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Zulgyan Lieutenant
Joined: 09 May 2017 Posts: 96
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 3:20 am Post subject: My SW 1E Game: Setting and Canon |
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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. |
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Zulgyan Lieutenant
Joined: 09 May 2017 Posts: 96
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 3:21 am Post subject: |
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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! |
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Lord Zash Sub-Lieutenant
Joined: 01 Mar 2016 Posts: 54
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 6:03 am Post subject: |
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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? |
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Pel Line Captain
Joined: 10 May 2006 Posts: 983 Location: Texas
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 11:27 am Post subject: Re: My SW 1E Game: Setting and Canon |
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Zulgyan wrote: | 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.
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That's what we did in our initial campaign. Star Wars was gospel and we kept the places, people, and things from Empire & Jedi, but not the events. Having that freedom kept our adventures fresh and wonderful, with the players knowing their actions would influence the galaxy. Powerful stuff. Please keep us posted on your fascinating campaign. _________________ Aha! |
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Whill Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008 Posts: 10434 Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 1:23 pm Post subject: Re: My SW 1E Game: Setting and Canon |
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Zulgyan wrote: | 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.
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Nothing wrong with that. My Star Wars Campaign Multiverse is on its 9th (and preferably final) universe, and three of them did diverge from sequel continuity (TESB and/or RotJ). ANH is the only film that definitively exists as-is in all of my campaign worlds. But for the three that diverged from film continuity, they always started out with the sequels as metaplot until the course of events was changed, primarily by the actions of the PCs.
In my current universe the six Lucas films, Rogue One, and Solo are canon. I enjoy maintaining continuity with the films and even give bonus CPs to players who come up with convincing in-universe reasons to a course of action that won't violate it. I enjoy my game even including continuity that helps resolve apparent discontinuities between the films that are canon in my SWU. I may use stuff from the sequels (aliens, droids, planets, etc.), but the events of the ST are currently undetermined in my universe, pending how the ST concludes in December. I like to stay in or close to the classic period so the ST is not really important anyway. I do have a tentative post-RotJ setting/campaign on the back burner so it may be altered to fit if I decide to have the ST, but it will be many years before I get around to running that campaign. _________________ *
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Zulgyan Lieutenant
Joined: 09 May 2017 Posts: 96
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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Lord Zash wrote: |
I'd love to see where your campaign goes and what type of adventures you run. |
So far I have ran Tatooine Manhunt, Rebel Breakout and Starfall in that order, all of them with some mods and extra encounters. Plus some encounters and roleplaying transitions between the modules, all at Yavin HQ or Kwenn Space Station. The main "Quest Giver" of the campaign is none other than Leia Organa of Alderaan herself. She assigns the party with the missions of the modules and the party reports to her. Why have a nameless officer give the party their missions when you can use the coolest, most awesome characters available? Luke trains one the Jedi PCs in the force, and another PC will soon start his training (2 PCs are jedi aspirants thus far).
It's been 9 six to eight hour sessions thus far. 10 players, though no more than 6 at a time. 12 PCs (that means 2 PCs died or where lost in space ). I will follow the campaign with some skirmishes at the Battle of Hoth and then will run Crisis in Cloud City. That's the plan!
Lord Zash wrote: | 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? |
I actually use the excellent and beautiful edit named "Star Wars: Classic Adventures", available at this forum. I am not that consistent in whether a hit stuns you or not, losing the rest of your declared actions. I also alternate between "fixed 1E" difficulty numbers and the variable ones from the rules upgrade (IIRC the variable ones come from the RU). I have not been that consistent with difficulty numbers. Consistency is kinda overrated in my opinion, but I want to find a way to me more consistent. My players are all but one RPG noobs, so they don't notice my inconsistency or they don't care. They trust I can run a fair and fun game. |
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Zulgyan Lieutenant
Joined: 09 May 2017 Posts: 96
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Posted: Tue Apr 16, 2019 10:19 pm Post subject: |
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Cool, I see many have gone in similar ways to mine before. |
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ThrorII Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 12 Jul 2019 Posts: 203
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Posted: Fri Jul 19, 2019 1:46 pm Post subject: |
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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. |
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