Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Force Unleashed Campaign Guide
See also: Rank and Privilege
Though The Rebel Alliance has not yet been formed, and resistance cells are scattered throughout the galaxy with no central leadership, heroes still have the option of joining up with other like-minded people in pursuit of a common goal. In fact, during The Dark Times banding together is often the only way to survive. Heroes are likely to want to join, or found, their own rebellious groups (Which might lay the groundwork for the Alliance to form). Alternatively, they might seek refuge on the fringes of society, building up their own smuggling empire or joining forces with the Black Sun crime syndicate. Regardless of the type of Organization they choose to join or found, this article should give both players and Gamemasters the information they need to integrate these Organizations into a campaign.
In game terms, an Organization is a collection of criteria and benefits that measures a character's value to a particular Organization. Moreover, an Organization can provide numerous benefits to its members, benefits that increase in value and effect as a member ascends through the Organization's ranks. Each Organization has its own criteria for what makes a good member, and as such two heroes of the same level might have widely different ranks within the same Organization based on their deeds and abilities. Increasing one's rank in an Organization often requires a member to do extraordinary things, perhaps even things they wouldn't normally do, to prove their allegiance to the Organization or improve their stature. A character can be a member of only one Organization at any given time (They can have an Organization Score with only a single Organization); to gain another Organization Score, a character must abandon their current Organization and join a new one. Typically, a character cannot rejoin an Organization they have abandoned, though exceptions can be made under special circumstances.
Features of an Organisation
All Organizations have some common features that describe what the Organization is all about and what benefits it provides. The following features are common to all organization descriptions.
Type: This section describes the type or function of the Organization, along with a general description of what the Organization does and how it goes about its business. Examples include paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and law enforcement agencies.
Enemies and Allies: This part of an Organization entry details the known allies and enemies of the Organization. Organizations have the potential to make friends with powerful people, and at the same time they might offend or anger other people in different positions of influence. Some Organizations will make enemies and allies of other organizations, and these relationships are detailed in this section.
Scale: An Organization's scale determines its sphere of influence, where its members can be found, and where its resources can be accessed. An Organization's scale is not necessarily tied to its number of members. For example, a noble house from the Tapani Sector might have only a few hundred members, but its influence is felt across many planets, making it more expansive than a planetary militia that has tens of thousands of members.
Organization Score Criteria: Every member of an Organization has an Organization Score that describes how revered or reviled the character is within the ranks of the Organization. This section describes what it takes to join an Organization, and then what it takes to rise and fall through the Organization's ranks based on one's Organization Score. The basic criteria for joining the Organization must be observed by all members, although certain criteria for advancement and demotion might affect only certain members.
If a character's Organization Score drops to 0 or lower, that individual is removed from the organization and may not rejoin except under special circumstances.
Criteria Tables: Each Organization entry contains criteria tables, which enumerate the individual acts or attributes that provide bonuses and penalties to an individual's organization score.
Titles, Benefits, and Duties: Once a character has an Organization Score, he compares it to the information in this section to determine the good and bad aspects of membership. This section gives information on the benefits gained by heroes at certain Organization Scores, as well as the drawbacks and duties they face as well. For example, a hero might have access to resources he could not normally get elsewhere, while at the same time find himself forced to deal with Imperial bounty hunters.
Roleplaying Applications: Joining an organization is not something one does on a whim; it is a commitment that can shape the entire course of a character's life. This section describes the roleplaying applications of being in an Organization, such as how it might change a hero's attitude or how it might challenge him on a regular basis. If an organization calls for the destruction of a civilian power plant but the hero is a Jedi who has sworn to protect civilians from harm, what kind of conflict does that create in the character, and how might it be resolved? This sections seeks to raise, and answer, questions such as that.
Creating a New Organisation
Though this chapter presents several Organizations for heroes to join, players and Gamemasters might want to craft their own Organizations from the ground up to personalize their campaigns. If a player wants to found an Organization and become its leader, he or she can take the Natural Leader Feat. Other heroes, even members of their own adventuring party, can join his or her Organization, or join totally different Organizations if they so choose. Some players might simply want to be members of a new Organization (Or one not described below), in which case the Gamemaster should craft an Organization to suit the campaign.
When you, as the GM, begin creating an Organization from scratch, you need to have certain pieces of information on hand before you start dealing with game mechanics. The following questions should be answered when you are ready to begin the organization design process.
What Are the Organisation Goals?
The most important question you need to answer is what the organization sets out to do. Most Organizations are unified by their goals. Crime syndicates want to make money, governments want to keep order, law enforcement agencies want to bring people to justice, and Force Traditions want to expand their knowledge of The Force. Decide what your organization works toward achieving and what they want to accomplish so that you have a better idea of why the organization works together.
Who is Member of the Organisation?
When you determine what kinds of people are members of an Organization, you help define what a player character is expected to be like as well if he joins that Organization. If an Organization is made up only of Force-sensitive Kel Dor, a Rodian Scoundrel might not fit in as well as that character's player would like. Along the same lines, an Organization whose members are made up of hundreds of Species from around the galaxy would not be likely to accept a member from the Humanocentric Empire who is unwilling to abandon their anti-alien bias. Deciding what kinds of characters fit in well with an organization also dictates what kinds of characters are engaged with it.
Who Runs the Organisation?
Ask yourself who is in charge of the Organization in question. Is your Force Tradition ruled by a council of elders who hand down assignments from their chambers? Is your noble house led by a charismatic Senator or an unscrupulous bureaucrat? Does your business fall under the control of a single, powerful decision-maker, or does he or she in turn answer to a shadowy council of investors? An Organization's leaders are the ones who are likely to dole out assignments or award special recognition to a character, and as such it is important to have an idea of who these people might be.
Where Does the Organisation Operate?
Defining an Organization's general area of operation is essential to determining its scale. Moreover, an organization might function only in a certain region of the galaxy, making it difficult for heroes adventuring in other systems and sectors to get in contact with the agents of that organization. Additionally, many of the resources an Organization provides can be obtained only within that Organization's domain, and as such it should be clearly defined what that domain actually encompasses before the creation of the Organization is finished.
What Does the Organisation Do on a Regular Basis?
Figure out what kinds of routine tasks the Organization undertakes. Do agents of your noble house travel to the government center every day to participate in politics? Does your paramilitary organization stage raids on Imperial outposts once a week? Does your pirate gang prey on passing ships every few hours? Regular and routine activities help define the Organization as a whole and give the GM a better idea of what to expect that a heroic member of the Organization will need to undertake as a part of membership.
Who Supports the Organisation and Who Works Against it?
Aside from its members and leaders, an Organization usually has third-party supporters. Nobles who support the cause clandestinely funnel credits into the organization's account, and law enforcement agencies look the other way when a group's actions are for the good of the people, if not necessarily within the letter of the law. By the same token, every Organization has its enemies, and they usually work to stymie the group's progress at every turn. Determining who works for and against an Organization will help flesh out enemies and allies during the creation process.
After you've answered these questions, you can go back and fill in the Organization's history, notable members, specific history, and so forth.
Designing a New Organisation
When creating a new Organization, you must determine all of the following traits.
Type
An Organization's type determines its function, methods, and the scope of its power and influence. An Organization's type also determines what kind of Knowledge check is used to find out more information about that Organization. If you are not sure what type to choose for your Organization, take a look at other Organizations similar to yours and see what type they use.
Any Organization should be classified as one of the types given in the following table. Information about an Organization can be discovered or determined by a character who makes a successful Knowledge check using the skill given in the second column.
| ORGANISATION TYPE | KNOWLEDGE SPECIALITY | |
|---|---|---|
| Business/Professional | Knowledge (Bureaucracy) | |
| Community or Tribe | Knowledge (Galactic Lore) | |
| Crime Syndicate or Outlaw Gang | Knowledge (Social Sciences) | |
| Enforcement | Knowledge (Bureaucracy) | |
| Force Tradition | Knowledge (Galactic Lore) | |
| Government/Bureaucracy | Knowledge (Bureaucracy) | |
| Military or Paramilitary | Knowledge (Galactic Lore) | |
| Noble House | Knowledge (Social Sciences) | |
| Religion | Knowledge (Social Sciences) |
Enemies and Allies
Determining whom your Organization gets along with and whom it comes into conflict with is usually easy. If your Organization fights against The Galactic Empire, chances are the Empire is your enemy. If your Organization seeks to end the scourge of crime in its sector, crime syndicates are probably your enemy. By the same token, if you have goals and methods similar to those of another Organization, it is likely to be your ally. For example, if your Organization is a paramilitary group that helps stop interstellar smuggling, law enforcement agencies might be your allies.
Scale
Determining an Organization's scale is one of the most important parts of creating a new Organization. An Organization's scale determines how powerful and influential it is and what resources are available to its members. For Organizations founded by players, the Organization's scale is a function of their level and Charisma modifier (See Natural Leader Feat). For other Organizations, ones that are more established and that have a longer history, the Gamemaster should determine each Organization's scale based on its history and sphere of influence. The Organization should have a scale comparable to that of other Organizations of its type; for example, a pirate gang that preys upon ships throughout the Elrood Sector is probably found throughout the sector but likely doesn't have the resources to be everywhere in the sector at once. As such, the gang is probably considered influential in multiple systems simultaneously, but borders on being sectorwide. The Gamemaster would then choose a scale of 12 (Multiple Systems) for the Organization, since it definitely covers multiple systems throughout the sector but is not quite as large as, say, the sector government.
The table below gives scale numbers, as well as the general sphere of influence and examples of Organizations at each scale. Note that an Organization might be present at a certain scale but have little influence; for example, The Bothan SpyNet is present throughout the galaxy, but has real influence in only a few regions. Additionally, an Organization's scale is not directly related to the number of members within the Organization; clearly, any single branch of The Corporate Sector Authority (Scale 13) has far more members than The Jedi Order (Scale 17), yet The Jedi Order has influence throughout a much larger portion of the galaxy.
| SCALE | INFLUENCE | EXAMPLES |
|---|---|---|