Preface: The other day I was idly chatting about possible plans for a summer 40k game with one of my players. I mentioned that not only was I wanting to start with a fresh batch of characters for it, but that I was wanting to focus on one planet or star system this time, perhaps an arid barren world that had been central to several plot developments in previous games. To this she furrowed her brow and mulled over the idea of making a new character and what kind of character she could make from such a world. At length, her eyes lit up and she exclaimed “I've got it!” She then further elaborated:

“How about the whinny nephew of a moisture farmer? He's tutored by an old hermit, and possible paedophile and psyker, who gives him his fathers powersword to help him gain revenge on those responsible for his uncle and aunts immolation! He is joined on his quest by two servitors, one higher functioning one who translates binary and the other... a utility servo-skull!”

I'd be lying if I said that idea didn't amuse the hell out of me, but it did more then that, it made me wonder. Wonder, yes, wonder what would happen if I tried to actually convert the basics of the first Star Wars move (A New Hope, episode IV or what ever) into a 40k game. This wonder led to even more amusement and just a touch of potentially inappropriate excitement as well, but only if I could do it in a way that unique, different, and just twisted enough to insure that the various elements aren't instantly identifiable but after a bit of reflection, their roots become obvious.

And then I thought that such musings belonged here on the forum for all to roll around in and fill it with the mighty methane of the mind!

Meat: How would you convert the fallowing locations, items, and characters from Star Wars: A New Hope into 40k with a twist? The only restriction is that everything that happened in a New Hope, when converted over, would take place in a single solar system or possibly even on a single planet

What are the 40k equivalents of the fallowing (with a twist and tongue firmly in cheek of course!)

1. Tatooine
2. The Senate
3. Princess Lia
4. R2-D2
5. C3-P0
6. The Empire
7. Storm Troopers
8. Darth Vader
9. Luke Skywalker
10. Beru and Owen Lars (Luke's foster parents who got roasted)
11. Obi-Wan Kenobi
12. The Force
13. Lightsabers
14. Jawas
15. Sand People
16. Han Solo
17. Greedo
18. Jabba the Hut
19. Chewbacca
20. The Millennium Falcon
21. Alderaan
22. The Deathstar
    

Oh boy...

1. Tallarn, a quartz mining world
2. Senatorum Imperialis
3. Countess Lia, a noble secretly in league with Tau-influenced insurrectionists
4. R-II, a Servoskull
5. Cerpo, a quirky Tech-Priest Transmechanicus
6. The Imperium of Man
7. Space Marines of the White Scars Chapter
8. Lord Inquisitor Arkin Vander
9. Kamil Msarya-sama, Arkin's son who grew up in the Schola Progenium on Tallarn
10. Abbot O'uen Ibn Larsid & Sister Superior Bahar
11. Former General Ogrivahn, declared Excommunicate Traitoris
12. Witchery
13. Plasma Welders
14. Sandsquats
15. Mutants
16. Rogue Trader Hans Owler, former officer of the Imperial Navy
17. Graydo, luckless member of a local hab-gang, does not shoot first
18. Jarver the Hard, an overweight local crimelord
19. Navigator Chorn Baker, affected by abhuman hair growth and an atrophied tongue
20. "Falconis Millennial", the fastest guncutter this side of the Eye of Terror
21. Altallarn, system capital suffering Exterminatus ordered by Lord Inquisitor Vander
22. "Death of Stars", Arkin Vander's personal Battle Barge

I kinda like the idea, and it would be even better if the Acolytes are on the Dark Side without knowing it and shouting "Die, rebel scum!" before gunning them down with Lasguns

I do not think that this will work out quit well. Unless you want your pc to shoot the ewooks on first sight
...which I would salute you for!

I've included a pair of Han Solo & Chewbacca parody NPCs in my game before. Based on the concept of what might have happened to Han if he hadn't met Luke & Leia we had "Xin Duo" - a portly bulk trader captain with thining hair and lecherous eye for the ladies (he'll always carry teh scars the cells Death Cultist left him with after trying it on with her). His first mate (and chief stevedore) was an overly hairy Ogryn nicknamed "Muncher".

Nerd King said:

Okay, first, thank you for the Plasma Welder Lytana! When I read that, I about fell out of my chair when the imagery of grand cinematic duels with Plasma Welders snapped into my head, never mind the need now to refer to them as "weapons from a more elegant time"! Screw the power-sword. The whinny farm kid is so getting his fathers Plasma Welder from that creepy pedophile and heretic now!

I also really dig Nerd Kings version of Han and Chewy!

Oh, and Greg, so far, we're only doing "A New Hope". The closest thing to ewoks that one has is the Jawas. But perhaps I should entertain the idea of going for broke and doing the entire original trilogy... In that case, what would ewoks be when mutated, twisted, and turned around through the 40k lens. Cute teddy-bear aliens ripe for extermination just seems like too easy of an answer; not enough wtf twist to it.

Oh, and I totally forgot one other important item for the list -what is the twisted 40k version of:

23: The Jedi

You guys have given me a lot of junk-food for thought so far, thanks! Keep 'em rolling though! This will make for a fun summer romp. I also think I might actually be able to make something like this work -I have a bad habit and a track record for making stupid wtf ideas work far better then anything serious or noteworthy -and it's usually a lot more fun ;-).

The Jedi?

A Templat Calix Psyker I'd say

Braddoc said:

Ah, that's too easy! You have to think outside the box. Besides, why would the Calix Temple have a long tradition of fighting with Plasma Welders and why would the Imperium (if Lytana is to be believed that the Empire = the Imperium) have hunted them to extinction? ;-p

A better answer might be:

A secretive religious cult of miners that hid and harbored psykers from the back ships, training them not only how to control their growing powers but also in the deadly art of martial-welding! Hummmm....

Think outside the box pff!

The way the Imperium work, the -I- would rather kill a lot of psykers if that would damage to Imperium Status-quo or even have a hint of possible corruption.

Way better than making them Heretics from the Get-go; at least they keep their faith in the Emperor and fight an unjust system controlled by shadow adepts rahter than everyone 'cause they're heretics

Braddoc said:

Good answer! I can see the merits of Jedi = the Calix Temple now... hrmmmmmm

But wouldn't it fit? In 40k, all psykers are declared witches by default as well - except for the sanctioned ones, which, for Star Wars, would translate into characters such as Mara Jade (one of the Emperor's Hands) or Inquisitor Tremayne or Vader himself; people who use Jedi powers but hold offices of authority in the Empire.

Yeah, but nothing stops an Inquisitor or anyone with higher autority to have this or that school of Psychic philosophy/teachings/tradition to be purge because of it's taint, real or not; Like it or not, Power games are a dime a dozen in the Imperium, and nothign stops that an Inquistior from X school of Psychic discipline decides to purge Y school because one claps in thier hands before calling the Warp rather than stomping thier feet (Or any other tiny diffrence that may be)

Nerd King said:

Jar Jar Binks provides ample proof of the wisdom behind the Imperium's policy to exterminate all Xenos...

Adeptus-B said:

I think the closest I will ever get to Star Wars in WH40K will be by making an NPC named Jug Jug Blonk. He'll be described without ever saying the word Gungan.

The PCs will then get to kill him in some incredibly gory fashion (sucked into a turbine? impaled on a Giant Thrashing Cactus? airlock? forced to eat a slow burn white phosphorus grenade?) and move on with their lives. If I do it right, they'll never realize the truth and it will be my own sick little joke that...years later...one of the players will suddenly stop in the middle of a game session and ask "hey dude...what the eff was the deal with that one guy?!?".

Yeah I hate Jar Jar.

Don't misunderstand me, I actually think the first 3 movies are decent enough...they should just be in their own sci-fi universe as they so clearly are oriented more for kids.

The moment I saw Jar Jar in the trailers, I had flashbacks to some of the really early Star Wars movies that Lucas made. We're talking "Lost in Space...on Endor" type films (I don't even remember the names anymore but they were awful anyway) with shaggy carrier beasts, "funny" fast running sprite characters and Ewoks. Stuff that was so distinctly for children that it never really had the depth that the real Star Wars movies managed to achieve.

So yeah. Sorry for the de-rail...but I really love Star Wars. I just hate Lucas.

Bladehate said:

You are referring to Ewoks:Caravan of Courage & Ewoks: The Battle for Endor. Both made-for-tv movies that came out after Return of the Jedi. They were set in between episodes V and VI. Wicket the Ewok speaks Basic (English), yet forgets how when the Rebels come to Endor? In any case, these movies were really not Star Wars. All of this magical crap happened. The Ewoks weren't even living in a tree village, just one on the ground with ponies & chickens walking around! One of the main characters in the second one was played by the old guy from Cocoon who did the oatmael commercials, who now does the diabetes commercials. Not very good at all.

Trivia: The oatmeal guy wore the only pair of glasses ever seen in Star Wars!

I bow before your superior knowledge of the subject matter.

I still find it a big mind boggling that Star Wars can span over such a broad range of quality, and I can only conclude that the best Star Wars have been made when Lucas' wilder impulses have been held in check by another producer or director that have helped refine the vision of the Star Wars universe.

Left on his own (or when he power trips...), he produces stereotypical crap with a distinctly "kiddy" feel to it.

Anyway, I'll stop de-railing this thread and halt my rant before it can get out of hand. I'm sure there are entire internet forums dedicated to that already and doing it here just doesn't seem necessary.

Alpha Chaos 13 said:

Oh, hey, have you seen the Star Wars Holiday Special TV movie that came out shortly after Episode IV? It makes the Ewok movies look like Citizen Kane! It actually makes me mad to think that they had access to the original cast, costumes and props from the first movie, plus the use of as much "stock footage" as they wanted, and this is the turd that they squeezed out! -Although the animated sequence (with the first appearance of Boba Fett) was pretty cool- in a heavily-stylized, ultra-'70s way. Has that bit ever been released on DVD, maybe as a supplement to another feature?

Anyway, happy Life Day!

Adeptus-B said:

Oh yeah, Life Day rules! Seriously though, I am quite familiar with the Holiday Special, and I agree that it is hands-down the worst Star Wars show/movie ever produced. As a matter of fact, Lucas did NOT write or produce that show. He basically let the studio do what they wanted & was just as apalled with the result as everyone else. That's actually what made him decide to put the Star Wars property into a stranglehold from then on. It will never see life as a DVD because he chose to bury it & try to pretend it never happened. (Unless his kids decide to make some money from it after he dies.) Beyond the Lucas film vault, it only exists in very rare bootleg form. The only good that came from it was Boba Fett, even if he WAS wearing psychadelic armor & riding a dinosaur! For those who never saw it, I'll put it into perspective for you--- the Special centered around a cantina run by Bea Arthur!!

http://www.bluemilkspecial.com/?p=1311 Includes a youtube-upload of the cartoon. ^^

Holy crap! Thanks Lynata!