Lights... Camera... ACTION!!: A Hollywood Quest Original (2024)

Lights... Camera... ACTION!!: A Hollywood Quest Original (1)
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game
Written and Created By: Mike Pondsmith Greg Costikyan, and Dave Alister.
Company: R.Talsorian Games
Publication: Lucasfilms

Audience:
D100 + 400 => 489
Critics:
D100 + 400 => 472
Sales: $444,847,762

While Cyberpunk did become the most popular roleplaying game of all time and expose the great potentials of the medium to more than just fantasy adventures, it was still a niche franchise. Sure, you're pretty sure that the tabletop community had doubled if not tripled thanks to newcomers through Cyberpunk, and the 1st edition had sold more than 10 million copies, something that would have made it a technical New York Times bestseller. It just wasn't something that the general public was going to engage in or have pull into a wide amount of demographics beyond teens and young adults, if nothing due to its maturity; Mary's PG version of Cyberpunk with her friends being an overall rare exception. Few Cyberpunk players were going to share their love for the franchise in the open as it would be met with a lot of confusion and potential ostracization as "Nerds".

Then came the bullshit Satanic Panic and how many zealots were degrading tabletop in general with as much fervor in persecution as the Puritans of old New England. Your influence as a spokesman for the tabletop helped to contain them from dominating the social conversation at a national level, especially among the Republicans, but the controversies would still keep many parents alert and shield their kids from the medium to not get caught up in the fuss.

Overall, it didn't matter if Talsorian Games made the greatest collection of literature in human history if the stigma of satanism or pariahdom kept so many new players from ever daring to make a try. As such, instead of developing Cyberpunk 2020 or that Gundam RPG, Mike's priority for the company would be to create a Star Wars RPG. Since even the most reactionary of puritans and the most popular cool kids of school loved Star Wars, then a Star Wars RPG would be a game that would be free from baseless witchunts and bullying, for no one could be attacked for liking Star Wars. And if parents allowed a kid to play the game, then the door to greater roleplaying was open with the medium being seen for the creative and fun release it was, and thus the rest of Talsorian and by extension TSR would receive new players by proxy and thrive.

In this mission, Talsorian more than succeeded. You've overheard some resentment in Hollywood over Star Wars as a brand, where Lucasfilms could slap the logo on a block of wood and it'd make millions. However, while such might be the case for some of the more out there merchandise, you are very happy to see that Talsorian made an entry into the saga on par with the films in terms of artistic excellence with rich lore and and fascinating worldbuilding that laid a strong foundation for George's ambitions of turning Star Wars from just a movie trilogy into an expansive and vibrant universe.

A lot of the veterans from Cyberpunk 2013 are back to lend their vision for the Star Wars galaxy, though joining Mike and Dave at the Director's chair of sorts is one Greg Costikayn. A recent hire to Talsorian, Greg was said to be the best by Mike at creating mechanics and atmosphere for players that were completely unfamiliar with the concept of roleplay. Since the target audience this time was very broad and for the entire fandom, Greg lended his skill to transforming the Talsorian system into one that was welcoming for new players while still keeping its core concepts and spirit from Cyberpunk, Dave went full ham in getting to introduce a lot of his lore concepts that he had written over the course of the trilogy (most especially the Mandalorians), and Mike did what he did best and elevated the setting from just lore scribbles in a book and crafted personal experiences and a grand history that made the galaxy just as alive, real and possible as the films did, just like how Cyberpunk presented itself not just as a concept, but as a potential and very livable reality.

What was perhaps most important about Star Wars TRPG and the most effective part of its content, was how its existence helped to fill the insatiable hunger the world had for Star Wars content. Up until the TRPG was released, there had only been New Hope, Empire, the Han Solo adventure books, the movie novelization, Marvel comics, and George's "Splinter of the Mind's Eye". At first glance it seemed like a significant array of content, and more than most franchises, but that wasn't enough for the people. They wanted as much Star Wars as they could consume until their wallets ran dry. The tie-in media were all excellent, yet they could be limited in storytelling potential as "Rebel vs Empire" adventures.

With the RPG, readers were introduced to the Star Wars galaxy as a whole, going far beyond what was seen in the movies at an incredible scope. New concepts of the galactic culture and history such as the regions of the Core and the Rim, the major species and nations across the galaxy, the corporations, crime syndicates, celebrities and starships. The content was on a similar level of detail and expanse as a copy of Encyclopedia Britannica, as if Earth was expanded across the galaxy. Not only did readers finally have answers to burning questions from the film like how was the Empire governed, why were the Hutts such a dominant force, what the heck was a Mandalorian; but they were also introduced to many more concepts and ideas that fascinated them as much as the films.

Gameplay mechanics were overall really fun with similar combat styles to Cyberpunk though more focused on vehicle combat and weapons as cybernetics in the galaxy were not as extreme as the dark future. The format was also interesting for how Star Wars opens the door for roleplaying that goes beyond good vs evil adventures and fighting against the Empire. Sure that was the main highlight of the storytelling structure and most people would engage in these type of adventures, but through the classes and setting it was made clear that players and GMs could have the freedom to explore other types of stories. Want to be a businessman opening franchises on different planets? Want to be a rockstar surviving in the cutthroat galactic music industry? Want to be a farmer and colonize distant and strange worlds? All of that and more was possible, once again contributing to Star Wars being a real and living universe in a sense.

Of course, the classic Rebel vs Empire adventures of the Galactic Civil War is still a pretty fun setting to go explore, and the game has provided a very fun opportunity to explore what happened between New Hope and Empire as you play as Han Solo and Carrie as Leia with your friends. You even managed to bring Mark and Marilou along and while he was confused at first, he soon found the proper spirit and did enjoy playing with his wife as "Mara Lou", not to mention he was really excellent at voice acting the various NPCs. Playing these sessions were like acting in the films all over again, it was just awesome.

Upon its release, Star Wars the Roleplaying Game was an instant hit, selling over ten million copies and being the best selling RPG to date. While it's true that not every Star Wars fan was aware of it or become involved, it did accomplish its core mission as millions of kids across the world who before were skeptical, dismissive or fearful of association found the curiosity and bravery to play the game with their friends thanks to the setting and what was offered in content. If one were to join a roleplaying club, they would most likely find a copy of Star Wars as one of the most popular games, and community centers, libraries, hobby shops and other social hot spots saw frequent gatherings of parties to live out their fantasies in a galaxy, far, far away.

With the recent release of Return of the Jedi, sales more than doubled within a month to 22 million copies as part of the Star Wars mania. Heck, new players were no longer just joining through association of veteran RPG players as kids, teens and even some adults across the country are buying the book for themselves and forming roleplay groups with their social circles. The RPG is just the perfect book for a Star Wars fan with a hungry imagination and the opportunity to be on adventures with your heroes is one that cannot be passed up.

Beyond commercial popularity, Star Wars: TRPG has gone down in its own right as one of the greatest games of all time, standing with D&D, Forgotten Realms and Cyberpunk as peak roleplaying. There's high praise from both community veterans and newcomers and it is widely considered to be the best game for an introduction into the medium and many independent companies and creative groups are using it as a basis for their own products. Even critics from major news publications can't help but give it praise.

You can't say for certain that roleplaying is now mainstream as a lot of Star Wars' success comes from the brand and it might have achieved only a fraction if it was an original work like Mike's planned Imperial Star or Mekton continuities. However, you do feel it's doing its best to uplift the medium as a whole and not only erase the stigmas, but also generate interest in completely different properties. The Cyberpunk supplementary and lore books like Rockerboy and Near Orbit have continued to sell in the millions, Forgotten Realms is making its own splash among the fantasy community, and of course Final Fantasy is the best-selling Genesis game. Maybe these games would have stood on its own, but any help from Star Wars to push them to a more expanded audience is always welcome.

For the near future, Talsorian is planning on giving each of the classes their own supplementary books like in Cyberpunk, though there are also setting books that will act as lore bibles in a sense for certain categories like the "Star Wars Galactic Atlas" with over 200 worlds or the "Corellia Shipyards Starship Show" for spaceships. There are going to be three supplementary books released in the summer, fall and Christmas season and fans are eager to buy more.

Above all else, you were really thankful to Mike Pondsmith for giving you another venue to create memories with your family.

Such was the case the weekend after Return's release when Mary was hosting another gathering of her classmates, and you walked into the dining room to find not only Carrie taking up her usual DM role with the Star Wars book at hand, but Sarah and Joseph sitting at her side and eager to join in on the fun.

"What's this, an intervention?" You ask, the joke going over everyone's head.

"We want you to play as Han Solo Mr. O'Brian." Mary's best friend Susan asked.

"Yeah, we want Han Solo and Princess Leia for the adventure." Another kid joined in.

For the most part, Mary's friends were pretty calm about her being the eldest of Bruce and Carrie O'Brian, as they loved Mary for who she was rather than her last name. However, considering Return just released and Mary joined the class on a viewing session last Saturday, it was understandable that their minds were in Star Wars craze.

"Daddy, Mommy game." Joseph concurred.

You looked at the twins, then Mary, "I'm gonna be a good big sister and teach the Littles tabletop." Mary said proudly.

"Don't worry Bruce, Mom's got George for now and Todd will join us in a minute as DM so we can play together." Carrie informed.

Well, with such a high demand and what little conflicts there were being free, there really was no reason to refuse such a captive audience. "Well alright you little Jawas, make some room for the pilot who cleared the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs." You said in your signature Han Solo swagger, producing a great deal of cheers.

You had a lot of things to be thankful to Star Wars for. These and many more memories, were some of the best treasures gained.

Lights... Camera... ACTION!!: A Hollywood Quest Original (2024)
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