The purist approach - aka the No Jedi Game

[scott2978]

How many of you have run no-jedi games before?

In my primary campaign world, I decided to go with a purist approach when it was first started. It was agreed with all the players beforehand that there would be no Jedi in the game (although I do allow some use of the Force, albeit VERY limited). That campaign came to a spectacular and heroic end which my gaming community has never stopped talking about since it ended almost two years ago. Now, a new group including a couple of the original players but also a few new ones wants to play in the same awesome campaign world, but at least one of the new players wants to roll a minor jedi.

So, the question is this: Should I allow it?

Here are the factors as I see it:

1. The old players will be rolling new characters, but they have some familiarity with the game world already, especially the "no jedi" part. Allowing jedi now might be considered heresy.

2. I don't want the new players to feel held back if what their heart is set on is a jedi and I refuse to allow it. I want everyone to have fun, and nobody should be removed from the group.

3. The campaign world is not designed to have any force wielding characters in it. The enemies and foes that the old timers are used to couldn't withstand the onslaught of even a minor jedi without also using the force - resulting in a mutual escalation of the Force. Of course, the campaign world could be changed, but isn't the whole reason they want to play in this setting because of how it is?

4. I have always maintained a policy in the old campaign of allowing changes to the timeline. A new jedi suddenly popping up could cause some serious changes! I'm not sure the group would be on board with the kind of hellfire that the emperor would unleash in my setting if he learned that there were jedi running around...


What do you all think?



Scott

[Ankhanu]

I think you should allow it... with heavy stipulations
To me, at least, including a Jedi could make things VERY interesting. Because it is a setting with very little Force use, very few characters would be comfortable around a character who can wield it with any proficiency, making for a lot of suspiscion, awe and probably hate towards this "freak" who wields incredible, misunderstood mystical powers. If their ability to wield the Force is known it could be a serious liability to their ability to interact with fellow PCs and NPCs alike and could make them a serious target for either elimination by enemies, or a target of coercion to sway them over to the enemy's side.

Of course, the stipulations would be explaining WHY they are Jedi, HOW they have learned to wield the Force, defining the code they live by (is it actual Jedi, Sith, other?) and how it was derived... I would require as full a character bio as possible from the player and have it make sense.

[Gry Sarth]

The problem is not really whether you should allow a Jedi into this game of yours, the real problem is why this new player wants to play a Jedi so badly?

My group and I played SW for years without anybody ever wanting to play a Jedi. One day someone decided to introduce one and it wasn't a problem at all. He started very weak on Force powers and it took him many, many years in real-time to achieve Jedi Knight power levels (4-5D).

So, the risk with this new player of your is if he wants to play a Jedi so badly because he watched the prequel films and Clone Wars cartoons and loved the Jedi because they were total bad-asses who can take on an army single-handeldy and perform neat force jumps and all that jazz. If you suspect these are his motives, then I think you would do better to ban Jedis from your game. If, on the other hand, he wants to play a Jedi because it would be a rich path, full of internal and external conflict, with a chance to improve himself slowly but surely in the hopes of one day becoming a formidable being, then this is something that could enrich your campaign, adding a little twist to it without totally defacing it.

If the player only wants a Jedi to be able to perform all the neat tricks, then he'll be terribly frustrated if you hold his character back for the sake of game balance. Such a player will not enjoy having to play for months before his Jedi can lift a small rock...

So, my answer is: If you trust this player's restraint and dedication, then a Jedi in the party would be great. If you don't, then introducing a Jedi in the game could be a recipe for disaster, and no one would be able to enjoy the game quite as much as before...
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[vong]

personally i don't think jedi are balanced, so i never allow them.
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[Jamfke]

I say yes, simply because it's Star Wars...
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[garhkal]

[Grimace]

Should a Jedi, requested by a new player to the group, be allowed in a campaign world that hasn't ever had Jedi in it before?


With your points mentioned, I think the biggest factor in determining that would be #3. If your campaign world is not designed for force weilding, lightsaber swinging characters, then don't try to force one in. That's like trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. It doesn't work very well and generally makes a mess of things when forced.

Additional points to ponder, and Gry touched upon one of them, are things like: Does the new player only want to play a Jedi because that's what they've seen and think they're "kewl"? Are there ways to perhaps foster a character into a Jedi during the course of the campaign? Are you really limiting a player just because they can't play the particular character THEY want, even if it doesn't fit and isn't allow in the game?

I'm of the mindset that Jedi are rare. I've only run a couple games that actually had full fledged Jedi in them. The rest of the time, when people wanted to play Jedi, I either said "No", or I told them they could play something else and train to become a Jedi. Take Luke Skywalker for example. He didn't start as a Jedi. He had to learn to become one, taking the course of nearly 3 movies to do so. Same should hold true for characters, unless you're starting with a full fledged Jedi and are ready for such a thing.

Don't let a new player set the tempo for a campaign that is not designed to handle that sort of tempo. If you feel, after you've seen the people (and that player specifically) play for a while and see if he is CAPABLE of playing a Jedi type character, then perhaps you can work the growth of a character into a Jedi into the campaign.

If it were me, the ONLY people I would even consider to be able to play a Jedi type character in a campaign designed to not handle Jedi, would be people that have played in the game already. I would never let a new person play one. If you've never gamed with this particular person, either, you don't want to allow it, as if you're of the same mindset as I, you want capable players to play Jedi, not just someone that's "seen the movies and I think I can play a Jedi".

So, in my opinion, stick to your guns. Don't let the new person play a Jedi. Later on, if the new person demonstrates that they could handle such a thing, and you can figure out a way to integrate one without messing up your campaign, then let his character develop into a Jedi, but make him learn how to become one, not just *poof* "You're a Jedi!"

Hope this helps.

[scott2978]

Thanks for the useful advice guys.

I have played with this player quite a bit. He was a player in my Stargate SG1 campaign that was beloved by all, and he was my GM in a D&D3.5 game I've been playing in since April which is on hiatus over the holidays. I do think his motivation is character oriented and not munchkinistic.

After considering the advice of all, I think I'll either let him start out with very limited power and no lightsaber, or not let him be a jedi. I'd actually be willing to let him play a more powerful jedi, but since the other players are not used to seeing jedi in their campaign it might freak them out.

As to the question about "limited force use" in a no-jedi campaign, I allowed a character to find a Sith holocron and experiment with it, until he awakened it by doing something bad, and began listening to it's whispers in his sleep. So in that way he learned Control at 1D. The Sith promised him more power but only if he would do a task for it, and the PC knew the task was clearly an evil act, so it was a clasic opportunity for PC downfall and redemption (hopefully renouncing the Force altogether in the end, thereby removing all his Force ability). I also ran a NPC who was from a galactic rim world where the gunfighters practiced at a temple where they learned to control their bodies in a special way so as to make them a perfect gunfighter. This was actually the Force, and they were using Sense and Control (it was sort of like that movie Equilibrium with the "gun kata" thing).


Scott

[Jedi Skyler]

It looks like you've chosen to go with what I picked (and the category with the most votes). Like Jamfke I say yes, because it's Star Wars. Jedi might be rare, but they are still around. Now, I wouldn't have a whole party of them during Empire era; even one or two can be a magnet for the Empire and their (or even totally unaffiliated) dark Jedi minions. I'm currently in a couple games where I'm playing Jedi in between Episodes 3 and 4. In both, we've already run up against dark siders, and in one of them, Darth Vader himself is currently on the planet we're on. One dark sider has already been killed in our flight (we'd been captured by the Empire, and are currently making our escape), and we're hoping to get outta there without attracting the Dark Lord's attention. To that end, both my character and the other Jedi have closed down their connection to the Force so they're not running around causing ripples that would lead Vader right to them.

While I personally love to play Jedi because I've always loved everything about them, I do play non-Force users as well. Plus, since I was a theater major in college, I am personally able to play many different roles, whatever their race or template type. I agree with your choice to allow the Jedi, but with no lightsaber. While it sucks to be a Jedi without one-especially in these dark times, a lightsaber hanging at your belt is like a beacon to the Empire, or to collaborators seeking to curry favor with their Imperial overlords-provided those collaborators could identify the device to begin with. Either way, starting the character out this way will provide for many adventure hooks, should he survive. The quest for parts for his weapons, for instructions on how to put it together, or to follow up on rumors of some ancient tome that gives some instruction in the ways of the Force... all of these are things you can use to keep the game alive and interesting. Plus, if you find that your player has indeed done a good job of playing a Jedi character in these times, you can use the discovery of a datacard or whatever with some Force instructions on it as a reward; whatever technique(s) is covered within can be learned as though the character had a Master, which will be a tremendous boon to him since without one, all his Force dice come at double cost. You can, of course, choose not to allow the discount, especially if the player has had some issues playing his character to the fullest and best benefit to the entire party.

[garhkal]

Something else you can use.. In our sparks starwars campaign, we have groups of Imperials, called force hunters. They go out and actively search for jedi. How we have them crop up, is when a jedi rolls over a target number for the first time (we set it at iirc 40), they get a force vision, where they become known to the hunters. THEN from that time on, if they hit the target number, they get another vision of the hunters 'zoning in on them'. if they hit it a second time in that game session/module, they get a force encounter...
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[Ankhanu]

Interesting approach, garkhal. Those guys do exist though; they're the Imperial Inquisitors. I like that you came up with an analogue for them in your game

[garhkal]

I am sure the sparks council will like the comparison.. Here is the 'being known to the hunters vision.

You see complete blackness. Then a distant pinprick of light pierces the veil and you begin to move towards the light. As you get closer you see that the light is shining from somewhere above down onto a figure kneeling with its head bowed clad in a black hooded robe. As you approach the figure looks up at you and says, “You too will join my master…. sooner or later”. A sudden chill shoots through your body as you are hurled back deep into darkness.
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