In their place stands an endless bureaucracy and the hardened New Order of the Galactic Empire. Fear now keeps whole systems in line; not the justice that once thrived in the Old Republic, under the old guard. In this new galaxy, a distant and irrelevant Emperor rules only in name over the great and greedy colossus which spreads out across millions of worlds, crushing all that might stand in its path, with the strength of awesome military power.

A Dark Time stands apart from A New Hope, particularly in the sense that the galaxy has become a truly oppressive place, and the hope suggested in the latter does not exist in this galaxy.

The first sparks of rebellion have begun to flash across several cruelly oppressed worlds, but they are not yet a fire; nor significant enough to seriously challenge the might of the Galactic Empire. The spectre of Darth Vader, the ancient warlord and veteran of the Clone Wars a generation past, looms large across whole sectors of space like a giant shadow, ever vigilant against dissent.

Yet all is not as it seems.

What Is A dark Time?

A Dark Time is a setting for Fantasy Flight Games' outstanding Edge of the Empire role-playing game, set in something akin to an alternate timeline. The basic premise involves a simple fact: Luke Skywalker is dead, along with his aunt and uncle on Tatooine. So what does this galaxy look like?

It stands as an alternate Star Wars universe, one where the vicissitudes of politics play a more discernible role, where danger and darkness lurk everywhere. The origins of this galaxy started long before the Imperial attack on the Lars' Homestead, but the fundamental idea is that, in this place, the Galactic Empire is dominant, and the forces arrayed against it may well be rendered utterly futile, whatever shape they take.

Acknowledgements

This website makes extensive use of intellectual and artistic property owned by Lucas Books, Disney, and Fantasy Flight Games.

Permission to use this property has not been authorised, but no material benefit is gained from A Dark Time, and its intention is for informational and educational purposes only.

“They were in the wrong place at the wrong time. Naturally they became heroes.”

Leia Organa of Alderaan, Senator