Dev Diary #8 - The Defector and the Exile

Today, I wanna talk about two playbooks that focus on the relationship between the player and the Empire: one who left out of shame, another who longs to return.

If you missed the other dev diaries where I talk about other playbooks, see Dev Diaries #5and #7.

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The Defector

You trusted the Empire, followed its orders blindly, and it was a nightmare. You left, joined this crew. Now you fight the Empire. How long until the nightmare catches up to you?

The Defector's story is about trust and making up for past mistakes. You may have left the Empire, but that definitely doesn't mean your business with it is finished. Whatever motivated you to leave, chances are your departure was not the end of it.

Inspirations for the Defector include Finn from The Force Awakens and Sabine Wren from Star Wars Rebels. Finn left the First Order after refusing the order to massacre civilians. Sabine left the Empire after her technology was used against her own people. Both express shame for their former allegiances and the things they did at the time over the course of the story and both commit to ending the problem.

The central mechanic of the Defector is their Nightmare. It can be something they did, something they made, something they participated in, or even just something they witnessed. They may or may not be at fault for it. The important thing is that this is their motivation for leaving. This is the nightmare they left behind. The one you want to run away from.

You will be confronting your nightmare over the course of play. Encountering it will carry consequences while facing it head on comes with potential reward.

Besides the Nightmare feature, the Defector features the following moves:

• Imperial agendas: As a former member, you're probably familiar with their goals. This allows you to ask "What does the Empire want here?" when you assess the situation.
• I don't take orders from you anymore: This allows you to turn demands made by your former masters against them.
• Learned nothing, learned everything: A move to help you assert yourself when your former masters belittle or rebuke you.
• Do one good thing: You may or may not have a long history of wrongs in your past. This is a move to help you do something right for once.
• A bad friend: Trust does not come easily to you. Use this move to rebuke those who take advantage of your trust.
• Not going to kill for them: This move helps people trying to show mercy by extending the advantage offered by Righteous to this move. Note, it also extends the disadvantage of Guilty to this move. Shift Fool up, Child down if ever you kill someone at your mercy.

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The Exile

You were cast out. The Empire found you weak, defective. And for all the abuse you’ve suffered, you should be happy you’re out. And yet, despite everything, something pulls you back...

Like the Defector, the Exile is similarly dealing with a past (or present) with Empire. However, their relationship to it is reversed. They were cast out (or ostracized if they ever left at all) rather than motivated to leave. And they long to return, hoping to gain something by proving themselves. Chances are, they'll never find the happiness they need in the Empire.

Inspirations for the Exile include Zuko from Avatar: the Last Airbender, Catra from She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, and Anakin Skywalker from the Star Wars Prequel Trilogy. Notably, their states of allegiance vary significantly. Zuko is in actual exile from the Fire Nation and is sent on a fool's errand. Catra is the second in command of the Horde and eventually becomes its de facto leader for a while. Anakin is actively groomed to be the future Emperor's apprentice. What matters to this playbook is that Empire holds something the Exile craves. That can be parental affection, the validation of a mentor, the promise to save a loved one - anything, as long as its an actual challenge to resist.

So, Temptation is the core of the Exile playbook. As described earlier, it can be anything as long as it actually tempts you to do the wrong thing. Each time it comes into play, you roll + Child. While your temptation remains in play, and if you rolled a hit, the lose heart move becomes more dangerous, enhancing the consequences of a hit.

A 10+ on your temptation move is more dangerous still, forcing you to give in to your temptation any time you would be forced to leave the situation, such as on a 10+ from lose heart or from marking too many Shadows.

Asserting yourself in the face of temptation is going to be difficult, but each success helps you to grow.

The Exile playbook also features the following moves:

• (not) A failure: A move to help you do better when you are criticized for doing something wrong.
• Heart of gold: A stat switch for inspire, comfort, or support when you show someone kindness when it distracts from your goals.
• Win the fight, lose the war: When you sacrifice a major objective to win a smaller fight, this move may help you salvage the situation.
• Don't need luck: This move allows you to forgo rolling with advantage (if you had it) to shift your stats once before you roll. This doubles the experience you gain on a miss.
• Bad at being good: Chances are, you might end up hurting your fellow crewmates. The GM shifts your stats when you do, but you gain experience for rectifying that mistake.
• Imperfection is beautiful: While you might be stewing in your own self-hate, that doesn't mean everyone else has to treat you that way. If you can pull it off, you can turn your disadvantages into advantages.

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That is all for today! I hope you like the playbook concepts I've shared. If not, or if you have comments or suggestions, please let me know!

Playbooks are now 80% done! The next dev diary talking about playbooks will be the last. Then, I will be talking about the Survivor and the Veteran, both of whom have troubles finding meaning in the present conflict.

And if you've missed it, I'm recruiting for Fire of Rebellion's playtest! The game will be hosted on my server on Discord, and will begin January 16. Playtime will be Sundays, 9 am to 12 pm, Philippine time (GMT+8). Please, let me know if you're interested, and I will share an invite to the server!