The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The STAR WARS galaxy is a big, big place. Although we see, honestly, only a very small portion of it in the films, we as an audience get a pretty detailed look at the setting as we follow the moving storyline. As genre fans, particularly those designing our own adventures in that setting, we have to be attentive to details and attempt to expand on the setting without breaking free of it. It can be very frustrating, but a lot of us also think it's a lot of fun. I get the feeling that the Tapani sector developers also got a kick out of it.

Now, to be clear, I don't yet own the "Lords of the Expanse" boxed set wherein the Tapani sector made its big debut. I have only the information and textures of the adventures contained in this supplement to guide me. All in all, this wasn't a problem.

THE TAPANI SECTOR

First off, the sector as a whole: as presented in this book the sector seems perfectly at home in the STAR WARS setting. Although there are a myriad of fantastic technologies and alien races, the setting is an archaic one, and so is the Tapani sector. A variety of noble houses and political factions (Imperial, Rebel, and rogue) inhabit the sector, interacting in courtly manners with space-age weaponry. It can be a fun twist to STAR WARS campaigns which typically involve purely anti-Imperial elements in a subversive and guerilla manner, without stretching too far from traditional STAR WARS elements (knights, smugglers, royalty, and adventure). At the same time, however, courtly interaction can be an obstacle for a lot of gaming groups. In my experience, the more experienced gamers get the more they enjoy conflict within the gaming group. This can be a problem in matters of court as players scheme against each other, leaving the GM in the middle and any planned encounters totally by the wayside. If, however, your group is just visiting the Tapani sector, or is very tightly knit, you may get good use out of this book.

CONTENT

There are five adventures in 64 pages, as well as four sheets of eight cards each. Most adventures (very briefly mentioned below) can be modified for play outside the sector by somewhat resourceful GMs, though a few will lose the bulk of their charm. Still, enough information can usually be gleaned from the text to run individual sessions in the sector without falling into too many holes.

The interior art by Marshall Andrews III and Talon Dunning ranges from good to bad, clear to cluttered. Although little of it really shines with traditional STAR WARS art styles, they do all relate directly to the adventures, which is good. Some starfield backgrounds look exactly like streaks of ink, and it all seems to be done in washed-out black with slight grays in place of whites. Map work is done with a lack of detail common to about half of the supplements West End Games produces, though clarity is usually gained as a result (except for the Orbital Starfigher Repair Dome on page 21). Throughout the book, the outside margins are filled with a handsome bilateral pattern, which could well be found in Tapani architecture. It seems to take up a lot of space, but art and sidebars overlap it occasionally.

The four card sheets in the book's back are illustrated by Matt Busch, Greg Loudon, and Brian Schomburg and look excellent. These are, without a doubt, the finest set of cards I have seen out of WEG. Ever. Each contains vivid art with lifelike detail of characters and equipment which blend wonderfully with the STAR WARS setting. I might point out that the very first card looks exactly like Antonio Sabato, Jr. did in "The Big Hit," but that would be nitpicking.

THE MECETTI FILE

Space ports, smugglers, and political schemes of the noble houses are the concern of this rather typical adventure. "Thugs" are the typical enemy and are encountered in the usual spaceports and bars. While staples of the setting, they're also easily deployed by GM's on their own. The scenario does have a rather clever trick to pull on the players early on, however.

Like every adventure in this book, "The Mecetti File" contains several sidebars with advice and statistics, a "Quick-start outline" to get the story in the GM's head from the start, and suggestions for "spawning a campaign." The outline is the most useful, as it helps gamemasters get their players back on track after they've turned the proverbial "wrong corner." The outline also lists the cards used in the adventure, if a GM chooses to do so.

THE BACTA HEIST

Another straight-forward adventure, this one does present an interesting cargo for players to liberate: a ship full of bacta (life-saving juice in the STAR WARS setting). Other than this cargo, the scenario contains little truly original obstacles, though it is still a well-designed scenario. I would suggest letting your players come up with their own plan for getting into the cargo ship, though. It is much more gratifying. (As a side note, I do have to raise an eyebrow to the notion that there is even insurance to collect in the STAR WARS setting.)

LOST DESTINY

Although a decent science fiction adventure, the focus on computer slicing and stasis for space travel pull this adventure away from the setting. The NPC and starship information could be put to use in other game adventures easily, so I did get use out of these pages.

BLOOD INHERITANCE

A traditional RPG adventure, but not for a STAR WARS game. With inheritance as the hook and a supernaturally-influenced climactic duel, this adventure might have appeared in early AD&D modules, but works well in the Tapani sector. "Blood Inheritance" is the most illustrative of the setting, but your players may end up watching more of the action take place than participating if you can't find more binding connections between them and the story.

THE EVENT OF THE SEASON

Grand courtly affairs are not commonly encountered in most STAR WARS books, but "Event of the Season" shows how well they can work. Zero-gravity dancing is an example of handsome, yet unobtrusive notions which can bring a STAR WARS adventure to life without breaking a tie to the setting. If you're unfamiliar with the Tapani sector, you may have trouble converting some of this adventure.

I found myself in a bit of a bind during my review of this book. Although several of the adventures are very simple and somewhat obvious, I came away from the product wanting to run them anyway. I can't testify to the value of the "Lords of the Expanse" campaign, but I can tell you that I ordered it from West End Games after I read this product. As usual, my advice is to page through the book before you buy it. It behaves just as it appears, so if it looks like you'll find something of value in the adventures, maps, cards, or characters, I think you will.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

Tapani Sector Instant Adventures
Author: Various Category: game Company/Publisher: West End Games Cost: $15.00 Page count: 64 cards ISBN: 0-87431-510-7 Playtest Review by Will Hindmarch on 07/30/98. Genre tags: none	The STAR WARS galaxy is a big, big place. Although we see, honestly, only a very small portion of it in the films, we as an audience get a pretty detailed look at the setting as we follow the moving storyline. As genre fans, particularly those designing our own adventures in that setting, we have to be attentive to details and attempt to expand on the setting without breaking free of it. It can be very frustrating, but a lot of us also think it's a lot of fun. I get the feeling that the Tapani sector developers also got a kick out of it. Now, to be clear, I don't yet own the "Lords of the Expanse" boxed set wherein the Tapani sector made its big debut. I have only the information and textures of the adventures contained in this supplement to guide me. All in all, this wasn't a problem. THE TAPANI SECTOR First off, the sector as a whole: as presented in this book the sector seems perfectly at home in the STAR WARS setting. Although there are a myriad of fantastic technologies and alien races, the setting is an archaic one, and so is the Tapani sector. A variety of noble houses and political factions (Imperial, Rebel, and rogue) inhabit the sector, interacting in courtly manners with space-age weaponry. It can be a fun twist to STAR WARS campaigns which typically involve purely anti-Imperial elements in a subversive and guerilla manner, without stretching too far from traditional STAR WARS elements (knights, smugglers, royalty, and adventure). At the same time, however, courtly interaction can be an obstacle for a lot of gaming groups. In my experience, the more experienced gamers get the more they enjoy conflict within the gaming group. This can be a problem in matters of court as players scheme against each other, leaving the GM in the middle and any planned encounters totally by the wayside. If, however, your group is just visiting the Tapani sector, or is very tightly knit, you may get good use out of this book. CONTENT There are five adventures in 64 pages, as well as four sheets of eight cards each. Most adventures (very briefly mentioned below) can be modified for play outside the sector by somewhat resourceful GMs, though a few will lose the bulk of their charm. Still, enough information can usually be gleaned from the text to run individual sessions in the sector without falling into too many holes. The interior art by Marshall Andrews III and Talon Dunning ranges from good to bad, clear to cluttered. Although little of it really shines with traditional STAR WARS art styles, they do all relate directly to the adventures, which is good. Some starfield backgrounds look exactly like streaks of ink, and it all seems to be done in washed-out black with slight grays in place of whites. Map work is done with a lack of detail common to about half of the supplements West End Games produces, though clarity is usually gained as a result (except for the Orbital Starfigher Repair Dome on page 21). Throughout the book, the outside margins are filled with a handsome bilateral pattern, which could well be found in Tapani architecture. It seems to take up a lot of space, but art and sidebars overlap it occasionally. The four card sheets in the book's back are illustrated by Matt Busch, Greg Loudon, and Brian Schomburg and look excellent. These are, without a doubt, the finest set of cards I have seen out of WEG. Ever. Each contains vivid art with lifelike detail of characters and equipment which blend wonderfully with the STAR WARS setting. I might point out that the very first card looks exactly like Antonio Sabato, Jr. did in "The Big Hit," but that would be nitpicking. THE MECETTI FILE Space ports, smugglers, and political schemes of the noble houses are the concern of this rather typical adventure. "Thugs" are the typical enemy and are encountered in the usual spaceports and bars. While staples of the setting, they're also easily deployed by GM's on their own. The scenario does have a rather clever trick to pull on the players early on, however. Like every adventure in this book, "The Mecetti File" contains several sidebars with advice and statistics, a "Quick-start outline" to get the story in the GM's head from the start, and suggestions for "spawning a campaign." The outline is the most useful, as it helps gamemasters get their players back on track after they've turned the proverbial "wrong corner." The outline also lists the cards used in the adventure, if a GM chooses to do so. THE BACTA HEIST Another straight-forward adventure, this one does present an interesting cargo for players to liberate: a ship full of bacta (life-saving juice in the STAR WARS setting). Other than this cargo, the scenario contains little truly original obstacles, though it is still a well-designed scenario. I would suggest letting your players come up with their own plan for getting into the cargo ship, though. It is much more gratifying. (As a side note, I do have to raise an eyebrow to the notion that there is even insurance to collect in the STAR WARS setting.) LOST DESTINY Although a decent science fiction adventure, the focus on computer slicing and stasis for space travel pull this adventure away from the setting. The NPC and starship information could be put to use in other game adventures easily, so I did get use out of these pages. BLOOD INHERITANCE A traditional RPG adventure, but not for a STAR WARS game. With inheritance as the hook and a supernaturally-influenced climactic duel, this adventure might have appeared in early AD&D modules, but works well in the Tapani sector. "Blood Inheritance" is the most illustrative of the setting, but your players may end up watching more of the action take place than participating if you can't find more binding connections between them and the story. THE EVENT OF THE SEASON Grand courtly affairs are not commonly encountered in most STAR WARS books, but "Event of the Season" shows how well they can work. Zero-gravity dancing is an example of handsome, yet unobtrusive notions which can bring a STAR WARS adventure to life without breaking a tie to the setting. If you're unfamiliar with the Tapani sector, you may have trouble converting some of this adventure. I found myself in a bit of a bind during my review of this book. Although several of the adventures are very simple and somewhat obvious, I came away from the product wanting to run them anyway. I can't testify to the value of the "Lords of the Expanse" campaign, but I can tell you that I ordered it from West End Games after I read this product. As usual, my advice is to page through the book before you buy it. It behaves just as it appears, so if it looks like you'll find something of value in the adventures, maps, cards, or characters, I think you will. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)

Tapani Sector Instant Adventures