Fiscbryne

Star Wars: The High Republic – The Bunum Impasse

They have characters already planned! They would describe their characters better than I can, but I'll say that at the moment that @Auz has an older Padawan who's a little naïve and believes entirely in the Republic's mission at the start of the RP, whereas @seonhyang has researcher Jedi Knight who is big on compassion and who will be navigating the relationship between it and the Jedi Way after some of her research ended up misused. I myself have a reticent Jedi Knight who swore the Barash Vow and is now apprehensive about returning to being a Jedi after an accident involving his Padawan—but cognizant of being a DM, I don't intend for his role to be huge.

Star Wars: The High Republic – The Bunum Impasse

@Cyrania I don't mind characters of greater power as long as there's a strong story reason. I would ask: why is it important that she be a prodigy so strong in the Force; what benefit would that have on the narrative? I would personally prefer someone more middling, but if it's properly justified in your CS then I wouldn't mind its inclusion! My main concern is that powerful characters may have an outsized effect on the narrative to the detriment of other players. I think that such a thing can work if it's a strong part of the character concept, but I'm a little wary because of that.

Star Wars: The High Republic – The Bunum Impasse

@Dusty Both options work! I'll say, however, that the main reason for the conceit of the dead/injured masters is to isolate these Jedi from their support system in the Order at large, so that's something I would keep in mind! A master works, but the more imperfect the better—more Anakin than Obi-Wan, if that comparison helps.

Star Wars: The High Republic – The Bunum Impasse

It is a golden age in the galaxy. Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh and the noble Jedi Knights spread a message of unity across an expanding GALACTIC REPUBLIC. But disaster awaits! Journeying through the Outer Rim, a group of Jedi have been forced out of hyperspace by unexpected debris and have crash-landed in the shadow of an ancient ruin on the planet of BUNUM. Stranded from the Jedi Order in a vast jungle, they find themselves met with diverse company: archeologists and anthropologists from the University of Bar’leth, miners sponsored by the Galactic Republic, and the planet’s indigenous population. It will take all the wits of these stranded Jedi to prevent the situation from developing into all-out war….

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The High Republic
^{An Era of Expansion}

Two-hundred and ten years before the start of the Clone Wars, it is a time of peace and prosperity for the Galactic Republic. Explorers establish new hyperspace routes into the Outer Rim and new planets come under the rule of the Republic’s ever-expanding borders. In the time which later historians will dub the High Republic, Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh’s rallying cry is heard across the galaxy, proudly declaring that: We are all the Republic. But not all are so pleased to become part of the Republic, be it the Nihil raiding the Outer Rim or be it citizens of planets who feel cheated by their relationship to the Republic. Nevertheless, none can deny the crowning achievement of the High Republic: a period of peace maintained by the Republic’s peacekeepers, the Jedi Knights.

From their ancient temple on Coruscant to outposts in the farthest explored reaches of the Outer Rim, Jedi Knights settle disputes, help others with the resources of the Jedi Order, and defend the innocent. In this era of peace, the Jedi are not yet the soldiers and generals of the Clone Wars, though the martial nature of their order remains strong—and soon it will be tested against the Nihil. But those days have only just begun; the Great Disaster has just begun and news of the Nihil’s involvement has not yet spread across the galaxy. At the moment, our Jedi heroes are unaware of the battles to come.

The Crash
^{Jedi in Peril!}

Now, these Jedi heroes are stranded in the jungles of Bunum, a remote planet in the Outer Rim. Returning from the Jedi Temple on Ilum, their transport was grazed by fast-flying debris until they were forced to pull out of hyperspace and crash-land beneath the shadow of an ancient ruin of uncertain provenance. Their communications out, they are separated from their friends and allies among the Jedi Order and the Republic. The few Jedi Masters among the group have been knocked unconscious or killed in the crash, and now our heroes are helpless and alone. Travelling from the crash site of their ship, they traverse the jungle to find a village of the local population, a diverse group of species including Humans, Twi’leks, and Selkath among many others. But when they arrive, the Jedi find that the locals flee from them, fearful of the laser swords they wield. Upon further investigation, the stranded Jedi find a pair of anthropologists from the University of Bar’leth among the locals who speak of the others found upon the planet: a dig team from the same university investigating the local ruins, miners sponsored by the local governor of the nearest planet in the Republic, and a pair of reclusive Jedi rumored to live deep in the heart of the jungle. When conflict arises between the indigenous population and the Republic, it is up to these stranded Jedi to determine where their loyalties lie.

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Out-of-character Information

The Bunum Impasse is a character-driven roleplay set in the High Republic era of Star Wars, specifically taking place entirely on the homebrew planet of Bunum in the year 232 B.B.Y. (concurrent with the novels Light of the Jedi, Into the Dark, and A Test of Courage). Two players are already in the RP as my co-GMs (namely @seonhyang and @Auz) and I am seeking two more players in addition to them.

As for the RP itself, characters will not be powerful Jedi Masters, but rather solitary Padawans and Knights; they are not nigh-immortal space wizards, but rather Jedi who are fallible and uncentered and unsure of their relation to the Jedi Order and with the Force. This story is expressly intended to not be an action-filled romp, but rather a character study of the Jedi at their height aiming to explore Jedi’s relationships with violence, with the light side of the Force, and with the Republic. These Jedi will not fall to the Dark Side nor be ‘grey’ in the sense of their morality, but rather be deeply committed to doing the right thing—and yet struggling to determine what the ‘right thing’ actually is.

Consequently, the themes of this RP will be heterodoxy in interpretation of the Jedi Code, conflict between the Jedi’s duty to the Republic and their sympathy to the indigenous peoples of Bunum, and conflict of interest between the political will of the Republic to aid the galaxy in its totality and the desire of the locals to have self-determination for themselves. There are no traditionally evil agents here, only people in conflict with other people.

In terms of the plot, I have a short one in mind but will not be inflexible about it; its purpose is mainly to set up the thematic conflicts of the story and the rest is up to you players. I will leave room for character development and will happily incorporate subplots that benefit your character specifically.

Regarding the Canon-Legends split, Canon will take precedence given the fact that the High Republic era is itself situated in Canon; Legends material is very welcome albeit subject to GM caveat. I will make it clear that I am not an expert on the lore and that you needn’t be one either; I am no stranger to consulting Wookieepedia and the aim of this RP leans more towards engaging with the series’ themes of compassion and anti-imperialism than with the nitty-gritty of blaster manufacturers and starship classes.

If you're interested, let us know! Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

The Unknown Lands: A Viking Saga

Hey, I wanted to let y'all know that I have been getting busier in real life and on RPG, and consequently, I unfortunately will have to withdraw from the RP for the time being. It's been a good time, and I hope y'all have fun without me in the future! Take care!

The Unknown Lands: A Viking Saga

Hey, just wanted to give a small update—been busy this week but I’m still working on a forthcoming post and it should hopefully be up before long! I’ve had to rework a little bit given the recent post on heading to Lynn, but the post will be up. I did want to ask: should we not linger in Lynn narrative-wise, focusing mainly on the journey ahead? Would you rather keep things situated purely in the boat after leaving Lynn? That would definitely help with writing! Thanks in advance.

Tips for writing POC, LGBT+, and other minority characters in RP

<Snipped quote by Andreyich>

That’s an interesting point, and I definitely don’t doubt it. However I also have a couple Latinx friends who do use “Spanglish” in their daily life, so I wonder if there’s some variation across people from different cultures? Living in the southwestern region of America, we have a lot of people from Mexico in my county, and it seems to vary even person to person whether they weave Spanish into their speech or not.

@Dagger

Code-switching is a real phenomenon that occurs both for bilingual people and for people speaking different varieties of the same language (as the AAVE example in the Wikipedia link points out). Spanglish is an example of that, though it could also be classed as a creole or pidgin language depending on the linguist you ask and the particular people you're talking about.

Code-switching doesn't happen, as I think @Andreyich was pointing out, just for 'flavor,' just to let you know that this character's Russian or French or Japanese or what have you. Real code-switching relies on how both speaker and audience perceive each other and how marked the language/language variety being switched to (aka the 'code' in 'code-switching') is. It generally happens when both speakers are familiar with both codes—somebody fluent in Japanese and English might speak a mixture of the two with their parents who know both or with peers who know both; it's unlikely to happen with strangers who don't know both, i.e. friends who don't know both languages. Intimacy is another influence to a degree; code-switching can be a marker of friendship or solidarity in certain cases, and in environments where code-switching is frowned upon or even just abnormal (and thus likely to create alienation), it's less likely to occur as well. There's a lot more to it, but generally I'd say that in the context of RP, it's important to consider two things: the first being if the audience of the character who is code-switching knows both languages being switched to, the second being how intimate these two speakers are (or are trying to present themselves as being). If those two conditions aren't being met, then generally—there are exceptions, of course—I would avoid it.

Deadlands: Tales o' the Weird West

Thanks for the reply! That makes sense and I can definitely understand playing it that way. However, after mulling things over for a little bit, I’ve decided to nevertheless withdraw my interest. I wish you the best of luck with the RP going forward!

Deadlands: Tales o' the Weird West

Considering the fact that you have the Civil War going past 1865 as in old Deadlands lore, I wanted to ask: Do you also stick to the also original lore of a Confederacy that has reason to exist after manumission of its slaves—and a Confederacy that would ever see fit to release its slaves at all? Though I appreciate the inclusivity which that choice allows, I’m unhappy with the Lost Cause–like implication that the CSA can be separated from the institution of slavery, and the answer to that question is something I want to be aware of before starting anything in Deadlands’ setting. No fault to you if that’s the setting you want to stick to, but I would personally dislike playing in such a setting and would have to retract my interest in that case.

Deadlands: Tales o' the Weird West

This sounds really cool! I'd be interested in joining for sure. I did want to ask, though—will you be leaning on any of the mechanics from Deadlands or will this be purely based on the setting alone?