TFHS: OOC Discussion

[SWSF Hale]

OOC thread for all discussions pertaining to the Tales from Hutt Space campaign.

[SWSF Hale]

Okay so to kickstart some dialogue, I think everybody is probably thinking about characters and roles, etc. so just to give everyone a point of reference the Canon Timeline is 18 BBY. One key background event in the region of space that we're using for the campaign is the Conclave on Kessel, which occurred in 19 BBY and was basically a mass slaughter of Jedi who tried to trap and defeat Darth Vader.

One campaign element is that the Conclave only represented 80% of the Jedi who were in the region, so there's another 20% or so still lingering out there in Hutt Space. So, the character I'm using (that I'm recycling from our previous iteration of ROTE) is the Jedi Knight Gunnar Kendrik. In the dichotomy between Jedi who seek preservation and survival of the Order, Gunnar is more so on the other side of that spectrum.

[SWSF Eidolon]

  In addition to the background Hale lays out, Hutt Space - 19BBY and aftermath of routed Kessel Conclave, part of the initial group story effort is going to start with a more high profile reaction from the Empire regarding the discovery of a whole nest of Jedi hanging around in what roughly constitutes Hutt space (Kessel lays outside of actual Hutt Space, though just outside of it and under considerable influence).  With the Conclave crashed, the few surviving Jedi (rats!) are scurrying from the ruin of their previous haven.

  In the immediate wake of the Kessel Conclave, the Empire's eyes are more fixated on Hutt Space than ever.  All of the background information (infopics that will be posted up on these boards as soon as I get home!) will highlight beginning Imperial presence in the region, which will initially amount to Imperial governship of the world Teth (as part of Oversector Baxel administrative region) and Imperial Military Presence on Kessel's garrison moon Sky Bogey (who's genesis presumably/possibly originates with the crashing of the Kessel Conclave there).

  As the Empire has crashed Kessel Conclave, occupied Sky Bogey, and already holds Governship of Teth, they have significant presence in the outskirts of Hutt territory as it borders the Outer Rim.  On the opposite side of Hutt Space is Kwenn Station (closer to the mid rim)..

  For our opening co-op story salvo, we'll be covering the Empire moving in to Kwenn station to essentially control access to Hutt Space from the Galactic Interior.  The Hutts have de facto sway over Kwenn's Board of Administrators, so the Empire encroaching on their territory will be a bit of a slap in the face.  But outward aggression and open confrontation is an unlikely scenario for the whole ordeal, as we are after all dealing with the masters of manipulation here! 

  So we have our purpose for the Empire overall, being the Empire, enforcing it's Alpha Omega dominance and crushing Jedi.  The larger motivation for the Hutts is encompassed in our opening story salvo as well.  The interference and encroachment by the Empire has dealt a blow to collective Hutt ego, and rattled the Grand Council.  Something has to be done to ensure the Hutts are able to stand up for themselves and uphold the integrity of Hutt Space and prevent the Empire from simply doing as they please when and where! (the means to be revealed later in content!)


   SO!


    I'll be playing a predominantly Hutt-centric angle.  Borrowing on GCW (beta) III story work and stuff that was partially incorporated in to earlier ROTE rendition, for main characters  I'll be using a group of Hutts/their lackeys known as the Izissi who are a lesser clan slithering their way up the Hutt-social ladder.  They will be essentially empowered by the Hutt Grand Council to a greater end/plot objective.

[SWSF Hale]

Hokay Everybodi! I think visuals are 100% DONE! More stuff will come up as always, but for starters I'm going to be working on my character profiles (they will be posted in the main "Tales From Hutt Space" thread).

In addition to creating a Player Character and Support Characters, also consider creating one Antagonist Character (good/evil/neutral) to help create tension and conflict. Antagonist Characters might also be a great way to interact with other players and create storylines that may not be black and white. For instance, I could loan an Antagonist Character to another player to create a story bridge. Just something to think about!

[SWSF Eidolon]

  Just to give examples/general ideas, my character rooster (sic) is gonna look something like. . .


   A Nikto enforcer/muscle man that is part of a Hutt syndicate

   A Toydarian swindler part of the same outift

   A few hutts from an original clan called Izissi to whom these thugs are loyal

   and a captive Padawan that will have a little backstory that was just apprehended by the Izissi Hutts after the Kessel Conclave debacle.


   Of course we are all going to encounter countless characters, important, unimportant, well-known, nameless, faceless (who knows!) that could fall in the NPC realm while painting our pictures here.  The idea I think is to find a core character or group of characters that will be your main focus to tell a tale and interact together communally to partake in and push the overall total plot forward.

   There's no numerical system that dictates how many character entities you might have under your command or even forcing you to adopt characters in only one branch of loyalties.  One of us might be an Imperial Admiral and thus have thousands of minions at the behest of the story we want to directly influence with him/her, while others of us may occupy roles smaller such as a lone surviving Jedi Knight picking up supporters along the way or a Hutt thug clawing his way toward some respect in an unforgiving seedy world.

   What kind of story do you want to tell with your character(s) is probably the most important question to ask yourself moving forward at this point and determining your position in ROTE - Tales From Hutt Space!

[SWSF Hoppus]

Started working on my first post... damn I'm rusty with words. Depressing. And slow going.

[Rinny]

I want to play, but this move has really run me down and I can't think of any character ideas I really engage with. :/

[SWSF Hale]

I think our appropriate "big" factions are represented somewhat, and so I think there's plenty room for more fringer elements! Smugglers definitely!

[SWSF Eidolon]

  Greg, same here. I forgot my words and word hybrids! ;p     Itll come!


  Rin, have a little vice of your preference and stew on it!  There has to be something.  Anything fits in Hutt Space.  Any species, any walk of life, any social standing.

  Jedi, Imp and Hutts aren't really exclusive so much as particular "domains" of them more or less to avoid overlap so if you wanted to go with one of them even there's always some angle.

  I'd be lying without saying you don't always add a sweet fringe element but do whatever you want    Also I enjoyed your Nikto awhile back so that's probably where my inspiration to have one now came from, so if you want a Nikto and feel encroached feel free to call it, no big deal =)

[gallpizi]

In theory if I wanted to be an Imp what are my limitations?

[SWSF Hale]

Zero limitations with respect to the context of Imperial activity in Hutt Space, which presently is:

a. Attached to the ISDs at Kwenn Station, which are acting as a static trade route interdiction force and a passive "big stick" threat to the Hutts.
b. Whatever shindig is happening at the Maw Installation, which in canon timeline is basically the Death Star Prototype (which wasn't even operational half the time). If you wanted to be a new R&D overlord designing a new weapon, that could be a role to play.
c. Overseeing the Spice Mines of Kessel as an Imperial Warden, based out of the Garrison Moon.
d. Imperial Governship at Teth (which is the Baxel Sector HQ), oppressing Tethans, crushing riots.

Things that would be "out of place" for an Imperial player would be:

a. Showing up with a fleet of Star Destroyers and conducting a base delta zero of Nal Hutta.
b. Generally any role or position that would put you in an untouchable position of power.

The focus should be on a single character and their story in relation to the overarching themes and quest plots.

[gallpizi]

So I can just decide what my character is and what his role is? AKA if I wanted the person to be an CO/XO of an ImpStar they could be? As long as they aren't untouchable through some creative storytelling such as seedy backstory/checking out things they shouldn't?

I realize this is all vague. I am still trying to flesh out my thoughts.

[SWSF Eidolon]

So I can just decide what my character is and what his role is? AKA if I wanted the person to be an CO/XO of an ImpStar they could be? As long as they aren't untouchable through some creative storytelling such as seedy backstory/checking out things they shouldn't?

I realize this is all vague. I am still trying to flesh out my thoughts.

For sure!  In the context of whats going on collectively though, if your in an Imp Star destoryer, you're actually more hampered then enabled.  WHich works great if thats your angle or story telling! =D  There are particular places an ISD could go-  Kwenn Station, Teth, Kessel-  but traversing the Hutt Space interior would be politically inadvisable!  The Hutts in the total NPC arena will tolerate Imperial encroachment to a degree- but not sauntering about their interior.  (i.e. bend but not break) They have capable warships and fleets.  Direct confrontation is something both entities would be interested in avoiding on all official public fronts.

I believe Greg is going to be an ISB type with a smaller more versatile type ship.  You guys could butt heads even somehow!  Who knows!

Also the Kwenn Station opening scene will be a place an ISD or three will most certainly show up.  If you're interested in writing yourself in to there being one of those if you decided to go the ImpStar CO route, that's a nice intro tie in!

We should have some more of that scene out within the next day or so!  Hale has beat us all to punch so far but Greg and I are working on flushing that scene out as well.

[SWSF Hale]

Had some discussions about our timeline, which I think are important to share:

(1) Generally speaking, the canon timeline for Tales from Hutt Space is static - which is to say canon events that occurred in 18 or 19 BBY could be thought of as RECENT.

(2) This of course begs the question: "how recent is recent?" since I know it's easier if we're all operating on the same clock and calendar. The Conclave on Kessel is the one canon event in the Hutt Space that is our temporal compass, and so this puts our time period to 18 BBY, and the Battle of Kwenn Station quest event as happening just weeks after the Conclave.

(3) It might be necessary then, to slave IRL time to game time in some respects for us to grasp the length of time between events more appropriately. This is just a suggestion of course, but we could say that the Conclave on Kessel happened on October 1st, and all game events are now tied to that date.

(4) I'll be doing some revisionist history with the GNN slides I put up as well as my initial storylines, as not to cause mass confusion with respective timelines and merging canon history with game history. Be on the lookout for that stuff!!

[SWSF Eidolon]

(3) It might be necessary then, to slave IRL time to game time in some respects for us to grasp the length of time between events more appropriately. This is just a suggestion of course, but we could say that the Conclave on Kessel happened on October 1st, and all game events are now tied to that date.

   This works good I think all around.

   One thing from there though, let's not get in to 1 day IRL = 1 day story as a constant ongoing thing, just perhaps at particular junctures when necessary we can take a collective assessment and basically state the estimate here to make sure we are all making reference to time in line with one another etc.