DCR Gamer Forge Listener Email: Balancing Your Star Wars Game

DCR Gamer Forge Listener Email:

Name: Lord Abernathy

Comments: Gentlemen,

I want to say thank you for doing the Gamer Forge segment and helping us gamers.

My question is simple and yet complex. I am running a Star Wars Campaign and I am struggling with balancing the system. Everyone wants to play a sith or a jedi.

How can I run a fun game but limit their access to these character types because they really unbalance things.

Your continued listener,
Lord Abernathy

Gamer Forge Response:

When in Star Wars, you play, recommend, DCR does:

1. Take a hard line. We know this contradicts one of our Ten Commandments, but it's just a lot easier. It's either Jedi or Sith. The two of them just aren't going to co-mingle for any extended period of time. UNLESS, your little Dark Lord in Training Wheels can keep up a good front. But don't blame us when the gig is up and your group explodes into one giant internal conflict. But that does give some interesting plot devices. Regardless, we think its better not to open this can of worms if it can be helped.
2. Its all about the E-R-A. Not a "g" funk era with a gangsta twist. This is era in the SW timeline. Knights of the Old Republic, Mandalorian Wars, and Darth Bane eras are all kosher to have multiple Sith Lords running around, canon-wise. Rise of the Empire and New Jedi Order, not so much. Also, if you play in the Rise of the Empire time frame, remember that your Jedi players have to keep a good cover and lay low! Or they will have a heap of trouble coming in the form the Empire and some of their Star Destroyer buddies.
3. Blending in. If your players are deadlocked and cannot reach a unanimous decision about either Jedi or Sith, then one side (Sith) will have to go incognito. Meet with those players on the Dark Side before a game session and be very clear what the consequences are if they are found out by their Jedi compatriots. Which absolutely meets the criteria for another of our Ten Commandments, "Thou Shalt Respect the Consequences of Thine Own Actions." So if they want to increase their longevity, remind them of the risks. Same goes for the Good Ol' Jedi. The temptation of the Dark Side will be magnified due to the closeness of characters, who by all accounts, should be actively trying to corrupt them.

*To go the extra mile, A Guy Named Joe recommends watching Sherlock Holmes or Oceans 11. Get some good ideas about how to overlap conflicting interests and place key story elements in a way to have seemingly innocent moments more relevant to your story. Also, both movies kinda rule your face.