Backstory Begets Backstory

In The Hidden Temple, the crew visits Cade's uncle. Here is more backstory. Not everything Cade knows is dead.

While there, Cade is visited by Azlyn Rae, another bit of Cade's past. A fellow student who appears to be a bounty hunter but is in fact working for the empire.

So while some have allied with the old emperor that Azlyn serves, spying on old friends tends to make them... trust you less no matter how good the good times were.

This can be problematic at times when the character's backstory continues to influence the current course of the campaign. However, when running a non-standard dungeon crawl campaign, the Game Master may need to expand his own ranking of NPC's and having the characters make backstory allows the Game Master to hang more backstory onto them.

The first thing the GM should do in these cases is explain that the character's backstory is 'open' and that you'll occassionally be adding bits and pieces that mesh with the bits and pieces they've added to it already. This allows the player to have an uncle whose got all sorts of skills, but then allows you to add another contact that the character once knew and who served under the uncle giving the character a solid in to the setting.

In terms of the Hidden Temple itself, it acts as a focus for this book in many ways. First, it's a place of refuge for Cade who has a bounty on his head. Players should have some type of safehouse that allows them some downtime, even if it's not in the best and brightest of situations.

Two, it allows the GM to parade out other NPCs who may be useful in the future. There are a few more potential easter eggs in the jedi that Cade finds waiting for him.

Three, with those NPCs, it allows the GM to showcase one opinion and force the player to take his own action. In this case, Cade suggests assassinating the Sith Lord. With a bounty on his head and the Sith Lord committing genocide, he figures it's time for the jedi to do make some tough decesions.

The jedi debate it, but the outcome is never really in doubt. If you want to do the job, do it yourself.

This is one of the important elements to think of when players may want to question why someone else isn't doing something that they could do. In games like the Forgotten Realms, where there are a lot of powerful NPCs, why aren't they always out saving this or doing that? Sometimes, it may simply be that it's not their way.

That to take direct action isn't their philosophy and that it's better to move through others.

Sometimes it may be a deliberate ruse to see if the enemy will act.

Sometimes it's because to act would be a suicide mission.

Here, while the Jedi might be able to take out one Sith, they don't know who will rise to replace him and they don't have the numbers or manpower to take out all the Sith as a Jedi army. Even though many of these Jedi have shown themselves to be more powerful than the average dark force user, even though they could probably inflict some horrific damage to the enemy, to do so would be their end.

In some cases, the players don't need to know why the NPCs aren't taking care of things, all they'll know of it, is that they're not taking care of things. If the players wish to spend time pursuing why the NPC's aren't taking care of it, then that in and of itself can become an adventure.

For example, I ran a Champions campaign using the Palladium setting of Nightbane. Many of the super heroes quickly started working with the invaders. The players initially couldn't figure out why until they began to follow the American. In the campaign, the America was essentially a Superman clone. What they discovered was that the Night Lords kept the American's family under constant surviellance and that any disloyalty by the heroes would result in family member's torture and then death. This was something the players accidentally caused to happen in their own explorations.

It didn't matter to most of the players, because that group was a Wolverine love child where there were no parents or children or relatives or DNPC (Dependent Non-Player Characters) to be found on the character sheets.

That campaign took a few interesting twists and turns but it showed that sometimes even the powerful factors have their hands tied by things that have nothing to do with their own innate abilities.

Even as you give the players a safehouse to rest and recover, to debate and analyze, remember that they're not filled of the motivations and methodology of the Non-Player characters and that motivations for anyone outside of their own group may be far different than they know.

Actions Lead To Consequences Which Lead to Actions...

Legacy Volume 4 brings two things to mind for me.

The first is that action begets action. There is a bit of rebellion and it leads to the Sith lord declaring genocide. This of course is an action and reaction bit, but it has further consequences down the road.

Next up, is that to be as stupid as the Sith are, you have to be really powerful. Much like Vader from the original trilogy of movies, the Sith here have no problem in killing high ranking military officers.

This would be a tremendous lack of motivation but yet, they keep coming.

In such cases, if the players ask why, the Game Master should have some reasons.

1. Overwhelming arrogance. How many bad guys think that they aren't the guano? How many top teir villains are going, "Man, I'm so happy at rank three, I hope this goes on forever." Most of the time it's an arrangement of failures by multiple tiers that cause the top bad guy to fail in the first place, but hey, I won't have that problem right?

2. They had it coming. Similiar to the arrogance factor, these individuals may not think of themselves as being better as being top bad ass, but may think of themselves as being better in that they and they alone are surely indespensible and nothing would ever happen to change that.

3. No other option. When you're the number two man and the number one gets axed for failing to live up to his job, what do you think they'll say if you go, "No, I'm good here." These types of organizations tend to be move up or move out.

There are other bits here and there. The former Emperor, a military man with a touch of force training and a carde of elite knights, also with their own force training, is still in rebellion against the Sith Emperor. This leads them to an alliance with the old Alliance... It's just about as classic as curse you for your inevitable betrayal but as I've mentioned in other posts, it's a classic for a reason. The immediate needs of the many take priority over the urge to kick the snot out of that foe whose done you a personal wrong.

Of course not all players may see things that way so be aware that when trying to set up such an alliance that things may not work out as you envision them. In a purely mercenary game or one with highly driven plots determined by the players, all of whom might not be on the side of angels, one of them taking the time for some personal sweet revenge isn't that far out of the line. There's more than one classic story of the 'hero' winning through his initial plot only to go back for seconds because of someone that did him a personal wrong in order to finish it. Sometimes the hero doesn't make it out of those situations...

Star Wars Legacy continues to build on the previous issues by expanding the scope and range of the universe with new characters and different viewpoints. Keep the plots of the game wide and far reaching and allow the players to pick their own paths.

Easter Eggs and Other Surprises

In volume 3, we get the name of the Sith master, A'sharad Hett. For those who've been following various other Star Wars books, set in different time lines, this is no stranger to the Star Wars universe. Indeed, by using sith techniques to prolong life and spending time in statis, Darth Krayt has managed to live through the Clone Wars, the movie's time line, and this time line, set over a hundred years after the movies.

This allows the authors to use the expanded universe to its fullest and bring in individuals that the reader may care about. It also allows the authors to use various other trappings and add little so called Easter Eggs all through the series allowing the reader to enjoy the ones they like and skip over those they don't know.

In a role playing game, this has to be done off of previous experiences in the actual game itself. If none of the players are familiar with any of the old Non-Player Characters or haven't played with your gaming group before, bringing out some of the most interesting and well loved characters of the past campaigns as villains will have no shock value and no real emotional impact.

In the 'greater' realm of the shared experience on the other hand, the greater experience of the Dungeons and Dragons game, Wizards of the Coast does this all the time ranging from book titles, to updating magic items, to updating concepts that fall into and out of favor. For example, demons. During second edition, demons and devils were given the boot, the demon lords removed from the game until they were brought back later on, still during second edition, and even allowed players to have a huge potential role in the bringing back of one of the most famous of the big bads, the demon prince of the undead, Orcus himself.

By using the wider mythology of the Dungeons and Dragons game itself, Wizards of the Coast and back in the day, TSR were able to try and bring bridges to gap not only the edition differences, but also the differences in years from when various people may have started playing the game. This allows people who haven't played with one group to still have some background elements in common thanks to the shared background of the game, to share those elements in the game that nether has played before.

When planning out encounters, and using characters that may make multiple apperances, let synergy by your guide. Nihl was one of the Sith that killed Cade's father and cost Cade's mentor his arm. Here, Cade cuts off Nihl's arm. Tit for tat but also synergy in how wounds dealt may come back. Showcase how past actions may be reflected in the game as it continues to unwind.

This doesn't always have to be true though. For example, many characters have a masked identity. This ranges from the modern era of Super Heroes and Pulp Heroes to older heroes like Zorro. What if the players have an ally whose actually an enemy or an enemy that's actually an ally? Masks, methods of preventing detection, and other methods, can go a long way in concealing someone's identity. Give the players a start next time they hire on a torch bearer who is actually the mayor of the town.

For combat, don't forget the social aspects of it. When Cade fights against the Sith master, the Sith taunts Cade numerous ways. When Cade returns the favor, it drives the Sith into a near berserk rage that makes him forgo any style or panache and costs him the fight and drives the Sith lord onto a horrible plot for revenge latter. If the players are able to get under the skin of their enemies, give them some type of bonus. Perhaps the bad guy doesn't use his best attack. Perhaps he only targets one of the players instead of all of them. Perhaps he targets the rogue with the glib tongue even though the fighter gets a free attack by doing so. Don't let the game mechanics dictate everything. Let combat unflow through the use of social and martial methods.

In terms of character opportunities and role playing potential, Cade Skywalker works with the Sith while trying to determine what he is going to do. Doing so is potentially dangerous for anyone as the whole Force and Dark Side bit tends to be addicting. As the Darth master himself notes, "What we pretend to be we often become."

In terms of character planning, the author shows the readers a recuse attempt being crafted and how the characters go through equipment and use their skills to insure that no stone goes unturned. It works well. This is not to say that there should never be an issue, some surprise, some last minute problem that crops up, but if the players are smart and spend the time and resources and back those plans up with the abilities, allow that planning to go through.

The Lesser of Two Evils Is Still Evil

Volume Two, Shards brings the reader an Empire torn apart. See, the old Emperor was betrayed by the Sith and civil war tears apart the lands.

So there are numerous factions that the people in the middle may have to deal with, and not all of them are completely dedicated to the cause, some of them not dedicated to the cause at all, and some of them loyal not to an idea or to personal power, but to their allies and personal friends.

In looking at Shards, if the Game Master is not running a dungeon or site based campaign, that campaign needs to have numerous enemies and threats within it to motivate the players. The actions of the players against those various factions can lead to different elements coming into play.

For example, the Skywalker viewpoint here, Cade, is responsible for a jedi being caught and he sees a vision of that jedi being tortured. So now Cade has an oracle inspired mission. Well, not an oracle, but it's something that the Game Master can use, in this case, the Force, to 'nudge' the player along.

In typical fantasy games, the Game Master always has the use of dreams, omens, prophecy, priests, ancient texts, and other things that may tie to a character and that character's recent actions that can be used to spur the party onto the next big thing.

For example, say the party meets and defeats a group of bandits on the road. Unknown to the party, that group of bandits was part of a fallen group of knights being lead by the younger brother of a knight in retirement who now wants vengance against those who've done his family wrong.

Or the party meets a group of bandits on the road and avoids them to betraying their own travelling allies and handing them over to the bandits only to be troubled by visions and dreams that those comrades they've betrayed may have been more important to the party than they initially realized.

When leaving the dungeon, personal motivation, the acts of the characters, the ripples those characters have on the setting, ranging from their backgrounds, weapon choice, career choice, and current methodology, all become tools necessary to keep the campaign flowing.

Living Up To The Legacy

In addition to manga, Dark Horse has long been the comic care taker of the Star Wars property. One of those veins of gold they mine, is the Star Wars Legacy era, 125 years after Return of the Jedi. Over here is a summary and preview of the first collection of legacy comics.

As with all Star Wars comics, one of the first things a Game Master may take from it, for any game, system, or genre, is that apperance matters. When I was a kid, Darth Vader didn't stand out so much because of the high end special effects and fighting sequences, but rather, the visuals that came with him. The bounty hunters like Fett? Ditto.

Giving the main characters a distinctive look will go a long way in ingraining them to the players they must interact with.

In addition, because these are Star Wars comics, even though they are in a different time line, they share many of the same elements.

If your group is looking for a standard game of Dungeons and Dragons and they start off as breaking out of their shells as lizard men in some swamp that has no humans and is a pre historic world with dinosaurs and dragons as the masters, it may be an awesome setting, but it's not what they've signed up for. The elements of the familiar can help the players quickly get into the game. When people look at Dragon Age and claim it has no originality, that doesn't seem to stop it from selling or from people enjoying it immensely. When critics talk about Terry Brooks, Ryamond Feist, or a certain Dennis of being Tolkien copy cats to various degrees, they may be over looking the fact that many people like the 'comfort' food category that these elements fit into.

For players, Star Wars Lgecay has a few words about being a legacy character. "The point is-- I have a legacy, too. And I'm just as trapped by mine as you are by yours. Sometimes I wish I could just change my name-- make a new life...I envy you your freedom but I'm not walking away from my responsibilities."

When looking at a legacy character, is your character like Roy from the dreaded Order of the Stick? Willing to go the distance for the family honor and legacy but going against the wishes of the one who sent him on the path? Is he like Cade from this series? Possessing of the powers and abilities but seeking to surpress them in order to ignore that legacy? How a character interacts with the elements that make up the character's legacy will define the role that the character takes in the campaign.

Legacy characters can be a lot of fun. Like the new Batman, who started off as Robin and moved onto Nightwing, they can represent a logical growth and extension for the character. Like the various comic extensions of Marvel's 2099 line, they can be either inspired by the originals or perhaps even time displaced copies of the original who have a name and title to live up to. When using legacies in the campaign, as either a player or a game master, make it interesting enough so that its fun for the whole gorup without overshadowing eveyrone else.

The Enemy Of My Enemy

Berserk 32 picks up with Zodd, an old 'friend' of Guts, literally crashing into him as he's recovering on a dock ward after being knocked out of the sky by the Kushan Emperor.

Guts needs Zodd's wings. Zodd needs Guts sword. Together, they fight crime! Well, not quite but you get the picture. By acting together, the two are able to do what one alone could not and disperse the Emperor's astral being.

In thanks, Zodd allows Guts to walk away from the situation so that he can take care of Casca. This is part of Zodd's personality at times. The willingness to let others recover so that he can face them at full strength. So that the blood thirst he has can be meet at full. This has been shown before, such as when the Skull Knight first dragged Guts out of the Eclipse.

Mind you, this is far different than a healthy opponent fighting Zodd and being injured. Zodd doesn't stop once it gets going.

By having a rich campaign world with multiple elements in it, the Game Master can sometimes put the players in the unenviable position of having to ally with something that they may normally want to attack, in order to overcome something even worse. For example, orcs are probably better to have around than undead. The undead on the other hand, may be better to have around then say demons.

This volume also showcases the benefits of high level characters fighting against minons. While possible for the minions to deal some damage, the higher level characters will often have numerous ways of recovering from minor damage quickly. This is another reason why high level wizards, no, not even wizards, spellcasters in previous editions of Dungeons and Dragons (pre 4e), were a force to be feared. A fireball isn't all that impressive against a large enough force. Control Weather, Earthquake, and other spells being cast that a normal enemy can't really fight against?

It's one of the reasons why pseudo Middle Ages armies tend to be on the low end of the steak against anything 'weird' in the Dungeons and Dragons game. An army versus a dragon for example, probably isn't going to go to well for the army, especially if the dragon has some immunity to non-magical weapons or some innate regeneration. Then yo uget into the whole make up of the army. Are there spellcasters? Are there clerics? Are they psions? When you start peeling back the layers of a fantasy campaign's army, be careful how far you peel. Too far and it's not longer psuedo history.

The volume ends with a show case of Griffith's long term planning coming to a head. After Griffith's Band of the Hawk overcomes a force that was essentially surrounding the city and preparing to destroy it, Griffith plays down his cards.

1. He's a hero of the common people.

2. He's the one who rescued the blood Princess.

3. He's the one with the divine revelation of being the Hawk of Light and is honored as such by the highest of the holy, the pontiff.

Some of these elements have been set up volumes ago and come to fruition here. If the party smartly plans out their actions well in advance and has the proper allies and methodology, the Game Master should give them the fruits of their labor. Nothing is more frustrating then dotting all of your is and crossing all of your ts only to be told that it doesn't work and there's no good reason why it doesn't work.

Allow the players the benefits of their planning. Allow them to reap as they sow. Allow the players to make alliances with those they need to in order to get the job done. Everything should not be smooth as silk, but everything should be possible.

The Spirit of the City

Berserk 31 starts off with the group still trying to get that boat. Surrounded by an invading monstrous force there to lay siege to the various knightly orders of the Holy See brought in from numerous countries.

Guts manages to hold the curse of the Berserk armor off of him for much of the initial fight, giving his witch time to summon up a spirit of the city. Initially, Schierke noted that spirits were harder to reach in the city because most people there looked past magic.

But the city has a spirit of its own, the Burning Wheel. Not, not the RPG, but a spirit of fire that manages to cook all of the enemies about them. She's able to summon this spirit because she's gained experience dealing with these higher level entities while travelling with Guts and his friends.

When that in and of itself doesn't prove enough though, she manages to focus that Burning Wheel spirit right into Guts sword in order to take out another powerful entity. During that fight, the villain screams out, "You've shortened your life!"

In such a situation where the characters can draw upon great power but at a personal cost, think about what you're potentially setting up. If the characters are going to be killed unless they use this power, why wouldn't they use it? At worse they use it and die, just as they would even if they had never used it! At best, they use it, gain some experience with it, and surprise the enemy.

I know in older editions of Dungeons and Dragons, when the haste spell could age you a year per casting, most people in the party didn't want it used on them every fight but they enjoyed having a scroll of it around just in case. The trade off of power versus age was one they were willing to take for the 'big fights'.

Towards the end of this volume, Guts meets the Great Emperor of the Kushan lands. Noting that Guts is human and branded, he offers Guts the opportunity to work for him. Offering a player an opportunity to work with a bad guy can be an interesting opportunity, but at the same time, can present the campaign with its own set of limitations if it's just restricted to a single character. What happens if the player does decide to have the character go off? Do the other players follow? Does the character become an NPC? Does the GM solo that player on a different day and session?

Offering players temptation is always an interesting way to judge their character development but be sure to have a plan B in case the players take that temptation.