AU: WEG Never Loses Star Wars

[MrNexx]

So, this is definitely a speculative post, and there are no wrong answers (except garkh's, because, come on, let's be honest1).

So, imagine, for a moment, WEG never lost the Star Wars license. They had some really good blackmail material on George and used it to get a perpetual exclusive license to tabletop RPGs using Star Wars.

What would the system look like today? What edition do you think it would be in? How much of the game rules would be written by CRMcNeill?


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"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/

[CRMcNeill]

I have to admit that I've seen a certain degree of overlap between several of my own proposals and what WEG published in OpenD6. I can say for certain that the majority of my ideas are either original (to me) or influenced by ideas posted by other members of the fandom over the years, and I only found out that OpenD6 went along parallel lines after-the-fact. Plus, I haven't been privy to discussions on other D6 forums, so I can't say for certain whether or not others have been pursuing similar lines of inquiry.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Raven Redstar]

They become a super monopoly and produce overbloated rulebooks that make your head spin whenever you try to find something specific.

Oddly enough, I'm reminded of a quote:

[pakman]

It would be a blend or their OpenD6 and savage worlds I suspect, at least mechanics wise.

I also suspect they would eventually add in more narrative elements - after all those folks were very creative - and had tons of narrative content - but games had not yet evolved into too many supporting mechanics yet.

They would have had to completely redo force powers and the dark side stuff, to take newer content into account.

We can see their progression by looking at their later games, then some of the other games which came after.

Ironically - I had given this a lot of thought, as my house rules were becoming so massive, that I am pretty much making a new version....
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SW Fan, Gamer, Comic, Corporate nerd.
Working on massive House Rules document - pretty much a new book. Will post soon....

[mshute]

If WEG had a lock on the license, I suspect they would have gotten bought out by someone, probably WOTC. But I'll assume not.

Based on the time spans between the sequels and the prequels, I'd guess we'd be on SW:TRPG 4th Edition. The Core rule book for each new version would be released a month or two before each trilogy to maximize profits. Even non-players would buy up the new core rule books to see what hints could be gleaned before TPM or TFA came out in theaters. And of course they'd have to release movie-specific source books separately from the core rules.

It's been mentioned that Force Powers would be significantly expanded. I'd guess that at some point they become hierarchical—you have to learn to A before you can learn B—similar to the d20 system's Feat trees. There was never anything in the movies to suggest a hierarchy of powers, but it would be a "balancing mechanic.

I think Combat Scales would have been retained through all the version. It would have been expanded to include creatures of different sizes in addition to vehicles.

I'd like to think that the skills, especially the Tech skills, would be streamlined and less specific, at least in one version.

[DougRed4]

Fun topic!

I'd like to think that they'd be at least on a 5th Edition by now. My guess is they would have streamlined things, much the way Wizards did with D&D 5e. Retaining the core system but shooting for a 'best of' version (from all previous incarnations) that is perhaps a bit simplified, but fast-paced and still elegant.
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[TauntaunScout]

We finally get Grenadier/Simtac wampas, dewbacks, a pack of 3 new poses of Hoth rebels (Leia, General Reikan, a new grunt) a pack of 3 snowtroopers in at least 2 new poses, a blister pack of 3 ewoks armed with bows in at least 2 new poses, 4-LOM, mynocks, a new Tusken Raider sculpt (rifle) packaged with the old one in packs of three, a new jawa sculpt packaged with the old one in packs of three. The list goes on and on and on.

[Ray]

I end up writing for WEG's Star Wars D6 instead of Shadowrun.

Or in addition to. I think I like that idea.

[MrNexx]

[Ray]

[MrNexx]

[davidagnome]

Hope: Third edition and streamlining force powers and lightsaber combat and clearer means to handle different eras of play (Old Republic, High Republic, Clone Wars, Galactic Civil War, New Republic, First Order, Legacy). Non-character point Push, Stress mechanics.

Reality: There'd probably be an official 5e variant.

[pakman]

[Ziz]

Minor tangent to this train of thought....

I've been fooling with more "What If" figure set box covers and was wondering what figures they would have put in a Shadows Of The Empire set?

Given would be Xizor, Guri and Dash Rendar. Possibly alternate costume versions of Luke, Leia, Lando. Chewie/Snoova disguise, just like Kenner/Hasbro did with the action figures. That leaves at least three more - suggestions?