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Star Wars Wednesday - FFG and RPG Update

It is no news to anyone by now that life has taken a drastic turn with covid 19 wreaking havoc with health and and everything else. Like many, I’m working from home for my day job. My part of the world is just beginning to see cases appear and increase. However, my company works and travels worldwide, though I have not needed to do so, and won’t be anytime soon.

In a bit of good news, Asmodee and FFG have revealed more about their recent moves and future plans, including their various Star Wars games and the RPG.

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Star Wars Wednesday - A New Hope...for the RPG

At my rate of posting this year, I ought to change the name of this series to Star Wars Monthly….but I won’t. It has gone on too long and maybe I’ll get back to a more regular schedule. At least there is some positive news on the Star Wars RPG / Genesys RPG front. The games will continue to be printed and produced, by a division of Asmodee, but not by Fantasy Flight Games.

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Star Wars Wednesday - This is 2020

It has been an embarrassing amount of time since I last wrote a Star Wars Wednesday post. this is especially true given the huge amount of new Star Wars movies, TV shows, and other stories released in the last few months. I’ve kept up reasonably well, though there is still a stack of comics I need to work through. Marvel has been hugely prolific with the number of titles and short series lately. More on many of those things in the upcoming months, hopefully. it shouldn’t be too hard for me to pick up the pace this year, compared to the dismal number late last year.

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Power Play - Now Available for Android on the New Genesys Foundry

Tonight at Gen Con, Fantasy Fight Games announced Genesys Foundry, a new community content program for the Genesys RPG available on DriveThruRPG.com. Genesys Foundry features products, adventures, settings, and more for use with Genesys itself, as well as the campaign settings of Android Shadow of the Beanstalk (sci-fi), and Realms of Terrinoth (fantasy). Products are distributed primarily in PDF format.

Power Play is my second Genesys Foundry product, and I'm happy to have been asked to participate in the initial offerings. Power Play is a mini-campaign for the Android Shadow of the Beanstalk sci-fi setting. It takes place in locations within Heinlein, the major colony on the Moon. Heinlein also happens to be one of the areas I helped develop for Android Shadow of the Beanstalk, so it was fun to develop a new campaign for it.

Here's the back cover copy, with more information:

Mysterious cybernetic malfunctions are attracting unwanted attention to 8CMod, an advanced, thriving lunar black market cybernetics clinic. 8CMod is more than a problematic unlicensed medical practice, however. Investigators soon try to unravel a web of organized crime, corporate corruption, and ambitious individuals out to seize control of one of Heinlein's standout companies.

This Android mini-campaign gives Player Characters the opportunity to manipulate the future of a specialized organized crime syndicate and an important lunar corporation. Do they expose dirty deals or maximize advantages over them? Do they play the part of kingmaker, or try to seize power and wealth for themselves? No matter their choices, they gain new enemies and allies before things are through.

This mini-campaign is suitable for 4 to 6 moderately experienced Player Characters of a variety of archetypes. It includes new locations to visit, new NPCs, new computer systems to hack, and multiple ways for the PCs to make their own Power Play.

Instant Adversaries - Now Available on the New Genesys Foundry

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Tonight at Gen Con, Fantasy Fight Games announced Genesys Foundry, a new community content program for the Genesys RPG available on DriveThruRPG.com. Genesys Foundry features products, adventures, settings, and more for use with Genesys itself, as well as the campaign settings of Android Shadow of the Beanstalk (sci-fi), and Realms of Terrinoth (fantasy). Products are distributed in PDF format.

Instant Adversaries is my first Genesys Foundry product, and I'm happy to have been asked to participate in the initial offerings. It's an accessory that helps game masters quickly create customized adversaries at the table, with minimal effort, by picking a few key items off the page, and customizing where needed. There are similar options for creating all kinds of vehicles.

This product isn't meant to replace or generate primary NPCs for a campaign, but to give the GM a tool to quickly create NPCs needed unexpectedly. I often try to use and modify pregenerated NPCs from books or adventurs on the fly, but I always seem to need to tweak a characteristic, add a skill, or swap equipment. I inevitably forget the exact changes sometime during the encounter. Instant Adversaries allows me to create what I need, and provides a handy reference throughout the encounter. Here's the back cover copy, which explains in a bit more detail:

Create basic adversaries right when you need them. Instant Adversaries provides a quick and easy way to generate stats for NPCs and vehicles on the fly.

  • Pick the prime characteristic for the NPC.

  • Choose from a list of stats built around that characteristic, alter the list, or choose your own.

  • Select a list of skills for general character types, or customize as needed.

  • Pick a talent or two from a basic list.

  • Quickly generate stats for soak, wound threshold, strain threshold, and defense.

  • Create minions, rivals, and/or nemesis NPCs.

Generate basic vehicle and weapons stats.

  • Pick a vehicle type: ground, air, water, space or exotic.

  • Chose a specific civilian or military vehicle from the list. Alter specific stats as needed.

  • Select the attached vehicle weapons, if any.

Star Wars Wednesday - Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019

It has been a very busy couple of months, with a job change and a trio of consecutive conventions consuming my time. I hope to catch up here over the next few weeks. I’ll be working in reverse order, with this week covering the just completed Star Wars Celebration Chicago, next week discussing Gamer Nation Con 6, and finally Planet Comicon 2019. So, on with Celebration…

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Star Wars Wednesday - Gen Con 2016

Star Wars Wednesday - Gen Con 2016

Last week brought another successful Gen Con, with around 60,000 gamers packing the convention center and surrounding hotels in downtown Indianapolis. The dealer hall expanded yet again, and the show extended all the way into Lucas Oil Stadium. Despite some early concerns, I got through without straining an Achilles tendon, though I did cut down on the walking some. Fantasy Flight Games that several major Star Wars boardgame and card game announcements. My product Age of Rebellion Forged in Battle was released at the show, and should be available in stores soon if not already.

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Star Wars Wednesday - Games and More Games

Good news for my non-baseball and/or non-Royals loving twitter followers: my feed should be a dominated by a lot less baseball for awhile. It's been a great postseason and an exhausting few days between the end of the series and yesterday's epic victory parade, for which I had a front row seat. Fortunately, there has been a sudden surge of Star Wars tabletop games news the past few days. First up is the just-announced Star Wars Force and Destiny Nexus of Power sourcebook, of which I'm one of the writers. 
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Star Wars Wednesday - Celebration Anaheim 2015, Part 1

Star Wars Celebration Anaheim was fantastic. It certainly had a seemingly never-ending stream of announcements and news, starting off with a bang with the new Star Wars Episode VII trailer. It's as big or a bigger hit around the world as it was at the show. But, Celebration had far more than that. For starters, it sold out 4 day tickets, Saturday, and Sunday tickets. 
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SW Celebration Anaheim - Star Wars with Fantasy Flight Games Panel

I'm very excited that I get to be part of Fantasy Flight Games seminar/panel, suitably named Star Wars with Fantasy Flight Games. It will be on Friday, at 1:30 at the Fan Stage. Fellow panelists will be Steve Horvath (FFG SVP of Marketing and Communications), Steve Kimball (FFG Board Game Manager), and artist Jake Murray.

Here is the event link in the Celebration Show Planner.