Battle of Yavin - maintain or break the canon?

[SSB_Shadow 46]

Hello everyone.

I have been thinking about my game and the possibility to reenact important battles in the Star Wars history. I read Twilight Company the other day and saw how it could be done. But more importantly was Battle of Yavin that sparked the whole galaxy into war. 

 

It would be cool to include the group into this battle but I have been indecisive on how to execute this. It's either to maintain canon and let it play out as it does and give the heroes another equally important objective in order to succeed (but maybe not as fun/important), or break canon and to either kill off Luke or that he never made it into the battle for some reason. Also wouldn't guarantee the group can win; raising the stakes.

 

What do you guys think?

[copperbell 617]

When I ran into this as a player in the WEG version we were running interference for the main fighter squadrons attacking the Death Star.

 

We had to prevent reinforcements reaching the Death Star to help counter the fighter assault.

 

I have been wondering about explaining why Tarkin never deployed whatever support he had on the Death Star by revealing it had been deployed at Alderaan since Tarkin was pretty much insane to order the destruction I figured they left behind enough of their support fleet which once out of Tarkin's purview began emergency rescue operations trying to recover what little reputation the Empire had left.

 

I'm not that up to date on the latest canon but I figured this was done to counter the rebel claims to the contrary placing the blame on the deceased Tarkin rather than the Emperor.

 

The Darth Vader comic deals with this somewhat differently but I'd like to find out how this would have been handled or has been handled in other games?

[Edgookin 771]

I would let the movie canon stand, and give them something else to do.  But it could be fun if they were recalled for the battle, but arrived only in time to see the Death Star explode.  Then they could help lead the evacuation of Yavin IV.  The Imperial fleet came down hard and fast after that.

[Maelora 5,807]

In our campaign, for various reasons, the Luke character never joined the Alliance,  heading off on a very different journey of self-discovery. So the Alliance pilots are all shot down and the Death Star was sabotaged shortly afterwards by its creator. For twenty years, the Empire have tried to get it operational again, as they slowly start losing the conflict and subsequently implode in a messy civil war.   But there's always that fear that the big daddy of all superweapons might come back online at any time, and the PCs will have to infiltrate it and destroy it from within... (taking them with it, obviously No convenient exhaust ports here!)

 

So yeah, do whatever you think is cool and suits your game.  Just talk it over with the players first so they know what they're getting.

 

Personally I think that blowing up Death Stars and rescuing Princesses is PC work.  

Edited June 10, 2016 by Maelora

[SSB_Shadow 46]

It is difficult to decide, yes. I would rather not have Luke stealing the show even if it is canon. I kind of like your Idea, Maelora: Luke perhaps went another path in order to become a Jedi (like his father before him) and didn't join the Rebellion until afterward.

 

Another reason why I want the team to do the fight is for the dramatic purpose. We've been playing a couple of session and the team have been acquainted and become friends with some NPCs, including Garven Dreis, aka Red Leader. A lot of people are not going to survive the battle. :,( This in order to better push in the sense of desperation that the battle truly was. It kinda loses its effect when the players off-game already know the true outcome of this battle.

So I think I will go with that.
Then it also includes a dread of failure of not only their lives but the rebellion itself.
 

[djshadowcat 28]

It is your game. What you say goes.

[HexNeck 1]

In our game there is no rebelion yet. No one found it and the player have to do it. Only then they will be able to play AoR

[RogueCorona 1,043]

In our game there is no rebelion yet. No one found it and the player have to do it. Only then they will be able to play AoR

 

 

Interesting idea but I've been part of groups that have tried similar campaigns and usually they get bogged don by logistics issues.

[Sturn 2,951]

As has been said, it's your game. But know in advance you may be creating some extra work for yourself as you start to keep track of all of the indirect results of the changes to canon via a "butterfly effect". Having X die and Y not happen can indirectly cause many changes to what your players know of the Star Wars timeline. It could get confusing. Not saying don't do it just be prepared.

 

Having the PCs help with the evacuation works for me. You could use the Legends version for ideas or go your own way since it wasn't covered in movie canon. There may have been a large battle as the Rebels evacuated and an Imperial fleet showed up to stop them. Nearly endless possibilities there from small scale to large scale action.

 

If you want them directly involved in the Battle of Yavin, you can still do things that wouldn't contradict canon. Perhaps Leia, upon being rescued, reveals she heard a conversation about a VIP valuable to the Alliance that was also a prisoner on the Death Star. It could be your pick of someone from Legends. When the DS arrives, the players are tasked with a near suicide mission to rescue this VIP during cover of the battle. Perhaps a stolen TIE Bomber shuttle with the PCs aboard will use the Alliance fighter attack as a distraction to get aboard the DS during the battle, hack into the network to find the VIP, sneak to the proper cell block, and get the heck out before the DS goes boom. It could be very tense as comms reveal what is going on outside the DS with the Alliance fighter squadrons as the players race to complete their mission and get away in time.

 

Didn't someone else on these boards pose something similar?

[Kyla 1,411]

I get lucky, I'm running the old WEG game Tatooine Manhunt, where the PCs go after Adar Tallon over a three day hunt. Since it states in the adventure that Luke's Landspeeder is at Spaceport Speeder's being sold, and Adar Tallon himself is present during the Battle of Yavin, that means my PCs are running that in tandem with the rescue of the Princess.

 

The close of the adventure sees the PCs rescue Adar Tallon and his wife - and as Adar Tallon makes his way to Yavin, the PCs will be taking his wife to an Alliance safeworld (since there were no civillians at the Base). This means my PCs will be out of action for the Battle a few days later when it happens!

[SFC Snuffy 809]

Responding to your original question, I've done it both ways. If I'm playing a Star Wars game, where everyone has the understanding that this is, in fact, Star Wars, then that comes with the implicit acknowledgement that canon will be preserved. It may be bent a little, here or there, but they're not going to be able to kill Boba Fett, preemptively steal the X-Wing design & sell it to the Imperials, or anything that would otherwise significantly impact the canon storyline.

If, on the other hand, your players want an alternate-reality sort of game (as Maelora described) or to just play a homebrew setting using the FFG rules, then the sky's the limit.

[HappyDaze 10,101]

I break canon all the time. I don't always tell the players about all of it, especially if it's something that their characters will discover of the course of a campaign.

[That Blasted Samophlange 6,923]

I maintain canon, as well as I can, except for I usually set up a sector of space for my campaigns. This way, you can hace great impact fighting the empire, setting up your own criminal empire, colonizing a new world, discovering a lost fleet or treasure, basically anything I can think up. Your imperial moff can have his own superweapon projects, that can be just as integral to destroy as the Death Star.

Remember:

Space... is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is...

There is lots of room to do whatever you want, and a sector of space can be just as fleshed out as the rest of the galaxy.

[HappyDaze 10,101]

Remember:

Space... is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly hugely mindbogglingly big it is...

There is lots of room to do whatever you want, and a sector of space can be just as fleshed out as the rest of the galaxy.

Remember too:

 

The hyperdrive can make the Star Wars galaxy feel small. Really small. You just won't believe how small it can feel sometimes.

 

 

It's all in what you want it to be.

[jamester989 9]

My game takes place in an alternate universe where Anakin killed Obi-wan in their duel on mustafar, and Luke and Leia are sith lords. So I think anything is possible.

[Sturn 2,951]

My game takes place in an alternate universe where Anakin killed Obi-wan in their duel on mustafar, and Luke and Leia are sith lords. So I think anything is possible.

 

IF you have players that accept this. But, you also might have players that wish to play in the actual Star Wars Galaxy versus something based upon the Star Wars Galaxy. A referee should make sure the players are all fine for going off the rails or you might have a disgruntled group down the road.

[HappyDaze 10,101]

 

My game takes place in an alternate universe where Anakin killed Obi-wan in their duel on mustafar, and Luke and Leia are sith lords. So I think anything is possible.

 

IF you have players that accept this. But, you also might have players that wish to play in the actual Star Wars Galaxy versus something based upon the Star Wars Galaxy. A referee should make sure the players are all fine for going off the rails or you might have a disgruntled group down the road.

 

Not entirely unlike the fanbase after the prequels, or even after TFA.

[Nightone 640]

I´m a fan of not alter the canon (and legends) to much, but also I´m a big fan of let my PC´s have a chance to make a big impact even in the major canon (and legends) scenes.

 

e.g. in one of my games I had an Sithapretice (raised by the unknow secret pupil of Count Dooku and no friend of the Empire) after she was catched by the Empire and altert alittle bit by the inquisitors, who tried to make a war puppet out of her, she was sent to Hoth to capture Luke before Vader could (no one ever said that all the inquisitors wouldn't have plans of their on, didn't one?!)

 

So she came from the other side of the base, once she went in and got hands on a comlink of the rebels, she could hear all the well known phrases from the battle.

When the first transporter went of and the orbital-Ion-Cannon took out the ISD, she was able to notice that any controlling/ mind restricting gear in her suit/ bodytec shut down, by sweetcharming a medicaldroid and coercing a rebell engineer she was able to get rid of the cortexbomb, and any surveillance gear in her bodytec.

 

While now free she decided to take the chance to flee with the rebels, espacially since she knew that some very special blackdressed Sith was on his way down.

 

She helped the rebels a lot during the evacuation, even was able to help out Dash Renedar (Legends) in his fight with the freaking AT-ST, and got a glimpse on a guy with a blue Lightsaber that let an AT-AT in far distance explode.

 

She killed a lot of Snowtroopies, rescued some smugglers and rebelsoldiers, and got get of the planet by joining the alliance. She later sold a lot of her knowledge, and is now taking part in "Operation Ringbreaker on Xagobah" (important milestone according to legends)

 

 

 

 

In your case if you want your PC to run the attack on the DS, I could provide you this:

Let the be another squadron than the cannon ones (so nether red nor gold; maybe blue, gree, orange, silver )

don´t use the name of Luke, he is just the guy called "Red Five" on the coms.

let them fly in the passage to the vent just before, would Luke went in.

They now have the chance to alter the story a little bit, if the near impossible hit happends, the players are the heroes,

but well they have to deal with vader as a squadron leader (two minions at his porposal) in his advanced TIE - so a lot of yellow dice against them, while not really able to fire back, (alternative let it be 3 normal TIE-Minions and narrate that in this one case Vader is occupied with hunting some of the red one...)

 

IF your PCs miss the shot, you still can go oin and let "Red Five" destroy the DS and let the PCs (if they survived up to this moment) helping this reckless guy in the YT-1300 by clearing the way for his shoot on Vader.

 

When your PC win the encounter and destroy the DS, the story keeps intact, you can narrate that while the PC blew up the vent Vader was in a dog fight with "Red Five" so he has reason to hunt Luke down through out the galaxy, and Luke will get promoted to commander for any other offscreen reason.

 

Should the PCs screw up you still have plan B to save the rebellion and keep the story going on.

 

 

 

Should you decide to not have Luke/Red five as a plan B at the scene of crime, and your PCs screw up... well... Yavin IV will suffer the same fate as Alderaan, Princess Leia will be fried atomic toast as well as most of the most important rebel leaders, Vader wouldn´t know about any son of him, the little remaining rebelforces will fall back to the state of beeing just little terroristic cells, with no large connection to each other. and with not much courage left to stand against the empire which now will have a fully operational battlestation with the power to destroy planets, and since palpatine is a maniac... he will use this power on every planet that even show a little more than a glimpse of rebellion.

The "Vent-Weakness" will be fixed (now the empire nows where to look for it) and after the infiltration of old Kenobi or who ever saved Leia in your Story the security level will be risen to extrem levels.

 

There will be no battle of Hoth, since the crew stationed there... well they became stardust on Yavin IV. No occupining Bespin (and no Lando joining the alliance) since Han would't be there with Leia (which is dead) since he wouldn´t be on Hoth without Leia, and wouldn't need to escape without a funcional hyperdrive... no battle of Endor (no need for a trap the Empire has a DS, and there are no real rebelforces to lure in any more)...  It would be an even darker time in the galaxy than before...

 

Of course you could say that you can narrate any reason why the DS isn't functional any more (like in Maeloras version) or that there is no one important on Yavin IV (than again why should Tarkin head for Yavin in the first place??) or/and you can fill all the now empty slots with your own NPCs (but than again why create yourself all this work, when there already is a whole structure to take up)

 

 

In the end it's up to you and your table how far you want to strife away from the canon (and legends), but the more you walk away from it the more work you have to do to keep the story in together.

 

in each case, always remember FUN first, anything else second.

[segara82 359]

Well, i warned my players about altering canon but they were too stuck in their ways of kissing up to the Empire and  ... how should i phrase it:

They dragged it behind the shed, shot it, burned it and pissed on the burning corpse that was once canon before dropping the ash in a lake of acid.

Amongst other things they

1. ratted out the Dac resistance to the Empire (no Mon Cal ships for the Rebells)

2. had a personal vendetta with Bail Organa and proofed his connections to Rebel sympathisers

3. hunted and killed Obi-Wan Kenobi leading to

4. Luke ending in imperial control. (He's 3 years old but Vader knows of him)

 

The year is 16 BBY, Bail Organa and Garm Bel Iblis are on the run, Mon Mothma is under more scrutiny than ever for her connections to them and the Rebell Alliance as such might never come into existence.

But i know my players, they'll get cocky and start a civil war, once/if they make Moff.

[copperbell 617]

Given Lord Vader will undoubtedly want to succeed Palpatine maybe he decides to eliminate this potential thorn in his plans...

[SSB_Shadow 46]

If you want them directly involved in the Battle of Yavin, you can still do things that wouldn't contradict canon. Perhaps Leia, upon being rescued, reveals she heard a conversation about a VIP valuable to the Alliance that was also a prisoner on the Death Star. It could be your pick of someone from Legends. When the DS arrives, the players are tasked with a near suicide mission to rescue this VIP during cover of the battle. Perhaps a stolen TIE Bomber shuttle with the PCs aboard will use the Alliance fighter attack as a distraction to get aboard the DS during the battle, hack into the network to find the VIP, sneak to the proper cell block, and get the heck out before the DS goes boom. It could be very tense as comms reveal what is going on outside the DS with the Alliance fighter squadrons as the players race to complete their mission and get away in time.

I actually kind of like this even better than my last decision. My group are unfortunately not so keen on space battles and they would perhaps appreciate this better. The group may split if someone really want to take it to the Death Star surface but the others could then have a super important and time-limited mission inside the battle station itself. Rescuing an important prisoner, sabotaging some turbolasers and doing everything in order to win a desperate battle.