What makes Star Wars Star Wars?

[discosoc]

I'm dusting off my old RPG's this year, and we're starting with WEG Star Wars. I have fond memories of playing the system back in high school in the 90's, so definitely excited. Anyway, I'll be running as the GM, and have decided to challenge myself by converting a Pathfinder Adventure Path (Rise of the Runelords) into a Star Wars campaign. I've done most of the leg work, and really feel like the conversion from high fantasy to space opera is going well, despite some early problems.

Scale, for example, is obviously different. In the Pathfinder adventure, you have a central town called Sandpoint with 4 local noble families and a whole bunch of townsfolk, etc.. I essentially just converted the noble families into corporations who have formed some sort of merchantile league in the local system, and where Pathfinder would have an Inn and a blacksmith, I have setup sections on the main city and space station that serve the same purposes. That kind of stuff. Essentially, I focused on converting the core elements of the story and setting rather than try and do a 1:1 conversion of stat blocks and stuff.

I have space battles, pirate boarding parties, conspiracies, a dominant Imperial presence challenged by a underdog Rebel Alliance group, chase scenes, and a large droid-related plot.

The problem is, despite the conversion really working out thematically, it doesn't feel like Star Wars. It feels more like Mass Effect. Now I have some ideas on why that is, some of which are quick fixes, but it got me thinking. What really makes Star Wars what it is, and how is that different from other sci-fi settings? And how do you translate that into a good Star Wars adventure?

At first glance, the biggest reason why I feel like my conversion is more Mass Effect than Star Wars is it lacks any kind of Force presence. It takes place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, so Jedi are still very much at a low point. I purposefully avoided throwing in some token Jedi NPC's so as not to look like some Luke Skywalker ripoff (I'd call him John NounVerber, btw), but I'm reconsidering that decision now.

I think I also make the mistake of setting up Humans as the primary species in the system we're in, but after rewatching the movies I think I need to diversify the cast a lot more. Just because I personally don't enjoy playing aliens doesn't mean they aren't actually important parts of the puzzle.

Anyway, I'll run the conversion as-is since I do like end result (Mass Effect is an awesome settings, IMO), but it has had me thinking about what the 'missing ingredient' possible is.

[JironGhrad]

Wear and tear. By that, in the Star Wars movies, things are VERY worn. If you haven't already, adding extra descriptions of the items and places to help convey that feeling always made things feel more like Star Wars to me.

Another thing worth mentioning, if you haven't checked it out, there's a boxed set out there called the Lords of the Expanse. It has a lot of information focused around nobles in Star Wars. Realizing that you did convert the nobles from Pathfinder into corporations, you might still find some value with info focused on that particular genre. The Corporate Sector Sourcebook also has some good information on running adventures centered around corporations.

[bobenhotep]

In Star Wars you mix primitive things with fantastic technology. People use mounts to get around. They use fantastic tech to build energy swords. Mos Eisley is a spaceport made of adobe buildings with dirt roads. I could go on, but you get the idea. You could have kept the nobles, huts, and stone buildings. The nobles would just have droid servants, mud huts would have lights and some tech, and castles would have landing pads for starships and airspeeders.

The worn out stuff thing is also a big point, like JironGhrad said. Tech has been around for a looong time. Ancient legends are about Xim the Despot, who had starships and war droids and fought aliens. You don't need the Force to be a prominent element in your game. Just remember that tech has been around a long time, things are worn out, and throw in some ancient anachronistic stuff here and there.
_________________
D&D 5e DM and WEG Star Wars GM for two kids who will hopefully carry on with RPGs for years to come

The Chijawa said so, that's why.

[Whill]

[Falconer]

All you see in the original movies are sparsely populated (single-settlement) planets with simple but stark terrain descriptors (desert, jungle, forest, mud, ice, swamp, cloud). Sticking to that sort of setup might help it feel more Star Warsey.

Don’t be ashamed to stick in familiar Star Wars elements like wookiees, R2s and 3POs, x-wings, an aspiring Jedi, stormtroopers. Simple visual cues that ground you in the familiar.

[JironGhrad]

@Whill: Pathfinder is D&D 3.5 for people who don't want to give it up but like new suppliments. Mass Effect is a great series of games on PC/Consoles where there's a mix of ancient tech and the newly involved spacefaring humans. It had a bit of old things but all the human tech/environments were very new/shiny feeling. They had said on a couple of occasions that they pulled some of the feel from Star Wars.

[Whill]

[garhkal]