The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Bill Slavicsek's "Guide to the Star Wars Universe" is the best supplement a Star Wars GM could ever find. For half the price of a gaming sourcebook, the Guide offers detailed information on the characters, races, planets, creatures, and equipment of the Star Wars universe. The detailed entries can easily be incorporated into a Star Wars campaign (Although, no statistics are included). Life would be good if more gaming supplements were as content rich as this Guide.

The Guide is an alphabetic listing of information on the Star Wars universe from the A-9 Vigilance Interceptor to Zut. Each listing is identified by a symbor of either the Rebel Alliance or the New Republic. The Alliance symbol identifies material from original Lucasfilm sources: the films, radio dramas, or original novelizations. The New Republic symbol identifies material from "an officially licensed source that may or may not agree with George Lucas's [sic] vision of the Star Wars galaxy" such as the novels, comic books, and gaming materials. For the principal characters and some other entries, both symbols are used. These symbols allow you to easily distinguish between the elements created by George Lucas and those added by others. Each entry also includes source codes for the movie or book featuring the listing. Line drawings accompany many entrys.

In addition to the individual entries, there are indexes that identify entries according to the following categories: Alien Creatures Species, Families; Battles, Wars, Historical Events; Characters and Characters' Names; Devices and Things; Droid Names and Types; Food, Medicines, Chemicals; Geology, Plant Life; Places, Worlds, Customs, Institutions; Terminology, Slang, Colloquialisms, and Other Abstractions; Vehicles and Vessels; and Weaponry.

I keep the Guide close at hand when running a Star Wars game in case I need to quickly look up an entry. A quick flip through the Guide can break a creative block or allow a GM to add more of the diversity that is an essential to reproducing the "feel" of the Star Wars universe. A brief read through the Guide can provide a GM with both inspiration and freedom. Inspiration in that the entries stimulate your thinking about a Star Wars campaign, and freedom in knowing that whatever you do with your campaign it cannot be worse than Zorba the Hutt or Mount Yoda.

After reading the Guide, it is clear that there are two or more Star Wars galaxies. The galaxy and characters described by George Lucas and the galaxies and characters described by others - the books, the comic books, the Christmas special, the gaming materials, and the "Droids" and "Ewoks" TV shows.

It is difficult to find weaknesses with the Guide. Although nearly comprehensive, the second edition was published in 1994 and is already out of date. It does include only a minimal amount of material from West End Games, and I would have liked to have an index devoted just to the worlds of the galaxy. But, these are small complaints. I hope that Mr. Slavicsek is preparing a third edition to include the Prequels and more information from West End.

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

A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (2d ed.)<
Author: Bill Slavicsek Category: book Company/Publisher: Del Rey Cost: $11 Page count: 495 ISBN: 0-345-38625-6 Playtest Review by Jeb Boyt on 08/04/98. Genre tags: none	Bill Slavicsek's "Guide to the Star Wars Universe" is the best supplement a Star Wars GM could ever find. For half the price of a gaming sourcebook, the Guide offers detailed information on the characters, races, planets, creatures, and equipment of the Star Wars universe. The detailed entries can easily be incorporated into a Star Wars campaign (Although, no statistics are included). Life would be good if more gaming supplements were as content rich as this Guide. The Guide is an alphabetic listing of information on the Star Wars universe from the A-9 Vigilance Interceptor to Zut. Each listing is identified by a symbor of either the Rebel Alliance or the New Republic. The Alliance symbol identifies material from original Lucasfilm sources: the films, radio dramas, or original novelizations. The New Republic symbol identifies material from "an officially licensed source that may or may not agree with George Lucas's [sic] vision of the Star Wars galaxy" such as the novels, comic books, and gaming materials. For the principal characters and some other entries, both symbols are used. These symbols allow you to easily distinguish between the elements created by George Lucas and those added by others. Each entry also includes source codes for the movie or book featuring the listing. Line drawings accompany many entrys. In addition to the individual entries, there are indexes that identify entries according to the following categories: Alien Creatures Species, Families; Battles, Wars, Historical Events; Characters and Characters' Names; Devices and Things; Droid Names and Types; Food, Medicines, Chemicals; Geology, Plant Life; Places, Worlds, Customs, Institutions; Terminology, Slang, Colloquialisms, and Other Abstractions; Vehicles and Vessels; and Weaponry. I keep the Guide close at hand when running a Star Wars game in case I need to quickly look up an entry. A quick flip through the Guide can break a creative block or allow a GM to add more of the diversity that is an essential to reproducing the "feel" of the Star Wars universe. A brief read through the Guide can provide a GM with both inspiration and freedom. Inspiration in that the entries stimulate your thinking about a Star Wars campaign, and freedom in knowing that whatever you do with your campaign it cannot be worse than Zorba the Hutt or Mount Yoda. After reading the Guide, it is clear that there are two or more Star Wars galaxies. The galaxy and characters described by George Lucas and the galaxies and characters described by others - the books, the comic books, the Christmas special, the gaming materials, and the "Droids" and "Ewoks" TV shows. It is difficult to find weaknesses with the Guide. Although nearly comprehensive, the second edition was published in 1994 and is already out of date. It does include only a minimal amount of material from West End Games, and I would have liked to have an index devoted just to the worlds of the galaxy. But, these are small complaints. I hope that Mr. Slavicsek is preparing a third edition to include the Prequels and more information from West End. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 5 (Excellent!)

A Guide to the Star Wars Universe (2d ed.)<