Table of Contents

Introduction
Character Sheet Changes

• Species
  
• Force Powers and Skills
  
• Feats
  
• Custom Disciplines
  
• Character Quality of Life
  

Major Policy Changes
Plot Updates
Looking Forward

Introduction

A little over six years ago, I was given the opportunity to step into my dream job, one I had been wanting since its inception (I am old). It is really difficult for me to grasp how long six years is, the time has both flown by and been incredibly slow. Life for everyone has gone through major changes, and this club has had its fair share, too. The opportunity and trust to oversee the fictional aspects of this club has been one of the most meaningful and rewarding experiences of my many years as a member here.

I am profoundly grateful for the confidence placed in me by the leadership and membership of this club during these years. With a fair share of ups and downs, well-received and not, every single decision, revision, tweak, growth, and refinement undertaken during these six years has been with the goal of empowering creativity and expanding member options. I hope the work that I, and the many other members of the Voice staff, have done over this time has been a net positive one for each and every one of you. I hope that this brilliant system we have is now even more flexible, enjoyable, and sustainable for all storytellers in this club.

Of course, part of every story is its end, as is my time in this role. There are still many projects I’d love to have seen to completion, many stories I’d love to tell, this chapter of my career is ending, and the next begins.

Here’s a look back at what has been accomplished over the last six years.

Character Sheet (CS) Changes

Species

As the backbone of our fictional sandbox, the Character Sheet system is one of the most important things Voice oversees. Many people have put innumerable hours into the system to get it to where it is today. The incredible framework established by the prior Voices and their staff laid the foundation for many changes over these last six years, as we were able to focus on refining and expanding it.

One of the most visible sets of changes came to our species selection. In addition to adding 24 new species to the selector, there were numerous policy changes that have really opened up options for everyone. We retired the ‘Grandfathered’ species policy, and now allow any member to choose any species that is available in the system. We also retired the ‘Canon Species’ policy, allowing species seen only in Legends (or with more details only seen in Legends content) to be added. The ‘Humanoid’ rule was also retired, allowing species such as the Hutts and Hartch to be added. Our system now offers a total of 87 selectable species options.

Added: Besalisk, Cragmoloid, Dowutin, Dug, Evereni, Feeorin, Firrerreo, Fosh, Gamorrean, Harch, Herglic, Hutt, Kessurian, Kushiban, Kyuzo, Lepi, Lonto, Lurmen, Nagai, Selonian, Shani, Skakoan, Thisspiasian, and Ugnaught

Species were also simplified a bit by removing the species feats. While the species feats were incredibly useful and an interesting way to emphasize species traits, the evolving nature of the SW canon and the species we see made staying on top of them impractical. Additionally, there was frequent confusion about whether a species could do something seen in SW, even if it was not present as a feat in our system.

Finally, there were multiple revisions to the hybrid-species policy before settling on the current state of only ‘near-humans’.

Force Powers and Skills

The Force Power and Skill system saw continual upgrades over the years. Many were revised (sometimes more than once) in the pursuit of clearer definitions, reduced overlap, and improved balance.

Major changes were made to the Lightsaber and Martial Arts Forms, as each was consolidated from two skills to 1, granting general skill level knowledge of any form, while still allowing the specific preferences to be indicated on the character sheet. The Lightsaber skill was further refined by allowing non-Force users to take it and indicate their own knowledge of different forms. The iconic techniques of things such as blaster bolt reflection, Dun Moch, and Sokan all remain exclusive to Force-sensitive characters.

A number of other skills were reworked to better define their purpose and reduce overlap. This process will probably continue for years to come as new questions and design philosophies are examined.

Clarified: Battle Meditation, Survival, Suppression, Telekinesis, and Telepathy.

Modified: Pilot (S) and Pilot (L) were redefined into Piloting and Operations; Blackness was renamed Darkness; Subterfuge and Manipulation were merged into Deception; Empathy and Diplomacy became Charm; Interrogation was folded into Intimidation; and Sneak was separated into its own distinct skill.

Force powers expanded significantly during this period, including the introduction of nine Nightsister-inspired abilities and the disciplines designed to support them.

Added Force Powers: Gravitation, Ichor, Item Conjuring, Necromancy, Possession, Pyrokinesis, Teleportation, Transformation, and Weather Control

Added Disciplines: Night Warrior and Night Witch.

Resolve, which had long served as a catch-all counter, was one of the more challenging skills to address. It was updated so that Perception and Intellect could now act as counters in appropriate situations, rather than Resolve being the sole answer to nearly everything.

In recognition of the Force as an energy that binds all living things, all characters were granted Force Sensitivity Points. This change allows every character, even those without formal Force training, to unlock up to six points that may be invested into Force powers, reinforcing thematic cohesion without undermining archetypes.

Feats

One of the biggest projects was the expansion of our feats system. This absolutely awesome system grew in size and format. We’ve doubled the amount of selectable feats in the system. All feats were brought into a standardized format, specifically regarding when something was a new ability vs a situational skill point increase. All Force powers and Skills now have at least one feat associated with them.

Custom Disciplines

One of the ‘end-game’ components of our system was one I had been working on since day one of getting Voice, Custom Disciplines. High-level Equite rank members and above can now personalize and create their own discipline by selecting from a curated pool of discipline feats. This pool includes 19 unique discipline feats that are only accessible via the custom discipline system. 90 custom disciplines have been created since this system launched. Two additional selectable disciplines were also added for everyone to select.

Added Disciplines: Night Warrior and Night Witch.

Character Quality of Life

Mainly thanks to the hard work of James, there have been quite a few quality-of-life improvements and character customization options added. Available gender options were expanded to be more inclusive, alongside personal pronoun separation between the member and their characters.

Character Traditions and Honorifics have been added, expanded, and at long last are available to be customized on each individual character you may have. In collaboration with the Regent, cybernetic slots were removed from loadouts and can now be represented completely in a character's physical description. Physical description requirements were loosened slightly to allow the absence of “distinguishing marks” to indicate a character has none, instead of requiring it to be directly stated in the description that they don’t.

Major Policy Changes

Policy changes have been created and improved during the last six years, all part of an effort to keep things in line with how the club has evolved and grown.

One of the biggest ones was the standardization of the fiction scoring sheet. This was previously divided into multiple sheets, specialized for what type of fiction it was being used on (Normal fiction, ACC, Run-ons). These were unified into a single cohesive scoring framework and refined to work on a 1-5 scoring scale, allowing for some more detailed scoring and meaningful feedback.

Competitions themselves had some recategorization. Poetry was removed from the main fiction archetype, better reflecting its distinct creative structure, and allowing mainline fiction to focus on narrative-driven works. The ‘run-on’ format was removed by rolling it into the Role-Playing system we have, allowing members to leverage Discord bot services and manage multi-author participation with ease.

Finally, a standardized formatting policy was introduced for all fiction competitions. This reduced ambiguity for entrants, improved consistency across submissions, and made entries easier for judges to evaluate fairly. Collectively, these policy changes brought long-term clarity, consistency, and sustainability to the fiction competition ecosystem.

Plot Updates

Substantial progress was also made on the narrative and worldbuilding front. Two entirely new full factions (the Tenixir Revenants and the Children of Mortis) were introduced, each adding distinct themes, philosophies, and long-term storytelling potential. Existing factions were continuously updated and refined as the overarching plot advanced, ensuring that the setting remained responsive to player-driven stories.

As part of this evolution, the Dark Brotherhood was redefined and streamlined into simply the Brotherhood. This change intentionally softened the edgier elements of the faction’s presentation, making it easier for characters of varied alignments and motivations to coexist within it plausibly.

The scope of official fiction also expanded dramatically. To date, 40 chapters have been released, with two additional chapters planned before the end of the current season. In total, this body of work now approaches 300 pages of fiction, comprising approximately 90,000 words.

Looking Forward

While I am a little sad to be ending my time as Voice, I am incredibly excited for my adventure here to evolve. I want to thank Atra for the faith he is placing in me by selecting me to be his Deputy. As I step aside from Voice, I want to thank everyone who has been a part of this crazy ride the last six years. Thank you all so much for your faith, support, and willingness to keep using our systems for your own enjoyment. I hope my actions have improved it for all of you. To my wonderful staff, thank you for putting up with me and helping make all these changes a reality.

Of course, as Deputy Grand Master, I will still be involved all around the club. I will also continue to work heavily in the club’s story group, and you can expect that I will be giving some club plot updates with this last cycle of Season 1.

To the next Voice, whomever you end up being, I cannot wait to work with you and see what incredible things you bring to the table. I hope you find the job as fulfilling and enjoyable as I have. This job comes with a lot of pressure, but with it comes a lot of opportunities and a lot of fun. Take it and make it your own.

Thank you to everyone who wrote, questioned, challenged, supported, and believed in this vision along the way. The passion of everyone helps drive this club forward. It has truly been an honor to serve, and I look forward to experiencing what comes next in this crazy little home of ours.

Important Links

• C-D4WG
• Fiction Archive
  
• Fiction Resources
  
• Fiction Center
  
• Fiction Rubric 3.0
  
• Character Notes Template
• Voice Feedback Form
  
• [Log in to view e-mail addresses]