Character Creation Guidelines

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So, you want to join the Vast Empire and role-play an Imperial character in the Star Wars Galaxy? The first thing you'll need to do is create a character. This creation will serve as your log-in persona for the ComNet (the VE's online forum), and as your player-character in the VE's ongoing-and-persistent play-by-post Role-Playing Game. Follow the steps below to create a character.


Step-by-step Character Creation Guidelines[edit]

Step 1: Choose a Division[edit]

New members interested in the VE's play-by-post rpg may join either of the two major Divisions of the club:

New members interested only in playing Star Wars: The Old Republic (and/or other multiplayer video games) with the VE's in-game guild (with no interest in the forum-based rpg) may instead join:

  • The Vast Empire's Marine Corps (VEMC)


Before you proceed to the next step in creating your player-character for the rpg, consider your choice of Division for a moment. Stormtroopers will need to be physically strong, and roughly humanoid; starfighter pilots will need to be physically smaller than the average human, with quick reflexes. In other words, as you begin to think about your character's species, keep in mind that cranial horns won't fit in a standard-issue TIE-pilot helmet, and consider whether a skinny being from a largely peace-living culture would make a likely Imperial Stormtrooper. The VE is a shared storytelling setting, so we all share the responsibility for maintaining verisimilitude and internal consistency. That responsibility begins with making justifiable choices during character creation.

Step 2: Choose a Species[edit]

So, you know what Division you want to join. Great! Now it's time to choose which species your player-character will be.


In the world of the club's rpg, the Vast Empire faction is a plural society, where all are welcome to live, work, and prosper. Grand Moff Kadann and the VE High Council have worked hard to eradicate any vestiges of the humanocentrism that characterized Palpatine's regime, and as a result, members of diverse species from all across the Galaxy have immigrated to the VE. And, in the wake of the Plague Wars, this influx of sentients has swelled even more, with the countless refugees who have fled the horrors of biological warfare.


But it's important here to make a distinction between IC (in character) considerations, and OOC (out of character) concerns. IC, the VE is a diverse society and "melting pot" of cultures, yes. But OOC, we're trying to work together to write "realistic" fiction set in a version of the Star Wars Galaxy that we all have a hand in creating/changing. That shared responsibility for creating an internally-consistent, realistic story setting means that we do have a few rules concerning the species new members are "allowed" to use, when creating new player-characters.


Take a look at this chart:

Most Prevalent Species
in VE Space (Recommended)
Common
in VE Space (Permissible)
Unusual
in VE Space (Problematic)
Rare
in VE Space (Problematic)
Banned
in the VE RPG (Not Allowed)
Humans (VE worlds)
Gran
Cereans
Duros
Humans (neutral worlds)
Twi'leks
Trandoshans
Rodians
Bith
Humans (IR worlds)
Falleen
Cathar
Zabrak
Humans (NR worlds)
Mon Calamari
Wookiees
Bothan
Chiss
Yuuzhan Vong
Gurlanin
Dashade
Noghri
Defel
Hutts
Dugs
Jawas
Ewoks


As you can see, while it may be true that IC, "all species are created equal," OOC, there is a hierarchy of acceptability when it comes to your choice of species for your player-character. Humans from any of the Vast Imperial home planets have good reason to join the VE military, so if you choose to play a Human from Lotaith (for example), you don't have to work very hard to justify that choice (that's why it's listed on the left, in the Blue column). On the other hand, a species like Wookiee is problematic: why would your character join the VE, since his people were enslaved by the Empire, generally stay close to their home planet (Kashyyyk, which is on the other side of the Galaxy from VE space), and are closely allied with the New Republic (one of the Vast Empire's main enemies)? It's not that making a believable backstory for a VE Wookiee character is impossible, but it would be very difficult to come up with something that makes sense (hence, Wookies are listed in the Red column). On the far right is the Black column: the "Banned" list. These are species which are not allowed for player-characters in the VE rpg, either because they are too rare in the Galaxy, or because they are "overpowered" with special abilities that other species don't have, or because they described as universally anti-Imperial, or because they are inadequately or inconsistently described in EU materials.


Recommended Species[edit]

These are species that are automatically accepted on biographies. These species (or subgroups) are either politically aligned with the Vast Empire, or else they come from planets in Vast Empire space, or else they are prevalent in the Galaxy generally. They make for plausible player-characters.

  • Humans from Vast Empire-controlled systems. By far the most common species in the VE military.
  • Trandoshans. Their violent nature and their history with the Galactic Empire combine to make them good candidates.
  • Cereans. Their homeworld, though neutral, is located in VE space, so it is safe to assume they would be prevalent in the region, and therefore in our forces.
  • Gran. Very common in Vast Empire Space.

Permissible species[edit]

Academy trainers will make decisions about player-character background plausibility on a case-by-case basis, but there shouldn't be a problem if a new member wants to play/write a character from this category. For particularly rare or unusual species the character biography may be passed up the chain of command for approval, but in general, these species should work well. In addition, most species not specifically mentioned on this wiki page's lists will probably belong to this category.

  • Twi'lek. They have been used as slaves by the Empire, but also by the Republic before them. Their homeworld is part of the NR, but they are quite dispersed as a species.
  • Rodians. They are prevalent in this region of space and are generally non-aligned in most instances.
  • Humans from neutral worlds. Many members of the VE military are human refugees from the Plagues Wars.
  • Bith: They are said to be found galaxy wide.

Problematic Species:[edit]

These are species which, due to history or political affiliation, are not well-represented in the VE military. If a Soviet citizen turned up on American soil at the height of the Cold War, would the Americans allow him to join the US Army the next week? New members who want a player-character from the species on this list would need to write a detailed biography that explains how their character came to be a part of the VE, and they may need approval from members higher up the chain of command than a regular academy trainer. This list includes species which have been heavily oppressed by the Empire in the past, are strongly affiliated with the New Republic, or are just quite rare and/or located far away from VE space. In general, any species that is particularly rare should be considered to be in this category.

  • Cathar. They are rare and located on the far side of the galaxy.
  • Wookiees. They have a general hatred for the Empire and are not very well spread through the galaxy.
  • Mon Calamari. They were murdered in the thousands by the Empire and are located on the very far side of the galaxy.
  • Zabrak. They suffered oppression under the Empire, and were said to be united as one in joining the New Republic.
  • Humans from New Republic worlds. There must be some consideration given to how/why a human from these systems would join the VE.

Banned Species:[edit]

These species will not be accepted under almost any circumstances. Either due to being far too rare, inconsistently described in various materials, not being established enough in EU canon, being too powerful, or simply being incompatible with the VE. If you wish to discuss any of these species, or have an idea for one you feel could fit in with VE canon, ask a question on the relevant academy board.

  • Yuuzhan Vong
  • Gurlanin
  • Dashade
  • Noghri
  • Defel
  • Hutts
  • Dugs
  • Jawas
  • Ewoks
  • Witches of Dathomir

Step 3: Construct your Character's Biography[edit]

instructions for making a character bio go here, standardized for both divisions.


The Vast Empire[edit]

The Vast Empire is not the traditional Imperial Remnant with its base on Bastion. It is an entirely new faction based on entirely new worlds. (See controlled systems) Our space is located between the unknown space and outer rim trailing the Corellian Trade Spine. The Vast Empire is more tolerant of alien species than the traditional imperial factions but seeks to usurp the corrupt Republic and replace it with strong leadership. We are currently in the year 10 ABY as the galaxy is ravaged by the "Plague Wars" and our space is overrun with refugees.

Vast Empire Space

When looking to create your character have a look at the galactic maps and use the Planet Location List to locate your character's home world. Pay attention to where it is relative to our space, a character from within our region of the galaxy makes much more sense than one from across the disc.

Star Wars Galaxy Map

History[edit]

Early Years[edit]

After death of the Emperor, Vast Empire aligns with the New Imperium faction. After a falling out, new planets are found for conquest and resettlement.

Pirate Raids[edit]

Four main worlds of Lotaith, Cepany, Tadath and Abrae(not to mention Lopen) are conquered. Club history (Comnet v1) involved many tales of these worlds under attack from pirate forces.

Expansion Towards Core[edit]

Chapters where we invaded worlds, pushing towards Corellian Trade Spine. Missions of Moorja and Bestine IV and Devaron have solidified our advance on the trade lane to Corellian space.

We've been moving ever Coreward, the missions of Moorja and Bestine IV and Devaron have solidified our advance on the trade lane to Corellian space.

That said, we've had to solidify our flanks. RimWard lies the Rimma Trade Route and our shaky alliance with the Imperials at Eriadu and other parts of the region. Towards the Core lie the Tapani Sector and the Borderworlds. Currently the NR is pushing hard to keep these planets allied with them. Given Palpatine's excesses, we have a bad history with these worlds, so getting them to fall into our sphere isn't quite possible. That said, if the Republic are the oppressors, we have no problem with helping the locals kick them out. Which, as most of the Army knows, is what we have been doing on planets like Mrllst and Abregado-rae. We've got the New Republic on the run. We've asked our troops to pull some missions beyond our usual scopes, doing dirty deeds for people who are not usually grateful for our efforts. I thank you all for jumping in and taking those orders and running with it. With that, we've also got to worry about Thrawn and his Imperial loyalists. We're not quite in a shooting war with them, but I imagine it wouldn't take much. It is a delicate situation and one that is not going to get any easier.

—Fury 2007

War with Thrawn[edit]

Battles with Thrawnist forces, particularly his attacks on our space.

The Plague Wars[edit]

Taking on refugees as The Remnant/New Republic exchange biological weapons.

Human, barabel, gamorrean, gungan, ithorian, mon cal, rodian, sullustan, trandoshan, twi'lek, whiphid, wook, zabrak