Persistence of VISIONS

This is a re-write of my previous attempt at this entry.

After reading the original over a few times I felt it didn't quite say what I wanted it to say. I think this is more accurate to what I was hoping to communicate. 

I've now watched all the episodes of Star Wars: Visions at least twice, with some of them having been viewed three times. The ones I gave a third viewing to I watched in English that additional time. All the previous viewings were in Japanese with English subtitled which were (unfortunately) in Close Caption format as a standard English subtitle format isn't available on Disney+ for some reason.

While some of the English dubs were decent, even good, nothing beats listening to Japanese Seiyuu (Voice Actors) do their thing. Amazing. 

As a result of watching these episodes I'm inspired to run another Star Wars campaign but before I do I want to take a closer look at Visions and see what I can take away from the series and integrate in as  potential game material. 

Let's begin with which story elements I think would make for an interesting campaign. For this there is no better place to start then with Episode #5, 'The Ninth Jedi'.

I am imagining a Star Wars game set 'many generations' after the stories we know; perhaps a century since the last known Jedi protected the galaxy. War rages across the cosmos once more, fueled by sinister forces attempting to resurrect the Sith. 

Those who feel the call of the Light Side of The Force seek out one of the few others of their kind seeking to keep the legends of the Jedi alive. If tales are true, the art of Lightsaber construction, a skill thought lost to time, is known by Margrave Juro and the his new order of Jedi Knights. Will you be among them or will your fury and impatience lead you to the Dark Side?

In my humble opinion, this is a wonderful premise for an ongoing campaign and much of the phrasing above could be worked into an 'Opening Crawl' quite effectively.

This particulars of this narrative gives us the idea that everything that we know exists in Star Wars does in fact still exist in this setting. This is definitely the Star Wars universe you're playing in but it's all new and the familiar is old. We'd have R2 units, TIE Fighters, and Stormtrooper armor as things of the past, only seen on backwater worlds or in the possession of bandits.

This could give you planets like that seen in The Duel, with brigands dressed in Imperial and First Order cast-off equipment and local mercenaries using repurposed droids and weaponry.

 

With no Jedi Masters around Force Sensitive individuals are own their own, scouring the galaxy for any information on what the Jedi order was like and how to train in their ways. Alternate forms or beliefs in the Force, as seen in The Village Bridge, might be a hopeful Jedi's only way of becoming connected to the planets and people they seek to defend.

Another way might be a legacy left behind by a Jedi of a bygone era. Perhaps one of the Jedi from the Order's final days (prior to their resurrection in the campaign) left a Lightsaber, their teachings, or even a bloodline that influences one of the Player Characters. This would be akin to what was mentioned and mayhap implied in Episode #8, Lop and Ochō .

While the various episodes of Visions are not supposed to fit together, I am purposely creating a variation of the Star Wars milieu influenced by many of the entries.  

Definitely more to come...next I will address what system or system modifications I might use to make things feel a bit more 'Anime'.

More to come...

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