Being that I grew up in the seventies and eighties, my first, my longest exposure to the Star Wars universe (beyond the movies, of course) was the old Marvel Comics. Yeah they were a bit primitive and flash gordon-y and occasionally veered into Whiskey Tango Foxtrot territory, but overall they were some solid stories with great characters and they really scratched that itch during those long gaps between movies.

Since we'll never get a Marvel Sourcebook, I thought it might be fun to put together some characters. The text is comes from an old acquaintance of mine from the SWRPG mailing list, Mark Hudson, owner of Home of the Lost Star Warriors . The stat blocks, however, are all new.

Enjoy!

In the course of these turbulent days, surely there is no more storied family than the House of Tagge. The Tagge family fortune was built out of its mining and spice concerns, but it was not until Orman Tagge came into his inheritance that the Tagge family truly bloomed. Orman Tagge became Baron of the House of Tagge at a young age under circumstances that might generously be described as suspicious. Under his canny leadership, Tagge commercial interests flourished. Orman diversified the family holdings into a wide variety of ventures. TaggeCompany subsidiaries include munitions companies, holo-media conglomerates, high-technology firms and even fast food chains.

Having conquered galactic commerce, Orman set his sights higher. Make no mistake, Baron Tagge was a patriot. It was his ambition to be the Emperor's most trusted servant. In the Age of Palpatine, however, politics was a deadly game, and the man who was the Emperor's most trusted servant had little patience for palace intrigue. With a single stroke of his lightsaber, Lord Vader robbed the Baron of his sight and extracted a harsh penalty for Tagge's arrogant meddling.

Orman had at his disposal the latest in cyber-technology to rebuild his ruined eyes, but rather than butcher himself with prosthetic replacements, he began wearing cyber-vision goggles to supplement his vision. His defeat at Vader's hands was the genesis of the Baron's single-minded pursuit of vengeance. Orman even managed to construct a lightsaber that he hoped to one day use against the Dark Lord. It is testament to the influence of the House of Tagge or perhaps Vader's dismissal of the threat, that the Baron was not challenged on this matter. The Baron returned to his scheming, but henceforth he was focused on earning Emperor Palpatine's highest favor and displacing the hated Darth Vader. . . .

Baron Orman Tagge ( Nemesis )

Type: Colonist - Politico

Height: 1.8 meters

Species: Human

Sex: Male

Brawn: 2 Agility: 2 Intellect: 4 Cunning: 3 Willpower: 3 Presence: 2

Soak Value: 2 Wound Threshold: 14 Strain threshold: 15 Melee/Ranged Defense: 0/0

Skills: Brawl: 2, Charm: 4, Coercion: 5, Core Worlds:5, Deception: 4, Education: 3, Leadership: 3, Melee: 5, Negotiation: 4, Perception: 3, Ranged (light): 2, Resilience: 1, Xenology: 2

Talents: Adversary 2, Dodge, Grit 2, Kill With Kindness 2, Nobody's Fool, Plausible Deniability 2, Supreme Scathing Tirade, Toughened

Abilities: None

Equipment: Elegant Robes, lightsaber (Melee; Damage 10; Critical 1; Range [Engaged]; Breach 1, Defensive 1, deflection 2, Sunder, Vicious 2), Cyber-vision goggles (supplement the Baron's lost vision and include infrared enhancements [+1 Vigilance and Perception, can see in the dark.]), Comlink, Datapad

Description: Baron Orman Tagge is an impressive Imperial noble who dresses in fine crimson and azure robes. His hair and Vandyke are jet black and impeccably groomed. Baron Tagge wears cyber-vision goggles to restore his lost eyesight.

Of the other Tagge brothers, little need be said. They had their own limited ambitions and played smaller roles in the affairs of the Imperial Court. Silas Tagge devoted his life to science. Neither summons to official proceedings nor invitations to holiday balls could pull him away from the sanctum of his laboratories. Orman would often speak of the latest bit of technology or cutting edge firm he'd acquired to aid in Silas' research.

Silas Tagge ( Nemesis )

Type: Technician - Outlaw Tech

Height: 1.7 meters

Species: Human

Sex: Male

Brawn: 2 Agility: 3 Intellect: 5 Cunning: 2 Willpower: 2 Presence: 2

Soak Value: 2 Wound Threshold: 12 Strain threshold: 13 Melee/Ranged Defense: 0/0

Skills: Astrogation: 4, Computers: 6, Core Worlds: 3, Deception: 2, Education: 5, Leadership: 2, Lore: 1, Mechanics: 6, Medicine: 3, Outer Rim: 1, Survival: 1, Xenology: 3

Talents: Adversary 1, Grit, Inventor 2, Speaks Binary 2, Tinkerer 2, Toughened, Utility Belt, Utinni 2

Abilities: None

Equipment: Datapad, lab smock, tool belt, comlink

Description: Silas Tagge is virtually the opposite of his older brother Orman. His skin is pale and his balding hair unkempt. He typically wears a rumpled lab smock.

Baron Tagge's greatest failure was not his own eventual and perhaps inevitable downfall, but the ruin of the youngest of the Tagge family, Orman's beloved sister Domina. Orman would've done anything to protect his sister. Rather than see her corrupted by the intrigue of the Imperial Court, Orman sent Domina away to join the Order of the Sacred Circle on the ringed world of Monastery. There, Sister Domina learned the order's tenets regarding peaceful worship of the circle of life and quickly rose through the order's ranks. Sadly, even so far removed from the turmoil of the galaxy, Domina eventually was drawn into the House of Tagge's conflicts with Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker.

During the Dark Lord's gambit on Monastery, Vader compelled Orman to fight Skywalker whose senses were clouded by Vader so that Orman appeared to be Vader.

Skywalker defeated and killed Orman, and Domina could only watch helplessly as Vader and Skywalker took their separate leaves of Monastery. Domina swore vengeance on both the Jedi and the Dark Lord and left Monastery to assume the mantle as the head of the House of Tagge.

Domina surfaced again briefly soon after the Battle of Hoth but has not been seen since. She is on the run now from both the Empire and Rebel Alliance, but the House of Tagge's formidable resources mean she is still a force to be reckoned with. She is a Tagge; intrigue and vengeance are in her blood. Among the Order of the Sacred Circle, Domina learned the patience which Orman lacked, and when she strikes again, be sure that she will avenge her loss and destroy her family's enemies, the House of Skywalker., , , ,

Sister Domina Tagge ( Nemesis )

Type: Colonist - Scholar

Height: 1.6 meters

Species: Human

Sex: Female

Brawn: 3 Agility: 3 Intellect: 3 Cunning: 3 Willpower: 2 Presence: 2

Soak Value: 3 Wound Threshold: 13 Strain threshold: 13 Melee/Ranged Defense: 0/0

Skills: Brawling 3, Charm 3, Core Worlds 3, Deception 3, Leadership 4, Negotiation 4, Resilience 1, Xenology 2

Talents: Adversary 1, Brace, Grit, Intense Focus ,Natural Scholar, Researcher 2, Resolve, Respected Scholar 2

Abilities: None

Equipment: Robes of the Order of the Sacred Circle

Not to go off topic, but this is one of the few rulesets I think could handle a good Superhero RPG. I love comics and honestly, I've never felt like any system really "got it"

BTW - I also grew up in the 70's and 80's and read a ton of comics. Oddly enough, I never read Star Wars. I was an X-Men, Spider-Man kid.

---wait--- Disney owns Star Wars. Disney owns Marvel. FFG makes games for Star Wars that are really good....

I never read the Marvel Star Wars comics as a kid either.

I recently got the first volume of reprints and ... it's kinda tough going. Maybe I'll get back to it one day.

Hi Desslok! For simplify things, use the developers version to create NPC's. Add the talents you need without considering rules or XP. Even invented abilities like "Leader" from one politic NPC.

Maybe it fits you

I never read the Marvel Star Wars comics as a kid either.

I recently got the first volume of reprints and ... it's kinda tough going. Maybe I'll get back to it one day.

Also, if you go back and look at the artists that worked on the old Marvel book, there are some greats in there. Howard Chaykin was on the first issue! Walt Simonson did a bunch of issues as well.

So you're right, the comics are pretty bad as far as story goes, not matter how hard Roy Thomas tried to make them great. However the art is crazy and there are a ton of ships and aliens that would make great fodder for an RPG. Also, if you happen to be in Austin, Austin Books and Comics has a ton of half price Dark Horse trades at the Sidekick store. Better buy them before Marvel starts doing the reprints and the price shoots up to forty bucks a book.

Later on, when Carmine Infantino and Archie Goodwin took over the book, there was an increase in the quality of the stories. Mind you, they're still pretty simple (and suffer from working in the void of "We only have one movie to go from"), but no worse than the Supermen and Spidermen titles of the era.

And honestly, which is worse- The Crystal Star or The Seven Samurai with a Godzilla cameo? Admiral Daala or a a giant green rabbit?

Hi Desslok! For simplify things, use the developers version to create NPC's. Add the talents you need without considering rules or XP. Even invented abilities like "Leader" from one politic NPC.

Call me crazy - but I like building my characters as close to By The Book as possible. Oh, sure, I skipped around in the talent trees a bit, but otherwise I find that my NPCs are more rounded and better built when I do.