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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

RPG Cracken's Crew website and Clone Wars Sourcebook

Discussion in 'Archive: Games' started by JediAlly, Nov 26, 2005.

  1. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Well that is certainly interesting, but the fact is they are the default picks in the strategy guide for many of the levels, and you have to use them in the final level, so I have a hard time agreeing with it, despite the fact that it would make life a bit easier for us. Ill have tron look at it though, since those are characters he stats.
     
  2. Anstrona

    Anstrona Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    May 14, 2005
    I just headed over there and read what they had to say. Can't really say I like the scenario, it doesn't make much sense (seeing as there are levels where the game FORCES you to play as either Anakin, Ahsoka, or Obi-Wan), and the ruling is allegedly third-hand official information. The most plausible explanation that Keith and I discussed was that the events of the movie take place and Ziro is arrested. Ziro is arraigned and posts bail pending trial (after all, this is the Republic, and they're all about due process and everyone getting their day in court). The events of the Malevolence come and go. The Confederacy more than likely only made a handful of hulls required to build the Malevolence, and after it becomes apparent that it only takes a squadron of Jedi to take them down, they deem them not cost-effective and mothball them. A month later, the events of Jedi Alliance occur, which gives the Separatists plenty of time to come up with another use for a Subjucator-class hull - the Devastation. With Ziro's impending conviction being a sure thing, everyone is coming out of the woodwork trying to collect on favors Ziro owes them. Ros Lai comes to shim for a place to hide and for means of being smuggled offworld. Ventress and the Jedi somehow know Ziro owes Ros Lai a favor and come to shim looking for her. Then after that, he has his trial, he's clearly convicted and sent to prison. The events of Hostage Crisis take place. Under coercion the Republic pardons Ziro (you only pardon convicts, not those awaiting trial), and he escapes before the Republic can recant. Then the events of Hunt for Ziro occur.

    It may not be perfect, but I think that works out a lot better than pretending Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan didn't take part in a game that forces you to play as them. Not to mention there are cutscenes with Anakin and Ahsoka together as Master and Padawan on the Sedawan missions. I'd rather come up with explanations for it all than take huge swaths out of the game to make it work.
     
  3. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    Anastrona, NarCranor, welcome back. Hope you two enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas better than I did. And once again the continuity dilemma that's been prevalent since the beginning of the Clone Wars TV series. Obviously, the only way for this to be resolved is for the powers to be to get the timeline straightened out. We can get most of the cartoons into duologies, trilogies, or a four-parter like the Geonosis battle. For the moment, we have a definitive break in the timeline. We can definitely group the episodes together based on Anakin's, Obi-Wan's and Ahsoka's appearances.

    Speaking of which, Ahsoka's new look is bound to start turning heads. There she was, a teenage girl who's starting to really blossom, and she asked a teenage boy what he thinks of her. Shouldn't she have been expecting the answer she got? Maybe she should get some pointers from her peers on how to deal with such encounters.
     
  4. Anstrona

    Anstrona Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    May 14, 2005
    I don't think that the ONLY way to resolve the situation is for an official timeline. I think if a plausible explanation can be made that competently ties up all the loose ends, that will suffice until an official ruling can be made. That's what Keith and I always strive to do. Who knows, maybe if the fans come up with a good enough explanation, the official word might be influenced or even use that explanation.

    As far as the Ahsoka thing... her peers aren't exactly relationship experts either. Jedi are pretty inept when it comes to matters such as those. I don't think she expected what she got.
     
  5. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    I take her reaction as, "I was expecting something different from the son of a Senator. Should have known better."
     
  6. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    Looks like you enjoyed your break too much, guys. Nevertheless, welcome back.

    Grammar error for Ione Marcy: Height-ened should be Heightened

    Making TK-0 a former GO-TO droid - what prompted that decision?

    Spelling error in Hondo Ohnaka - Felocian instead of Felucian

    Rh'ajah Fenn - cision instead of vision


    That's all for now. I'm up to Lalo Gunn. I'll cover the rest tomorrow.
     
  7. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Thanks for the two grammatical errors!

    As for the other two items. Height-ened was on purpose, the game text is different, its a different ability. I was having fun with word play, but you and Ryan both thought it was a mistake, so maybe ill come up with a new name for that ability.

    As for making him a former G0-T0, it was obvious that TK-0 is supposed to be a P2 astromech droid, or an R1 reactor drone/astromech. It seemed more P2 to me. However, the things he was doing were far beyond the scope of the P2. Keep in mind that the Null ARCS hired these guys. The Null ARCS have VERY high level slicers in their own ranks. For them to actually go to an independent contractor means that TK-0 is able to do stuff at a higher level than they are. Further, TK-0 had a strong personality, and felt like he was superior to Gaib, his "mechanic", not partner. The G0-T0 seemed to fit my needs for a droid that could be a master slicer, feel above human-kind, and have that strong sort of personality. The name TK-0 itself had some influence as well. G0-T0-K to TK-0 isnt THAT far away. And the story of the G0-T0 droids is a nice little history that I felt I could add some sort of legacy to. So yeah, a lot of things played a role in the decision to go that way with TK-0's stats. Nothing official, mind you. How awesome is the picture we got, BTW?

     
  8. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    More errors and questions

    Shriiwook should be Shyriiwook.

    Tee-Jay stats - you have "move action readed". I think you meant "readied".

    You have a bio for Lauli Wahlo but not Jan Dez.

    What happened to the rage quality for the Wookies?

    You seemed to have shifted several special qualities into the defenses and removed others. Why?

    Why did you remove Rule Through Fear, Weapon Familiarity, and the reroll option for Persuasion from Onyx, and the Special Qualities from Teek?

    Xizor - where did it say Soontir Fel killed Xizor in a strafing run? I don't recall reading that.


    I recall you two were planning on creating to convert all of this to d6 once the Saga stats were complete. Do you mind if I do a conversion of the Machine Meld talent you created for Callista? I can PM what I come up with.


    Hope you two enjoyed Thanksgiving and Christmas more than I did.

     
  9. Anstrona

    Anstrona Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    May 14, 2005
    OK, I've noted the errors you mentioned. As far as some of the others... Jan Dez doesn't have his own entry because he's a Utility Follower to Lauli Wahlo. The rage ability is under Special Actions noted as "rage (1/day)". If a special quality can be included into the stat block in another area, it's moved out of special qualities. Such as the Twi'lek's Deceptive ability is noted simply as (may reroll, keeping second result) after the Deception skill. Zygerrians got official stats in the Galaxy at War book, so we converted their stats to the official ones. Finally, Xizor's Skyhook was destroyed, presumably with him on board, when Vader gave the order for his fighters to destroy it in the Shadows of the Empire novel. Soontir Fel commanded the 181st, which was attached to Vader's flagship since before the Battle of Hoth. It doesn't say anywhere that Fel specifically killed Xizor, but Fel's 181st most certainly did.

    As far as the d6 endeavorer goes, I don't think we still plan to make the conversion to d6. It's taking everything we've got just to complete the Saga Edition book, and we really only support that rule set anyway. I'm not going to say never, but once the existing book is "finished", I believe we really only plan to revisit it for scheduled updates. But by all means, make your conversions. I'd be interested to see how they turn out.
     
  10. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    It's here! Part two of the Jedi Knights. We have a dozen new and converted (from our old D20R chapters) Jedi Knights from the Clone Wars era, including Serra Keto, Sha Koon, Sia-Lan Wezz, and Sian Jeisel! I look forward to everyone's thoughts on the chapter. I don't know if it is that we have hit these characters already, so half the work was done, or if Tron was just hitting a stride, but I think this is one of our better-written sections.

    Also, check back in with us on the 15th, when we have a super secret exciting update for the site planned!
     
  11. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Alright! It is the 15th, and as promised, a very special update to the Fandom Comics website. We have posted the cover and first two pages of interior art of a new fan comic! Our new fan comic is a 12 page mini comic that is drawn by Aaron Johnson, with a cover by his brother Eli Johnson. Providing the colors is our very own Steve Criado, and Ryan is on lettering.

    I wrote the script for the story, which centers on bridging the gap between the issues of the Marvel Comics series between Shira Brie receiving grievous injuries during her double agent mission to discredit Luke Skywalker, and her next appearance in the Marvel Comics run as a very diffent individual. The idea is to hopefully do a series of these, that bridge the sharp changes in character and leaps in plot that are taken between her many appearances in the Marvel Comics and Del Rey novels.

    I hope everyone enjoys the new comic! We hope to post 2 new pages on the 15th of each and every month for the next six months, when the comic will be finished.

    I'm also still interested in hearing thoguhts on the latest Jedi chapter, now that everyone has had time to go through it.

    On the 1st of next month, we'll have a mercenaries chapter for the Clone Wars Saga Edition Fan Sourcebook!

    Enjoy!
     
  12. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Alright, it's four days late, but it's finally up! The second half of our Bounty Hunters, Mercenaries, and misc scum for hire during the Clone Wars. Some highlight NPCs include Fenn Shysa and a few other Mandalorians, Greedo, a few recently introduced Trandoshans, and Nym the Pirate and his gang. Twenty-six pages of NPC goodness for your Clone Wars era campaigns!

    Expect more pages of our Lumiya comic on the 15th, and Ryan should have some Jedi Masters ready for us on May 1st. June 1st I will be workong on the Clones chapter, which includes clonetroopers and their kaminoan cloners, and their mandalorian drill sergeants. The clones section is likely to require at least 2 parts to do, but they are my next focus. July 1st should see the last of the Jedi Masters from Tron, and August 1st the last of the Clones. September we are planning to do a massive recompile for the Jedi chapter, updating all sections nad combining it into a single PDF. October I should be working on NPCs that are tied into our planetary gazeteer, probably starting with the Core. November and December are traditionally difficult months for us to stay on schedule, but November should see an update to the Dark Side chapter and the Non-Jedi Force Users chapter, and December I will still be working on Gazeteer-based NPCs, probably the Colonies and Expansion Regions.

    In 2012 we hope to finish NPCs and get into non-stat chapters more. Of course, we all know someone out there picked up a Star Wars gaming license, and we aren't sure yet what a new table-top system would do for our project. Naturally this extended schedule is a tentative one, as it is hard to predict what curve-balls life might throw at us more than 2 months out. I hope you all enjoy the new chapter, and if you haven't yet checked out our Lumiya fan comic, please give it a read and let us know what you think!
     
  13. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    I'll make a post later about any revisions, but I noted something off the bat - I didn't see Cad Bane, Castas, or any of the bounty hunters that you've listed in a previous release of the Bounty hunters chapters. Was that intentional? Should I consider this Bounty Hunters - Part II instead of Bounty Hunters - Version II?

    Nice surprise with the Trandoshans. Didn't expect them, and I bet that's why you and Tron delayed this work - the season finale. I think we agree on one thing - when Chewie jumped down behind that fat Trandoshan on the beach, I bet said Trandoshan thought, "Oh ****!"

    A clone chapter - long overdue in my opinion.

    Final question for now - when you create a PDF from whatever program you type up your work, do you need to go to the Adobe website to do that?
     
  14. Anstrona

    Anstrona Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    May 14, 2005
    Ya, this is a "part 2", not a "version 2". All new stuff. Once we've actually finished all the fringe stuff we'll reorganize, compile, update and re-release. Same as the Jedi chapter, actually. The Trandos accounted for 2 of the 4 days late pushing this out of the door. The other two was a minor snafu on my part trying to compile the document in a brand new way and it failing miserably, so I had to restart it using the old method.

    I use Adobe InDesign to create the PDFS, and it allows you to export directly to PDF. No need to go to the Adobe site, although I've heard they have a PDF converter on their site somewhere.
     
  15. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    It isn't late! We had it up on the first. Our latest chapter features the third and final collection of Jedi Knights for the Fandom Comics Saga Edition Clone Wars Fan Sourcebook. 22 pages of awesomeness, you might be wondering where 3 Jedi Knights are. I assure you, they will be present in the master recompile. There was a bit too much reading to do for research for this update.

    Next month we will get something new and exciting! The month after, Tron will be back with Jedi Masters part 1!
     
  16. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    Sorry it took so long for me to get back to you guys on my review. Been getting some house repairs/renovations that my late father, who died the day after last Thanksgiving, wanted done. Anyways, here's what I've found:

    Bounty Hunters chapter:
    Is the Mandalorian native language Mando'a or Manda'o.
    Chata Hyoki - assualts should be assaults
    Dred Priest - equipment,integrated - missing space
    Isabet Reau - Deat Watch should be Death Watch
    Ghez Hokan - He treats trying to create a deceptive appearance for himself as one step easier - huh?, woulded should be wounded
    Greedo the Elder - twi?lek should be Twi?lek
    Lo-Taren - Shryiiwook should be Shyriiwook
    Perrive - was fled should be fled
    Quar Rohk - lockpicks shoudl be lock picks
    Jilam Kester - safehouse should be safe house
    Zozridor Slayke - rodian should be Rodian, liasion should be liaison, Manaical should be Maniacal, Ploriod should be Plooriod
    Fenn Shysa - ideaologies should be ideologies

    Jedi Knights Part 3 chapter:
    Bink Utrila should be B'ink Utrila
    Shryiiwook should be Shyriiwook
    Aayla Secura - Glitteryl should be glitteryl, mean time should be meantime
    Kossex - why use Use the Force with Starship Maneuvers Known
    Roblio Darté - blasterfire should be blaster fire
    Roron Corobb - should Burst of Speed be listed in Special Actions and Feats?
    Siri Tachi - should codebreaker be code breaker?


    Where can I find/get this program? Can I download it from the Adobe website?
     
  17. Jedi_Matt

    Jedi_Matt Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 11, 2002
    InDesign can be downloaded for a trial period, 45 days I think, http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign.html

    If your trial period runs out and you haven't used it on the last day of the trial then you have one last use of it which will go for as long as you leave the application open. Currently I have an Adobe Acrobat trial running and my trial has expired but I've kept Acrobat open for 3 days since.
     
  18. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Thanks for the catches as always, guys!
     
  19. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    The new chapter went up today (Totally on time for once!) This chapter, as some of you have already heard, is a bit of a departure for us in that it is very optional rules heavy, as opposed to just NPCs. Cloning is something that, game mechanics wise, wasn't really covered by the official rules, and since this is a CLONE WARS sourcebook, we thought it kind of a glaring omission. GMs might want to run a campaign where there is a new clone enemy, or where their characters represent a new breed of Jango Fett clone for the GAR, or any other number of scenarios. Of course, one of the pitfalls of cloning, is Clone Madness, so we found ourselves creating an optional set of mental illness rules as well, in the form of Complications, a sort of mini-destiny system.

    In other news, our website is still going through conceptual redesign by Tron. Nothing has really changed on the site visibly yet, except for a facebook "like" button. Our facebook page is more or less limited to notification of updates at the moment, however, I imagine one day these forums will be closed, since WOTC doesn't own the license. So stay up to date and add us to your likes on facebook! Finally, we have some more comic book secret projects that are very exciting for us. It's WAY too early to discuss any of it in any kind of detail, but from what I have seen already, it all looks AMAZING. So stay tuned to hear more on that down the road.

    But back to cloners! As usual, let us know if we did a great job, a horrible job, if you see spelling, formatting, grammatical, unbalanced rules, or anything else in the text. If you playtest or use the rules, feel free to give us a little report on how it went. This is a fan supplement, we can tweak numbers if things see to be skewing a certain way. We appreciate the feedback, enjoy the chapter!
     
  20. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    I'll look at it and post my comments later. But first, NarCranor, can you get in touch with Anastrona and tell him to check his mailbox? I sent a PM to him a few days ago, and he has yet to look at it.
     
  21. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    Done, he should get back to you shortly. Tron doesn't troll the forums as often as I do (and I patrol these forums far less often than WOTC's or D20Radios. Shame on both him and myself for not making the time, but sometimes that's the way things go.
     
  22. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    First off, I have to admit that you guys provided deep details in the psychiatric problems the clones, or soldiers in general, could suffer. You guys must have had a knowledgeable source with which you consulted in creating this part of the chapter - a psychiatrist friend, psychiatry books, something.


    The Clone Madness - I know that Leia speculated in The Last Command that this is caused by the Force. When a clone is made, a link is created in the Force between the clone and the original host. The clone mind needs time to get used to this, or else the mind would break and the clone would go insane. That's why it took ten years for the clones to develop - the decade of maturation guaranteed a stable clone mind. Now granted, the role the Force played in the cloning process wouldn't be known in the Prequel era. And granted, with Jango Fett's death, the formation of this link should no longer play a role in the formation of future clones. However, I don't think you delved into the link between clone madness and creating clones rapidly very well.


    I remember in Galaxy of Fear: Clones, Tash encountered a hidden cloning facility in the Jedi ruins of Dantooine. Among the equipment in the facility was a neural scanner, which scanned her brain patterns and imprinted them onto her clones. Given the way the clones turned out, it was apparent that the neural scanner was faulty somehow. Would such a device be a brain mapper or a flash memory pump?


    Orun Wa: Skill Focus (use computer) should be Skill Focus (Use Computer) and there should be no period here: Knowledge (physical sciences) +15.


    Where did Nala Shan appear?


    I got the PM from Anastrona. I'm glad you and Anastrona liked what I came up with. And the inclusion I made in the mechanics came about because of how Callista and Cray were able to swap bodies, so as to speak, in Children of the Jedi. I'll take a look at the Adobe InDesign and what it entails - price, membership, etc. before I decide to get it.
     
  23. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    The praise was well-deserved, I think the ability turned out nicely.

    As usual, all good points. Nala Shan appeared in the Clone Wars Gambit dualogy. Wikipedia regards her as the same character as Nala Se, but I disagree, since the timing (at least for the moment) between Brain Invaders and Clone Wars Gambit suggests they are two separate, if similar, characters.

    The Brain Mapper and Flash Memory Pump are two ends of the same device, really. The Brain Mapper records (or Neural whatever it was called in galaxy of fear), and the Flash Memory Pump is what is used with the tanks to do the over-writing of developing mind.

    I know The Force is widely regarded as related to the cause of Clone Madness, however, my research showed that the root of clone madness was generally an identity crisis with those clones who receive flash-pumped memories. For me, that made it a violent sort of dissociative disorder. Now, I was on the fence about including Ysalimiri in the chapter, since their inclusion did allow for clones to be fast grown and flash pumped without fear of Clone Madness. The plan was for Ysalimiri to get re-statted with a new effect related to cloning, where the per level rolls for clone madness do not occur.

    Psuedo-scientifically speaking, to me, the Force "creates life", so if a life is created in the absence of the Force, and then flash pumped another set of memories, it truly is a blank slate, not a newborn with an emerging personality that you are imprinting memories over. This would remove the dual nature of warring identities, and thereby remove the risk of Clone Madness.

    Thank you for the compliment on my research into mental illness. I did take a psychology 101 class like seven years ago, which had admittedly little impact on the complications. I basically just googled my way through the research, but I did go ahead and spend ten plus hours reading and researching online before reducing things to the categories we went with. The goal was to be able to do these rules without having to do a new complication for fear of spiders vs fear of heights vs fear of ewoks or whatever. I knew I wanted to word things in such a way that I had broad categories of common behaviors that fit a pattern, and let GMs decide on the specifics.

    There is actually a sort of precedent for the complications (though I was only reminded of it after making them) in JATM, page 43, the rules for training an NPC Padawan learner. This sort of functions as a mini destiny in that the teacher sort of gains the benefits of the education destiny for a limited time whenever an apprentice reaches knighthood.

    Glad you enjoyed the chapter!

     
  24. JediAlly

    JediAlly Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Oct 31, 2000
    OK. I understand Nala Shan's case. I think I stated my opinion on such matters - I'll wait until GL and LFL finishes the Clone Wars series so they can spend several months shifting and sorting through the spaghetti bowl that's currently the Clone Wars timeline. Looks like it'll be around 2014 at the earliest that this'll happen.
     
  25. NarCranor

    NarCranor Jedi Knight star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 1, 2005
    FINALLY! Thanks mostly to me, and my inability to edit quickly, the first section of Tron's Jedi Masters is up! Nearly thirty of the Jedi Master NPCs from the Clone Wars era are represented here, along with a few odds and ends. There is only ONE MORE chapter of Jedi left for Tron to do before the Jedi section is finally, completely done. While our next udpate will be clone training sergeants by me, the chapter after that (Sep 1) will be the last section of Jedi, and Tron's next update after that will be a grand Jedi recompile, which takes all the Jedi chapters and updates them all and combines them into one nice neat doc, along with some extras. Once this happens, we likely won't touch the Jedi chapter for close to a year, so if you want to be great, eagle-eyed fans and help us out, take a free weekend and pour through all our Saga Jedi chapters and let us know about any errors, typos, or anything else you might spot.

    Also, be sure to "LIKE" our facebook page! Like button is on our main page at http://www.fandomcomics.com

    As always, we look forward to your feedback on the new chapter!