Peace is a lie, there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.
Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.
Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.
–From the Sith Code
Saga Edition Core Rulebook, page 105.
An ancient order of Force-users devoted to the dark side and determined to destroy the Jedi, the Sith have existed in many forms throughout the history of the galaxy. The original Sith were a near-Human population on Korriban, subjected and ruled by outcast Dark Jedi several thousand years before the Battle of Yavin. The name “Sith” eventually came to refer to the dark side cult that ruled the Sith people (That is, the “Lords of the Sith”). When the Old Republic discovered the Sith Empire thousands of years later, it lead to the Great Hyperspace War, the first of a long series of conflicts that ravaged the galaxy over the next few millennia. Eventually, the Sith Empire (Now known as the “Old Sith”) was destroyed, and all it left behind were ancient holocrons and the ruined tombs and temples on Korriban, Yavin IV, and a handful of other planets throughout the galaxy.
The current incarnation of the Sith (The “New Sith”) is the result of another Dark Jedi who broke away from the order. Two thousand years before the Battle of Yavin, this Dark Jedi had come to the understanding that the true power of the Force lay not through contemplation and passivity, but by tapping into one’s emotions and the dark side. Renaming himself Darth Ruin, he stole a Sith Holocron from the archives of the Jedi order and began gathering followers to his banner. Awakening beliefs from the dark past, the new Sith cult continued to grow, driven by the promise of new powers attainable by tapping into the hateful energies of the dark side. It was only a matter of time before the order self-destructed. Internecine struggles by power-hungry Sith practitioners dwindled their numbers. Weakened by infighting, the Sith were easily wiped out by the Jedi at the Battle of Ruusan, one thousand years after Darth Ruin founded the order.
However, one Sith had the cunning to survive. Darth Bane resurrected the cult so that there could only be two—no more, no less; a master and an apprentice. Bane adopted cunning, subterfuge, and stealth as the fundamental tenets of the new Sith order. Bane took an apprentice. When that apprentice succeeded him, that new Sith Lord would take an apprentice. Thus, the Sith quietly continued for centuries, until the time of Darth Sidious. With great cunning and treachery, Sidious fomented a galactic civil war within the Republic, seized control of the Galactic Senate, wiped out the Jedi order, and replaced the Old Republic with the Galactic Empire. With Sidious as the Emperor and Darth Vader as his loyal apprentice, the Sith ruled the galaxy and plunged it into darkness. It remained so for decades until a new hope arose to bring Darth Vader back from the dark side and extinguish the menace of the Sith.
The Sith order rises once again in the Legacy era, some 140 years after the Battle of Yavin. The new Sith are led by the enigmatic Darth Krayt and serve as dark side enforcers to the reincarnated Empire. Though the Sith are not as common as the Jedi were during the days of the Old Republic, it is not uncommon to have a Sith apprentice or Sith Lord attached to an important mission or garrison.
Membership: Any character with the Force Sensitivity feat can become a member of the Sith tradition by being accepted as an apprentice by a Sith Lord. During the Rise of the Republic era, there can only be one Sith Lord and one Sith Apprentice. Thus, the only way to join the Sith tradition during this era is to wait (or arrange) for one of the two Sith to die.
Old Republic Era
Knights of the Old Republic, page 144.
The story of the Sith goes back one hundred thousand years, eons before even the rise of the Republic or the Jedi.
The Sith were a people who called the world Korriban home. But around the year 28,000 BBY, the archtypel model of ambition rises to power among them. This inflexible Sith ruler unites his world into a single kingdom, and claims the titles of both monarch and god of his people. History calls him King Adas, but according to legend, the Force destows on him a different name: Sith’ari—the perfect being.
Three thousand years before the founding of the Republic, Adas’s hegemony is invaded by the Rakatan Infinite Empire, an immensly powerful interstellar nation. Here, later Sith would say, they prove their right to rule the galaxy. Outsmarting the technologically superior invaders, Adas conquers the conc=querors, sacrificing his life in the process. With the aliens’ technology, the Sith prosper, colonizing nearby worlds and even banishing a group of pureblooded Sith as far away as Tund. But there is a greater gift the Infinite Empire bequeathed to the Sith—the dark side of the Force.
Eventually, the Sith are again visited by aliens, this time by the Dark Jedi exiled in the Hundred-Year Darkness. These exiles, initially called Jen’jidai in the Sith tounge, easily conquer the reigning Sith overlord, earning their leader Ajunta Pall the new title Jen’ari or “Dark Lord” of the Sith. Though a number of these Sith conquerors follow their leaders back to Republic space for revenge against the Jedi, many stay to interbreed with the Sith by alchemical means. For the next two thousand years, Jedi blood mixes with Sith, breeding out feeble characteristics of each speicies—such as superstition, sympathy, and loyalty—while sharpening desireable qualities such as ambition, cunning, and raw power in the Force. At last, around the year 5,000 BBY, the Sith Empire, led by the Dark Lord Naga Sadow, is ready and invades Republic space.
Because of treason, the Sith campaign fails, and special enforcers called Jedi Shadows zealously eradicate every last vestige of the Sith they find. But in a twist of irony, a few short centuries later, the Jedi Knight Freedon Nadd finds two Sith relics the Shadows missed. Taking instruction from both King Adas’s holocron and Sadow’s disembodied spirit, Nadd becomes a Dark Lord. In turn, he inculcates the JEdi Exar Kun into the Sith creed, consequently bringing the Republic to its knees as Kun’s Brotherhood of the Sith instigates the Greath Sith War.
Kun’s Brotherhood is defeated, and in another blow, the Mecrosa Order, a long-time Sith bastion, overplays its hand in the Tapani Sector and is completely annihilated in the Cleansing of the Nine Houses. Still, the Sith need never fear extinction again. From the seed of Kun’s conversion comes a host of Jedi followers, and after his death, his acolytes scatter throughout the galaxy with the teachings of the Sith ancients.
The Restoration and the Mandalorian Wars (3,995-3,960 BBY)
Though the forces of the Jedi and the Republic manage to throw back the combined forces of the Sith and the Krath during the Great Sith War, many followers of the Sith remain loyal to their ways. As the Republic rebuilds and subsequently engages the Mandalorians in a bloody war of attrition, remnants of the Sith Empire, some on worlds completely unknown to the Republic, continue to practice their dark arts in secret. Though they remain scattered and unable to mount a serious effort to regroup, Sith loyalists, fallen Jedi, and the descendants of powerful leaders in Exar Kun’s Sith Empire await their chance to rebuild the mighty Sith Empire.
The Jedi Civil Wars (3,959-3,956 BBY)
They do not have to wait long, for soon Darth Revan and Darth Malak appear, resurrecting the Sith Empire in a Jedi Civil War. Returning from the Unknown Regions following the Mandalorian Wars, the two Sith Lords engage in a lightning-fast campaign to reestablish the Sith Empire and reclaim conquered worlds. Among the first planets retaken by the Sith is Korriban, which becomes one of the most important locations in the Sith Empire and houses the academy where new Sith leaders are trained. With the Star Forge producing huge amounts of starships, weapons, and vehicles at all times, the Sith are able to resurrect their Empire in a matter of months.
At the height of the Jedi Civil War, the Sith Empire covers nearly one third of the known galaxy, with many worlds hotly contested between the Republic and the Sith Empire. Some worlds join the Sith Empire willingly, while others are taken by force. Dozens if not hundreds of Sith apprentices learn the ways of the dark side of the Force, and a few even rise to the rank of Sith Master, training students of their own. With legions of armored troops spreading throughout the galaxy, all led by masters of the Force, the Sith Empire seems unstoppable.
Betrayal spells the undoing of Revan’s glorious, if short-lived, Sith Empire. At the moment the Jedi capture him, Darth Revan’s own apprentice attempts to seize control, firing on his flagship. Though the Sith Empire continues to grow for some months under the control of the traitorous Darth Malak, eventually the redeemed Revan slays his former apprentice and shatters the backbone of the reborn Sith Empire. The Jedi Civil War comes to an end as the once-unified Sith Empire fragments into dozens of smaller territories.
The Dark Wars (3,955-3,951 BBY)
The Sith Empire crumbles, and within months former Sith Lords have declared themselves the masters of much smaller domains. As the Sith squabble among themselves, fighting over the scraps of the Sith Empire, Darth Sion and Darth Nihilus engage in a campaign to wipe out the Jedi, with great success. Thanks to the foolish ambitions of the Jedi Atris, Nihilus is able to wipe out almost all of the remaining Jedi, leaving only a small handful alive.
The skirmishes between the Sith warlords continue for nearly four years until Darth Sion and Nihilus attempt to reuinite the Sith under a single banner of strong leadership. Any hope for resurrecting the Sith Empire is undone by a lone surviving Jedi, and when the Jedi Order is reborn the Sith fade back into the shadows, not to be seen again in force for many years.
Using the Sith
The Sith have a wide variety of paraphernalia that they use when making war on the Republic. The following pieces of equipment can be commonly found in the Sith arsenal:
Sith Tremor Sword: A Sith tremor sword is a deadly throwback to the blades wielded by the ancient Sith Lords of Ziost. Sith tremor swords are dire vibroblades with the cortosis weave template.
Sith War Sword: The prized weapons of ancient Sith Lords, the Sith war sword is an incredibly sharp blade treated with ancient Sith alchemy to produce a deadly weapon. Sith war swords are war swords with the Sith alchemical weapon template.
Sith Trooper Armor: Designed by the on board computers of the Star Forge and replicated millions of times over, Sith trooper armor is silver multi- piece plating worn over a sealed black body glove, with a helmet incorporating a com link, blast shield, and helmet package. Statistically, it is identical to stormtrooper armor.
One quality that has al lowed the Sith to survive after so many millennia is their ability to adapt. This era in particular presents a gamut of Sith incarnations. The Sith operating at this time fall into the following general categories: imperialists, traditionalists, secret societies, and remnants. Each offers unique gaming opportunities.
Imperialists
The reinvented Sith Empire of Darth Revan and Darth Malak is a massive galaxy-threatening organization on par with the Galactic Empire of the original Star Wars trilogy. This version of the Sith has it all, from huge battleships and starfighters to countless shocktroopers of both the “normal” and Force-using variety. They even have a Death Star-like superweapon, in the form of the Star Forge. Techno logy and military engagements naturally play a major role for these Sith, since a show of overwh elming force is a prized strategy. Nonetheless, this revived Sith Empire has not abandoned its supernatural roots, training an army of acolytes in an academy on the ancient Sith home Korriban.
At the height of its power, the Sith Empire is much like the Republic in that it is highly organized and has the ability to wage an effective war against its enemies. Despite the inherently traitorous nature of the Sith, the Sith Empire’s hierarchy is suprisingly rigid, and has a rank structure that ensures that all war efforts do not suffer from infighting.
At the top of the command structure are the two most prominent Sith Lords, Darth Revan and Darth Malak (though Malak assumes sole control of the Sith Empire after betraying his master). A number of Sith Lords serve under the two most prominent masters, including Darth Bandon. Each being that achieves the full title of Dark Lord of the Sith is given control over some military or civilian assets; many Sith Lords are placed in charge of entire fleets or battalions, while others serve as the rulers of captured worlds. In many respects, the Sith Lords are above and beyond the normal rank structure, and they have the f inal authority over admira ls, commanders, and entire sector governments. In many ways, the Sith Lords are comparable to the Moffs of the Galactic Empire.
The Sith Navy consists of all of the military starships under the control of the Sith Empire. The Sith Navy is further subdivided into fleets, some of which are large enough to patrol an entire sector effectively. Each fleet is under the control of an admiral, like Saul Karath, though these admirals in turn answer to a Sith Lord. Fleets are further subdivided into battle groups, which usually consist of five to ten capital ships and various support craft. The descending order of ranks among the Sith Navy are admiral, vice admiral, commodore, captain, major, and lieutenant. All nonofficer personnel aboard starships in the Sith Navy are Sith troopers or specially assigned crewmembers, such as students from the Sith Academy on Korriban joining a crew for a special assignment.
Though there is no formal Sith army, the ground forces of the Sith are an entity all their own. Used not only in ground warfare but also in the occupation, policing, and pacification of captured worlds, Sith troopers and their officers fall directly under the command of the Sith Lords they serve. While aboard ships of the Sith Navy they are under the command of the captain of the ship they serve on, but once planetside they report either directly to the Sith Lord ruling that planet or to the Sith Lord in command of the military efforts in the region. The highest-ranking Sith officers are commanders, who outrank colonels and lieutenants. Among the Sith troopers, there are truly only two designations: troopers and commandos, though neither truly outranks the other. Lieutenants and colonels in command of squads handle the front-line efforts of Sith trooper squads, reporting up the chain of command to colonels who apprise Sith Lords of ongoing situations and ensure the Sith Lords’ commands are carried out.
Traditionalists
Exar Kun and Ulic Qel-Droma’s Brotherhood of the Sith and the reclusive Sorcerers of Tund are both Sith traditions that rely significantly on the more esoteric and mystical practices of their ancient order. Adventures involving these groups carry a greater “fantasy” flavor, with arcane dark side powers and talismans, Sith swords, and alchemically created monsters at every turn. In contrast to the fa celess empire of Revan and Malak, the Brotherhood of the Sith is represented by a handful of tightly knit dark siders with an egalitarian methodology. The Brotherhood uses technological and military elements, but these are deemphasized in favor of Force powers and Sith talismans.
Secret Societies
The Sith Triumvirate and the Mecrosa Order are two examples of Sith secret societies, similar to the Sith in the Star Wars prequels. The most prevalent tools of this class of Sith are secrecy, deception, and patience. Like a disease, they conquer from the inside and work from the small scale to the grand design. They reveal themselves only after calcul ated planning, in the meantimeusing their resources to quietly dismantle their enemies and sow chaos with precision strikes. The Sith Triumvirate carries out the genocide of the Jedi Order through subterfuge and assassination, but the Mecrosa Order uses its Sith sparingly to intimidate, persuade, and murder key rivals until such time as they can establish their total domination.
Remnants
The Sith fall into diasporas at the immediate conclusion of both the Great Sith War and the Jedi Civil War. These Sith scatter to the cosmic winds, setting up their own petty kingdoms on distant worlds or fighting one another to claim the title of new Dark Lord. Still, even a small-time Sith can be big-time trouble for characters on a mission to eliminate the Sith remnants one dark side follower at a time. These Sith are violent, opportunistic, and protective of whatever power they have been able to consolidate. Some even have dreams of returning the Sith to their former glory, recruiting under the guise of disenchanted and charismatic Jedi Knights.