(OOC) On the topic of your character's Knowledge

[domwhiteley17]

Hi All,

One thing that's always been a topic of intense debate discussion between myself and fellow RPers is what a character can possible know about galactic history. For Example, in the Old Republic era, near enough no-one was aware of the existence of the Rakatan Infinite Empire, so what are the chances that anyone could know about it some 800ABY? Additionally, in the book Bane: Path of Destruction, it mentions that the operation to destroy the Star Force (as seen in the finale of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic), was a top secret operation and only the Republic's highest officials knew of it's occurrence. Therefore how on earth would any character (unless having explicit reasoning to), know about the existence of the Star Force at all.

Here are some other uncertian events that have crossed my mind. I have no doubt that I'm missing dozens, as I'm no lore master.

The Taung originating from Coruscant.
Emperor Vitiate's corruption of Revan and Malak
The existence of Darth Nhillus
The existence of Kreia/Darth Traya
The events in SWTOR: Shadow of Revan

Yeah, I'm only fresh with Old Republic lore at the moment, if you couldn't tell. Anyway, please leave your opinions on this down below, along with any other things that you yourself can't imagine being widely known by characters in our timeline.

 

[Davakin]

I can say with mild certainty that Nihilus has been a matter of cultists for hundreds/thousands of years. That and his armor is entombed on Korriban which is known as the home world of the Sith as well as place to find ancient sith tombs.

 

[Kyrel Ren]

[member="Dom W"]

Hi there.

For me it really depends on records. During the Gulag Plague which was kind of the dark ages of Star Wars that lasted from 400 ABY to 800 ABY. Most of the things that we have learned whether you are a fan of either Canon, Legends, or both is pretty much considered Myth or Legend. But you could always see pieces of the past ICly such as records from certain governments that managed to keep history through that dark time. We see structures such as the ruins of Korriban and Tython or the ruins of the Battle of Jakku. We have ancient Artifacts. It really depends as I am sure now slowly but surely more of the past is being uncovered in the timeline. As there is evidence

For me ICly I have a char that has lived all the way from the Clone Wars but he only knows things as far as some certain records can say and with Kyrel he only has learned as much because the First Order has kept an archive from the time of the Empire. Although he does not know much about the Old Republic. So for me, it all depends on what you could take with a grain of salt ICly through historical texts or holograms or of that sort. But I just like the fact that you don't really know everything and it's always more fun to figure out if it was real or just story.

 

[domwhiteley17]

I can say with mild certainty that Nihilus has been a matter of cultists for hundreds/thousands of years. That and his armor is entombed on Korriban which is known as the home world of the Sith as well as place to find ancient sith tombs.

A friend of mine told me that Nihilus' armor disintegrated upon his death, but I never checked for a source. This was when I played SWTOR, and it was his and I believe some other's reasoning as to why noone could ever have a Nihlius looking mask IC, as few people had ever seen him in the 'flesh' to have a replica made.

 

[domwhiteley17]

[member="Dom W"]

Hi there.

For me it really depends on records. During the Gulag Plague which was kind of the dark ages of Star Wars that lasted from 400 ABY to 800 ABY. Most of the things that we have learned whether you are a fan of either Canon, Legends, or both is pretty much considered Myth or Legend. But you could always see pieces of the past ICly such as records from certain governments that managed to keep history through that dark time. We see structures such as the ruins of Korriban and Tython or the ruins of the Battle of Jakku. We have ancient Artifacts. It really depends as I am sure now slowly but surely more of the past is being uncovered in the timeline. As there is evidence

For me ICly I have a char that has lived all the way from the Clone Wars but he only knows things as far as some certain records can say and with Kyrel he only has learned as much because the First Order has kept an archive from the time of the Empire. Although he does not know much about the Old Republic. So for me, it all depends on what you could take with a grain of salt ICly through historical texts or holograms or of that sort. But I just like the fact that you don't really know everything and it's always more fun to figure out if it was real or just story.

Aye, and that's where I find that this community's timeline is quite genius.

 

[Darth Ophidia]

There are also writers who have made extensive research on (for example) sith of the ancient past a vital part of their character. With as strong a presence of Sith as there is on the board, there will be an accumulation of archaeological evidence to support theories about how X and Y was done. Similarly, there are sites that have withstood the tooth of time, such as The Black Library in the Chiloon Rift, and (until recently) the Great Sith Library on Krayiss II. These were lost in the Gulag Plague, but have since been recovered by IC work.
Further, we have characters who have come from the old republic era through various legends or canon means (such as carbon freezing as a method of preservation) that have old ideas with them.

So, as long as your character has a reason to know that is explained IC, then you can claim knowledge. Without it, you can still work to uncover knowledge (unless banned. See: Gree and Rakatan technology)

 

[Jsc]

Our timeline is a mashup and our characters tend to end up exactly the same way. Which is fine.

My advice? Ignore history and live in the present. You're RPs will actually get better the less fan service you use anyway. It helps curb 'special snowflake' syndrome too.

 

[Ashin Varanin]

[member="Dom W"]

We don't legislate what characters can know, or demand that writers have a clear rationale for knowing specific facts. Hundreds of people have written threads about investigating ancient thing X; maybe they told their friends. Is it kind of gauche when a random character starts spouting off in-depth trivia about secret things that happened thousands of years back, as if it's common knowledge? Sure, but most characters just kind of shrug and say 'that's a nice story, but who can know if it's accurate or reliable after X millennia and a galactic dark age?' Which is also, incidentally, how a lot of people handle the disconnect between Legends and new canon. Hope that helps.

 

[HK-36]

Personally HK is from the KOTOR area and before so he would have a lot of that knowledge, but also I really enjoy the idea of Galaxy going through these Dark Ages during the Gulag Plague and all that knowledge being lost, plus it would be a bit OP if he just knew an answer to everything.

So what I did is say that he may have the knowledge but he just keeps it all to himself instead of doing something useful with it or spreads false retelling of the Galactic history because he's an unreliable narrator

 

[Not Ordo]

I know nothing and so my characters also know nothing.

 

[Cyrus Tregessar]

What was once secret may not always be so, particularly with the passage of time. A document written by a Roman Senator may have contained what were, at the time, state secrets. Perhaps it was copied only a handful of times, to be distributed to regional governors. 150 years later a copy is uncovered in the ruins of a villa by monks. Subsequently recopied and distributed across monasteries, it becomes one of the foremost texts describing the rule of the old Roman Empire. What once were secrets become assumed to be the day-to-day mechanisms of governance.

Are there no records of Nihilius? None at all, not even during his attack on Taris? That seems unlikely. Is there no documentation of Kreia, despite her travels with the Exile across the galaxy? Surely there's video feeds. Does not the player character uncover the truth of what happened to Revan. If all SWTOR classes are assumed to have existed, you mean tot tell me none of them ever spoke of it?

With a handful of exceptions, the data almost certainly exists, and secrets tend to lose their importance with age. Perhaps a research institute in 300 ABY launched a massive investigation into the origin and life of Revan and compiled data. Forty years later maybe some holovid executive thought it'd make a great series of movies. Now everyone knows the Legend of Revan (albeit a watered down barely factual version). Who knows, the truth is it doesn't really matter.

Basically I think leaning towards the feasible makes more sense here than the alternative.

 

[Darth Abyss]

I had something to day about this, but [member="Darth Ophidia"] already said it better. As someone who plays a sith character who has spend more time investigating tombs, reading ancient texts and collecting artifacts then fighting wars, while also training his ability of psychometry till masterhood and beyond I feel somewhat confident granting Abyss a wider degree of in depth knowledge of the past. I think it's handled the same way by any other character with a scholary direction.