#RPGaDay2015 Day 14 - Favorite RPG Accessory

Discover all the technical and natural wonders of the fantastic Star Wars saga. Here are sleek starfighters that clash with mile-long Star Destroyers, tilling the void with streaks of laser fire and blazing wrecks. Here are armor-clad stormtroopers battling desperate-Rebels across the galaxy. Here are detailed descriptions of the bizarre aliens, devastating weapons, amazing Droids, courageous heroes and cunning villains of the Star Wars universe.
- Back cover text for West End Games' The Star Wars Sourcebook


[Note I'm going with this post I'm defining an accessory as an add-on to a game - I see a number of other people are going with non-gaming accessories- I might make a supplemental post along those lines.]

Shortly after 1983 Star Wars as a franchise began to rapidly dry up. The Marvel comic continued after Return of the Jedi but limped to an end in 1986 as a bimonthly comic. There were cartoons about Ewoks and Droids. And some absolutely horrible live-action Ewok movies.

Into this drying market came West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. Its rules were so easy to learn and just felt like Star Wars. I received it for Christmas in 1987 and later that evening my brother and I were playing "Rebel Breakout".

The first supplement for the RPG was The Star Wars Sourcebook. While the initial RPG dripped the feel of Star Wars, it was a bit scant on background and stats. That wasn't too huge a hindrance - it wasn't all that hard to wing things. But The Star Wars Sourcebook added a ton of details. It gave stats for all sorts of starfighters, vehicles, weapons, gear, stormtroopers, etc. It gave lots of background, with much of it written from an in-universe perspective, such as profiles of the main heroes and villains of the trilogy. And about how repulsorlifts, hyperdrives, blasters, droids, and other technologies worked. It was also loaded with illustrations - blueprints of the X-Wing and the Millennium Falcon, maps of Rebel and Imperial bases, etc. This was a great resource, both as a fan and as a gamer.

It's worth noting there's a number of other West End Games Star Wars supplements that would be in a "top supplements" list - of special notes would be:

  • Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters - Moving from the default Star Wars campaign frame of Rebels to including smugglers.
  • Galaxy Guide  9: Fragments From the Rim - A potpourri of details of life in the Outer Rim territories, with pirates, Imperials, Jedi, entertainment, slavers, etc. Probably most notable for introducing High Inquisitor Tremayne and fleshing out the idea of Imperial Inquisitors (which had previously had a single mention in The Star Wars Sourcebook). Even in the new Star Wars canon, Imperial Inquisitors have a large role, as seen in Star Wars Rebels.
  • Planets of the Galaxy Volume Three - Introducing the Elrood Sector, one of my favorite environments for adventure, with opportunities for all sorts of characters.


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