A little help

[dragonblaze99]

Ok I’m looking at running a new table top games with some friends 4 are new to playing, 1 my wife has been playing for 13 years and 2 players with not experience (so new they have not played computer RPG’s) for the new players a “choose your own adventure” 20 years ago might be the closest thing.
So the game idea I’m running with is an Alien unlimited game taking place right at the start of the Atorian Empire 6th expansion. The players kind of want a star wars fell to the game. I would use the star wars RPG for the game but the 4 new players have only played 6 to 10 times or so I don’t want to hit them all with a new system.
What I need help with is an overall base for the game, human to not have space flight so humans as PC are out and they cannot play Atorians other than that I’m good with whatever they want to play. My three ideas for the game are
1. A group of pirates (or space scavengers) who are supplying one side or the other (or both) and get pulled into the main war by collecting and item or person for one side and deciding they cannot had it over to them.
2. A small expedition force studying a planet and get stuck there when the Athorians take the planet as a staging point destroy their ship and the characters have to steal a new ship and warn their government.
3. Or the cry for help “help me obi wan your my only hope” although this might me the easy route it seems to predictable
Or any other ideas would be a great help.

Thanks dragon_blaze_99

[Renekin Skywalker]

I vote KISS principal, since it's easiest to get involved when a space princess asks for help.

Or else, the second, but not necessarily hard to get back into space.

[dakota]

there are a couple different ways I've done this in the past, only in Rifts.

1) the pc's are smugglers who have to take anything they can get to keep their "boss" off their backs
2) the pc's are given vital information to the resistance against the Atorian Expansion
3) The pc's are drawn into a plot to find and destroy a new Atorian superweapon.

[thorley]

Well simplistically the characters could be working for an organization like FAR or the TMC which would bring them naturally into opposition with the Atorian Empire.

Another option is to do the entire "Farscape" schtick and have the PCs be Atorian Prisoners who escape and take over the prison ship/transport. This has the advantage of letting you use a very diverse group of characters from all over the place without having to worry about space geography or why the PCs might be working together. One thing about AU is that sometimes it can be hard to plop down a PC created race (random alien or whatever) if they are supposed to be some huge group by the rolls. Not to mention the existing aliens are not all a big, happy, family as there are several differant alliances that don't all nessicarly play well together which is why The Atorian Empire is such a threat.