Tag: Star Wars

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Why a Star Wars RPG is so fun

One of the most difficult things about starting up a new campaign is filling all the players in about the background of the setting such as important events and peoples in the world, all while doing so without boring them out of their minds. I’ve been recently reading through the Game of Thrones series (or, rather, the Song of Ice and Fire series for the purists) and would love to run a game in that setting; it’s dark and gritty, with many multi-faceted individuals all intent on their own goals and agendas. But, there’s no way I could convey even the basics of the background of Aegon the Conqueror and the Seven Kingdoms, Mad Aerys and Robert’s Rebellion, or the Seven gods and the weirwoods in a reasonable blurb.

I mean, face it, we have all had (or been) players that could care less about the difference between a Lannister and a Stark without just wanting to know whom to attack and which dice to roll for the attack. And, save all (or at least, the majority) having read some of the books, it would quickly and easily turn into a generic fantasy campaign without a great deal of work on the GM’s part to constantly drag the player’s into the world. It’s often hard enough to keep players focused on the game without going off on tangents as it is…

And so, that’s a HUGE reason I’m thoroughly enjoying running my Star Wars Dawn of Defiance campaign right now. Regardless of what players may think about the validity of Episodes I-III, or how the d20 Saga doesn’t do this right, ALL of us know the Star Wars universe. I don’t need to fill them in on how a senator named Palaptine was recently elevated to Emperor, or how there was once a religious order called the Jedi that was decimated by his right hand man Darth Vader, or even that a Twi’lek is a humoid creature with long head tentacles. We all have the same background knowledge of the world, and its as simple as saying the Wookie bounty hunter wears a bandolier of thermonuclear detonators that fills the same image in all the players minds (and identifies him as one mean NPC not to mess with).

Prior to starting this campaign last year, we’d been playing in the World of Greyhawk for close to the past 10 years, well, actually, probably longer than that; and even then, it was still very much “wait, Veluna is a theocracy also? I thought it was the Theocracy of Pale?” With this being the first time I’m regularly running a “shared background” game, the difference is so refreshing!

I think in the past, that was why I enjoyed running games like Shadowrun, Dark Matter, or more recently, Gamma World – I could set it in the context of the real world, a truly shared background. In the future, I think this could very well be a much larger draw to bringing in others who otherwise aren’t inclined to game with us. In particular, I’m thinking of all our wives/girlfriends, who wouldn’t come near our games now agreeing to play a game based in the Harry Potter or Twilight universe.

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Dawn of Defiance IV: Echoes of the Jedi

[Originally posted on Dwarven Forge forums 2011 Sep 07. Game date 2011 Jul 02]

Here are some pictures from our Star Wars Dawn of Defiance game (Episode IV – Echoes of the Jedi). This shows off the great versatility of DF – using Sci-fi and Return of the Ancient sets as the layout for an abandoned Jedi academy (haunted with creatures tainted by the dark side of the force) and the lower level combining the Caves with Sci-fi sets.

STAR WARS: DAWN OF DEFIANCE
Episode IV
ECHOES OF THE JEDI

It is a dark time in the galaxy. The Jedi Knights, peaceful guardians of the Old Republic, are all but extinct, exterminated by the Emperor’s sinister agents. But a few Jedi still survive, exiled from the galaxy they once protected and leaving echoes in the Force behind. The Emperor has sensed these remnants and seeks to control them, leaving no chance for future Jedi to arise from the ashes.

Most Jedi stay in hiding, some try to foil the Empire without revealing their existence, and others seek links to their former way of life, risking the wrath of the Emperor in hopes of re-igniting the flame of their ancient order . . .

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AG-420

“Oh, Master Ran, I simply detest violence and do not condone it in any circumstance! I’m a medical droid and my basic programming is to heal organics. But that meatbag was trying to render me nonfunctional. He refused to calm down even with my offers of antidepressants or illicit substances. So of course I had to shoot him through the ascending portion of the aortic arch lest he deprive the galaxy of my invaluable skills as a highly sophisticated medical droid that could potentially save many more lives than that dirtbag’s wretched existance. It does certainly perturb my programming on the most fundamental level however.”

I just joined a group playing a Star Wars Saga edition game set in the Old Republic (just after the 2nd KoTOR). The group had already been playing for a while, so I came in midgame. They had just acquired a droid NPC, so I offered to use that as my PC as it sounded like a fun character.

AG-420 was a Republic medial droid prior to ending up in the hands of Tagg, a drug smuggler who later became a dead NPC at the hands of the PC’s. Under Tagg’s ownership, AG was programmed to become a pusher for Tagg’s wares. This became evident upon the heroes first outing when, upon their return, AG proudly showed his new Master Ran how much money he had made selling off all of their med-kits… the looks on the players’ faces was hilarious. I happened to be observing that game, and that’s when I decided I wanted to join in as AG’s newly acquired Independent Spirit.

This last game, they got a chance to see a little of AG’s schizoprenia. Throughout the game, AG kept protesting violence against organics, bemoaning how he would have to patch them back up afterwards. That was, until the climactic last battle, when we were trying hold off waves of baddies while waiting for the Jedi that was rescuing slaves about a gladiatorial entertainment ship. Asked to provide help by Master Ran, AG proceeded to unveil a blaster rifle that was a part of his left arm and loosened a hail of blaster fire into one of the enemies… Amidst the looks of shock (again) among the players, I had AG respond as quoted above

(And yes, I did spend a turn trying to offer the baddie meds to help alleviate his feelings of hostility and anger; which only led to him shooting me).

AG-420
Medium Droid, 1st degree
Noble 2 / Soldier 1

Feats: Skill Focus (Treat Injury, Knowledge – Life Sciences, Use Computer), Weapon Proficiency (Rifle, Heavy), Burst Fire

Talents: Medical Droid, Devastating Attack (I rationalized it as his detailed knowledge of biological beings allows him to hit them where it hurts the most)

Str 10 Dex 14 Con – Int 16 Wis 18 Cha 10