Note: This isn't a typical story with any illustrious detail or dialogue, and it is not based off a fixed Revan and a fixed Exile. I am working on a KotOR III story that I'd use if I was designing the video game (if it is ever going to be made that is)...
STAR WARS KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC III
THE LORDS OF ZIOST
BY THE ARCHITECT
INTRODUCTION
My KotOR III story takes place approximately three years after the events of KotOR II, where Revan and the Exile are still in the unknown regions. They are not dead, but there is a reason why they haven’t returned, but at this stage, where exactly they are, what is happening in the unknown regions and what they are doing remains anonymous.
You’ll go a new main character in my KotOR III story and just like in the previous KotOR’s, you can select the gender of your character; however the species of your new main character will remain fixed as human for plot reasons.
You’ll be able to select the genders/alignments of Revan and the Exile in my KotOR III story, but unlike in KotOR II, you select their genders/alignments before the game begins (before you customize your new main character), not during the game. You will be asked straight forward was Revan LS/DS? Was the Exile LS/DS? Was Revan male/female? Was the Exile male/female? You choose…
If you haven’t played KotOR and/or KotOR II before, and do not know who Revan and/or the Exile are, then you can select the option that you don’t know who Revan and/or the Exile are or what the hell this is? If you do this, they will be set to the default canonical settings, Revan being a LSM and the Exile being a LSF.
The Old Republic is recovering faster than what was originally anticipated. Under popular new Supreme Chancellor Delbert Torrance, the Republic has completed several successful planetary restoration projects across outer-rim worlds that were affected by the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War; what this does is it helps galactic trade head in the right direction again, which would obviously benefit the economic and industrial state of the Republic, which is essential to the rebuilding process of the Republic. The military state of the Republic has also improved, as the Republic recently made a financial deal with Systech Corporation; they (Systech Corporation) are now making HK-51 droids who are programmed to be loyal to the Republic. In other words, Systech Corporation is building a loyal HK-Army for the Republic. The droids can be used to defend the Republic and stabilize planetary and local situations that need alleviating.
The Mandalorians have become quite a formidable force again, the once scattered clans have regathered, reunited and rebuilt; their main-base (training camp) has now been relocated from Dxun to the Mandalorian capital planet Mandalore. Mandalore has taken his armada back into Mandalorian space, into their old territory. But despite the fact that the Mandalorians have become pretty strong again, they haven’t attacked the Republic/Jedi/Sith or any other rival forces, and they have no intention of doing so, because they are still led by Canderous Ordo (Mandalore) and he is following orders from the Exile that the Exile gave him before he/she ventured fourth into the unknown regions.
The Jedi are still very weak, the wounds the past few decades of war that was inflicted upon them bleed still, however, a new Jedi Order is slowly re-establishing itself, as a group of youthful and inexperienced Jedi (if you set the Exile as LS, then this “group of youthful and inexperienced Jedi” will be the Exile’s companions) are leading the rebuilding phase of the new Jedi Order. Coruscant is the only occupied Jedi Academy in the galaxy at this stage, where the Jedi who lead the rebuilding phase recruit, teach and train new young force-sensitive recruits at the academy on Coruscant.
But out of the four major groups from known space, the Sith are the weakest one of them all. They have been reduced to near extinction, what tiny bit that is left from Malak’s remnants from KotOR and Traya’s cult from KotOR II are now nothing but unorganized, scattered, divided, leaderless factions that are killing each other off for what little power is left amongst them. There are too few Sith left to seriously harm the Republic and the Jedi. If you set the Exile as DS, then the Exile’s companions are Dark Jedi, not Sith, but they aren’t concerned about destroying the Republic/Jedi, they are following orders from the Exile and are helping the Mandalorians take control of the outer-rim, in an attempt to turn the outer-rim into one big defensive outpost, preparing to repel any potential attacks from the unknown regions that the Exile warned them about before he/she left. This is another reason why Mandalore moved his army to Mandalore (that sounds weird doesn’t it)? He preferred to operate from a more remote, more resourceful base, which correlates perfectly with Mandalorian space, besides, it is where they came from, so it only makes sense.
Also note that regardless of the Exile’s gender/alignment, the Ebon Hawk doesn’t get destroyed in my story; yes, it is badly damaged, but I’ve made it that no matter what, T3-M4 manages to repair the hyperdrive and reboot the main-systems of the ship, getting the Ebon Hawk functional and airborne again, saving the Exile’s companions and the Ebon Hawk from its originally inevitable doom. You will learn this at one point in my KotOR III story via dialogue.
Other groups such as the Intergalactic Exchange, Czerka Corporation, the Galactic Underground Smuggling Syndicate and Systech Corporation are going about their business as per usual, especially Czerka Corp and the Exchange, as the Jedi these days are still weak and the Republic is still unstable to the point where crime and corruption is much more abundant in the galaxy than what it was many years ago.
As plain and simple as things seem right now, things do get interesting. Once you’ve finished customizing your new main character through the in-game menu, the game begins, and you see the slogan ‘A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…’ followed by the opening credits, in typical Star Wars tradition…
I can’t put into exact words what I want the opening credits to say, I can however tell you what I want the opening credits (as brief as they always are) to talk about. In the opening credits of my KotOR III story, I want the player to know that it’s eight years after the Jedi Civil War and that the four major groups (the Republic, the Jedi, the Sith and the Mandalorians) are all weak and have suffered greatly from the past few decades of war, but they are all recovering and rebuilding slowly. I also want the player to know that Systech Corporation has built an army of sophisticated HK-51 droids for the Republic and they are continuing to manufacture HK-Droids for them (as I’ve mentioned earlier).
Now, before I get into my story, lets go over accouple of things. it should be noted that I’d like KotOR III to be a CRPG, just like KotOR and KotOR II, and as far as character building goes, it’s important that we get a wide variety of dialogue choices for our character that reflects different attitudes and values, so the character feels like your own.
The dialogue in the game should be designed in such a way that the PC should be allowed to respond/talk to someone in a either a cooperative, wise, inquisitive, aggressive, arrogant, play dumb, etc manner; depending on how you see fit, but it’s equally important that regardless, the PC ends up acquiring necessary plot information as the story progresses, but it should depend, not to mention alternate, according to the dialogue. In other words, I’d like KotOR III to be as open-ended as possible (as much as size, time and cost can handle for this game, so unfortunately it does have to be a bit ‘linear’).
I also think that it’s important to note that in KotOR and KotOR II, the character starts at level one, well obviously; but as he/she levels up, he/she becomes stronger in the force at such a quick rate (to the ability where you can challenge the most powerful villain/s in the game) that it’s only possible ‘plot wise’ to progress in the force that quickly if the force-user has used the force before, but had it stripped away from him/her or lost it in some way, hence starting at level one, but as the game progresses, the character regains his/her connection to the force (in KotOR, your character was an ex-Dark Lord who had his/her mind reprogrammed and in KotOR II, you were an exiled Jedi Knight who cut himself/herself off from the force) and in both games, your character regains his/her once strong connection to the force as the game progresses and in the end, becomes more powerful than what they used to be.
So what’s the point of all this? The point is, the new main character in my story needs to be powerful towards the end for plot reasons, but if your new main character becomes so powerful so quickly without ever having used the force before, it just seems a little far-fetched; even the likes of Anakin and Yoda couldn’t become very strong in the force in a matter of months, it took them years and I don’t think these KotOR games are designed to have stories which span over many years (in terms of the characters progress throughout the game). However, I don’t want the new main character to be someone who regains their connection to the force; it’s just too repetitive not to mention lame in my opinion, so…
PART ONE: CORUSCANT
Unfortunately you are affiliated with the Jedi from the start in my story. I know this is forced, but I don’t see it as being anymore forced than having to play as Revan in KotOR or having to play as an exiled Jedi Knight in KotOR II. Your alignment will start off as completely neutral, just like it was in the previous KotOR’s.
You are one of the older students at the new Jedi academy. You’re a padawan who’s on the verge of becoming a Jedi Knight; the Jedi Knight who you’re training under has recently been granted the rank of master. Your master is a tall galactic basic speaking Kel-Dor called Mason Wolfgard, who fought in the Jedi Civil War and went into hiding on Tatooine during the events of KotOR II (the Shadow War).
The game begins with the new main character (you) resting in a room at the Jedi temple. A female youngling wakes you up to inform you that the Jedi Council requests your audience at the council chambers immediately.
Note that this Jedi Council isn’t really a proper council so to speak, it is made up of youthful and inexperienced Jedi. If you set the Exile as LS, then members of this new council will include Visas, Atton, Bao-Dur, Mira and the Handmaiden/Disciple (depending on the Exile’s gender). The Handmaiden and Disciple can’t both be present in this council in my story, because if you set the Exile as a LSM or a DSM, the Disciple got caught and killed in the middle of an asteroid field. He was on his way to Taris, to assist the Republic in one of its many outer-rim planetary restoration projects, but he never made the journey to Taris! If you set the Exile as a LSF or a DSF, then the Handmaiden is killed along with her sisters by Atris in KotOR II! Therefore, both the Handmaiden and Disciple can’t both be on the council, because depending on the Exile’s gender, one of them is dead.
If you set the Exile as DS, then the Exile’s companions are replaced by all new Jedi characters instead, because if you set the Exile as DS, his/her companions are Dark Jedi, who are with Mandalore and his armada, helping maintain control of the outer-rim outposts that Revan left intact during his/her war of conversion before his/her capture, as the Exile requested before he/she departed known space. Anyway, I hope this clears things up.
Now note because the KotOR games are CRPG’s, there is plenty of important plot information in the game for you to discover, however, how, when or if you discover this information should depend greatly on your dialogue choices, so from now on, I’ll state the information you ‘can’ learn at a certain part of the game, but might not learn, due to your dialogue choices. Know what I mean?
The Jedi Council tells you that you’re strong in the force, you’re on the verge of becoming a Jedi Knight and your behaviour very much mirrors Revan’s behaviour as a padawan before the Mandalorian Wars; according to the Jedi archives, Revan was charismatic, powerful, knowledgeable and wise, but Revan’s eagerness to learn about the higher mysteries of the force combined with his/her permissive personality which seemed to disregard the Jedi code and its teachings were warning signs of him/her potentially falling to the dark-side.
The council sees the same things in you. According to them, you show the traits of a leader, you are powerful and are always seeking newfound knowledge; however they are worried about your individualism. You seem to be too much of a free-thinker, your letting your emotions run freely, as if you’re a non-force sensitive but with a lightsaber and force powers. So they are basically just warning you about the dangers of the dark-side and are advertising the Jedi code and teachings whilst reflecting on the ‘arrogance’ of the Jedi Masters from the Jedi Civil War and the Mandalorian Wars, as Zez-Kai Ell from KotOR II puts it. They don’t want the same mistakes that the council made in the past to be repeated.
The council has decided that in order for you to become a Jedi Knight, you must prove your understanding of the Jedi code and the Jedi teachings, by ‘setting an example’ to a younger padawan by showing the padawan how daily Jedi ‘business’ is done on the streets of Coruscant. The Jedi Knights are the guardians of peace and justice throughout the galaxy and on Coruscant; they act as peacekeepers and security for the people of Coruscant, doing things such as breaking up fights, settling disputes, catching criminals, etc. So your task is to basically go with the padawan onto the streets of Coruscant and do some Jedi ‘business’ for the day. The padawan is to report back to the council the success of your actions and methods of problem solving (the level of success will depend on the level of influence you have with the padawan, who will become your first party member in the game). If you lead by example well in the eyes of the padawan, you will be able to perform the Jedi trials and will have a chance at becoming a Jedi Knight. If you are not a successful in the eyes of the padawan then you will not be allowed to perform the Jedi trials and will therefore not be able to become a Jedi Knight yet. Your master Mason Wolfgard will not accompany you during your task, because this task is for you and the padawan only.
Before you go out onto the streets of Coruscant with the padawan; you as a player will learn that during your last mission with your master on Nal Hutta, your lightsaber was broken and your robes were torn, so you have to go with Bao-Dur or his replaceable character Pasquale to the workshop and equipment store at the Jedi temple to construct a new lightsaber of your own preference and get a new robe of your choice.
Once you have constructed your new lightsaber with Bao-Dur’s/Pasquale’s assistance and have acquired your new robes, you return to the council chambers, where the council will assign the location of your area to do Jedi ‘business’ on and select the padawan whom will accompany you during your Jedi ‘business’ on Coruscant.
The padawan whom will accompany you and also become your first party member is Trisha Vale, an 18 year old human female padawan who is born on Coruscant and is only at the early stages of her training. But she, like you is strong in the force, and has the potential to become very powerful.
You find that there isn’t really much to do in the streets of Coruscant early on, so you have a chance to go roaming around the streets of Coruscant, asking questions; looking for something to do.
You’ll have the opportunity to explore different apartment buildings and visit two cantina’s that are situated around the area where you’ve been assigned to. The more exploring and interacting you do, the more side-quests will become available to you, side-quests which will present the player different LS/DS or neutral ways to resolve these side-quests.
You’ll have the opportunity to do some swoop racing, play pazaak and perhaps play some new mini-game of some sort. Anyway, a bit of investigating in one of the two cantina’s you can visit on Coruscant will lead you to the main-quest.
Now, I’ve never been good at making up side-quests which provide the player with LS/DS/neutral choices, but as you would imagine, Coruscant is a good place to provide the player with plenty of those side-quests which provide an opportunity to gain LS/DS points or merely just remain neutral.
One thing I believe KotOR III should do is allow the player to enjoy more distinct shades of the ‘grey’ philosophy and promote a neutral path for the player to take in the game. Instead of being forced to choose between the LS or the DS in the rather black and white distinctions made in the previous KotOR’s, the player shouldn’t be forced to side with any major faction, if he/she chooses not to. However this may be considered as contradictory, since I forced the new main character to start off as a padawan on the verge of becoming a Jedi Knight at the new Jedi academy on Coruscant, but I don’t want the player to have any massive or complex past, I want to keep things simple at the beginning and explore other characters histories more than your own, because you should already know the history of yourself! This provides for better role-playing too in my opinion, since you can make up all the open-ended details about your own character yourself.
Anyway, the main quest is to basically solve a murder mystery (similar to the one on Onderon in KotOR II and the ones on Manaan and Dantooine in KotOR). A famous swoop racer was murdered by someone, but who was the murderer? There are a few ‘suspects’ who could of killed the swoop racer, either way, you’ll have to decide who you think the murderer is and why you think the person you point the finger at is responsible for the murder.
Whoever you choose, you have the option of:
-Arresting the person in a negotiable or forceful way…
-Accepting a bribe and then letting the person go…
-Accepting a bribe and then wounding/killing the person…
-Provoking the person into attacking you and then wounding/killing the person, using self-defence as an excuse…
As most people know, side-quests are optional, so how many side-quests you do (if you choose to do any side-quests at all that is) depends on your choices as well as who you speak to and what you say.
Once you’ve finished the murder mystery thus completing the main-quest, you and Trisha make your way back to the Jedi academy. As you and Trisha make your way back to the academy, a cutscene takes place.
If you set the Exile as LS, you’ll see a cutscene which shows Visas Marr being found unconscious in the Jedi temple. When you and Trisha return to the academy, the council is called together at the Jedi temple to find out why the hell Visas fell unconscious. You and Trisha are present at the temple, where Visas slowly regains consciousness and begins explaining what happened, but before she can finish, all present at the temple unexpectedly experience a great pain through the force. You fall unconscious.
The council is alarmed, as they have just felt the death of thousands of people through the force. They all immediately realize that they face a new threat. Visas in particular is worried and explains that the reason why she fell unconscious is because she felt something through the force that she had not felt since the days she served as a slave to Darth Nihilus, only this time the experience she felt was far more powerful even from afar and despite her much greater powers to resist such influences. In her vision, Visas saw a hooded figure draw all power from an entire planet, your homeworld!
If you set the Exile as DS, Visas isn’t around to be found unconscious, since she’s a Dark Jedi. When you get to the temple, you, Trisha and the other Jedi present at the academy and the temple will still experience a great pain through the force and you will still fall unconscious. Visas isn’t around to explain what happened, but after the Jedi present at the temple and the academy experience the great pain they felt through the force, some other random Jedi mentions that what she felt was similar to what she felt when all the Jedi present at Katarr died, she believes that the same thing has happened, and it’s not safe for all the Jedi to be gathered around on Coruscant like this, because the same thing that’s happened on Katarr and Zytella (the planet that has just been drained all planetary life out of, which is also your home planet) could happen on Coruscant.
Either way, the Jedi realize that only the Sith...The ‘True Sith’ could unleash such destruction through the force, which suggests that they will be coming soon. While you are still unconscious, Trisha tells the council about what you and her did and how successful you were in your methods of Jedi ‘business’. Remember, the amount of influence you have with Trisha will determine what she thinks of your performance.
If you have enough influence with Trisha, she will comment positively on your methods/actions. If you don’t have enough influence with Trisha, she will comment negatively on your methods/actions. Either way, it doesn’t matter, because even if you were successful in the eyes of Trisha, the council doesn’t have time to let you perform the trials into becoming a Jedi Knight, because they won’t be sticking around on Coruscant for much longer, nor will any Jedi on the planet.
The council wonders why you fainted and discusses the matter, as well as what they’re going to do and how they’re going to do whatever they decide to do. The incident of you falling unconscious suggests to the council that you could have some sort of special connection to the force. They all know which world was basically destroyed by this mysterious hooded figure, it’s your homeworld Zytella, a remote world situated in the outer-regions of space. The council decides that they will tell you that it was your homeworld that got destroyed when you regain consciousness, why?
Because you have a right to know, that’s why. There’s no reason for them not to tell you, because either way, you might find out from someone else, and if you found out that the council knew and kept it a secret from you, you might feel angry at them and betrayed, which can lead to the path of the dark side. The new council also believes that secrecy from the Jedi Masters during the Mandalorian Wars and the Jedi Civil War was one of the reasons why many Jedi fell to the dark side during those times.
Admiral Carth Onasi or Admiral Cede (depending on Revan’s alignment) goes to the council chambers to make a few suggestions to the council on what to do next in light of this recent catastrophe. Knowing that Darth Nihilus was drawn to great gatherings of Jedi, the council decides that remaining on Coruscant is far too dangerous for both the Jedi and the planet in general, since it will make the planet a target for these mysterious ‘True Sith’. Instead they will leave Coruscant and spread themselves across the galaxy both to protect Coruscant and to find a way to fight the ‘True Sith’. If a war is coming, then the galaxy has little hope of victory given the current weak state of the Republic, the Jedi, the Mandalorians and the Sith remnants.
When you regain consciousness, you are called to the council chambers. The Jedi Council fills you in on what’s going on and what they’re planning to do. You have an opportunity to ask many questions, about the past and the present. Questions about the past will lead the council to telling you a bit about Revan and the Exile (and what they tell you about them varies slightly on their genders/alignments) and also about the Mandalorian Wars, the Jedi Civil War and the Shadow War. Pretty much everything I covered in my introduction can be learnt from the council.
Also, the council will tell you that it was your homeworld that got destroyed by this mysterious hooded figure. How will you react? It’s up to you, but even if for some absurd reason you don’t give a rats ass that your homeworld, your people, your family, your friends and everything else you cared about on your homeworld got destroyed, you will still have to try and stop these ‘True Sith’, because if you don’t, if you choose to simply run and hide, they will find you and kill you, especially now that they appear to have some Darth Nihilus type clone on their side. Whatever the case, you’ll have your reasons for wanting to stop the ‘True Sith’ and those reasons will be decided by you as the player.
The council knows next to nothing about these ‘True Sith’, all they know is what we as players know from KotOR II (of those of us who’ve played it). Revan departed known space alone to ‘deal with them (the ‘True Sith’) in his/her own way’ as Kreia from KotOR II puts it. Revan said that they were behind the Mandalorian Wars; that they were the true threat all along.
Revan didn’t want to bring anyone along because the dark places where he/she now walks would only bring unnecessary doom to those he/she took along with him/her, but was this the only reason why Revan went alone? Only time will tell. The Exile did the same thing, he/she departed known space alone and journeyed into the unknown regions, where the Sith…The ‘True Sith’ lurk in the dark.
Is there reason/s why up until this point, the ‘True Sith’ never attacked the Republic, the Jedi, the Sith and the Mandalorians or any major faction when they were all clearly in a weak, vulnerable state ever since the end of the Jedi Civil War? After all these years, only now they decide to attack. Why? Is their more to the story? So many questions, yet the answers are naught at this stage.
Apart from learning about galactic history and so forth, you can also speak to the council members about things regarding Jedi training. Note that / = replaceable character. From Bao-Dur/Pasquale, you can learn about lightsaber crystals and lightsaber construction, from Mira/Saparu, you can learn about the effectiveness and purpose of offensive and defensive force-powers, from Handmaiden/Disciple or Vorkeish, you can learn about lightsaber combat and different lightsaber techniques, from Atton/Cabat, you can learn about resistance to mental force-powers and from Visas/April, you can learn about the meanings of the Jedi code and the benefits of following the code. Of course all of this is completely optional.
After all of that, the council will tell you where to go and what your next assignment is. Most of the Jedi leave Coruscant and go their separate ways, both to hide and to seek information about this new threat. One of the Jedi, the Handmaiden/Disciple or the other replaceable character Vorkeish will stay behind to guard the youngest children though. This is considered acceptable, since a single Jedi with a few very young children aren't believed to present much of a target for the ‘True Sith’. The rest all scatter to various planets.
Since you are relatively inexperienced, you are charged with taking a ship called the Vaelestraz and several young Jedi students/children to safety. You are not alone in this task; the council will send Trisha Vale with you, because they claim a special bond has developed between you two, which started/began to manifest itself during your Jedi ‘business’ together on the streets of Coruscant.
You and Trisha don’t really have a choice. Even if Trisha doesn’t want to go with you (which will depend on the amount of influence you have with her) and even if you don’t want her to come with you, the council has ordered it. Besides this bond has its advantage (in terms of the both of you growing strong in the force faster than usual) because of the fact that the bond enables you two to draw strength from each other.
Before I move on to the next part of my story, I thought I’d make some things clear with Trisha Vale. As I’ve said, Trisha is an 18 year old human female padawan whom was born on Coruscant.
When the Shadow War ended and the leaders of the new Jedi Order came to Coruscant to rebuild the Jedi academy, they found and recruited Trisha, who at the time was 17 years old. Usually the council doesn’t accept adults for training, but in order for the Jedi Order to become strong again, they need students, new recruits, new force-sensitive’s, and that means recruiting not only really young students, but older ones too.
Trisha also has a very strong connection to the force, so the council also felt that it would be wise not to safely ignore it. Of course, you can learn all this from Trisha, as well as her life story (depending on your influence with her).
I’m not sure what her life story should be, I’ve never been good at writing solid and interesting background stories for characters, but the way I see it, she does have the potential to be an interesting character. Trisha is romance-able for male players (this will depend on your influence with her).
Oh, and about your character’s past. I believe that it should be for the player’s own imagination to decide, however something that is fixed about your back-story is the fact that you were born on Zytella, the remote world situated in the outer-regions which recently got drained of all life by a mysterious hooded figure believed to be from these mysterious ‘True Sith’.
I suppose to make things seem less forced, someone could ask you how/why you became a member of the new Jedi Order, and you could customize the reason how/why you became a member of the new Jedi Order from a number of options. Anyway…
You are to go to Alderaan, which is one of the most peaceful worlds in the galaxy, and where the children are believed to be safe. Of course, this just sets off a series of events that will bring them to the centre of the plot.
Before you leave, your master Mason Wolfgard bids farewell to you, as he is going to explore Yavin IV, to see if he can find anything out about these ‘True Sith’. At this stage in the game, you should be at about level ‘8-10’ and your alignment could be anywhere between ‘ј LS-1/4 DS’…
Part Two: Alderaan is next, however it might be some time before I even get started on it. When I'm not so busy and have the appropriate time, I'll continue to work on my story, until then feel free to comment on it so far...