What If? Star Wars Style...

As you can see from some of the links to the left, I'm a gamer. Unabashedly so.

I've run role-playing games for 30 years now, starting with the old 3 Little Black Book boxed version of Traveller and the original boxed sets of D&D & First Edition AD&D.

At this point, I run two RPG systems. Star Wars Saga Edition and d20 Modern and many of its variant flavors.

I'll talk about d20 Modern another time, but now's the time to geek out over my reimagining of the Star Wars saga. The setting is the same, the background cast of characters are the same, but everything is just slightly off. It begins one hot summer day on Tatooine, in the dusty town of Mos Espa. The Old Republic still exists. Palpatine is still just a Senator from Naboo, and Qui-Gon Jinn, along with Padme Amidala are gambling their future, indeed their lives, on a 9 year old blond slave boy who has the ability to race pods.

The race unfolds through the first lap and a half much as it does in Episode I: The Phantom Menace. On the second lap, in the film, you may recall, Anakin takes a near miss from a slugthrower rifle fired by a Tusken Raider.

In this campaign, however, the Tusken Raider doesn't miss. His bullet easily pierces Anakin's skull, disabling him, and causing the podracer to spin out of control in a disastrous crash. The combination of the bullet wound and the blunt force trauma from the crash kills Anakin Skywalker instantly.

And suddenly, the main protagonists of the six films are gone. No Luke, no Leia, no Anakin, no Darth Vader.

Superficially, the galaxy is the same. There is still a crisis on Naboo. Darth Maul is on Tatooine, hunting down the Naboo fugitives. Darth Sidious/Senator Palpatine is engaged in political maneuvering behind the scenes to arrange the fall of the Chancellor, Finis Valorum. Two Jedi, Qui-Gon Jinn, the Naboo Queen (Padme Amidala), her retinue, R2D2, and a certain bumbling Gungan, having lost their bet, and their disabled ship, are now stuck on Tatooine...

And so begins the story of our heroes.

I'll post more of this as the story unfolds. Don't want to spoil it for my players, after all.

Brief Book Review

For anybody who is a fan of the Star Wars EU, Star Wars in general, or just looking for a fun, little pageturner SF story, get thee to a bookstore to purchase a copy of Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor by Matthew Stover.

It's easily the best Star Wars novel since Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, all those years ago.

It may be the best work of fiction in the Star Wars universe since The Empire Strikes Back.

30 Years Ago Tonight

The worst two hours of television in history aired. Just thought you should know...

And for the masochists who really wish to endure the two hour horror that was the Star Wars Holiday Special, here you go.

There's a reason it has never been aired again, and that George Lucas has said he'd like to track down every copy of it and destroy them. Don't say that you weren't warned.

A New Hope

Looks a little familiar...


You can find this here. Also from there, find links for the poster and T-Shirt, if so inclined.

Not sure where I've seen this before, but what the hell.