seneschal

Thanks! And, no, I am not offended by your description of Star Wars as kid lit. Whatever my physical age, I'm still 6 years old when it comes to all things pop sci-fi. 😉

https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/files/YOSS_Act1.pdf Our NASA link says, among other things, rhat a spacecraft traveling as fast as the International Space Station would take about 18 years to go from Earth to Neptune. That's a long trip but perhaps doable in a human lifetime. It would be a 40-ish year round trip. Problem is, our articles on solar sailors seem to indicate that they would be slower than the International Space Station.. What does that mean for our doughty spacehands? A voyage to the outer planets would be at least a career-length commitment if not a lifetime commitment. Jim Hawkins signs on as cabin boy of the Space Hispaniola at age 8 or 10 (the Treasure Island character was about 12). He is 50-ish when he returns to Earth. What happened to all the adult crewmen he shipped with? They are in their 90s or older. Do we assume advanced medical care will keep them spry? Or perhaps we staff our spaceships with virile 20-year-olds. They are in their early 60s upon return while Jim is in his early 50s. Sounds more practical and explains all those grizzled Classic Traveller veterans. Still you've got to account for training and education time so they can operate the ship. So mid-60s upon return. Would you sign up for a space voyage straight out of high school or college, knowing that you might never see you parents or favorite aunt alive again? That your high school or college sweetheart wouldn't wait 40 years for you (and why should she)? That your friends and siblings will marry, raise families, and be spoiling their grandkids while you are toddling around in the void? That's a heck of a commitment to make, especially at an age when most people are still trying to figure out who they are and what they want to do with their lives. Once they seal the hatch behind you, you are stuck. No turning back.

For an interesting take on the Star Wars universe, check out reprints of the Marvel Comics series (I think Dark Horse publishes omnibus volumes.). These stories were being written before and during the production of the second and third movies, and nothing but the original film was locked into canon. The writers were free to make stuff up. The feel is much more Star Trek-y than we've become accustomed to. Yeah, the Empire is huge but the galaxy is even bigger. There are plenty of blank spots on the map where both the good guys and the bad guys could encounter almost anything. Darth Vader, Luke and Leia are not relatives. Jabba the Hutt, who had been mentioned but never shown, is depicted as a funky-headed humanoid somewhat in the Greedo mold. Despite being a dangerous gangster, he is also a source of humor, being put in embarrassing situations by Our Heroes. Vader, now free from the restraint of Grand Moff Tarkin, remains the primary villain. But he's much more subtle and scheming than the callous killer we see on screen. The Empire, you see, is still trying to win hearts and minds, and Princess Leia wields too much political influence and public goodwill for the bad guys to just seize her. So Vader plays mind games and diplomatic tricks to get her to discredit herself. He is very Lex Luthorish in that regard. But it is not all Vader all the time. The good guys are threated by mad scientists, corrupt officials, ambitious military commanders, greedy tycoons. You can see how the disorganized rebels might win. The ruthless people running the Empire -- civilian or military -- are seething with selfish ambition and contradictory plans for their own exaltation. Vader is just one of the pack but he is single-minded enough to put the Empire's best interests at least on par with his own.

I thought the Trade Federation giant doughnut ships were cool looking, and their robot army was perfect cannon fodder for the good guys to clobber without committing murder. However, I never understood their motives for attacking Naboo. Maybe the movie explained but if so I must have missed it.

That's the thing. I've been posting here for almost nine years and it hadn't been like that until a couple of months ago. Let's redirect our concerns about and discussion of ethnic shorthand to Skull Inn. This thread is supposed to be about Star Wars.

I mean, we should able to discuss freakin' Star Wars without it escalating into World War 87. Right, guys? A safe, innocent topic ... unless the other poster is a Trekkie or a Battlestar Galactica fan. 😳

Political correctness strikes again. Can't we agree to not be offended by one another and just enjoy talking about role-playing for a change? Please, with organic honey on top? I started this whole thread for your enjoyment because you were so enthusiastic about Rey in an earlier discussion, and you've still managed to turn it into a finger-wagging lecture. Enough already.

Sand People Sand People, the notorious Tusken Raiders, are the scary desert tribesmen of Tatooine. They are equivalent of Comanches or Mongols on Earth, caring for their own and considering everyone else a hated enemy. Re previous discussion, they may be descended from humans who settled the planet a loooooooong time ago. Since they never go outside without heavy robes, head wrappings and protective goggles we don't really know what they look like. Their preferred transportation are banthas, large elephantine quadrupeds with thick fleece and ram-like horns. Stats -- STR 2d6+8, CON 2d6+8. Their harsh desert existence has made Sand People hardy and strong but they aren't superhuman. Skills -- Heavy Club, Riding, Survival, Tracking, Stealth, Spot, Listen, Hide, Animal Husbandry

Awwwww! I had no intention of fussing at you about movies. Just wanted to see what you could come up with. What? No love for WEG's D6 iteration? It is back in print. If it is too much, Mini Six is a free download and has a not-Star Wars setting ready to roll with. But you are correct: Star Wars had become yet another religion way back in the 1970s. Don't want to rile up the faithful. (Pssssst! Star Trek TOS!). 😆

🙄. Let's agree to disagree and move on to something more fun (which is the whole point of my write-ups). Any more insight you can give us on Jezebel, Queen of Israel? How would you use her in your RuneQuest campaign?

Thanks. I wouldn't have known based only seeing the films. I always thought the Jawas were intriguing as an.alien but somewhat understandable species. Everybody's gotta earn a living, right? The Jawas are the ultimate Antique Road Show folks.😉 So when do we get to enjoy your righteous Rey write-up? (Say that five times fast!!)

The RuneQuest 6 guys may have beaten me to the punch but here's an initial write-up to get this thread started: Jawas Stats -- Use the template for Halflings or Ducks. Jawas are (as far as we can tell beneath those thick, all-covering brown robes) a short, petite humanoid race native to the arid planet Tatooine located on the edge of the Galactic Empire. Skills -- Bargain, Repair (Electronic and Mechanical), Hide, Stealth, Spot, Conceal, Fine Manipulation. Jawas are consummate scroungers and handymen. They make their living digging through other people's trash and castoffs, repairing or cobbling something together from the junk, and then reselling it. Etc. -- Because Jawas share a planet with larger, more aggressive species such as humans and Sandpeople they tend to be somewhat shy and skittish. They roam their barren world desert in giant armored vehicles called Sandcrawlers which serve as mobile home, workshop, and retail showroom: Despite their habitual caution, Jawas are certainly bold enough when it comes time to conduct business. They are frequently found in markets. and trading centers and are sharp negotiators. Biology -- Although there is probably a Star Wars Encyclopedia someplace that describes Jawas in gory detail, we never learn much about them from the movies themselves. They have huge yellow eyes that glow from beneath those deep hoods even in the daytime. Their tiny humanoid hands are always covered by tight black work gloves. I read somewhere that Jawas are allergic to liquid water and tend to smell foul to human nostrils. But no character in any film ever complains about the supposed Jawa stench.

I still have it in my electronic files but haven't yet had players who are interested. Hard on an old nerd who stood in long lines that wrapped around the theater to see the original trilogy. Later, as the mania was slowly starting to tamp down, my mother (not a sci-fi or fantasy fan) finally consented to see the movie. She said, "THAT was what all the excitement was about????" Sigh. But, hey, she did allow me to bring up to 12 high school friends into her dining room at night to play Traveller even though she doesn't get the concept of role-playing or even tactical wargaming to this day. So that's something. 😃

This is the place to discuss all things Star Wars in a BRP context. Who are your favorite characters and why? By all means give us a write-up in your preferred BRP family rules system. How would you model Force power X? Using which rules variant? Give us your stats for vehicles, weapons and other cool gear. Ditto one or more of the weird critters from the film series. As long as it has to do with Star Wars and BRP it is all good!

Modern or not, it is incorrect and a slander on two brave and honorable men. And that would be true no matter what religion or culture or ethnicity or national background they came from. The Bible lists David's flaws and sins in painful detail. He was a murderer, an adulterer, a skirt-chaser, a lousy Dad, a political opportunist, kind of a violent guy after a long military career. One thing he wasn"t was a homosexual. Before anyone goes there, no that's not a slap at gays. I am discussing David in his historical and cultural context. Jonathan, in contrast, comes off as decent guy. He remained David's loyal friend and confidant, knowing his father Saul violently disapproved, knowing that David's presence in Israeli politics would prevent him from ever becoming king, knowing that in their many battles against the Philistines it was David who would win the glory, gold and girls. He stuck anyway. While the Old Testament details David's many exploits, Jonathan was no slouch in the hero department either. He and his shield-bearer took on the whole Philistine army, using terrain to advantage, and whipped them. It was Captain Judah and Bucky! But we are drifting away from our go-to girl Jezebel again. If you are interested enough I can do a separate write-up of David and/or Jonathan. And Rey certainly deserves her own thread even if I do think she is a Mary Sue..

Nah, that's our twisted modern interpretation. He and Jonathan were what we would call BFFs. Not all genuine love has to be sexual. You love your wife differently than you love your parents or kids, and you love all of them differently than you love your bowling buddies that you've hung with for years. Besides, even if you think the Bible is a book of fairy stories, you have to have to admit that it never sugar-coats the people it describes. Noah saved mankind and a representative selection of the animals -- but became a boozer after the ark was parked on a mountain. Abraham, founder of the faith, slept with the maid and then left her and Ishmael high and dry when wifey complained. Lot, his nephew, modeled morality for Sodom; after its destruction his adult daughters -- fearing they would never find suitable husbands -- got Daddy blind stinking drunk so they could get pregnant by him. Simon Peter, macho man and Vicar of Christ, proved a coward in the end. Even Jesus of Nazareth Himself sassed his mother as a 12-year-old at the temple -- and we hear nothing more of him until he turned 30. You just don't mess with Mom! If David had had boyfriends as well as girlfriends the Bible would tell us plainly and with embarrassing bluntness.

Remember the 13 series? 13 Ghosts, 13 Giants, 13 Dragons, etc.

I always ripped off adventures from multiple games, regardless of who published them. I can get the gist of a villain from one game system and create a reasonable facsimile in another: in fact, several supplements from that era actually included stats for 2-4 different games.

King David was a ladies' man and the sins of the father tend to carry over to the kids unless they work very hard to overcome their natural tendencies. Despite his supernatural wisdom, Solomon failed to control his gonads and ultimately had 3,000 wives/concubines/surrogate mothers. Many of these were political marriages to strengthen international alliances. The Bible says it was these foreign wives that eventually turned his heart in his old age. The formerly wise, devout king not only worshipped idols but became an expert in the occult. Because Solomon never did anything by halves. That's why both Rudyard Kipling (The Butterfly Who Stamped) and some of the 1001 Nights tales depict a Solomon who can summon djinn to do his bidding or seal them in bottles or lamps if they are uncooperative. Could he really? Don't know. That's up to you as GM.

😃

Naaah! Star Wars heroes, male or female, haven't been worth the batteries in their lightsabers since Return of the Jedi. Qui-Gon Jinn was the best character from Phantom Menace and could easily have supported a franchise of his own -- so they promptly killed him off, Darth Maul looked terrifying but he never actually did anything. All scowl and no action. And that has been the problem with the franchise ever since. Rey & Company look good and are backed by glorious special effects -- but they haven't done anything to earn their place in the spotlight. Somewhere after Rogue One I said to myself, "Disney just doesn't get what made Star Wars great. I'm done with it, at least for now." To really get it, you need to sit down with a giant tub of popcorn and a stack of DVDs that includes Metropolis, Things to Come, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, the Filmation Flash Gordon cartoon series, and old sci-fi B movies such as Rocketship X-M, It: Terror From Space, or Angry Red Planet: Whatever you think of them, even if you consider these films compost, that's the fertile soil from which Star Wars grew. Fanboy rant mode off! I am guilty of derailing my own thread . Let's get back to jazzy Jezzy and her bronzesaber-wielding henchmen. You do realize that the next chapter in her saga is the confrontation between Elijah and the prophets of Baal? A lone man against hundreds. Whatever you think of old Eli, that took some guts. And then Jezebel send her corps of assassins after him.

You know, I tried that with my parents but ultimately had to hunt down my own princess. She would bitch-slap old Shalmaneser and send him crying all the way back to Assyria. "What was that? Gulp, why yes, Dear..". 😉. 😱

Tut, tut. It is obvious that Ethbaal had perfectly rational reasons for wanting to keep a smart, unscrupulous and ambitious heir as far away as possible from his capitol. 😉

Here's another Bronze Age character to spice up your campaign. King Ahab is a greedy, gluttonous fool. Unfortunately, he's not the one your player-characters will be dealing with. Jezebel of Sidonia -- Snow White's stepmom got nothin' on this bad girl Bitter clingers vs. progressives! The culture wars! Raucous public debate! Sounds very contemporary, doesn't it? But it has all happened before, and it can be laid at the feet of a ruthless Phoenician princess. Elijah, a prophet of the One God, assures us that King Ahab of ancient Israel was a very bad man. But not all villains are created equal. You have your Ernst Stavro Blofelds, and then you have your Wile E. Coyotes. And although he managed to reign for 22 years, Ahab was ... a doofus. He threw temper tantrums and pouted like a sulky 6-year-old. He whined when he didn't get his way. He was generally incompetent. Or he would have been but for the malign influence of his clever, calculating wife. Jezebel was a woman with an agenda. She planned to radically transform her husband's backward kingdom into a proper modern state like that of her father, King Ethbaal of Sidon. First, she had to correct the thinking of those boorish rubes who were her subjects. Jezebel forcibly promoted the worship of her two favorite fertility deities, Baal and Asherah. So what if the Jewish clergy and prophets didn't like it? That's what a well-trained military is for. What's not to love about The Agenda (tm)? Instead of attempting to obey those annoying Commandments it is your sacred duty to have no-commitment sex with Baal's slinky temple prostitutes. (Wowzers!). Asherah's devotional poles, where you offer your oat cakes, are surrounded by pleasant groves where you can soak up plenty of fresh air and sunshine (Eco-friendly, and we even have cookies!). Get with it, you Hebrew hicks! The queen's re-education program proved highly successful. Orthodox seminaries and synagogues emptied while the ranks of official state-sponsored priesthood swelled into the hundreds. Jezebel's economic policies were thwarted, however, when that loudmouthed nutcase Elijah commanded that no rain fall upon Israel. The nation slid into drought, then famine as the big dry-out stretched into its third year.

Good input, Joerg! Thanks. So how do we make these concepts a playable part of M-Space?