[Star Wars] Favourite era(s) of play?

[Kiero]

This is a setting question for those who like to play, and indeed play Star Wars games. Often one of the important decisions that has to be made in playing a game is just when (if at all) the game takes place in the official timeline.

Once upon a time that wasn't really a question to ask; it was Rebellion-era or nothing. Now with the plethora of Expanded Universe material out there in the form of books, comics, games and RPG material as well, there are more options.

I can't post a poll, but what I can do is use the definitions from Wookiepedia on Eras to help identify when people are playing.

So if you're responding, could you identify which of the following is your preferred era, and why:

• Old Republic era (25,000–1,000 BBY) - which includes the Knights of the Old Republic games and comics (old and new), and the Darth Bane stuff as well. Major events include the Great Hyperspace War, the Sith War, Mandalorian War and Jedi Civil War.
• Rise of the Empire era (1,000–0 BBY) - This is the prequels era, also covering The Dark Times between the trilogies (key delineating event here is the Great Jedi Purge).
• Rebellion era (0–5 ABY) - the classic timeframe of the original trilogy.
• New Republic era (5–25 ABY) - period of the first batch of novels, with the characters from the OT helping to form the New Republic that supplants the Empire, and Luke going about restoring the Jedi Order.
• New Jedi Order era (25–40 ABY) - Later post-Rebellion stuff with the children of the main characters and the controversial Yuzuan Vong.
• Legacy era (40 ABY-) - Future of the setting after the Vong war.
• Infinities - which for the purpose of this survey means anything outside of the official timeline. If you've gone alt-history, it's Infinities. If you're long before the Old Republic or thousands of years after the Rebellion, it's Infinities.

So your preferred one(s) and why, what you're actually playing and how you generally feel about all that choice.

[Talya]

Old Republic offers the most opportunity and flexibility. Jedi abound, as do Sith. You don't need convoluted explanations as to how you survived the jedi purge, there are more opportunities for lightsaber combat, etc.

I just don't like the New Jedi Order setting, although it allows similar. The Vuzong Vong are stupid. I don't want to read all the books to keep up with them, I lost track a long time ago (stopped reading right around the time Greedo shot first.)

[Anxe]

The one campaign I designed took place in the New Republic. The reason was only because of all the new technologies that come out then. The campaign could've taken place at any time except during the Empire as the players were being hired by the Republic to take out some Sith. My players unfortunately hate the idea of playing in a Star Wars galaxy where they don't have fireballs.

[Overlard]

Rebellion era. That's real Star Wars to me.

A friend of mine tried running an old republic game, but it just felt like generic sci-fi with lightsabres.

[EntilZha]

Old Republic offers the most opportunity and flexibility. Jedi abound, as do Sith. You don't need convoluted explanations as to how you survived the jedi purge, there are more opportunities for lightsaber combat, etc.

I just don't like the New Jedi Order setting, although it allows similar. The Vuzong Vong are stupid. I don't want to read all the books to keep up with them, I lost track a long time ago (stopped reading right around the time Greedo shot first.)

I agree with you about NJO. The Yuuzhan Vong were stupid. Not only is the name stupid, but an enemy race that can't be sensed or affected by the Force? To quote Tom Servo from MST3K, "Welcome to Plot Convenience Playhouse."

Oh, to stay on topic, I prefer the Rebellion era.

[Attilargh]

Rebellion Era, no contest. It feels much more down-to-earth (Tatooine?) than the Rise of the Empire era, with not everything being all clean and polished. It's got Vader, the Emperor, Jabba, Fett, legions of Stormtroopers, all the cool guys. Most importantly, it just says "Star Wars" in a way no other era has been able to replicate.

[Amiria]

Rise of the Empire or Old Republic. Lots of classical Jedi and a good balance of prgenerated material and room for GM freedom. If I were to GM a campaign I would probably start it some years before the Clone Wars, maybe in the time of The Phantom Menace.

[SpikeFightwicky]

I agree with you about NJO. The Yuuzhan Vong were stupid. Not only is the name stupid, but an enemy race that can't be sensed or affected by the Force? To quote Tom Servo from MST3K, "Welcome to Plot Convenience Playhouse."

Oh, to stay on topic, I prefer the Rebellion era.

Yeah, I mean, it's not like the Ysalamiri were ever used by the enemy

I like the New Republic era. Lots of opportunity for fledgling jedi and some of the best space combat in Star Wars.

Second fav. would be old republic.

Overall list:
1 - New Republic
2 - Old Republic
3 - Rebellion
4 - Rise of the Empire
5 - NJO
6 - Legacy
7 - Infinities

I'd put NJO era higher on the list, but I'm the only one in my group who's read all the books (hit or miss depending on the author - Stackpole and Aliston FTW) ,and there's ALOT going on at the era, so the other players wouldn't find it as enjoyable (and it's the only novelized timeline where one of the authors received multiple deat threats from extremist fanboys in response to his book).

[Galvanic]

Hmmm...picking one Era is tough for me.

I really like the Old Republic era since there is lots of sith and jedi goodness for everyone.

Though if I were to run a game it would probably be in the Rebellion Era since it has a built in bad guys and is a setting everyone is familiar with, even new players who have only ever seen the movies. It's a good setting for players who have goals that their characters want to acheive. And there is a lot of room for games to fit in around the cannon story elements of the movies.

I'm really intrigued to see what the "force unleashed" setting will be like for the new Saga edition of the game. That time between episodes 3 and 4 is wide open for new stuff but still has the built in bad guys and still has the potential for jedi who survived the purge.

[lukelightning]

I like the rebellion era the best. I was running a game set in a "derailed" rebellion era...it was right after the Battle of Yavin, and actions the PCs were taking would determine whether or not the Empire would find the rebel's base on Hoth. The players, in the middle of an adventure, encountered a probe droid and shot it up, without any idea why it was there. This lead the Empire to conclude that the rebel base was on that planet and not Hoth....which would lead to the rebels never going to Cloud City and getting captured by Vader, etc.

The game ended before things could unfold much, but I was planning on having Luke turn dark and join Vader and destroy the Emperor, while the PCs became the heroes.

[TheThan]

I’m a big fan of the rebellion era because it’s classic starwars. The other eras are ok, but I was disappointed with the rise of the empire era.

Now about the Ysalamiri, you have to first off learn about them. Then you have to learn where they are found and how to safely remove them. Then you need to construct special backpacks and perches so they can survive once you pluck them from their favorite tree. So they’re a lot more elaborate and complicated than the Yuuzhan Vong’s force immunity, which to me seems like a cheep cop out. Instead of creating villains that were skilled enough and smart enough to take on Jedi, they created a bad guy that gave writers an easy way of fighting Jedi.

[ZeroNumerous]

Definitely an Old Republic fan (Specifically the Great Hyperspace War or the Mandalorian Wars). Theres plenty of stuff already existing if you don't want to make things yourself, but theres also quite alot of freedom for GMs who prefer to make their own planets/adventures.

It's particularly fun for Jedi because the Sith are always a relevant threat. The only problem I've ever been faced with is the distinct lack of usable abilities for non-Jedi when facing off against Sith.

[RamrodTheWizard]

If i ever was to game in the universe i would definetly choose either old republic or rise of the empire because it lends itself to a wider variety of options and ideas. The Rebellion era, or just the imperial era are constantly just struggles against the empire, and humans are the only dominant race.

[TheThan]

If i ever was to game in the universe i would definetly choose either old republic or rise of the empire because it lends itself to a wider variety of options and ideas. The Rebellion era, or just the imperial era are constantly just struggles against the empire, and humans are the only dominant race.

Unless you adventure in the outer rim, there you'll find smugglers, pirates, mercenary groups, slavers, hutts, all sorts of things to fight. Non-humans are also heavily dominant out in the rim as well.

[Stareyes]

The one Star Wars game I played was kind of a Legacy/Infinities hybrid -- it was set long enough after the NJO that most of the movie-age was retired or dead, but then I didn't have to justify many advances in technology from that in the EU. Thankfully, my co-GM (aka the player with an insane knowledge of the Star Wars universe and a devious mind) could keep the canon straight while I played with the story I wanted to tell. (Basically, a crime lord got a hold of some Sith teachings and some old Imperial brainwashing techniques and was trying to both destabilize things by setting up the Jedi versus some of the other Force traditions and create his own army of (dark) Force users.)

[SpikeFightwicky]

I’m a big fan of the rebellion era because it’s classic starwars. The other eras are ok, but I was disappointed with the rise of the empire era.

Now about the Ysalamiri, you have to first off learn about them. Then you have to learn where they are found and how to safely remove them. Then you need to construct special backpacks and perches so they can survive once you pluck them from their favorite tree. So they’re a lot more elaborate and complicated than the Yuuzhan Vong’s force immunity, which to me seems like a cheep cop out. Instead of creating villains that were skilled enough and smart enough to take on Jedi, they created a bad guy that gave writers an easy way of fighting Jedi.

I completely agree that the Vong were very much a sort of Deus Ex Machina to give the writers a 'threat' to a Jedi 1-on-1 (though in Saga edition, stuff like force lightning is 100% effective against them, unlike in the books where they were resistant to it, so at least it's something). That and they had tons of Ysalamiri but never knew of their 'anti-force bubble' so they never used them. Ever since the Rogue/Wraith squadron books, I've been more of a space combat fan than jedi fan.

[lukelightning]

Instead of creating villains that were skilled enough and smart enough to take on Jedi, they created a bad guy that gave writers an easy way of fighting Jedi.

Just like DM's using anti-magic fields in D&D.

[ALOR]

well it depends on what type of campaign we are running
if it's a jedi game then old republic hands down.
if it's a smuggler, bounty hunter or military campaign then the rebellion era is perfect. sadly i can't get my group to play anything but jedi's so when we do play it's in the old republic. I did run one game right after episode 3 where they played surviving jedi being hunted, that was fun.

[Dark Knight Renee]

My two favorites to play in are Late Rise of the Empire era through Rebellion era (18 BBY to 4 ABY, basically everything Empire pre-Endor; if I had to pick from the list, it'd be Rebellion era), and Infinities.

My prefrence for the Empire era is mainly, I suspect, because I grew up with that theme, and that's what I feel Star Wars is: Small groups of rebels vs. the Evil Galactic Empire. I've only recently began to include the part of the timeline closer to RotS in this catagory, but it does count.

Most often, I play Infinities, usually post-New Republic. Almost inevitably, there will be Dark Jedi/Sith, Jedi will be limited in number but available as PCs, and there will be an Evil Empire, usually THE Empire. It's more flexible than standard Empire era, because Yoda, Obi-Wan and Luke aren't the only/almost only Jedi, and I don't have to deal with Palpy and Vader unless I feel like it.

My main game is an Infinities game, currently set waaaaay in the future with some really, really wacky multiverse/crossover stuff having worked it's way in. Originally, it was a 24 ABY game which took latest point of the timeline established at the time and went from there. This was at least a decade ago, so the NJO didn't exist at the time, and neither did Vision of the The Hand of Thrawn Duology, or Episode I.



I'm not really familiar with the Old Republic era, because most of the useful source material is in comics rather than novels, and for whatever reason I never started collecting them. Otherwise, I'm sure I'd probably like it a lot. As it is, I've never used it.

As for the NJO... Lets just say that if my game takes place in 25+ ABY, it is an Infinities game by definition, because the Vong don't exist. What I've heard of the post-NJO eras doesn't strike my fancy, either.

[Kiero]

A lot of love for the Rebellion era, but that's to be expected, I guess.

[Damionte]

Old republic and new republic eras. That may more people can be jedi without the spanish inquisition.

[Taurus]

Old Republic era. As has been pointed out, there's an incredible amount of flexibility, and plenty of material to use in case you're stumped, or want something that's already around. Lots of Sith, and lots of Jedi. That's generally what people want, and that's what you get. There's also Mandalorians. That's just awesome.

I run into ZeroNumerous' problem as well. It just sucks to fight other force-users when you're not one. Especially those silly Sith and refusing to hold back the big guns 'cause they're not afraid of a another Dark Side Point.

[SydneyLosstarot]

The Old Republic Era, around the end of Mandalorian Wars and also around the rise of Malak's empire.


It just has a whole lot of amazing things such as mandalorians, Sith academy, Sith special forces(ahoy Atton), the Star Forge and old design astrodroids =)

[Breaon]

Either Old Republic, or a pre-Old Republic variant, where the Sith are just one aspect of the Force practitioners; the yang to the Jedi yin. (yes, homebrew stuff, but I like how it works, and sets up some GREAT character conflict, which can lead to the split/expulsion/whatever you want to use to explain Old Republic setup.)

[Swordguy]

Old Republic or Rise of the Empire, followed distantly by the movie-era stuff. The post-movie expanded universe (and a lot of the pre-movie stuff that's just silly, for that matter), as far as I'm concerned, doesn't exist.

Crystal-powered lightsabres. Utter BS.

Bah.

[dr.cello]

Rebellion Era is my favorite, followed closely by Rise of the Empire just before the Rebellion, and New Republic shortly after the Rebellion. I have a strong aversion to Jedi unless they are done very well. I'll play with them but I'm opposed to DMing them.

I prefer to play as criminals and smugglers, or, occasionally, law enforcement/intelligence officials. This style of play works well in the Rebellion era; you have ubiquitous Imperials to serve as your enemies, and as a law enforcer you have Imperial law to uphold, but usually enough trouble from the Rebels that it's becoming problematic. The pre-Rebellion Rise of the Empire era has a similar feel, with less rebels and more hopelessness.

Early New Republic, I like because you have the potential for a proper full-scale war. You also have a sudden outbreak of warlords and pirates who style themselves as warlords, depending on when, exactly, you do it. Thrawn makes for a wonderful campaign setting, and campaigns like hunting down Zsinj is a fun one. (Also, playing as the Imperials can be quite enjoyable, whatever the era.)

I might eventually do some campaigns set after Thrawn. If the Empire is definitely losing at that point, the players would probably have to be Imperials. Possibly even working for Ysanne Isard or something...

Usually when I DM a Star Wars campaign, I incorporate elements from previous campaigns I've either played or run. Primarily I take characters (PCs, especially) and some organizations. There's nothing more fun than taking my lovingly crafted characters and using them as villains for the next PCs to play with (or allies, if they play their cards right)--it usually guarantees a fun fight and a good character, to boot. It usually requires some manipulating the timeline, of course. Unfortunately, my campaigns have been unlucky, and events beyond my control have ended all of them. So there are no legendary, heroic characters to serve as villains... yet.

I don't consider it alt-history, but the PCs will, in the event they stumble across its events, have the chance to affect the timeline. It'd feel cheap if the movies dictated a 'things must go this way' thing, but it makes sense if 'things will go this way if nobody interferes.'

[Talya]

Old Republic or Rise of the Empire, followed distantly by the movie-era stuff. The post-movie expanded universe (and a lot of the pre-movie stuff that's just silly, for that matter), as far as I'm concerned, doesn't exist.

Crystal-powered lightsabres. Utter BS.

Bah.

Crystal-focused lightsabers have been canonical since 1977.

Post-movie EU is hit and miss. Some of it was really good, much was decent, a lot was utter crap. (That's inevitable when you release 3 billion books by various authors.) To make it worse, the "prequel trilogy" conflicted with some of the best of the EU books. The Prequel Trilogy, while having some great moments, was some of the worst star wars crap ever foisted upon the fans, so it's with great reluctance that I accept midichlorians, order 66 and jango fett as canon over Grand Admiral Thrawn, but hey, what can you do.

Best star wars storyline ever made, beyond the OT, was made in a videogame by Bioware, set 4000 years prior to the OT. it's also official canon in the SW universe (With the condition that Revan was male, did not return to the darkside, and Bastilla was redeemed.)

[Truthseeker]

I'm currently running a Rebellion-era game, still plugging along with WEG's old rules. My players could theoretically foul up the natural course of film events, and I'm almost hoping that they do. Right now they're off in the boondocks where it's not likely to happen, though.

Why the Rebellion era? We have found that Jedi (and Sith) are like ninja, only on a galactic scale. In the same way that many ninja are a walkover and a single ninja is a crisis, Jedi are useless (and boring) when they're everywhere. Once you're down to a handful in all the galaxy, they're glorious. Well, with EU proclivities it's looking more like a double-handful or a full score even now, but that's another issue.

[Talya]

Why the Rebellion era? We have found that Jedi (and Sith) are like ninja, only on a galactic scale. In the same way that many ninja are a walkover and a single ninja is a crisis, Jedi are useless (and boring) when they're everywhere. Once you're down to a handful in all the galaxy, they're glorious. Well, with EU proclivities it's looking more like a double-handful or a full score even now, but that's another issue.

Jedi have never been numerous. At the height of the republic, there were never more than a couple hundred, and most of those were younglings and padawan learners. Now, consider that the galaxy has tens of millions of inhabited planets, each with millions or even billions of people on it. Even then, about one in a hundred trillion people had ever even seen a jedi, one in a million might even have been on a planet with a jedi on it at the same time...if that.

[Attilargh]

Jedi have never been numerous. At the height of the republic, there were never more than a couple hundred, and most of those were younglings and padawan learners.

Couple of thousand, as pointed out by Obi-Wan Kenobi during the First Battle of Jabiim. Were they counted only in the hundreds, there would not be room for any new Jedi by now.