEG over the last few days, and after watching the new cinematic trailer for Bioware's "The Old Republic" MMO, I got the Star Wars bug again. Here's what I wrote up today to get the next campaign started; my players decided they wanted to go a bit Dark Side this time out, so I came up with a semi-plausible sounding way to drag some Sith into the action just after the Clone Wars. See whatcha think...

Episode 3.5

The Balance Shifts

It is a time of growing tyranny in the Galaxy.

The new Empire, victorious against the Separatist Faction in the Clone Wars, moves quickly to consolidate its power. Vast Star Fleets and subtle manipulation spread out from the Imperial Core like oil on water.

Despite his outward trappings of power and authority, Emperor Palpatine knows that this is a fragile time for the growth of his Empire. He assigns close confidants and capable military men to the governorships of various sectors, while allowing the Imperial Senate to continue to meet and bicker as they always have, to little effect. It is important that those whom he rules still feel that they have some say in the running of the Empire - until he is ready to make his final move. Until then, his full attention is on the completion of the ultimate weapon, the Death Star, slowly taking shape far above a secret world.

Lord Darth Vader continues his campaign to locate and eliminate the last of the Jedi Order - personally dispatching survivors when he can, relying on military and mercenary forces when he must. He is driven by the desire to destroy Obi Wan Kenobi, his former friend and Master - the man he feels responsible for the death of his wife, Padme Amidala, and the children he never knew.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the Outer Rim, shadowy forces begin to emerge from their lair. The balance of the Force has shifted, and an ancient order prepares to act on a prophecy far older than the one that foretold Vader's coming...


The PCs will be members of...

The Council of Night - Secret Sith conclave tasked with preserving knowledge of Sith powers and history during the Long Night (the period from the fall of the last Sith Empire until the rise of the next one). Hidden on several worlds in the deep Outer Rim, the Council has remained isolated for almost three thousand years. Palpatine's mentor was one of their number, a scout who went into the inner worlds to research the status of current Republic politics and the Jedi Order's power. During his mission, something went wrong - he either went insane or had been harboring a plan all along to take a student and attempt to subtly establish himself as a Lord. The Order found out about his plan too late, after he had already trained Palpatine in the ways of the Dark Side, and been killed by him. Because of their remoteness, the Council was unable to react fast enough to locate and destroy Palpatine, and watched helplessly as the galaxy fell under his control. Since then, the Council has sent many scouts into the galaxy to renew their knowledge of current events and to try to mitigate the damage to the balance of the Force that Palpatine and Vader have caused. The Council knows that should they succeed in wiping out every last vestige of the Light Side, that the results would be catastrophic for all life in the Galaxy. They find themselves in the unlikely position of trying to save at least some of those whom they oppose on the most fundamental of levels, while also working to overthrow Palpatine - a powerful and dangerous Outsider who knows nothing of the true ways of the Sith.

The Council of Night is made up scores individuals from a variety of races, all devoted to the Sith ideals, who are masters of the Dark Side and all that it implies. They have lived a very monastic lifestyle in the Conclave, as their forbearers before them, isolated from the galaxy and outside influences. As such, they might seem a bit "aloof" or above the "worldly" concerns of most, while in many ways they are ignorant of most of the conventions and occurrences outside of the Conclave. They are very formal in speech and dress, unless on undercover scouting missions which are typically dispatched once per decade (although there are dozens of ongoing missions now, due to the rise of Palpatine). Scouting reports are eagerly studied in order to keep the membership of the Council as up-to-date as possible, should they find themselves chosen for the next wave of missions to the inner planets.

All members of the Council are formally known as either Brother or Sister, and their leader is the sleep-walking spirit of the last great Sith Master, Lord Saidess, his essence kept alive by advanced (and ancient) Sith machinery and the devoted efforts of the Conclave. Saidess has led the Order for the last 1,500 years, but his mind wanders and his powers are fading. He will soon pass beyond the veil, and a new Sith Master will be appointed.



Still haven't decided if I'm going with the d6 system or not, but I'm inclined to do so since I've been reading it. If not, likely go with the old GURPS standby.

What do you think, sirs?

A remotely similar idea that I've been riffing on from The Clone Wars saga is the notion that Count Dooku / Darth Tyranus was training at least one Dark apprentice (Asajj Ventress), and probably a handful more. In terms of training, they're probably on the scale between advanced Padawan and Jedi Knight, but they aren't true Sith. Dooku seemed to have had some rather unorthodox notions of what it meant to be a Sith.

Now, with the extermination of Dooku, and with Darth Sidious and Darth Vader firmly in control of the Republic, these Dark apprentices are masterless and perhaps figuring they'll find a welcoming home with the Sith. But the Great Jedi Purge initiated by Sidious and implemented by Vader isn't really restricted to the Jedi -- it's a purge of anyone trained in the Force, anyone who might prove a threat to the Emperor. The Dark apprentices quickly find themselves either slaughtered or on the run from Vader and the Inquisitors.

!i!

Noob interrogation. What is the rational in the canon about purging even apprentices that are attracted by the dark side? The paranoia angle, "anyone who might prove a threat to the Emperor", I get it but it's a bit contradictory with the fact that the emperor chose to have Vader at his side to start with.

It's the sometimes-canonically-contested Rule of Two principle of the Sith. Yoda mentions it a time or two with his usual feats of grammatical acrobatics.

Now, there's nothing in the canon that says the Sith would want to eliminate all Dark Side apprentices on principle, but I think we're looking at an unusual situation. First, as I mentioned above, Dooku seems to have been a bit of an eccentric as far as Sith Lords go -- he appears to be ignoring the Rule of Two and building his own little coterie of followers; maybe this is why Palpatine encourages Annakin to lop his head off (aside from realising that Annakin is, ultimately, the more powerful acolyte). Then Palpatine himself is probably thinking, "Great, they've done their job, now fuck 'em. No sense having a bunch of loose cannons rolling around." And Vader, he's like a greasy window on a hot, sunny day -- doesn't have the clearest perspective around; it's plainly not just Kenobi he hates, but all Jedi, and I have to wonder if it's a broader hatred of the Force as a whole, and his disappointment with its inability to secure anything he's ever wanted in life.

So, I see these Dark apprentices as mere tools toward a greater end that have to eventually be destroyed in the face of both Sith orthodoxy and personal ambition. Potentially makes for a good story with the whole enemy-of-my-enemy angle, too.

!i!

I forgot about the "rule of 2" and I remember now Yoda mentioning that. I just read the entry in the wiki entry you linked. I see it hasn't been a hard rule all across the Star Wars canon, but yeah it kind of makes sense in the context of the creation of the Empire.

sorry for derailing, please proceed...

No, no, not a derailing at all. No more than my post was of WK's. And you're totally right about the Rule of Two not being hard and fast throughout the canon. These sorts of things are canonical only as long as they don't get in the way of telling a story. And with the expansion of the Star Wars universe into novels, comics, cartoons, video games, etc, it's convenient to create as many loopholes in the canon as the writers need.

For instance, I've gathered that, in the progressed timeline where they deal with the great-grandson of Luke Skywalker, the Sith have totally abandoned the Rule of Two and have lots and lots of members (and have apparently adopted Darth Maul's ridiculous color scheme to such an extreme that they look like the touring crew for a Gwar concert*). Now, I couldn't tell you if this is a good story or not, but the writers were plainly given sufficient leeway to adapt the canon as needed.

I mean, really, did you know that General Grievous received a transfusion of Jedi blood? Why? Because some writer somewhere needed it to fit into the canon. For crying out...

!i!

[*Ian does not kid! The new Sith vs. Gwar!]

As I said some place else, I really like this idea. When I run something like this I would allow certain PCs to be members of the Council of Night - the other PCs don't realize this at first. I like the idea of the balance of the force playing out within the context of a small group of characters with Jedi turning to the light or dark, depending on their actions....

Regards,
David R