SWRPG - Character Classifications

[Pinky]

Jedi are the humble protectors of galactic tranquility. The Jedi Order has lead the Republic to victory in many wars both small and large throughout the ages, although schisms in the past that split the Order have resulted in the worst conflicts. At the time of the Naboo Crisis they've come to utterly shun desire and attachment, and use the Force primarily for the purposes of diplomacy. Much of the Jedi lore is studied by a relatively few, so that the legacy of the Order nearly ends with the Great Jedi Purge.

-Guardians have affinity for the living Force and are expert duelists, though they're capable of diplomacy. Carry blue sabers.
-Consulars focus on the mystical aspects, studying diligently, though their saber skill is serviceable. Carry green sabers.
-Sentinels have adequate training but do not depend on the Force. Few exist during the Naboo Crisis. Carry yellow sabers.

Gray Jedi are considered mavericks, and are exiled as often as not. Believers in the Will of the Force, they are guided by feelings rather than the orthodox code of the High Council. Not to be confused with relativists, Gray Jedi reject the dark side. However, they believe that the Council's stringent regulations have ironically weakened the Order against the forces of evil. The Council dismisses their criticism as the code was made to address failures of the past, yet keeps a close eye on them since those same arguments have lead to terrible schisms in the past.

Potentium hold true the maxim, "no light, no dark: only the Force." An ancient religion based on traditions that preexisted the Jedi Order, believing the dark side to be a problem created by one's self that is not inherent to the Force, and that if one perfects the self then one may use all the Force without doing any evil. Nearly a century before the Naboo Crisis the adherents of Potentium were exiled from the Order, as they are believed to be walking down the same path that previously lead many Jedi into embracing the dark side.

Dark Jedi were once of the Jedi Order. Schisms lead by Dark Jedi have caused terrible wars, and modern Sith are descendants of the fallen ones of old. In 6900 BBY, such exiles came to the homeworld of the Sith race, and they were as gods to them and became their rulers for a time. Eons later, during the Jedi-Sith wars, any who converted to the dark side were taught Sith arts. This was almost completely stopped after the institution of the Rule of Two, when Dark Jedi could only serve the Dark Lords but they could not learn the Way of the Sith unless they would usurp the position of one of the two Lords, although due to the extremely limited number of Sith either of those instances are exceedingly rare.

Sith were Force-sensitive natives of Korriban, a planet that was long outside the reach of Republic Space. In 6900 BBY, Dark Jedi came to them to be their rulers, and over time via "Sith Alchemy" they interbred, becoming one great and dark people. Over thousands of years they built strong empires, relatively small although they were incredibly powerful, all ruined by internal treachery. They could never remain unified long enough to win the galaxy nor defeat the Jedi with open war, so the Rule of Two was made: only two Sith could live, the stronger teaching the weaker until the student slayed the master, becoming the master and taking on a new student, turning their greatest weakness into an advantage that has kept the Sith Order strong ever since.

-Blademasters are strong in the living Force, the warrior-kings of the Sith, with dueling expertise to prove it.
-Sorcerers are mystical adepts based on the hierarchy of the Old Empire. More thoughtful, less violent than Blademasters.
-Assassins are refined killers, knowing many skills practical to their role. They have dropped into disfavor during the Rule of Two.

Soldiers come in many varieties: enlisted servicemen, private security, personal bodyguards. Bounty hunters tend to have soldiering backgrounds and are one of the few careers, other than cargo transporters, that pull enough credits to buy their own starships. Skilled in the use of blasters and explosives.

Scouts tend to be apart from whatever organization they are officially tied to, charting new hyperspace routes and exploring newly discovered or long-abandoned planets. Knowledgeable in various fields central to their work such as mechanical engineering, communications and infiltration.

Scoundrels, named for the dubious nature of their work, tend to be a jack-of-all-trades. Good at everything, masters of nothing, they have the skills and morals to fit into any role that the galaxy has to offer as long as it doesn't draw too much attention from civil authorities.

[Pinky]

Light and Dark

While "the force" may be used as a singular blanket term to identify the combined properties of the living and mystical sides of the whole metadimension which all force-sensitives draw from, there are two distinctive philosophies in its use - the light and the dark - that the most prominent galaxy-spanning religions define themselves by.

The former, "light", is named for its extroverted nature. Those who are sensitive to the force sense the light as a shining energy akin to physical light, with all the warmth and brilliance but lacking any of the harshness. Individuals that make use of it have a naturally calming influence on the people and events around them, and have a magnetic attraction to all others, which also includes dark-side users [discussed further below].

Additionally, when two or more light-affinity peoples are in close proximity to one another their influence has a magnifying effect: the light-side force streams from one to the other, empowering both beyond what they could achieve alone. Naturally, as the ranks of the Jedi Order have swelled the power of the light has grown, so that the Jedi have become the single most important pillar of the Galactic Republic in the maintenance of peace since the end of the last Dark Age.

Knowing all this and more, the Jedi Order erected a holy Temple on top of a natural nexus of the Force on the most core-ward world, Coroscant, from which the High Council reigns. By being as close as possible to the very heart of the galaxy itself, the Council has made sure that it is equally close to all corners of the galaxy so that they may be ready to extend their Vision in the most directions possible with the least restriction.

Also, no matter what direction a Jedi travels on a mission they will always be as close as possible to the Temple to lend them their power as well. On top of that, nearly a thousand Jedi are kept at the Temple at all times, and even the architecture was designed (down to every detail of every room and causeway) to enhance the magnification property of the light. With the High Council seated on the tip of the spire, they easily draw from the immeasurable wealth of power collected there.

It is believed that when the Council is fully assembled in the Sky Chamber of the Temple there is nothing that can escape their sight. It is less openly said, though easily imagined, that if there were ever an outbreak of a terrible war, and the Order spread far and wide apart, that their perception and strength would diminish greatly.

On the contrary, the "dark" side of the force is focused inward and it is unerringly self-centered in nature. It feeds upon the force with a hunger that has no end, and it hungers most for the paragons of the light. Since life itself is the source from which the force grows, dark-side users are often indulgent with habits of wanton slaughter and mayhem, as the act of destruction is what feeds them and gives them strength.

Because of this, the Sith have always been the greatest foe to the Jedi: for every Jedi that has fallen in the great wars of old, not only does it cut down the light's power but the shadow grows by the same stroke. Even the greatest practitioners of the light depend upon the weakest in the Order to bolster themselves, which the Sith have long criticized as a fatal flaw since the weakest fall first and easiest and most often, something they have exploited time after time in every conflict.

Due to the dark side’s quest for death and chaos, its greatest adherents have caused the galaxy's worst disasters. Even worse, whenever a Lord of the Sith is under the service of a greater Lord bitter jealousy consumes the lesser – whatever malice that the lesser performs and power gained thereby, a tribute of it is paid to the greater who owns him. So, at times the Sith will slay each other, openly or in secret, by acts of strength or subtle craft. This is not only permissible but also encouraged, for as the slain Lord fades away their share of the power goes to the victor, and the dark side becomes evermore concentrated.

However, there are limits to the times and situations that betrayal is acceptable, although for thousands of years the Sith paid no heed to the danger as their hunger drove them on, saying to themselves that every loss was beneficial in that it was a purging of weakness. So, the reckless and epic rivalry of Naga Sadow and Ludo Kressh during the Great Hyperspace War, and the suicidal struggle between the Dark Council after the self-imposed exile of the Sith Emperor following the end of the Great Galactic War, directly lead to the downfall of their mightiest Empires.

Unable to give up the fundamental philosophies of domination and subjugation, Darth Bane invoked the Rule of Two after being inspired by knowledge gained from ancient Sith holocrons. Before the Great Galactic War, Darth Revan was able to rise swiftly as he kept only one true apprentice at any given time, so that all the evil deeds wrought across Republic Space fed them greatly. As most often throughout Sith history, two apprentices would come together to slay their master, so during the Rule of Two the threat of betrayal was also made nearly absent since each Lord needed only to worry about the other, and when the two would eventually clash all power was left in the hands of the victor.

Adding to that, Darth Bane kept himself and his apprentice secret rather than building up yet another Empire for the Jedi to thwart, depending almost entirely on the far more devious arts of manipulation and treachery. This made the method of betrayal more orderly and refined, as the master would move about the galaxy collecting what influence he could, while the betrayer would do likewise until the time when the mastery could be usurped without ruining all that they had built together. From Bane to Zannah, from Zannah to Cognus, from Cogus to Ramage, from Ramage to Plagueis the Wise, from Plagueis to Sidious the Great.