Voice Report #5: Shh-Boom Goes The Canon
Hello and welcome to my fifth report as Voice of the Brotherhood. In this report I will cover the following:
- DB Canon article added to the Codex.
- New Species added.
- Voice’s Task Force created.
- Voice Project Status/Updates.
- DB Fiction Chat Highlight.
Codex Update: Defining “DB Canon”
What does DB Canon mean?
If you’re going to take anything out of any of my reports, this is the section you want to read and don’t want to skip.
A lot of questions come up when talking about “Canon”. At least once a day, if you follow any kind of conversation in the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, someone will throw out the term “that isn’t canon” or “it’s canon!”
I’m glad you asked. In an attempt to answer these questions and many more, I’ve created a new entry in the Dark Jedi Brotherhood Codex I’ve titled: Dark Brotherhood Canon. The goal of this article is to detail the official guidelines that govern fictional activity in the Dark Jedi Brotherhood, as established by Grand Master Pravus, and enforced by the Voice of the Brotherhood and Dark Council. It covers the distinction we draw between Legends, New Canon, and where DB Canon comes in.
You can view the new documentation here on the Wiki. I strongly encourage everyone to check it out. Please. The Codex has also been updated to reflect these changes. Slagar and I will be taking a look at the other articles as well going forward to see about updating content and material.
Thank you to the Voice team for helping with its creation, and a big thanks to Korroth who once again took my writing and made it look pretty on the wiki somehow.
The online news outlet io9 also recently published a cool article detailing the things from the old EU that have been reintroduced into new canon. Thank you, Atra, for sharing.
Updates
Evant and his team implemented a huge database drop that goes hand in hand with Rogue One. Regardless of your opinions on the film, this is a perfect example of how the Possessions database was built to expand and adapt as new content becomes available. Possessions ties into the fictional aspects of the club in various ways, so it’s important to keep up with Evant’s reports.
As a general, cursory reminder, anything involving Possessions is under the purview of the Regent. While I do my best to support the system, I have no control over item inventory or aspects. I just sit in the cubicle next door and chime in when something also applies to me ;).
Voice’s Task Force
As I mentioned in my last update, this round of V:Magistrate applications was eye-opening for me. In all my time as a leader in the DB, I’ve never had 11 people apply for an open position under me. While this was great to see, it also made me sad to only be able to pick one. I personally believe that the Brotherhood is always evolving and changing, and change isn’t limited just to tenured positions. I think we’re in a healthy place now with tracking accomplishments, and for anyone that was around for the Character Sheet 2.0 project, you know that I make sure anyone who puts in contributions to the DB on my projects gets recognition for it.
To that end, I’ve pulled (to the best of my abilities) members who expressed interest in helping out and formed what I’m calling the Voice’s “Task Force”. This group is composed of members from all different units across the DB. The goal of this group will be to help the Voice manage the f**kton plethora of projects he’s currently managing and overseeing, and hopefully free him up to write that big fiction update no one everyone is excited to read!
The Task Force is currently working on a few projects for me, such as lending assistance with writing/revising the Writing Studies department in the SA that Farrin has tasked me with. I’m excited to have a team of members that are solely dedicated to building services for the members of the Brotherhood without needing an official position.
At the current time, I don’t feel comfortable adding more cooks to the kitchen, for lack of better phrase, but I promise I will reach out to other applicants or interested members should I see openings.
Remember, if you have ideas or want to run anything by the Voice staff, please don’t hesitate to email us at: [Log in to view e-mail addresses]
New Species: Lasat
I’ve gone ahead and added Lasat to the available pool of Species for use in creating characters within the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Beyond this, I wanted to highlight the process for submitting new Species to the Voice staff. Per the Species Approval Guidelines, members must submit a proposal to the Voice staff for anything to be considered.
With that said, member Sparky submitted a proposal for Lasat the other month. I had been chewing it over, but decided that the species is unique and prominent enough to be a healthy addition to the Character Sheet system. Not only is the member expressing interest in playing the character (you can see his already approved sheet here) but we are also incorporating a Species that has prominent prime-time exposure thanks to the character of Zeb in Star Wars: Rebels.
As I mentioned earlier, adapting to new canon introductions is important. By adding Lasat, I believe we’ve introduced an option that new or younger members joining the club will be encouraged to take advantage of due to the popularity of Rebels as a new canon television show.
You can read more about the new Species here on the Wiki..
Karabast, indeed.
Projects
Between the Voice Staff and my new task force, here is an outline of the projects I’m currently working on.
NPC System
Status: Development.
This is a big one. James has provided an initial plan, but this is something that will require a collaborative effort from multiple DCers/departments. I’ve currently set Atyiru as the lead on the project with James, but coordination with the rest of the Dark Council as well. There are some really cool ideas, and we are mostly on the same page, but a lot of finer details need to be hashed out.
I promise I’m not actually going to make Hamilton character NPCs, but this and this do not help.
Arx
Status: Active Development.
You’ve heard the name come up a few times. It’s been teased here and there, but rest assured it is very real. As many of you know, Arx is replacing Antei, which was blown up in an ancient ritual by the last Grand Master. We will still retain the name “Antei” for both historical and practical purposes.
Morotheri is heading up this project personally and is working off of direct feedback from the Grand Master on achieving his image for the new seat of the Brotherhood’s power.
Writing Studies Revamp
Status: Active Development.
While Farrin is busy fixing (which sometimes means breaking <3) the Shadow Academy in a massive rehaul, I’ve been tasked with updating/fixing up the Writing Studies department. I’ll be re-working almost everything, and tend to go for a ground-up solution. I have a bunch of talented people I trust working with me on this, and the final result will be put through Marcus and Farrin before being finalized. I will share more details on this as they are more readily available. Please note that as a result of recent changes from the Headmaster, Writing Studies courses are being handled by the SA staff, not the Voice staff.
Once the department re-write is finalized, I will assign a Professor to oversee the exams. This means that the Voice staff is involved in the re-writes, but ultimately the exams won’t fall on the staff who have other duties.
More Canon NPC Character Sheets
Status: Active Development.
I’ve delegated a few NPC Character Sheets out to members of my teams. My goal with these are to demonstrate how characters we see in new canon would work or exist in the Brotherhood Character Sheet system. These are not a priority, but are great ways, I feel, to answer common questions like “is Chirrut Imwe a Jedi?”, which we were able to take care of with the creation of his NPC sheet.
Wuntila (part of the Voice Task Force) has created a character sheet for Orson Krennic, the man behind the creation of the Death Star. You get a glimpse of Krennic’s story in the Rogue One film, but learn a lot more in the precursor-novel: Catalyst about what lengths he goes through to create the Death Star. Great work, Wun.
You can see the current roster of NPC Examples from both the Discipline Focus articles and general creation here on the Wiki.
I am currently greenlighting a project that will better look into detailing Canon Character power-levels with the DJB Character Sheet system. More details on that to come.
Quick Reference Guide
Status: Active Development.
I created this originally for the Rogue One Run-On, but really want it to grow and expand and be a resource that helps keep members up to date and tracking on the various personalities, organizations and names that get thrown around in the main storyline and plot for the Dark Jedi Brotherhood.
You can view the site in its current form here, but know that it is currently being worked on and flushed out, along with a landing page that should bring both new and returning members up to speed on the last few years of Brotherhood plotlines.
Companions / Pets
Status: Concept.
This came up in Fiction Chat, so I’ll address it here. Pets/creatures for your character are not covered under Possessions. This came up during the planning and was shelved for future development. Members are free to list pets or creatures, just like NPCs, on their wikipedia pages. There is no immediate plan to implement these.
At the present time, only Droids are supported as a slottable “companion” in Possessions.
Fiction 3.0
Status: I’m working on it.
I’ve talked about this in past reports and updates. It’s coming along. I had to do a lot of research for it, and it will involve more than a few prominent characters in the Brotherhood. This means I’ll also be doing a lot of proofing/revisions with the characters' respective owners to make sure everyone used is represented fairly in the narrative.
So, look for that update Soon™. I’m also simultaneously mapping out and planning the next narrative arc that will lead us into and carry us through the next Great Jedi War.
Character Sheet System Updates
Status: Live
We’ve had a working document over the past year or two with the working project title of “CS 2.5” update. The goal was to address changes to the Character Sheet system based on development from The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Rebels, Rogue One, and other new canon material. This means reworking some of our system mechanics. While not a full overhaul like the CS 2.0 project was, there were still a lot of details to hash out.
I’ll take this as a good time as any to highlight that I’ve moved Character Sheet mechanics and maintenance of documentation into the purview of the Combat Master. I still read and oversee the system, but trust my CM to handle these matters and communicate it with both his ACC Judging staff and the members of the DJB.
See the Combat Master report for full details.
Fiction Chat Shenanigans
DB Fiction chat has now passed 100 members. Unless something drastic changes by the time I publish this, we’re sitting at 101. My head just went to 101 Dalmatians, because puppies. Technically, Disney owns Star Wars, which means...
What was I talking about? Oh, right, DB Fiction chat. As anyone that has joined the Telegram group knows, we try and feature daily questions for the purpose of character development. Recently, I posted a question that mirrored a Twitter trend called #ExplainAMoviePlotBadly. I modified this to be #ExplainACharacterBadly / #ExplainYourCharacterBadly. The idea was to come up with a fun way of trying to describe your character to someone, but while it probably made sense to you, it would actually be confusing to whoever you were trying to explain it.
Here are my favorite responses to the question:
Thank you, K’tana and Zasati, for taking the responses and putting them into colorful tweet-like bubbles. You can see them all (that we were able to pull from the hashtags) in the image here.
[Click here - Log in to view join link] if you’d like to join the DB Fiction chat!
Final Thoughts
Finally, I want to address something that comes up repeatedly, mostly with new members that happen to be tuning in.
James coded the website with a lot of automation (automagic). This means that oftentimes, you will receive automatically generated emails that appear to be sent from a member of the Dark Council. For the Voice, this will make it seem like I am personally sending emails every time your CS is approved or remanded.
While I’d love to claim credit for being that good, these are automated emails. That means that if you want to respond to the email, and address the respective staff in question, you need to use the “Reply All” function. Otherwise, you reply directly to me, and most of these automated messages are sent to my filtered labels that skip my inbox. This means I might not get to see them, and neither will my staff.
So, in short? Please use the “Reply All” feature when responding to automated system messages :).
Useful Links
- Voice Staff Resources Guide - Your one-stop shop for all your fiction needs. You can catch up on past reports and easily find links to Voice Staff policies, guides, and other documentation.
I’d also like to outline again the difference between Reports and Updates. Reports are my larger, monthly news posts that cover everything I can think of. Updates are news posts where I want to share details or a few changes in between the release of a report. If you are an active contributor or take part in the fiction society of the Brotherhood, you should read both reports and updates as they are where I outline and
One More Thing
For anyone that doesn’t know me that well outside of my DB work, I studied Film and Television in college for my bachelors degree. I joke about being an art school kid, but I really did go to film school and have been working in the industry in various roles creating content for the last 10 years. Despite a passion for writing, directing, and editing movies and projects, I never really had the means to cross-over into my favorite sci-fi or fantasy worlds because of budget and logistics.
A few summers ago, I had a chance to have a 2-day shoot where the camera equipment was already paid for. So, I decided to try my hand at a Star Wars themed short story and wanted to (years later after finally completing it) with my Star Wars friends. It is themed, actually, around an introduction for a potential new member joining the Dark Jedi Brotherhood. Here is a quick synopsis:
A mysterious traveler searching for answers finds their way to a remote world in the Outer Rim. With the Jedi and Sith orders whispers of the past, an awakening in the Force has drawn the traveler to this planet in particular. While everything moves as the Force wills it, the traveler knows that they will have to make a choice—one that could shape the very future of the Galaxy.
Check out “Choices” on Vimeo, and make sure “HD” is toggled.
Quick shoutouts to DB members that helped: Atty drew the “map” that is featured as a prop, and Kelviin the Wookie (Alex) helped me with the visual effects for the Force Lightning and glowing crystals.
When I get time, I hope to cut this down into a 15-30 second trailer for the Dark Jedi Brotherhood and try and get it out on the internet to hopefully try and draw in more members to our club.
Let me know what you think, though. Thanks!
I think that’s everything I have for now. A lot of exciting things are coming up.
As usual, if you have any questions, let me know at [Log in to view e-mail addresses], or hit up the staff mailer at: [Log in to view e-mail addresses].
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Fantastic, more support for the Mouse and claims that having the entire past timeline retconned to mere lies doesn't matter.
Killer report! The video was interesting. Voice acting was good, and I like the ending. I think you could definitely shorten this for recruitment purposes. Nice work.
@Tarvitz - Without sounding like a broken record, I'd like to highlight something for you that is included in the article. I literally explained that the past timeline isn't "lies" or "doesn't matter." We're just not counting it as scripture.
I'm sorry that you feel slighted here, but I think this is a very fair and transparent explanation. I honestly am at a loss for how else to explain this.
Great report, Wally! Keep it up!
@Tyris - THAT is supposed to be an improvement somehow? What, that Disney is so creatively bankrupt that they need to pillage ideas from the same universe they killed off, even as the repeatedly crap all over it? How in hell is that any kind of improvement in any way? If anything it just does to show how little effort or planning a bunch of money hungry failures of human beings put into their new setting, rushing forwards, killing off the old one and then deciding that they could just take stuff pieced together by other, better, authors for their new setting when needed. Perhaps if it wanted to kill off all of Star Wars, declare that everything prior to it was non-canon, reducing them to mere myths and falsehoods, it could produce something worthwhile on its own. Quite frankly i'm counting the days until they get desperate enough to claim the entirety of KOTOR is part of "their" setting and was always part of "their" setting as they take a massive all over the EU once again, repeatedly arguing about how it had "too much continuity" or "too many ideas" only to steal them for their own Mouse approved universe.
All that "recategorized" means here is that they have been pinched for the new setting over the old one, now branded with the "Legends" label marking them as falsehoods, myths and outright lies as opposed to their "new" and "true" versions. Oh we can still read them, we can still look at them, but we just have to be reminded over and over again that they're not a universe or timeline in their own right, just a bunch of false stories which never happened and never mattered because Disney said so. After all, Jacen Solo clearly doesn't exist here, nor does Jaina or Anakin, because clearly we have Darth Caedus rip-off 01 in their place. None of the Jedi who made up Luke's resorted Order ever existed because that Order never happened. I, Jedi clearly didn't happen because nothing there matches up at all with this new setting, nor did the Vong War, Legacy, nor did the Rogue Squadron series or anything else, because none of that possibly begins to match up with the new universe. It was all wiped away so Disney could make their new films appear to the buck-toothed failures who simply couldn't be bothered to put in the effort, pick up a book and read it. Because Disney decided they wanted more cash, power and control over their product, and anyone who cared about it should simply go screw themselves.
Someone is no doubt going to bring up the old comic universe argument about how they reboot their settings once in a while, but you know what? At least the comics never go so far as to say "That stuff was all lies and we're starting over". One always leads into the other, always existed and always mattered, leading into the event which actually restarted everything somehow. Every single damn science fiction show with a major reboot has done something similar. Star Trek? A new parallel timeline, with the old one intact. Doctor Who? All the old stories still happened and are often called back to. They didn't feel the need to somehow be ashamed of decades of storytelling ideas or canon. They didn't feel the need to whitewash all of what had come before as something which had just been one massive great lie, and that we should never have cared about them, just giving the middle finger to anyone invested in those stories by saying "Didn't happen, was all lies. Just care about the Disney version instead and give your cash to us."
I am sorry that you feel this way, Tarvitz. Unfortunately, I don't have any control over what Disney does. I just work with the leadership to outline policies and guidelines for our little club. This was the decision our Grand Master made and carries the support of the Dark Council leadership team.
Apologies.
Cool report bro.
I for one am looking forward to the next fiction!
The projects section also addressed a few things I was curious about, yay.
Looking forward to the results of the NPC project! Great report
Love all of it. Thanks for the hard work, team!
@Tyris - Of course it is. because screw all that came before, only Disney and its new fans matter.
@Knight Ka Tarvitz. Thank you for sharing your opinion on this topic. It appears to be an extremely emotional topic for you, but one that is ultimately rooted in opinion. Your view of Disney, your view "bucked-toothed failures", and your view of the Star Wars franchise are opinion.
I made the decision to transition the DB Universe to the Star Wars/Disney Official Canon almost immediately after the "Legends" announcement was made. Wally has codified that decision in our new DB Canon Universe to help members see how that impacts their DJB Characters. DB Canon is a soft-sell on the Disney decision and allows us room to be flexible moving forward in the future.
Unfortunately, our club has to make decisions on what will draw new members. I own and have read nearly every Star Wars Legends Novel over the past several decades. This started with 13 year old Matt reading the Heir to the Empire trilogy in the back of a van on a road trip. I've read just about every single published Star Wars story since then, but that does not impact my decision as the GM of this club. The Movies, the Cartoons, and the Disney endorsed material are the Star Wars Universe moving forward. Ganner Rhysode, Droma, and Darth Accountant (Vectivus) are not going to be remembered by anyone in a few years except for those of us who read/enjoyed the EU. New members are signing up here for Ganner Rhysode.
We will continue to be flexible with our DB Canon, but the decision has been made (and won't change) to adhere to NuCanon.
*Disclaimer: I love Disney.
GM Pravus
^ New members are not signing up for Ganner Rhysode :p
@Pravus - You are honestly arrogant enough to think that no one will care about that in a short time, or that even none of that will matter?
I know at least three co-workers who were more interested in the EU of late thanks to Rebels rapidly devolving into a raging cluster-fuck of cartoonish morality plays, and have been looking more and more into the likes of KOTOR and the Rogue Squadron books than anything Disney produced. I know of another two friends who I introduced to the Tales of the Jedi comics and got them interested after The Force Awakens just left them confused, and to greater success. And you know what else? The reason I am here is because I thought you lot actually gave a damn about the Expanded Universe at first thanks to your history with it, and would have been better than smiling and nodding that somehow killing it off was a vast improvement. Hell, the only reason I did not immediately leave after learning otherwise was in the hope that it would be treated with some degree of respect and thanks to liking the community.
Perhaps, and this is just something which MIGHT sound a little odd, some members might be willing to learn and look into a bigger universe because they want to become a part of it. Not because some abject failure of a human being decided that slashing and burning all that came before, and then pretending that a Disney stamp marked on a repackaged version somehow infinitely improves it all. Perhaps they might even be encouraged to give it a chance, or even consider it worthwhile, if everything in the Fiction Chat wasn't wholly devoted to Disney and the only response to an Expanded Universe subject wasn't "lol non-canon" or some half-baked theory that everything in that universe was worthless because there were one or two bad books amid a lot of good ones. Hell, at least it took the Expanded Universe a while to churn out something truly bad. Disney has managed to do at least as much within one year of taking over the license.
One day, the heat death of the universe will consume everything that comes of everything you know, and you'll have spent your finite amount of time in it complaining about this.
@Rei - At least that would have happened and had some conclusion. Not had someone come along at some random point and apathetically just said "oh, and this was all lies by the way."
Awesome report!! I look forward to all of the new additions and projects you and your team will be working on! Keep it up! All the hard work shows. :)
Just a note, you say "one or two bad books", may I remind you about the NJO series which was based on a shitty idea which made the whole series of what? A dozen books shitty? :P
That being said, there are things I'm happy to see gone from SW canon and there are things I miss. For one I was happy to see Thrawn gone because I never really liked the way he was described in the books, however I do actually like the way he was brought back into canon in Rebels.
In the end though, as long as Boba Fett stays dead I'd say axing the Expanded Universe was a win. :P
@Sadow - Oh yes, let's crap all over a twenty book saga with some of the best character development of the entire Expanded Universe. Let's mock the one which actually presented war as a series of major conflicts, shifting battle lines and differing vast armies rather than a multitude of skirmishes and adventures. Let's insult the one which actually tried to ask "Well, what happens now?" when an entirely new foe emerges, questioned the nature of the Force and tried to give a grand finale to every past storyline leading up to that point. Let's insult that one, ignoring all the good it did, shall we?
I mean, it's not like the Mouse canon hasn't had flaws or taken ideas from it, has it? It's not like it killed off Han Solo purely to promote a major villain in an incredibly cheap ploy, amateurishly milking the drama for all it's worth, and robbing someone of a heroic death. It's not like they've thrown together books about Tarkin botching the character from the outset and writing Darth Vader so poorly he could have been anyone. Or producing Bloodlines, a book with political ploys so transparent you can predict the "twists" multiple chapters before the come into play. It's not like this supposedly brand new, perfect and brilliant setting hasn't introduced mass produced B-wings armed with superlasers, helicopter lightsabers, random nonsensical lightsaber lore which contradicts the very mythos they're trying to set up, and turned Thrawn from a man who could command armies into a Scooby Doo villain chasing one ship the entire time. Oh, i'm sorry, yes, that did all happen didn't it.
Oh, and rather than the Thrawn Trilogy kicking off this new setting, we got a series so poorly penned that the scrawler behind it is a one-man insult to the very profession he claims to be a part of. Top all of that off with Disney doubling down on making Stormtroopers a joke, one-dimensional characters and two films which spent more time robbing from the old universe than setting up anything new, and i'd personally call that franchise a failure in record time.
Great report, Wally!
Well done, Wally!
Great report Wally!
Im also glad to see that people are so spirited in their views about Star Wars. However, perhaps these views would be best broached in an email among the people that could actually make a difference instead of airing it in public first.
The NJO series might have depicted war as a series of major conflicts, but what's the point when you base it all on "oh no, we made the Jedi too strong, let's introduce new aliens who can't be touched by the force because they're from another galaxy, oh and plot twist, they used to have the force but then their planet took it from them or something"? It doesn't even make sense that they're immune to the force, unless it's again all about midichlorians, but that'd mean rocks and blaster shots have midichlorians in them since they can be affected by it.
As for Disney killing off Han, Harrison Ford has wanted out since ESB as far as I know so they just did what he wanted.
As for the new books, I can't really say anything on that, the NJO series made me give up on Star Wars boooks so I haven't touched one since.
Great report Wally :) I'm excited for all the new stuff!
Great report.
@Ka - i understand your feelings and passion for EU as i also didn't like the change, but your comments are really disheartening. Your destructive analysis isn't helping your case, including excessive swearing.
The Brotherhood chosen the path we are under and it's not one to debate, but to be molded to include things from the EU. Hell, i didn't like Rebels at all until the added Thrawn, now i am more interested in what's next.
Just accept the change and work to add the past...
Btw, still waiting on my charrics and clawcraft
Love the new updates, and I really like the addition of the DB Canon article that transparently outlines a policy that's been in place for quite some time now.
@Ka: I think the one thing I'll leave you with is this: It's probably not the best idea to pass judgement on 100% subjective things (like whether or not books and movies are good/bad/the Prequels) as if they're empirically verifiable facts. They simply aren't. It's all in the eye of the beholder where some people will like the new content and some people won't. On top of that, as Brimstone eloquently stated above, attacking people that have different subjective opinions about those things from the ones you hold is probably likely to make people value your opinion less, and not more. Whatever the Dark Brotherhood adopts as it's particular version of canon, we should all strive to make sure it's a place is tolerant of all the differing opinions about what is good or bad about Star Wars. :)
+1 to Selika's post. Whether you love it, hate it, or are somewhere in between, those opinions should be accepted. I'm just thankful that there is a clear policy in place now.
@Malik check out Tarkin and Dark Lords of the Sith books....only ones I liked so far.
Thank you everyone for their opinions! Glad everyone enjoyed the report. :D
\o/ Woot! Another Species and moar awesomeness!!!
Awesome report!! Yay for all the new stuff!! Loved the video :)