What time period should I set my campaign in?

[The Game Guy]

It has been awhile since I have run Star Wars D6 (I used to own the book) and I was curious where a good place to start is regarding running the game.

When I finally sit down and run D6 I am going to be sure to read it front to back. Should I start running it from the time of the first movie? Before the first movie?

I am curious to get your input.

[Kalzazz]

Most of the games Ive played in Star Wars have been set in Imperial Era doing Rebel stuff. Id be interested in doing something else, not because I dislike that, but Id enjoy something where as my heroic self I dont have to skulk in the shadows

[imported_Magman]

First movie meaning episode IV, or episode I?

I think starting at episode IV would have a faster pace game with more combat situations. The characters are thrown into a galaxy that is already in a war state.

Running it from episode I would have more role playing, investigating and the build up of NPC's and character background.

[Whill]

I think it is easiest to start where the game started, which is the three year period between Eps 4 and 5. Playing Rebel irregulars is the easiest type of adventures to start with.

The second easiest place to start is immediately after the Ep 6, especially if you plan on ignoring all the post-Ep 6 "expanded universe" continuity as I do. Everything canon (at least the film series) is in the past, so it is a completely open playing field. With its Sith leadership eliminated, the Empire falls into chaos as various factions vie for power at the same time that the Rebel Alliance attempts to develope into a legitimate government while gaining ground as well. Fun fun.

All that being said, the smugglers (to heroes) campaign I'm currently developing takes place in the two years leading up to Ep 4 and it will maintain all film continuity, but I'm no beginner. :cool:

P.S. I still catch myself referring to Ep 4 as "the first movie" too, because I'm old enough to remember a time when it was the only Star Wars movie.

[Hisham]

P.S. I still catch myself referring to Ep 4 as "the first movie" too, because I'm old enough to remember a time when it was the only Star Wars movie.

I think there's a fair number of us that do that too. :)

I'd like to put mine just before or after the first movie. If you're running a Rebellion campaign, it's great to be in an underdog position with limited resources. If you're running a tramp freighter / smuggler campaign this is when the Empire is coming down hard on you with customs checks and corrupt lower officials... not to mention the odd force sensitive NPCs you have to ferry from point A to point B with an Imperial Ubiqtorate team and/or a bounty hunter on his tail.

[The Game Guy]

First movie meaning episode IV, or episode I?

Sorry, I guess by first I mean episode IV (as I am old enough to remember when that was the first movie


I think starting at episode IV would have a faster pace game with more combat situations. The characters are thrown into a galaxy that is already in a war state.

Running it from episode I would have more role playing, investigating and the build up of NPC's and character background.

I agree, there would be plenty of action and characters would be in the thick of it.

[The Game Guy]

P.S. I still catch myself referring to Ep 4 as "the first movie" too, because I'm old enough to remember a time when it was the only Star Wars movie.

Yep. I remember seeing Episode 4 in the theater. God that makes me feel old.

[Kalzazz]

Im one of those people who didnt see them in the theatres till the remakes

[Crusis]

I was 11 when I sat in that theatre seat next to my jackass step brother. I watched Darth Vader storm onto the Corellian Corvette and start knocking heads. The voice of James Earl Jones, the towering presence of that guy who wasn't James Earl Jones, and of course a Rebel officer having his throat crushed and then his body tossed into a support pillar. I immediately tried to kill my stepbrother with the force, but it didn't work. ****, maybe I wasn't force sensitive.

I knew, at that moment, by the year 2000 we'd be flying in spaceships and taking our first steps out into the universe.... and that I wanted to be a dark overlord crushing minions who failed me.

Alas, I'm a married father of 3 girls and the only thing I crush is the trash when I need to stuff more in the can.

Dammit.

Although, and I'm not making this up, telling my wife that once she came to the dark side forever shall she serve me is how we made the first kid. She still gets red in the face when she sees Darth Vader. To coin the Dark Master... "I have you now."

[hellsreach]

Considering the original Star War RPG somewhat placed itself between episodes 4 and 5, that seems like a fair place to start.

The Rebellion just handed the Empire it's first major defeat. The Empire has responded in a major way and the fleet is on the move in force and has set the rebels to bunker down in numerous remote bases. At the same time, smaller resistence groups see the destruction of the Death Star as proof of concept that the Imperial throne MIGHT just be able to be brought down and the Rebellion gets a boat-load of new recruits -- like these two droi...err, I mean, like your PCs.

The period between 4 and 5 (the SotME period) is a great place for any SW campaign to begin.

[hellsreach]

Yep. I remember seeing Episode 4 in the theater. God that makes me feel old.

I'm only 34. My first Star Wars movie in the theatre (in fact my first ever movie in the theatre) was Empire. I still feel a tad bit traumatized by the Wampa.

Even though I didn't see A New Hope in the theatre, I think I might have seen it on cable or regular TV, because I know I saw it before I saw Empire in '81.


Come to think of it, I think VCRs existed back then, so maybe I saw it on tape. I don't remember.

[The Game Guy]

I'm only 34. My first Star Wars movie in the theatre (in fact my first ever movie in the theatre) was Empire. I still feel a tad bit traumatized by the Wampa.

Even though I didn't see A New Hope in the theatre, I think I might have seen it on cable or regular TV, because I know I saw it before I saw Empire in '81.


Come to think of it, I think VCRs existed back then, so maybe I saw it on tape. I don't remember.

I really didnt care for Empire, as compared to the other "orignal" 3 movies

[imported_Magman]

Show of hands, how many people hated the Ewoks? I would never play a game that had these furry little creatures in it. Sorry I for whatever reason hold a distaste for them.

I might choose a disadvantage for my character of mentally unstable while in their presence.

[Stormchild]

I loved Ewoks (not the Ewoks movie, though). I even played one and loved the havok it could wreak. But I was 12 when the first movie played (Episode IV) in Germany and was awed by it. But when Episode VI was played six years later, I was definitely too old to see it as a serious movie. So these funny characters appealed to me. I had seen and read lots of SF and Fantasy by that time and could not enjoy it as I did the first one. By then I had realized where the loads of influence came from and how fairy-tale-like it was presented.

This might be the reason, I enjoyed Episode I - III. It was reminescent to my childhood.

[The Game Guy]

Show of hands, how many people hated the Ewoks? I would never play a game that had these furry little creatures in it. Sorry I for whatever reason hold a distaste for them.

I might choose a disadvantage for my character of mentally unstable while in their presence.

I didnt hate the ewoks initially, but after awhile (to me) they started to get on my nerves in a big way.

[Hisham]

One of my players played an Ewok character. He had a mynock for a hat, with strings that when pulled will cause the dead mynock to flap his wings.

He usually tried to intimidate bad guys with it with hilarious results.

It was awesome.

[Whill]

I do not hate Ewoks. If I did then I couldn't enjoy ROTJ as much as a do because they are such an important element of the plot. They have the same purpose in the story as Luke turning off his targeting computer in the first movie: to demonstrate the theme that technology won't save you. And in ROTJ, I actually think the Ewoks are entertaining.

In the RPG though, that's another matter. I don't like the idea of primitive PCs. I think the game mechanics of Star Wars D6 don't work for Ewoks. 2D is an average ability and 1D is the minimum a PC can have. Ewoks realistically wouldn't even have 1D Knowledge and Technical, or even Mechanical for that matter. So do they have 0D Technical and 0D+1 Mechanical? And if you make those that low then the other Attributes would have to have outrageous dice levels to make the PC even somewhat near the scale of the other PCs, and I don't see Ewoks as being stronger, more dextrous or that much more perceptive than humans. So even a somewhat realistic Ewok would have so few attribute and skill dice that they just wouldn't be much more than a primitive little sidekick to the rest of the PCs (and likely cannon fodder as well).

I guess if I had a player that really, really wanted to play an Ewok in a time period before ROTJ, I would have to say that the Ewok stowed away on a ship that landed on Endor for repairs or something many years before the campaign, and is now more acclimated to galactic society. He can speak and understand Basic, and does not carry around primitive weapons. I guess a similar character could also exist many years after ROTJ if he had also left home with the Rebels after the Battle of Endor and now has had a lot of experience out in the rest of the galaxy.

I've only known one person to ever want to be an Ewok, and even though she never ended up playing, she had stated she would want to play either that or an astromech droid. And I have never allowed droids PCs in my game (but in future campaigns I do plan on allowing Shard PCs in droid bodies though).


I really didnt care for Empire, as compared to the other "orignal" 3 movies

Mike, I'm confused by this statement. Did you mean that you didn't care for TESB compared to the other 2 movies of the classic trilogy?

[pathfinderap]

Show of hands, how many people hated the Ewoks? I would never play a game that had these furry little creatures in it. Sorry I for whatever reason hold a distaste for them.

I might choose a disadvantage for my character of mentally unstable while in their presence.

I don't hate anything in the Star Wars movies,
but I can see that in some players hands an Ewok character could get on your nerves fast,

Some people will think playing an Ewok is a licence it be an prat

They are meant to be pygmy wookies though,

[The Game Guy]

Mike, I'm confused by this statement. Did you mean that you didn't care for TESB compared to the other 2 movies of the classic trilogy?

Sorry (Damn George Lucas). Out of the original 3 movies, I did not care for the Empire Strikes back as much as I did for Star Wars and Return of the Jedi.

[hellsreach]

Sorry (Damn George Lucas). Out of the original 3 movies, I did not care for the Empire Strikes back as much as I did for Star Wars and Return of the Jedi.

How can you not like a movie where the good guys get their asses handed to them and virtually every step of the way. :)

[Whill]

Sorry (Damn George Lucas). Out of the original 3 movies, I did not care for the Empire Strikes back as much as I did for Star Wars and Return of the Jedi.

Blasphemy! Cursing my Lord and Master like that... ha, ha, just kidding Mike! :)

Back in my childhood (long before the prequels), I actually felt the same way. I think for me it was because I really got off on the large-scale climactic battles of good vs. evil that end both Eps 4 and 6. Empire has the big battle at the beginning, and that sets the tone for the end of the movie (battlered and beaten, the good guys except for Solo barely get away). I realized that for the classic trilogy story-arc, the mood of Empire does make the protagonists' triumphs in Jedi all that much more dramatic, but I still enjoyed Jedi more than Empire.

I won't go too much into my opinion of my favorite episodes of the now complete film saga, except to say I currently view the original movie to be supreme and the two sequels to be about equal to each other in my mind.

[The Game Guy]

I won't go too much into my opinion of my favorite episodes of the now complete film saga, except to say I currently view the original movie to be supreme and the two sequels to be about equal to each other in my mind.

Well, compared to the prequel movies (the newer movies) I think any of the original movies are better in comparison.

[Whill]

That seems to be a fairly common opinion I run into on the internet. I won't rate the prequels compared to the originals here, but I will say that I do like all the Star Wars movies.

[The Game Guy]

That seems to be a fairly common opinion I run into on the internet. I won't rate the prequels compared to the originals here, but I will say that I do like all the Star Wars movies.

I have seen the first prequel and thought it was ok. The second one was so bad everytime I tried to watch it I fell asleep and I liked the 3rd prequel.

[Whill]

I'll agree that Episode II was my least favorite of the three prequels.

[The Game Guy]

I'll agree that Episode II was my least favorite of the three prequels.

I am not sure what it was able that episode but, I just couldnt get into it. I tried and I tried. I really wanted to see all the episodes, mostly because I am a completist, but so far I haven't been able to do so because I always trip up on episode 2.

[SunFury79]

After spending way too much time over at Wookieepedia and reading up on the Sith Wars and the Old Republic, I've been kicking around the idea of doing a game.

The idea is set between episodes 1 and 2 and the pc's are Jedi traveling the galaxy settling disputes and trying to prevent the inevitable war. This time period is at the end of the Golden Age of the Republic where Senators and Corporations are becoming more and more corrupt from finding loopholes in the bureacracy. The corruption in the Senate is being dealt with at this time, and the Jedi are out to clean up the messes and bring the corrupt to justice. They would also investigate rumors of the Trade Fed's Droid Army harrassing other sytems like they did Naboo.

I also want to seed in rumors of Jedi falling from the path or disappearing with the pc's eventually coming across Dark Jedi or Dooku's Dark Side Acolytes or maybe a super weapon of some sort. Overall, it'd be a game about the pc's being true Jedi, paragons of justice and defenders of the galaxy, in a time when the galaxy was still pretty much intact, but ruled by greed and lust for power, and warfare on a galactic scale is about to begin.

Unfortunately, I'm not having a whole lot of success coming up with the particulars. Anyone wanna give me a hand on ideas for plot and actual story events, especially how to start it all?