SWG Tales

From an RP standpoint Griggs is a Colonel for the Imperial Intelligence. Being in intelligence gave me some flexibility in how I play my character since I am not tied to a political position or jurisdiction.

I even RP my guild (The Dark Forces <DF>) as a special Imperial Intelligence unit where Griggs has a great deal of autonomy in intelligence aquisition.

Where I run into issues are issues of ranking officers and jurisdiction. Tramel and I discussed this and basically in most situations due to his political position on Rori he is ranking officer, but in other situations it is not so clear.

Also, it would help a lot of any RP imperials put their rank somewhere in their bio so that we may address each other accordingly

I know Kincaide requires members of his Imperial guild to put their rank in their bio. It's not a half-bad idea when it comes to RP in an environment like Imperials or heck, even if you were in an all-Rebel guild RPing that out.

That's what I figured would be the best way to do it.

I have also been doing research on imperial uniforms and as an officer in imperial intelligence I am supposed to wear red uniform jacket and red trousers. Guess I will have to log my tailor on tonight

I agree, but I also have a hard time answering that question (as Griggs had asked me last night) as my character has been through a dramatic story where he achieved his Imperial rank under the influence of another character. Jabe still feels obligated to his duty until he can sort out where he belongs.

He is kinda in limbo as far as his Imperial affiliation right now. However because he does have access to Imperial resources he does use them to help facilitate his efforts during recent events. It just that I got caught off guard last night as this touches on a lot of unresolved stuff with Jabe.

Overall I agree that our bios should provide enough info so that Imperials can address each other with fluidity and with some sense of recognition.

Jabe

One thing that imperial roleplayers need to focus on is that the Empire is a HUGE bureocracy. As such, it is extremely rigid in it's organizational structure. Grigg's question is a good one.

I am thinking that you various imperial entities need to map out what you are.. then figure out where you fit in the well defined structure of the empire. I will take a peek at my Imperial Sourcebook (West End Games) a little later and offer suggestions.

Politics always seems to override the military. So there will be times where the answer of who is the authority is not clear cut. This is fuel for amazing RP as far as I am concerned. Some of the best scenes in the movies involve the various bickering and posturing amongst the imperial officers.

In summary, you should be aware of how your group fits into the grand sceme of things... but you do not seek to solve the problem completely. Leaving some degree of question will lead to good RP situations between fellow imperials. (Otherwise there would be nothing to talk about.. X is the boss and everyone else does what X says.)

I don't consider myself to have a rank. I am working for the Empire, at least partially, for almost a year. And it seems funny how everyone that works for the Empire is an intel operative. (Except of course Tramel and Nyase.)

Now why anyone in intel would wear a uniform outside their official duty station is beyond me. But that gets in to a whole bunch of sae and opsec issues which we neither have the time for nor do I have the desire to teach in a forum. However if anyone wants some intel briefings to be given to them in character, in game, I would be more than willing to setup a workshop. Basically just to get you to start acting like the paranoid little people you should be. =)

E-bo Obi wrote:I don't consider myself to have a rank. I am working for the Empire, at least partially, for almost a year. And it seems funny how everyone that works for the Empire is an intel operative. (Except of course Tramel and Nyase.)

Now why anyone in intel would wear a uniform outside their official duty station is beyond me. But that gets in to a whole bunch of sae and opsec issues which we neither have the time for nor do I have the desire to teach in a forum. However if anyone wants some intel briefings to be given to them in character, in game, I would be more than willing to setup a workshop. Basically just to get you to start acting like the paranoid little people you should be. =)

Yeah I thought it was interesting to read up on the various branches of the empire and their uniforms and believe it or not the intel ops would wear their red uniforms pretty much everywhere unless they were in an area the empire did not maintain control. Contrast that with the real world and I would not want to advertise that I am in the CIA I am guessing it is part of the ego and arrogance of many imperial officers.

As for learning to rp an intelligence op anything I can learn I am open to

I chose imperial intelligence over army, navy, or ISB because of the simple fact it made sense in how I am roleplaying my character since he was so intertwined with the rebellion.

Griggs wrote:I chose imperial intelligence over army, navy, or ISB because of the simple fact it made sense in how I am roleplaying my character since he was so intertwined with the rebellion.

Yeah, I know what you mean. Most people have forgotten thats where I started too.

I am not sure why no one ever started an academy. I mean there could be all kinds of courses given by different people that would aid each other in RP and still could be events that were RP'd.

Must be because in SWG no one invented powerpoint. we all know the universe would implode if we didn't have powerpoint.

I guess we should cross paths sometimes, Griggs.

I also play Vixor as a member of Imperial Intelligence because it leaves my duties wide open. Imperial Intelligence actually has no affiliation with the armed forces of the Empire, though they do work within them. Imperial Intelligence officers do not have official ranks either, but rather they are referred to as "Agents."

But Vixor is a Captain of the Imperial Navy because for all purposes that is what he must appear to be. While it is no big secret he is an agent of Imp Intell he still holds rank and the occassional duty for the Navy. This serves the purpose of appearence and allows Vixor to form an inpromptu squad if he needs one.

To me the position of Imperial Intelligence often puts uniforms aside. There are many times when he must gather information and an Imperial Uniform is a sure way to zip people's lips. Sometimes plain clothes in necessary. For formal times when he must appear as an officer I have the standard grey uniform but I would really like to know if he should be wearing black or some other color scheme for his rank of Captain. I also wear his Tie-Pilot suit as "field gear" for full-blown Imperial groundwork.

As far as juristiction I believe Imperial Intelligence is not the same as the military. They may have more than one agent in one sector to cover more ground and compare intelligence for confirmation. Intelligence is more independant and self-contained than the military, so you cannot strike the head of the serpent and destroy the beast. We work in cells, private and seclusive. Vixor's post in the Lokian sector with Karthyyk system monitoring thrown in but he also gathers and assesses data coming in from all systems for the sake of confirming intell. Come to Nocturnus and check out the Imperial Comm Center right next to the Medical Center sometime to see Vixor's setup.

I'd love to compare notes on the subject of Imperial Intelligence sometime. Maybe we can really fine-tune this subject and make it somethign more solid in the RP community.

E-bo Obi wrote:I don't consider myself to have a rank. I am working for the Empire, at least partially, for almost a year. And it seems funny how everyone that works for the Empire is an intel operative. (Except of course Tramel and Nyase.)

Now why anyone in intel would wear a uniform outside their official duty station is beyond me. But that gets in to a whole bunch of sae and opsec issues which we neither have the time for nor do I have the desire to teach in a forum. However if anyone wants some intel briefings to be given to them in character, in game, I would be more than willing to setup a workshop. Basically just to get you to start acting like the paranoid little people you should be. =)

I think that would be a fantastic idea!!

The "briefing" scenes in movies are often the most interesting.. they really set the stage.

Even PVP'ers would love this. An RP briefing that preceeds a fight can suddenly add meaning to the upcoming conflict, maybe capture their imagination a little.


To E-bo's other comment.. I think there are different level's of "cover" to an intel agent depending on their role. Grigg's organization may be more on the "muscle" side of things. A true spy would be not have any noticeable imperial connections whatsoever.

Yeah, very true.

I still have not written up my big RP post on Griggs being outed as a super-high level imperial operative mole in the Empire. I look forward to writing it up and seeing where the pieces fall.

Imperial intelligence goes far beyond simple spying. That is only the first step. Agents may fall into one or more cateregories. They may just simply be spies, or as I prefer to call them information collection agents but there are a ew other key members of any good intelligence squad.

You have experts in subversion, or recruitment agents, who will go out and actively pursue the enemy or rival groups personel to work for them. Usually they will target disgruntled soldiers or employees. They can use many resources to recruit them. The people who are recruited are generally your spies because they are already organic to an organization that you seek to gain intel on. The key to making a person work for you is to know what will motivate them. The main reason is greed. Blackmail is also used by the recruitment agents. They will find a moral weakness you have and exploit it to get you on their side. You are unwilling to help them but the alternative may mean embarrassment or worse.

Then there is the death and destruction side of intel. This will include your saboteurs and assassins. These agents goals are to eliminate a precise target in order to cripple you ability to make war or at least slow you down so that their convential forces can regroup and attack a softer target.

And one final piece of the puzzle are the people no one likes. They are the analysts. These people sit and crunch information gathered by the collection and recruiting agents to supply the command elements with a picture of the enemies weaknesses and how to most effectively use your intel assets to gain an advantage.

I had found myself working as the first three cateragories until just recently when communications from my previous employer stopped and several other agents moved into the area I was working. Now I am more of a lost soul looking for work. (not that I don't have side work scheduled)

** edited to say that analysts also acquire most of their data from open source (published information) not just from their spy network.

I've noticed that most of the folks are intelligence or ISB as well. Personally, I like playing Nyase as the ground pounding army Col. However, I beleive every banch has their own forms of intelligence.

Such as army intel and navy intel. One's going to be focused more on one thing than the other. ISB Covers everything I belive. With each service having their own branches intelligence, the ranking system would be the same for them as the rest of the members of their branch. Thus, a Staff Sgt. in the army intelligence would be the same rank as a staff Sgt. in the signal corps. The only real differnce is, one gets treated with a little more suspicion than the other. After all, he's intelligence, and they're always snooping around for something.

The main problem with rank that I've encountered, is that everyone seems to be a Col., or they think they can command troops and make demands at the lowest Non-com level. I've had several Staff Sgts and even lance corprals try to commendere my men and order me to stand down on several differnt occasions.

Another problem is female and alien officers. Everyone knows that the emipre's military was both sexist and a bigot. Adimrals Dala and Thrawn were the exceptions, not the rule. If anyone recalls, Dala was promoted in secret behind the other's back thanks to Tarkin. Even Thrawn's promotion to grand admiral was done in secret.

I've just gotten into the habbit of blantently ignoring all request by female officers and/or questioning their credability. As for none humans, I've pretty much just come up with my own 'Imperial none human brigade' of which all none human military members belong. That way, they can have their rank and what not. Yes, they may be a Colonel, but based off what 'branch' they're in, a human officer will always outrank them.

At anyrate, I'll have to look into it more. I got my wizard of the coast books back in, and they had some good information in them.

yeah, I know you guys tend to ignore me which is fine, I've gotten used to it. My only problem is that some people think that the empire would never hire a non human to work for them. There are many examples of non humans working for the empire. But that is another debate all to its own.

Is rank a visible part of the your character names? How bout all the impies getting together, ignoring what rank the game has given them (since any peon can get high rank with grinding), and just deciding who outranks who? It would make much more sense to me if there were only one or two high ranking officers with the rest falling somewhere underneath. If I had the notoriety and position of Griggs or Tramel I'd try and call a meeting of ALL the imps willing to participate in a server-wide ranking. Not only would it give meaning to earn the assigned rank, making a ceremony out of it would be a spectacle to behold.