Careers

I'm going to start easy so I can ease into this thing.  I believe I will start with character creation.  Specifically, careers.  Even without WEG Star Wars I can think of a lot.  There are so many possible careers in the universe that I think anything the gm approves can be used.  Here Are a few in no particular order:

Pilot
Bounty Hunter
Farmer (Air, ocean, hydroponic or even dirt)
Engineer
Administrator
Aristocrat
Imperial Officer
Stormtrooper
Rebel
Smuggler
Pirate
Con Man
Entertainer
Bandit
Merchant
Senator
Explorer
Bureaucrat
And of course, Jedi or Force User.

The Phantom Menace

Took the boys to see The Phantom Menace today.  Their first time, my second.  My initial reaction is that it is better on the big screen than it is on DVD.  It seemed long.  I dislike midichlorians.  Darth Maul is a badass and the lightsaber duel was both their and my favorite part.  I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later.

Edit:  Oh, and I don't think the 3D added much.

Resources

My main sources will be as follows:

Games
Barbarians of Lemuria (of course)
Barbarians of the Aftermath
Honor + Intrigue (when I finally have a chance to read it)
WEG's Star Wars Roleplaying Game
Mini Six

Websites and Forum Discussions
Rancor Pit
Barbarians of Lemuria and Star Wars
BoL Star Wars Conversion
[thought] Barbarians of the Outer Rim

I will list these to the right under Resources.  I will also add more as I discover other helpful sources.

Perspective and Biases

"The golden age of Science Fiction is 12"

Peter Graham

I thought I'd better explain some about my perspectives and biases when it comes to Star Wars so that those who read this will, perhaps, understand where I'm coming from and some of the decisions I make.

I am an original trilogy guy.  I've only seen 1 1/2 of the prequels.  I haven't read any of the novels or short stories and have only read a few comics.  The only Star Wars video game I've played is Lego Star Wars (which rocks by the way.)

I am not a prequel hater.  What I've seen has been mildly entertaining.  It's just that they do not capture my imagination as the original movies did.  I was 12 when The Empire Strikes Back hit the big screen.  I remember distinctly when and where I was when I saw it and the other movies.  Hence the quote above.  I just don't know that much about the rest of the Star Wars Universe.  And actually, much of my knowledge of things outside of the original trilogy comes from Lego Star Wars.

I am also not a super fan.  I love the original movies and the joy they brought me and still bring me.  I recently rewatched them with my sons.  It was there first time.  I do not, however, salivate over every detail of the Star Wars Universe (not that there's anything wrong with that) and periodically have questions about it.  One such is this:  Why is Leia called princess?  I know Queen Amidala was her mum but she being raised by the Organas and they weren't royalty were they?  There is probably a simple answer that the more knowledgeable can answer easily but that I don't know.  I will probably pose other such questions here as they strike me.

So, I hope this helps.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new blog.  I hope you like what I come up with and I look forward to your comments.

Star Wars and BoL Again

Quite awhile ago I wrote a post about combining Star Wars and Barbarians of Lemuria.  Well, as with many of my thoughts I didn't get far with it.  But I'm getting the itch again.  I recently watched the original trilogy with my boys and want to do something with it again.  Let's see how far I get this time.  If I make any progress, I'll share.  Don't hold your breath though.  I'll probably borrow heavily from WEG Star Wars though I want much simpler force rules.  I want to keep the basis as close to BoL as I can, too, but will probably steal concepts from Barbarians of the Aftermath.  It is such a good resource that I can't just pass it by.

The Star Wars Sourcebook

I mentioned in my last post that I picked up The Star Wars Sourcebook during my last trip to Gary's. This is a supplement to West End Games 1st edition Star Wars RPG. It is in really good shape for being printed in 1987.

It has some really cool information in it. It has lists of various starfighters and other starships. It has info on droids, aliens, lightsabers and other various Star Wars goodies. My favorite part, however, is the stats for many of the main characters of the original trilogy. It was only on my second read through of the character section that I realized something:

Yoda does not have the lightsaber skill.

I didn't notice it the first time but it jumped out at me the second time. He's got the melee skill and the melee parry skill but not lightsaber. Obi-Wan has the lightsaber skill. Vader has a slightly better lightsaber skill. Even Luke, who's skills are listed as of the Battle of Yavin, has the lightsaber skill at 4D+1. But Yoda doesn't have it listed. At first I thought it might be a typo or an oversight. But it is my understanding that WEG's material had to pass muster with Lucas' folks. I don't think they would've missed it. So I discarded that idea.

Now, I've been reading various "what-if" threads about the history of the Star Wars universe based only on the original Star Wars film or the first trilogy. An examples is here. So, if Yoda doesn't have the lightsaber skill, at least a portion of the prequels don't make sense (big surprise, some may say) and the original conception of the characters was much different.

I know, I know, this isn't a canon source or anything but it is very interesting to me.