Star Wars: The Old Republic - Galaxy at War (Learn to play SW5e)

Creating your character

Come with an idea. You do not need a finished sheet. We build characters together at Session Zero and I teach the system as we go. What it helps to bring: A concept you can encapsulate in a sentence or a short paragraph. Expand on it once it settles. The more backstory the better. Who they are, and what the war has already cost them. Where were they when Coruscant fell? Did they enlist, or were they conscripted, or did they run? Are they the Padawan sent out early because the Order had nobody else to send? The trooper whose squad did not come back? The Mando'ad seeking glory? The pilot who found out what the cargo was after the third run? The feeling at their core. What drives them, and what haunts them? A debt, a name they cannot say out loud, an order they followed that they should not have. Or something else entirely. A touchstone, if you have one. A character from the films, the shows, or the games who catches the tone you want. It tells me your register fast. A rough sense of role. Frontline, Force use, tech and slicing, piloting, or the one who talks. Nothing binding. Just so the crew covers its bases. One reason to stay with the crew. This is a sandbox and the galaxy will pull in every direction at once. A shared debt, an old unit, a contract nobody has finished. Give me a thread and I will tie it to the others. How the system handles it Star Wars 5e. If you have played D&D 5e the bones are familiar. Pick a species, a background and one of the ten classes: Berserker, Consular, Engineer, Fighter, Guardian, Monk, Operative, Scholar or Scout, and Sentinel. Force use runs on Force Points, tech on Tech Points, and both recover with rest. The Jedi here are not hunted. They are a public institution at war, stretched past what it can hold. Wearing a lightsaber openly is not a death sentence in this era. It is a target, which is different, and it comes with a chain of command that will have opinions about what you do. The same with Beskar'gam, it is something that tells everyone where you stand. Species selection is broad, with the note that anything from later eras stays out for setting consistency. Starting level and gear are set at Session Zero once I know what the crew looks like. Bring that much and you will leave Session Zero with a full character already tied into the rest of the crew and into the war.

Preparing for the session

Once your seat is confirmed on StartPlaying, send me a message here on the platform and I will follow up with next steps. Alternatively, you may send a Discord friend request first if that is your preferred method. Discord is saithefae. When we have touched base I will send you a Discord server invite. Nothing to read and nothing to buy. We play in Foundry VTT and everything we need is already loaded there. All of it opens in your browser when you click the link. Your sheet is built for you, the dice roll themselves, and the rules you need sit right there on the character when you need them. I teach the system at the table and I keep teaching it for as long as you want the reminders. A note on what is coming. Wizards announced an official Star Wars line for the 5e ruleset at Gen Con this year, due in late 2027 under Universes Beyond. It centers on the Galactic Civil War rather than the Old Republic, so it will not replace what we are running. If it lands and there are pieces the table wants to bring across, we talk about it and the table decides together. Nobody will be asked to buy anything either way. If you want grounding in the era, Knights of the Old Republic, its sequel, and The Old Republic itself all sit in this period, and the cinematic trailers for that game are the tone I am aiming at. If you have played none of them you will lose nothing. The campaign explains itself as it goes. You need a Discord account and a browser. I pay for all hosting and provide every other material you will need. Come with a character you want to find out about and the galaxy will handle the rest.

What Yuthika 'Fey' brings to the table

Why choose me? Thirty four years behind the screen and a lifetime in this galaxy. This era is the one I know from the inside. I was Bioware's first outside tester on Star Wars: The Old Republic. Nineteen months under NDA as class liaison for the Imperial Agent storyline, working on the writing that shaped how the Sith Empire runs its intelligence service. There is an NPC in the Smuggler line named after me. When an Imperial operation unfolds at this table, it is built the way I learned to build them as Revanite001 I have run every Star Wars tabletop game ever published. West End Games d6 including GG16 The Old Republic, d20, Saga Edition, Fantasy Flight's Edge of the Empire line, 5e, and Savage Star Wars. I own the full run of each. When a rule feels thin I know what the other systems did with the same problem and which of those solutions actually plays at a table. The lore is not research for me. Nearly every novel, nearly every comic, the films more times than I can count. Chase something obscure into the Outer Rim and there is a fair chance I already know what is out there. This period in particular, the war and the ruins and everything the Jedi left buried on worlds nobody has visited in a thousand years, is the part of the galaxy I have spent the most time in. I was on the small private forum where Mando'a started, working with Karen Traviss on the original vocabulary document behind the Republic Commando trilogy. I contributed the phrase Haat, Ijaa, Haa'it, used for sealing a bargain. The later dictionaries and the Mando'a.org community grew out of that work, though that part was not mine. Mandalorians are not set dressing in this era, and if you bring one the language will hold up. Voice acting for every NPC. I work professionally in anime and games. The Sith Lords, the Republic officers and the Hutt brokers at this table come back with voices you will recognise. Teaching is my actual job. PhD in Psychology, professional educator. I teach the system in play, at your pace, for as long as you want it. Years as a costume designer and VFX artist on NBC's Grimm, and teaching foam latex and prosthetic work on the convention circuit. It shows up in how I describe things. Full virtual tabletop production. Blaster fire and Force effects animate across the board (provided I can adapt Ripper's Modules). Custom maps, tokens, ambient audio, and an opening crawl for every session. I pay for all hosting and provide every material you need, and yes, I own a custom lightsaber. Because of course I do.

Homebrew rules

IF IT IS STAR WARS, WE CAN BUILD IT The core rules stand as written. I do not rewrite systems that already work. What I do build is content, and Star Wars 5e is unusually good ground for it. The system grew up in public on GM Binder and the community never stopped. Species, archetypes, gear, starships, whole sourcebooks written by people who wanted something the core books did not have. If your concept needs an option the Player's Handbook does not carry, there is a fair chance somebody has already written a clean version, and if nobody has, writing one is an afternoon. The era is already baked into the system in ways most players never notice. Item rarities in Star Wars 5e were built to mirror the tiers from The Old Republic, so the loot economy at this table was designed for the period we are playing in. Then there is the shelf. I own every Star Wars tabletop line ever published, and this era is covered across all of them. Galaxy Guide 16: The Old Republic (for WEG d6 Revised, Updated and Expanded, but useful for this campaign as a resource) as it gives me the d6 treatment of exactly this period, the cold war and the fragile peace and Korriban running its trials. The Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide adds two hundred and twenty four pages of Saga Edition material built for the Old Republic, including new species, new Force traditions, and a detailed treatment of the Mandalorians and the Sith. The d20 and Fantasy Flight lines fill in gear, ships and factions. Four systems, thirty years of material, one era. The Mandalorian Codex brings the Madno'ade to life for SW5e. Converting a stat block from any of them is a short job, and I have been doing it for decades. Then there is the MMO. I spent nineteen months inside its development, which means I know which corners of this era were built out, which were left open, and which ones nobody ever reached. The open ones are where the best homebrew lives. Bring me a Force tradition, a species nobody has statted, a fighting form from a comic, a starship from a novel. Legends, canon, comics, games. If it is out there we can make it work here. The only requirement is era and tone. The war between the Republic and the Sith Empire, before the Eternal Empire enters the picture. Anything belonging to a later period stays out for setting consistency. Bring me the concept. I will find the rules.

How Yuthika 'Fey' creates a safe table

Your safety matters more than any scene. Star Wars is adventure first. This campaign lives in the same register as the films and the games it draws from. There is danger, there is loss, and the Empire is genuinely frightening, but the tone stays heroic rather than grim. I am not running gore in a Star Wars game and never have. How the table holds that. Lines and Veils before we begin. Whatever you name as off limits stays off, permanently, and you never have to explain why. X card always available. Say the word or type an X and the scene changes. No questions asked. Open door policy. Step away at any point, camera and mic off, return when you want. No judgement. Check-ins during play. If a scene runs heavier than expected I pause before we continue. Roses and Thorns at session close. Short debrief every session, and private follow-up afterward if you prefer. What this campaign contains. Blaster and lightsaber violence at the level the films show it. Sith occupation and what it does to the people living under it. Slavery as a practice of certain factions, referenced without detail. Capture and interrogation, including the Force used to pull something out of a mind that does not want to give it up. Loss of people your character cares about. The Imperial Intelligence Bureau, who are genuinely menacing. Characters can die in this system, and I will always tell you when the danger is real before you commit to it. What this campaign does not contain. Graphic gore or dwelt-upon injury. Sexual content of any kind. Harm to children onscreen. The ravages of war is the wound this campaign starts from and the Temple being attacked is part of that history, but children are not put in danger in scenes we play. Torture as a scene rather than as something that happened offscreen. Anything a player has named as a line. The galaxy is dangerous. The table is not. If something is not landing, say the word and it changes.