Lit Fantasy Flight Games and the Star Wars TCG

Well, yeah.

I was thinking more about the 'next game' announcement.

After that, probably BATTLEFRONT 2.

 

Well there are rumours of a Bioware Star Wars game, so maybe there is some hope, whilst I would wait for most people to not like Battlefront before speculating about a part 2.

 

What I would love is to see a crossover with FFG. I mean, who wouldn't want a video game version of Armada, for instance? Or FFG making a The Old Republic RPG?

The only barrier, paradoxically, is StoryGroup's mission statement.

 

Not interested in a TOR game at all. Not a fan of the Galactic War/Cold War setting. At all.

 

I'm not a big fan of the setting myself - never played the MMO for instance - but as far as marketing and cross-promotion goes, I'd interested in seeing that happen. (My personal preference continues to be a Clone Wars setting as the next one, besides the obligatory Ep7 tie-in).

 

The problem I have with the SWTOR setting -- and it's the same one I had with Legacy -- is they're kitchen sink settings. They're defined by including everything from all the other settings and lack any clear identity of their own.

Those work great in RPGs, though, because you can do any sort of campaign that you want in them. But narratively they're meh.

I was never a fan of SW Legacy.

*braces for tomatoes*

 

The issue is seeing what might be within the realm of possibility. Would I prefer, say, a KOTOR setting during the original games, or - even better - during the comic? Sure, but it's unlikely. Same goes for Legacy, or the old NR.

The only reason I don't think a Rebels setting would fly would be that it is too close, I think, to the RE to be a completely different setting; a single sourcebook might be devoted to it, for instance. (Also, I'd imagine that StoryGroup's scrutiny would be quadrupled for anything like that).

 

Not a friend of kitchen sink settings for RPGs, either. Limitations greatly define a setting; if there's none, you end up with something bland and uninteresting.

 

That goes without saying. I've always disliked Forgotten Realms as a setting because of its hodge-podge nature... but then again, it is also the go-to campaign setting for D&D.

 

I hear you there. I was actually thinking of something like Dark Sun compared to Forgotten Realms.

Still, if it's a to-go setting what we are looking for, I don't think they can't get anything more marketable than the Rebellion Era, to be honest. TOR wouldn't even get close. Nothing does. Anything new should be more niche, IMO, more DS than FR. Perhaps Clone Wars would fit the bill, dunno.

 

Troy Denning made Dark Sun so I have to dislike it.

 

He made it with other designers and then destroyed it with a series of books. NJO and FOTJ. Don't hate the NJO.

 

I'm not the biggest fan of TOR either, but FFG has really built up a strong level of confidence from me with everything they've done thus far. Even if I'd be a touch sceptical of anything dabbling in an era or setting that I don't personally like, I'd definitely trust FFG to deliver something that I like. Of course, that's all academic given that they're not even thinking about dabbling in anything like TOR.

Although, that said, I was browsing the Wook and stumbled on to a really awesome TOR reference included in the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook.

Spoiler

If anyone remembers the mysterious Jedi tomb on Chandrila from Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy, it's been established as the burial place of one of the player characters from TOR - the Bar'senthor. That wasn't a reference I was expecting to see!

 

Oh, FFG has referenced the TOR era up and down - the AOR adventure Assault on Arda I makes references to Ord Radama's past during that era, for instance.

Exactly, although my own preference would be Planescape. (Of course, being that Planescape technically includes Dark Sun, I guess that's a moot point. )

Besides the Clone Wars, the immediate post-Endor era - after all, that was the other 'default' setting for WEG, circa 2 ABE.

 

Well, yeah, PS was (is) my favorite setting, but I didn't use it as an example of a non-kitchen sink setting because it kind of was one, what with having the whole multiverse to play on.

But still, none of those achieve the popularity of the Rebellion Era. And once again, will FFG want to publish another "main" setting? I mean, they might: history has shown that companies have adopted many different settings with different approaches and results. TSR saw its many AD&D settings compete against each other, for example, and Wizards of the Coast made sure setting material was always compatible with the main game during the 4th edition era. There's no real magic formula, so who knows how conservative they are going to be.

I think it's more likely to see them try a different angle on the Rebellion Era, a fourth counterpart to the existing ones, be it an Imperial book or something more creative.

 

If they do an Imperial book I am almost certain they would just release it under Age of Rebellion.

 

That's not how they did it in WH40K RPG with Black Crusade, and so far they've followed the same model. So no, I'm pretty sure if they decide to expand the game that way (and if they are allowed to do it!) it will be with a new core rulebook.

 

If they made such a game and used the Black Crusade design philosophy, the Duty-equivalent level of each player works against the rest. Think of it as, dunno, Ambition. For you to prosper, someone else needs to be left behind. Tell me you wouldn't love that game.

 

It probably wouldn't be as extreme as BC (you play echelons of Chaos in that game, after all) but a softer mechanic could work great, IMO, and give an Imperial game anything it needs to be its own game.



I'm kind of tempted to house rule an Ambition system now.

 

I often have my players write two character biographies. One is public information the rest of the party knows, the other secrets that are shared with the GM.
Then, as GM, I can troll them with parts of their past they'd rather not confront or talk about. (Such as an old debt being called in.)

 

from http://anthonydevine.deviantart.com/

 

Heh, I do the same, more or less.