Before the empire Jedi were pretty common. There would be a band stationed in every civilized system and perhaps a few in every major nation. The people of the Republic knew, trusted and respected (well, most of the people anyway) the Knighthood. They were law at its highest level and charged with the duty of keeping the Galactic Peace. I suppose you may be able to think of them as the Galaxy’s United Nations Task Force. They protected all systems but reported directly to none, not even the Republic. Please note: The Republic has no official power over the Knighthood. They’ve just developed a mutually beneficial symbiotic relationship over the years.
Most Jedi characters of this time period are fresh from the Academy. If you want to start players fresh after their early training, have them make characters the usual way Let them make/modify templates however they wish.... an Artificer will have a much higher Technical score than a Naturalist. Guidelines for beginning attribute die codes are provided in the appendixes. Also, it is reasonable that only space-faring races should be allowed to attend the Academy (This means: NO EWOK JEDI!). After they have their characters, give them 2D more in each force skill and 3D more to be divided up between their required skills to represent their training at the Academy. They are now Jedi Adepts (assuming they use their points wisely and meet all the requirements) and ready for their Master’s first assignment. Just to keep things fair, let non-Jedi make their characters like normal but with 15D (instead of 7D) to be added to their characters, provided that no more than 3D be added to more than two skills. Just as a fair warning... Jedi tend to be obnoxiously powerful. If you’re going to run a Jedi based game let it be known that it is “high level” and the stakes are great. Non Jedi may have to be creative with their characters in a Jedi based game to describe why they’re working with the Knighthood. Some possibilities could be that they’re Acolytes, just doing what they can in the name of Galactic Peace. They could be members of a government the Jedi are sent to assist in a time of crisis. They could be hired by the Academy to transport the Jedi to their assignment. The possibilities are endless.
Bad news for Jedi during the Empire. They want you dead.... bad. Ever since the Clone Wars the Empire has hunted down your kind. The Jedi are no longer treated with the reverence they received during the Old Republic. The Jedi Knighthood is either considered an old legend or just some “hokie religion.” If a PC tells someone they’re a Jedi they should be laughed at, turned into the Empire, or both.
Jedi characters of this period should simply choose either the Minor Jedi or the Young Jedi template and create the character as usual. Jedi of this era tend, for obvious reasons, not to be as powerful as those in the Golden Age of the Jedi. They don’t hit the “obnoxiously powerful” stage for a good while; and by that time all the other characters are sporting 9D Blaster skills so it pretty much evens out.
After Palpatine takes that nifty radiation bath, the Jedi begin to slowly pop up again. Those who have been hiding for so many long years resurface and Luke Skywalker erects a new Jedi Praxeum to rebuild the old Knighthood. Players could either be a member of the new Praxeum, a Jedi who was apprenticed to a Master at the end of the Great Purge and went into hiding afterwards, one of the Emperor’s Dark Apprentices turned to the Light, or a Force using Alien of some kind. In other words, base your character on a template as usual.
Characters should never be as two-dimensional as the game makes it. Sure its quick and easy to whip out a template and slap on a few D, but, as Yoda is so fond of teaching: Quick and easy are traits of the Dark Side. Templates are quicker, easier, more seductive; they are not better. What Yoda was saying is that players ought to take time with their characters, molding them into three-dimensional beings. By the time you start playing you should know every important fact about your character. I strongly suggest having players fill out a Character Background Sheet (as shown in the Appendixes). Have players fill them out and then award bonus Character Points based on depth and originality. Even more points should be awarded to players who incorporate their background sheet into the character.
Examples: Say I’m going to play a Bounty Hunter. I could just fill out the template and know next to nothing about my character or I could fill out a Background Sheet and know how he’d react to any given situation. Better yet, a truly creative player would put his thoughts down on the Background Sheet and write the Bounty Hunter’s Resume to be turned in to the GM. Or an Outlaw could write his Criminal Record, or an ISB Agent could type up his Imperial Personnel Record. Sure it takes a bit longer but it REALLY adds to the over-all enjoyment of the game. Remember... this should be Role-playing, not Roll-playing.
Another good way to flesh-out characters is to incorporate rules from other systems. If you have a copy of a White Wolf Player’s Guide, incorporate the Merits & Flaws rules into your characters. A 1 point flaw pretty much equates to a 1 pip bonus to be added to beginning skills. You might also be able to use the Advantages and Disadvantages of GURPS. Perhaps a 5 point Disadvantage is equal to 1 pip. Whatever works. If it helps bring life to your character, by all means use it.
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