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Bren Vice Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2010 Posts: 3868 Location: Maryland, USA
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 3:05 pm Post subject: How liked are the Jedi? |
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(1) In your campaigns do all the good guys like, trust, or approve of the Jedi?
(2) What about the Rebellion/New Republic establishment?
(3) What about ordinary civilians?
(4) What about PCs opponents?
Does this vary depending on the era you play in?
For our house campaign, I've enjoyed creating characters who though Rebels for one reason or another don't like or trust the Jedi and of course this includes my own or other Jedi PCs. I find that adds an extra dimension to play.
Two examples:
One character is from Merisee and her older sister was a Redeemer bodyguard for a Jedi PC. The sister was killed by an assassin during an attack on the Jedi. The younger sister blames the Jedi for not preventing her sister's death. “Those Who Redeem sure didn’t save her. If the Jedi really had power, why did she let my sister die?”
Another is from Lazaria and was formerly an officer in the Royal Guard of a pro-Imperial King. The Guard's motto is "Where the Jedi failed, we prevail." The character keeps the motto even after becoming a Rebel. And given the failure of the Jedi to stop the rise of Palpatine it kind of fits for a Rebel too!
Thoughts? |
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garhkal Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 14215 Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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As a pc, i have had characters who hated force users (all) with a passion, some who loved them, one who was IN love with one, and others who cared little either way. _________________ Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
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Fallon Kell Commodore
Joined: 07 Mar 2011 Posts: 1846 Location: Tacoma, WA
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:22 pm Post subject: |
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Out in my little patch of nowhere, no one even says "may the force be with you". There have been no Jedi mentioned in the are in living memory, and the down to earth, common sense folk that live there haven't "wasted time" thinking about them in decades. _________________ Or that excessively long "Noooooooooo" was the Whining Side of the Force leaving him. - Dustflier
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Bren Vice Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2010 Posts: 3868 Location: Maryland, USA
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 5:40 pm Post subject: |
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garhkal wrote: | As a pc, i have had characters who hated force users (all) with a passion, some who loved them, one who was IN love with one, and others who cared little either way. | garhkal playing a character in love with a Jedi. Now that is roleplaying. |
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Hellcat Grand Moff
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 11921 Location: New England
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 6:23 pm Post subject: |
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In the campaign I'm doing here via PbP it really depends on where PCs go and the situation they face at the time. Some of the places they've gone are more open to Jedi and their more likely to be respected. Though even then it depends on what they do as to how folks end up treating them. There have been two worlds where those in power are already against them, one world was a little neutral to them but pretty much turned against them by the time they left.
Edit: I have played in campaigns both where the Jedi are hunted and where their more accepted. _________________ FLUFFY for President!!!!
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Bren Vice Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2010 Posts: 3868 Location: Maryland, USA
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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Hellcat wrote: | In the campaign I'm doing here via PbP it really depends on where PCs go and the situation they face at the time. Some of the places they've gone are more open to Jedi and their more likely to be respected... | One thing I really liked in Truce at Bakura was the Cosmic Balance philosophy that Gaeriel Captison describes She (and others) believe that strong Force abilities in the Jedi are balanced by (and only possible because of) some corresponding weakness in others. Not that I think they are correct except maybe from a certain point of view, but philosophically it is consistent and could really through players or PCs used to being the good guys for a loop. It also explains why the existence of the Sith is caused by and necessary for the exisitence of the Jedi. |
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Hellcat Grand Moff
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 11921 Location: New England
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:22 pm Post subject: |
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It's not about balance really. The very start of the campaign had the team on Ossus when it was a center of training for the Jedi during the Old Republic. In fact it was pretty much THE center, almost all Jedi passed through Ossus at some time no matter where they were trained. So Jedi are rather well respected on Ossus at the time. Later they ended up crashing onto a world controled by the Krath, so Jedi there aren't very well respected. And most recently they landed on a world where the Jedi have been heard of but few have ever been encountered so there's really no great respect for the Jedi. The respect is more for the individual and their accomplishments, particulary if they prove to be warriors.
Then there have been instances where things the Jedi have done have led to a bit more disrespect from either a a position of being respected or a neutral position.
It really depends on the situation the Jedi find themselves in. _________________ FLUFFY for President!!!!
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Bren Vice Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2010 Posts: 3868 Location: Maryland, USA
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:36 pm Post subject: |
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Hellcat wrote: | It's not about balance really. The very start of the campaign had the team on Ossus when it was a center of training for the Jedi during the Old Republic... | What era is your campaign in?
It makes sense that player actions influence how they are preceived, especially if the people they meet do not already have a first impression of Jedi. What you are doing sounds very interesting.
We also found that for some players (and some PCs) having the Jedi be someplace where they were revered by the populace could be very uncomfortable on a personal level.
Not sure what you mean by "balance" in your comment. IIR the Cosmic Balance theory on Bakura was that if one person has superior gifts then cosmically someone else, somewhere must have lesser gifts to balance out. The corollary was that for a group of people (the Jedi) to be so massively gifted (with strong Force powers) then there must be some galactically significant effect to balance that. It also seemed like some followers seemed to believe that great good was balanced by great evil and vice versa.
Apologies if I am just repeating stuff about ToB that you already know and understand. |
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Hellcat Grand Moff
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 11921 Location: New England
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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TotJ, which now with the current era system is Old Republic era.
Ok, with the cosmic balance the thing is you have to have some kind of balance. The scales basically have to be even, you can't tip one way. If someone's strong someone else needs to be weak. For me it's not about balance being how the Jedi are viewed, it's about location and the characters actions. Some places the Jedi are naturally going to be viewed rather well and may get away with certain things just because their Jedi. Other places their going to be viewed negatively and aren't going to get away with anything. More neutral places their actions determine how their viewed. They do something to somehow upset folks they can go from being well regarded to the people wanting them to get the ********* out of there. _________________ FLUFFY for President!!!!
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Bren Vice Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2010 Posts: 3868 Location: Maryland, USA
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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Hellcat wrote: | TotJ, which now with the current era system is Old Republic era. | So that's like before Yoda was born? That could be interesting.
Do you use the same restrictions on attachment for the Jedi that we see in the prequels?
Oh, and thx for explaining what you intended by balance. |
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Hellcat Grand Moff
Joined: 29 Jul 2004 Posts: 11921 Location: New England
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 9:13 pm Post subject: |
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Long before Yoda was born. Yoda says he's 900 in RoTJ, which puts him at 896 BBY for a birth year. Knights of the Old Republic, the original and not the game (the first story arc in TotJ was Knights of the Old Republic which came out just a few months shy of being a decade before the game of the same name was released) takes place 4,000 BBY. Knights of the Old Repbulic can be itself divided into two arcs that are occuring simaltaneously, Ulic Qel-Droma and the Beast Wars of Onderon and The Saga of Nomi Sunrider. Together they make up the first TotJ story arc which is followed two years later (3,998 BBY) by The Freedon Nadd Uprising. A year later is Dark Lords of the Sith and a year after that is The Sith War which covers the events of the Great Sith War (takes place forty years before to KotOR I game). The era was then pushed back a thousand years with Golden Age of the Sith and Fall of the Sith Empire which covers the Great Hyperspace war (5,000 BBY) the results of which help set things up for KotOR. Then they returned to the era to finish Ulic's story with Redemption (3,986 BBY).
I'd never even heard of TotJ until I graduated from high school. Ended up finding the audio dramas for TotJ (collects both KotOR and The Freedon Nadd Uprising) and Dark Lords of the Sith. They were Star Wars storie I'd never heard of at that time and I had to get them. Got me hooked on the era. Though it took me years to get interested in really looking into the stories concerning the Sith Empire. It was more the primative lightsabers that got me to finally get those two. _________________ FLUFFY for President!!!!
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garhkal Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005 Posts: 14215 Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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Posted: Wed Mar 30, 2011 11:37 pm Post subject: |
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Bren wrote: | garhkal wrote: | As a pc, i have had characters who hated force users (all) with a passion, some who loved them, one who was IN love with one, and others who cared little either way. | garhkal playing a character in love with a Jedi. Now that is roleplaying. |
Yup. She was a fellow PC for a while (the gm's sister) whos character eventually became an NPC (she transfered to Everett washington).. pity it only lasted 8 months game wise.. Would have been nice to see where that 'romance' ended up at. _________________ Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
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Kilgore Sub-Lieutenant
Joined: 19 Apr 2006 Posts: 51 Location: The Kamino Cloning facilities.
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 7:52 am Post subject: |
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I would say it depends a lot on what era you play in, but even at the height of the Jedi Order in the Old Republic only a miniscule part of of the galactic population had ever seen a Jedi. The Galaxy is a pretty bic place after all.
So first impressions last as they say.
And what I am trying to say is that most likely the largest part of the galactic population listen to what propaganda / media tells them. |
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Bren Vice Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2010 Posts: 3868 Location: Maryland, USA
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Posted: Fri May 20, 2011 10:29 am Post subject: |
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Kilgore wrote: | And what I am trying to say is that most likely the largest part of the galactic population listen to what propaganda / media tells them. | Much like real life.
So what does the media tell the populace about the Jedi in your Star Wars campaign? |
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Barrataria Commander
Joined: 28 Dec 2005 Posts: 295 Location: Republic of California
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Posted: Fri Jun 10, 2011 11:31 am Post subject: [New Republic-era] |
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In Imperial-held/influenced regions, many still blame the Jedi for the Clone Wars [when the Jedi and planetary forces battled the rising Emperor and clones]. And for the violence and destruction in many of the post-Endor battles and campaigns, like the NY bystanders in the old Marvel comics, getting mad at Iron Man or Spider-Man for wrecking buildings when apprehending Dr. Doom. This extends to Vader particularly, whose Ahab-like quest to find his son weakened the Empire to no purpose. The Emperor is often assumed to have not been force-sensitive at all, just an effective politician and organizer, but some lump him together with Vader as a bumbling spendthrift.
And there's a significant residual effect from Imperial propaganda. The Jedi want to take your children away and make them into fanatical assassins! The Jedi did that one bad thing that one time (slaughtered innocent villagers, incited riots among the local aliens, etc.). These are the kind of places were Jedi will be run out of town or shunned.
On NR worlds, there's a palpable disdain for Jedi. Where were they when the Emperor was taking over? All those fools with lightsabers couldn't stop a shrivelled old man and a crippled former Jedi, and their clone soldiers? The Rebel fleet blew up the second Death Star and killed the Emperor. And if the Emperor is dead now, what's all the fighting about?
That sentiment is tapped for political purposes by certain influential persons and interest groups (NR military procurement officers, planetary officials, merchant houses, etc.) when expedient.
So, although they aren't actively hunted any more, Jedi often find a cool reception at best on worlds they visit. The "lost generation" means many have no idea who or what the Jedi were/are. Those that do know of them have a negative perception. The wise Jedi searching for Force-sensitive potential recruits is careful to conceal his or her identity when anywhere except NR military facilities or strongly-aligned NR worlds. _________________ "A special effect without a story is a pretty boring thing"- George Lucas |
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