The Plotline
The setting can best fit into the space opera category. The themes involve large scale military operations as the Terran Overlord Government (TOG for short) tries to completely conquer the Milky Way Galaxy. Many alien races are involved, and plots usually use trends such as royal bloodlines, betrayal, and little room for a peaceful solution.
The back story to the setting has the human race exploring and colonizing many worlds in the galaxy, and coming into contact with several important alien races. After the Snow Plague that weakens most of the human race, Earth is invaded and conquered by the Kess Rith, a reptilian alien race that can best be described as half iguana and half centaur.
Later the humans on Earth successfully rebel and drive off the Kess Rith by emulating the ancient Roman civilization. Over the span of centuries of time this new human movement, which started out as only a noble liberation of Earth and humans turns into a military dictatorship after a terrorist bomb kills most of the senate. The new government is then lead by a Ceaser (dictator for life), and appoints a number of personal representatives called Overlords who wield nearly unlimited legal power. It is at this time that a significant portion of the TOG military defects to the Commonwealth. TOG becomes increasingly militant, engages in bloodsports, legalizes slavery, and reduces women to property of their father or husband in order to remove their right to vote. After defeating the Kess Rith, the new Terran Overlord Government continues their military conquest and attacks other nations who were neutral during their time spent under Kess Rith rule.
The Commonwealth is based primarily on old Earth culture of Britain. While still maintaining its own royal family, is far more democratic than the TOG, accepts women and aliens as equals, and even includes refugees from both the former Kess Rith empire, exiled or disgusted TOG military legions, and large numbers of TOG women who defect to the Commonwealth. Those women often join all female Commonwealth units called Minerva legions. It is from these rogue TOG units the setting derives the name of Renegade Legion as they form half of the professional army of the Commonwealth. Their symbol continues to include the original TOG symbol of the planet Earth on a inverted pyramid background, however a hastily painted letter "R" made of four straight brush strokes in red paint is used to deface that original TOG symbol.
During a panel at RedCon95, FASA President Sam Lewis stated that the Renegade Legion series of games were originally designed for use with the Star Wars license. Since the license was awarded to West End Games, FASA chose to use the systems with their own setting.
The Renegade Legion series was made up of five board games, a role-playing game, a war game, two computer games, with another board game and computer game announced but never published. With the exception of one of the board games and the two computer games, the Renegade Legion series was compatible on all levels.
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