Star Wars Game TDM-Style

[doghead]

I quite like what he says about plot and pacing. Its a good take on the movies.

However, I'm less sure what to think about his contention that all StarWars games really should take the central stage in the way the movie does. Perhaps he is right, but perhaps if you keep the other elements he talks about, a game set on a much smaller stage can keep the feel. People raising to the challenge of fighting for something they believe in despite the awful odds against them. And so becoming heros.

 

[Catulle]

I quite like what he says about plot and pacing. Its a good take on the movies.

...People raising to the challenge of fighting for something they believe in despite the awful odds against them. And so becoming heros.

I think this may be where the 'pace' thing comes in alongside the magnitude of the events.

For example, in A New Hope, Luke does exactly what you outline, but how much screen time does Lucas spend on it? Hardly any (and along the way he fits in a fight). Once the Falcon's out of hyperspace , the gloves are off and Luke, at least, is heroing away. In fact, you could say he takes that decision in the (brief) Tatooine denoument ("I want to become a Jedi like my father").

To contrast, the process with which Anakin develops is much slower, barely registering in The Phantom Menace... and what's the result there?

Just some scattered thoughts, really.

Regards,

Barry

 

[KitanaVorr]

I would suggest people checking out the link supplied by Barry or Catulle or Barry-Catulle or Catulle-Barry or Batulle...

That's exactly how I like to run my Star Wars games (and most of my games in particular) - though definitely much darker than bright and happy which is part of the reason why I'm hesitant to include too many people in this game. It would get decentralized. However, the players in the first half do not necessarily need to be same in the second half.

I mean ya'all mostly be kinda dead...being that it's approximately 60+ years later and all...

EDIT: I should add that just because your PCs are important does not mean you're immune from permenant death...

 

[doghead]

I think this may be where the 'pace' thing comes in alongside the magnitude of the events.

Magnitude. That was the word I was looking for. Perhaps its comes down somewhat to my GM style. I tended to play lower level games where the characters are more likely to be trying to save a town or village (or themselves) than an Empire or Galalaxy. But pacing is definately a key ingredient to getting the StarWars feel, whatever the magnitude.

 

[Tanstaafl]

Magnitude is a good word... I was trying to explain this to a friend (why the first Star Wars movies were, IMO, so much better than the recent ones). I called it the 'fairy tale' feeling. In the first trilogy there is an impossible task that a small group of heroes undertake, they get a little help along the way, but in the end it is their courage and strength of heart that wins out against superior numbers and firepower.

The chance of death and the tremendous consequences that failure would have add drama and suspense. Also, the characters are human, they have weaknesses and flaws, they make mistakes, they carry on...

 

[Nuke261]

Magnitude. That was the word I was looking for. Perhaps its comes down somewhat to my GM style. I tended to play lower level games where the characters are more likely to be trying to save a town or village (or themselves) than an Empire or Galalaxy. But pacing is definately a key ingredient to getting the StarWars feel, whatever the magnitude.

I also try to run smaller, more meaningful campaigns. But I also try to make them relate to something greater, showing how small changes can have an impact. Or how a small event can tie into something bigger.

 

[KitanaVorr]

Magnitude is a good word... I was trying to explain this to a friend (why the first Star Wars movies were, IMO, so much better than the recent ones). I called it the 'fairy tale' feeling. In the first trilogy there is an impossible task that a small group of heroes undertake, they get a little help along the way, but in the end it is their courage and strength of heart that wins out against superior numbers and firepower.

The chance of death and the tremendous consequences that failure would have add drama and suspense. Also, the characters are human, they have weaknesses and flaws, they make mistakes, they carry on...

wow this is word for word my Gangs of Texas game. If you like that, than you'll like reading that game in the forum. Ordinary people stuck in extraordinary circumstances and rising to the occasion. That's the whole theme of it. They're not out to save the world, they're just out to save their homes, their lives and those that they love.



For this Star Wars game I'm aiming for a 'destiny' thing and a look at how what someone does in the past affects the future in monumental ways.

You're a nobody - stuck in a nowhere world. Your life is the most boring thing imaginable...and then one day something happens that's extraordinary and it changes the face of the galaxy as we know it. Only you probably won't realize that. You won't be alive for that. But the future holds the fruit of your labors...

P.S. I wouldn't get to attached to any established timeline after ROTJ...

 

[ThoughtBubble]

Hey, TDM, is it too late to drop my hat in the ring?

 

[KitanaVorr]

ok

I will be posting the storyline/plot and basic concept tommorrow. Think of possible characters - please have several in mind. Also keep in mind that I my tweak your characters to fit into the story so be attached but not THAT much attached...



I'd like to take a poll...

Rebel, Imperial, Neutral - who would want which type of character? Would you be interested in trying out a battle scene via pbp?

 

[Nuke261]

I am not interested in nuetral. Not saying I can't do it, but I would rather be Rebel or Imperial if I get a say.

Was thinking I would like a tech/mechanic type character. So if you have any use for that slot I can build around that.

Nuke