This is pulled directly from Wizard's Star Wars RPG site, and will be appearently be placed in the upcoming Galactic Campaign Guide for the same game. It was written by JD Wiker, developer for that line, and is absolutly FANTASTIC if you're looking to inject the mythological story archetype into your games.
Have a read, it is really, really great.
Star Wars is really much, much larger than the majority of its fans understand. If we don't fully grasp the epic proportions of the story itself, our Star Wars Roleplaying Game campaigns will never quite capture the feel of the source material. Fortunately, the problem's easily remedied -- it just takes a little familiarity with the mythic elements behind the original Star Wars.
The Hero's Journey The Star Wars story is built on the monomyth: the classic story of the hero's journey from being a common man, with no part in the grand scheme of things, to becoming the supreme hero, who personally makes the world a better place. This story is as old as mankind, and is reflected in the legends of King Arthur, Gilgamesh, Perseus, and in a more modern example, Luke Skywalker.
The heroic journey is spelled out by Joseph Campbell in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces (the most current printing of which actually features a photo of Luke Skywalker on the cover). Using many examples from many cultures, Campbell identifies the elements of the story:
A common person is introduced in his mundane setting (The Ordinary World), and it is here that the person first discovers that he can make a difference, usually because of some event that challenges him to leave his comfortable surroundings (The Call to Adventure). Frequently, though, the potential hero refuses to participate for some reason (The Reluctant Hero), but is then given an impetus by an outside agent, often someone older, wiser, and more experienced than the hero (The Mentor).
Under the mentor's tutelage, the hero begins exploring the larger world -- the world of heroes, where adventures take place (Crossing the First Threshold). Once there, the hero begins learning how the Heroic World differs from the Ordinary World, and he meets allies and enemies, faces heroic challenges, and in the process, makes a name for himself (Tests, Allies, Enemies).
Once the hero is fully integrated into this new world, he learns his true purpose as a hero -- a challenge far greater than what he has faced so far (Approaching the Inmost Cave). Facing this new challenge, perhaps with a cockiness gained from his early experiences as a hero, he finds himself defeated. The experience is near fatal, and the hero realizes for the first time that he really can die (Supreme Ordeal).
Eventually, however, the hero triumphs -- though possibly at great cost -- and accomplishes his goal (The Reward). The hero is changed by the experience, generally for the better, but still has to deal with the ramifications of having confronted such a powerful challenge. Frequently, the hero returns to the place where he started to seek out a justly earned respite, though he may still be pursued by remnants of the dark forces he faced (The Road Back).
Luke Skywalker's Journey
It's easy to see how the heroic journey ties into the events of A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. Luke Skywalker lives a comfortable existence on Tatooine, but soon learns that he is destined for more. He clings to his life as a moisture farmer, however, and only when his Ordinary World is destroyed (with the death of his aunt and uncle) does he elect to accompany Ben Kenobi (his Mentor) to the world of adventure. He meets allies -- Han Solo, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia -- and faces the nearly insurmountable challenge of destroying the Death Star.
Luke lives comfortably for a while in his role as a successful hero, but then meets a new Mentor, Yoda, who helps Luke hone his heroic abilities and learn his new role in the scheme of things. Yoda literally introduces him to the Inmost Cave -- the place on Dagobah where the dark side of the Force is so strong -- and Luke fails the test. He then faces another version of the Inmost Cave when he faces Darth Vader at Cloud City, and again, he fails.
Luke's heroic journey becomes a bit derailed then, as he spends much of his time trying to undo the consequences of his failure to defeat Vader. But when he finally rescues Han from the crimelord Jabba, he can again return to his Mentor and learn of the Supreme Ordeal that faces him: defeating the Emperor. Luke allows himself to be captured so that he can be brought before the Emperor and face his destiny. With the death of the Emperor and the redemption of Darth Vader, Luke attains the Reward, though as the continuing story of Luke Skywalker (as told in various books and comics) illustrates, his Road Back is still not complete.
Roleplaying the Heroic Journey
Incorporating the monomyth into a Star Wars Roleplaying Game campaign takes a little work, but the rewards are well and truly worth the effort. Traditional "episodic" roleplaying campaigns can and generally do incorporate the kinds of elements featured in the heroic journey campaign, including world-affecting events, recurring villains, and potent rewards. But those elements take on vastly more significance when they're incorporated into the heroic journey, rather than simply used as isolated events.
The players will feel as though their characters are involved in something far, far greater than themselves, and in a positive way -- especially when they triumph over the opposition. As they progress through the various stages of the heroic journey, their adventures will take on greater and greater significance to them. By the time they face their own Supreme Ordeal, it will be an emotional and ultimately gratifying experience for them. Their success will make the Star Wars galaxy a better place.
Laying the Groundwork
Although it's somewhat out of line with the nature of roleplaying campaigns, the heroes should really face the heroic journey only once in their lifetimes. They may revisit various stages as their fortunes rise and fall, but they should never complete the journey more than one time, or the journey's emotional impact will be adversely affected. Of course, the Gamemaster could engineer events so that what seemed like the Supreme Ordeal was actually only the First Threshold. On the other hand, that means that the true Supreme Ordeal will have to be even bigger. This, unfortunately, can lead to an ongoing threat escalation in the campaign, in which every new challenge has to be bigger than the last.
The heroic journey campaign can revolve around a single character, as is customary with the monomyth, or it can treat all of the heroes as a single entity experiencing the same journey from different perspectives. It ultimately depends on whether the players want to create characters who all follow the same basic path or not, as well as how comfortable the Gamemaster is with either approach.
The benefit of the former method is that it allows the players a greater degree of free will. They can do more or less whatever they like, so long as the primary character continues to follow the path set before him. The drawback is that some players may resent playing "second fiddle" to another player's character, though a good GM can still give them plenty of opportunities to shine in their own regard.
The advantage of the latter approach -- treating the entire group as a single hero -- is that all of the characters (and thus, all of the players) are involved, and they progress along the journey at a fairly even rate. The disadvantage, of course, is that it takes a great deal of shepherding to keep the heroes' goals cohesive and focused, so that they don't stray too far from the ultimate goal of the Supreme Ordeal. This is especially difficult when the heroes may not even know about the Supreme Ordeal until they have encountered the Inmost Cave, which is rather late in the journey. They will have had plenty of time to develop other goals, which some characters may personally find more important than the primary goal of the campaign itself.
Thus, before the campaign begins, the GM should determine what the Supreme Ordeal will be, how long it will take to arrive at that point, and when the journey is complete - and, thus, when to stop the campaign (or, at least, to shift the focus to other characters). And, obviously, the GM has to be able to keep the campaign on track, so that the goal, the pacing, and the resolution do not become lost.
Executing the Concept
Once the GM has decided the basics of the heroic journey, there comes the more difficult task of engineering each step of the journey. As with most campaign concepts -- and most movie concepts, as well -- in the early stages, it's only necessary to have the initial gist in order to get rolling. And, fortunately, the description of each stage of the heroic journey provides an excellent springboard for getting the campaign off the ground.
Below, each stage of the heroic journey is discussed in roleplaying terms. These are just basic notes for running a heroic journey campaign, but the examples should help the GM more clearly visualize his or her own campaign execution.
Note that, with the right group and the right story, the campaign can start off already on the road to adventure, and ready to cross the First Threshold. Otherwise, the heroes should always start off at the beginning.
The Ordinary World
This is where the campaign begins. The heroes are ordinary folk, living ordinary lives, with little or no adventure potential inherent in their existences. This is an ideal starting place for 1st-level Star Wars Roleplaying Game characters, or even characters beginning as non-heroic classes, if the GM and the players want to experiment along those lines.
The GM should spend some time trying to make the Ordinary World seem real, introducing the setting, the other characters, and minor, non-heroic conflicts into which they fall. The characters should have an emotional attachment of some kind to the Ordinary World, so that entering the Heroic World is a big step, not treated with a "let's get on with this" attitude. (Imagine if, on discovering that his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had been killed by stormtroopers, Luke had rejoiced, rather than grieved!)
The Ordinary World should also play a continuing role in the heroic journey to provide contrast for the characters after they've entered the Heroic World. Occasionally seeing other characters and situations that remind them of themselves at an earlier stage of the journey provides a poignant reminder that what they're doing is both special and necessary. It reinforces that fate has thrust upon them the role of heroes.
The Call to Adventure
After the Ordinary World is firmly established in the players' minds, a life-altering event should occur. The characters could witness firsthand the work of the dark forces they're destined to oppose. They could become involved with other characters who are off on their own heroic journey (which perhaps the players' characters are destined to complete). Or they could simply receive salvation from their boring lives in the form of a ticket out of the Ordinary World -- perhaps a freighter hiring a new crew or an inheritance with which to equip an adventuring expedition.
The Call to Adventure must be something that irrefutably exhibits a necessity for action of some kind. It must also put the characters in a position where they're the ones best equipped to act, if not the only ones. But without a doubt, heeding the Call to Adventure should have a consequence greater than simply losing their permanent addresses, just as not heeding it has a price. Taking this next step on the heroic journey will transform the characters, changing them into heroes, even if only on a small scale. Once they take up that gauntlet, they're no longer a part of the Ordinary World and can't take shelter in it. Should they try, the Heroic World will come to them -- perhaps with devastating consequences.
The Reluctant Hero
This stage of the heroic journey isn't absolutely necessary, but if the GM has done the job well, the characters will have a hard time deciding to become heroes. At the very least, they'll weigh the benefits of becoming heroes against the disadvantages of losing all that they've built for themselves -- of losing the Ordinary World, perhaps forever.
The Reluctant Hero stage of the journey may occur during the same events of the Call to Adventure. When faced with the choice of acting dynamically or remaining static, the characters may find the choice extremely difficult. After all, don't they have problems of their own? (And they should, if the GM has painted the Ordinary World vividly enough.)
Alternatively, after acting heroically during the Call to Adventure, one or more characters might decide that the Heroic World is much too intimidating and retreat to the safety of the Ordinary World once again. While the GM might try to discourage this -- or let the players resolve the issue themselves by forcing the dissenting character to accompany the rest to adventure -- it isn't strictly necessary for every character to go along. A player can always generate a new character who's already on the heroic journey or one who joins the heroes later on.
(For that matter, it could be an interesting experiment to let the players run the other characters in the Ordinary World -- the ones who'll be left behind when the Call to Adventure comes. This approach could help make the Ordinary World more real and provide more impetus for the Reluctant Hero to refuse the Call. Since the players won't be staying behind, however, the GM could reward particularly persuasive arguments or good roleplaying, perhaps by allowing them to play more seasoned heroes as their regular characters. For example, Uncle Owen is replaced in Luke Skywalker's life by Han Solo, a character who, initially at least, tells Luke that there's no future in adventuring, that taking chances is for fools and dreamers.)
The Reluctant Hero stage is a good place to start with characters who begin the campaign at 3rd or 4th level. Such characters may have had a few small adventures in their background, but most likely haven't really done anything truly epic. They've heard the Call to Adventure, but haven't yet committed to joining the Heroic World.
The Mentor
Despite having left the Ordinary World, the new hero is not yet fully in the Heroic World. He may be only dabbling in adventure, a dilettante hero who knows that the consequences of his actions aren't terribly important because he can always retreat back to the Ordinary World. He needs a good, swift kick in the pants from someone who may have already made the Heroic Journey: a Mentor.
In a roleplaying session, the Mentor is the character who meets the hero and points out that the hero is holding back, not realizing his true potential. The Mentor can provide this knowledge in many ways. He may furnish the hero with equipment, training, or information. He may chide the hero for his past actions or reluctance. The Mentor may even give the hero a sound thrashing to teach him that he still has a long way to go (and could stand to be a bit more humble about it).
Creating a Mentor is generally easy, but getting the hero to listen to him may be another matter. The GM may want to spend some time establishing the Mentor's reputation (as with the spirit of Ben Kenobi appearing on Hoth to tell Luke Skywalker to seek out Yoda) to convince the hero, and more importantly, the player, that it would be wise to heed the Mentor's counsel.
However, the Mentor should not be a dynamic character; he shouldn't save the hero's life or have all the answers. In the latter case, the hero will come to rely too heavily on the Mentor; in the former case, the hero may actually resent being rescued! In any event, the Mentor won't accompany the hero as he completes his journey, so establishing the Mentor as a static figure -- no matter how important he is to the hero's future -- is vital.
In the long run, knowing how best to use the Mentor involves knowing what the players will best respond to: coaxing, goading, advice, disapproval, information, education, equipment, or simply explaining the hero's role in the Heroic World. If multiple heroes are involved, the task might be a bit more difficult, and the GM might have to employ several different approaches to keep everyone on the same page.
Note, however, that some players won't need the Mentor at all. They may have already fully embraced their role in the greater events, or they may be content to follow along with the other heroes. Knowing how to use the Mentor character includes knowing when not to use him.
Crossing the First Threshold
The Mentor's intervention prepares the hero for entering the Heroic World, which means fully committing to the life of adventure and accepting his destiny. The hero has to recognize the consequences of his role and to agree to play by the rules of the Heroic World.
This stage is more of a symbolic one. It represents the hero's awareness that ordinary resolutions to life's problems are no longer available to him - that he must take a more active role in the world. His challenges will be larger than life, and he must deal with them in kind. Gone are the days of appealing to the authorities or letting others resolve crises. The hero agrees to be bold, decisive, and swift; he takes control of his life.
Agreeing to these rules is what distinguishes a heroic campaign from a more mundane one, the Ordinary World from the Heroic World. The hero perceives a righteous goal and pursues it dynamically with courage, honor, and conviction. He chooses his battles carefully, and when they come, he doesn't let others fight for him. If he resorts to subterfuge, it is to accomplish his goals, not to avoid them. And he casts aside petty solutions in favor of class and style.
When characters start at middling levels - for example, 6th, 7th, or 8th level -- it is often best to discuss these rules with the players and play as though the heroes had already reached this stage.
Tests, Allies, Enemies
The Heroic World has its own set of rules, and although the hero has already agreed to play by them, he doesn't yet know what they are. At this stage, the hero finds out.
Traditionally, the hero meets his allies at this stage, but in most roleplaying campaigns, the allies will be the other heroes -- the characters who've been there all along. However, there's still room for outside aid: additional firepower, expert advice, sympathetic characters, guidance, support, and even the occasional helping hand. These characters have to remain largely static, however, since, like the Mentor, they can't solve the heroes' problems for them. They appear only to provide things the heroes can't provide for themselves. In Star Wars, Wedge Antilles is such a character (at least until the Rogue Squadron books), as are the droids R2-D2 and C3PO. They don't define the action so much as render aid to those who do.
The heroes' enemies make their presence known at this stage, too. Though they may have appeared previously (perhaps during the Call to Adventure), here they muster more determined antagonism. After all, when they first met the heroes, the heroes were still part of the Ordinary World, and not much of a threat. Now, the villains take the heroes much more seriously, and may call in additional help or use their best weapons. Here also, the heroes may be introduced to their ultimate nemeses -- the recurring villains who will dog their steps along the Heroic Journey. Finally vanquishing these foes will be part of the Supreme Ordeal, when the time comes, and a good GM can use this stage to establish the villainy of these enemies. This will make the eventual victory over them that much more sweet.
Obviously, not all of the heroes' tests will be against intelligent agents. The heroes will face a number of challenges in the form of traps, puzzles, contests, obstacles, and the occasional mindless beast, and triumphing over them should add to the heroes' reputations. In the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, the GM should take this literally in the context of the rules: Success in these various tests should add to the heroes' reputation scores.
The Tests, Allies, and Enemies stage of the Heroic Journey can last as long as the GM desires. The heroes can even revisit it a time or two before reaching the Supreme Ordeal. The purpose of this stage is to hone the heroes' skills for the time when they face their ultimate challenge, so the GM should carefully gauge how long they need to accomplish that goal, without letting them become too confident of their abilities.
Approach to the Inmost Cave
Eventually, the heroes' path leads them to the Supreme Ordeal. However, in the monomyth, the heroes can't simply choose to battle it wherever they like. They must enter into the place where their opposition is strongest, defeat or circumvent all of the enemy's defenses, and finally, face the greatest challenge of their lives.
This stage is both real and symbolic. It is here that the heroes must discard the fallacy of their own immortality as they put themselves in harm's way in order to complete their quest. The GM has to time this stage carefully and plan it even more carefully, since it's often the most dangerous time of the campaign (short of the Supreme Ordeal itself). Careless actions on the part of the heroes can kill some or even all of them, so the GM must be sure they've had enough time to prepare for this level of challenge.
Further, the GM must allow for the possible failure of the heroes, either by giving them a way out, or by establishing less than fatal consequences. The heroes could merely be captured, for example, and taken directly into the presence of their ultimate enemy, thus jump-starting the Supreme Ordeal. Or they could be driven back before they even come close, hopefully learning the lesson that they're not yet ready, or that they'll need to be more circumspect in their approach.
How the heroes fare at the Approach to the Inmost Cave will affect how the Supreme Ordeal plays out, so the GM will have to plan for a variety of situations. At the very least, the GM will have to ensure that if the heroes lose some key element that would have ensured their victory, they have a way of getting it back. For example, in Return of the Jedi, Luke Skywalker's lightsaber is taken away when he's captured by the Imperials on Endor, but the overconfident Emperor not only leaves it within Luke's easy reach, he also taunts him into taking it up.
Supreme Ordeal
The Supreme Ordeal is the moment the campaign has been leading up to. The heroes have learned all they can, gathered their strength, honed their skills, and armed themselves as best they can, all to face this one last challenge. This will be the ultimate test of their abilities, and some of them may not survive.
In the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, this should be the climax of the campaign, and everything the heroes have done so far should have been leading up to this moment. By now, the GM should have tied up most of the loose threads of the campaign's plot, bringing back old enemies a final time and weaving longtime allies into the story once again. All that remains is for the heroes to pit themselves against their arch-foe -- whether it be a fight to the death, a battle of wills, a test of resolve, or something more akin to a galactic chess match.
The nature of the encounter should have been determined by the GM from the very start, before the heroes took their first step, but the conclusion should not be so clear. The heroes truly should wonder whether or not they're going to survive, and the GM should intervene to alter their fates only if they meet with incredible misfortune. The heroes -- and by extension, the players -- have been looking forward to this encounter for a long time, and even a Pyrrhic victory will be more satisfying than being rescued by outside agents or "random" coincidence. The GM should be prepared with some contingencies (in case the heroes lose badly) but otherwise let events take their course. The heroes can always take time to heal later.
The Reward
With the Supreme Ordeal over, and at least some of the heroes having survived, the time comes to claim the Reward. This is what the heroes have been fighting for all along, and it can be a physical prize or an intangible ideal (such as, in Star Wars, freedom from tyranny and the redemption of Luke Skywalker's father). The GM should have set the nature of the prize very early and made its worth evident to the heroes so that they always knew what they were after - and why.
For a campaign to be truly epic, the Reward should be something that has value both to the heroes and to the Ordinary World they came from. Claiming it should be cause for celebration, and it should change the galaxy for the better. It should also change the heroes, giving them insight, peace, justice, or riches, or, at the very least, increasing their reputations.
The Road Back
The coda to the entire Heroic Journey is the long walk back. After the celebrations are over and the dust has finally settled, the heroes have to make new lives for themselves. They can no longer define themselves in the Heroic World, because they've done their part. They're destined once again for the Ordinary World, though they should have a new appreciation for it now.
Of course, even though they're no longer the focus of the Heroic World, some of it will follow them back - including whatever enemies survived the Supreme Ordeal. These villains will hound the heroes until they have satisfaction, even if it simply means reaching a kind of accord with their erstwhile foes.
The Road Back is a necessary stage to the Heroic Journey because it gives the heroes an opportunity to demonstrate how their experiences have changed them. Do they confront and defeat their old foes? Or do they realize that neither they nor their enemies have a reason to fight any longer? Will they become the Mentors for the heroes their old enemies might one day become?
Whatever the outcome of these final encounters with their old sparring partners, the heroes should achieve a kind of closure on the Road Back. This is their chance to look back on their life in the Heroic World and know that they have made a difference - which is, after all, what being a hero is all about.
