I will give you some bare details without giving things away.
I've determined that this will be a semi-bootstrap campaign: the players start at the bottom and fight their way up. The other half of the campaign is that these guys end up blowing up the Death Star, in a metaphorical sense -- that's the part that's been determined for me metaphorically. In other words, they are Big Damn Heroes but they start from modest means.
Since this is a written adventure, I don't know the players, and this isn't necessarily a 'con game.
Thanks for that.
And I've got... nothing.
I wrote several articles years ago in White Wolf's Inphobia Magazine talking about how published RPG adventures were kind of a sand trap. Since the author did not know what interested the Players, there was no way to properly construct something that would, in fact, lead to any particular climax.
The best that could happen would be the Referee, either through strong clues or implied threat (or direct threat, I guess), egging the Players along the the proper path to follow.
All of this was never that fun for me -- as a Player or as a Referee.
I used to write RPG stuff for game companies back in the day, so I had a lot of time to think about the how best to write these things. I reached a point where I just didn't trust them, and ended up writing those articles. (The Interactive Toolkit, they were called. I stand by the first three. The last one got wobbly.)
These days I offer situations to the Players, full of opportunity and risk, and toe them decide what they'll do, what they're interested in, and the course of the adventure. There is no plot to speak of, and certainly no climax to head for.
Of note: Many early Classic
Traveller adventures were very much in this tradition. The Referee was given a situation to Referee, and the Players decided what to do with it. Even rolling for Patrons suggests that the Players could have their Characters take jobs -- or not. And that, pretty much on the fly, the Referee would be building the scenario as he went.
For example, if one strips out the hex crawl element of Across the Bright Face, and goes straight up "Here's the situation, go..." it could provide several sessions worth of play that the PCs can make decisions about. (They might choose to back the miners, for all I know.) And then that spins off into an entire campaign as the PCs were in the middle of a conflict that has subsector wide implications. NPCs on either side might want to recruit them, or reward them, or hire them for further work, and more. That one conflict might spill into a subsector wide trade war and then hot war, for all I know.
The deepening and investment for the Players comes over time, as I watch what they are interested in and build those elements, themes, and NCPs up. This doubles down their investment, and that's when the stakes get really high... because now they know what they want their characters to care about, about I know too.
This isn't to say what you want to do can't be done. Certainly RPG publishers made material like this starting in the 80s. I just don't know how one can force it... without, you know,
forcing it. As others have noted on this thread, that can get awkward.
The only thing I can think of is this:
Foretold the loyalties. Be really clear that everyone will have an NPCs or homeland or
something that they care about. Assign them like stats. Make a list for the Players to choose from, making it clear this is a core part of what their PCs CARE about. (It can't just be a job, because if a job becomes too dangerous or preposterous, quitting is always a reasonable option.)
If it is a list with enough options, that means the Players get to invest in what they are going to have their PCs care about. And this point is, I think, where a lot of these kinds of scenarios fall apart: they expect the Players should just go along for the ride without having a voice in what matters to them.
A list at the beginning to choose from at least make them actual participants in the beginning of the situation, and can draw them in and keep them invested as the adventure builds to a climax if those elements are crafted into the climax as well.
But that's the best I got. Because honestly, think this is really difficult stuff.