Hey guys,

In other games Ive GMd over the years, everyone having far less in the way of an established setting to game in, I would record the information I conjured up to maintain consistency and give me a reference of what I had established as.. well, fact.

I used a pretty elaborate file system and kept track of cultures, languages, creatures, poisons, locations, governments, characters, history etc. The file became, well Canon, where my own creation was concerned.

Now Im gaming Star Wars and its a whole different experience. There is literally thousands of pages of information out there to borrow from and seldom do you come across some part of your setting that hasn't at least been touched on before. The trouble is, its located everywhere, across websites, books, blogs, forums etc. A little research can give you a wealth of information to add to your game but then how the hell do you reference it again, maintain consistency or begin with that established base again when needing to further flesh something out?

I decided to try my proven method of maintain a personal database of whatever info I gather, creating my own official version of the StarWars universe but wow, what a task. In preparing for only the first session of play I had pages upon pages of notes, website links, book references and the like to describe the various elements of the game.

Do any of you do anything similar?

For example, in my current game the players come across a representative of a mining company (take note) that has its home office on a nearby system (note) and is known for handling a particular rare mineral used in the manufacture of proton torpedoes (note, note, note). The rep is of a certain alien race (note) and has ties to a certain underground organization (note) that maintains a presence on the current planet in the form of a local crime lord (note note)

Each of these notes is an entry into my data base recording system and planet information, minerals and mining info, company information in a commerce file, some notes on the alien race encountered in a species file, then notes on the crime lord and his organization in a separate file. Etc.

It all makes for a very organized way of building your universe but in the case of Star Wars is pretty exhausting. Do you simply accept everything that is out there as Canon in your game and use the internet as your file of what IS? If now, how the heck do you keep track?

If having a piece of the galaxy that is entirely yours and your players. I would recommend you follow the advice of Disney. Only the Movies are canon. If you are familiar with the Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons, then those could be part of your Canon as well. But I wouldn't worry so much about a random background character in the Mos Eisley cantina that turned out to be a washed-up Sith-turned pirate that hunts space slugs in the Out Rim.

If you let those things become canon in your story, you run the risk of introducing a lot of baggage that may not be necessary to your game or the tone of your adventures.

At least in the groups I've been in, taking those kinds of notes is a must for the GM. The players in those groups WILL notice when you contradict yourself.

As a start, check out the GM Session Sheets at https://kainrath.wordpress.com/category/character-sheets/

Once you’ve got the per-session data recorded somewhere, you need a way to organize that information. There are several threads on this forum regarding GM aids, tools, etc… and I would encourage you to use the search function at the very top of this page.

If having a piece of the galaxy that is entirely yours and your players. I would recommend you follow the advice of Disney. Only the Movies are canon. If you are familiar with the Clone Wars and Rebels cartoons, then those could be part of your Canon as well. But I wouldn't worry so much about a random background character in the Mos Eisley cantina that turned out to be a washed-up Sith-turned pirate that hunts space slugs in the Out Rim.

If you let those things become canon in your story, you run the risk of introducing a lot of baggage that may not be necessary to your game or the tone of your adventures.

I do the same thing. The Disney Canon (including books and comics) is more manageable and consistent than the EU, so I use it as a basis for my game. The EU, rich in ideas, is still there for the taking when I'm looking for more, while not being obstructive when I wanna do my own thing.

Record your own stuff, that's just basic RPG GM practice.

As for the "official canon" (assuming you even want to use it) stick with the films, and if you and your players watch the toons, them too. Other than that, don't sweat it.

One of the things the otaku have trouble with is Disney really doesn't care about the nitty gritty now, and Lucas didn't care then. When the canonwipe went through, and the story group formed, they weren't established to ensure that we know how many actuating modules are in a Sidewinder repeating blaster... The story groups only concern is ensuring that anything with a STORY doesn't conflict, spoil, or otherwise cause issue with the Films, TV shows, and Merch sales. So when The Force Awakens incredulous cross sections book came out and the headline "Han Solo Installed a galley in the Falcon as a wedding gift for Leia.. and it's CANON!" starting appearing, they weren't necessarily right... it might be, or it might just be something that doesn't conflict with the plot of Episode IIX, as as such was ignored. Until Episode IX comes out and features Leia in the galley frying up some space-bacon while talking with Rey about how it was a wedding gift... yeah... not really canon.

So... all this is a good thing, because it means that if you want to run a "canon" campaign... there's not much to worry about. As long as what you have happen doesn't conflict with what you see on screen.. you're pretty much as canon as anything.

As others have said, use the movies and only delve into the other stuff if you're comfortable to. I would assume the whole group have seen the movies and that would bring a familiarity to the table that all could get to grips with, if a player wants to do something outside of the movies (EU, Clone Wars, Rebels etc.) that they are familiar with, then look into it, discuss with player and so on...

You seem to be well versed in taking notes and as MaxKilljoy said, keep consistent (at least with your own in-game 'cannon', it is your game after all).

It all makes for a very organized way of building your universe but in the case of Star Wars is pretty exhausting. Do you simply accept everything that is out there as Canon in your game and use the internet as your file of what IS? If now, how the heck do you keep track?

Star Wars Canon in my games consists of this hierarchy:

1) Do I remember it?

2) Is it stupid?

3) Does it serve the story I'm telling?

If it fails those tests, it's outta here. I ain't got time to be micromanaged by Wookieepedia and the Star Wars Database.

Typically, I tend to game with people that are highly knowledgeable about the Star Wars EU, and we operate with the understanding that goes with it.

Most games I run, the full EU is considered as fact until/unless directly contradicted. That being said, as GM, I reserve the right to veto as I see fit, and ask that, if players are going to invoke some portion of the EU that hasn't yet been explicitly covered, that they run it by me first. Usually it's something completely benign: their character is from some planet that was never going to come into the campaign anyway, or they were part of some battle that has no bearing on current events, or even that they brushed shoulders with Luke Skywalker at some point. None of it is an issue. I ask that they clear it though, in case it WILL conflict with something I have in mind. Say...their character grew up with Lando...except that they're going to encounter Lando in the first adventure, and them knowing one another would create issues.

I also have the caveat that I will not be subject to "lawyering"...that is, using the lore to force me to run my game a certain way. For example, if I give the group an XYZ freighter for transport, and you hit up Wookieepedia and find out that in some comic book series, someone was in an XYZ freighter and it had blasters built into the landing ramp, that your XYZ, by definition must have them...I'm not going to feel compelled to grant it.

Basically, when I run a game, it's not me vs. my players. I need them to trust me to tell a fun and interesting story, and part of that is not trying to force my hand by invoking the EU against my will...this allows us all to use the EU as a help and a resource.