It is an interesting time for Star Wars and the Star Wars RPG. Here are a few musings.
- I started this blog in 2013, when the Edge of the Empire game from Fantasy Flight Games was brand new. For years it gave me an outlet for my Star Wars RPG creativity. I also enjoyed seeing others share their own supplements, scenarios and other projects on the FFG message boards--and there was a lot of content created.
- Like all good things, however, this eventually came to an end. FFG fleshed out their three (three!) separate lines for the RPG, with a few adventure books, a supplement book for each class, and some odds and ends by the time all was said and done. Then Asmodee/Edge Studio acquired the rights for the RPG, and it's been on hiatus ever since then. That means no new content in almost five years.
- My buddy Brent and I even started a new blog, Tierfon Campaign, with the dream of running the Age of Rebellion RPG, and X-Wing and Legion miniatures games to create sprawling and glorious adventures.
- The Star Wars movies have had their ups and downs in that time, too. Back in 2013, Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm was not yet completed. Within a year, though, it happened. Decades of previous content were deemed "Legends" material and dropped from the canon. The tradeoff was growing excitement for new live-action movies, but they proved to be a mixed bag. I enjoyed The Force Awakens quite a bit, and loved Rogue One. On the other hand, I did not care for The Last Jedi. I think some of the fallout from that affected Solo, which did not do well at the box office. The Rise of Skywalker kept me entertained, but by then I was feeling burnt out on the Sequel Trilogy.
- One complaint, from the point of view of an RPG enthusiast, is that the sequel trilogy lacked the room for playing that the Original Trilogy had. By the end of The Last Jedi, the Resistance has been decimated. It feels very much like Rey and Kylo Ren are the focus, and the other characters' activities aren't much more than background noise. Lando shows up with reinforcements at the end of Episode IX, but that happens very quickly and isn't explained except in a supplementary novel.
- On the small screen, however, business has been booming. I loved The Mandalorian and Andor, as did a lot of other people. I also enjoyed The Book of Boba Fett and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I'm not entirely sure about Ahsoka, but want to see where the story goes. I even enjoyed The Acolyte, and think it deserved better than the review bombing it received from angry Internet trolls.
- That makes a nice segue into The High Republic. When it was announced, I thought I'd give it a try. I enjoyed the first novel well enough, and the comics were pretty good. Two factors hindered my engagement, however. One is real life factors such as having a kid, which limits the time I have for reading and money I want to spend on comics. The other is that, for me, the Rebellion Era is the time period in which I want to play Star Wars.
- In two years we'll have the 50th Anniversary of Star Wars. I hope that, by then, Lucasfilm will channel some energy into the time period of the Original Trilogy. As the High Republic publishing project draws to a close, they should have some room on the schedule.
- Two years ago my gaming group surprised me by choosing to play Star Wars. For years we'd had a steady diet of Pathfinder and Savage Worlds, and had recently started playing Dungeons & Dragons 5e. In the fall of 2023, however, they opted for Star Wars and then choosing the old D6 System! I took a series of scenarios that I'd written for Age of Rebellion and adapted them. None of us had played this version of the game in more than twenty years, but we had fun! We ran into more real-life issues that had us put the campaign on hold rather than finishing it, and so those characters are still ready and waiting...
- Finally, this summer I've been reading the novel Star Wars: Battlefront: Twilight Company. I've been enjoying it more than I expected, and will give it its own post once I've finished it. Reading that novel, too, gives me a hankering for some good old-fashioned Rebellion-era fighting the good fight.
As of now, I'm spending some time revising the Tierfon Campaign scenarios for use with the D6 System, and we'll see how it goes from there.
-Nate
