Hi there,

I've been looking to start a campaign for this game, the problem is that most of the people who are interested in playing with me have little to no knowledge of the Star Wars universe. How much is needed to play this game succesfully?

Potential Players:

P1 (Me): High level of familiarity- lots of exposure to Movies and EU novels.

P2: High level of familiarity- lots of exposure to movies

P3: Basic knowledge- Has not seen the movies in many years

P4 & P5: Have never seen the movies

It really only matters how well you can describe the setting. Don't ever run anything that requires movie knowledge, or EU knowledge.
So instead of saying "jawa" off the bat, say "tiny brown robed alien", belike.
It'd be quite simple to run as a rego sci fi game, I'd think, just as long as you don't try to take certain knowledge for granted.

(But if your friends are sci fi nerds enough to want to play a sci fi game, you should get them to watch star wars. )

Having a basic understanding of the universe is good, but where this game is set to the side, you can get away with very little or no knowledge.

As long as the group understands that not everyone know everything about star wars shouldn't have to much issue.

What rock have P4 & P5 been skulking under for the last 37 years?........

STAR WARS IS FANTASY NOT SCIFI OMGNERDRAGE!!!!!!11

*Ahem*

Very little setting knowledge is required.

If you're concerned about this, why not just host a viewing of the films prior to character creation? Watching the movies will get everyone familiar with the basics of the Star Wars narrative style, the setting, and the character types. After that, you should be good to go.

Haha,

Yes, I think a viewing party is in our immediate future. I just wanted to make sure that basic exposure would be enough to work from.

In my opinion, yeah, basic exposure should be plenty. No exposure should work fine, though it will make things a bit harder on you as you have to explain a lot more. If I were you, I'd use the fact that you have 'rookie' players to formulate your campaign premise.

Have your players start off on a 'backwater world', something like the Rim world fringer experience. Make the first game session focus around 'life on the Farm/Mine/Whatever this backwater does, but obviously still make it kind of exciting with some local problems. Use this to get people used to things like what kind of tech there is, how people think of droids, that kind of thing. Then, get your players out into the galaxy at large. Are they going to know what Corellia is? Nope. Should they? Nope. Match made in heaven!

Sometimes lots of knowledge is a curse for rpg's, but as a GM you will have to describe more to your players (this is a good thing).

They will not now who to run from and what is played for a laugh, and inside jokes will be for your amusement only.

So you will be their guide into this universe and you get to shape it as you want, so take a deep breath and have fun.

You don't need any exposure. My players have almost no knowledge, which has probably made my job easier. They know there is an Empire, and they know what a Hutt is...sort of...but the rest is all "cowboys in space". They've all chosen to play human characters (except one who plays Pash from the beginner box but uses Oskara as his lover/sidekick) because they have no connection to anything else. That's perfectly fine with me.

Just keep the action flowing, and don't worry much about whether they're shooting at a Gamorrean or chatting up a Twi-lek, or which planet means what. In very small doses I have been able to introduce a few things, like "the Core Worlds", hyperspace, how to calm down Wookiees, etc. But mostly I just relate it to everything we have in our world, magnified.

Haha,

Yes, I think a viewing party is in our immediate future. I just wanted to make sure that basic exposure would be enough to work from.

I suggest the Machete order if you and your players have the time.

What rock have P4 & P5 been skulking under for the last 37 years?........

I work with some high schoolers (summer temps) that have never seen the movies or shows. Also my Monty Python quotes get some odd looks and a "What?" which saddens me greatly.

That's funny because I have a good friend is kind of a known quantity in the commercial art businesses sci-fi and fantasy and he also teaches. He was teaching a class and making some references to Blade Runner and got the same blank looks. He had to ask everyone to raise their hand who have actually seen Blade Runner. He made a deal with them that as long as they made no cultural references after 1995 he wouldn't make any before 1990.

First session starts with a screening of A New Hope.

Then go into character creation. Those who have seen the movies may be allowed to arrive later, but will probably want to show up anyway, just to see them again (try to avoid quoting the entire thing though, for those who have not learned the awesome).

Once A New Hope is screened, everyone will have a basic level of knowledge concerning the Star Wars Universe, and you can then tell your stories at that level. It, conveniently, is also the right timeframe if your groups decides it wants to play the Age of Rebellion side, rather than Edge of the Empire.

Kevynn

I'd recommend all players seeing at least the first one, so they have an idea of what to expect from the universe. Other than that, though, there's no "required level" of familiarity.

But I feel like the ones who haven't seen the movies are probably knowledgeable enough due to pop culture exposure, at least.

Of course that begs the question - what do you mean by "the first one"?

I've found that players generally don't need much more than a basic grasp of the concept and setting, and that seeing the movies isn't required. Admittedly, having seeing at least ANH is helpful in providing various visual cues to elements of the setting, such as the appearance of stormtroopers and astromech droids. But then again, with the degree of pop culture saturation that Star Wars has achieved, most folks have a pretty good idea what many of the iconic elements of the setting look like even if they've not seen the movies.

He had to ask everyone to raise their hand who have actually seen Blade Runner.

I teach undergraduate philosophy classes and I've had the same experience many times.

Many of the most relatable examples of ethical and metaphysical concepts come from films, and most of the best film examples are too old for my students to recognise.

Even though I'm teaching university kids, mostly around 20 years old, the majority have never seen Planet of the Apes, Total Recall, Terminator 2, Demolition Man, or even an episode of Star Trek. When I discuss Cartesian Dualism I can no longer even assume they've seen The Matrix, and it came out in 1999 with sequels as recent as 2003.

But then I remember that today's 20-year-olds were born in 1994... and I get very sad.

Of course that begs the question - what do you mean by "the first one"?

Must... suppress... nineties kid rage...

While knee jerk is to have em watch ANH, I think it would be a far more exciting experiment to have em go in blind, and see how it goes.

at least WATCH the movies. Otherwise, why bother doing star war and be limited to a certain universe that you have no understanding of? You would be better off playing *Gasp* D&D

If you really want smaller bites you could watch the clone wars series.

While knee jerk is to have em watch ANH, I think it would be a far more exciting experiment to have em go in blind, and see how it goes.

I think this is by far the best suggestion. The Star Wars movies aren't very good films (imo) and if the players haven't had an interest in seeing them yet, thrusting it on them may not be productive. By far the best thing is to just give them the freedom of interpreting the world in their own way without the subconscious constraints of the films.

I'm actually in a similar boat to a small degree. Never been a particular fan of Star Wars. Picked up the game because the system is great and it's an easy setting to run in.

STAR WARS IS FANTASY NOT SCIFI OMGNERDRAGE!!!!!!11

Wait, this is a thing? ... I guess I can't really be surprised, because people freak out for less. Geez. Doesn't help that Sci-Fi is so poorly defined that any one person would have a differing definition. xP

*/off topic*

None is required whatsoever. However, I find even more enjoyment in the game because of my knowledge of Star Wars lore.

I played Deathwatch without really knowing too much of the lore and found it enjoyable, so I'm sure it's the same for this one.

i had a young (about 13 i guess) player in a game not long ago that, during character building, said the following, very memorable (to me at least) quote:

"so, what's a jedi then, anyway?" i went... then... then...

then everybody had fun playing, so i guess no familiarity at all is required.

Having very knowledgeable players can be a boon or a drawback. If the player in question is helpful, they can assist the GM in sketching out the universe and suggesting good potential ideas. I'd be happy to have guys like Chortles or 2P51 at my table.

But if he's 'that guy', the obsessive nerd who quotes obscure EU sources to tell a GM or other players they are 'doing it wrong'... well, nobody wants them.

That said, general familiarity with things like Jedi and Stormtroopers is a benefit, and I think everyone should see the original 'Star Wars' film at the very least. If you can see the originals instead of the (ahem!) 'remastered' versions, all the better.

(and don't, whatever you do, show them the Prequels! )