Alien Anthology
 Want something else? Visit our store.
|
For the Gamemaster: Mistryl Shadow Guards in Campaigns
Implementing Mistryl into a Campaign
A Mistryl player character shouldn't be too terribly tough to implement into a campaign with a variety of character types. Obviously, she won't fit into an all-Jedi campaign, but she works just fine as a mercenary with a secret past. This could be used to highten the tension in a campaign, and even between the player characters, just as you would use an ex-Imperial whose past remains buried - until someone close to or in the party discovers it. It can create interesting dilemmas for the player, as well: she is forced to hide her past from her comrades, or perhaps a fringe party will be hired by the Empire and she must come to grips with working for the enemy, lest her secret be revealed. A Mistryl would be a valuable addition to any party's combat sequences, so the other characters would welcome her for her skills at least. The title of Shadow Guard should be awarded to a trainee when the GM thinks her skills have reached a level above and beyond most skilled fighters, and as a reward from the Eleven Elders.
It would probably be more difficult to introduce a Mistryl warrior as a villain NPC due to the fact that it would be more difficult to make the party hate a character whose past is as tragic as Emberlene's. However, if that past is not introduced in the game, perhaps the Mistryl warrior could gain their ire by causing harm to or killing an NPC close to the party. Since Mistryl are mecenaries more than anything, it is likely that a Mistryl warrior will not be the primary villain, but rather a secondary, more physical villain (much like Darth Maul was in relation to Darth Sidious). Shadow Guards fit the bill personality-wise for a villain, however; many are cold and calculating, as well as ruthless while completing a job. Once the Mistryl has been introduced and intrigued the party, it should not be difficult to fit her into the villain role.
Using Mistryl as NPCs who help the party is also an option. They could be treated much the same as player characters, but could also offer interesting plot devices. If an enemy of the party is found to have evidence of who the conspirators were that destroyed Emberlene, this NPC could lead the party on adventures to capture this information, despite the danger involved in obtaining it. Any of the plot hooks that would lure in a PC Mistryl could also be used in this light, though the party as a whole would know less about the character than they would a PC.
Mistryl-Only Campaigns
A Mistryl-only campaign would not be terribly difficult to run at all. The preferred way to run the campaign would be as you would run a Special Forces campaign: the warriors, under orders from the Eleven Elders, carry out selected missions across the Galaxy. Missions could be anything from hunting down a rogue Shadow Guard (as was done to Shada D'ukal when she quit the order), to finding and destroying evidence of the Mistryl's existence, or even infiltrating enemy information centers in order to learn more about the fall of Emberlene. Additionally, the group could be hired out as a complete mercenary unit, fulfilling other appointed tasks in exchange for money to send home to their people. For more ideas on Special Forces campaigns, see the supplement Rules of Engagement: The Rebel SpecForce Handbook.
No comments have been made on this entry yet. Welcome to this entry's comments section. You may feel free to comment on anything within the bounds of this entry. There are, however, a few guidelines to keep in mind while posting:
Abuse of the comment system will not be tolerated, including impersonation, spamming, and language. Your IP is made public each time you post for security reasons. It can and will be blocked should you choose to abuse the commenting privilege.
Only basic formatting is permitted, including links and the <pre> tag.
Posts may be edited for content and length by the administration.
No advertising is allowed unless it directly concerns the item being discussed.
Above all, please enjoy this system as a way to comment directly on the content that you find here. We value your comments and suggestions on all that we do.
|
|
 |