Author: Mike Hall
Category: game
Company/Publisher: Not Applicable; Compatable with WEG's RPG.
Line: Star Wars: The Role-Playing Game
Cost: Equal to whatever you pay for Internet Access
Page count: Just Bookmark The Front Page And Be Done With It
ISBN: If it had one, it wouldn't be unofficial now, would it?
SKU: Not Applicable Here Either
Playtest Review by Bradford C. Walker on 12/07/99.
Genre tags: Fantasy Science_fiction Space

You knew that this one was an inevitability.

You've seen the film. You burned Jar-Jar in effigy. Now you'd like to actually use what you saw in your Star Wars campaigns. However, West End Games can't--not won't, _can't_--publish an official book on the film. For whatever reason, you aren't doing the job yourself in the hope that someone else will do it for you.

Your wish is granted, for there exists a netbook. It's written with the West End Games RPG in mind, and it uses many images from the film and from other--official--sources. (The TPM cross-sections book is an oft-quoted source.) You can find its front page, with a little cut and paste, at the URL below:

http://www.geocities.com/Pipeline/5728/starwars/startpage.html

There was a first edition of this netbook, but the new edition came with great speed. Part of this was due to a mass of errors in the first edition, and the rest was due to user feedback received since its release. The second edition is a superior product, in much the same way as the RPG.

The first thing you'll note is that the URL takes you to what, in a print book, would be the front cover. The link takes you to the page where Mr. Hall placed his foreword. Here he explains why he wrote the book, what his sources were, and expresses his opinions regarding a Prequel-Era campaign. I found the comments worth reading, especially the style comparisions between TPM and the existing trilogy of films, and they turned my attention to considerations I hadn't noticed until then.

This continues on the following page. Here is the list of what is new, different, and unchanged. Of note here is Mr. Hall's dislike of the official rules for Force use and how this influenced the powers found in the book; he sees the rules as a detrement to play because they bog down the pace to a crawl, and because they contradict what is seen in the primary and secondary sources. He attempted to go around these elements, and that's where opinion met design considerations- which prompted some of the negative feedback that Mr. Hall mentions.

The next link takes you to the Table of Contents page, which splits the remainder of the book into five chapters. Chapter One covers the Trade Federation. For those who don't partake of the tie-in products, a lot of what you find here is something new and yet entirely within the expectations set by the film. After an introduction page, the following pages cover one element seen in the film. First, Battle Droids, then their little one-man platforms, and so on. Chapter Two (the Naboo chapter) also follows this structure.

Mr. Hall gets to the point right quick; he wisely includes only that information he needs to get the point across, and then he provides the statistics for whatever it is that he's described (if any) before moving on.

Chapter Three covers the Jedi and Sith of this era. Yes, the stats for Darth Maul's double-bladed lightsaber, droids, ship, and speeder bike are present. The same goes with everything that the Jedi use in the film. Also present is information about the possible reasons for the changes in Sith and Jedi culture between the "Tales" era and the Prequel Era, and how to make use of it in your campaigns. The new Force powers are here, and that includes the two powers that Anakin displays in the film. Also seen are the Superleap power, the one that allows for the super-fast running, and one that allows for all of the posthumous meetings of Old Obi-Wan and Luke in the existing trilogy. I'm not keen on all of them, but they work well enough for me.

Chapter Four covers the Republic in the Prequel Era, as well as all that we see of the Republic. The stats for the ship seen (and blow to pieces) early on are present, and so are podracers, the other new races, pit droids, the air taxis of Coruscant, and some information on Republic culture of this time- along with an image of our future Glorious Emperor.

Chapter Five, the adventuring chapter, is a real treat. Mr. Hall gives some very practical advice on how to use this book and avoid the doom that is being contradicted by Episodes II and II. His advice is based around the idea that, while Star Wars is based upon Big Ideas, what matters to a good campaign are the Little Things that make the Big Ideas what they are. He emphasizes the tragedy inherent in any Prequel Era campaign, especially if there are any Jedi characters in the group. He shows how commerce can be more than number crunching (Traveller fans should feel vindicated.), and that includes showing how taxes are appropriate for Lucas' epic space opera. He goes on about the freedom that the Republic's members enjoy in this era, how it breeds the malaise of complacency, and how both are gone come the rise of the Empire. He also goes on about theology, and how it can breed a reborn sense of mystery due to the fracturous nature of those that use the Force--we know that the Jedi and Sith aren't the only ones that use the Force--and what powers they wield. All of this is wonderful, inspirational reading for players, GMs, and fans alike.

Chapter Six has the statistics for all of the major players in the movie, and more are on the way. Take a good look at these NPCs, and then look again at the stats for those of the Rebellion Era. The power level is significant, if only because it shows that there is not that much difference in the capabilities between this generation and those that followed. (The Force-users, of course, are the exception.)

Overall, this is a netbook worth bookmarking. What have you to lose by doing so? Go read it yourself.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)