Star Wars Wed.

Star Wars Wednesday - An Obvious Omission

in
About this time back in 2008, I sent a proposal off to Wizards addressing a clear oversight in the Saga Edition rules. Although it was surprising that the fans were not concerned about (or seemingly aware of) the omission, it was obvious to me we needed to include it to make sure that all aspects of the Saga were accurately portrayed within the game. Now, several years later, I dug out my original proposal and realized it was sorely lacking in game balance and explanation, likely due to the revolutionary changes it would have introduced to the game, plus it was early in the Saga Edition design process (for me, anyway). So, I present below, a newly updated version to add to the Force chapter of the Core Rulebook.
Read More

Star Wars Wednesday - DoD 6 Question and Comments

in

A brief trip to the mailbag this week. I've received different versions of the following question from time to time regarding my contribution the the Dawn of Defiance SWRPG Saga campaign, Episode 6: Core of Corruption:

After running DoD 6 a time or two and having distance from the material, are there any extra encounters, skill challenges or errata you've added or would like to add to the module? - Garrett

Read More

Star Wars Wednesday - Humor and Art

in
It's been one of those weeks where an disparate collection of news came to my attention from my inbox, twitter feed, facebook, email and somewhere else I'm likely forgetting at the moment. Anyway, I could split this up into two posts, but really, I'm just going to plunge ahead like a speederbike through the trees.  BETWEEN. BETWEEN the trees.
Read More

Star Wars Wednesday - On the Other Side of the Galaxy

in

Sometimes I wonder just how many people have been involved in creating the vast Star Wars universe we know now. The sheer number of writers, artists, model makers, costume designers, sound editors, CGI artists, game designers, musicians and more is just staggering. Sometime after they move on to other things, we as fans and creators eventually wonder what they're up to now.

Last week, an old RPG name resurfaced in an interview in the first issue of D6 Magazine - Bill Smith

Read More

Star Wars Wendesday - Jedi Jumpbike

in
This past week saw the conclusion of the Clone Wars' "Mortis" trilogy, which I commented on in last week's Adventuring in the Tree post. The final episode was very good, and Knights of the Old Republic fans should definitely check out Filoni's comments on characters originally planned to appear in the episode...and why they ultimately did not. This week I'll do a 180 from the philosophical gaming environment and talk about a new take on some existing tech that caught my attention in the episode - a collapsible speeder bike.
Read More

Star Wars Wednesday - Adventuring in the Tree

in
No, this week's title has nothing to do with Wookiees or Ewoks, unless you want it to. It ties to something Clone Wars Supervising Director Dave Filoni said in the commentary of the Clone Wars episode, Altar of Mortis. For those who haven't seen it, and no spoilers here, the Mortis trilogy delves in to the supernatural side of the Force way more than usual. It's something we've really only seen in the extended universe, and reminds me more of the Knights of the Old Republic era or some of the scenes in the more recent Fate of the Jedi novel series. Anyway, Filoni said to his writer to treat the episodes like they are all within the tree* from Empire Strikes Back, and that they're full of metaphor and, I presume, illusion.
Read More

Star Wars Wednesday - Backyard Hoth

in
So, I'm a few hours early, but here we go. Today was a snowday for most anyone here in the midwest, thanks to the snowmageddon/snowpocolypse/etc/etc/etc dumping massive amounts of snow, closing interstates, and shutting down anywhere people would want to go today. I could go on about how the latest Clone Wars episode is very interesting and I'm looking forward to the how this develops and oh by the way Sam Witwer was in on the epsiode and so forth...but instead, I give you this, from my backyard:
Read More

Star Wars Wednesday - Running Published Epic Length Campaigns

in
Adventuring in the Star Wars universe takes many forms: the one-shot adventure, the homebrew campaign, the convention “classic” adventure, the living-style campaign, and the long term published campaign. Campaign length ranges from a few adventures, to epic length storylines played across dozens of sessions and multiple months or years. Campaigns are plotted well in advance, grow organically out of the choices made by players and gamemaster characters, or more likely, a combination thereof. While these are all great blog subjects, today I’m focusing on the long-term, epic length published campaign.
Read More

Star Wars Wednesday - Clone Wars & Starwars.com

in
This past weekend marked the mid point of Clone Wars season three, and with it the Savage Opress episode trilogy. After seeing the season three trailer and other material at last summer’s Star Wars Celebration, I’ve been looking forward to the new shows. The series has improved steadily through season two and I hope it continues to do so. I have a few comments on the new episode, but I’ll save them until the end of this post as they’ll contain some minor spoilers.
Read More

Star Wars Wednesday - Kershner and TESB

in
This week marks the passing of The Empire Strikes Back director, Irvin Kershner, so I, like so many others, will talk a bit about the movie. I can't speak directly of Kershner, having never met him and only know him like most fans do - as the director of the excellent and successful squeal to Star Wars. But I can relay some thoughts about the movie, as I remember them from long past, and now.
Read More

Star Wars Wednesday - Adapting Adventures

in
Adventures are obviously central to any role-playing game. Creating rules, and characters from those rules, can and should be entertaining and fun, but up until game time, they are simply creating the role for you to play. While many Gamemasters and game designers enjoy the adventure creation process, but it is not for everyone. Some have the desire, but not the time while others may have the desire but feel they lack the skills to create a story appropriate for their campaigns. Note, I don't say they lack the creativity (although they might think so). They might not feel comfortable writing a particular story type, or feel they don't have the rules knowledge to create a level-appropriate encounter.
Read More