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

A&A The Official Abel G. Pena Discussion Thread

Discussion in 'Literature' started by The2ndQuest , Mar 13, 2005.

  1. Halagad_Ventor

    Halagad_Ventor Star Wars Author - SWRPG Designer star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2001
    Thanks brother. That was a fun piece.

    If Evil Never Dies were a book, I'd say it's possible, but as a web essay, it's not likely, at least not as a direct update. Of course, Lucasfilm has been known to sneak into authors homes in the dead of night and kidnap them so they can work on secret projects. So you never know. ;)

    Yes, from personal experience, Joe knows that foul-mouthed characterization is spot on. Shameful.

    Perhaps it was something I kriffing said?

    No plans by me, currently, Loyal_Imperial, but I do like delving into Star Wars secret societies. You'll likely see something in the near-future along those lines.

    Ah, my cohort in justice. Happy holidays, Leah. :)
     
  2. The Loyal Imperial

    The Loyal Imperial Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 19, 2007
    Thanks! It's always nice to see the little things being expanded on.
     
  3. Spoit

    Spoit Jedi Youngling

    Registered:
    May 1, 2005
    I realize it has been years since the articles were originally published, and admittedly didn't pay too much attention to Insider, but did the last set of articles on the Emperor's Hand's ever get published. The Marek Steele one in paticular.
     
  4. kecen

    kecen Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 12, 2005
    Hm, do the Herglic count as a secret society? It's always nice to know about the funnier looking species.

    I'm not up to date, but I'm dissappointed at the postponing of Vader's legacy [face_frustrated]
     
  5. Eyrezer

    Eyrezer Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Aug 4, 2002
    Abel, is there still one more installment of Aliens in the Empire to come?
     
  6. SheaHublin

    SheaHublin Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2008
    Abel: Something caught my attention recently. The Classic Star Wars strip 'Princess Leia: Imperial Servant' shows several very alien Imperials at the 13th Imperial Diplomatic Conclave hosted by Grand Moff Tarkin's widow. Is it possible that they might make an appearance in a future Aliens in the Empire article?

    http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Image:13thConclave.jpg
     
  7. Halagad_Ventor

    Halagad_Ventor Star Wars Author - SWRPG Designer star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2001
    Hi Spoit. I believe you're talking about the series of blogs I've been writing on the characters from The Emperor's Pawns. I have fallen very behind with those, but I should get to Maarek Stele eventually. I like to finish what I start.

    I like the Herglic design from the Ultimate Alien Anthology. I don't think I'd count them as a secret society, though.

    Yes. I think it's been two years at this point. Thankfully, there are lots of other projects coming. Echoes of the Jedi, out in a week or two, will probably be the first. I had a lot of fun fleshing out the villain Valin Draco for that one.

    Yes, that's one of the others. This should probably be in the Hyperspace supplement to either Insider #99 or #100.

    Well I suppose it doesn't hurt to reveal this. An aborted *fourth* installment of Aliens in the Empire would've included some of the aliens from that comics panel, specifically the squishy High Proctor and Senator Mzerc.

    Take care,
    Abel
     
  8. SheaHublin

    SheaHublin Jedi Grand Master star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 15, 2008
    A fourth installment? Man, the things that get cancelled sometimes...

    Good to know there were plans for the High Proctor and Mzerc, though.

     
  9. Senator_Cilghal

    Senator_Cilghal Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2003
    Hmm, DoD 4 very intriguing. Although the k'kayeh dreambeast was WAY too hard a villain to throw at my PCs in the middle of the mission, we were already beaten up too much to survive it. I thought it seemed overkill for opur level, ost of us couldn't do enough damage to overcome a DR 25. Still, I remember reading about the k'kayeh WAY back in the days of LFC, so interesting to learn more about it. It is rather deliciously over-the-top;) I wasn't clear on what happened if it ate ALL the PCs.

    There are so good timeline tidbits in the mission. Notably on Abel-preferred characters, Vader's torturing of Halagad either happens in or after 17 BBY. I would be very interested if Halaga'ds betreayal nad the consequent disaster were actually a mission in the campaign!

    Also, the backstory of Valin raises the possibility that the nighthunter homeworld is Parein II 4, which is plausible, since Ultimate Adversaries never established a homeworld. I was rather puzzled that scientists would speculate the nighthunter is bred from a vornskr! I think its obviously bred from the maalraas of Dxun. Than,fully the vxun-origin is just given as a "theory", and one I hope will not ever be presented as canonical fact. Compare the similarity of the

    maalraas
    http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Maalraas

    and the nightstalker
    http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Nighthunter

    It was also great to get more tidbits about the Battle of Parein II 4. I wonder if Draco was personally injured by Grievous? And one thing I've always been curious about is how Tyneir Renz was a Colonel, a rank otherwise unknown i nthe Jedi Officer Corps, and seemingly out of sync with the statements that all Padawans are Commanders, all Knights and Masters Generals, the OOB in Insider, etc.

    There were certainly some challenging battles. Overall, it was chopped full of goodness. I did find the artist's depiction of Valin to look very ugly, like a Palpatine wannabe, very much at odds with the description of Valin as "handsome". However, the crimson robes is a good continuity mesh with the Last of the Jedi books.

    When we are 20th level, it would certainly be a challenge to take on the REAL k'kayeh beast.

    Despite the full-fleshed mission, as GM I could'nt help but tamper a little, so I added a demented Tarasin vagabond who had taken a blaster bolt to the brain. He was a somewhat pitiable but still funny character, and was convinced the holocron would make a replacement head for the decapitated baby doll he carried around with him (he lived in the nursery, which was a poignant reminder of wthe full extent of the Empire's murder). The funnest moment was when the T'salak struck the poor Tarasin and he went into a rage and attacked the baby doll, rolled a natural 1, and missed an inanimate child's toy. He also lived on a diet of pills from the surgical bay, dry ice, and fingerbones (in his mind, mice with rice on ice). He also put makeup on our heroes while they were asleep, to make us look more like the baby doll...I don't know why.

     
  10. Halagad_Ventor

    Halagad_Ventor Star Wars Author - SWRPG Designer star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2001
    Hi Senator,

    Yes, we got a bit nasty with the adventure, and the k'kayeh dreambeast was a very intentional nod to both the Living Force Campaign and Domain of Evil, which introduced the concept of dreambeasts. But that's why we made the encounters optional. As for the nighthunter's origins, we were writing so fast that we missed that obvious connection. :(

    Maybe one day we'll get the full story of Parein II 4, including why Tyneir Renz has the unconventional rank of colonel. For the record, he himself is a fairly unconventional Jedi, with a wife and children.

    Heh, those are great touches. :)
     
  11. Senator_Cilghal

    Senator_Cilghal Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2003
    I just thought of a plausible reason scientists 19 BBY might think nighthunters were descended from voxyns...they might not even KNOW about malraas...because malraas might havee gone extinct between 3951 BBY (KOTOR II) and 19 BBY (DOD)
     
  12. Senator_Cilghal

    Senator_Cilghal Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2003
    you know, thinking about how unconventional he was, I bet Tyneir was an Almas graduate...from the same graduating class as Draco?

    A thought on how he might be a colonel...all Jedi officers (sans Padawans) were automatically Generals in the Clone Army; Jedi Colonels do not occur in the Clone Army OOP.

    What if Tyneir did not lead CLONES? What if he led volunteer "born" troops? We know the Republic had such. Maybe Jedi who served with the "normal" forces held a wider variety of ranks, and weren't automatically Generals?
     
  13. TheEmpireStrikes

    TheEmpireStrikes Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Jun 11, 2004
    Hmmm....whatever happened to this?
     
  14. Halagad_Ventor

    Halagad_Ventor Star Wars Author - SWRPG Designer star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2001
    That's quite plausible, indeed.

    Maybe (though Almas is actually Halagad's alma mater).

    That's one good way it could play out, Senator.

    Kind of goes along with the question of what happened to the Insider supplements on StarWars.com in general. What with the website revamp, Celebration Japan, San Diego comic con, and the new Clone Wars movie, I think they're just a little behind over there. A little patience should pay off.

    In the meantime, I've had a gander at the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, and it looks spiff (as in spaceman, that is).

    Take care,
    Abel
     
  15. JMM

    JMM Author: The Forgotten War, SW Fact File star 3 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 9, 1998
    That's a very funny choice of obscure reference, Abel. My player's name when I played the original KOTOR video game was "Spaceman Spiff". :)
     
  16. IG_2000

    IG_2000 Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Aug 5, 2008
    Well I'm new here.

    wassup abel :p
     
  17. Halagad_Ventor

    Halagad_Ventor Star Wars Author - SWRPG Designer star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2001
    Nothing happens by accident, as the wise Jedi said. [face_thinking]

    What's up. ;)

    You are new here.

    It's cool enough, my friend, but I'd have to get through all my nieces, nephews, and little cousins before I could consider it. They already call me Uncle Scar.

    Abel
     
  18. Rogue_Follower

    Rogue_Follower Manager Emeritus star 6 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 12, 2003
    Don't importune the authors, please...
     
  19. HedecGa

    HedecGa Jedi Master star 4

    Registered:
    Apr 19, 2006
    I love you, Abel. [face_plain]

    That is all :p

    Oh, and any word on Aliens/Empire III? TFU and TCW are out now. Come on LFL!!!
     
  20. Senator_Cilghal

    Senator_Cilghal Jedi Master star 5

    Registered:
    Jul 19, 2003
    ok, looking back, exactly how do dreambeasts work. what happens to people they eat, are they really destroyed? when the dreambeast is defeated, does all the damage it did disappear?
     
  21. Halagad_Ventor

    Halagad_Ventor Star Wars Author - SWRPG Designer star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2001
    I ... ah, too easy. ;)

    What? It's only been a year.

    The damage dreambeasts induce is largely mental, though that doesn't rule out psychosomatic effects (sort of like the old die-in-your-dreams-die-in-real-life trope). IIRC, dreambeast damage remains even after a dreambeast is defeated. Domain of Evil goes more into the post-effects, which, unfortunately, we didn't have time to convert to D20 for Echoes of the Jedi.

    Abel
     
  22. Halagad_Ventor

    Halagad_Ventor Star Wars Author - SWRPG Designer star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2001
    Howdy folks,

    Dropping by to announce that the 11th update of Cussing in a Galaxy Far, Far Away is now up, as well as a new interview I gave for TheSithOrder.com.

    Check em out!

    Cheers,
    Abel
     
  23. Havac

    Havac Former Moderator star 7 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Sep 29, 2005
    I love the interview, Abel. Curse you for getting me all excited about the possibilities of your writing more on Ruin, though.:p
     
  24. Sinrebirth

    Sinrebirth Mod-Emperor of the EUC, Lit, RPF and SWC star 10 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 15, 2004
    Ever since the Creed of Ruin I've been dying for more Ruin love.

    It'd be awesome to see that appear one day. And Vader's Legacy, of course. Which is probably the bane of your existence, now, Abel.
     
  25. Halagad_Ventor

    Halagad_Ventor Star Wars Author - SWRPG Designer star 4 VIP

    Registered:
    Jul 3, 2001
    I have to finish my current assignment before I can consider a Ruin project. Clearly, though, I've been sprinkling Ruin crumbs throughout the years for a reason. The character speaks to me.

    Incidentally, I just received word that Halagad will be part of the series of artist sketch cards packaged for Star Wars Galaxy 4.

    Here's the illo:

    [image=http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e230/abelgpena/halagadventorjustin.jpg]

    The card is by Justin Chung. His other Galaxy 4 sketch cards can be found here.

    Take care,
    Abel