What if the Exodus… but Star Wars?

I cooked up this demo scenario for the “Dungeons & Dragons & Dreidels” course I taught for Judaism Unbound’s UnYeshiva. Feel free to use it for your own game of Kingdom or repurpose it for something else.

The Freedom Flyers

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Two hundred years after the defeat of the FIRST ORDER, the JEDI and the name SKYWALKER have passed from history into legend.

It is a time of ignorance and fear. Those who can use the Force are viewed with suspicion and hatred.

The KNIGHTS TEMPLAR OF THE UNSULLIED, or TEMPLARS, are a fanatical militant sect that has launched a crusade to end the ways of the Force for good. While the NEW REPUBLIC struggles to rebuild, the Templars’ power is growing. No one who can touch the Force is safe.

Sentient beings fleeing persecution seek help from the FREEDOM FLYERS, a secret network that arranges safe passage to KI-NAHAN, a remote system on the Outer Rim beyond the reach of the Templars. The Templars have vowed to hunt them down and destroy them.

Pursued by the relentless ARCHON RA-MALEK, a small, daring crew of Freedom Flyers in the MITZAAR system try to help a family escape to Ki-Nahan…

We are a grassroots network that helps those strong in the Force escape the Templars by bringing them to Ki-Nahan.

Key Ideas

• Transporting something valuable
• Outsiders essential to communities they go to but are not part of
• Free to roam but bound by need and responsibility

We Are…

Grassroots. Volunteers delivering for free.

What kind of world is this?

What is the terrain we’re flying over?

Outer space in a galaxy far, far away.

Do we fly out of a single airfield or do we have a string of bases? How many people and how many planes do we have?

Ki-Nahan is the only known place where Freedom Flyers gather in numbers. It’s a small, old outpost dating back to the Rebel Alliance. We have a few dozen pilots and smugglers in our network as well as mechanics, engineers, and other specialists.

Is the world civilized or dangerous? If you landed in a field and saw a stranger, would you wish you had a pistol just in case?

Pretty dangerous. Most people who travel carry a blaster by their side.

What else should we know about this world?

The Djubuzim are a small, mixed multitude of a tribe that studies and practices ancient traditions rooted in trust in the Force. The majority are not overtly supernatural like Jedi or Sith, but they have a special connection to the Force—a lot like Chirrut Imwê in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Even Djubuzim who have no use for mystical mumbo jumbo respect the wisdom and traditions of their people.

Over the generations, the Djubuzim have fallen on hard times. After coaxium deposits were found on Mitzaar, the planet’s dynastic rulers enslaved the Djubuzim and forced them to build the mining city of P’tram and harvest coaxium. Things went from bad to worse when the current ruler, Phar-Zymandos, began working with the Templars to root out Djubuzim who show signs of being strong in the Force.

Threats

• Hunted by the Templars
• Broke and spread thin
• Reputation as dangerous troublemakers

Locations

The following locations are suggestions. Feel free to come up with your own ideas instead.

Cockpit of the Pegasus, rowdy saloon in the Mitzaar system, old Republic outpost from the Clone Wars, scrap yard on Jakku, abandoned battle droid factory, Jedi hideout on Lah’mu.

People

The following people are suggestions. Feel free to come up with your own ideas instead.

Brilliant eccentric engineer, worker droids, pilots, daring young pilot strong in the Force, contacts throughout the galaxy, sassy Astromech droid, aliens, technicians, adventurous librarian, ex-Templar

Crossroads

The following Crossroads are suggestions. Feel free to come up with your own ideas instead.

• Relocate an endangered family from Mitzaar to Ki-Nahan
• Find a Jedi master for the Kohani children
• Liberate the Djubuzim
• Rescue prisoners from a horrific Templar facility dedicated to purging the “taint” from Force-users

Main Characters

Lexan Rofe

A droid engineer and self-taught genius, Lexan Rofe is a fierce advocate for droid rights who was recruited by the Freedom Flyers after he maybe, possibly, instigated a minor uprising at the droid manufacturing plant where he worked. He’s a true believer fired up with a utopian vision of equality, justice, and freedom for all sentient beings in the galaxy, droid and organic alike. Organics think he’s weird for treating droids like people instead of tools.

Role Touchstone

Want Lexan needs Dann-Li to stand up for droid rights, but Dann-Li views droids as more like pets than people.

Dann-Li Benson

Dann-Li Benson grew up on Ki-Nahan raising and training fathiers, dreaming of a life of adventure among the stars. Inspired by the heroism of the Freedom Flyers, he joined up as soon as he came of age. Rescuing the Kohanis is his first real mission. He’s always had strange feelings and premonitions and incredible strokes of luck, but he has no idea that he’s strong in the Force.

Role Perspective

Want Dann-Li needs a Jedi master to teach him the ways of the Force, but Lexan has neither the interest nor inclination for mysticism.

Minor Characters

G0-L3M

Obsolete model of worker droid rescued from the scrap heap then repaired and updated by Lexan Rofe. Incredibly strong and durable but lacks vocal hardware. Memory hasn’t been wiped, so it’s developed a personality. Despite lack of speech, shows remarkable capacity to recognize and express irony, sarcasm, and other colorful traits.

Raz Kanata

A Freedom Flyer ally in the Mitzaar system and owner of a saloon in the neighborhood known as the Shuk. Twin sister of Maz Kanata. Possibly lovers with the Kel Dor Vo Ploon, a veteran Freedom Flyer pilot whom she teasingly refers to as her boyfriend and a stud muffin.

Kohanim

A family of Djubuzim. They are parents Yohavdit (she/her) and Omari (they/them) plus 3 children: Marya (ye/yem/yeir), age 8; Aron (ye/yem/yeir), age 5; and Mozhe (ye/yem/yeir), age 2.

Note: Djubuzi children use the pronouns ye/yem/yeir (for nongendered persons) until they reach b’nei mitzvah age, whereupon they choose their “adult” pronouns.