S.J. Saunders's Blog, page 2

Star Wars Expanded Universe Roleplaying Article Four - Protagonist Stew

There are numerous recipes, many of them even valid, but the most important ingredient of a character you choose to play in the Star Wars galaxy is that you should find some kind of enjoyment, however twisted, in bringing them to life. However, since you’ll be playing with fellow humans who also wish to have fun, a close second is that your character should not compromise their enjoyment. Put simply, if your intent is to use your character as a tool to antagonize or belittle your fellow players and the characters they’ve built just as painstakingly as you have yours…don’t. Kindly save yourself and everyone else some aggravation and either make a different character or find another activity.

With that unpleasantness hopefully settled, congratulations! Amid learning rules and debating with fellow players about the system and era you wish to explore, you’ve encountered perhaps the most exciting part of embarking upon your hero’s journey; crafting a hero(ine).

Dozens of moving parts comprise the buildup of any Player Character. Perhaps you stumbled across a cool ability you want to build toward thematically in-game, or maybe the era your group has (hopefully) agreed upon has sparked an intriguing concept you wish to explore. Add to that base stats, special abilities, and any unique interactions your character might have with the world that you are absolutely clearing with your Game Master, and the whole process can be as overwhelming as it is thrilling. For now, don’t worry about plugging everything in properly on your character sheet. The system you’ve chosen will guide you through the process. First, let’s get a proper sense of the kind of character you’re building by answering two basic questions of writing; who are they and what do they want?

Don’t be ashamed of wanting to play something “boring.” You want to be a human smuggler, soldier, or Jedi? Go for it. What is it about that archetype that draws you in? What aspects of their life are you impatient to explore? Alternatively, don’t be afraid of crafting something truly bonkers. Does the thought of a Hutt pit fighter make you giggle? Can’t wait to unleash your well-spoken, just-a-tad-racist Jawa diplomat on the Senate? Did your character’s parents of drastically different species spawn something the Force itself would consider unholy? This is, as I shall continue to repeat, a game. Build your over-teethed demon child with dreams of performing on Imperial Center and have far too much fun!

Provided, once again, that you’re not ruining the experience for your fellow players.

An important discussion before or during everyone’s character creation is one regarding disparate expectations. Does the Game Master have a deep, morally charged campaign prepared that they wish to be taken seriously? Do some of the players already have a comedic duo planned who’ll be obsessed with their next zany antic? Are you prepared to introduce your angsty, scarred war hero into a group of bumbling Gungans?

Don’t get me wrong, drastic differences in characters can make for some fantastic interplay. But maybe if everyone else in your group is interested only in relentless, lighthearted mockery back and forth, you won’t feel as though your ex-Jedi with a dark past ever truly has a chance to shine. Or vice versa. Of course, each campaign will run a broad spectrum of intensity and hilarity. Stories grow dull without humor to alleviate unending tension, just as they do without any sort of dramatic weight for the humor to undermine, or even possibly enhance. All I’m saying is that it’s a good idea to communicate with your fellow players about the varied types of investment they may be bringing with them.

For some, laughing with friends is the end goal. “Oh, I died? Ha! That was just stats on a sheet. I can easily make a new one, and accidentally tripping and falling down that lift shaft was hilarious!” For others, it’s all about the encounters with Non-Player Characters, specifically combat. “A Rancor? Blast! Maybe if we lure it into a gauntlet of proximity mines, we can… What are you doing? You don’t kriffin’ charge a Rancor! Spast! And now they’ve tripped and fallen down that lift shaft! We’re a teammate down, and we’ve still got a Rancor to kill!” And, for still others, roleplaying games are all about, well, playing a role. Embodying a character in another world. “My backstory explains why I have a deathly fear of both lifts and Rancors! I turn to my teammates with panic in my eyes, call out, ‘I’m sorry! I can’t do this!’ and flee back to the ship! My weapon clatters to the floor, and I’d like to roll to see if I am able to remember the way back to the ship through my terror, Game Master.”

I’m sure you can hear the post-session arguments already. “Lighten up! It’s just a game, man!” “But we could have won! If we’d gotten the high ground, we could’ve…!” “Well, neither of you were playing to character! You’re supposed to be a tactical genius war veteran, and your species is natural prey of Rancors on Felucia!”

To quote the poem “The Blind Men and the Elephant” by John Godfrey Saxe, “Though each was partly in the right…all were in the wrong.” Roleplaying games are about fun and group tactics and characters and more.

Which (hopefully) brings us back to my point. Other players may not care about the intricate history you’ve woven for your character, but it’s important that they respect its value to you. Just as it’s important for you not to be a constant burden and nuisance with the painfully weak excuse of, “Hey, I was just playing my character!” Ultimately, whatever it is you’re bringing to the game that ruins the experience for your fellow players, leave it behind, even if it’s inextricable from your character.

Guess I had more to say about that than I thought.

Anyway, let’s assume that everyone’s united in the kind of game and characters they’d like to play, however long that takes. Now that you’ve given some thought as to the species, origin, history, and skillset of your character (who they are), let’s address the second question. What do they want?

In many ways, this should be an extension of the first question. After all, a person’s goals and desires are heavily informed by past experiences, which are, in turn, heavily informed by species, origin, history, skillset, and even previous goals and desires. Did your character join Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Praxeum before or after the students’ encounters with ancient Sith Lords? What’s their specialty, and how have they put it to use for their faction or sub-faction? Is there a defining moment during their time in the Galactic Alliance Guard, or has their career simply shaped them as a whole? Now, with these past experiences, what drives this character as we pick up their story? Are they cocky after only hearing of the exploits of fellow Jedi, overconfident that they can match them and determined to seek out opportunity? Was their skill at crafting bombs a source of pride until the day of a horrible accident? Do they seek to atone for past GAG atrocities, even if they didn’t have a direct hand in them?

Kyle Katarn’s time as an Imperial in many ways determines the course of the rest of his life. His path of vengeance and redemption help to shape him into one of the greatest Jedi of a generation. A keeper of the peace. Mara Jade is shaped by her misplaced loyalty to a pale raisin before she finds unconditional acceptance with a man she swore to kill. She espouses freedom of thought, knowing one’s own strengths, and not trivializing the power of the Force. Have you ever heard the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? He was raised in the fleeting trappings of wealth, cast aside by his family, and trained mercilessly by his mentor. As a result, he sought undying power and to build a twisted, surrogate family through fear and mutual reliance.

Disagree? Great! Why? What do you think these, or other Expanded Universe favorites, desired most?

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to continue the story of my Klatooinian Jedi, Korrigosh. If you won’t, feel free to pick up a few paragraphs down.

Korrigosh is a Klatooine native, born to a sort of shaman of his people who’d had a vision that her son would become a great beacon to his people, shining with hope like the Fountain of the Ancients, a natural, fountainlike formation of the planet comprised of wintrium, a mineral liquid in its subterranean deposits that crystallizes on contact with the air.

Being a rather literal sort, Korrigosh’s mother carefully introduced wintrium into her occupied womb. This caused…complications on the day of Korrigosh’s birth. The same day, as it turns out, that a Devaronian Jedi Master by the name of Akinci Yannek arrived on-world to settle a dispute with the Hutts. As her womb crystallized and ruptured from within, Korrigosh’s mother stumbled up to the Jedi, begging for her to cut her child to freedom with her lightsaber. Yannek reluctantly assented, taking great care as she performed the delicate caesarean procedure. Korrigosh survived. His mother did not.

Korrigosh was raised by his grieving father, who couldn’t help but blame Korrigosh for the loss of his wife, until Korrigosh was old enough to be taken and trained by Master Yannek. Studying under the woman who’d failed to save his mother proved difficult for young Korrigosh, so he directed all his anger toward the Hutts who’d subjugated his people. Just before his training was complete, Korrigosh returned to Klatooine, seeking to strike back at the ol’ slugs. He failed spectacularly, soon captured, beaten, and strung up as an example to any who would oppose their Hutt masters.

Despite her student acting against her wishes, Master Yannek retrieved Korrigosh, nursing him back to health without a word of correction. The wintrium his mother had bathed him in as a fetus still pulsing in his blood, Korrigosh’s scars took on a glinting sheen, nearly matching the vibrant white of his eyes. A healed and humbled Korrigosh then asked his master to begin his training anew, a timeline that put the second nearing of his trials concurrent with his master’s departure to join Lord Hoth’s Army of Light.

Yannek offered to have Korrigosh undergo the trials before her departure, but Korrigosh deferred, disguising his fear by telling his master that he wished to learn more from her when she returned. Yannek’s response was a sad smile and an assurance that already knew he that which he required. But, y’know, not in Yoda-speak.

As EU fans will have guessed, Master Yannek never returned. This is where my time playing Korrigosh began. A twice-trained Padawan filled with self-doubt and unresolved anger for each of his parent figures now rushed to Coruscant alongside other ill-prepared students so that the reeling Jedi Order might quickly replenish its ranks after a long, grueling war.

And Korrigosh has been a morbid delight to play. In direct contrast to the Jedi Code, he fears the burden the mother he’s never known has placed on him. He resents his father for blaming a vulnerable young boy for things beyond his control. And he’s perpetually furious at a dead master and mother figure who indirectly killed his true mother, even as he misses her guidance and comfort terribly. He longs to be the beacon to his people his mother envisioned, but he can still feel the sting of the whips from the last time he failed to bring them hope. He wishes to honor his master and ascend to knighthood, but he feels no more ready for his trials than he did years earlier. He yearns to avenge the deaths of Yannek and an army of fallen Jedi, but he knows the order’s code warns against such a path. Besides, the enemy was already inconsiderate enough to wipe themselves out!

Long story reasonably truncated, Korrigosh winds up crash-landed on Dathomir with his fellow Padawans, encountering a hidden pocket of Sith who sought to claim a world steeped in dark mystery. A final showdown ensues at an ancient Infinity Gate the Sith have uncovered, in which Korrigosh straps a grenade to an equally ancient Forcesaber. He channels his many, incurable angers into the blade, powering it with the dark side as he faces down his band’s opponents. After a short battle between the factions, Korrigosh manages to draw the bulk of the Sith against him and away from his companions. As he is struck down, his grip on the activator of the grenade is released, catching himself and his enemies up in shrapnel and a shockwave of dark side energy as the saber hilt is ruptured.

Both his flesh and his mind in tatters, Korrigosh awakens in the arms of his wookiee comrade (my wife’s character (I know, so sweet!)) and finds that his companions have carried him into the Infinity Gate. As his friends vanish from the ocean of stars that seems to surround them, Korrigosh feels at one with the universe, sensing the barest notion of his mother’s presence and reaching out for his master’s troubled spirit. Sensing Yannek’s anguish in the Valley of the Jedi and knowing that he can do nothing to end it, Korrigosh screams in frustration across the galaxy the words he could never say while his master lived. “You killed her! And I never forgave you for that! …And I miss you.” Then, sensing Yannek’s remorse and her plea for him to accept the pain of his past as a Jedi should, Korrigosh whispers, “I never forgave you, but I never stopped trying to.”

Manifesting back with his friends, Korrigosh returns with them to Coruscant, where each has been cleared for knighthood. Shocking himself (and me!), Korrigosh declines, saying that he wishes to continue serving the galaxy alongside the Jedi, if they’ll allow it, but he’s grown disillusioned with the order and the events that led to the Ruusan Reformation. The culmination of his dream is laid before him, and he literally smashes his lightsaber, keeping nothing but the Mephite crystal within as a reminder of his time with Master Yannek.

Basically, after spending so much time with Korrigosh, I realized that if he was going to stay with the order, both he and it would have to change. The Jedi may have insisted that his trials were over, but he knew there was more he needed to confront. Through time in combat, interacting with other players, and who-knows-how-many die rolls, Korrigosh had become as real to me as any of my favorite Star Wars characters, and I owed it to him to explore this nebulous future.

In this era of uncertainty as to whether we’ll ever have further adventures with the heroes of the Expanded Universe, my time building characters for Star Wars roleplaying, both as a player and as Game Master, have helped to keep this world alive for me and expand it even further. Have my friends and I always gotten the rules or lore completely right? Almost certainly not. But we’ve built incredible stories together by standing on the shoulders of past EU giants. Stories without certainty, and sometimes without even a happy ending. All we have to determine our course are some dice and the driving wants of the characters we play.

So build your characters, form their deepest desires, and realize that, although they may never achieve or may even cease to want them, there’s a unique beauty to be found in championing the cause of a character you’ve breathed to life in your favorite galaxy.

May the Force be with you.

Star Wars Expanded Universe Roleplaying Article Three - Exactly How Long Ago?

You’ve read up on your preferred system, compiled the necessary materials and friends/acquaintances, and now you’re ready to make the hyperspace jump into the Star Wars galaxy, taking on, working around, or serving the evil Galactic Empire. As everyone excitedly chats about their favorite moments from the movies, however, either yourself or another participant tentatively raises a hand. “Well, is anyone open to the possibility of playing in a different era?”

Yes, to the majority of fans, or “casuals” (a term used here precisely, and not as an insult), the sandbox of Star Wars is simply what’s been portrayed on film, meaning the Galactic Civil War between the Empire and Rebellion and, for prequel fans, the Clone Wars. However, here we celebrate the entirety of Lucas-approved material, which encompasses decades of interwoven worldbuilding and storytelling. And, as the name implies, it truly is expansive. Each era touched upon in these materials is rich with character and story opportunities, so let’s go over a broad breakdown of each one. Maybe your RPG group’s decision isn’t as clear-cut as you originally supposed…

And, while sourcebooks are usually fantastic, well-compiled resources, nothing quite beats experiencing the actual stories of an era, so I’ll be providing what I hope are helpful recommendations, where applicable.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s tackle the various eras chronologically, meaning we begin with the Dawn of the Jedi era and the gathering of the mysterious Tho Yor ships. Over thirty-six millennia before Luke Skywalker makes his one shot in a million and begins the saga for us, multiple pre-hyperspacefaring species hear the call of ancient starships through the Force, board, and are transported to the world of Tython. Here, various disciples of the Force, including the Order of the Dai Bendu, form the Je’daii Order. Life is hazardous for non-Force-sensitives on Tython, however, and the normies leave to settle around the system. Tensions grow, this thing called a Despot War is fought about ten thousand years later, and the Je’daii encounter the Rakatan Infinite Empire shortly thereafter, a faction quite literally fueled by the Dark Side (an aspect of the Force referred to by the Je’daii as Bogan).

This era is a bit of a double-edged sword (which the Je’daii are using now, by the way), in that it’s liberating in terms of being able to forge almost any type of story before, during, or after the Force War with the Rakata depicted in the Dawn of the Jedi comics, but limiting in the scope of the galaxy. Without hyperspace travel, the planets to be visited are few. That said, there are countless ways to build an intriguing narrative in a confined setting when you have Jedi precursors who utilize the Light (Ashla) and Dark Sides, ride beasts, and have formed their own planetary culture. Or maybe your player characters would be from surrounding planets, living out their lives in distrust of the Je’daii. And (you’ll likely come to notice this is a theme of mine), this is a game. No one’s looking to you to continue the official history of the galaxy. You want your crew to have a ship that can travel the whole galaxy? Maybe they salvage Rakatan tech, channeling the Dark Side to travel from Varl (witnessing the events that led to the birth of the Hutt Empire) to Korriban (fractured after the death of King Adas). You can even shift your setting a few centuries one way or the other, taking part in whatever notable galactic events you read up on that pique your interest. Maybe your party’s even tinkered with Rakatan tech in an attempt to match what Corellians and Duros later succeed in doing; crafting a hyperdrive without the need of the Force. The efforts have succeeded…but only to a point. The ship can now travel through hyperspace without Dark Side use, but it can only make highly unstable hyperspace tunnels, which make the ship leap unpredictably forward through space and time, as depicted in the novel Crosscurrent. Boom! Doctor Who with ancient Jedi, and now you can visit pivotal moments in galactic history across millennia! Stupid? Yep. Contrived? Proudly. Fun? Sure sounds like it!

Our next broad era of time covers a handful of centuries over twenty thousand years later. When people talk about the Old Republic, this is usually what they’re (probably) praising. Mandalorians have gathered, striking against the Republic. They aim to take over the galaxy, and they just might succeed. The Jedi Council refuses to enter the war, sensing some kind of…phantom menace, but this hothead Revan and his buddies think the council’s unfeeling cowards. Revan assumes command of Republic forces, leading them to victory, then promptly disappears, popping back up again to announce himself as Darth Revan, now leading an endless war fleet against the Republic he just saved. Many Jedi support Revan, believing him to be the rightful ruler of the galaxy, in place of the weakened Republic. The Mandalorian wars are over. The Jedi Civil War has begun.

Intrigued? Pick up the Knights of the Old Republic comics, the video game of the same name, and its sequel (and in that order), none of which can I recommend highly enough. I’d even suggest the Old Republic follow-up comics, books, and MMORPG, which serve as a flawed but functional continuation of the story. Whichever entry you try first, I defy you to come out the other end without a cool character or story idea to explore. This whole era is rich with possibility. Want to be a team of Republic infantry, pilots, or fleet officers thrown up against the unstoppable wave that is the Mandalorian onslaught? Or maybe you’re refugees liberated by Revan, only to face his chilling, tactical conquest when he reemerges as a Sith Lord. Do you flee? Resist? Pledge your loyalty?

This next era holds a special place in my heart, as I’ve had the immense good fortune to realize an incredibly personal, heartfelt story in it as a player. It’s about a thousand years before the events of the original Star Wars movie, and the New Sith Wars have ravaged the galaxy on-and-off for almost a millennium, following the Fourth Great Schism and the rebirth of the Sith Empire. Sith Lords battle each other for status and power, a weary Republic clings to the hope provided by the Jedi Army of Light, and a young upstart among the Sith seeks to tear down and rebuild a corrupt and failing order.

As the last major era before the time of the Skywalkers, the events depicted here retroactively inform and bolster the events of Lucas’s films to the fullest. My reading recommendations include, chronologically, the Knight Errant comics and novel, the Jedi vs. Sith comic, and, of course, the masterpiece that is the Darth Bane trilogy. Are you a soldier? A Jedi? In these dark days, the two can be one and the same. Or perhaps you bask in the Dark Side, serving the whims of lords such as Daiman, Odion, or Kaan. Alternatively, what sort of nightmare struggles do politics represent in a time when bloody clashes between Jedi and Sith determine the course of the galaxy? Are you a medic, trooper, or Jedi healer just trying to help those displaced by war?

My own, cherished experience in this era is built on the drastic shift following the war, in the time after the Ruusan Reformation. The Sith are believed to be extinct, with Jedi forces nearly obliterated as well. Enter my character, Korrigosh Govorrish, a Klatooinian Jedi student whose master was consumed by darkness in the final battle. His struggles in having lost the only mother he’d ever known and helping to rebuild and defend a Jedi order he’s come to fundamentally question have been a depressing joy to explore. It’s nearly impossible to overstate the vicarious catharsis and turmoil I’ve experienced on Korrigosh’s behalf as he grapples with layered traumas, hopes, and insecurities, and the era he lives in is no small part of that. Building a compelling backstory and discussing goals with your game master (or players) is going to be the subject of its own article, I assure you. Until then, my main point here is to urge you to let your setting, character, and party ideas feed into each other. RPGs are a wholly unique form of collaborative storytelling, but they only function to their fullest when we’re open to the fictional world, its many assets, and each other.

Next up is the prequel era and the Clone Wars. I’m gonna assume anything covered in the movies is well-known to you all, so I’ll keep it brief. Plagueis (almost certainly) creates a human vergence in the Force. Palpatine manipulates said vergence and the Republic, instigating the Clone Wars between the Republic and the Confederacy of Independent Systems and discarding his old apprentice(s) when he takes vergence-boy as his new one, Darth Vader. Beyond that, I’d recommend the Republic comic series and its Clone Wars successor as research material, along with the Clone Wars animated miniseries and the episodes of The Clone Wars that aren’t a complete waste of time. Happy hunting. I could list many more, but someone will still inform me of all the ones I missed, so I’ll leave it there.

With all the surrounding material of this era, there’s a lot to play with here, the most fascinating to me being the outlying conflicts that are caught up in the overall war by association. Maybe your planet has sided with one faction or the other, simply because it grants them resources to pursue their own ends? Still, I understand the draw of the war proper. Whether clone, Jedi, or Separatist agent, there are so many disparate motivations and journeys to explore.

And, of course, we come to the Dark Times and the good ol’ GCW. Rebel versus Imperial. Classic. The war extends well beyond The Return of the Jedi, however. Maybe your player group is caught up in a skirmish with one of the warlords to rise in the wake of Palpatine’s death; or you’re forced to flee Operation Shadow Hand and the reborn Emperor himself! Conversely, don’t be so quick to cast aside the Dark Times and their campaign potential. It’s not only Jedi who are on the run, but anyone who can touch the Force. Perhaps your team has gathered to secure passage into Wild Space, not wishing to have your infant Force abilities used in service to the Empire as Hands, Inquisitors, or Royal Guards.

For appropriately grim, Dark Times fuel, I’d suggest the Dark Times, Purge, and Darth Vader and the Lost Command comics, as well as the Coruscant Nights, The Last of the Jedi, and The Force Unleashed books (or games). For Original Trilogy and after in the Galactic Civil War, try the Empire, Rebellion, X-wing, and original Star Wars comics (carries through, between, and past the movies), and, as for novels: The Han Solo Trilogy, Shadows of the Empire, and Darksaber for inspiration on Hutts and other scum; The Truce at Bakura, The Thrawn Trilogy, and the X-wing series for some great, early-New Republic struggles; The Jedi Academy Trilogy, Children of the Jedi, and Junior/Young Jedi Knights for early, post-Endor Jedi days (also check out the Jedi Academy video game); and The Black Fleet Crisis Trilogy, The New Rebellion, The Corellian Trilogy, and The Hand of Thrawn Duology for insight into the final days of the war. Again, I’m sure I missed someone’s favorite and put something that renders me worthy of scorn in its place, so feel free to check other recommended reading lists.

Now we come to perhaps the most controversial of eras in the Expanded Universe; the series-spanning conflict of The New Jedi Order deca-ennealogy novels (and, later, the Invasion comic), the Yuuzhan Vong War. I get why people don’t like it. I do. The Vong are brutal, terrifying, genocidal warriors whose actions claim the lives of well-established, beloved characters. Detractors argue, not altogether unjustifiably, that this series is at odds with Lucas’s vision of the world. I, however, unabashedly love this arc. I can defend why another time, if anyone cares, but here I’ll simply say that the sheer devastation on a galactic scale provides a wealth of roleplaying opportunities.

Trillions are slain in the Yuuzhan Vong War, with trillions more displaced by the relentless advance of the extragalactic invaders. Are you one such refugee, now driven to take the fight back to your merciless foes? Maybe you’re a Jedi, struggling with your understanding of the Force in the face of those who seemingly exist apart from it. Dozens of factions otherwise self-contained or at each other’s throats even join forces to combat the mutual threat the Vong represent. Are you a Hapan defector on a team with smugglers, remnants of the Black Sun crime syndicate, and slaves from Hutt space fighting for their freedom? Is everyone even willing to play a band of Vong Shamed Ones, shunned and attacked by both sides as you struggle to find some way to do good and serve the will of the Jeedai?

I’m currently running a campaign in this era that’s over thirty sessions in, and we’ve barely even interacted with the war directly, though that promises to change soon. If you like aspects of an era but prefer to use its broader conflicts as a backdrop, rather than a focus, there are definitely ways to explore pockets of the galaxy depicted only before or after in a way that open their own, near-limitless opportunities.

But, enough of that. Let’s move on to an era universally loved (he declared sarcastically); that of the rise, reign, fall, and fallout of Darth Caedus. One of the Jedi’s greatest heroes vanishes, returning more powerful and, perhaps, much darker, during a conflict between the Chiss and Killiks. Soon, Caedus declares himself to be the new Lord of the Sith, seeking to seize control of the galaxy. Sounding familiar? Yes, Darth Caedus, in many ways a creation of the Yuuzhan Vong War, assumes command of the New Republic’s successor government, the Galactic Alliance, seeking to corrupt other Jedi and reshape the galaxy as he sees fit. He’s brought down by another Jedi hero, but, in the war’s wake, Jedi are distrusted perhaps more than ever, the sentiment only furthered by unsympathetic new leaders and the fact that many young Jedi begin going violently insane. Jedi Grand Master Luke Skywalker successfully uncovers the darkness behind it all and subdues it with the aid of some new Dark Side frienemies, but the galaxy is, once again, forever changed.

For the full story, peruse the pages or audio files of The Dark Nest Trilogy and the nine-apiece series of Legacy of the Force and Fate of the Jedi…and (we live in hope!) The Sword of the Jedi Trilogy*. Preferably after the books listed from the past eras. Hurts, don’t it? Don’t despair. From great pain can come great inspiration. What are your favorite, underused heroes doing in these years? Be part of a crew, faction, army that answers to them and explore that question with your friends. Have an idea for how entities or events depicted in these series might have had ripple effects in a remote star system? Go nuts!

And, finally, we come to the time of the Skywalker/Solo heirs depicted in the Legacy comic, well over a century past the death of Papa Vader. The Sith be back, this time as legion in the One Sith under Darth Krayt. Some of the Imperial Remnant supports him, the rest remaining loyal to Emperor Roan Fel, even after Krayt usurps the throne. The Galactic Alliance, meanwhile, is still kicking, opposing Krayt and his Sith Empire, and the Jedi…well, they’ve had better days. Their Grand Master and many of their order have been massacred on Ossus, with many others gone into hiding or leaving the Jedi life behind. Among the latter is a young man by the name of Cade Skywalker, an infuriating but sympathetic addition to the lineage. He has great power but fears being used because of it. Fears that are well-founded, it so happens, as Krayt is hunting him. Fantastic space battles and three-way Force-user skirmishes ensue, and the Sith are believed, once again, to be beaten. But, as a certain young Solo discovers, that may be nothing more than wishful thinking…

If you want unbridled freedom in your RPG campaign, this’ll probably be the most attractive era for you. Tech is at an all-time high, the Jedi have recovered much of their previously lost knowledge, and the galaxy is completely open to explore. Don’t even want to deal with the main plot line shown in the comics? Pick up after. What do you think becomes of the galaxy after the final issue of Legacy? Could your team of Imperial Knights play an integral part of it? Or maybe you want to explore the years preceding the attack on Ossus. What sort of joint endeavors might bring the GA and Fel Empire together, and what team of specialists (that’s you guys) would they need to see them through?

But remember, even all these eras are still just the surface. Maybe you want to design your own, from ships to galactic conflicts, or to explore the little-known slices of EU history. What was it like to live under the xenophobic might of the Pius Dea, or to be a spacefarer on the cusp of a galaxy-changing discovery as the first hyperlanes were charted? Most of the eras I’ve listed have their own RPG sourcebooks, in one form or another, but don’t let the absence of one deter you from exploring a time and place that captures your imagination. I’ll discuss building characters, ships, etc. for whatever system you’re using another time, but please know that it’s possible, easy, and fun.

Discuss with your group, determine which era excites you collectively the most, and start building a new piece of it.

May the Force be with you!

Seth

*For those who don’t know, this series was announced, then promptly canceled with the arrival of the Disney era.

The Eight-armed Grizzly

October always seems to be a strange month for me. On either end of things shifting from hot to cold, or the inverse, sleep, creativity, and self-confidence all seem to take a conjoined dive. But, as I've gotten older, I think I've found myself to be better equipped for the inevitable swaying of the ol' internal balances to match the stuttering environmental shifts, which are rather compounded in my home turf or Oregon. In that vein, while this month may not have been as productive as I would have liked, I still find myself on better footing to spring into...well, fall.

And I haven't been entirely useless this spooky season. Chapters of Sanctuary of Shrouds continue to go up on my Patreon, and I make progress on the audiobook, as well. Past entries have even started going up for free listening on my YouTube channel, and I'm told my books should be showing up on Spotify, as well? Rachel also continues to help bring together hardcover editions of past books, so be sure to check those out if you abhor floppy books!

As far as personal entertainment, I've been profoundly delighted going back to play the classic Ratchet & Clank games. Perhaps some day I'll actually get my hands on a PlayStation 5 and even check out the new one! We also haven't quite run out of versions of Taskmaster to watch, and the new season of the prime show has been superb. Avenue 5 and Abbott Elementary have also been pleasant surprises, and we finally finished the latest (and hopefully not final) season of The Orville. And, of course, though my reading may have slowed down with the aforementioned internal balances issue, I continue to game master a Star Trek RPG and have thoroughly enjoyed continuing to read up on the First Splinter Timeline, as well as Star Wars Legends. I should probably slip some non-franchise books somewhere in my reading, too...

Wishing you all a pleasant new season, the nature of which (the season, not the well-wishing) being dependent on your hemisphere,

Seth

Star Wars Expanded Universe Roleplaying Article Two - That is the System

So, you’ve returned to continue your training. Good to know my enthusiasm for roleplaying in the Star Wars galaxy is more infectious than off-putting. I suppose we should start at the beginning. For some, my first question to you may seem a no-brainer. To others, borderline sacrilege. But I’m neither here to gatekeep nor to be gatekept. Whatever avenue facilitates the introduction of further players is perfectly acceptable to me. My query, then, is thus; what system would you like to use as you explore the Star Wars galaxy?

For those who are not yet even younglings in the ways of tabletop roleplaying, I understand how this question might seem overwhelming, at first, so allow me to smash a few potential concerns to bits. Asking what system you wish to use is largely only asking by which ruleset you wish to play. Don’t be afraid about missing out on lore, locations, or story possibilities. Every scrap of Star Wars ever written is at your disposal, regardless of whose ruleset you wish to explore. And the decision need not even be final. If your group collectively determines that they want to shift to a different system, whether indefinitely or as a test run, there is nothing but self-imposed limitations keeping you from doing so. Sometimes it can even be fun to interpret a character built one way from a different certain point of view.

That said, let’s revisit the main options I touched upon briefly last time. Chronologically, we begin with the tried and true West End Games d6 system, which churned out quality content from 1987 to 1998. Talk to any Star Wars roleplayer old enough to have watched the original Star Wars in cinemas, and this will almost certainly be their go-to answer. And with good reason. The unbridled imagination, worldbuilding, and clever design on display, across the rulebooks, supplements, and adventure journals, played no small part in building the Star Wars Expanded Universe into what it is today.

A wonderfully symbiotic relationship existed between the Star Wars contributors, at this time, with the novelists, comic writers and artists, and RPG creators all feeding off each other in a great circle of creativity, with some contributors, such as one Michael A. Stackpole, spanning all three processes. The result was a simple, well-executed RPG system that understood its world and encouraged exploration of both one’s character and the galaxy.

The basics? Load up on d6’s, or six-sided dice. You know, the normal, cubic ones. Skills, Attributes, character race, etc. are going to inform how many dice you’re rolling, as well as what modifiers you might be able to add to tip the gravsleds in your favor. Hit or exceeded the target number? You did the thing! Fell short? Well, as with any of these systems, feel free to have backup dice, so that you might inform a particularly troublesome polyhedron that it has failed you for the last time before you disdainfully cast it aside.

And there you have it! All you need is the core rulebook, some basic dice, writing utensils, copies of the character sheet, and enough friends/acquaintances to use them. The book itself will walk you through character setup, game mastering (the duties of the individual actually running the adventure for everyone), and any other basics for getting started. Either first or second edition should have enough prompts to start either a standalone adventure or a full-fledged campaign. Go forth, toss some cubes, and may your Wild Die always come up ‘6’…you’ll get there.

As for additional resources, you can find PDFs of most every WEG entry on starwarstimeline.net, as I stated in my last article. It’s a wealth of free information at your fingertips that I suggest your Star Wars-loving mind absorb, if for nothing else the absolute karkin’ joy of it. There are even a bunch of converted stats from WEG’s subsequent purveyors of Star Wars roleplay. Or, if you’ve got an insatiable collector’s mentality, I’m sure you could track down the physical copies of most volumes…for a tidy sum.

The second rights-holder and publisher of Star Wars roleplaying content was the industry juggernaut that is Wizards of the Coast, who, at the time, had also recently acquired TSR, holders of the Dungeons & Dragons license. The astute among you may see where this is going. In 2000, the same year that D&D’s 3rd Edition d20 system was released, so was the first of the new wave of Star Wars content under WotC, utilizing a system almost identical. A revised edition popped out alongside Attack of the Clones, two years later, with a final, “Saga” Edition in 2007 that more resembled D&D 3.5 and the forthcoming D&D 4th Edition. For his credits, this scribe would recommend the Saga Edition, as it simplifies things like the Force, Perception (vs. Spot/Listen), and how character health is tallied. With a good hydrospanner, and a bit of jiggery-pokery, the customization of earlier editions can operate reasonably well within the simplified confines of the Saga Edition.

My main reason for promoting the Saga Edition, however, is that this is the era, with the last of the Star Wars movies having been released, when WotC seemed to stretch their legs a bit more in the galaxy. It’s a common gripe that WotC played it a bit safe with their content, largely relating the events of the novels, comics, or movies with little added content. This scribe, however, feels that, not only was the Star Wars d20 system at its best in the latter years, having benefitted from the ups and downs of its Dungeoneering, Dragon-slaying cousin, but the sourcebooks produced were at their most innovative, particularly in what (sadly) turned out to be their final entry, The Unknown Regions. But that’s merely my own two centi-credits. Any of the d20 variations will feel like an old friend, for those accustomed to playing more recent variations of D&D, and I fail to see how that’s a bad thing.

Basic rules, for if you’ve somehow managed to avoid learning a single scrap of D&D, even through cultural osmosis; Skills, Feats, race, etc. are, once again, going to determine your modifiers for attempting different actions. In place of d6’s, however, one rolls a single d20, adding modifiers to determine success or failure, based on whether they meet or exceed the required DC, or “Dice Check” number. Anything from d6’s to d12’s may then come into play to determine damage or other effects. So, choose which d20 strain you think you’ll prefer, acquire its core rulebook, grab a set of RPG dice from your local game store (just ask; they’ll know what you’re talking about), along with the aforementioned writing utensils, friends, and character sheets, and get ready for a thrilling game of Space Jockeys & Jedi!

I’ve yet to find a full archive of WotC’s contributions to Star Wars roleplay, but places like fillinsheets.com and theberserker.net compile an impressive amount, between them. The double-edged sword of out-of-print material; legal to share digitally, difficult to acquire physically for anything short of murder on the pocketbook. But, as with WEG content, it is possible.

Lastly but, in my mind, certainly not least, we have Fantasy Flight Games entering the scene in 2011, promptly rolling out a three-tiered RPG system in the following years: Edge of the Empire, which focuses mostly on the lives of scum and scoundrels; Age of Rebellion, which sticks largely to the Original Trilogy conflict between the Rebellion and Empire; and Force and Destiny, which emphasizes Jedi in hiding and the use of the Force. All three utilize the same, unique dice system, with subsequent materials largely focusing on the specific Career paths introduced in the core rulebooks. And, since much of the content was in production before Disney (in their total need for “creative freedom”, you guys!) hit the reset button on the galaxy, much of it expands on original EU lore to make grandpappy WEG proud.

Unfortunately, this is also where things get a bit tricky. Though the bulk of FFG RPG content currently out is in the old continuity, some, as I mentioned last time, goes down the Disney path. A path I, at least, cannot follow. Personally, I still find the stats and rules in these gray area additions enjoyable and more than salvageable (save for the TFA Beginner Box, obviously), though I wholly understand if you refuse to have your game tainted by the Disney Side in any capacity, or, conversely, if it's actually your preference. For a more in-depth breakdown of what counts as classic EU (or “Legends”) and what doesn’t, check out Dylan Kling’s article entitled “Fantasy Flight Games and Legends: It’s Complicated.”

But onto happier matters. This system is fantastic. Full disclosure; it’s also the only Star Wars system I’ve actually run as game master, so my perspective may, admittedly, be skewed. The dice system is innovative, the lore draws from comics, books, games, and its RPG predecessors, expanding things even further, and the rules are just nebulous enough to allow for maximum creativity without sacrificing gameplay structure.

Here, the basic rules of past eras also take a hard, Solo Slingshot turn. Rather than things like Skills, Talents, and Attributes determining modifiers to add or subtract to a numerical result, they determine the very dice you roll. Said dice are custom to the system, comprised of d6’s, d8’s, and d12’s with modified face results (normal dice can be used, if you don’t mind referring to a chart for each number’s corresponding “true” face). There are positive results on the Boost (blue d6), Ability (green d8), and Proficiency (yellow d12) dice, comprised of Success, Advantage, and Triumph, while the Setback (black d6), Difficulty (purple d8), and Challenge (red d12) show only ever show the negative results Failure, Threat, or Despair. As you may have guessed, the “positive” dice are meant to reflect your relevant character stats and external aiding factors, while the “negative” interpret the overall difficulty and external debilitating factors.

I know the system immediately sounds more complicated, but, I assure you, she’s got it where it counts.

For reference, an “Average” check (likely the bulk of what you’ll be rolling, in-game) is comprised of two Difficulty dice. A player’s Characteristic score (1-6) determines how many Ability dice they’ll be rolling to counter those, with each Ability die upgraded to its mightier Proficiency sibling for each rank the player has in the Skill being used. Boosts and Setbacks are applied based on anything from weather conditions to whether or not a player has the right tools for the task, and a single roll is made. Net Successes (any not canceled a matching Failure result) indicate that the goal of the check was achieved. However—and here’s where things get interesting—it may happen that, while the number of Successes rolled exceeds the number of Failures, there may also be a net Threat result (any not cancelled out by Advantages). The check is then successful, but with some sort of negative side effect, determined either by chart, player or game master. What’s more, a Triumph (a sort of “Critical Success,” which does also count for cancelling out any Failures) may result from a failed check, as the positive effect of the Triumph cannot be cancelled, meaning that the initial goal is not achieved, but there’s still some great, positive outcome of the attempt. And, though the Triumph’s negative counterpart, the Despair, can have its in-built Failure cancelled by a Success result, the drastically negative effect similarly cannot be erased. So, a result can conceivably indicate a resounding success with an awful, unforeseen development or an abject failure with a potentially game-changing consolation prize! Every roll is like a little present for the game master to unwrap!

…You are to be commended for making it this far.

As you may be able to sense, I’m rather enamored with FFG’s update to Star Wars roleplaying, and I’ve no intention of throwing such an inventive baby out with the Disney-tainted bathwater.

The sourcebooks for FFG’s system are still in print and should be readily available to purchase, both in print and PDF form. To get started, you can go the core rulebook route (dealer’s choice of the three), with accompanying requisite character sheets, writing utensils, and at least one other person, or you can dip a toe into the Pool of Knowledge by grabbing a beginner box. It’s a great way to acquire the dice needed while also cheaply acquiring some basic rules, test characters, and various NPC and player 2D pawns.

A few additional resources for the system include the wealth of materials at bastionkainssweote.blogspot.com, the coolest being fillable PDFs of all kinds. Another great resource is legendsofthegalaxy.com, which, among other useful tools, has a full, digital character creator by Oggdude that I use mainly for crafting NPCs or converting stats from prior systems. Two more, really quick, are swa.stoogoff.com, which has stat blocks for every NPC found in the books, and swrpg.viluppo.net, which provides a full index of the sourcebooks.

So, what’s your preference? The simplicity of a fistful of d6’s? The tried and true d20? The artistically balanced chaos of more fluid results? Again, and I cannot stress this enough, there is no wrong answer. Whatever avenue helps you feel ready to dive in and forge your own adventure in the Star Wars galaxy is already a winner.

Grab some polyhedrons, a set of rules that fires up your hyperdrive, and start building the hero, scoundrel, or villain of your dreams!

May the Force be with you,

Seth

Star Wars Expanded Universe Roleplaying Article One - Join the Roleplaying Side!

If you’re reading this, I’m gonna go out on a highly abbreviated limb and guess that you have watched at least one Star Wars movie. And, if that’s all you’ve experienced of the galactic setting of hyperspace and mysticism, congratulations on taking your first steps into a much larger world!

Maybe you’ve seen all six (yes, six) movies, or maybe you’ve already taken the deepest of dives into the weird, immense pool of space adventure that encompasses nearly four decades of Expanded Universe storytelling, from novels to games to cereal box comics. Whatever your familiarity with George Lucas’s space opera and its intricately connected surrounding materials, you’re probably taking the time to read at least two paragraphs into an article about roleplaying in that world because the following thought has crossed your mind at least once; “What would it be like to live in a galaxy like that?”

Absolutely no disrespect to the dozens of video games that have proudly borne the Star Wars banner, but that’s not really a question that can be answered in a digital simulation limited to the imaginations of its programmers and technological constraints. Which is not to imply that said games aren’t a ridiculous amount of fun. I’ve probably spent far too many hours of my life spinning about with a lightsaber in the Jedi Knight games or fighting over command posts in the classic Battlefront entries. I’m even replaying through one of my all-time favorites, Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, right now. However, none of them fully represent what a real person’s journey might entail with you, a devoted fan, in those bantha-hide boots.

Board games, too, fall short of immersing oneself fully in the rather distant galaxy. A tactile element is introduced, but always an objective or victory condition barricades the mind from fully exploring the emotions and personal needs of a galactic citizen, be they Jedi, diplomat, or dashing rogue. But what if there was a way to engage with the Star Wars galaxy on a deeply personal level? A way to explore the life of a colonist, senator, or Sith without invisible barriers or railroaded objectives?

By way of roundabout, verbose introduction…hi, I’m Seth! The kindhearted visionaries who’ve painstakingly built the audience and infrastructure of and surrounding this site have made the grievous (*obligatory chuckle*) error of requesting that I take up the creation of a weekly-ish column all about the running and playing of Star Wars tabletop role-playing games. Quickly capitalizing on their distinct lack of knowing better, I’ve accepted. So, in the coming indeterminate number of weeks, I’ll be exploring how you, a passionate fan and likely EU rebel scum, might begin or better your adventures in the distant past and across the stars.

This, as every hero’s journey must begin, is your call to action. Stat-blocked, hallucinated adventure awaits, and I’m here to provide you with a kriffin’ Killik’s nest full of reasons to answer its call. Firstly, and most simply, it’s fun. Without exaggeration, some of my greatest, shared memories with friends and fellow fans have been forged on the fictional worlds of Star Wars. We’ve built stories that are wholly ours in a setting we all hold dear, fashioning as bombastic, mocking, or emotional of a narrative as we wish. There’s nothing quite like claiming victory through character-unique means, combining strengths (both in and out of game), or crafting an inside joke reliant on dozens of hours of play.

Which leads rather neatly into point two. TTRPGs are perhaps the purest, most vulnerable way for us fans to share our love of favorite, nonexistent worlds. Simply by crafting their own character and contributing to the grander story of the group, a player reveals what Star Wars means to them; the themes, archetypes, and story threads that spoke to them most profoundly on their introduction to the world. Always thought Luke was too whiny? Maybe your Jedi-in-training ain’t got no time for emotional poodoo, focusing instead on quick, decisive action to control or liberate galactic sentients. Can’t decide if you like Han or Lando better? Craft an amalgam of their characteristics and pour it into your resulting ladies’ man smuggler or scruffy-looking entrepreneur. Want a princess who isn’t an insensitive racist after being in a cell for a few hours? Make someone as admirably passionate Leia, but with a bit more diplomatic flair. Or just play a version of Chewie. No improving on the ultimate Wookiee bro.

Thirdly, to my third point, and thrice repeated for emphasis, don’t let the volume of available sourcebooks overwhelm you. Start simple, if you must, but, for the love of the White Current, start. Fantasy Flight Games has core rulebooks and beginner boxes for their current system (which I’ve enjoyed for years), as well as a reprint of the original West End Games core rule- and sourcebook. For the former, you can determine if you wish to run a more Rebellion-centric campaign, one more focused on exploration, bounty hunters, and scoundrels, or one steeped in the mysteries of the Force. There are no wrong answers here, only personal preference. You may even wish to lift elements from each to form something appealing for everyone.

If you’re willing to do a bit more hunting (and likely a bit more parting with your real-world credits), sourcebooks from the past eras of Star Wars roleplay can be tracked down in physical form. For a more wallet-friendly solution, however, I’d recommend availing yourself of the West End Games PDF collection compiled over on starwarstimeline.net, which also has converted Wizards of the Coast material. For those uninitiated, the Star Wars license met an untimely severance with WEG and was subsequently picked up by WotC, who basically treated it as a Dungeons & Dragons skin. There was also seemingly very little effort put into expanding the world with the various sourcebooks, at least in comparison to their rights-holding predecessors. Nothing wrong with that, if that’s your thermajug of tea, but most purists seem to prefer the old-school, imaginative WEG content, with heretics like myself even valuing FFG’s contributions well over those of WotC. Ultimately, though, pick up the book that looks most interesting to you and let the inspiration begin to fly.

Quick disclaimer and mild warning: yes, the FFG books do begin to diverge into Disney continuity, but the bulk of it is prime EU/Legends content.

Hopefully that’s at least enough to kick your atmospheric thrusters online. But finally, and most importantly, if you know of many interested potential players, but not anyone who wishes to run a game, I urge you to lower your blast shields, stretch out with your feelings, and do it. Beginner boxes tend to guide new Game Masters on their first steps just as much as they do new players, and there are dozens of adventure modules, or pre-written adventures, to get you started.

You’ll almost certainly be struck by unseen stun bolts (figuratively speaking) as you learn the carbon-ropes and nuance of spearheading a communal narrative, but remember that everyone gathered in your basement, living room, or rented game store nook are there to have fun and play in a galaxy that they love.

And, chances are, all a player or Game Master will have to do to feel as though the adventure’s already begun is to hear the opening notes of Mr. John Wiliams’ chill-inducing opening fanfare.

Until next time, may the Force be with you!

'Cept Timber

I dunno. I wanted a pun, and I’ve recently learned the German word for wood in my Duolingo lessons. There are probably a few Holz in my setup, though.

Anyway, the month’s gone pretty well, methinks, between some fun reading through the Star Trek First Splinter Timeline year 2380 as “research” for the Star Trek Adventures game I’m running, chipping away at various creative pursuits, and discovering the joy of both Abbot Elementary and the Swedish version of Taskmaster, Bäst i Test.

I’ve also been asked back to do some more articles for the Expanded Universe website, which celebrates what’s now known as the Star Wars Legends timeline, and that’s got me to thinking that I could share my initial run of those on my blog, for a wider/different audience. So I think I’ll do that. You’ve been warned. The previous batch was about running a roleplaying game in the Legends universe, and now I’m thinking to write about some of the original works of favorite EU authors.

I may have also cleaned up my office a bit, in a fit of procrastination, and I think it’s helped me feel like I have a bit more room for things like LEGOs and random bouts of Nerf target practice. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but micro breaks like that throughout my day have fueled some of my best brainstorms. I’m sure brain doctors know why.

So yeah. Life is good, Sanctuary of Shrouds keeps going up in weekly chapters on Patreon, and somehow the Future’s Birth finale is coming together.

Bring on the fall weather!

Seth

Tower Launched

And with that, book seven of Future's Birth is out for whatever percentage of the world to (hopefully) enjoy! It took some time, depending on the platform, but now you should be able to acquire the latest chapter in the series in whatever format you prefer from whatever retailer you least despise.

Of course, now we gear up for book eight to start dropping installments on my Patreon. The end is on the horizon as we continue the story of Jack, Tanner, Allie, Gefnar, and the dozens of other characters inhabiting the world in...Sanctuary of Shrouds. Hopefully we'll have some artwork to share with you all soon!

Besides that, I've been chipping away at other creative endeavors, while also enjoying the many books I've managed to get through: continuing Cycles both Aurelian and Pendragon; backtracking through the Double Helix series for context in New Frontier over in the Star Trek Litverse; finding that The Black Fleet Crisis was undersold to me in the Star Wars Legends Universe; and finally getting to the beefy collection of Mass Effect comics I picked up a while back.

Not a horribly productive month, as vacation was taken, but August should see us moving forward with some exciting new stories!

Seth

Updates From the Riverbank 6/22 - Clever Solstice Pun

Clever Solstice Pun

And that's half the year gone. This is fine.

I can only hope I haven't been too idle, I suppose. Which, with a new book dropping tomorrow, I hope that bodes well. Yep, Tower of Memories is imminently going for a wide release, thus far the longest of the entries in Future's Birth. I think it earns the pages. I tend not to care for when series feel like each volume has to be longer than the last, just because. The world is bigger now, and we've got a split party. So yeah, there's a bit more going on in this one. I hope you all enjoy it!

Also, I should soon have free download codes for the audiobook. Feel free to reach out, if you're interested!

Elsewise, I've finished replaying through Jedi Outcast, which is still a ridiculous amount of fun (except for when the game asks you to use nonexistent stealth mechanics). Rachel and I have also been continuing through The Expanse and various international versions of Taskmaster. Pausing in my audio Doctor Who adventures, I'm currently back on listening to Lightbringer, which seems to have hooked me a bit more in the second book. And, for physical reading, I've gone through the Callista trilogy in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, which...yeah, Darksaber was okay, with moments of greatness, but I don't think I'd have bothered with further Hambly books. Thankfully, Starfighters of Adumar was chef's kiss excellent, and honestly The Crystal Star was...fine. I don't get all the hate. Still also greatly enjoying the Star Trek: New Frontier books, having started in on the Excalibur trilogy, and I've finished the first three volumes in Will Wight's Cradle series. I can't say I'm locked in at this point, but I am curious to see how things progress. And, of course, getting back into some Stephen Lawhead works with the Taliesin, first book in the Pendragon Cycle, was slow but delightful.

And hey, life is good when strawberries are in season in Oregon!

Seth

Updates From the Riverbank 5/22 - May Away

In another blink-and-you'll-miss-it month, I've finished up work on Tower of Memories, with the final chapters dropping on Patreon in June. Which means, of course, that the wide release is nearly upon us. July 1st, in fact! Not that Amazon allows print preorders, of course, but I've tried to time things so that people can get whichever format they prefer, come launch day. 

Beyond that, book eight is soon to be revealed, and I've made some more headway in the rough draft for book nine, the final entry in Future's Birth. I've even had some surplus creative energies to poke at some other projects, so we'll see if I have anything to report on further books anytime soon. 

I've also been having a fun month of reading, having finished up The Expanse and diving into some Drizzt and additional Discworld entries (Mort was delightful). And, of course, I continue on through my Star Wars and Star Trek Litverse reads, with some Tintin thrown into the mix. Finally checking out The Expanse TV series has also been highly enjoyable, but we here at Riverbank Publishing may also still have a Taskmaster problem. Having exhausted the UK and NZ versions, now dabbling in the Norwegian adaptation. Bless the fans who make the subtitles for us monolinguals. I know some French and German, of course, but nothing on the level of a second language. Working on that...

Anyway, thank you all from the depths of my cardiac muscle for sticking around and checking out the high fantasy shenanigans I've been dreaming up. May it continue for many years to come!

Seth

Updates From the Riverbank 4/22 - It's Gonna Be Month Number Five

That's how the famously meme-able song goes, right? Anyway, April's been bit of a scattershot month here at Riverbank Publishing. The Atalan Legends audiobook is finally done, only seven years after anyone might have been asking for it, Tower of Memories ramps up toward its finale in weekly Patreon chapters, and I continue to plunk away at book nine/the conclusion of the Future's Birth series...while also maybe poking at some other projects. A return to sci-fi might be on the horizon for me, as might a subsequent merging of elements from recent works for some science fantasy flair.

Beyond that, I've continued to enjoy my Star Wars/Trek lit-verse explorations (with the Legends and Relaunch continuities, respectively), some Stephen Lawhead sci-fi in Empyrion was a nice change of pace, finally getting to the Nausicaa manga was interesting (having previously only seen the movie), and I've quite liked the start of Fireborne by Rosaria Munda. I may have also been spending entirely too much time running around England in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.

Then there's the Star Wars tabletop RPG I'm wrapping up, as game master, as well as the Shakespearian and dungeon-diving D&D/Pathfinder I've been enjoying as a player. My writing energy may have waned this month, but it's nice to remind myself that I'm not lacking for creative endeavors.

Thanks to all of you for sticking around, even if I'm not the most prolific writer out there!

Seth

PS. Download codes for the Atalan Legends audiobook are available to any who would like one! Sorry about, y'know, my voice.