I knew this past week would have some news about upcoming Star Wars stories and releases, but I didn't anticipate how much: RPG, new and old TV series, interviews, sneak peeks and a Blu-Ray release. Some are related. First, though, here's the latest on the RPG...
Star Wars Insider 145 Nov/Dec 2013 includes a nice write up on my adventure, Beyond the Rim. This issue features the second of Bryan Young's articles on the influence of RPGs on the Expanded Universe. This one covers West End Games and Wizards, with comments from several authors. The cover art of several of my Saga Edition books illustrate the article. This issue of the Insider is packed with all kinds of articles, including a short story and behind the scenes features. It is well worth picking up.
The Star Wars Age of Rebellion RPG Beta Update #1 is now available from FFG. Players can submit feedback on the FFG forums.
The Star Wars Edge of the Empire RPG Core Rulebook FAQ & Eratta is also available. It is brief - only 3 pages. I'm happy to say they responded to a comment or two of mine in there. Some of the errata also appears and applies to the Age of Rebellion Beta Update.
Also, The Sabacc Table podcast from Forcecast interviewed Jay Little about the RPG, and a bit about X-wing. The podcast has episodes covering Edge of the Empire, an interview with Steve Horvath, and more.
New York Comic Con featured a Star Wars Rebels panel hosted by Pablo Hidalgo, who revealed a lot of new information about the upcoming series. Below is a list of sites with interviews and galleries of the art. There's a lot to like, though I find it amusing they're using the old Imperial Troop Transport Kenner toy into an actual vehicle in the show. It was easily one of my favorite toy vehicles, not the least because of the built-in sound effects. Here's the video the showed at the panel. It's the first of many Dave Filoni appearances this week:
The inquisitor is such a long time RPG staple bad guy/Darth Vader stand-in, it will be interesting to see its interpretation in the show. I think that Age of Rebellion players will find a lot of inspiration here.
More info:
- Starwars.com post, including the above video.
- Rebel Scum's panel report, with lots of details, or skip straight to the gallery.
- LA Times interview with Dave Filoni.
IGN has a very long Filoni interview that covers both Rebels and The Clone Wars. It includes a bunch of video clips, including some from the forthcoming bonus releases for The Clone Wars. FYI, there are some spoilers in there, especially the videos.
So, speaking of the The Clone Wars, this week features the release of the season 5 blu-ray set. Season 5 was the most dramatic of the series, and the HD versions are phenomenally better than the average broadcast, at least for those of us not shelling out for HD service yet. I'm sure I'll be picking up my copy soon, so my wife will be relieved that she will finally be able to delete the series from the DVR. I was glad I saved them....
Spoiler Alert! Seriously, skip this one if you haven't seen season 5 and plan to watch the series. USA Today has a clip of an anamatic (simple animations for blocking out a scene) for an alternate version of the last episode's last scene.
Here's another Filoni interview, this time at starwars.com, just about The Clone Wars.
It was quite a week....