The Inside Scoop on Gaming

"Lords of the Expanse" (LOE) is the latest sector guide for Star Wars. LOE deals with the Tapani Sector, a noble sector in the Colonial Region adjacent to the Core Worlds (but I keep wanting to spell it Timpani). LOE is the basis for a series of future supplements located in the Tapani Sector. There are nine provinces and about 70 systems in the Tapani Sector, so there is plenty of room for adventure.

LOE is a boxed set containing three books - Sector Guide (48 p.), Gamemaster Guide (80 p.), and Campaign Guide (72 p.) - a sector map, a book of character templates for the Tapani Sector, and 12 character cards. On first impression, the materials appeared to be well designed and produced. Then I settled in for a read.

West End advertised LOE as a radically new style of sector guide that would present new opportunities for cosmopolitan gaming in the Star Wars universe. Roleplaying opportunities, supposedly, not presented in previous supplements based in the Outer Rim Territories and other frontier worlds. While LOE is a detailed sector guide, it does not live up to the hype.

The Sector Guide includes a player quickstart guide and basic info on the planets and technology of the Tapani Sector. The sector is located in the Colonies, just off of the Rimma Trade Route (more on this later). Tapani is a wealthy sector whose nobles, for the most part, support the Empire but chaff at being looked down as provincial by the Core Worlds. The sector is ruled by seven noble houses, and the competition, rivalry, and intrigue behind these houses can play a major role in campaigns set in the Tapani Sector. Each house is described in detail, including its principal holdings, notable nobles, political standing, and alliances and/or feuds with other houses (can you say White Wolf). One house and several worlds, however, have been set aside for gamemasters to make their own and to use however they like in their campaigns.

The Gamemaster Guide includes more detailed information on the sector and the various political and economic factions within the sector. The Gamemaster Guide is the weakest of the three books. All of the information is presented in a straightforward and unimaginative manner, and none of it is significantly different than material offered in other Star Wars supplements. Before I was halfway through the Gamemaster's Guide, I lost patience and started flipping pages.

The Campaign Guide offers ideas for running several different styles of campaigns within the Tapani Sector centered around the noble houses, the Rebellion, or the Empire. It also includes detailed descriptions of several notable locations and installations within the Sector, and a detailed campaign outline with an introductory adventure and six capsule adventures for the campaign. The additional sector information is beneficial, but the sample campaign is a traditional West End Star Wars adventure, despite all of the hype about new roleplaying opportunities.

The glossy sector map offers players a nice overview of the sector. The character templates allow players to design characters with backgrounds specific to the sector with titles such as Saber Rake, House Knight, and Freeworlds Trader. The character cards describe the principal NPCs from the sample campaign.

In many ways, LOE offers less information on cosmopolitan worlds and gaming opportunities within the Star Wars universe than "Platt's Starport Guide" and other supplements. The books included with LOE also lack detailed tables of contents and a comprehensive index. Only a general, one-page table of contents is provided, and it covers all three books. The lack of a detailed table of contents and index makes the books difficult to use, particularly since much of the information regarding the noble houses and other entities is spread throughout the three books.

One interesting aspect of LOE is the presentation of starship travel and astrogation within the sector. Starship travel is divided between Galactic, Major, and Minor hyperspace routes. The Galactic Route is the Rimma Trade Route which runs from Abregado-rae and the Core through the Colonies, Inner Rim (Thyferra and Yag'dhul), Expansion Region, Mid Rim, Outer Rim (Sullust, Eriada, and Clak'dor), Metharian Nebula (Tantra), and Minos Cluster (Aderlon and Karideph), where it connects to the Trition Trade Route and the Kathol Sector. It takes six weeks for a Star Destroyer traveling at maximum warp to travel the Rimma Route from Abregado-rae to Karideph. (Now this would violate the two week rule - the historical rule that a country can only successfully govern itself if it takes no more than two weeks to travel from one end to another - but then, that is part of the Empire's problem, just as it was a problem for Rome).

Due to the nebulae and gas clouds within and surrounding the Tapani Sector, the sector has relatively few space lanes, and there are only three known exits from the sector. The major routes link the principal planets within the Sector to the Rimma Route. The minor routes link other planets to the major routes. Generally, major routes require a moderate astrogation roll, and minor routes a difficult roll.

The Rimma Route is a first glimpse at something that the Star Wars game has needed for a long time (and which Lucasfilms has supposedly repressed): a map of the galaxy. The astrogation rules for LOE also make explicit what has been implied by West End for a long time: travel along the hyperspace shipping lanes is governed by how well mapped and free of obstructions any given route is. What is implied by this, but not stated, is that the rate of travel along a route, or even that a route exists, may depend on the astrogation charts that a character is using. Thus, the commercial charts published by the sector governments and the Empire are certain to differ from the charts used by the Imperial Navy, the Rebellion, and various smugglers and pirates. This may mean that a Star Destroyer can travel the Rimma Route in less than six weeks, but that the Empire does not want the public to know it. This also means that navigation logs can be a prized commodity and that the Rebell! ion, corporations, the Tapani noble houses, merchant guilds, and crimelords like Jabba have an incentive to hire scouts to map faster routes.

Now, I have to say a word about the art work in LOE. The art is generally abysmal. Much of it is murky and indistinct (Tom Blondolillo is the primary malefactor here). Only a few of the illustrations employ crisp and contrasting lines or pay any attention to form. Fewer still stimulated my imagination and encouraged me to use the Tapani Sector in my campaign.

In retrospect, I now have to wonder whether some of the weaknesses of LOE were representative of the financial difficulties that West End was experiencing. It is less than a year until the release of Episode 1, a wealth of new information on the Star Wars universe and, an opportunity for many new supplements. Until then, LOE has plenty of material to keep a GM busy.

Style: 2 (Needs Work)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Lords of the Expanse
Author: Paul Sudlow, Chris Doyle, et. al. Category: game Company/Publisher: West End Games Cost: $30 Page count: 200 Playtest Review by Jeb Boyt on 07/25/98. Genre tags: none	"Lords of the Expanse" (LOE) is the latest sector guide for Star Wars. LOE deals with the Tapani Sector, a noble sector in the Colonial Region adjacent to the Core Worlds (but I keep wanting to spell it Timpani). LOE is the basis for a series of future supplements located in the Tapani Sector. There are nine provinces and about 70 systems in the Tapani Sector, so there is plenty of room for adventure. LOE is a boxed set containing three books - Sector Guide (48 p.), Gamemaster Guide (80 p.), and Campaign Guide (72 p.) - a sector map, a book of character templates for the Tapani Sector, and 12 character cards. On first impression, the materials appeared to be well designed and produced. Then I settled in for a read. West End advertised LOE as a radically new style of sector guide that would present new opportunities for cosmopolitan gaming in the Star Wars universe. Roleplaying opportunities, supposedly, not presented in previous supplements based in the Outer Rim Territories and other frontier worlds. While LOE is a detailed sector guide, it does not live up to the hype. The Sector Guide includes a player quickstart guide and basic info on the planets and technology of the Tapani Sector. The sector is located in the Colonies, just off of the Rimma Trade Route (more on this later). Tapani is a wealthy sector whose nobles, for the most part, support the Empire but chaff at being looked down as provincial by the Core Worlds. The sector is ruled by seven noble houses, and the competition, rivalry, and intrigue behind these houses can play a major role in campaigns set in the Tapani Sector. Each house is described in detail, including its principal holdings, notable nobles, political standing, and alliances and/or feuds with other houses (can you say White Wolf). One house and several worlds, however, have been set aside for gamemasters to make their own and to use however they like in their campaigns. The Gamemaster Guide includes more detailed information on the sector and the various political and economic factions within the sector. The Gamemaster Guide is the weakest of the three books. All of the information is presented in a straightforward and unimaginative manner, and none of it is significantly different than material offered in other Star Wars supplements. Before I was halfway through the Gamemaster's Guide, I lost patience and started flipping pages. The Campaign Guide offers ideas for running several different styles of campaigns within the Tapani Sector centered around the noble houses, the Rebellion, or the Empire. It also includes detailed descriptions of several notable locations and installations within the Sector, and a detailed campaign outline with an introductory adventure and six capsule adventures for the campaign. The additional sector information is beneficial, but the sample campaign is a traditional West End Star Wars adventure, despite all of the hype about new roleplaying opportunities. The glossy sector map offers players a nice overview of the sector. The character templates allow players to design characters with backgrounds specific to the sector with titles such as Saber Rake, House Knight, and Freeworlds Trader. The character cards describe the principal NPCs from the sample campaign. In many ways, LOE offers less information on cosmopolitan worlds and gaming opportunities within the Star Wars universe than "Platt's Starport Guide" and other supplements. The books included with LOE also lack detailed tables of contents and a comprehensive index. Only a general, one-page table of contents is provided, and it covers all three books. The lack of a detailed table of contents and index makes the books difficult to use, particularly since much of the information regarding the noble houses and other entities is spread throughout the three books. One interesting aspect of LOE is the presentation of starship travel and astrogation within the sector. Starship travel is divided between Galactic, Major, and Minor hyperspace routes. The Galactic Route is the Rimma Trade Route which runs from Abregado-rae and the Core through the Colonies, Inner Rim (Thyferra and Yag'dhul), Expansion Region, Mid Rim, Outer Rim (Sullust, Eriada, and Clak'dor), Metharian Nebula (Tantra), and Minos Cluster (Aderlon and Karideph), where it connects to the Trition Trade Route and the Kathol Sector. It takes six weeks for a Star Destroyer traveling at maximum warp to travel the Rimma Route from Abregado-rae to Karideph. (Now this would violate the two week rule - the historical rule that a country can only successfully govern itself if it takes no more than two weeks to travel from one end to another - but then, that is part of the Empire's problem, just as it was a problem for Rome). Due to the nebulae and gas clouds within and surrounding the Tapani Sector, the sector has relatively few space lanes, and there are only three known exits from the sector. The major routes link the principal planets within the Sector to the Rimma Route. The minor routes link other planets to the major routes. Generally, major routes require a moderate astrogation roll, and minor routes a difficult roll. The Rimma Route is a first glimpse at something that the Star Wars game has needed for a long time (and which Lucasfilms has supposedly repressed): a map of the galaxy. The astrogation rules for LOE also make explicit what has been implied by West End for a long time: travel along the hyperspace shipping lanes is governed by how well mapped and free of obstructions any given route is. What is implied by this, but not stated, is that the rate of travel along a route, or even that a route exists, may depend on the astrogation charts that a character is using. Thus, the commercial charts published by the sector governments and the Empire are certain to differ from the charts used by the Imperial Navy, the Rebellion, and various smugglers and pirates. This may mean that a Star Destroyer can travel the Rimma Route in less than six weeks, but that the Empire does not want the public to know it. This also means that navigation logs can be a prized commodity and that the Rebell! ion, corporations, the Tapani noble houses, merchant guilds, and crimelords like Jabba have an incentive to hire scouts to map faster routes. Now, I have to say a word about the art work in LOE. The art is generally abysmal. Much of it is murky and indistinct (Tom Blondolillo is the primary malefactor here). Only a few of the illustrations employ crisp and contrasting lines or pay any attention to form. Fewer still stimulated my imagination and encouraged me to use the Tapani Sector in my campaign. In retrospect, I now have to wonder whether some of the weaknesses of LOE were representative of the financial difficulties that West End was experiencing. It is less than a year until the release of Episode 1, a wealth of new information on the Star Wars universe and, an opportunity for many new supplements. Until then, LOE has plenty of material to keep a GM busy. Style: 2 (Needs Work) Substance: 3 (Average)