The Unofficial...

ROLEPLAYING GAME SOURCEBOOK

Developed and written by Mike Hall

Progress Update Archive

For those of you who actually read this stuff...

6-19-99: AAARRGGH! Chapter Two was almost ready last night (6-18-99), but inexplicably ceased to be somehow...everything I had written just went POOF! and vanished! I know my HTML just fine, but technical computer matters are beyond my abilities, so I have no idea how this happened. At the moment, I'm blaming the Dark Side.

Anyway, I still have my notes, and although retyping the whole chapter will be about as much fun as doing "shovel duty" in a rancor cage, I should get it done in the next week or so. I apologize for the wait.

Then it's time for Chapter Three...which reminds me: I've modified the first page of the sourcebook to show the complete index of the Sourcebook as it is currently planned, and modified some of the links within the text of what's already there to increase user-friendliness. This also gives you an idea of what's coming in the future...but PLEASE don't bombard me with suggestions for the contents of future chapters! I already know pretty much what's going in there, I just haven't decided how I'm breaking it all up, so I didn't index them yet. You must have patience, Young Jedi...

Thanks for all the supportive mail I've been getting, too! Keep it coming...it really energizes me during those long nights of typing when the Dark Side suggests that it would be much more fun to go have a social life or something...

6-23-99: Chapter Two is partially up...not bad cosidering that little technical setback. I should have it all finished in the next few days, so keep checking back daily; I only have limited time each day to write HTML code, so I'm posting each item as I finish it, as opposed to waiting until the entire chapter is done. I don't know yet if that's how I'll be doing Chapter Three, though. Email me and let me know which posting method you prefer. And speaking of email, I would like to thank everyone who has written to offer words of thanks and/or encouragement...and thanks especially for restraining yourselves from offering suggestions as to what I should do next!

Do me a favor, folks: spread the word. I want every GM out there to have a chance to use this stuff if they want to...that's why I'm even bothering to do this. The roleplaying hobby has fallen on hard times in recent years, and it's the Internet presence of gamers like us that keep hope alive for the future. Let's keep it up, and someday, gaming afficianados will look back on the waning years of the 1990s and say, "Yessir, the Internet really saved the roleplaying hobby!"

One more opinion poll...these progress updates: Leave 'em? Or delete 'em as I go? What's the general consensus?

6-26-99: OK, it looks like the merger of Geocities with Yahoo! went smoothly, at least on this site. You shouldn't need to change any bookmarks or anything (unless that's a change that will be made later, and nobody told me!), and I went through the site cleaning up a typo here and there and changing a pic I never much cared for (the one of the droid fighter I originally used was not to my liking, but when I wrote the page it was the only decent one I had at the time) just to make sure that the editing facilities were all still running right, and all appears well...so I'm back at work and only slightly behind schedule. Gimmie a break...I do have something resembling a life, you know!

6-30-99: There you are, folks...Chapter Two, finished and delivered. I even got the first page of Chapter Three up, AND started an archive for those of you who like these progress updates (I'll keep the number of updates on this page to two or three, and the rest will be archived)! Now don't get all nuts on me, but I've got to take a couple days off! Keep checking, though...I tend to never get around to taking days off when I promise my girlfriend I'm going to. :) Enjoy what's here, and I'll see you in a few...or maybe tomorrow. Heh, heh...

7-02-99: IMPORTANT!!! No, I'm not in trouble with my girlfriend even though I said I was going to take a few days off and didn't...no, what I'm yelling about is the SALE that West End Games is having! LOTS of Star Wars books as much as 60% OFF! Yes, you read that right: 60% off of the cover price. I checked, and they still have copies of the Tales of the Jedi Companion on sale, and I STRONGLY suggest that everyone running a Prequel-Era campaign using Jedi and Sith order this sucker off the website, since so many of you have already told me that you can't find a copy in your town. This sale rules, folks...I've already taken advantage of it myself, and was very pleased with both the service and the savings, but for some reason forgot to tell you all about it until now. So go buy some stuff! Savings like this are only once in a lifetime...I ordered over $100 dollars worth of stuff and paid only $32.50 after shipping and handling...so act fast! Oh, and by the way...there's a new page of Chapter Three finished and posted. :) And I've been getting some email mentioning a site caled The Jedi Handbook (newer version can be found here), so I went and checked it out. It's quite a work! It's an online compendium of sorts, collating data from all sort of sources into a "master sourcebook" for Jedi, basically. I haven't been able to read it through at length, but what I have read looks pretty good, even though a lot of it is different from how I would have done it when it comes to original material (frankly, I like the fact that it's different...that gives you, the reader, two opinions to draw your own conclusions from). So, in the interest of helping everyone out, there's the link...check it out for yourself. If enough people like it, I won't have to write a huge volume on powers! Now I really AM going to take a day or two off, I swear...really, honey, I promise...

7-07-99: Moving right along...I am now officially no longer in trouble with my girlfirend, so of course I am throwing myself back into my work so I can immediately get back in trouble...like any real man would. While I was taking a vacation, I printed out the Jedi Handbook (newer version can be found here) and took a good long look...overall, it's pretty darned good. There's material there adapted from The Jedi Academy Sourcebook, which I don't have a copy of yet, so that's definitely useful to everyone who frequents this site. Also, there are some alternate Force-using groups outlined, and although they weren't my cup of tea, content-wise, they are excellent examples of how such groups should be developed and detailed. There is a system for building a lightsaber that might be adapted from the book...the text is vague on the system's origins...that is definitely worth a look ( I would suggest using that system in place of mine if the Jedi has a master, and if not, use mine). Be wary, though...many of the home-brew Force powers just seem wrong somehow, and although they may sound neat at first, don't really belong in the Star Wars game, despite the quality of the work done on them. Some of them just seem a bit "out of synch" in terms of tone. My favorite part, however, is a description of the game effects of flashy maneuvers in Jedi combat; loads of fun! Most of us probably didn't need rules for that sort of thing (it's easy enough to just "wing it" in terms of the existing rules), but it never hurts to have a refined method laid out on paper for the busy GM. As I said, a great site in many ways, just approach it with a mind towards sound judgement. I have only two genuine complaints about the site:
1. The "timeline" is the same timeline that seems to appear on a great many SW:TRG sites...you can tell because all the errors are in the same places. There are gaping holes in the timeline, and wild contradictions of official Lucasfilm data (according to the timeline, the Clone Wars should have begun already and Anakin Skywalker isn't much younger than Obi-Wan!). I thought about writing my own version, corrected with the new info from Lucasfilm, but then thought better of it. The timeline concept is just a bad idea, when the holes have yet to be filled in with official data; there's just too much room for incorrect assumption, and I would rather avoid that. Use with caution. (The writer shouldn't feel bad, though...as readers of Splinter of the Mind's Eye have long known, even Lucasfilm occasionally lets a continuity error slip by them as well, even in the films. I'm sure Alan Dean Foster groans to this very day every time someone mentions that book...)
2. In the background info on the Jedi Order itself, much of the information there is full of holes as well, even though it appears to be adapted mostly from official sources. The era of Episode I and the structure of the Knighthood in that era...a vastly different structure from the Tales of the Jedi era and the Skywalker-Academy era of the New Republic...is not covered at all. For the most part, the text is sound apart from that. Just mentally insert what you read here into the appropriate section and move on. :)
Beyond that, enjoy the site. I give it a solid 80% rating, since all my gripes are minor, and with all the crappy SW sites that have spread like a plague all over the 'Net since Episode I came out, that 80% ain't bad at all!

7-09-99: OK, folks, there's another page done...the new Force powers are next. you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little slow in posting them; I want to test the heck out of them before I post them for viewer consumption. I've also posted an outline for a planned Chapter Four! When that's finished, I believe my work will be done. Well, until Episode II comes out, anyway...
By the way...if anyone also uses the D6 System from West End Games (a generic set of rules based on the Star Wars mechanics...lots of fun for the creative GM and players always craving something new), you might want to check out my new site: The D6 System Online Companion. It's a slowly-growing collection of material designed to add-on to and expand the rules, and I'm developing some full settings for the game as well. Check it out (there's already a big listing of weapons and armor from a myriad of time periods)...and if you don't have a copy of the rules, take advantage of the sale at West End's site, and you can get a copy for THREE BUCKS!!!

7-14-99: The New Force Powers are up...devour them as you see fit. I eagerly await your feedback...therefore, just so I can make sure and view every email with the utmost consideration, I'm going to give it a few days before I move on to Chapter Four. Don't worry...all the development work for Chapter Four is done, so once I start posting it will be a quick process. Let me know what you think of the new Force powers, and if you have any suggestions of your own, well, you know how to find me...

7-16-99: It is a good day for your humble Webmaster...I finally tracked down a copy of Star Wars: Episode I--The Visual Dictionary, another masterwork rich with backstory by David West Reynolds. I have been really looking forward to getting ahold of this book since its impending release was announced in early June, largely so I could verify or write-off the minor speculations in terms of history that I have had to make from time to time in this Sourcebook. You can imagine my delight when I discovered...I was right! The Gungans do have two separate bloodlines, and the Droideka were built for the Trade Federation by a non-Neimoidian contractor, and a number of other little nuances I had read into the mythos were verified as well. There were very few contradictions (the Gungans can breathe water) and I'll have them all ironed out today. It's nice to know that my ability to speculate cautiously and logically hasn't softened in my old age. :) You might want to re-read some of the old text, though...the book has some information in it that I hadn't even begun to guess at, so I've gone through and added some of that as well. You can all breathe easily now...I haven't been yanking your chain all this time. This site fits into the official backstory perfectly.

7-28-99: Sorry about the unannounced hiatus, folks. The File Manager utility here at Yahoo! Geocities got a bit wonky on me, making the work I was doing a real pain to continue, and some pressing personal business came up, so your humble Webmaster ending up taking an unexpected vacation from HTML duty. ALL the sites I maintain felt the effects of this unplanned absence, so I will be playing a lot of catch-up in the next few weeks. Please bear with me and extend me your continued patience. In other news...the media, lying, self-serving jackals that they are, has done its best to paint Episode I as a failure for the Lucasfilm empire, but nothing could be further from the truth. Despite what all the critics and naysayers said about the film's "lack of staying power" and that it could "never eclipse Titanic", all one has to do to prove them wrong is seek out the official figures: thus far, Episode I has grossed just over $400 Million in the US, and over $150 Million abroad. $550 Million is NOT what anybody with more than three active brain cells would call a failure...of course, I sincerely doubt that the conventional media has more than three active brain cells, but I suppose that's not exactly the point...Look over your shoulder, Mr. Cameron! Mr. Lucas is coming up behind you! Currently, Episode I is the third-biggest moneymaker of all time (Titanic is number one, and Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope is number two...for NOW!).

7-29-99:I must say, the amount of supportive email I've been getting for the work I've been doing here has been energizing to say the least...thank you all very much. I've noticed a very popular request among the kudos, however...everyone seems to want a downloadable version of the material on the site. Well folks, first thing's first...I have to finish the darn thing! After that, I will indeed consider creating a downloadable version, but I am NOT making any guarantees! Keep in mind that the material on this site is a fan-generated interpretation of material copyrighted by Lucasfilm and West End Games...and neither entity is one I would care to aggravate (I would like to have a pleasant relationship with both, thank you very much!). So I am a bit leary of creating a downloadable version for fear of violating existing copyright laws...but rest assured, I will look into the legalities of doing so and consider such an addition to the site.
Oh, by the way...pages thirty and thirty-one are finished. I told you I would start getting caught up...

8-1-99: Home stretch, folks...page thirty-two is up, and all that leaves is page thirty-three and the new alien races. Since I've already covered the two major new races (the Neimoidians and the Gungans), that leaves mostly bit players. At this point, I'm planning on doing the Dugs (Sebulba), the long-necked Quermians (like Jedi Master Yarael Poof), and the Cereans (Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, who has been getting a lot of exposure in Dark Horse's Star Wars comics). And BEFORE you ask, no, I won't be doing Yoda and Yaddle's race...we still know nothing about them socially or biologically, and I don't want to go that far out on a limb. But I have some good info on the three races I mentioned, so you can expect them within a few days time. And then, I will rest (okay, that's a lie...then I'll be back at work on my Planet of the Apes expansion for my D6 System Online Companion...which, by the way, the Star Wars Roleplaying Game rules will work for if you tweak them a bit).

8-3-99: All right, already! I added a few new Force powers to address some of the questions I've been getting via email. Sometimes I forget just how long I've been playing this game now, and how nice it is to have full access to most of the books, so I didn't realize how lost a number of you were through no fault of your own (without the Tales of the Jedi Companion, it can be downright tough getting ahold of all the powers West End has developed in their various support products). Instead of copying existing powers from existing West End products, I've created some new ones using my own perspective to fill some of the "holes" that are commonly perceived in the list of powers available to many players. Truthfully, the new powers I added (Super Leap, Enhanced Speed, and Enhanced Reflexes) actually mirror the films better than the powers you had to adapt to accomplish these feats using the existing rules. Enjoy them!

8-4-99:Final Report...for now! That's it, folks...the first incarnation of the Sourcebook is now complete. It's been a genuine labor of love, and I thank you all for your support. Keep checking back, as updates will still appear as I feel they are warranted, and don't stop writing! I love getting your feedback, and your questions...it gives me something to do on my many sleepless nights. As I now turn my attentions to The D6 System Online Companion, I ask one favor of you: spread the word. I want every Star Wars gamer with internet access to have access to the material I've created here. In the meantime, keep your blaster handy, and may the Force be with you!

8-13-99:EMERGENCY REPORT It has come to my attention (thanks to a vigilant visitor) that there are sites out there plagiarizing the hard work I went to to create this site for those of you who genuinely appreciate it. Now folks, I need your help in protecting my work...any such infractions that you come across should be pointed out to me via the email link below, so that I can alert the offending party to the fact that I am NOT some teenager lurking in a basement, but a professional writer with an Internet hobby...and a couple of vicious lawyers. I have said from the beginning that this site belongs to you people, and that is definitely true...all I ever asked was the credit and professional respect due to me, and I know that nearly all of you have held up that end of the bargain. Thank you! But these plagiarists are just one of the many reasons that the government is threatening to involve itself in Internet matters, and must be stopped. Help me out, friends...help me shut down these idiots who simply want to look good to their buddies without doing any real work before they cost all of us our creative rights on the Internet.

8-14-99: The site that had copied material from this site has worked very hard to make amends, and, to their credit, it wasn't done maliciously (I think they just got a little overzealous and overlooked some of the finer points of both copyright law and Internet etiquette). So, we have a cleanly resolved situation...thanks to you, the supportive visitors, and the fellows at Sith World, who may be young, but were mature enough to admit a mistake and make it right. Thanks to everyone, and let this be a lesson in vigilance to us all. NOW, in other news, I've been getting a ton of requests for a downloadable version of the material on this site...please, just be patient! After completing a project of this size, I need a break, and my other projects need some serious attention as well. Maybe in a month or so, I'll have one up and ready.

8-21-99: Special Announcement...As more and more notes have piled up, it has become readily apparent to me that a Second Edition of this Sourcebook is in order. Now, this should come as no surprise, since I've mentioned that in this space before, but what I'm telling you today is this: the release date for that Second Edition is now set: October 1, 1999. The Second Edition will include further revisions and additions to the text, based as usual on the best official sources at my disposal, some refinements to a few of the stats here and there, and the inclusion of some material accidentally omiteed during the original project (for example, I forgot to mention the Toydarian resistance to the Force, which irks me greatly, since it was in my development notes!). Also, and most important in my opinion, there will be an all-new chapter...Campaigning in the Prequel Era. Much of the email I have recieved has been centered around questions about campaign tips and how to stage epic adventures in this transitional time for the galaxy, and I think it's high time that I addressed this issue on a broad plain as opposed to "piecing" out tips to just the folks who write me regularly. In the meantime, I have other projects to attend to, such as my D6 System Online Companion, which should have an explosion of available material within the coming weeks. So there you have it, folks...Second Edition, October 1st. And no waiting in line for tickets!

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