I wanted to add a bit more history to the Dawn of the Republic universe than what you find in the standard Star Wars setting, for several reasons. First, choosing to run a game in this era implies that the players were more interested in matters historical than players of a classic Star Wars setting, and I wanted to support that desire. Second, this setting draws as much from "epic" as from "pulp" and the former literary style places great emphasis on the grand sweep of history. Third and finally, I am very interested in ancient cultures, and how civilization develops from comparative barbarism; no doubt some of these vaguely academic aspirations have filtered their way into this game.

That said, I should make it clear that the details of history do not matter to a Dawn of the Republic game, only the feeling of history. Even if the players care nothing at all for Alderaan’s temporary withdrawal from the Lightspeed Alliance, they should feel that they are living in portentous and primordial times, in an ancient era that is nonetheless the heir of some unimaginably more distant past. GMs running a Dawn of the Republic game should emphasize this great antiquity by using archetypal images. Mists, broken columns, fallen statues of unfamiliar stones and metals, sarcophagi, the ancient ruins of lost Cyclopean species: invoking these elements calls to mind images of great age.

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