The Inside Scoop on Gaming

West End's boxed Star Wars supplement Lords of the Expanse has been available for about a year now and has already spawned two further supplements (Player's Guide to Tapani and Tapani Sector Instant Adventures). Given the sheer bulk of material included in the original boxed set, it's no wonder that there have been few extensive reviews of this product. Having had many months to examine and use Lords of the Expanse, I have prepared the following comments for those considering purchasing it.

Lords of the Expanse describes an entirely new sector for the Star Wars universe, the Tapani Sector. Located toward the Core of the Empire, Tapani is home to a variety of squabbling nobles houses and their servants. Lords of the Expanse thus provides players and game masters with a more "civilized" setting for their Star Wars adventures. Rather than assuming the roles of smugglers and scouts, players can now take on the personae of knights and noblemen, saber rakes and sycophants. It's quite a change of pace from the usual Star Wars setting, but it's quite refreshing as well.

Tapani's noble houses, by and large, support the Empire and believe the Rebellion (if they take notice of it at all) to be unworthy of their support because of its democratizing tendencies. The nobles of Tapani do not all like the Empire's intrusion into their affairs (which is minimal at the start of the set's timeline), but they see the Emperor and his New Order as the only way to maintain their status and privileges.

This attitude tends to make Tapani Sector a place without obvious moral blacks and whites. Instead, Lords of the Expanse revels in varying shades of grey, from light slate to dark charcoal. This will undoubtedly jar with the sensibilities of long-time players of Star Wars; it certainly does take some getting used to. Nevertheless, Tapani Sector is a fascinating place and one that makes a great setting for a different kind of Star Wars campaign.

The box contains a lot of material for the money. Included are six dice, 16 illustrated adventure cards, a jump map of Tapani Sector, a collection of character templates, and three books (the Sector Guide, the Game Master Guide, and the Campaign Guide). I'll comment on most of these components below.

Sector Guide
This is the thinnest of the three books, at 48 pages. It includes the much needed tables of contents for all three books. The Sector Guide's primary purpose is to give players and game masters a quick overview of the setting. This overview concentrates on the history, noble houses, aliens, and worlds of the sector. There are also short chapters describing the vehicles, droids, and equipment of the region as well.

The Guide is a decent introduction to the setting and includes lots of basic background that is needed by both players and game masters. In fact, players familiar with the more usual Star Wars setting should make it a point of reading the Sector Guide from cover to cover. It is essential for getting a feel for this sector of the galaxy. Most of the information in this book is reproduced in the Player's Guide to Tapani available separately.

Game Master Guide
This book is 80 pages long and contains the bulk of the set's information. The Game Master Guide provides game masters with more detailed information on all of the topics included in the Sector Guide. In many cases, this means simple clarification and expansion. In others, it means correction, since there's a lot more going on in Tapani behind the scenes than many realize. This adds to the overall feeling of cloak-and-dagger political intrigue that is the hallmark of Tapani. There's more than enough material in this book to provide the game master with plenty of adventure material. Scattered throughout the book are numerous adventure seeds to give even more ideas to the game master. Thus, new game masters will hardly be left without ideas for a rather long-lasting campaign in Tapani Sector.

There are far too many elements of the setting to comment upon them all here. However, a few of the highlights will be serve to show the depth of this setting. There's a discussion of saber dueling and the code of honor that goes with it. Each house is described in depth, along with various "skeletons" in their closets. There are likewise descriptions of other players in the sector: the non-noble Freeworlds (suspected of Rebel sympathies –– the commoners!), the Mining Guild ("You join the Guild and nobody gets hurt. . ."), the Megacorps, Secrets Societies (What kind of political intrigue would be complete without them?), and, of course, the Empire itself. The wealth of information available is quite impressive. Most of it is handled quite well and is genuinely interesting to read. I found myself coming up with all sorts of adventure ideas simply by scanning through sections that intrigued me. I'm sure that the same would be true for others as well.

Campaign Guide
This 72 page book puts theory into practice. It includes lots of advice to game masters and players on playing in this new sector as well as descriptions of groups and locales. If, for some reason, the game master still didn't know what to do with Tapani Sector, this book provides him with even more concrete examples. It's a good book and contains very little dross. Almost all of the information in it is quite usable by a Lords of the Expanse game master.

In addition, there is a lengthy campaign outline included as well. The outline begins with one fully-fleshed out adventure and includes several more outlines for continuiung the story begun in the first one. It's even a decent adventure, one that brings to the forefront some of the great differences between Tapani and the rest of the Star Wars universe.

Additional Components
The adventure cards are serviceable enough. They have capsule stats and information about several important NPCs and ships in the sector. The character templates are likewise usable, but they don't contain anything truly exciting. I recommend the Player's Guide to Tapani for a wider and more intersting collection of templates. The sector map is not beautiful to behold and is rather schematized. However, I can't see any reason why it would be otherwise, since its sole use is to determine hyperspace jump routes throughout the sector. The dice are an unnecessary addition, but you can never have too many when running a Star Wars campaign.

Lords of the Expanse is really a wonderful setting and one of the best Star Wars supplements available in a long time. Its price is, of course, higher than many other supplements, but that is to be expected. Besides, the amount of material included in it is more than worth the cost. In addition, I can't imagine how a game master won't be able to get many months of adventures out of the boxed set alone. Lords of the Expanse is certainly worth the price of admission and I recommend it highly to Star Wars gamers who have become jaded by one too many battles against the might of the evil Galactic Empire. Tapani is a great way to breathe new life into a moribund campaign. For others, I recommend it as a good example of how even a supposedly staid and stable setting like the Star Wars universe can be twisted and reshaped in unique and fascinating ways. Lords of the Expanse is a definitely winning supplement.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

Lords of the Expanse
Author: Paul Sudlow and Chris Doyle Category: game Company/Publisher: West End Games Cost: $30.00 ISBN: 0-87431-297-3 Playtest Review by James Maliszewski on 06/18/98. Genre tags: none	West End's boxed Star Wars supplement Lords of the Expanse has been available for about a year now and has already spawned two further supplements (Player's Guide to Tapani and Tapani Sector Instant Adventures). Given the sheer bulk of material included in the original boxed set, it's no wonder that there have been few extensive reviews of this product. Having had many months to examine and use Lords of the Expanse, I have prepared the following comments for those considering purchasing it. Lords of the Expanse describes an entirely new sector for the Star Wars universe, the Tapani Sector. Located toward the Core of the Empire, Tapani is home to a variety of squabbling nobles houses and their servants. Lords of the Expanse thus provides players and game masters with a more "civilized" setting for their Star Wars adventures. Rather than assuming the roles of smugglers and scouts, players can now take on the personae of knights and noblemen, saber rakes and sycophants. It's quite a change of pace from the usual Star Wars setting, but it's quite refreshing as well. Tapani's noble houses, by and large, support the Empire and believe the Rebellion (if they take notice of it at all) to be unworthy of their support because of its democratizing tendencies. The nobles of Tapani do not all like the Empire's intrusion into their affairs (which is minimal at the start of the set's timeline), but they see the Emperor and his New Order as the only way to maintain their status and privileges. This attitude tends to make Tapani Sector a place without obvious moral blacks and whites. Instead, Lords of the Expanse revels in varying shades of grey, from light slate to dark charcoal. This will undoubtedly jar with the sensibilities of long-time players of Star Wars; it certainly does take some getting used to. Nevertheless, Tapani Sector is a fascinating place and one that makes a great setting for a different kind of Star Wars campaign. The box contains a lot of material for the money. Included are six dice, 16 illustrated adventure cards, a jump map of Tapani Sector, a collection of character templates, and three books (the Sector Guide, the Game Master Guide, and the Campaign Guide). I'll comment on most of these components below. Sector Guide This is the thinnest of the three books, at 48 pages. It includes the much needed tables of contents for all three books. The Sector Guide's primary purpose is to give players and game masters a quick overview of the setting. This overview concentrates on the history, noble houses, aliens, and worlds of the sector. There are also short chapters describing the vehicles, droids, and equipment of the region as well. The Guide is a decent introduction to the setting and includes lots of basic background that is needed by both players and game masters. In fact, players familiar with the more usual Star Wars setting should make it a point of reading the Sector Guide from cover to cover. It is essential for getting a feel for this sector of the galaxy. Most of the information in this book is reproduced in the Player's Guide to Tapani available separately. Game Master Guide This book is 80 pages long and contains the bulk of the set's information. The Game Master Guide provides game masters with more detailed information on all of the topics included in the Sector Guide. In many cases, this means simple clarification and expansion. In others, it means correction, since there's a lot more going on in Tapani behind the scenes than many realize. This adds to the overall feeling of cloak-and-dagger political intrigue that is the hallmark of Tapani. There's more than enough material in this book to provide the game master with plenty of adventure material. Scattered throughout the book are numerous adventure seeds to give even more ideas to the game master. Thus, new game masters will hardly be left without ideas for a rather long-lasting campaign in Tapani Sector. There are far too many elements of the setting to comment upon them all here. However, a few of the highlights will be serve to show the depth of this setting. There's a discussion of saber dueling and the code of honor that goes with it. Each house is described in depth, along with various "skeletons" in their closets. There are likewise descriptions of other players in the sector: the non-noble Freeworlds (suspected of Rebel sympathies –– the commoners!), the Mining Guild ("You join the Guild and nobody gets hurt. . ."), the Megacorps, Secrets Societies (What kind of political intrigue would be complete without them?), and, of course, the Empire itself. The wealth of information available is quite impressive. Most of it is handled quite well and is genuinely interesting to read. I found myself coming up with all sorts of adventure ideas simply by scanning through sections that intrigued me. I'm sure that the same would be true for others as well. Campaign Guide This 72 page book puts theory into practice. It includes lots of advice to game masters and players on playing in this new sector as well as descriptions of groups and locales. If, for some reason, the game master still didn't know what to do with Tapani Sector, this book provides him with even more concrete examples. It's a good book and contains very little dross. Almost all of the information in it is quite usable by a Lords of the Expanse game master. In addition, there is a lengthy campaign outline included as well. The outline begins with one fully-fleshed out adventure and includes several more outlines for continuiung the story begun in the first one. It's even a decent adventure, one that brings to the forefront some of the great differences between Tapani and the rest of the Star Wars universe. Additional Components The adventure cards are serviceable enough. They have capsule stats and information about several important NPCs and ships in the sector. The character templates are likewise usable, but they don't contain anything truly exciting. I recommend the Player's Guide to Tapani for a wider and more intersting collection of templates. The sector map is not beautiful to behold and is rather schematized. However, I can't see any reason why it would be otherwise, since its sole use is to determine hyperspace jump routes throughout the sector. The dice are an unnecessary addition, but you can never have too many when running a Star Wars campaign. Lords of the Expanse is really a wonderful setting and one of the best Star Wars supplements available in a long time. Its price is, of course, higher than many other supplements, but that is to be expected. Besides, the amount of material included in it is more than worth the cost. In addition, I can't imagine how a game master won't be able to get many months of adventures out of the boxed set alone. Lords of the Expanse is certainly worth the price of admission and I recommend it highly to Star Wars gamers who have become jaded by one too many battles against the might of the evil Galactic Empire. Tapani is a great way to breathe new life into a moribund campaign. For others, I recommend it as a good example of how even a supposedly staid and stable setting like the Star Wars universe can be twisted and reshaped in unique and fascinating ways. Lords of the Expanse is a definitely winning supplement. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)