Reflecting on Role Playing Gaming in the Star Wars Universe

As I said in my introduction, seeing Star Wars in 1977 was a major contributor in sparking my imagination. While I’ve been critical of most of Disney’s efforts with the franchise, I’ve remained a fan of that galaxy far far away. Star Wars has long been one of my favorite places to visit in the role playing medium and also in computer games. I go through periods of apathy towards Star Wars for a variety of reasons I won’t go into, but I also keep coming back to it because deep down inside I will always be a fan despite the flaws, warts, and even poor story writing in recent years. What better way to celebrate Star Wars Day than to put a blog post up about my experiences of gaming in the Star Wars universe?

I was a Star Wars fan before I was a gamer. When West End Games announced an official role playing game for my beloved original trilogy of movies I was beyond excited. Would we really be able to tell our own stories in that far away galaxy? The answer was of course YES! The D6 system was simple and pretty innovative for its time. We didn’t have a lot to run on in the early years so we made up a lot of stuff to go with the sourcebook and main book. For almost twenty years, Star Wars became my go to game. I can’t even count the number of one-shots and mini-series I ran with the D6 version of the game. It was quite a ride.

When Wizards of the Coast acquired the rights to do the Star Wars RPG it was as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in anguish followed by a horrible silence. The nerd rage was real on the internet. I was determined to give the new system a chance and try to keep an open mind. Sadly, my worst fears were realized upon playing the Star Wars d20 system. It was a stinker.

It didn’t take long for WotC to see the need for a relaunch thus a Revised d20 edition came about. The famous line from Star Wars is as apt as any to describe the relaunch, “It could be worse.”  It was worse. The fluff and production qualities were really top notch. But the system? It was D&D 3.5 crossed with D20 Modern and I disliked it with a passion equal to the heat of Tatooine’s twin suns. I was sticking with D6!

In 2007 WotC rolled out Saga Edition Star Wars. I was more than skeptical. I had lost all hope that a new edition of Star Wars could win me over. I once again tried to keep an open mind. I looked at the preview material. I kind of liked what I saw. I then read the core rule book. I was impressed with the changes, the additions, and the streamlining. Better yet, it seemed to get The Force rules “right.” Sure, there were some flaws, as with any system, but this was a step up to me. It didn’t seem like D&D in space.

I decided to run a series of games set during the Old Republic Era. Six planned game sessions’ worth of story arc ended up in ten very successful game sessions. The demand for a sequel became too good to pass on. What was planned as a part two consisting of ten sessions ended up going twelve. Those 22 game sessions of Saga Edition Star Wars are some of the very best games I’ve been a part of. If I may be so bold, the resulting stories were worthy of Lucasfilm film cans. I couldn’t ever be more pleased and proud of a campaign than that one.

I took a pass on the Fantasy Flight Games version of the Star Wars RPG after reading the beta release booklet. Saga Edition had gotten Star Wars right for me for the most part. So much so that I had parted ways with D6 Star Wars (something that I never thought would happen). Besides, the new version of Star Wars from FFG used specialty dice with symbols on them. That was an annoying non-starter for me. I guess I’m just getting old and set in my ways.

I was recently invited to play in an online game of Star Wars using a variant of D&D Fifth Edition that someone has created for Star Wars. I’m really looking forward to this game, which is set 100 years after Return of the Jedi. The GM shares my feelings that the latest Disney trilogy was at best “underwhelming.” So he’s going to chuck the official Disney arc and come up with his own stuff. I don’t normally get to be a player in that galaxy far far away as I’m normally on the Game Master’s side of the screen. I couldn’t be more excited to be a part of this next adventure.

Has Star Wars been a fun part of your gaming past? Please post a comment.