In order to play a proper game of
The Star Wars, we must first initialize our playing area.
In my role as Referee, I'm going to provide some very basic examples of different Jedi and Sith sects-- and some others-- as templates for populating
our galaxy with obnoxious space wizards to be the source of a
suspicious percentage of every military conflict in the history of the Republic. If you don't like the basic options presented here, rest assured that nobody else does either and it's kinda the point.
The Jedi Code
There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force
Even fractured and at each other's throats, the Jedi are still the most powerful institution of Force users, as they have been for thousands of years. The Jedi are the iconic guardians of the Light, the living embodiment of stability and harmony-- and once, the Republic-- in the minds of sapient beings all across the galaxy.
The greenest Jedi student, before even becoming another Jedi's
padawan, is willing to lay down their own life for the sake of peace and harmony. As they progress, they must learn to accept the loss of
other's lives, and the loss of their self and their ego. Jedi transcend death when they accept their dissolution into the will of the Force.
The Jedi Order (of Coruscant)
- Description: The guardians of peace and order in the Galactic Republic for the last ten thousand years.
- Goals: Restore peace and order to the Republic, starting by reunifying the Jedi Order and then the Republic.
- Teachings: the Jedi Code, loyalty to the Republic, primacy of the Temple on Coruscant and its Grandmaster
- Symbols: lightsaber (single-bladed, not red); simple brown robes over white tunic/breeches
- Leader: Grandmaster Yoda
- Recommended Classes/Backgrounds: Jedi (mandatory), Agent, Investigator, Soldier; Guardian, Consular, Monk
- Facts: The Jedi Order claims the authority to declare other Jedi temples, and thus their members, orthodox or heretical
- Fact: Rumours speak of Jedi gone missing. Most state the missing Jedi have fallen in battle but others whisper tales of Jedi leaving the Jedi Order. The darkest of tales say these Jedi actively oppose the Republic and the Order.
- Fact: The Jedi Council have just learned that a clone has been discovered to have increased control over the force that had been previously hidden until his first battle where he was forced to use his abilities to save his unit. They are now investigating and considering the implications of this.
The Serennian Order of Knights of the Force
- Description: The “heretical” Jedi Order founded by Count Dooku’s Serennian traditions, and Jedi who broke with the Coruscanti Order over the Clone Wars.
- Goals: Promote peace and order in the galaxy by establishing a politically stable and morally legitimate status quo between galactic powers.
- Teachings: the Jedi Code, independence from secular institutions, local traditions and sovereignty
- Symbols: lightsaber (single-bladed, not red); red capes; Jedi medallions
- Leader: Grandmaster Tiran Dooku
- Recommended Classes/Backgrounds: Jedi (mandatory), Noble, Soldier, Pirate, Outlaw; Guardian, Sentinel, Consular, Monk
- Facts: Dooku offers official recognition to fewer Temples than Yoda, but unofficial support-- in various forms-- to many many more.
- Fact: The Serrenian Order is one of the few Orders to accept Jawas as full members, and not just technicians
The Sith Code
Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.
Through Passion I gain Strength.
Through Strength I gain Power.
Through Power I gain Victory.
Through Victory my chains are Broken.
The Force shall free me.
The Dark Side counterparts of the noble Jedi Order, the origins of the Sith are lost to prehistory--
and they're going to stay that way-- but their enmity with the Jedi is not. The Sith do not hate the Jedi because the Jedi represent the Light Side of the Force; the Jedi oppose the Sith because they spread destruction and misery, and the Sith respond in kind because the Jedi
get in their way. The Sith Code advocates for all-consuming
passion, not just hatred, and teaches its adherents to burn bright until there's nothing left for them to burn but themselves-- and that's when they burn brightest of all.
The Sith recruit amongst the most desperate populations in the galaxy, and train their students to become
more desperate as they gain the power to solve their problems. Most would-be Sith would cut a stranger's throat for a crust of bread before they're even recruited, and endure any suffering that doesn't deprive them of power; as Sith advance, they learn to sacrifice their underlings and their allies to their monomaniacal obsession, and then their friends and family.
A Sith transcends death when they become so committed to victory that they sacrifice even their own
power to the Dark Side to achieve it-- breaking the shackles of their mortal life and the obligation of their self to their self, and pitting their passion against the will of the Force itself.
The True Sith Order
- Description: Ancient order of Force users who follow the Dark Side of the Force.
- Goals: To destroy the Jedi and conquer the galaxy. Acquisition of power at all costs and overcoming death.
- Leaders: Darth Sidious and his apprentice, Darth Vader.
- Symbols: None.
- Teachings: Power comes from hatred and Power is the only thing that matters.
- Recommended Classes/Backgrounds: Sith (mandatory), Agent, Bounty Hunter, Noble, Scoundrel, Soldier; Consular, Guardian, Sentinel
- Facts: So confident is he that his plans will come to fruition, Darth Sidious has abandoned the Rule of Two in and seeks to secretly establish a true Sith Empire for the first time in over 3,000 years.
- Fact: Sith cults are notorious for denouncing each other as "False Sith" and going to war with one another at the drop of a hat-- but the inheritors of the legacy of the Sith have never been more united against "one of their own" than they are against "The True Sith".
Disciples of The Watch
- Description: a militant, extreme Force Tradition. On first glance, they bear similarities to the Jedi, but without the duties of peacekeeping and diplomacy.
- Alignment: Dark Side.
- Goals: To confront and destroy anyone who aligns to the dark side, force sensitive or not. They have been accused at times of seeing problems where there is none, so it was not surprising that the Jedi ignored The Watch when there were warnings of the Dark Side growing, though they can no better detect Darth Sidious than their Jedi counterparts.
- Symbols: None.
- Teachings: The Dark Side is an insidious cancer that has to be rooted out and destroyed, pre-emptively if possible to limit the damage they cause. Anyone is susceptible to succumbing to the Dark Side at any time, and nobody can be trusted.
- Leader: Tadum Lazira, a surprisingly young leader of The Watch, granted her position and authority by the previous leader, which is causing no small amount of tension in the ranks.
- Recommended Classes and Background: Force Adept, Agent, Bounty Hunter, Investigator, City Watch; Force subclasses
- Facts: The Disciples of the Watch have roots to the Jedi Order, though the Knights themselves wouldn't know or admit such things. Their ideological ancestors were the Jedi Covenant, a secretive sect of the Jedi during the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War. Though names and practices have changed over thousands of years, the paramount goal of destroying those who would do the galaxy harm, by any means necessary, has never faltered.
- Fact: A ranking member of The Watch is a traitor who serves the True Sith Order. Sidious would love nothing better than to bring the Jedi and the Watch into conflict, and has some ideas on which he's patiently working.
Jensaarai
- Description: A Light Side offshoot of a now-extinct Sith tradition, the Jensaarai view their enchanted battle armor the same way Jedi and Sith view their lightsabers.
- Alignment: Light Side.
- Goals: Demand recognition as a legitimate Jedi organization from other legitimate Jedi organizations. Attempt to limit the damage of the Clone Wars and lay the groundwork for a more long-lasting peace.
- Symbols: Jensaarai battle armor, simple (red) lightsabers.
- Teachings: The Jedi Code. The Dark Side is dangerous because it feels righteous; dedication to the Light requires understanding of the Dark, to recognize its signs and resist its influence. Infighting between Jedi Orders is a sign of the self-righteousness of the Dark Side.
- Leader: The Saarai-kaar.
- Recommended Classes & Backgrounds: Jedi (modified/mandatory), Soldier, Mercenary; Guardian or Fighter (mandatory), Consular
- Fact: The Jensaarai consider their lightsabers more or less just like any other weapon, but treat their self-made combat armors as an expression of their connection to the Force.
The Nightsisters of Dathomir
- Description: A coven of (mostly) female Darksiders on the planet Dathomir who delve extensively into ritual magic. The Nightbrothers are more of a warrior caste, but are usually Force sensitive in their own right.
- Alignment: Mostly Dark Side, but Light Side Nightsisters exist and are more or less tolerated.
- Goals: Mostly individual, but the Nightsisters will band together against outside threats.
- Symbols: bizarre lightweapons (any color), crimson robes and elaborate crimson headdresses
- Teachings: The Force is the magic of life itself, and wielding it is to shape life itself to your will. To survive is to grow in strength and wisdom; to fail to grow is to start dying.
- Leader: The leader of the Nightsisters is known as Mother. The current Mother is a zabrak woman named Talzin.
- Recommended Classes & Backgrounds: Force Adept (mandatory), Barbarian, Noble; Consular (nightsister), Guardian, Sentinel, Berserker (nightbrother)
- Fact: Mother Talzin is the (literal) mother of the leaders of the Crimson Dawn; there is some sort of bad blood between them, though it does not seem to extend to their respective organizations. In fact, enemies of one organization often find themselves on the wrong side of the other in subtle, nasty ways.
TURNS AVAILABLE:
Barbarossa
conorwf
flelm
He of the Elbow Patches
Jill
Khulod
Logan
PaperTiger
Scruffy Looking
ShootingStar
Silverlion
womp rat
Wynternight