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quote:“The temptation of power, forbidden knowledge, even the desire to do good can lead some down that path. But only you can change yourself.”  Let’s make ourselves a Star War. For those of you who don’t know, what Star Wars is... you...probably should get that checked out. The setting lends itself to essentially any type of game and any type of main character imaginable. I’ve been obsessed with the films since I watched them when I was absolutely too young to see that type of violence on screen. But over the decades I’ve consumed a lot of Star Wars media, written a lot of lovely fan fiction, and run a series of mediocre rpgs with my friend group. So I know the setting. I don’t know every facet of it or every goofy looking alien’s carefully written backstory on Wookipedia. But I do know the depths of off the walls crazy it can it.  This will be my third CYOA I’ve run here. And though my most recent two are on hiatus (but certainly not abandoned, you all know it took me years to finish Toke’s story) I feel like I’ll make good headway with a Star Wars game. Primarily because my other two games run into snags when I go down historical research rabbit-holes and burn myself out. But I don’t see that happening with this game. Because I can either make up things and not deal with the “facts”, or I will probably be so delighted in the facts that it won’t seem like research “work”. For example, have you heard about Gragra and her husband? Unlike the first posts in my other games, This is not going to be ”in character”. I tried to think of a way to do that, but quite frankly there is just too much Star Wars for me to crack it. So the first few posts here are going to be about taking a property that has had very tonally different stories set in very different timeframes and narrowing it down to what we want to do. It certainly would have been easier for me to just have decided when and what we’re playing, but I always like leaving this up to players because we get some cool ideas.  So first, the Tone. In my opinion, Star Wars stories are always balanced somewhere on three axises. Hard-baked into Star Wars are the ideas of the Military, the Underworld, and the Jedi. And you can tell very different stories depending on what your “mix” of tones looks like. Are we telling Yojimbo or Black Sheep Squadron or Sons of Anarchy? How much do the other two effect our “primary”one? A lot? None? To help us figure out what our game will be about vote on a Tone. You must give each tone a value of 0,1 or 2 based on how much you want to focus on it. After this round, the Tone with the most votes will be our primary one. How much the other two influence the story will be decided on what their score is. 1. Rank each on scale of 0-1. You could have all 0, or three 2s for example. A The Military - The Wars in Star Wars of course. No matter the setting we will be in a galaxy filled with conflict and strife, on a galactic scale or a small village. This is where most of the “science” in the setting is placed. With battles based on WWII dogfights, trench warfare, guerrilla fighting in Vietnam, for-profit militaries, Roman warfare apocrypha, and the landing at Normandy, the military aspects in Star Wars tend to be the most realistic. One important aspect to remember is that the military setting also includes those governing bodies that use, and often discard, its military as it strives for “order” and “justice”. With this as the primary tone, we could be: A fresh-faced recruit, a special operator, a secret agent, an ace pilot, a beleaguered sargent, heir to a position of power, a cut-throat politician, a war profiteer, an elder-statesman looking for peace, a freedom fighter, a veteran trying to move on.  B The Scum - If the military is the crisp and chrome outward appearance of the galaxy, this is it’s seedy underside. Trillions of beings are trying to survive in a galaxy where a select few hold power, or bother to maintain order. This tone is influenced by John Ford movies, Dune, pulp heroes and comics, pirate stories, spaghetti westerns, Ben Hur, mob/mafia films, southern California street-racing, and Casablanca. This setting will of course deal with the classic “Scum and Villainy”, but also simple honest folk not trying to get caught up in all these star wars. We could be: a drug smuggler on the run, a bounty hunter looking to make his name, a village marshall trying to create order, a small time crook building an empire, a thief wanting to pull a score, a crime boss fighting off the competition, captain of a freighter, a bodyguard tasked with defending someone or something.  C The Force - The force binds the galaxy together and influences every living thing. Even though many cannot hear it, and some choose to ignore it, it touches us all. The Force, and the Jedi, can be traced back to a pastiche of vaguely connected religious and philosophical concepts. Confucianism, Taoism, European Knights and Samurai have as much to contribute to the setting as Merlin and Aurthur, The Lord of the Rings, the the Bene Gesserit, and Akira Kurosawa. We do not need to be a Jedi, or even a warrior, if this is the primary tone, we are simply someone who listens to the Force. We could be: a Jedi Knight keeping the peace, a Sith acolyte, a Force “witch”, a Padawan in danger of falling, a monk focused on enlightenment, the guardian for a Force sensitive person, a wandering protector with a lightsaber, a young person taking their first steps into a larger world.  We must also select our Era before anything else. The history of the Star Wars galaxy can be divided up into several eras of major change. There are a few issues with this. Some of these Eras span millenia, some span less than a decade. So their “importance” seems weighted unevenly. There is also the issue with canon. When Disney wiped the slate clean with canon, it led to a lot of the Old Republic stuff being in a weird state where it might be canon or might not be. I’ve tried to thread the needle between Official Canon and Legends material. But..just don’t worry about it. 2. Vote for an Era for us to play in. The actual year/setting will be decided later, but this will help us narrow it down greatly. For the pre-prequels material I’ve included some major conflicts/history tidbits to help. Vote for as many as you are interested in playing in. If you have a specific time or event you want to explore, mention it.  A. The Old Republic -250000– c. 2000 Before Battle of Yavin) A huge period of time in comparison to the other options. This is a time where Force users are running wild, and various governmental bodies are fighting each other, combining and splitting like quicksilver. This is Tales of the Jedi and the various Bioware Old Republic games. It’s about exploration, and different groups of people with fundamental differences needing to coexist in a galaxy that suddenly isn’t big enough for everyone. Some possible time frames our game would be in could be: Founding of the Jedi Order and their precursor order
 B The Dark Age. 2000 - 1000 BBY The Republic is on the downswing, and it’s a slow death. All those wars from up above killed any momentum and rebuilding gets harder and harder year after year. Finally the Jedi and Sith become the actual leaders of their armies and organizations, instead of merely valuable pieces. Nothing can go wrong when the two most powerful governments in the galaxy are run by religious space wizards who hate each other. This era is much more Fantasy based than others...just...look at the old Jedi vs Sith comic.
 C The High Republic: 1000-100 BBY We don’t know much about this yet, but it’s the new setting that Disney is dumping a bunch of effort into now. Basically, it’s all about the colonial golden age of the Republic. There is a strong core centre and a more Wild West/colonial outer rim. This is the transition era from the Old Republic to what we see in the prequels.
 D The Fall of the Republic. 100 - 22 BBY. The Republic has been getting stagnant and decadent at the same time. This is Rome right before Caesar crosses that river. Or...Rome..again...when....it’s really Rome at almost any time before it falls, gets sacks, or splinters.
 E The Clone Wars - 22 - 19 BBY Listen I am not going to list all the major battles and moments here. It was a war in which the Republic and the Jedi won every major conflict but ultimately lost. The Jedi were forced to become battlefield commanders with little to no training and used troops that were designed to seem dispensable though they were living, autonomous beings. The Jedi were incapable of dealing with this, and the neolibral policies of the Republic were also incabable of dealing with the slide into facisim. The Clone Wars represent the ultimate hubris of the Jedi Order. It also led to a boom in freedom fighters/terrorists, criminal enterprises, and a distrust of the authority wielded by the Republic.  F The Empire 19 - 0 BBY - Aka The Dar kTimes. Everything bad I listed above? That But More here. The Empire consolidates power through military and tyranny as opposed to diplomacy/space wizards like the Republic. This leads to resentment and growing turmoil but it takes awhile for an organized Rebellion to actually form and deal a blow against the Empire. Senators, politicians, and monarchs are quickly being replaced by military personnel and regional governors appointed by the Emperor and those who want to stay in power start bootlicking or else vanish. The Criminal Underworld is becoming less hidden and more of just an embarrassing cousin to the Empire and runs wild in the open. G The Age of Rebellion - 0 - 5 After Battle of Yavin. You’ve seen the movies.  H The New Republic - 5- 34 ABY. The Republic is rebuilt, but is a paper tiger. It needs to put down the Imperial Leftovers, bring law back to the Outer Rim while cleaning out corruption on the Core Worlds. It also needs to pay off debts and repay all the favors it made while fighting the good fight. But luckily it’s all over and the New Republic will reign for a thousand generations and won’t be destroyed by Space Nazis regrouping off in Space-Argentina while no one is looking. Things to keep in Mind "Why type of voting are you doing? - Mostly Approval voting, where you are able to vote for as many options as you like. This allows, I think, the most consensus possible and gives me greater insight to what the voters actually like. There may be some non-approval votes (like question 1 in this post) but I will try to make it clear. “Are you using Legends material or New Canon? “ - Both? I’d use New Canon as much as I can, unless Legends presents a clearer picture or is just straight up more interesting. “Hey I noticed something is not canon here! You misnamed a thing, the Mandalorian Crusades were actually earlier, you are describing the Mandalorian Wars which...” -Good point! Thank you for calling me out on it! There will likely be some errors and non canonical references. Some will be intentional as I try to thread the Needle of Legends and New Canon, and some won’t. “I want to talk about how the sequels destroyed the series, or about how they are Good Actually.” - Feel free to discuss Star Wars as much as you want in this thread. I love the franchise and it was very formative for me. I love it. But let’s remember a few things here. Star Wars is mostly dumb. This is a series about space wizards and dudes in the ship-equivalent of a panel van with his dog. It’s goofy and weird and so silly it’s embarrassing. You can discuss it as if it’s high art (and I think there are a lot of philosophical, storytelling, and film theory discussions we can have about it and are really engaging and great. But never forget at the end of the day how goddamn silly it is. Embrace it. Star Wars is mostly good. “Objectively bad” is an impossible standard. Keep in mind if you poo poo on a piece of Star Wars media there is someone who probably genuinely likes it. For whatever reason. You will never convince someone it’s bad, and they will never convince you it’s good. Let people like what they like and don’t judge them beyond that. Feel free to debate TLJ or all marvel at the terribleness of Legacy of the Force, but once things start to feel personal, please knock it off. We’re all Star Wars dorks here. If you have questions or need things clarified please post here, or in the CYOA discord. NinjaPete fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Dec 29, 2020 |
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Dec 29, 2020 04:07
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Reserved
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Dec 29, 2020 04:07
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Question 1 A: 0 B: 1 C: 2 Question 2 A B C F Magnusth fucked around with this message at 04:40 on Dec 29, 2020 |
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Dec 29, 2020 04:34
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Question 1 A: 2 B: 0 C: 0 Question 2 H
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Dec 29, 2020 06:40
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Question 1 A: 1 B: 2 C: 0 Question 2 A H
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Dec 29, 2020 09:33
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Question 1 A: 1 B: 0 C: 2 Question 2 E F G
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Dec 29, 2020 11:28
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Question 1 A: 1 B: 2 C: 1 Question 2 A D G H
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Dec 29, 2020 15:15
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Q1: A:1 B:2 C:0 Jedi make good background figures, lousy characters. Q2: A H
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Dec 29, 2020 16:17
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Q1: 0 2 2 Q2: A B C
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Dec 29, 2020 18:52
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1. A - 1 B - 2 C - 1 2. A, specifically the Pius Dea Era because the Republic as a xenocidal theocracy that must be stopped is a great inversion. F G H, but with a long-shot proposal of 300+ years ABY. How does the galaxy reorganize after the repeated collapse of centralized authority? What do the Jedi become post-Purge when they have a reason to do things differently? So much of the Star Wars universe is "the movies, with different names". Does it ever get a chance to truly change? Lemniscate Blue fucked around with this message at 20:02 on Dec 29, 2020 |
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Dec 29, 2020 19:00
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Q1: A:0 B:2 C:0 Q2: A C E H Crazycryodude fucked around with this message at 19:59 on Dec 29, 2020 |
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Dec 29, 2020 19:55
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0 2 1 A H
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Dec 29, 2020 20:07
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Q1: A-1 B-1 C-2 Q2: H I call this the Kyle Katarn.
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Dec 29, 2020 20:53
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A: 2 A lot of the interest I have in Star Wars is... well, the conflicts that stem from the wars. I also enjoy government stuff. And the conflict between governing and force orders is super fun. B: 0 Star wars needs wretched hives of scum and villainy, but I think it doesnt tend to focus on them as main storylines (innthe stuff I like) for a reason. C: 2, without the Force, star wars is just bad scifi. The Force is the like, defining thing to star wars for me.
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Dec 29, 2020 23:09
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I intend to vote, but I have no opinion re setting or theme, it's all good.
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Dec 29, 2020 23:34
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Question 1) A -2 B - 1 C - 0 Question 2 C D H
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Dec 30, 2020 00:45
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A 0 B 1 C 2 A B C H (Lemniscate Blue's far future version) Essentially anything NOT covered by the movie eras. So much of the books, games, comics, and series are crammed into Battle of Naboo to Rise of Skywalker. I'd rather go anywhen else.
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Dec 30, 2020 01:08
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Q1: A:1 B:2 C:0 Q2: A B H Alternatively, G but only if we get to be Dash Rendar and completely break the Canon, like when we got Toke to shatter the Carolingian empire
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Dec 30, 2020 01:46
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Q1: A1 B2 C1 Q2: A B H H
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Dec 30, 2020 05:08
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Okay, let’s call it. For the tone, based on votes each tone could have a possible value of 32. Scum is the clear leader with 21, Military with 14 and Force with 13. So to me this means we want a game that is, at least as first, pretty removed from the other two. Though there is certainly enough interest to bring those components in. The era is a bit more complicated, Old Republic and New Republic were the two clear favorites, so much so that they were a tie. I’ve used sophisticated method to break the tie (asking my 4 year old if Old Republic or New Republic sounds cooler with no context given) and the winner is Old Republic. Now, since the Old Republic is a pretty long period of time to pick from, I had decided that our next step is going to be selecting our character’s “class” which will also set the time period I am going to write up some starting character summaries, something like: “You are an archeologist specialising in banned religious relics during the Pius Dea era...” or “You are the Marshal of the frontier town of Blakvost in the Republic’s Manifest period”. It’s a little clunky, but because I wasn’t sure if Old Republic would get chosen, it’s what I got. I’ll have the next vote up sometime tomorrow. If you have suggestions for character options please let me know either here or on the discord. We’ll also be voting on a species so if you have any favorite gleep glops let me know and, assuming I don’t have a personal violent disgust, I’ll add them as options. ________________________________________________ CYOA Discord
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Dec 30, 2020 06:07
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This is probably the most default option ever for Scum but... Smuggler We can wear a weird vest and fly a modified Corellian freighter with our sidekick.
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Dec 30, 2020 07:33
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Starship Thief We hang out in starports and steal ships for a, I don't know, a Hutt or something to pay off a indentured servant fee. I always liked that drunk Devaronian from the old EU. ScottyJSno fucked around with this message at 08:13 on Dec 30, 2020 |
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Dec 30, 2020 08:11
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Engineer
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Dec 30, 2020 10:20
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Surveyor/explorer We chart new hyperlanes and see what's past that nebula. And sell what we find to the highest bidder. We are scum after all. Lemniscate Blue fucked around with this message at 10:43 on Dec 30, 2020 |
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Dec 30, 2020 10:37
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A Revolutionary Not at any point that this is a military campaign, but someone dedicated to some positive political change, and not counting on the Republic to enact it.
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Dec 30, 2020 11:49
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Kyber Pirate Experts in its value, its use, and its procurement. Inverted Icon fucked around with this message at 17:25 on Dec 30, 2020 |
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Dec 30, 2020 17:21
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Mercenary. Corrupt official. Gang boss/member. Hutt.
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Dec 30, 2020 18:23
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Accountant that falls into debt and starts working for a crime lord, maybe Hutt Cartel? I like the idea of starting off as some office drone that just gets into crazier poo poo and lucks out of encounters
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Dec 30, 2020 19:09
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Since the light of civilization shone through the galaxy, there have been the vermin crawling in the shadows. You wouldn't nessessarily call yourself a vermin, though you admit it's not a wrong description. 1. Who are you?  20,000 BBY A You are an Explorer. The newly-formed Galactic Republic is a core-ward organization that has a great interest in both expanding its borders and meeting its neighbors. You are a member of an exploration vessel that is charged with exploring and settling a region of space. What new worlds and new species will you discover? Are your interests the same as those of the corporate-governmental ones on Coruscant? 11,820 BBY B It is the Pius Dea age, and the theocratic Republic is systematically eliminating all non-humans who do not accept their place as inferior unpure beings. You are a Revolutionary caught up in the latest boiling point as the core world of Alsakan secedes from the Republic and attempts to bring it’s ally worlds with it. What exactly are you fighting for? How do you contribute to the resistance, when you are not a fighter yourself? C You are a hired gun for the Pius Dea. Someone to do the dirty work for the ruling dynasty when it conflicts with their dogma. You have hunted down fugitives, assassinated dissenters, publicly executed apostates, and obeyed your every order. But how much of a believer are you? Do you have a line that you won’t cross? As the Pius Dea starts to crumble, do you have to scramble to safety?  3995 BBY D You are a Mandalorian Engineer preparing for war. You are tasked with building both outposts and networks of contacts in secret. It is an open secret that your people will soon avenge themselves after the failure of the Sith War, and this moment of peace in the galaxy is a lie. But how attached to peace are you? Are you really even a warrior? Or a builder? What happens when the order comes to burn down all you’ve built?. E The Outer Rim has no shortage of frontier towns. As the only Republic-appointed marshal in the area, your carry both authority and duty. But how do you keep the peace in the name of a government that is neglectful? What morals have you been forced to comprimise out in No-man’s land? How much weight is that star? F Times of peace are good for thiefs. They make people relax, let their guard down. You are a spaceship thief, specializing in hijacking crafts and selling them whole or getting them chopped for parts. But how risky are you willing to go for a big score? What happens when things get messy? How would an oncoming war change your career?  3640 BBY G The re emergence of the Sith Empire and the growing authority of the Jedi to meet it have created a great interest in all parties about the lore and history of the galaxy. As a rogue Archeologist you have tasked yourself with rooting out the greatest secrets of the galaxy, and selling them to the highest bidder. But do you care enough about history to save it? How far will you go to uncover the past? And what happens if it changes everything? H The Cold War will not last long, you can tell. This Force users can tell the future, but in a way so can you. You watch the markets, keep an eye on the shipping lanes. And you’ve noticed that these wizards are collecting more and more of their precious kyber crystals. Something is going down and you intend to make a buck of that. So you’re a trader turned Kyber Pirate, specializing in stealing mystical crystals from one side and selling to the other. But what the hell do these things do anyway? And what will you do once your easy supply runs out? I You get people what they need. That used to be hard enough before there were two massive governments making you look over your shoulder. But as a galaxy-class smuggler, you know how to deal with unexpected complications. Charge more money. But is money the most important thing to you? What do you do if you are asked to join one of these causes? Do you commit, or tell those suckers to pound sand?  2,000 BBY J You are a no one, really. As a small time accountant for a small-time crime boss on Nar Shadda, no one notices you. And that’s how you like it. Because you have plans, you have ideas and they are about to come to fruition. And soon, everyone will notice you. What is your endgame here? How dark will you get in your grab for power? How do you deal with those in your way? K The Hapes Consortium has closed its borders for a thousand years. But it still has agents in the galaxy. You are an assassin for the regent of Hapes. You live and you die by carrying out their wishes and eliminating threats to the Consortium. How unshakable is your loyalty? Are you aware that even you are expendable? L: Something else?  What species are you? A Human B Trandoshan C Wookiee D Chiss E Selonian F Rodian G Gank H Falleen I Mon Calamari J Kel Dor K Nautolan L Twi’lek M Pantoran N Mirialan O Zabrak P Togruta Q Devaronian ________________________________________________________________________ Voting is approval. Vote for every option you like and would accept. Thought we will have one MC (I think) I plan to use any other popular write ups or species as basis for "Party Members". Feel free to ask question and make suggestions. Right now the "classes"are tied to time periods, but if there is a majority interest in being X class in a different time, I am all for that. Come at chat on Discord NinjaPete fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Dec 30, 2020 |
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Dec 30, 2020 23:39
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AFC Species: KUSHIBAN
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Dec 31, 2020 00:01
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L Write-in: 20.000 BBY Space Cowboy The newly formed Republic settled our home planet just two generations ago when explorers found that the native bovine-analogue wildlife's digestive process produced a rare gas at previously unheard of grades of purities. This gas is used by the vast majority of the galaxy's reactors and a tidy profit can be made by selling it to the Republic's agents in the capital. Our home's steppes are wide however and the capital is far away, with only few rail lines crossing the planet's open plains so far. Our herds must be kept safe from the local wildlife, unsavoury cattle rustlers and anyone else who wants to muscle in on our turf. As the proud third generation of ranchers it falls to us to see to the welfare of our family's fortune. Species: A Human D Chiss I Mon Calamari K Nautolan L Twi’lek N Mirialan O Zabrak P Togruta
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Dec 31, 2020 00:26
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A B G sheep-dodger posted:L Write-in: 20.000 BBY Space Cowboy Magnusth posted:Species: KUSHIBAN
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Dec 31, 2020 00:44
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ABDGI, or this VVVsheep-dodger posted:L Write-in: 20.000 BBY Space Cowboy vorebane fucked around with this message at 00:50 on Dec 31, 2020 |
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Dec 31, 2020 00:47
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CGJ Uplifted Sarlacc Hutt CFGIJQ
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Dec 31, 2020 00:52
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F G J E Selonian (Otter Life!) L Twi’lek Q Devaronian Hutt sound like something special But whatever species is cool.
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Dec 31, 2020 00:54
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A C D G J A D N L O P
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Dec 31, 2020 01:03
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ACDEMagnusth posted:
I'm also cool with LMNP for races. KittyEmpress fucked around with this message at 20:44 on Dec 31, 2020 |
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Dec 31, 2020 01:11
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First: G H L Second: A C
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Dec 31, 2020 01:45
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1. DI 2. Species: KUSHIBAN
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Dec 31, 2020 06:06
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Damnit! Missed out on half the character creation. F - Starship thief No preference on species as long as it's something capable of loving a droid. Unless we can be a droid, I'd vote for that but I don't know if they're capable of actual sentience.
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Dec 31, 2020 16:26
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