Age of Rebellion Game

Overview
Concept: The players are a rebel cell seeking to sway the people of a planet under Imperial control to support the Rebellion.

Setting: A former Separatist planet under Imperial occupation since the end of the Clone War almost 20 years ago.

Goals: Set up a Rebel base on or around the planet.
 * Set up the high importance of this rebel base's establishment. The Alliance needs a new base soon, and they need it here. Why?

Challenges:
 * Rebel base can't just be built in a day, and once it's built, the superior military might of the Empire would destroy it in a day if it were located.
 * Locations
 * Asteroid belt.
 * Planetary wilderness
 * Plainclothes cell in capital
 * Gain the trust of locals to help shelter them, scout a location, keep it from being revealed.
 * The Galactic Empire has been the legitimate power on the planet for nearly two decades.
 * Since the planet was needed, Imperial reconstruction effort was generous. Medical and food aid, cities and infrastructure rebuilt, Imperial factories employed population. Imperial military recruits for its occupation of the galaxy, opening employment, education, mobility for the common people.
 * However, one size does not fit all. There are problems applying inflexible standard Imperial procedure to the planet, and loyalists of the old, emergent government still exist.
 * Crime reduced under Imperial rule as garrison is stationed there, more than the Republic ever did.
 * But, cruel and unjust enforcement. Chief of police, ISB antagonists?
 * COMPNOR propaganda can be exposed

Player Characters

 * Main Article: The Aestalon Cell

Players create a pool of characters, not just their own. May have favorites they like to play, but can generally play any of their choice in any session to suit what kinds of characters the next mission they imagine needs. About a dozen should be a good start, and about all the Alliance can afford to invest in a new cell that may or may not succeed. Can recruit from the planet with enough success, or earn reinforcements from the Alliance High Command.
 * Diplomat 'face' and cell leader.
 * Aides, including spies, interpreters, etc.
 * Military commander
 * Several Rebel Troopers
 * Squadron Leader
 * Several subordinate pilots.
 * Spies?
 * Base Support staff; mechanics, droids, so on.

Antagonists

 * The Imperial government
 * Moff
 * A genuine believer in Imperial virtue, but to see that virtue win out, will subvert those virtues and fight underhanded. Pointing out his hypocrisy hurts him. Came of age during the Clone War, when planet was devastated by Republic attack and rebuilt by the Imperial reconstruction.
 * Ministers
 * Local and planetary federal officials. Some earnest, some corrupt.
 * Imperial system itself
 * More than corrupt individuals in positions of power, rebellion must be justified by the system itself being unsalvageable from the inside. Wider galaxy sees a bigger picture, but has no interest in the needs of a little backwater planet.
 * Alternate Rebellion
 * Like Saw Guerrera's Partisans, introduce a counterpoint rebel group who use terrorist means. They halt Imperial cruelty by inflicting their own, and would never be capable of reestablishing the Republic.
 * Leader, someone scarred by the Empire and seeks revenge in any convenient form.
 * Cult of personality aspect. After their death, remnants of the cell may still do damage.

Potential Allies

 * Former Separatists.
 * High-minded individuals believing in their own liberty.
 * Skeptical about a New Republic, but did believe in the Old Republic before the Separatist Movement.
 * Bitter veterans and failed gloryhounds.
 * Villainous former generals of the Separatist Army.
 * Marginalized or outraged citizens.
 * People who suffer under Imperial rule.
 * People outraged by the Empire's crimes; slavery, colonialism, etc.

Introduction One-Shots
Several one-shot adventures would be used to set up the various characters who will be assembled to form this Rebel cell.

Dissolution of the Senate
Background for Diplomats, Spies, and others. Simultaneous to the events of A New Hope, the characters are present on Coruscant for a session of congress with particular issues in mind. To their surprise, however, the Emperor appears to announce the Imperial Senate's dissolution, after Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan was arrested and found guilty of acting as an agent of the Rebellion and traitor to the Empire--as rumors have persisted about several Senators.

The Spy/other characters realize a detachment of Stormtroopers are lying in wait to arrest the Diplomat after the Senate is dismissed, and must escort the Diplomat safely off of Coruscant. If the Diplomat is set on being Empire-loyal, have a close friend Senator be the one in danger and the party act to save him, getting them accused of being sympathetic to the Rebellion in the process. Without any other alternative, the party seeks asylum with the Alliance.

Pirate Radio
A particular song mocking the Empire starts making waves, and though the Empire declares it subversive, it keeps being disseminated by contraband channels thought to originate from the singer/songwriter himself. The Empire has ISB agents out searching for them, but if the Rebellion can find him first, they might be able to set him up with a more secure broadcasting station to their benefit.
 * If rescued and offered the broadcast post, Singer may demand complete creative control depending on his relationship with the PCs instead of simply airing propaganda.

Public Debate
Once the public is aware of the Rebellion, the average person begins to wonder what the better course for their lives would be. To help determine this, a public forum is held to discuss the possible benefits and hazards of independence and secession from the Empire. Depending on the mood of the government and planet, this might be a sponsored event in a university hall or a clandestine meeting in a tavern basement. Professors and philosophers come to take part for both sides of the debate, and once they learn of it (or create the event themselves), the Rebellion asks the PCs to attend, with Diplomat characters taking the lead in arguing for independence.

The players can take time to prepare beforehand. Learn more about the planet, its problems under the Empire, recruiting speakers for their side and learning who might or will appear to advocate for the Empire (those likely to argue for Rebellion are easy, those who are unlikely will be hard and if failed may show up on the opposite side). Each piece of information they learn becomes a Boost die they can add to different pools during the Debate, and stats for any speakers will need to be included.

Debate Structure:
 * The debate is broken into several Debate Questions, such as "What problems exist with Imperial rule?", "What do we stand to gain from independence?", and "What are the disadvantages of secession?". Each is treated like a Combat Encounter, with short rests in between.
 * Each Debate Question allows for a certain number of Points to be made (cutting for time). Each point stands to add a Boost or Setback die to the Final Pool (depending on which side makes the argument). Points are Contested by the opposing speaker, however, who can make counterpoints or argue its relevance.
 * Alternatively, the opposing speaker can yield the Point and attack the speaker's character instead, potentially damaging the stat used to make the check. If it fails, however, the opposing speaker suffers the damage as they are rebuffed for clearly trying to insult their opponent.
 * Successes and Threats are arguments made so well it diminishes the opponent's credibility. Their Presence or Intellect score (whichever was used for the contest) is reduced by the number of Successes/Threats for the remainder of the Debate Question.

If too many Debate Questions go consecutively to the Rebellion, an Imperial plant might be instructed to raise a blaster, shout something in support of the Rebellion, and fire into the air. This gives the Imperials the excuse to send in Stormtroopers to break up the debate. Other PCs should get a chance to foil them, but even stopping them before they can fire might result in a Setback for the Rebellion's advocates.

The entire debate leads up to one massive, final dice pool as the audience participates in a mock vote. Combine all speakers' Ability/Proficiency with Boosts added from every Debate Question. Force Points may not be used to effect this roll, and Force characters who try using Mental Force Powers on the audience should take a severe hit to Morality.

Forum:


 * Need reason for multiple speakers, mechanically. Why switch out the speaker with the highest Presence?
 * Speaker Presence can take damage from opponent attacking their character, which can recover.
 * Structure Imperial side to have 1 high-stat main speaker and weaker speakers filling out their group?
 * Debate Questions may rely on different Skills or even Stats, which recruited Speakers may have higher stats in.

High Command Missions
For a break in the constant task of base management, the Rebellion may sometimes ask the PCs' cell to dispatch teams to undertake missions for the Alliance in nearby sectors. These can include rewards for the cell from Alliance High Command. Players choose what characters from the group to take based on the mission briefing, and should be tailored to one or more of the main PCs.

Sway a Donor
A wealthy individual sympathetic to the rebellion has signaled they may be willing to give much-needed funding to the Rebellion. Just how much they can safely divert is a matter for negotiation, however. A party must meet with the potential donor, ensure his safety and confidentiality, and perhaps prove themselves before making sure the funds reach the Alliance discreetly.

Materiel Negotiation
A merchant group wishes to offload a surplus they can't otherwise sell, and illicitly contact the Alliance. The PCs are called upon to negotiate the sale for a price as low as possible. Why the merchants can't sell these supplies, however, may have something to do with Imperial authorities on the lookout for them.

New Theaters
Part of the reason Alliance High Command agreed to fund a cell in the PCs' system was to make strikes deeper into Imperial territory than before, and an opportunity has arisen.

Fleas Bite the Lion
After a fleet battle in another sector, one Star Destroyer is left savaged and vulnerable. As it limps toward a refueling station in a nearby sector, the Alliance sends a Y-wing squadron to destroy the depot and needs X-wings from the PCs' cell to take over their escort once the X-wings sent with them initially run out of fuel. They'll have to fend off TIE patrols and the station's defensive squadron to let the Y-wings reach their target, and after the PCs could potentially take part in the final assault on the Destroyer itself.

Escort Duties
An Alliance vessel with desperately-needed cargo is moving between the fleet a distant cell. The squadron is tasked with their safety for this leg of their trip.

Extract a Spy
A spy on a nearby planet has completed their work or found something of value and requires exfiltration. What complications may arise, however, have yet to be seen. And perhaps one of the PCs has a history with this spy?