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Bit of a heads up some months in advance here.

The current Episodes will finish off in... well, I don't know, I would like to think no more than two months.

At which point we run into a bit of a problem, because Star Wars play on my side- which is where the plots come from- has been very slow of late, with us playing other projects instead. Dark Side play has been near non-existant!

In order to delay things as long as possible to try and keep Star Wars play on these forums going as continuously, also as long as possible, I have decided to run the Original Trilogy game next, in lieu of the next Prequel Trilogy episode (thius leaving things suspended in the middle of a larger storyline, which might have its own dramatic benefit).

The 'pilot' OT episode is not in fact very big but it should last three months or so, and you never know, maybe more depending on what you do.

In that time I shall endeavour to persuade my friends to do some more Dark Side play- interest is kinda slipping really, though- and see how much further we can get Light Side.

At this point, the entire of the next Light Side episode is fine, and at least half the Dark Side one. I am reasonable confident, therefore, that I can guaranteee everyone at least one extra Prequel era episode, which means we have at least six months guaranteed play after the current episodes end.

After that, Star Wars may simply have to be paused for some period, much as the Matrix game is right now. For which I apologise, but I am afraid writing storylines is not a simple business and sometimes demand outstrips supply. Especially when you consider there is also Lord of the Rings, not to mention the games I am running at other places. The Star Wars game here has been running for some four years now, continuously, and this kinda of thing was always going to be a possibility! Often games get picked up again years after they were last played, but that won't be much good here.

Still, as I say, it will be into next year at the earliest that we will be reaching crisis point, so relax for now.

Anyway! So that means, next up is that OT game, which those who have been keeping up with the news will know is set 15 years after ROTS (and hence five years before ANH) (and hence 23 years after the current PT episode), at a point where the Imperial Fleet has subjugated most of the Galaxy, and where the Rebel Alliance is a pitiful force comprised mostly of like-minded liberal sympathisers, rather than having any military strength. However, the Imperial Senate, getting a little tired of the Emperor still using emergency powers to boss everyone around, is starting to grow a sympathy for that Alliance- a very dangerous situation indeed for the Emperor, who cannot rule without the Senate... not yet, anyway.

The storyline sees the Imperial players forming a small Imperial taskforce (the same taskforce will be re-used in later episodes) sent to take care of specific problems whilst the main fleet starts to scatter out through the Galaxy trying to root out the Rebels. Their first task is to take care of an issue the Emperor has wanted finished for a while- the thorny problem of Lanzar, homeworld of the Osokans. They have long outlived their usefulness to the Emperor, now the other Force users are gone from the Galaxy, but his political solution to the problem has failed, his installed puppet leader overthrown in a coup, and a strongly independant leader taking charge instead. Whilst a Senatorial peace mission- led by a very important Senator- struggles to bring a peaceful resolution to the planet's issues, the Emperor dispatches the Task Force to make sure things get resolved his way- by any force necessary.

Meanwhile, the Rebel Alliance is keen to try and demonstrate that the Empire can be resisted. They have sent a delegation of their own to Lanzar, with the mission of making contact with the Osokan Guildmaster and ensuring that the worst of the Imperial's plan fails. The Imperial Army, if it invades, cannot be ultimately resisted, such is the power of the new wave of Star Destroyers and war vehicles that the Empire is producing, yet there can be victories to be won for the Alliance- the Empire may be forced to invade outside the bounds of legality, or things may go wrong with their invasion, or they may fail to capture the lead Osokans...

... but altruistic as the Rebel Alliance is, is this the only reason they would go to the aid of a world as notably hostile and unpleasant as Lanzar? Indeed, the Rebel Leader has received a secret mission from his superiors- one that might open a new era of hope for the fledgling Alliance- and reveals the true reason for the Emperor's desire for genocide.

-

The basic set-up of the first OT game, then, is Lanzar's countdown. As noted, there is no question of actively defeating the Imperials; that is just not credible. But how difficult will eventual Imperial victory be?

Life is not easy for the Imperials. Most races are easily scared into submission, but these bastard pig-beings seem to have no fear. Meanwhile, they cannot possibly invade whilst the Senatorial mission is still operating. Worse, if the mission concludes with some sort of peace deal, then the Imperials are in considerable trouble, because to invade is to defy the Seante, which technically carries the authority of the Emperor, who has ordered them to invade...

Life is no easier for the Rebels, either. Whilst the Imperials are tying themselves up in knots trying to get the Senators out the way, the Rebels might think they have it easy, causing the Imperials a hard time. But unfortunately the Rebels are having to deal with the Osokans, who are far from being a calm, rational people- twinned with the discovery that they aren't the most smart or sensible race in the Galaxy...

The Original Trilogy game is an opportunity to lose yourself in the Classic Era feel of Star Wars. One of the most important things in the game will be re-creating that OT mood- if necessary at the expense of pure logic.

As a basic example, the Rebels are encouraged to be loud-mouthed, argumentative, brash... but also stupidly heroic, and ultimately, under their personalities, so nice that they are nauseating. The less well the group gets on the better, until they all pull it together for the last reel.

The Imperials, meanwhile, are alomst pantomimtically evil. They grandstand and gloat and have egos the size of the Death Star- but they also tend to be rather remote. Their acts of evil are as grand as those egos, but the camera never shows them actively torturing or worse. Also, they are all competing with each other for the favour of the Emperor- promotion can only come at the expense of another... basically, the Imperials may be evil- but unlike the Dark Siders, they are not sinister, as such. Leave that to the Emperor and Vader.

At a level beyond basic behaviour, certain subtleties of action will simply be disallowed. For example, it might be very sensible behaviour in a realistic game for the Rebels to fake Imperial atrocities or for the Imperials to fake evidence to arrest the Rebel players.

But this ISN'T a realistic game- it's Classic Star Wars! Good old Western-style space adventure! We're not looking to make real-world allegories (unlike the PT) or make any sort of moral statement on the invisble distinction between terrorists and freedom fighters- it's good clean fun and nothing more. There is a certain style to it that is highly enjoyable if you throw your heart and soul into it.

Features of the game include:


- The first ever use of non-Force templates for characters- a full set of good guy templates, a full set of Imperial templates, and the opportunity for each side to have one 'guest' taken from 'Scum and Villainy', the bounty hunter/mercenary template list. This therefore includes the first use for players of Devices- and the Device list will finally be shown.

- Replacing Animosity and Censure comes a universal value for both sides called 'Senate Sympathy', tracking how much sympathy the Rebels have garnered for themselves from the Senate. Should the Imperials commit obvious and blatant evils, sympathy increases- as so it might if the Empire shows weakness. But if the Empire shows strength, and if it manages to stop obviously crimianl activities, Senate sympathy goes down. Other than affecting character's relationships with the Senate, if Senate Sympathy starts to go up- smething we track over multiple episodes- the Rebels start to get more and more equipped.

- A mix of political negotiation as the talkers on both Rebel and Imperial side try to gain advantage... and of mass-scale military action as the Imperials send in the Star Destroyers and AT-ATs and the Rebels seek to improvise a defence.

- A chance to see what a full OT campaign might be like, as you see the take that myself and my brother have of the Classic era as we chart the Rebel Alliance from a bunch of irrelevant grumblers into a full scale military force- the first time one of these campaigns actually gets better for the good guys each episode, as all the bad things introduced in the PT slowly get reversed.

- The chance for the Imperial (and hopefully ex-Dark Side) players to kick two hundred types of crap out of the Osokans.

- And for those who like to see things in a wider scope... just a few hints on things from the PT game that may be of extreme interest to some of you...

Accompanying the game will be the new rules system.

"Oh no!" I hear you cry. Stop moaning; these ones have been intact for ages.

As those of you on Alana's board who have read me talking about my Prince of Persia game will know, recent trend has been for simplification of rules. My brother's new SW rules come at the same angle as those PoP rules.

Much of it is exactly the same- same stats, same skills (although the new skill 'Warfare' appears, tracking how good you are in the direction of large-scale battles, a skill which would also appear in any Clone Wars campaign).

The biggest difference is in the dice system- as long talked of, the current positive/negative d6 system will be replaced by a single d20, which gives a much easier probability curve, and also is much easier for people to understand the mechanics of, and hence the mechanics will in fact be posted for everyone to see, so you can always roughly judge how likely you are to succeed at something.

That also means the difference between skills will be smaller then before- as it stands, the difference between a combat skill of 13 and 14 is quite large- and the difference between a 13 and a 15 is huge, far more than double of the 13/14 difference.

Now the difference between a 13 and a 14 will be... well, ten percent better, basically (5% more likely to hit, 5% less likely to BE hit). The difference between a 13 and a 15 will be directly proportionate- 10% better each way.

Which means, when this system is ported back to the PT game, Masters lose one advantage, as their 15 skill will not be as good as before (except for duelling).

However, the other big change is in combat, which will no longer have sequences. Instead, starting at zero, frames just count up and up forever, with all pools refreshing every 12 frames. Your Speed now only dictates what frame you start on at the very start of the combat- which means the disadvantage for low speed characters will be cut by some 90%, so the Master gains far more than he loses.

None of you will actually need to worry about the rules changes, except just getting used to the new Frame system- not hard.

The only potential issue is this- the reason the new rules have been used with the OT game is simple- no Force powers! Force powers take the longest to calibrate to rules by far. At some point, the Force powers will have to be re-done to fit the new rules, and that might well mean some tinkering with your current PT characters. I shall keep you updated.

Anyway, that's the plan! Feel free to ask questions etc.

Hey, I get more excited about the OT game every time you discuss it. Please count me in on the Rebel side. Also, please tell us all where we can send nice gifts of alcohol and munchies to your gaming group to convince them to keep churning out games for us. Thanks again for your efforts, adn show us some of the new templates!

Oh, the names of the templates can be found in a number of threads.

One interesting factor is the size of the Imperial Task Force.

By standard it is two Star Destroyers large- the Imperial Class star destroyers being ofnthe latest version, the new kids on the block.

Each Star Destroyer has a Captain, a General and a Squadron leader. But these are all pre-defined NPCs!

Should we get any extra Captains, Generals or Squadron Leaders as player characters, the size of the task Force increases to accomodate them- however, as there is a limit on any template of no more than two of the same type, this means the task force will consist of between 2 and 4 ships.

nice....
and about those rule changes...both suit me just fine

I've read the names, I was teasing to see the templates themselves. But I can be patient. And I agree with Dexx, I like the rules changes too. D20 is a bit more familiar and understandable to most everyone, although I was kinda fascinated with the +/- dice roll. I never heard of that before. I'm thrilled for the PT game, especially if I get to play someone brash and cocky. (Ive been a Han Solo fan since I first heard of Star Wars.)

Well, I don't want to distract people too much just yet, not until the current game enters its final stages.

The +/- d6 works fine with basic Feng Shui, but it causes serious balance issues when you try and make a game fair and balanced (which FS pointedly and deliberately and proudly isn't, but this adaptation of it is meant to be). Hence the die switch.

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Now the difference between a 13 and a 14 will be... well, ten percent better, basically (5% more likely to hit, 5% less likely to BE hit). The difference between a 13 and a 15 will be directly proportionate- 10% better each way.

*grumbles incoherently, something about Galder not kicking as much ass*

hehehe
Sounds all good to me...

I already knew the rules changes more or less, hehe.

All sounds good to me!

(and I call playing the Imperial bounty hunter.)

Ush, what games do you run elsewhere?

I assume I have the Commissar template reserved?

And sorry if I am not active enough, I am currently studying French in Paris, and sitting in front of computer is not the thing I should be doing....

But I do it anyway.

I'll have the Bounty hunter template for the Rebels.

Wooo, I get to flaunt General Coll!

Interesting! I will have to join this one too.

Well, I guess I'll step away from Jelena for a bit then.

When will the character creation stuff be available?

I want Rebel Commander thingy, Like Admiral Ackbar ish...
either that or Ace.... Rogue Squadron like...

Ush told you there was no Commander template.

Go Ace.

Note the "thingy" part...
I wanna be someone like THAT In charge of larger stuff... Space battles,
Overall strategy.. ect.

sounds decent, but will there still be dueling in the OT campaign?

No.

then I must have misread something, nevermind

Pistol dueling!

could be fancy

No so fancy if my character wants to carry a repeater...

I'm definitely interested. Could I be the Captain of a SUPER Star Destroyer?

Only with a time machine!

Originally posted by barbarossa
I'm definitely interested. Could I be the Captain of a SUPER Star Destroyer?

You can always call your ship: "Super".

Originally posted by Ushgarak
Only with a time machine!

Well, in theory could I not set the Hyperdrive of a ship to go so fast that I would actually travel in time?

Meh. I'll settle for a Imperial Star Destroyer. However.... If a Super Star Destroyer ever comes on the market.... I SO have dibs.

You'd have to be an Admiral...

Can I?

I doubt that.

Can I name my AT-AT?

FINE, captain then. *Grumbles something about Imperial Star Destroyers being too small*

Woman, don't roll your eyes at me. Don't make me smack a sistah (Thug voice).





Just kidding.

That was aimed at Rex for asking about naming his AT-AT. My computer is lagging like hell because I'm rendering something

You and your poser. LOL.

Ironically... a re-design of the Force powers might see them become more like how the Matrix ones used to be- made into levels, instead of individual powers.

In fact, that Matrix system didn't work too badly, other than that it was overlaid on an individual power system, and so forced people to buy powers in, say, Shell of the Turtle, that they otherwise might not have wanted; changing Matrix to individual powers meant people could just buy Natural Order and be done with it.

But if the system was designed from the ground up to work that way... then there would be no such issue, and we would have a much simpler system; Force powers could certainly be finalised on a character much faster than before.

heck..so what powers would these guys have?..they're just mere...men.

and speaking of that matrix game...any news on it? ..i like it a lot.
you didn't even post the results of the last campaign...i wanted to see about how the melitus thing worked out.

Yeah, I did say I would do that, didn't I?

Matrix has not been turned off; development is still under way, but nothing more has been actually PLAYED here... which makes progress difficult.

Those guys wouldn't have any powers at all. I am talking about when the system gets used for the Prequel era games as well- the current complexity of the Force power system is incompatible, you see.

Actually, that said, most of the powers will be the same, but recent thought is moving away from Force Trees and the like. Will be nice to streamline the system.

And I doubt there would be a chance to be Force-sensitive like in Galaxies?

but..doesn't this system offer more character customization possibility when compared to a streamline system?

Yup, that's the trade off; characters become more homogenous in a purely system sense.