The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Cracken's Threat Dossier is a supplement that details the events, characters, and equipment featured in the Star Wars novels The Courtship of Princess Leia, Before the Storm, Shield of Lies, Tyrant's Test, Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint. This sporadically covers about 10 years of history starting roughly four years after the Battle of Endor.

I think the secret of the Star Wars RPG's success has been the familiarity of the topic. Just about every gamer has probably seen the Star Wars trilogy. It doesn't take too much to imagine flying about in an X-wing nor is it difficult to describe a seedy spacer's bar. How many of you envision jackbooted Nazis when somebody mentions "stormtrooper" in a game setting?

Cracken's Threat Dossier is an attempt to tap into this familiarity by using recent Star Wars novels. While previous efforts have yielded the familiar hardbacks, this effort is a slim trade paperback. Well, maybe not so slim. Perhaps realizing that they didn't have enough material or gamer interest to justify three new hardbacks they have crammed all the info into one volume.

And what a volume it is! There is a plethora of information available. The books is separated into three sections. The Hapan Cluster Incident covers The Courtship of Princess Leia. The Black Fleet Crisis covers the novels Before the Storm, Shield of Lies, and Tyrant's Test. Finally, the Corellian Incident covers Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint.

So what do you get?

The Hapan Cluster Incident has a decent summary of events, important NPCs, new ships and wildlife. A large section is devoted to Dathomir Magic which is useful only if you plan on running a Dathomir witch. Despite being yet another spin on Force powers, it is probably the closest thing to traditional gaming "magick" that you are going to find in Star Wars.

The Black Fleet Crisis can be described in one word: ships. Lots of ships. The lion's share of vessels belong to the New Republic fleet. There are variations on old themes (like the Republic Star Destroyer) but also the "New Class" ships which tend to be smaller and more specialized. A handful of capitals used by the Imperial remnants are provided and there is a small selection of starfighter class vessels (mostly recon/scout/stealth ships but also the refitted Millennium Falcon). None of the new vessels have that uniform look that made the previous generation immediately recognizable. The other point of interest in this chapter is the administrative organization of the New Republic with table and description. This chapter doesn't include a good summary of the novels, but a savvy reader could probably piece it together.

The Corellian Incident has a rather extensive summary of the novels. This is a good thing as most of the information provided in the chapter revolves around the numerous NPCs and the planets of the Corellian system. Corellia has always been hinted at in the stories and it's good to see it receive some attention. With a little work there is enough detail to run a decent campaign here. Centerpoint Station itself, either before or after the events of the novels, has a lot of potential. Finally this section finishes with ... that's right, more ships. Most of the small handful of ships are Bakuran in origin (built after the Ssi-ruuk invasion ... see Truce at Bakura Sourcebook) but there are some starfighters as well.

Well, is this book worth buying?

Cracken's Threat Dossier is a bit pricy at $20, but there's no doubt that you're getting a lot for your money. However, the material covers three different series and a gamemaster might be hard pressed to use it all. I still haven't figured out a plausible way to introduce all of it to my gaming group. It's probably of most use to those who are gaming in the New Republic setting rather than the classic era.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Cracken's Threat Dossier
Author: Drew Campbell, Matt Hong, Timothy S. O'Brien, Jen Seiden, and Eric S. Trautmann Category: game Company/Publisher: West End Games Cost: $20.00 Page count: 144 ISBN: 0-87431-504-2 Playtest Review by John Fu on 05/02/98. Genre tags: none	Cracken's Threat Dossier is a supplement that details the events, characters, and equipment featured in the Star Wars novels The Courtship of Princess Leia, Before the Storm, Shield of Lies, Tyrant's Test, Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint. This sporadically covers about 10 years of history starting roughly four years after the Battle of Endor. I think the secret of the Star Wars RPG's success has been the familiarity of the topic. Just about every gamer has probably seen the Star Wars trilogy. It doesn't take too much to imagine flying about in an X-wing nor is it difficult to describe a seedy spacer's bar. How many of you envision jackbooted Nazis when somebody mentions "stormtrooper" in a game setting? Cracken's Threat Dossier is an attempt to tap into this familiarity by using recent Star Wars novels. While previous efforts have yielded the familiar hardbacks, this effort is a slim trade paperback. Well, maybe not so slim. Perhaps realizing that they didn't have enough material or gamer interest to justify three new hardbacks they have crammed all the info into one volume. And what a volume it is! There is a plethora of information available. The books is separated into three sections. The Hapan Cluster Incident covers The Courtship of Princess Leia. The Black Fleet Crisis covers the novels Before the Storm, Shield of Lies, and Tyrant's Test. Finally, the Corellian Incident covers Ambush at Corellia, Assault at Selonia, and Showdown at Centerpoint. So what do you get? The Hapan Cluster Incident has a decent summary of events, important NPCs, new ships and wildlife. A large section is devoted to Dathomir Magic which is useful only if you plan on running a Dathomir witch. Despite being yet another spin on Force powers, it is probably the closest thing to traditional gaming "magick" that you are going to find in Star Wars. The Black Fleet Crisis can be described in one word: ships. Lots of ships. The lion's share of vessels belong to the New Republic fleet. There are variations on old themes (like the Republic Star Destroyer) but also the "New Class" ships which tend to be smaller and more specialized. A handful of capitals used by the Imperial remnants are provided and there is a small selection of starfighter class vessels (mostly recon/scout/stealth ships but also the refitted Millennium Falcon). None of the new vessels have that uniform look that made the previous generation immediately recognizable. The other point of interest in this chapter is the administrative organization of the New Republic with table and description. This chapter doesn't include a good summary of the novels, but a savvy reader could probably piece it together. The Corellian Incident has a rather extensive summary of the novels. This is a good thing as most of the information provided in the chapter revolves around the numerous NPCs and the planets of the Corellian system. Corellia has always been hinted at in the stories and it's good to see it receive some attention. With a little work there is enough detail to run a decent campaign here. Centerpoint Station itself, either before or after the events of the novels, has a lot of potential. Finally this section finishes with ... that's right, more ships. Most of the small handful of ships are Bakuran in origin (built after the Ssi-ruuk invasion ... see Truce at Bakura Sourcebook) but there are some starfighters as well. Well, is this book worth buying? Cracken's Threat Dossier is a bit pricy at $20, but there's no doubt that you're getting a lot for your money. However, the material covers three different series and a gamemaster might be hard pressed to use it all. I still haven't figured out a plausible way to introduce all of it to my gaming group. It's probably of most use to those who are gaming in the New Republic setting rather than the classic era. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)