Do you allow players the opportunity to alter history?

[TarlSS]

Yes. My players killed Inquisitor Tremayne; Admiral Rogriss from the X-Wing series defected and was killed in the attempt; the Battle of Tanaab consisted of Lando Calrissian commanding Rebel forces in cooperation with a Drekmarian warlord against Grand Admiral Syn's Super Star Destroyer, and Grand Admiral Syn is now Scottish.

Also, the players found out about the second Death Star with the help of Bothan agents and a Dark Bothan Jedi Master, and are now looking for it with now defected Captain Jessica Jerjerrod, Rogriss' second in command and daughter of the aforementioned Moff.

I like to keep major plotlines the same, but filling out little details doesn't bother me much.

[KageRyu]

The Devil is in the details
With my Fall Of The Republic campaign my players have a chance to monkey with the entire Star Wars Trilogy timeline as we know it. The only thing is, they can only act on character knowledge .
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra

[garhkal]

[Jedi Skyler]

For one, if you're operating in A New Hope's timeline, they know NOTHING that happens after that.

And you're going to have to make that determination as a GM, and stick to your guns if the player can't give GOOD reasoning why they'd know that, because you're GOING to have an argument, unless you have really good, honest players.

[boldulyses]

Well, I don't want to get into a discussion about what's "canon", because it's safe to say that the six films comprising Lucas' dream universe and the thing that got me through high school (oh yeah, it's true).

With that in mind, in the game I play we're in a very good position to alter history, but the opportunity hasn't presented itself. We started around the time of Episode III (that part's a bit unclear to me still). Far as the galaxy is concerned, Anakin Skywalker is dead and Vader isn't really "public" yet (I know this is covered in another topic, but it bears mention).

Our GM is a fan of the movies, and barely knows anything beyond them. Well, without knowing, he bascially set up the Outbound Flight Project to be a future deterrent to what the Jedi Council feared from the Sith phenomenon of Episode I, more specifically concerns about Palpatine's politicking to assume control of the galaxy.

At any rate, we came across a beacon that led us to a ship several days in the Unknown Regions that was full of Jedi Younglings, Padawans, and a single Master. The hyperdrive was forcibly removed, and everyone on board was living in a stasis tube. The onboard computers mentioned the "Son of Skywalker" contingency plan. The idea being that Skywalker's son (Luke, of course) would one day come to this place and wake them up, and begin to resurrect the Jedi. Well, we've since destroyed that ship, so this won't happen.

However, we have a chance to kill off Luke before anything ever happens. We're even on Tatooine. We just don't know who to look for or even where. It's a fascinating concept, but it leaves the basic movie tenets clearly defined and unharmed.

As mentioned before, it surely depends on which timeframe you're in, but I love the idea of twisting the movies to your own ideals. I think of the What If comic series or those damned Choose Your Own Adventure books where I was always killed by the rat covered sewer drain. I like the idea of pretending how things COULD have been.

Thank you, George Lucas for not only giving me a fantasy world where good fights evil and twins can kiss each other, but for letting me then fantasize that all those things would have been different if Bail Organa and his wife could just have had a child...
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"There comes a time in every man's life when he has to decide whether he wants to follow the path of the Jedi, or if he wants to be cool like Vader." -Unknown
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[Firehawk0220]

It depends. On occasion I will have them play in a universe where they can do as they please, in other times, I have told them they will not succeed in altering anything canon. That's just me though.

Generally, I play in the post Dark Empire and young New Republic era and I let them do as they please.

I don't care for any of the New Jedi Order stuff and as a result I am not concerned with them altering what is only psuedo canon at this point anyway.

[Pel]

Altering history is always a cornerstone of our campaigns. We almost exclusively play the Rebellion Era, usually shortly after Yavin. Anything after that is completely up for grabs.
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