My SW 1E Game: Setting and Canon

[Zulgyan]

These considerations about the setting and canon of my SW game (9 long gaming sessions, and 12 PCs created thus far) developed gradually as I needed to decided what was considered canon in the game and what kind of PCs and stuff were allowed to be part of the setting.

So I began with the official 1E game premise that the campaign in set in the post Battle of Yavin period. This made me decide that Star Wars (ANH) was the only real canon movie, in which both "the stuff" and the "events" seen in the movie exist and happened exactly as the movie portrayed them.
But, since the story of my campaign could alter the known course of events we see in ESB and RoTJ, I decided that only the "stuff" seen in those movies are canon, but not the "events". So you still have Cloud City, you still have Ewoks and Jabba's Palace, etc. BUT the course of events seen in ESB and RoTJ are NOT canon in my game, and things could happen differently! This gives the campaign a lot of freedom and also uncertainty about the future, just like any RPG campaign.

Regarding prequels and sequels, they are NOT canon in my game. But many players like those movies so I have to accommodate PCs inspired in prequel or sequel material; I am not closed to it, if it favors the player's enjoyment of the game. My game is inspired by the early SW Marvel comics, which looked like a kind of kitchen-sink setting in which almost anything goes! (Quixotic Jedis! Bunny faced races! really weird beasts! etc.). So I allow my players to play almost anything they like as PCs, whether it is seen in the OT, the prequels, the sequels, other SW sources or totally made up!

To sum it up, in my game:

Prequels - neither stuff nor events are canon. Stuff may be allowed in the game (example, an alien race a PC really wants to play).
Star Wars - stuff and events are canon.
ESB - only stuff is canon, not the events.
RoTJ - only stuff is canon, not the events.
Sequels - neither stuff nor events are canon. Some stuff may be used in the game (example, a planet, a vehicle model or a droid type).

Can players make up races, weapons, droid, ships, etc.? Yes, with my approval such things can be part of the game. For example, one player of mine plays a Bounty Hunter Droid inspired by some anime. I just told the player to modify his concept to make it look more starwarsy and whoa-la! That droid is now part of my campaign's universe.

[Zulgyan]

THE JEDI
Many players love playing Jedi characters, but in the OT Luke is supposed to be the only Jedi remaining. How did I solve this issue in my campaign?

Well, as I said above, only the "events" of Star Wars (ANH) are considered to be canon in my game. Stuff (planets, races, etc.) found in ESB and RotJ are canon, but not the events.

In my game, if you play a Jedi type character, you can be trained by Luke Skywalker himself! My players find that so cool and exciting! To be interacting with such a beloved character of theirs. To live what Rey in TLJ could have lived (but did not). If your character gets powerful enough, maybe it's time to search for Yoda!

Thus, in my campaign a small Jedi circle is forming around Luke Skywalker, in the context of the Rebellion Era (he has developed his powers faster than in ESB or RoTJ). Even Obi Wan Kenobi's ghost guides this minuscule pack of new Jedi. So in my campaign's story, Luke is not the only Jedi fighting against Vader and the Emperor.

But if Luke is training new Jedi... then Vader is training new Sith! Player's have not encountered any Sith yet, but there are truly in for a shocking surprise!

Anyway, the plan is to make this additional Jedi and Sith characters very very rare. Not prequel era common. No real Jedi order, just a small circle of new Jedi (PCs mainly) gathered around the figure of Luke, who passes down what he learned and continues to learn from Kenobi, and eventually Yoda.

This might not be canon, but it is certainly better for RPG gaming purposes!

[Lord Zash]

That is really cool!

I've found Star Wars to be surprisingly opened to do whatever you want with it and to give you freedom to create your own story within that universe which can follow your rules. But then if you need a starship or a world or a bunch of pirates high chances are somebody has created stats for them in the past, which is great!

I'd love to see where your campaign goes and what type of adventures you run.

Are you running 1st Ed. proper core book or are you playing with rules companion, or rules upgrade or one of those in between edits?

[Pel]

[Whill]

[Zulgyan]

[Zulgyan]

Cool, I see many have gone in similar ways to mine before.

[ThrorII]

Zulgyan, that pretty well sums up my 'family' game as well.

My kids only know the movies and SW: The Clone Wars cartoons. So, we've pretty much stuck to those being canon (although the prequels and CW cartoons are primarily just used for aliens, places, and a rough idea of how history occurred, 'from a certain point of view').

Our campaign just recently started, and I haven't informed them if they are starting AFTER Ep. IV or BEFORE it. I'm keeping it vague for the moment, to see where they take the campaign.