May The Invisible Hand Be With You - (Star Wars CK2-Style Quest)

Andres · Mar 15, 2017

Panory said:
"You'd surely sing a different tune after looking at some Kaleesh artwork. Carvings at their holy sites depict glorious battle, great warriors featuring prominently with their foes fleeing before them. It's easy to see that theirs is a culture that sees battle as a chance at glory. If I were to face them in battle, I would attempt to draw them into a situation advantageous to my side by exploiting that. Drawing them out of favorable terrain by feigning a rout for example. Their culture would push them into pursuit to claim further glory from a cowardly foe. All according to a plan devised from some carvings."

Unless Thrawn is just making something up to give an example for Ahsoka to learn, this doesn't make sense. From a canon omake:

Stealthy said:
But they are not picky with how you kill your enemies. Cunning is valued as much as valor, but only if you get the kill.

Stealthy said:
Art has a unique richness, but I can draw few useful conclusions from the Kaleesh's works. I do not blame this on a weak artistic output. That would be false, and I have discerned more with less for other species. No, this is a shortcoming of my own. I am not omniscient; and the Kaleesh have stumped me on this front.

From the wiki:
Kaleesh/Legends

In the case of the Kaleesh, Thrawn was unable to comprehend the works of art, and so leveled Oben with his Star Destroyers[...]

Not only would Thrawn be unable to take anything from their art, as your omake says he did, but their actual values regarding war and glory is at odds with Thrawn's conclusion.

Jrin · Mar 15, 2017

MTB said:
Oh, I would like to see it working, but after Anakin woke up you better have the Ysalamiri ready ...

Actually having Ysalamiri would be tender mercies with Ciaran demonstrating her rage and grief on him due to what he did to Padme. A study in why he should not hurt Padme, I imagine her methods would be brutal considering the countless worlds she visited.

MTB · Mar 15, 2017

Jrin said:
Actually having Ysalamiri would be tender mercies with Ciaran demonstrating her rage and grief on him due to what he did to Padme. A study in why he should not hurt Padme, I imagine her methods would be brutal considering the countless worlds she visited.

Brutal? Put him in a force-devoid cell, hook up life-support.

Jrin · Mar 15, 2017

MTB said:
Brutal? Put him in a force-devoid cell, hook up life-support.

Huh that would make him think for a long time since he does like to torment himself. Imagine after 25 years Ciaran visits and show him his children's lives from babies to adult on hologram ending with them calling her mother, heh.

Fanhunter696 · Mar 15, 2017

Panory said:
"Do not think my forgiveness will come with it. You would need to do much to earn it, but I can't throw away someone this valuable in the fight against Sidious. I already lost once." muttered Ciaran, as if her losing were the worst thing that had happened. "And do not think my patience limitless. This is a one-time offer."

Sorry, but given what happened with Padme, Ciaran would only consider on healing Anakin to torture him herself, it would me much more IC for Ciaran to grab Anakin and throw him to the lava

And I´ve just thought of one more action but I don't know it it would go to the Intrigue or Diplomacy so I would like to know the opinion of @Publicola @Dr. Snark

Clones are people too! No one is addressing the Elephant in the Room of the republic is basically using a Slave Army to fight a war. Anonimoulsy contact the activist groups (I suppose there is the equivalent of Amnesty International in SW), and give them both funding and data (images of the cloning process, what Kaminoans did with "defective" clones, the fact that most of them won´t live past 40 years, images and videos that emphasize that they unique individuals, comparison between them and other slave armies), WITHOUT mentioning the Bio Chips, this would casue great ruckus republic crediblility, but it will cause an even greater damage to the credibility of Palpatine as its Chancellor

MTB · Mar 15, 2017

Fanhunter696 said:
Clones are people too! No one is addressing the Elephant in the Room of the republic is basically using a Slave Army to fight a war. Anonimoulsy contact the activist groups (I suppose there is the equivalent of Amnesty International in SW), and give them both funding and data (images of the cloning process, what Kaminoans did with "defective" clones, the fact that most of them won´t live past 40 years, images and videos that emphasize that they unique individuals, comparison between them and other slave armies), WITHOUT mentioning the Bio Chips, this would casue great ruckus republic crediblility, but it will cause an even greater damage to the credibility of Palpatine as its Chancellor

You remember who went to Kamino and ordered the clones?

Fanhunter696 · Mar 15, 2017

MTB said:
You remember who went to Kamino and ordered the clones?

I think that the official version is that Jedi Master Syfo Dyas do it, but he was acting under the Republic's orders, so he was basically a messenger.

We know that this is not true, but I suppose this is the version the Public Opinion believes the most, it would be illogical to think a single Jedi could not only have the authority to hire but also enough money to pay the Kaminoans for millions of soldiers (plus training, vehicles and equipment)

UbeOne · Mar 15, 2017

MTB said:
You remember who went to Kamino and ordered the clones?

What about Darth Tyranus?

MTB · Mar 15, 2017

UbeOne said:
What about Darth Tyranus?

Officially. Because the official version includes the Jedi. Makes them included in any fallout.

Panory · Mar 15, 2017

Andres110 said:
Unless Thrawn is just making something up to give an example for Ahsoka to learn, this doesn't make sense.

Not the omake I expected to be getting flak when I woke up this morning, I'll admit. I'll point out that mine is just as canon. If you're looking for some way to reconcile the two, it could have taken place earlier, before Thrawn had all the data and he was filling in the blanks based on what he had observed already.

As for him not being able to figure out their art in canon, he now has a bunch of Kaleesh warriors around he can ask for clarification. He even does just that in Total War, another canon omake. Plus, it seems like he was trying to figure out their art to put down an insurrection, decided "fuck it" and just leveled everything. Here he has all the time in the world to figure it out at his leisure.

Jrin said:
Actually having Ysalamiri would be tender mercies with Ciaran demonstrating her rage and grief on him due to what he did to Padme. A study in why he should not hurt Padme, I imagine her methods would be brutal considering the countless worlds she visited.

Who's to say she didn't? That last scene was from Anakin's perspective, and I don't recall making mention of the Force, just that our prosthetics wouldn't make him canon Vader weak going forward.

MTB said:
Brutal? Put him in a force-devoid cell, hook up life-support.

I find that horribly out of character for Ciaran. Not only is she doing nothing with Anakin in that scenario, she's wasting resources to do nothing with him. Our MC has done a lot of less than moral stuff, but never torture for the sake of it.

Fanhunter696 said:
Sorry, but given what happened with Padme, Ciaran would only consider on healing Anakin to torture him herself, it would me much more IC for Ciaran to grab Anakin and throw him to the lava

Look at the canon scene of Padme's death. Obi-wan never says anything like "Oh, she probably lost the will to live because Anakin tried to kill her." He never brings up what happened on Mustafar, partially because he thinks Anakin is dead. He has no clue Ciaran's people pulled him out of the lava river, and Ciaran is there, too worried about Padme to deal with reports that might inform her. Ciaran said Padme's dying breath was used to name the twins, but remember that her actual dying words were that there was still good in Anakin. Ciaran is still rightfully pissed, but that's in spite of Padme, not because of her.

And it's not like she doesn't have layers of precautions. You think HK-47 is his handler for shits and giggles? No, he has orders to end Anakin if he makes any untoward moves. She says she won't blackmail him with the kids, but just mentioning she has them is a bargaining chip. His limbs will stop working if he doesn't cooperate, both because Ciaran's people are the only one who can maintain them and because Ciaran had structural weak points built in just in case he decided to attack someone who knows Shatterpoint.

Basically, Padme died telling people that Anakin could be redeemed, Obi-wan never mentioned Anakin was responsible for her death, Ciaran can't afford to just waste a potential ally as strong as Anakin, she has every possible safeguard in place in case he tries to betray her, I wrote the omake up in an hour, and this whole thing is going be labelled non-canon for a million other reasons, regardless of characterization.

Andres · Mar 15, 2017

Fanhunter696 said:
what Kaminoans did with "defective" clones

They put them to work? It's what they did with 99.

Fanhunter696 said:
Clones are people too! No one is addressing the Elephant in the Room of the republic is basically using a Slave Army to fight a war. Anonimoulsy contact the activist groups (I suppose there is the equivalent of Amnesty International in SW), and give them both funding and data (images of the cloning process, what Kaminoans did with "defective" clones, the fact that most of them won´t live past 40 years, images and videos that emphasize that they unique individuals, comparison between them and other slave armies), WITHOUT mentioning the Bio Chips, this would casue great ruckus republic crediblility, but it will cause an even greater damage to the credibility of Palpatine as its Chancellor

This could backfire. More than 99% of all clones are fine with fighting the Republic's war - their war - and that would seriously undermine attempts to use them as an anti-Palpatine measure.

Fanhunter696 · Mar 15, 2017

Andres110 said:
They put them to work? It's what they did with 99.

The Jedi saved 99, the clones that were found defective before were summarily terminated, when the Jedi arrived they took them and give them noncombat roles.

They even wanted to terminate all the Null ARCs because, even if they were terrific soldiers, they were too difficult to control...

But what can you expect of a race that killed a baby because he dad green eyes?

Andres110 said:
This could backfire. More than 99% of all clones are fine with fighting the Republic's war - their war - and that would seriously undermine attempts to use them as an anti-Palpatine measure.

That is true, but it can also put the republic Public Opinion against the war which can potentially give us new CNS recruits, while undermining the position of Palpatine. Plus all our recent actions have been focused on undermining the Separatists, and we don´t want that any of the sides gets a clear advantage, because when that happens they could finally afford to make a move against Ciaran or/and the CNS. So if we have undermined the separatist efforts, we may want to do the same with the Republic, even if it is in a much more subtle manner.

Stealthy · Mar 15, 2017

It's been more or less agreed upon to bring up the "Slave Army" issue eventually, but it's more of a post-war topic. There will be minimal traction on that issue while the Republic is still fighting the war, because Palpatine and the Senate will very clearly place the necessity to win the war above the rights of the clones who are (with few exceptions) happily serving and fighting. When the Republic feels less reliant on the clones to survive, they will realistically consider that pesky human rights matter. For now, establishing our anti-slavery credentials is a good first step down that path, which overlaps with our already-existing plan to use slavery to target part of Palpatine's political operation in COMPOR and Crueya Vandron.

Publicola · Mar 15, 2017

torac said:
(Still need something against force lightning. Perhaps some of the exotic materials people wrote omake about?)

Don't think anyone responded to this. @torac, the answer is the Baron Do sages -- they have a whole suite of Force techniques called hassat-durr related to Force lightning and general electricity-manipulation:

when perfected, they allowed the wielder to disable prosthetics and electric implants, interfere with shock shackles, become a range-boosting antenna for a comlink, among other uses.

It's also worth pointing out that light-side Force lightning apparently synergizes with Shatterpoint really well. Per the wiki:

Cade Skywalker was able to use Force lighting in a unique way. Utilizing his ability to see Shatterpoints in people and objects around him, he could use lightning to heal people, bringing them back from the very edge of death, or to kill them.

So shatterpoint at range, used for either healing or for insta-death. Yeah, I want that.

veekie · Mar 16, 2017

Killing the injury?

Andres · Mar 16, 2017

Panory said:
Not the omake I expected to be getting flak when I woke up this morning, I'll admit. I'll point out that mine is just as canon. If you're looking for some way to reconcile the two, it could have taken place earlier, before Thrawn had all the data and he was filling in the blanks based on what he had observed already.

As for him not being able to figure out their art in canon, he now has a bunch of Kaleesh warriors around he can ask for clarification. He even does just that in Total War, another canon omake. Plus, it seems like he was trying to figure out their art to put down an insurrection, decided "fuck it" and just leveled everything. Here he has all the time in the world to figure it out at his leisure.

His conclusion is still wrong.

Stealthy · Mar 16, 2017

Headcanons that can be used:
-Thrawn is wrong. It happens.
-Thrawn is more or less lying to Ahsoka, though to be fair it was one of his initial assumptions. The Kaleesh are his allies and he won't give out the secret to their defeat easily, but in this case they made a fine example so he handed out a false but easily believable strategy. The proposed strategy does fit in pretty well with a superficial stereotype of the Kaleesh, after all.
-Thrawn knows this strategy could work, but the losses he would take regardless are more than he considers acceptable.
-This is a very broad simplification of a class of strategies he's found effective in simulations against Grievous, but they are by no means a "magic bullet", and are ultimately subservient to the fact that Thrawn's just really fucking good at tactics and strategy. A lesser commander would be unable to use them effectively because they would underestimate the actual intellect of the Kaleesh.
-The proposed strategy only works in niche circumstances, which typically require a fair bit of maneuvering that Ahsoka would not be able to figure out
-Thrawn has actually figured it out unlike in canon, because as Panory said, he's got more time and direct access to the Kaleesh to try and solve this problem. When you can regularly observe and match wits with the greatest military mind a species has to offer, well, that helps a lot. What he told Ahsoka is a piece of the answer, because the Kaleesh are warmongers, but the whole truth is ultimately much more complicated to accommodate how the Kaleesh are more much complex than barbaric warmongerers. Would probably include ways to make sure the Kaleesh didn't kill five times their number once you trapped them in a corner, and ways to better predict what target they would actually strike. They value victory over the sake of the fight, dislike martyrdom for the sake of pride, and aren't so blinded by glory that they'll ignore unfavorable terrain and situations. They certainly won't overcommit their forces. A Kaleesh likes to be bold, but successfully bold, which is pretty damn key to laying a trap that they won't easily see through than rip apart regardless. And those are some of the parts that he left out that is relevant to, well, not setting yourself up for failure.
-Any combination of the above

Dr. Snark · Mar 16, 2017

Right, I realize I've kinda sorta been putting off things lately, so I'm going to start fixing that. First, the omakes that have been posted recently-ish.

Semi-Autogyro said:
Dark Force Rising

This is incredibly silly and I love it for that. Non-canon, +10.

Panory said:
Roses are Red, Try Not to Push Her

HK-47 is the best worst historian. Canon, +10.

Panory said:
Grand Theft Vader

Probably the most audacious of Ciaran's hypothetical thefts. Non-canon, +10.

I'll take a look at the long list of write-ins and try to weigh on on those ASAP as well.

Dr. Snark · Mar 17, 2017

Hookay, so I'm looking at the list Pubilcola posted...and just looking at it I can definitely say that from now on I'm going to implement a rule that actions in general are going to have to cover multiple planets/people unless they're particularly plot-relevant (e.g. contacting Ferrus Olin, going on an expedition to Lehon.)

With that being said, I'll try to weigh in on the list as best I can. Missing actions have been currently deemed either unviable or are too focused to be practical, though if I'm convinced that there's enough of a reason to add them back on I will.

Publicola said:
Martial Write-Ins
EDIT: or 'offer support' to paramilitary groups in general -- Grohl Liberation Force for one, but also Antarian Rangers, and other groups that might be willing to fight for us. Plus Kal Skirata's clone commandos -- this would be a generalization of that? Given how expensive this would be as a generalized practice, it'd probably be worth a +1 Martial Action, or at least give us the option of suggesting a target for these groups.

[] Militia Standardization: establish standards for type and quality of equipment used by the CNS Militia and Planetary Defense Forces. Improve their coordination, improve their performance in anti-piracy actions, increase the deterrent they pose to those who might threaten the CNS, and improve mobilization time in case the CNS does join the war.

[] Strike against Slavers/Pirates! Slavery and piracy are a lucrative business, which is why so many groups engage in it. Of course, slavery is also illegal, which means we have a pretty good excuse to go on the offensive, to improve our reputation and our organization's galactic goodwill even further and gain a whole bunch of loot.
-[] Zygerrian Slave Guild: one of the biggest and most legendary slavers in the galaxy, they seems to have an under-the-table agreement with Count Dooku to attack Republic-friendly systems. Time to wipe them off the map.
-[] Trandoshan Slavers: this is another CIS-friendly band of slavers, though these are located on Trandosha, next door to the Wookies on Kashyyyk. Time to protect our new investment.
-[] Senex-Juvex Slavers: Senex-Juvex is an isolationist sector of the Republic, whose nobles have been fiercely supportive of Chancellor Palpatine. Attack their slavery operation, to remove some of Palpatine's supporters and to leave him with some egg on his face.

[] False-Flag Piracy: We have pirates. Use them for live-fire 'tests' of the CNS defenses, to provide us with an excuse to build up our CNS military forces. Bonus points if we also use our combat droid squads for these missions, so we can blame the 'rogue elements' of the CIS (cough Techno Union) for preying on us and our neighbors.

[] To Be A Pirate Queen: We have pirates. Use them to strike against other pirate bands, specifically offering surrender terms of recruitment to join the Abyss pirate fleets. Small cost, regular upkeep. Reward: variable loot each turn (treat like a salvage roll), chance of recruiting more pirate as we 'roll up' the Outer Rim space.

[] Mercenary work for Hutts: this was @Andres110's suggestion to turn this into an income-producing action. We might also do mercenary work for some of the other/nicer non-affiliated parties, though there'd be less money involved in contracting out with SoroSuub.

[] Recover the Chu'unthor (Martial option): fight me bro. Seize the Chu'unthor by force (no pun intended), Singing Mountain Clan be darned.

[] Reclaim the Arkanian Legacy from Omonoth: send in our special forces to kill the exogorths and seize the ship (OR HK-47 Hero action...)

Some actions were taken out due to being too specific, but the actions remaining here are all viable.

Publicola said:
Diplomacy Write-Ins
[] Recover the Chu'unthor (Diplomacy option): reach out to the Singing Mountain Clan and persuade them to let us take the Chu'unthor for our own!

[] Approach Jedi: I've suggested this action a few turns now, but I'm not sure if or how it fits into your plans.
-[] Quinlan Vos: Jedi Sentinel, who is either wrestling with the dark side (canon) or 'fallen' and joined Dooku's band of Dark Acolytes as a spy (legends). Either way, reach out and see if we can't recruit him.
-[] Anakin Skywalker: follow up on previous conversations?
-[] Ahsoka Tano: have Thrawn continue to work his magic.

[] Reach Out to Bounty Hunters: whatever their reputation, there are plenty of chapters of the Bounty Hunters Guild that would love a chance to coordinate our efforts. House Benelex focuses on anti-kidnapping and anti-slavery operations, while others focus on anti-piracy operations. Lots of potential.

[] Undermine Palpatine's allies: basically, I'd really like to canonize @Panory's omake where Thrawn manipulates Mas Amedda. Undercutting Palpatine's support is just an added bonus. (OR tie in with 'Black Information' Intrigue Action?)

[] Approach Wookies: Kashyyyk is the headquarters of the Claatuvac Guild, an organization of Wookie navigators who maintain an archive full of secret hyperlanes across the galaxy. (This is why Kashyyyk was such a high-priority target, and why it remains a major battlefield in the war.) Ask if our Silver Cross can't use a couple of those hyperlanes for our humanitarian efforts -- never mind that we'd also use them for smuggling.

[] Between the Light and Dark: more Force sects to make contact with!
-[] Blackguard: a gray-aligned sect from Mustafar, who descended from a pre-Ruusan Sith dissatisfied with his order's kill kill kill thing. They seek to learn from other Force sects, and may have contacts with quite a few other groups around the galaxy. (Reward: shortcut to make contact with many/most of these other groups?)
-[] Followers of Palawa: a gray-aligned sect from Bunduki, on the far western edge of the galaxy, they study midichlorians and the Force without regard to light or dark, and developed Teräs Käsi as an explicitly anti-Jedi martial art. Also worth noting: most of the Followers are apparently immune to mind tricks and Force telepathy.
-[] Dagoyan Order: a light-side monastic sect on Bardotta, who specialize in meditation. More than anyone, they can teach us and our agents how to increase our connection to the Force.

These are all viable, though I might end up reworking the contacting Jedi thing. Tholme isn't contactable since you don't know his importance, but Ventress would be able to point out Quinlan as a potential asset. Also contacting the Shards is already a potential action.

Publicola said:
Stewardship Write-Ins
[] Buy Hoersch-Kessel Drive: a once-thriving starship company that originally produced our Oracle Lucrehulk. After the invasion of Naboo it was purchased by Nimbanel bureaucrats, whose ironic mismanagement have driven it to the edge of bankruptcy. Buy it! This would be very high cost, but it would give us access to a lot of major shipyards (Gwori and Dac among them), and the ability to start building a fleet of our own!

[] Invest in SubPro: they're considered a second-tier starship company, who have struggled to maintain any sort of market share. Despite producing remarkably high-quality goods -- they build Durge's NovaSword, and collaborated with Incom on the Z-95 Headhunter design -- they have a horrid reputation for shoddy workmanship. Fortunately, Lady Ciaran has an incredible reputation, access to Lellish PR specialists, and a whole bunch of money. Offer help with their PR problems, in exchange for partial (or majority?) ownership of the company, with access to their products and lots of income.

[] Silver Cross PR campaign: use our reputation, our Lellish specialists, and our money to start an ad campaign and generate more donations for our Silver Cross humanitarian efforts. (OR turn into a base upgrade instead?) Reward: decreased upkeep for all Silver Cross-related items

I'm fairly certain that the shipbuilding company mentioned in the original post no longer exists, but aside from that these are legit.

Publicola said:
Intrigue Write-Ins

[] Reconnect with Jedi Sentinels (gain benefit from the ongoing information exchange!) May also apply to Republic Group

[] Connect with Bothan Spynet: the Bothans are neutral in the war, and they run the most far-reaching spynet in the galaxy. Make contact! (Reward: potential for collaboration, potential for CNS recruitment)

[] Infiltrate the Colicoid Creation Nest: sabotage their factories, and steal the blueprints for their battle droids (droidekas, buzz droids, etc).

[] Infiltrate Mechis III: they're the biggest droid-producing planet in the galaxy. Steal the blueprints of everything!

[] Infilitrate Thyferra: they're the sole producer of bacta for the galaxy. Steal a couple samples, learn their production process, steal their recipe, profit!

[] Slice into Muunilist records to gain access to Damask Holding information & assets: learn where Hego Damask's assets went, find out how to steal them (or just steal them as part of the same action), gain access to specific Muunilist base purchases to gain his old property.

[] Sell Information to both sides: we're already hiring out our mercenaries to the Republic and the CIS. Now hire out our intelligence network.

[] Black Information (CIS) : falsify evidence to turn the CIS leadership against each other

[] Black Information. They're better off dead anyway: An intriguing if perfidious and devious opportunity has come up, due to the CIS and Sith penchant for paranoia and killing those they perceive as working against them with very little judicial process. What better way than to remove your enemies by getting your enemies to do it for you. By falsifying evidence to an extent that it can be considered irrefutable we can see to it that troublesome individuals in the CIS are not so troublesome. Chance of success ??%. Rewards: CIS war effort hampered, Quality of CIS leadership weakened. Extra stuff i guess to make it a more attractive pick??

[] Black Information (Palpatine): falsify evidence to turn Palpatine's allies against each other, to undermine his network of supporters and inner circle advisors. Possible tie in with @Panory's "Cannibalism" omake?

[] Public Relations Vaccination: plant a bunch of false stories and scandals about us in various news media around the galaxy. Let them spread, let them fester... then prove them utterly baseless. Next time someone tries to undermine us in the press, no one will believe them, even if it's true. (Per @Andres110)

No, you can't just steal the Chu'unthor, it's buried in the ground right now. Aside from that these are all legitimate, though I might add specific targets for the Black Information actions.

Publicola said:
Lore
[] Research Alternative Force Schools
-[] Baron Do Sages: learn hasset-durr -- electricity manipulation! (deactivate electronics, boost comms, light-side Force lightning, tie-in to mechu daru?)
-[] Voss Mystics: a gray-aligned group of healers who specialize in Force precognition. According to the wiki, their Force visions are never wrong! And they recently joined the CNS... (learn Force precognition and visions -- bonus to 'rerolls'? More information in Rumor Mill?)

[] Learn mechu-daru: HK-47's mentions of his master's unusual Force skill has caught your attention. Analyze HK-47's design -- and examine that odd C-3PX protocol/assassin droid as well -- to see how mechu-daru works -- an intuitive understanding of droids, computers, and machinery? -- and how we could apply it in other contexts.

[] Archaeological Expeditions
-[] Lehon/Rakata Prime: those Rakatan artifacts from Coruscant got your attention. I wonder what else is on the Rakatan homeworld (Spoilers: Revan's holocron, Star Force pieces, other Rakatan tech!)

Aside from Lehon/Rakata Prime (due to its location in the Unknown Regions) I'm going to start grouping archaeology trips vaugely by region from now on given how many "priceless archaeological sites" there are in the galaxy. Also not really sure what Agent diversification would actually do in practice, it's just too broad.

Publicola said:
Learning Write-Ins

[] Human Resources: Search for Scientists -- have our human resources department contact various hospitals, medcenters, and medically gifted species to recruit scientists for Karada and/or for our work with Kal Skirata's clone commandos. (OR Stewardship action?)

[] Reverse-Engineer Commando Gear: Kal Skirata's clone commandos are remarkably well equipped. As Kal for some samples of their gear, and reverse engineer it for our own use. (Per @Fanhunter696)

Foundry will probably be HK-47 Hero action. Aside from that, these are legit.

Publicola said:
Personal Write-Ins
[] Learn from Obi-Wan -- we own a lightfoil (gift from our gramps) and have some experience with Makashi. However, Obi-Wan is a master of Soresu, the defensive Form III of lightsaber combat, and he is a friend who knows that we have been targeted by assassins. Ask him to give us some pointers...

Interesting...I can't swing Vectivus since you've already learned from his holocron but I think I can do something with Obi-Wan.

Publicola said:
Hero Write-Ins
[] Under the Knife: can we reclassify our Arkanian genemods as 'Hero Actions' rather than Learning actions?

Thrawn
[] Mission to Space City: the galaxy's biggest museum, and it's a derelict. Recover and claim for the Abyss Watchers! (Gain as base?)
-[] Might require payment to Sienar to customize & retrofit with hyperdrives?
-[] Altnerately, have Thrawn consult with Shilaea Motacc (galaxy's leading expert on large-scale propulsion systems) and to it ourselves!

Grievous
[] Train with the Ailon Nova Guard (make contact, collaborate on major projects, potential for CNS recruitment in case CNS is drawn into war)

Cheriss
[] Learn Mechu-daru: analyze HK-47 (and/or C-3PX) to understand what Revan and the Sith apprentice did, and expand her intuitive understanding of electronics (as a Shard) to gain an intuitive understanding of droids & other machines

HK-47
[] Personal Shields: build a few for our scientists to reverse engineer (replaces Learning action? or simply accelerates research & makes it cheaper?)
[] Upgrades: he spent several centuries in a lava planet. Make him combat-ready. (OR tie in to phrik research or Cheriss's mechu-daru action)
-[] In-Depth Analysis: have our scientists examine his chassis & protocols. Reward: improve custom-droid options? (OR extra reward for 'Upgrade' action)
[] Mission to Omonoth: reclaim the Arkanian Legacy and bring it back for repairs (OR Martial action)
[] Mission to Nanth'ri: reclaim The Foundry and make it ready for Abyss Watchers use (OR Intrigue or Learning action?)
[] Mission to Nar Shaddaa: reclaim Revan's Estate (OR turn into Nar Shaddaa base purchase?)

PR-1
[] Analyze the Assassin Droid: Research HK-47's chassis, assassin protocols, and self-improvement routines to apply to self...!

Asajj
[] Between Light and Dark: assign Asajj to diplomacy missions to contact other Force sects around galaxy (not including Darthomir) to learn techniques!
[] Mission to Rattatak: reclaim Asajj's homeworld, clear out corruption, convert Castle Ventress into Abyss Watcher base!

Silas
[] Recruit Scoundrels: are we going to be able to pick up his original hero action at some point? I'm curious to see who you would introduce.

Genemodding: That seems reasonable enough.
Thrawn: I can make that a thing, it fits him.
Grievous: Eeeeeegh...it's pretty small-scale all things considered, don't think I can make that a thing.
Cheriss: Sure.
HK-47: Personal Shields and Analysis would be learning actions, and Omonoth would have to be a Martial. Aside from that the rest are fine.
PR-1: Would be available after Analysis.
Asajj: I can do things with Rattatak, but I'm not 100% certain about the diplomacy thing. I'll think about it.
Silas: Yes, but I figured you people would rather interact with family first. I can still make that an option, though.

Andres · Mar 17, 2017

@Dr. Snark, you missed the Diplomacy write-ins.

Dr. Snark · Mar 17, 2017

Andres110 said:
@Dr. Snark, you missed the Diplomacy write-ins.

Funny that; apparently a typo caused the entire section to vanish. Weird. It's fixed now.

Panory · Mar 17, 2017

Dr. Snark said:
No, you can't just steal the Chu'unthor, it's buried in the ground right now.

New plan: We give Grievous a shovel and send him in at night. It will be the most daring raid yet.

Andres · Mar 17, 2017

Dr. Snark said:
Also not really sure what Agent diversification would actually do in practice, it's just too broad.

Maybe a +5 to all actions? There's no logical IC reason for why a diversify action shouldn't be possible. We have the facilities, the expertise, the resources, the influence, the connections, etc. It should be well within our grasp.

However, I recognise the need for game balance and thankfully, there are two big IC obstacles that we have to overcome before we can start reaping the benefits of this kind of action.

The first is time. The action would be several turns long as we set up the necessary support structure and training program for our force users. We'd need to set up a network to ensure our large-scale recruitment goes unnoticed/unmentioned as well as find suitable candidates and we'd also need to train educators who will in turn train our future employees.

The second obstacle is plain and simple: money. Force users are, on average, better in their area of expertise than those who share the same area expertise but cannot use the Force, which is why we have this project to begin with. Since they are more competent, and the Abyss Watchers reward competence, we would have to pay them a lot more than we do other people. The costs involved in setting up this project would also be non-trivial.

With that, we have an action that is balanced by time and money, provides useful benefits, and is simple enough that it wouldn't be difficult at all to keep track of.

Dr. Snark said:
No, you can't just steal the Chu'unthor, it's buried in the ground right now.

Are you sure? Are you reeeaallly sure? We've done more daring and unlikely things in the past. (Ventress' recruitment and stealing Naboo come to mind.) All it would take is a large amount of knock-out gas (and/or Nightsister magic) and a sufficiently large excavation team.

Publicola · Mar 17, 2017

Dr. Snark said:
Also contacting the Shards is already a potential action.

The reason I listed the 'contact Shards' thing was because I was curious if that action would also give us contact with the archaeology specialists on Polis Massa, right next door to the Shard homeworld. That would tie in with the 'actions relate to regions, not just individual planets' thing. But it's up to you.

Everything else looks good; now just looking forward to your evaluation of the base upgrades! Also, while you threadmarked a bunch of omakes, it looks like you skipped the Turn 24 'CNS Space' map I posted on pg. 255, here. Or were you waiting until posting the next turn's Rumor Mill?

Andres · Mar 17, 2017

@Dr. Snark, I have an alternative to my previous proposal on how to use force users besides making them all commandos. One action at a time, we create a new specialty that force users can get into. Here are some examples of those actions:

[] Train Force Specialists, Mechanics: With the resources at your disposal, you can recruit force users specialising in non-combat professions. After all, the Force is a useful tool for MORE than just fighting. Train some mechanics specialised in the Mechu-Deru technique. Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 40 Upkeep 40 Reward: +10 to reverse-engineering technology, increase in elite droid and cyborg quality

[] Train Force Specialists, Diplomats: With the resources at your disposal, you can recruit force users specialising in non-combat professions. After all, the Force is a useful tool for MORE than just fighting. Train some diplomats skilled in techniques such as Force Persuasion, Force Empathy, and Comprehend Speech. Chance of Success: 60% Cost: 40 Upkeep 40 Reward: +10 to diplomacy rolls

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