Last
month I wrote a post which recommended the Han Solo Trilogy as good
background information for players and GM's running an Edge
of the Empire campaign.
In this post I'm going to recommend two more trilogies and a
standalone novel, with the prior being quite old and the latter very
new.
The
novel Kenobi,
by John Jackson Miller, was published back in August. It tells a
story of Obi-Wan shortly after he settles on Tatooine to watch over
Luke Skywalker. I'd been looking forward to this book for a while
because I think this is an intriguing time period in the Star
Wars galaxy and because
I enjoyed the author's work on the Knights
of the Old Republic
comic series. In spite of my high expectations, I was not
disappointed. This story focuses not on Obi-Wan as much as it does on
the inhabitants of a remote outpost on Tatooine, presenting
interesting new characters and involving them in engaging conflicts.
I think it provides good inspiration for an Edge
of the Empire campaign
because it tells a story on the fringe of the galaxy and keeps it
compelling. For my part, I'm tempted to run a campaign on the desert
planet just such a ragtag, realistic and fun community of beings.
Next
is the Lando Calrissian trilogy by L. Neil Smith. I have to admit
that Lando is my favorite character, and I was fortunate that friends
of mine shared these books with me when I was in junior high school.
These are the novels that introduced sabacc. What is more, they
present the larger-than-life adventures of an itinerant gambler and
his droid sidekick. Now, I know that the style of the books is not
for everybody. In some ways, they feel more like episodes of Star
Trek than Star
Wars spinoffs. After
all, Lando encounters three different lost civilizations, and he wins
and loses multiple unimaginably large fortunes. Even so, I think they
provide an interesting description of day-to-day life in the Galaxy
Far Far Away. What is more, they show a GM just how to introduce,
develop and eventually resolve and ungoing conflict with a worthy
nemesis.
Finally
I come to the books that, in my opinion, best encompass the feel of
an Edge of the Empire
campaign. These are the novels of the Han
Solo Adventures by Brian
Daley. In these three books the author strikes the perfect balance of
scope and scale. While the exploits of Han Solo and Chewbacca the
Wookiee aren't ones that affect the galaxy as a whole, they are
exciting and relevant. Nothing overshadows the importance of the
events in the original movie trilogy, but there are enough chases,
combats and character interaction to keep any group of players happy.
-Nate
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