Hi Folks,
West End Games did a whole host of adventures for the Star Wars d6 system. Even back then, I only halfway followed the line.
Which of the WEG adventures are (1) good, and (2) could be adapted to Edge of the Empire ?
I know that the Darkstryder Campaign is fairly well regarded, but is of a somewhat different power level - though I suspect it could be scaled down just fine.
I did a little research on my own and got a few recommendations to pass on to the group:
This is simple to answer. . . ALL OF THEM.
The WEG stuff is so easy to translate over its rediculous. also there is some WEG suff in the old polyhedron magazines as well. They are small but usable.
IIRC, most of the WEG adventures assume that the PCs will be working for the Alliance, so they might need a bit of reworking if foiling The Empire is not something the players want to get involved in. So in Tatooine Manhunt, you'd need to establish why the PCs care about keeping a hero of the Republic away from the Empire, or in Black Ice why they want to steal supplies for the Alliance/equivalent.
I like Darkstryder, and it is certainly worth tracking down, but it isn't a 'four dudes in a freighter tool about the universe for fun and profit' adventure. Its pretty much more Star Trek than Firefly, with the players in a modified Corellian Corvette going boldly where no man has gone before to track down an enemy of the New Republic.
I only have four of them, but the Adventure Journals had some adventures aimed at the Fringe life. There are also many adventure hooks throughout them. In the four I have there is information on bounty hunting, smuggling and general Fringe behaviour. Really makes me wish I had got my hands on more of them.
All of those WEG adventures are fantastic and really capture the spirit of heroism and fun from the 'good ol days' of Star Wars. That said, it's true that they're all generally written to be played by a group of Rebel operatives, so some tweaking will occasionally be required. Some of my faves were mentioned above, but I'll mention 'em again, along with some others:
Enjoy!
Scavenger Hunt -- First appearance of the Squibs, an audience with King Ebareeveebeedee (sp?) on the Momship, conflict with the gross goopy Ugors, and sifting through the ruins of the first death star! Just change the death star garbage salvage field with a non-descript set of floating hulk wreckage of your choice, and file off the Alliance vs Empire stuff as there could be other reasons for the characters to want to find some super sensitive data amongst the wreckage for "someone."
Riders of the Maelstrom -- Space Pirates and PCs aboard a luxury cruise liner! Easy enough to file off the Alliance vs Empire action since it always felt kind of tacked on to me anyway. I ran this one on the fly during the Beta. If I'd kept any notes worth a dang I'd share em…but I pretty much just pulled things out of my rear and picked opponents that seemed about right.
The Isis Coordinates -- I really like this adventure, but it's pretty tangled up with the Alliance vs Empire schtick. I just have a soft spot for the actual puzzle that the players have to assemble properly in order to reprogram a Star Destroyer's hyperdrive.
TATOOINE MANHUNT is, in my opinion (but echoed by others) not only the best of the WEG adventures, but it also takes place on… Tatooine! Easy transition from the starting module(s). Comes with maps of the Mos Eisley cantina and Mos Eisley itself. Great aquisition, even if you don't play it.
And before grabbing adventures, I'd go further to suggest that you pick up at least two of the major sourcebooks:
Platt's Starport Guide - An in-depth look at several starports fit for the Fringe life. This is especially handy as it details a major starport on Ryloth, so this can be great to hook onto Long Arm of the Hutt.
Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters - The sourcebook matron for the Fringebound adventurer. This is the book that gave Han admirers their solid stake at the gaming table apart from the rebel groups. It's arguable that EotE would exist without this book coming on the scene back in '90. As a matter of fact, I think Mark Rein-Hagen and Stewart Wieck deserve special thanks for fathering this genre. Get either the first or second editions, they're near identical.
Start there, and with the adventures mentioned above. You'll have good gaming for a long, long time. I can provide more suggestions later if anyone cares for deeper elaboration.
shaddai said:
And before grabbing adventures, I'd go further to suggest that you pick up at least two of the major sourcebooks:
Platt's Starport Guide - An in-depth look at several starports fit for the Fringe life. This is especially handy as it details a major starport on Ryloth, so this can be great to hook onto Long Arm of the Hutt.
Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters - The sourcebook matron for the Fringebound adventurer. This is the book that gave Han admirers their solid stake at the gaming table apart from the rebel groups. It's arguable that EotE would exist without this book coming on the scene back in '90. As a matter of fact, I think Mark Rein-Hagen and Stewart Wieck deserve special thanks for fathering this genre. Get either the first or second editions, they're near identical.
Start there, and with the adventures mentioned above. You'll have good gaming for a long, long time. I can provide more suggestions later if anyone cares for deeper elaboration.
Definitely agree with these two suggestions, but would like to add a third:
Platt's Smuggler's Guide - this covers life operating as a smuggler in the Rebellion Era, including some character backstory tips that can easily be used by any Fringe character type (not just smugglers) and a whole bunch of other stuff that can be useful to a GM.
Bumbing about space in a small merchant craft has a long and proud history in roleplay - Marc Miller's Traveller RPG is as old as Star Wars.
Traveller adventures might make better fodder for EotE than most WEG adventures, usually being written for (criminally inclined) free agents.
There is one called Exit Visa, in which the PCs ship gets impounded, and they have to try to get permission to get it unimpounded and free to leave the planet by running around between offices and filling in forms. Which I think would work very well if Star Wars PCs visit a more developed world.
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For WEG sourcebooks I like the Tapani Sector stuff, but that is the posh end of the Empire rather than the edge of it.
For sourcebooks:
Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp freighters is a must. Also includes a bunch of adventure ideas in the Minos cluster, which is close to Kathol (The Darkstryder Campagin)
Private and Privateers. It is a step up from Tramp Freigthers, where you play Pirates, or Privateers with minor suppoert from the rebellion, the Far Orbit supplement which gives some good adventure ideas as a Privateer as well as some deck plans for a Nebulon-B Frigate (AKA "Medical Frigate" in the Orginal movies)
Imperial Sourcebook is a great fount of informaiton for the baddies.