Monday, June 18, 2012

Defining Game #7: WEG Star Wars

7. Star Wars RPG, 1988

I remember when this game first came out, it was a roleplaying game...set in the Star Wars universe. "What? Are you kidding me?", I thought. That was so awesome at the time, and West End Games had an instant hit, I was blown away.

It's really funny, in high school I got in with a group that was playing Star Wars, this would also be the first time I went somewhere else to game other than home (or the neighborhood). Not being old enough to drive however my folks had to drive me there. The house they drove me to is in the neighborhood I currently live in, in fact it's just one street over. It's kind of neat to think about. Anyway, WEG Star Wars was great fun, it was a great license and with the sourcebooks I got to learn so much more about my favorite franchise (at the time) to boot.

15 comments:

  1. I've owned this and loved it but never got to play it, does that make sense?

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    1. Makes total sense, it's a good browsing book with great fluff and pictures and stuff. Something about it's overall production quality just feels 'right'. I kinda hate that all of my books are no longer on my shelf.

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  2. One of the chaps at work just moved house and gave me a copy of this, the sourcebook and gm screen t'other day as he knows of my love of the Wars, it's great even just for browsing!

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    1. Wow, that is generous indeed. The WEG stuff is just too hard to beat, kudos on an excellent pick up.

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  3. I have a very distinct memory of this game. I was in my 20s. I remember reading the rules in a coin laundry. It was raining outside and combined with the dreary laundry it was very dispressing. The rules, somehow brightened my day.

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    1. Heh, that is distinct, I can picture it clearly in my head too. I like moments like these that we tie to very specific games and the like. One such for me is the 3E DM's guide, which I would read while in a full leg cast and a sleeping infant daughter in my lap.

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    2. I'm a fan of the writing style of the old WEG miniatures game too (Feskitt Bobb FTW), I can't get enough of some 80's Star Wars! Also, it has unit composition for units of Scout Troopers, which I spent months looking for...

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    3. The sourcebooks had all kinds of cool stuff like scout trooper organization, TIE fighter squadron makeup, and more. That was the best part about these books, expanding on Star Wars with incredible depth.

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  4. This was the first time our group really started breaking out of simulationist style play. The rules are really perfect for cinematic adventures, a remarkable feat. The players were split over a couple of states so we didnt play often, but what a great game. Ghostbusters (similar system) is very good too, but we never managed to make it work creatively.

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    1. For us the game was very episodic, kind of like the Clone Wars cartoon is now.

      I never got to play Ghostbusters, but it seems like a game I would've enjoyed quite a bit.

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  5. Thanks for the flashback. It was the first series that I GM'd growing up. It was an awesome line for West End. I was sad to see it stop but I still have all my books and read them still

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    1. You're a better man than I for hanging onto all of your books! I really miss mine, especially the Thrawn trilogy sourcebook.

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    2. I have that one. That series reignited my passion for SW. Great series

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  6. One of my fondest memories was going through a shoot out and not killing any one, because no one wanted to pick up a dark side point. After playing tons of hack and slash games it was a funny revelation.

    ColKG

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    1. Heh, that's pretty good. I forgot all about Dark Side points. I was always playing a Bounty Hunter/Boba Fett knockoff so I guess I was pretty indifferent to a few Dark Side points here and there.

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