Living Force (RPG)

Living Force was a Wizards of the Coast RPGA organized play campaign, following the model of similar campaigns such as Living Greyhawk. The campaign was set in the Cularin system, created especially for the campaign and detailed in the Living Force Campaign Guide. The campaign was initially set one year after The Phantom Menace, but to keep current with the movies, the Cularin system time jumped almost ten years when Attack of the Clones came out.

The Living Force campaign lasted for five years, coming to a conclusion after Revenge of the Sith was released. The adventures of the campaign were distributed by the RPGA through its membership for conventions and game days. They were supplemented by articles providing stories, information about the Cularin system, and rules updates for the campaign on the Wizards of the Coast website.

The main story arc of the campaign was titled Among the Stars. A side story arc called Law and Order was being created by campaign staff in Great Britain, but was canceled after only four adventures were released.

Mother Dariana
Dariana was the Mother of the Tarasin Hiironi irstat, the largest irstat on Cularin. In this role, she was an influential figure among the native Tarasin, able to convening a council of elders with decision making power for all Tarasin. On numerous occasions, Dariana recorded her memoirs, sharing insights on the events occurring in the Cularin system.

Yara Grugara
Yara Grugara was a reporter for Cularin Central Broadcasting, originally on the talk show "Eye on Cularin." She became a key commentator on events in the system, obtaining interviews with many of the key personalities in the system, such as the crimelord Nirama and the Jedi Masters Qel-Bertuk and Kirlocca. Grugara later endorsed the efforts of the Cualrin Militia, drawing criticism from some areas. While many thought her vapid, her persistence in interviews often produced surprising results.

Kirlocca


Kirlocca was a Jedi Master at the time of the Invasion of Naboo. A Wookiee male, he was the lightsaber instructor at the Almas Academy. Kirlocca was kind-hearted and wise, but felt the best way to impart what he knew was through martial training, helping the younger to direct their energies through fencing. In addition to lightsaber instruction, some of Kirlocca's other duties including helping with basic Force exercises and overseeing aspects of the Jedi Trials. Kirlocca was attending a peace conference with a number of other Jedi when Raik Muun attempted to use two T'salaks to turn the Jedi mediators into crazed killers, so as to discredit the Order. Her plan failed, but Master Kirlocca was killed by the t'salaks and Raik managed to escape.

Thurm Loogg
Thurm Loogg was the Metatheran Cartel's envoy to the Cularin system after Velin Wir. He headed the Cartel's offices on Cularin and oversaw their mining operations on Tilnes, but was more of a spokesman and facilitator than a true executive.

Nirama


Nirama was an Oblee crimelord who controlled all crime in the Cularin system. He was formerly an accountant for Riboga the Hutt, but managed to take over his whole Organization. He was based in the Cularin system asteroid belt and developed a great love for the Cularin system. His organization fought on the side of the Cularin Militia against the Navy of Thaere.

Lanius Qel-Bertuk


Lanius Qel-Bertuk was a renowned Jedi Master and Headmaster at the Jedi Academy on Almas. Lanius Qel-Bertuk was considered by some to be one of the wisest Jedi in the Order. Qel-Bertuk was a Human male with ice-blue eyes, raven-black hair and a greying beard in a friendly, commonly-smiling face. He had a burn scar on his left cheek and was missing the third finger on his left hand.

Jir Tramsig
Jir Tramsig was the leader of the Navy of Thaere in the Cularin system. A ruthless and ambitious man, he had a reputation for caring more for the successful completion of a mission than the welfare of his subordinates. He eventually led his forces against the Cularin Militia, seeking to control the system through force, a development prompted by the Navy's affiliation with the Confederacy of Independent Systems.

Lavina Wren
Lavina Durada-Vashne Wren was a female Human Senator of the Galactic Republic who represented the Cularin system from 32 BBY to 19 BBY. She constantly campaigned for Cularin during her terms on Coruscant, including during the ten year absence of the Cularin system from the galaxy. She endorsed the efforts of the Cularin Militia fighting against the Navy of Thaere and pressed their cause in the Senate, drawing assassination attempts. When it became clear the direction the Republic was taking, Wren withdrew Cularin from the Republic, declaring it a sovereign independent system.

Adventures
The Living Force campaign was composed of a number of story arcs, each lasting one year although with some story elements that continued throughout the campaign. Each year contained four adventure trilogies, of which three contributed to the central story line, with one additional trilogy on more peripheral events. These were trilogies were supplemented with between one and three stand-alone adventures. These adventures were all released first at conventions, but then became available for play at home at a later date.

Most Living Force adventures were designed to be played in the four-hour time slots used at gaming conventions. A Mon Alone was an extra long adventure to be run in two time slots. The adventures were meant for 4-6 players (though for a short time, the RPGA allowed 3-7), and GMs were expected to run the adventures as written and without using house rules, so that all players had a similar play experience. Living Force adventures were usually retired about one and a half to two years after they premiered. Games played within 30 days of the premiere submitted an events summary to the campaign staff, with the results of the majority of the tables determining the results for the campaign (i.e. if a villain escaped for over half the tables submitting events summaries, that villain did escape and could recur later).

Another type of adventure was called an interactive, which had all the available players playing together in a mostly live action roleplaying (LARP) situation. The players mostly interacted with each other and NPCs in a social setting. There were often activities that could be engaged in, such as podracing, gambling, marksmanship contests, or starship combat sims. Players could submit orders to metaorganizations, such as Joh's New and Used Droid Emporium and the Ma'Haffee Shipyard. Some interactives featured periods where the players would break up into groups of 4-6 and sit down for a short segment of tabletop roleplaying. Many interactives only ran once, with the results of that event being the results for the campaign, though a few were made available for later conventions.


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Articles
Numerous supporting articles for the Living Force campaign were published on the Wizards website. Once the campaign got underway, these typically came out once a week, most written by plot director Morrie Mullins. Many were written as supplements to specific adventures, while others detailed other events in the Cularin system, often in the format of an in-universe component followed by some out-of-universe context and/or roleplaying statistics. JD Wiker also wrote some articles more specifically related to roleplaying issues, such as how to properly portray a Jedi or how to create an ongoing campaign villain.

Living Force articles 2001

Aug: New Crimelord: Rufus Trammel

Sep: Two Heads Aren't Better Than One · Liriana: Dark Force Witch of Cularin · No Droids for You!

Oct: The Sivulliq Is Out There -- Somewhere · Over Thaere · Shades of Meaning · Transmissions · Yri Worms Wreak Havoc for Miners

Dec: Cularin's Lady Senator, Lavina Wren · Troop Movements · The Cartel's Gift

Living Force articles 2002

Jan: Living Force, Year Two: Delving Deeper · Senator Wren's Social Calendar · Gang War

Feb: Transmissions: February 2002 · Discussions With Lanius · Into the Academy

Mar: Transmissions: March 2002 · Life in the Shadows · Now I Am the Master

Apr: A Dark Cult · The Sith Fortress · A Friendly Face

May: Transmissions: May 2002 · Profile of an Assassin

Jul: Transmissions: July 2002 · Dragon of the Desert · Dark on Dark · A Changing Galaxy · The Cell Revisited

Aug: Transmissions: August 2002 · Further Discussions With Lanius · Renna's Transport Service

Oct: Rebirth · Shadow Droids · The Creaking Gate · Trade and Trade Alike

Nov: Living Force 2003 Preview · Celebrate SoroSuub

Dec: That Is Nirama's Word · Winter Fantasy Preview · Get 'em While They're Hot!

Living Force articles 2003

Jan: A Mother's Memoirs · Cularin's Militia: Exposed!

Feb: Friendship in the Order · The Lost

Mar: Tilnes Falling · Felanil Baaks, Jedi Artisan

Apr: Something to Mull Over · Jedi Artisan Prestige Class

May: Stories of Caarimon · Long Live the Republic · Jedi Artisan Contest

Jun: Burnout · Devan

Jul: Life's Memories · Trouble Follows Us

Aug: The Darkstaff · Thurm Loogg Speaks

Sep: Jurisdiction · You Are Not a Jedi Yet · News of the Wyrd

Oct: Cularin at Night · Conversations With Lanius

Nov: Thaere Is Not Your Friend · Who Is Baylan?

Dec: Trammel's Move · False Horizon

Living Force articles 2004

Jan: Destabilization · Reidi Artom's Expansion Manifesto

Feb: Smuggler's Trade

Mar: Riboga's Legacy · Conflict and Mastery · Manifesto My Foot · Only a Master of Evil · Home of Wisdom

Apr: Tales of Nub Saar · Martial Arts · The Hunt Begins · Merr-Sonn · A Mother's Memoirs, Continued

May: Swoop and Dive · Insecurities · Jungle Warfare

Jun: Political Platforms · The Duel · Metatheran Promise

Jul: Droid Rights · Double Cross · Into the Woods · Lockdown · Conversation in Shadow

Aug: Kilassin For Hire · Sacrifices · Cause of the Month

Sep: Making of a Witch · Further Conversations with Lanius

Oct: Academic Review · Professionals at Work · View from the Roof · Priorities

Nov: Zero Zero Zero · Displacement · Ezil's Return

Dec: Tramsig's Plan · Standoffs · Disapproval

Living Force articles 2005

Jan: Reprieves · The Oblee

Mar: Simplicity · The Best Defense · Everyone's a Critic

Apr: A Mother's Memoirs, Concluded · Letters in the Sand

May: Insider

Jun: Conspiracy · Banner Days · Conversations With Lanius · Dark Heart · Stone and Steel

Jul: All Comers · Osten Dal'Nay · Marching Orders · A Hero's Death

Aug: Cloud Force · Time After Time · Dark Hands · Idiosyncrasies

Sep:  Tilnes · Sith Battlelords · Hearts of Green and Gold · The Believers · Dark Soul

Oct: Remember When · What Are We, Then? · Yara: The Unauthorized Biography

Nov: In All Things Balance

Dec: Home Again · Cularin Emergency Announcement · Farewell · Life According to Meelo

Living Force articles 2006

Jan: Grudge Match · The Price of Neutrality -- Isolation · The Price of Neutrality -- Rebellion · Dark Hope · The Calm Before the Storm

Feb: Faded Colors · Closed Circuits · Living Force: Dark Shadows · Living Force: From the Cradle to the Grave

Mar: Living Force: One Minute to Midnight

Living Force articles 2007

Feb: Living Force: Last Stand

General articles


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Continuity
The Living Force campaign was a largely stand-alone series, set against the backdrop of events depicted in the movies. It began with the events of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and integrated various references to the events contained within. For instance, one of the early antagonists was the Metatheran Cartel, a splinter corporation that broke away from the Trade Federation. However, all the early adventures were required to occur within the Cularin system, and writers were not allowed to ulitize any plot elements or technologies from the movies. In order to keep pace with the movies, a plot device was included to move that action forward ten years to the setting of Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones; achieved by removing the whole Cularin system from the galaxy through the use of a Dark Side artifact, and returning it to the galaxy at a later date.

One of the first external references to the Living Force campaign came in Abel G. Peña's Droids, Technology and the Force: A Clash of Phenomena published in March 2005, which involved Uffel in the Yuuzhan Vong War. Later in 2006 and 2007, Karen Traviss mentioned Cularin in both Republic Commando: Triple Zero and Republic Commando: True Colors; the Cularin system was described as Separatist-friendly which did not fully mesh with the campaign itself. The Cularin system was also the setting for Echoes of the Jedi, an adventure written by Peña and Jean-François Boivin for the Dawn of Defiance campaign. This adventure utilized many features from across the Living Force campaign.

Wizards of the Coast also included the Tarasin, Caarite, and Filordus in their Ultimate Alien Anthology. Later, Jedi vs. Sith: The Essential Guide to the Force also made numerous references to the Jedi of the Cularin system, even directly quoting a speech given by Lanius Qel-Bertuk from Friendship in the Order. In 2008, Nirama and the Metatheran Cartel were referenced in Millennium Falcon, then a number of the characters and locations also received entries in The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia. Later, the Rebellion Era Campaign Guide included an adventure hook set in the Cularin system. Many of the worlds mentioned in passing in the campaign were included in the Appendix of The Essential Atlas.