The Unofficial...
ROLEPLAYING GAME SOURCEBOOK
Second Edition
Developed and Written by Mike Hall
Welcome to the Unofficial Star Wars: Episode I Roleplaying Game Sourcebook. The purpose of this site is to try and take all the wondrous new material in the latest installment of the classic Star Wars saga and put it into game terms for playes and Game Masters of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game by West End Games. This work is entirely unauthorized, and has been assembled and developed without the permission of either Lucasfilm Ltd. or West End Games. This is strictly a fan site, built by an adoring fan for consumption by other adoring fans, and is in no way an attempt to infringe upon any of the legitimate copyrights held by either Lucasfilm or West End Games. All the material on this site is intended to be distributed among gamers for free, at no profit to the developer (namely, me), and only because in light of West End Games' current financial woes I don't expect that they'll be releasing a sourcebook of their own for Episode I. Should such a sourcebook be released, I will remove this site from public consumption.
Now with the disclaimer out of the way, let's take the time for some developer's notes...
The information and images in this Sourcebook have been gleaned from a number of official sources, to keep speculation on background data to a minimum. There is still some conjecture on my part, but it should be readily obvious to the reader what and where it is, and that none of the observations I have made seriously affect the official back story in any way....basically, you can rest assured that the stuff you read in here won't be contradicted by future films or books, since I used official Lucasfilm sources to develop my background text. If you feel that any of the numerical stats I have cooked up are incorrect, let me know. As stated, this is a work in progress...it is entirely possible that you may find some errors that I have yet to recognize in playtesting.
Among the principal sources combed for information are: the movie itself (of course!); the novelization of the film by Terry Brooks; Star Wars Episode I Incredible Cross-Sections by David West Reynolds, Hans Jenssen, and Richard Chasemore ( a truly beautiful book that all fans must have!); Star Wars: Episode I - The Visual Dictionary, also by David West Reynolds (and another masterwork as well); the Official Souvenir Magazine (which has some of Doug Chiang's awesome original design work); Star Wars: The Essential Guide to Droids by Daniel Wallace, Bill Hughes, and Troy Vigil; too many items from both Bantam/Spectra Books and Dark Horse Comics to mention one-by-one; the Star Wars Insider magazine; Star Wars: The Making of Episode I, The Phantom Menace by Laurent Bouzereau and Jody Duncan; and The Official Poster Magazines. A great deal of backstory can be pieced together from these sources, as well as technical specs, so I think that, in game terms, what I'm presenting here should be pretty darned close.
I've tried to use a layout consistent with many of West End's existing Star Wars products so that you can print these pages out and enjoy some consistency when adding them to your gaming notes; to that end, I also turned all the pictures in the sourcebook into black and white images (I'm a Second Edition GM, so I stuck with what I'm used to as far as the b&w format). Besides, I think that this site will be looked at as less of a threat to copyright holders if it stays, for the most part, in black-and-white. So print it all out, stick it in a binder, and add it to your stack of books!
As far as playing in the "Prequel-Era," I suggest a time frame either during the invasion of Naboo or immediately after it. In the first edition game, the ideal time frame was between Episodes IV and V. I think that during Episode I is the best place to start a Prequel-Era campaign, since this is the beginning of a tumultous period in Star Wars history (just as the time between Episodes IV and V was the real "beginning" of the end for the Empire and a major growth period for the Rebellion). In regards to capturing the "flavor" of Episode I, I refer you to Star Wars: Episode I Incredible Cross-Secions author David West Reynolds (whose excellent work is quoted a LOT in these pages):
"The vehicles of Star Wars: Episode I reveal a time very different from the later day when spacecraft of Empire and Rebels alike will bear the harsh lines and mechanical looks of factory-produced construction. In this era, the Old Republic still rules the galaxy, and craftsmen still rule the world of design -- although in both cases that rule is beginning to unravel. Market forces have only begun to undermine the ancient traditions of craftsmanship, and as a result we see individuality, elegant curves, and true art in many of Episode I's vehicles. Looming over these creations is the specter of the Trade Federation, with its utilitarian cargo vessels converted into armed war freighters, its greedy practices ready to wipe out the mark of the individual craftsman in the heartless pursuit of profit. For now, however, the galaxy remains filled with extraordinary vessels, testaments -- like all things a culture builds -- to the unique identity of their age."
Episode I is full of Art Deco and Art Moderne influences, like 20's and 30's America...one could compare the later years of the 20th century and its less-artistic approach to life and architecture to the era of the Empire, and then compare the looks of a work like Alex Raymond's original Flash Gordon strip (a staple of the 30's newspaper, and an admitted influence on Lucas' vision) to the era of Episode I. One can see some amazingly disparate influences coming together in Episode I's visual style...medieval Japan (and the films of Akira Kurosawa, of course), the artwork of Jean "Moebius" Giraud, the afore-mentioned Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon, and the royal fineries of Rennaissance Europe. Try to capture that cosmopolitan aesthetic in your Prequel-Era game while maintaining the classic serial cliffhanger-style pacing and action, and you should capture the essence of Star Wars...Episode I style...quite nicely.
This Sourcebook now proudly presents...
THE SECOND EDITION
Downloadable Word version (5.07MB)
Bibliography and Acknowledgements
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