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Two-hundred and ten years before the start of the Clone Wars, it is a time of peace and prosperity for the Galactic Republic. Explorers establish new hyperspace routes into the Outer Rim and new planets come under the rule of the Republic’s ever-expanding borders. In the time which later historians will dub the High Republic, Supreme Chancellor Lina Soh’s rallying cry is heard across the galaxy, proudly declaring that: We are all the Republic. But not all are so pleased to become part of the Republic, be it the Nihil raiding the Outer Rim or be it citizens of planets who feel cheated by their relationship to the Republic. Nevertheless, none can deny the crowning achievement of the High Republic: a period of peace maintained by the Republic’s peacekeepers, the Jedi Knights.

From their ancient temple on Coruscant to outposts in the farthest explored reaches of the Outer Rim, Jedi Knights settle disputes, help others with the resources of the Jedi Order, and defend the innocent. In this era of peace, the Jedi are not yet the soldiers and generals of the Clone Wars, though the martial nature of their order remains strong—and soon it will be tested against the Nihil. But those days have only just begun; the Great Disaster has just begun and news of the Nihil’s involvement has not yet spread across the galaxy. At the moment, our Jedi heroes are unaware of the battles to come.
Now, these Jedi heroes are stranded in the jungles of Bunum, a remote planet in the Outer Rim. Returning from the Jedi Temple on Ilum, their transport was grazed by fast-flying debris until they were forced to pull out of hyperspace and crash-land beneath the shadow of an ancient ruin of uncertain provenance. Their communications out, they are separated from their friends and allies among the Jedi Order and the Republic. The few Jedi Masters among the group have been knocked unconscious or killed in the crash, and now our heroes are helpless and alone. Travelling from the crash site of their ship, they traverse the jungle to find a village of the local population, a diverse group of species including Humans, Twi’leks, and Selkath among many others. But when they arrive, the Jedi find that the locals flee from them, fearful of the laser swords they wield. Upon further investigation, the stranded Jedi find a pair of anthropologists from the University of Bar’leth among the locals who speak of the others found upon the planet: a dig team from the same university investigating the local ruins, miners sponsored by the local governor of the nearest planet in the Republic, and a pair of reclusive Jedi rumored to live deep in the heart of the jungle. When conflict arises between the indigenous population and the Republic, it is up to these stranded Jedi to determine where their loyalties lie.

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The Bunum Impasse is a character-driven roleplay set in the High Republic era of Star Wars, specifically taking place entirely on the homebrew planet of Bunum in the year 232 B.B.Y. (concurrent with the novels Light of the Jedi, Into the Dark, and A Test of Courage). Two players are already in the RP as my co-GMs (namely @seonhyang and @Auz) and I am seeking two more players in addition to them.

As for the RP itself, characters will not be powerful Jedi Masters, but rather solitary Padawans and Knights; they are not nigh-immortal space wizards, but rather Jedi who are fallible and uncentered and unsure of their relation to the Jedi Order and with the Force. This story is expressly intended to not be an action-filled romp, but rather a character study of the Jedi at their height aiming to explore Jedi’s relationships with violence, with the light side of the Force, and with the Republic. These Jedi will not fall to the Dark Side nor be ‘grey’ in the sense of their morality, but rather be deeply committed to doing the right thing—and yet struggling to determine what the ‘right thing’ actually is.

Consequently, the themes of this RP will be heterodoxy in interpretation of the Jedi Code, conflict between the Jedi’s duty to the Republic and their sympathy to the indigenous peoples of Bunum, and conflict of interest between the political will of the Republic to aid the galaxy in its totality and the desire of the locals to have self-determination for themselves. There are no traditionally evil agents here, only people in conflict with other people.

In terms of the plot, I have a short one in mind but will not be inflexible about it; its purpose is mainly to set up the thematic conflicts of the story and the rest is up to you players. I will leave room for character development and will happily incorporate subplots that benefit your character specifically.

Regarding the Canon-Legends split, Canon will take precedence given the fact that the High Republic era is itself situated in Canon; Legends material is very welcome albeit subject to GM caveat. I will make it clear that I am not an expert on the lore and that you needn’t be one either; I am no stranger to consulting Wookieepedia and the aim of this RP leans more towards engaging with the series’ themes of compassion and anti-imperialism than with the nitty-gritty of blaster manufacturers and starship classes.

If you're interested, let us know! Feel free to ask any questions you might have.

Hello there,

Yes, I would like to express my interest in participating. I am curious however, as I intend to create a younger padawan character. Would you encourage creating Apprentice - Master relationships between fellow player participants, or would you rather I create a NPC Jedi Knight myself? Or is either option available?

@Dusty Both options work! I'll say, however, that the main reason for the conceit of the dead/injured masters is to isolate these Jedi from their support system in the Order at large, so that's something I would keep in mind! A master works, but the more imperfect the better—more Anakin than Obi-Wan, if that comparison helps.

Excellent! I shall await to see what other interest is garnered, and what characters are created before making the final decision.

I'd also be interested. I always enjoy a good Jedi story, and am looking for a new rp.

What's your stance on powers? I tend to like playing with the type of padawan that's naturally powerful and good-hearted, but inexperienced and prone to care too much with stuff like Jedi Healing that'll she can be prone to use at the risk of her own life if she's not reeled in. I can have her be average powered though instead. Either way, she'd have been looking forward to continuing on her journey and prove herself to her master, only for the crash to happen and have him die without her being able to do anything to save him.

@Cyrania I don't mind characters of greater power as long as there's a strong story reason. I would ask: why is it important that she be a prodigy so strong in the Force; what benefit would that have on the narrative? I would personally prefer someone more middling, but if it's properly justified in your CS then I wouldn't mind its inclusion! My main concern is that powerful characters may have an outsized effect on the narrative to the detriment of other players. I think that such a thing can work if it's a strong part of the character concept, but I'm a little wary because of that.

That's okay. I think it works through the whole 'great power comes with great responsibility' angle, but Jedi already have that. Its honestly not a major part of the character. Its more the fact that I tend to like playing healer, but I could have a more lightsaber-focused character for this rp.

@Fiscbryne So do your co-hosts already have characters planned, or we all be making characters at the same time once the OOC is posted?

They have characters already planned! They would describe their characters better than I can, but I'll say that at the moment that @Auz has an older Padawan who's a little naïve and believes entirely in the Republic's mission at the start of the RP, whereas @seonhyang has researcher Jedi Knight who is big on compassion and who will be navigating the relationship between it and the Jedi Way after some of her research ended up misused. I myself have a reticent Jedi Knight who swore the Barash Vow and is now apprehensive about returning to being a Jedi after an accident involving his Padawan—but cognizant of being a DM, I don't intend for his role to be huge.

I may be too many, but while I haven't been keeping upto date with the High Republic stuff, I am finding this intriuiging.

Any chance for a character sheet so I could begin working?

@Sep Not to step on the GM's toes or anything, but it seems that traffic has been pretty slow for this one, and considering your experience you'd probably have a fairly decent shot of getting accepted. On that note what sorta character were you thinking of fashioning?

@Sep I wouldn't mind taking on three if need be! The main reason I'm looking for a lower number of players is just to have fewer moving parts for scheduling as well as a tighter story, but it wouldn't be unmanageable. Put up a CS when the OOC is posted and we'll take a look then!

Any chance for a character sheet so I could begin working?

I have one that I'm still tweaking slightly at the moment, but I'll post it come tomorrow!

@Fiscbryne I see you're full. If perhaps someone backs out, I'd like to be counted on as a replacement.

@Fiscbryne I see you're full. If perhaps someone backs out, I'd like to be counted on as a replacement.

We are not full; rather, we are still in the application stage. After the OOC goes up this weekend (most likely on Friday) post a character sheet and we can talk then!

@Dusty A CS template as promised!

Will edit more later.

@Fiscbryne I am interested in joining! Will most likely roll up a padawan, but I'll wait for the character sheet to go up before committing to much of anything character-wise atm.

@Fiscbryne Are you still planning on running this RP?

@Dusty Apologies for the delay! I am; this week was busy for me but things have cleared up and the OOC should be up shortly!

Cool, I was just making sure since all was quiet on the western front.

@Dusty@Sep@Cyrania@Renny@boomerremover

The OOC is now up!