OK, I am hoping to run an old-fashioned Star Wars D6 (the discontinued West End Games system) game in about the turn of the year.

I'm new here but as I understand it, I will pitch the game in the Wanted-Players forum (when it is ready) but here I can ask for advice on the game.  If I'm wrong, let this thread move or die.  Otherwise, I would love to pick your brains on the following questions...

GAME SYSTEM:  I know that there are several RPG rulesets for Star Wars.  I'm familiar with the d20 rules for others settings but I have never played Wizard's d20 Star Wars.  The Fantasy Flight version of Star Wars seems to have different versions for particular types of Star Wars characters.  Truth is, I am only really familiar with the old D6 game.

I am leaning towards it for a couple of reasons. D6 is terribly simple, elegant and thus fast!  Also, D6 is an older system unfairly forgotten these days except for those old enough to actually remember slouching into a a theater in 1977 to see if this crazy space opera was everything it was rumored to be (fun fact: it was!).  D6 is probably offered less than other rulesets so this game might a treat.

Is there a reason I should consider one of the other rulesets?  There are a few aspects of the D6 system that don't work as well anymore (or never did).

ERA:  I'm thinking about setting the game during the time of Rebellion.  The iconic Star Wars (and to my mind, the best of it) was Episodes IV-VI.  Star Wars works best for underdogs and the Rebels were very much underdogs.  Also, the six movies so far are really the only inarguable canon.  Episode VII (The Force Awakens) and the succeeding movies will also be canon but no one yet really knows much about them.

The Star Wars Extended Universe was, IMO, kind of hit-and-miss, some ideas worked and some came across like fanfic, bad fanfic at that.  Given the sheer amount of it (like novels published weekly), sooner or later the EU was going to contradict itself.  Still, the idea of Infinities intrigues me.  And techincally every SW PbP game is an alternate history.

Still, would another era (or Infinity) be better, even the rare times when the Galaxy wasn't tearing itself into little bits...


I will stop here and see if this thread is apropos and/or if there is enough interest in it.  Thanks in advance for your feedback...

Sounds like fun, and I'm interested when you're ready to start the game.  That said, I've GMed and played D6 Star Wars.
One of my favorite sessions was when my character fought in the space battle over Endor, with a fully crewed, heavily modified yt1300. :-)
This message was last edited by a moderator, as it was against the ToU, at 17:12, Wed 28 Oct 2015.

Hi and welcome to RPoL! It's fun stuff, I'm sure you'll have a good time.

Star Wars D6 has some love here on the site, though not quite as much as the D20 editions, particularly SAGA (the 4th-ish edition of SW). D6 moves nice and simple here on forums, which is a nice perk. You may want to consider that there are really two editions of D6, though.

First Edition runs very simply and without a lot of moving parts. It has a minimalist feel to it, with no rules for tactical movement, time management, and only the simplest rules on the Force, which may or may not come up in your game. It's my personal favorite because I feel Star Wars should be fast and very simple, without a lot of heavy math or tactical planning to it. It's a zany shiny pew pew vwoom setting, and should have similar rules. Biggest problem I see with it is that there is no pdf on the whole internet, so your players have to either have the book or you have to explain it really well. Many people prefer a bit more meat to their games, though.

Second Edition is much closer to the full RPGs most people seem to prefer. It's got rules on movement, a lot more skills available, robust systems for handling starships (combat, tinkering, custom designing, astrogation, everything), the Force (don't pick up a lightsaber, it's a trap!), gear (again, lots of customization available), all sorts of stuff. The books are pretty common, and hoo boy is there resource material available all over the webbernets. The only games I've seen with more online support are D&D and Pathfinder.

So yeah, I suggest picking the right version of D6 for your game. I do have some nice stuff to say about other Star Wars systems, but if you're familiar and comfortable with D6, there's really no reason to run something else. A ton of people love D6, so you aren't cutting yourself off from the fanbase on RPoL or anything. Though I do recommend picking up the FFG games for the artwork, regardless of whether you plan to use them. They have some of the most inspirational Star Wars art I've ever seen. Flipped through Edge of the Empire and ended up with a whole campaign idea in two days. :D

As for era, I'm actually surprised how few games there are set during the Rebellion era anymore. You could easily fill in some space there, or do an Infinities story where, for instance, Luke didn't destroy the Death Star and now the PCs are the stars of the Rebellion led by the survivors of Yavin IV. Or whatever else pops into your head. So many ideas could work there, and you'll probably find a group who totally digs any idea you propose. It's Star Wars. There's never an idea no one wants to explore.

Hope I said something helpful! (And if you decide to go First Edition D6, consider me super interested!)

There are quite of few WEG lovers. So let us know if you have any more questions.

In reply to Nintaku (msg # 3):

I wonder if the Phineas and Ferb Star Wars "movie" (really just a triple length episode) came from the creators' Star Wars RPG campaign.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the ToU, at 17:16, Wed 28 Oct 2015.

One other option is the legally-free-to-download OpenD6 rules (derived from the original WEG Star Wars D6).

My thanks for all of your replies! :-)

Frost73ite,  [REDACTED]

For myself, I also loved the YT-1300 myself (for the unfamiliar, the YT-1300 was the stock ship that Han Solo turned into the Millennium Falcon).  What an iconic ship.  I will probably offer the party their own YT-1300 that has its own 'years of special modifications' (Captain Solo has made his notes available to the Rebellion; the hyperdrive is still tempermental).

I kinda hope they don't choose a YT-1300, though.  First, the inside is technically bigger than the outside (and you thought the TARDIS was cool!) and the 'Falcon's layout is adorably goofy.  With that cockpit bolted onto the starboard side, how can Solo keep track of the port side?
http://web.archive.org/web/200....au/sw/mf/falcon.htm

Nintaku,  You and me are of like minds, I think.  Of all of the RPG systems and settings, Whiz-bang SW D6 is the simplest rules and well-known setting out there.  If I had to GM for a group I knew nothing about, SW D6 would be my go-to game.

I like both editions of SW D6 so I will probably take player vote as to what system.  I think the systems are close enough, I could probably let the party mix-and-match a hybrid edition of the earlier and later rules if they wished.

A Google image search shows me just how purty the FFG Star Wars art is.  Certainly I could use the FFG books as source material at the very least.

[REDACTED]

I will welcome player's suggestions of alternate history.  I wonder what it would be like if Leia had been Obi-Wan's charge and we had watched her progression as a Jedi or maybe a droid rebellion against ownership.

Frost73ite,  I'm not familiar with Phineas and Ferb but I will keep an eye out for it. :-)

borderline_dnd,  thanks for the encouragement and speaking of questions...

CHARACTER MOTIVATION:  The characters will be heroes in this game.  This is very 'Star Wars' and the game moves faster if each character knows they can trust the other characters.  However, characters who take the 'scenic route' to the right thing (like Han and Lando) will be allowed.  And the game should center on a ship, a stock light freighter; just like the movies and most campaigns.

So the big question is; WHY are our heroes fighting for good on a dinky little spaceship rather than on the battlefield or in a starfighter?  I see the answer is between two extremes;
1.  The characters are dedicated Rebel agents who perform covert missions in Imperial territory using the cover of small-time traders.  Just running the ship is adventure enough sometimes as the Rebel need to maintain a convincing cover and the Rebellion cannot always keep them supplied.
OR...
2.  The character are just trying making a (dis)honest credit during a time of civil war.  The survivors just want to find a job and keep flyin'.  But somehow they keep getting involved with damnfool idealistic crusades and that pesky Rebellion.  Or maybe that scoundrel actually thinks there's a chance with that stuck-up, idealistic noble.  This is the plot arc of the crew of Serenity from Firefly, a bunch of survivors who eventually do the right thing.

I will probably start with good folk in a bad way eventually joining the Rebellion.  Apart from Leia (who was a sympathizer from the get-go), all of the other heroes simply got involved with the Rebellion by accident.  It wasn't their first choice but their last one.  It could be that different characters have different points between those two poles.  Or maybe some crew don't know that their ship secretly works for the Rebellion (but would the noble Rebels be so deceptive?).  Let me know what you think?

And, as always, thanks for your past and future feedback...
This message was last edited by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 04:06, Mon 02 Nov 2015.

I'd go for the 1st idea that you through out there. I think it would work best because the characters would know why they were working together.

Regarding editions of the game, you have the WEG editions and FFG. d20 and Saga just don't seem to hold a torch to either, and didn't really handle "Star Wars" well (D&D with lightsabers).

FFG is the most accessible, in that it is currently in print and will be for a while. WEG suffers from being decades out of print, thus meaning that piracy is likely to want to take place (boo hiss), unless you just run it in D6 Space.

It's also very nice to play through, giving the players agency to make cool things happening and focusing on telling a cool Star Wars story. This isn't anything revolutionary, and I've seen this play style used in other games, but FFG has it right there, no tools needed.

That being said, because of FFG's story game elements, I feel like it would be kind of unwieldy as a play by post game. There's a lot of back and forth needed to roll, and when a few second response can take 3 days to conclude, I'm not sure how fast and easy the game becomes when you have to wait on responses every time you turn around. I'm not sure how much easier or difficult WEG would be to run.

Go with the game system that you are most comfortable. You're the GM and so the system needs to work with you. The players will come. Rpol is large enough that there will be enough players. And it'll be the responsibility of the players to find their old books, find new books or websites and/or to ask questions. The GM needs to run the game and help players.

Note: Not all players view the Game Proposals forum. And fewer even decide to post within the forum so don't let the feedback here discourage you.

Good point, the first option (characters are Rebel agents) will be the first choice for the players.

Thanks for the encouragement! :-)  As there is a lot of FFG, I think I will still use the new and freely available OpenD6 which greatly resembles the old WEG rules.  And there are already a bunch of FFG games out there.  This way, young RPoL padawans will have multiple choices.

Let us know when you have the game ready

I'm also interested in this.  I miss the old D6 system so glad to see someone think about bringing it back.

borderline_dnd, JJCobra, I will post in the Players Wanted forum when the game is ready.  It may a take a month or two.  Because of my current schedule and that I want to get this right, it may take a month or two.

OK, the PC crew needs a ship.  Here are my thoughts (and I welcome yours):

I would love to use some of the canon freighters in Star Wars and if the party wants that, so be it.  But if I had to make a custom ship for the game;

THE SHIP DESIGN WOULD BE OLD:  The basic frame for the ship class is thousands of years old.  The blueprints for the class have long since passed into the Public Domain.

THE SHIP DESIGN IS COMMON:  The class is one of the most common ships in the Galaxy.  Thus, the Empire doesn't really gain an advantage by knowing what class of ship our heroes are flying.

THE SHIP DESIGN IS MODULAR:  Modules for this class are common and varied.  An hour in a Rebel or scoundrel's hanger and the ship might look completely different, further confounding the Empire.  This allows ship customization between missions.

THE CREW'S SHIP IS OLD AND WITH AN UNCERTAIN PROVENANCE:  The crew doesn't know the full history of their ship.  It is very old but has all the necessary modern upgrades to compete.  This means that their ship will surprise them now and again.

THE SHIP HAS BEEN COVERTLY UPGRADED BY THE REBELS AND/OR THE SCOUNDRELS THEMSELVES:  It has secret compartments for sure, as well as a workshop for forgery and hacking.  The Empire might not discover these 'enhancements' during a casual inspection but they will if they are determined enough.  The crew must still be cautious.

One open enhancement is a bacta tank.  This is so that characters don't die just because they are far from a hospital.  There is an advanced control interface accessible from the tank that can be used to control ship's systems (with a considerable penalty, this is to give the poor player whose character is bobbing in the tank something to do).

The ship also has a magnetic field generator, a piece of improbable technology that only seems to work in the Star Wars Galaxy.  In short, it is how someone can walk out of their ship into space while wearing only a breath mask.  Its range is limited; too far out and you will need a spacesuit  or be REALLY strong with the Force.

THERE ARE NO SECONDARY VEHICLES OR LIFEPODS:  When you have more than one vehicle, players separate.  When players separate, the game drags.  No lifepods mean the characters will fighter harder for 'their' ship.  The characters will have one ground vehicle aboard for planetary travel.

THE SHIP IS NOT OWNED BY A SINGLE CHARACTER:  It is possible in the Star Wars game for a single character to own a ship or some droids (which can be characters in their own right).  Every so often, such a character might get possessive about their property and not want to use it to fight The Good Fight.  This just slows the game down and the characters seem less heroic.

THE SHIP IS COMBAT-READY AND WITH EXTRA GUNS:  In the original SW game, characters usually got an anemic ship with a single gun.  This was not a terrible thing as the few TIE fighters attacking you were scaled for such encounters.  But only one person could fly the ship and only one person could fire the gun.  That meant most players just waited passively until combat was over, very NOT Star Wars.

So the game ship is very capable with multiple weapons, powerful shields and the like.  This is so every character can participate in the combat. This doesn't automatically make the characters great gunners but at least every player can act.   Don't worry, I've got lots of TIE fighters to add for a better challenge.

THE SHIP HAS LOTS OF WINDOWS:  On a purely aesthetic level, Star Wars ships have bigger windows than other space operas.  And why not, we need to see the swooping corkscrews of Star Wars combat.  No other franchise has ever done them better.

Let me know what you think...

Sounds good.

I may have found such a ship - it's old, going back to the old jedi/sith wars. Hope it's something you can use.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki...tock_light_freighter
This message was last edited by the user at 06:21, Sun 08 Nov 2015.

Cubalibre, y'know, I think an XS Stock Light Freighter could work.  Especially since I was able to find some deck plans.  It will be offered to the players.

Having talked about the ship, let me talk a little about the crew.  There are three types of characters that make Star Wars what it is; aliens, droids and Jedi.  Other space operas have aliens and droids (robots) but not in quite the same way Star Wars does.  And Jedi are pretty much the unique hallmark of the setting.

So I want to include at least one alien, one droid and one padawan (or other very minor Force-sensitive) amongst the NPC crew to help evoke the setting.  So let me ask...

ALIENS:  What kind of alien should the NPC crew be?  I am thinking of a common species.  For this discussion, a common species is a species we have seen at least once in the movies (not the EU or games) and in a cosmopolitan environment (that is, probably used to space travel).  Ewoks, Jawas and Sandpeople are iconic aliens but they seem to stay on one planet.

DROIDS: What kind of droid should the droid NPC be?  In Star Wars, a person might own dozens of droids but only one or two seem to have personality enough to actually be 'characters' (literally).  This droid does not have to necessarily be from the movies as everyone understands what a droid is.

In addition to this droid, a 3PO unit will be part of the crew if there are any non-verbal PCs or NPCs (for example, astromech droids or wookies).  The protocol droid will be very skilled in choosing its replies, it will do so that the meaning of the non-verbal partners conversation can be inferred by those nearby.  So as to encourage non-verbal heroes (a nigh-unique feature of Star Wars), this particular protocol droid will be utterly devoted to those it translates for and not quite as annoying as SOME protocol droids I might mention.

In addition, should the party wish, their ship could be intelligent.  We know the Millennium Falcon's computer is bright enough to at least have a peculiar dialect.  The ship will be a terrible pilot so that the crew can shine, probably more of an intelligent library.

FORCE-SENSITIVES:  Likely our padawan will be young so we can watch them grow into the Jedi they will become.  The padawan will likely be human as being either Force-sensitive or alien is enough 'different' to make the character stand out.  Both in one character could be difficult to play.  However, a few aliens are so cosmopolitan that they are essentially human in outlook.  This could be the very humanoid characters such as Togruta, Twi'lek or Zabrak.

Let me know what you think.  I value your feedback...

The XS sounds like the perfect ship.

---

The make up of the crew is also good. I like the classic feel of the ship and crew that you're proposing.

RPO - Since you have the players interested in your game, the ship and crew concepts - this would be the time that BBR might ask that the discussion be taken to the actual game :)

But then if we did... we might have missed out on Cubalibre's contribution.

---

And finally I would like to comment on the era of play. Episode V is a great backdrop!

borderline_dnd, I am taking it slow as I will have more spare time in the near future than right now.  But I only have one more post of questions and then I will start a thread in Wanted - Players forum and get this game started properly.

So my last likely set of questions will deal with rules and suggestions for house rules.  As I see it, there are three sets of possible rules for this game.  The ultimate choice of the game system will largely depend on the prospective players.  The choices are:

1st Edition WEG Star Wars: The only legal form of this game is the out-of-print hardcover available from Amazon and sometimes eBay.
2nd Edition (Revised) WEG Star Wars: As above, all legal copies of this edition must be purchased second-hand.
OpenD6 Space: This is the legally-free-to-download evolution of the WEG Star Wars rules.  It is very similar to them.  If the majority of the players cannot obtain a hardcover of earlier versions, these are the rules I MUST use for this game.

It could pages of debate to argue which is the best rules system so I will focus on the common elements of all three games.  All three rules systems are elegant, intuitive and therefore fast.  There are still some things I can tweak to make the rules even smoother.  Let me know what you think of these suggestions.

CHARACTER CREATION:
ALL PLAYER CHARACTERS ARE EXPECTED TO WORK TOGETHER FOR GOOD:  Some genres work well with degrees of trust.  But paranoia and distrust just slow a Star Wars game down.  Ultimately your characters will end up on the side of Good even if they don't begin there.  You can generally trust any allied NPCs.  Betrayal in Star Wars is devastating but happens very rarely.

EACH MEMBER OF THE CREW SHOULD HAVE A PERSONAL CONNECTION WITH TWO OTHER CREW MEMBERS:  This is required in the earlier rules and I strongly encourage it.  Any NPC crew will be available for a personal connection if one can't be worked out with other PCs.

ANY ADULT HUMAN CHARACTER SHOULD WORK OFF THE SHELF:  No kids.  It requires too many plot hoops to explain why a kid is brought along for dangerous adventures.  An exception will be made for Force-sensitives as they are so rare and necessary.

ANY BALANCED ALIEN CHARACTERS SHOULD BE ACCEPTABLE:  Almost any movie alien WEG statted out should be fine as made.  Other aliens, such as from the prequels, EU or just your own creation can work as long as they are balanced with the human characters.  A completely custom species should have a little background to show that the player wants to actually play an alien and not just have groovy alien powers.

DROID CHARACTERS ARE MORE ATTRACTIVE IN THIS GAME:  Few players play droids.  This is no surprise as droids are considered property, they have programs that prevent them from disobeying the living in general and the game rules slant droid to do one or two things very well and everything else badly.  In this game, PC droids can be special Rebel espionage models, free-willed with distant, forgiving owners as a cover.  They are also enhanced in ways few would suspect.  That really bad protocol droid might really be a really good assassin droid.

I will also allow droid character to be more even in stats like a life form; built with the same rules as alien but mechanical in nature rather than living.  To really drive this point home, I will allow Human Replica Droids (similar to Guri from the EU).

FORCE-SENSITIVE CHARACTERS ARE MORE ATTRACTIVE:  In the usual rules, a Force-sensitive has to sacrifice a great deal of their potential just to be able to attempt even minor and routine uses of the Force.  LIghtsaber combat will also be easier and more reliable.  All Force-sensitive characters can have a lightsaber at game start (don't lose it).

To counter these better Force-sensitive characters:
The Empire has made finding anyone with Force potential a priority.  There is a bounty on all such 'talents' and a reward for those who simply inform.
The Empire has special squads of 'Jedi hunters' who investigate all credible reports of Jedi.  These squads will generally contain at least one Sith Inquisitor of better ability (having had access to a teacher) along with other very skilled individuals.
These Inquisitors can sniff out use of the Force.  The more a padawan uses the Force unnecessarily, the more their presence is known.
The Dark Side of the Force is working to corrupt obvious padawans, its effects take the form of outrageous fortune.
Force-sensitives have resist the Dark Side every day and it will tempt them.
In short, a padawan should use the Force only when necessary.  If you can walk across the room and get your lightsaber, you shouldn't 'call' it to your hand instead.

Roughly, a starting Force-sensitive character should be about as powerful a Luke at the beginning of Empire (some body control and ESP, minor telekinesis with great effort and time).

THIS IS NOT AN EQUIPMENT GAME:  The character will win the day with their superior skills while the Empire will lose with its superior resources.  Don't get too worried about or attached to any equipment.  Exceptions are sentimental items with no bonuses, a few +1D bonus items if the player can work such an item into an interesting backstory.  A lightsaber is a sentimental item.  It won't generally be lost for long barring player arrogance.

ALL CREW CAN UNDERSTAND EACH OTHER:   Even if your wookie howls and your R2 unit beeps, they will be understood by and understand more verbal characters.  This is a freebie, assume your characters have spent time enough to understand each other.

RULES
TACTICAL MOVEMENT RULES ARE DISCOURAGED:  Tactical movement requires maps and grids and is discouraged.  Instead, chase encountere are assumed to be matters of complexity and are resolved through skill rolls.  Tactical advantages (such as a higher speed rating) are treated as modifiers to skill rolls.

COMBAT WITH EXTRAS:  Your average party can take out dozens of Stormtroopers or TIE Fighters easily but it is still tedious to go through the rules mechanics of making sure.  So minions are like extras in the movies, they die by the score.

In Star Wars, both Stormtroopers and TIE fighters should be either firing with terrible aim or dead/a pretty ball of fire.  So if a PC damages a stormtrooper at all, the stormtrooper dies.   If a gunner damages a TIE fighter, the TIE fighter blows up.   But remember that the Emperor has endless minions, you can't stop them all.   Your solution is to retreat while killing dozens of troopers and TIEs because the Emperor has thousands more right behind them.

YOUR SHIP HAS LOTS OF GUNS AND SHIELDS:  Every character can participate in starship combat, badly perhaps, but still participating.

That's it for now.  Let me know what you think and I will answer your replies.  Otherwise this thread has achieved its purpose and its last few posts will probably direct the viewer to the upcoming player's ad.

Your timing works well with mine. Traveling right now and a deserted airporthe I see...

WEG 2nd revised edition works for me since I do have it.

If a much older and most likely more heavily modified/jury-rigged.  Then I think the Barloz-class Medium Freighter ticks all the marks.  According to source materials it was the YT-1300 of it's generation.

http://deckplans.00sf.com/CEC/Barloz/Barloz.html

Oooo, JJCobra, the Barloz is a ship big enough to hold most 'special modifications' and it has a nice Zahn provenance.  Yes, it will be a ship choice available to the party. :-)

If my schedule holds, I should have the recruitment thread open in the Wanted - Players forum by this time next week.  I will certainly link to in from this thread.

I feel a disturbance in the Force...

And by that I mean my game is ready to run.  Check it out in the Wanted - Players forum.  While everyone is welcome, I especially hope you all like the idea. :-)

With the game now recruiting, this thread has happily served its purpose.  I sincerely thank all of those who read and especially those who posted.  If there is any remaining frayed ends in this thread, I will happily respond to them in the OOC thread of my new game (you don't have to play to post,  lurkers are welcome).

Again, my thanks, it seems the Force was with us, always...