- Star Wars Roleplaying Game (West End Games)
-
Star Wars The Roleplaying Game 
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. First edition book cover, 1987. Illustration based on the original movie poster from Cantrell, 1977.Designer(s) Greg Costikyan Publisher(s) West End Games Publication date 1987 (1st Edition)
1992 (2nd Edition)
1996 (2nd Edition Revised and Expanded)Genre(s) Science fiction System(s) D6 System For the other Star Wars role-playing game, see Star Wars Roleplaying Game (Wizards of the Coast).The Star Wars Roleplaying Game is a role-playing game set in the Star Wars universe, written and published by West End Games (WEG) between 1987[1] and 1999. The rules system was slightly modified and rereleased in 2004 as D6 Space, which used a generic space opera setting rather than the Star Wars setting. An unrelated Star Wars RPG was published by Wizards of the Coast in 2000.
Contents
History
The game, based on WEG's earlier Ghostbusters RPG, established much of the groundwork of what later became the Star Wars Expanded Universe, and their sourcebooks are still frequently cited by Star Wars fans as reference material. Lucasfilm considered their sourcebooks so authoritative that when Timothy Zahn was hired to write what became the Thrawn trilogy, he was sent a box of West End Games Star Wars books and directed to base his novel on the background material presented within.[2]
By the end of the game's run around 140 sourcebook and adventure supplements were published for the game during its run through three editions.[3]
In addition fifteen issues of a magazine series, the Star Wars Adventure Journal, were published between 1994 and 1998. The Adventure Journal was published in novel format of around 280 pages, and consisted of adventures and articles for the game, plus short stories intended to provide inspiration for gamemasters and news relating to Star Wars.
WEG's license to produce Star Wars material was lost after the company declared bankruptcy in 1998, and the license was later picked up by Wizards of the Coast, who held the license until 2010. On 2 August 2011, Fantasy Flight Games announced that they had entered into "comprehensive licensing partnership with Lucasfilm Ltd. for the worldwide rights to publish card, roleplaying, and miniatures games set in the popular Star Wars universe".[4]
The Star Wars Roleplaying Game won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1987.[5]
Game system
The Star Wars Roleplaying Game uses the D6 System, originally developed for the Ghostbusters roleplaying game.
List of core rule books
Second Edition Revised and Expanded cover, 1996
- 1st Edition Rules
- Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (1987) ISBN 0-87431-065-2
- 2nd Edition Rules
- The Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Second Edition (1992) ISBN 0-874-31181-0
- The Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Second Edition, Revised and Expanded (1996) ISBN 0-87431-268-X
List of supplements
- The Star Wars Sourcebook (1987)
- Campaign Pack (1988)
- Tatooine Manhunt (1988)
- Imperial Sourcebook (1988)
- Strike Force Shantipole (1988)
- Battle for the Golden Sun (1988)
- Star Fall (1989)
- Otherspace (1989)
- Otherspace II: Invasion
- Scavenger Hunt (1989)
- Riders of the Maelstrom (1989)
- Crisis on Cloud City (1989)
- The Far Orbit Project (1998)
- Black Ice
- The Game Chambers of Questal
- Domain of Evil (1991)
- The Isis Coordinates (1990)
- Death in the Undercity
- Rebel Alliance Sourcebook (1989)
- Graveyard of Alderaan (1989)
- Death Star Technical Companion (1991)
- Cracken's Rebel Field Guide
- Flashpoint! Brak Sector (1995)
- The Rules Companion
- Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope
- Galaxy Guide 2: Yavin and Bespin
- Galaxy Guide 3: The Empire Strikes Back
- Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races
- Galaxy Guide 5: The Return of the Jedi
- Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters
- Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley
- Galaxy Guide 8: Scouts
- Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim
- Galaxy Guide 10: Bounty Hunters
- Galaxy Guide 11: Criminal Organizations
- Galaxy Guide 12: Aliens - Enemies and Allies
- Fantastic Technology: Guns and Gear
- Planets of the Galaxy Volume 1
- Planets of the Galaxy Volume 2
- Planets of the Galaxy Volume 3
- Wanted by Cracken
- Dark Force Rising Sourcebook
- Heir to the Empire Sourceook
- The Last Command Sourcebook
- Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook
- Dark Empire Sourcebook
- Movie Trilogy Sourcebook
- Creatures of the Galaxy
- Cracken's Rebel Operatives
- Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook
- Heroes and Rogues
- Goroth - Slave of the Empire
- The Planets Collection
- Platt's Starport Guide
- Alliance Intelligence Report
- Hideouts and Strongholds
- Rules of Engagement: The Rebel SpecForce Handbook
- Fantastic Technology: Droids
- Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook
- Secrets of the Sisar Run
- Cracken's Threat Dossier
- Platt's Smugglers Guide
- Pirates and Privateers
- Stock Ships
- Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy
- Black Sands of Socorro
- Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear
- Alien Encounters
- Lord of the Expanse
- The Player's Guide to Tapani
- The Darkstryder Campaign
- Darkstryder: Endgame
- Darkstryder: The Kathol Outback
- Darkstryder: The Kathol Rift
Spinoffs
The Luke Skywalker and Han Solo adventures were a kind of Choose Your Own Adventure book. The Imperial Doublecross gamebook used the Star Wars d6 rules and character's die codes. The Lightsaber Dueling Pack and Starfighter Battle Book were picture gamebooks, presenting viewpoint series of pictures and the possible next courses of action, similar to Ace of Aces.
Four board games - Star Wars: Star Warriors[6] (1987), Star Wars: Escape from the Death Star[7] (1990, not to be confused with the 1977[8] game), Star Wars: Assault on Hoth[9] (1988), and Star Wars: Battle for Endor[10] (1989) - were published and coincided along with the RPG, and a miniature wargame was written in 1989, called Star Wars Miniatures Battles.[11]
In the early 1990s, before the advent of the modern Internet, the FidoNet Star Wars Echo ran a message forum for playing the West End Games Star Wars Roleplaying Game on-line on computer bulletin board systems. The game also gathered a large internet following via such mailing lists such as the SW-RPG Mailing List.
References
- ^ COSTIKYAN Greg, Star Wars: The Role-Playing Game, West End Games, New York, October 1987, ISBN 0-87431-065-2
- ^ http://www.totse.com/en/ego/science_fiction/tzi.html Interview with Zahn
- ^ http://www.sandcrawler.com/SWB/westend.html Star Wars Collectors Bible - West End Games List
- ^ "Use The Force". Fantasy Flight Games. http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=2528. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
- ^ "Origins Award Winners (1987)". Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design. http://www.originsgamefair.com/awards/1987/list-of-winners. Retrieved 2007-10-09.[dead link]
- ^ Star Wars: Star Warriors on Boardgamegeek, a boardgames specialized website
- ^ Star Wars: Escape from the Death Star (1990) on Boardgamegeek, a boardgames specialized website
- ^ Star Wars: Escape from the Death Star Game (1977) on Boardgamegeek, a boardgames specialized website
- ^ Star Wars: Assault on Hoth on Boardgamegeek, a boardgames specialized website
- ^ Star Wars: Battle for Endor on Boardgamegeek, a boardgames specialized website
- ^ Star Wars Miniatures Battles on Boardgamegeek, a boardgames specialized website
Categories:- Star Wars role-playing games
- D6 System
- Greg Costikyan games
- Origins Award winners
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