Poll: Heavily Non-Canon Star Wars

[Faolyn]

A friend of mine and I were thinking about co-running an AU wherein Qui-Gon decided to go to one of the larger repair places, the ones who would take their money (or at least would point them to a money-changer). We never actually got anywhere close to being able to run the game, but we had a fun time figuring out the ripple effects from that change of events. It would still be Evil Empire vs. Freedom Fighters plus Jedi, but without the most iconic characters and moments in history.

So yeah. I personally would have no problem in SW game that was even vastly non-canon.

 

[John Dallman]

Voted no. Not interested in any Star Wars game at all.

 

[TwoSix]

But in Legend of the Sword, Uther Pendragon kills Mordred at the beginning of the movie. Pretty radical departure, right? We haven't even gotten started. Uther's brother Vortigern stages a coup and becomes king while a young Arthur flees to London. You remember this part of the Arthurian legend, right? The part where Arthur lives with a bunch of prostitutes and becomes a crime boss in London?

I'll be honest, I haven't seen that movie, but that description makes me want to watch it.

I think this thread will pull out a pretty basic division between aesthetic preferences; some people prefer the familiar, others enjoy radical reinvention and deconstructions. Additionally, everyone has their own preconceptions as to what aspects of a property are necessary for that property to maintain its definition.

 

[RenleyRenfield]

Depends.

I like the original Trilogy (minus Ewoks).

Here is an Star Wars RPG PBTA hack (free link) which allows you to run Star Wars your way, using just the core concepts. And I think this makes the most sense.

Let people pick and choose the lore/canon they want.

 

[Blue Orange]

Not a huge Star Wars guy, but it sounds like a neat idea!

 

[MGibster]

I think this thread will pull out a pretty basic division between aesthetic preferences; some people prefer the familiar, others enjoy radical reinvention and deconstructions. Additionally, everyone has their own preconceptions as to what aspects of a property are necessary for that property to maintain its definition.

I'm certainly not here to yuck anyone's yum. If someone wants to run a Star Wars game where the Emperor turns from a heel to a face and is training a cadre of good force users to take down Vader and Luke's evil Empire, well, more power to 'em. It's just not for me.

 

[TwoSix]

I'm certainly not here to yuck anyone's yum. If someone wants to run a Star Wars game where the Emperor turns from a heel to a face and is training a cadre of good force users to take down Vader and Luke's evil Empire, well, more power to 'em. It's just not for me.

I'm definitely not judging. People like what they like. I just find the psychology of why people like what they like interesting to analyze. Star Wars just causes such polarizing reactions that it always makes a fascinating test case; The Acolyte is just the most recent example.

 

[Reynard]

Voted no. Not interested in any Star Wars game at all.

Probably should have abstained then.

 

[schneeland]

One thing in my gaming bucket list is to run a Star Wars campaign under the premise that only ANH is canon and everything else is up for grabs. I would do it with some game system that encouraged everyone at the table to fill in the blanks and invent elements of the setting, not just the GM.

What exactly were the Clone Wars? Did Vader kill Luke's father? Why? Is the Force just a hokey old religion?

I'm not unconditionally open to a non-canon Star Wars game, but this would be fine for me. I feel this could actually be quite interesting with the right group.
The other main option would be to start after the original trilogy and than just extrapolate from there without major concern for both the official timeline and the old expanded universe. But I feel that's probably closer to a canon game that not.

 

[TheHand]

I would certainly try a non-canon game if a friend were running it, but my preference would be to leave the original trilogy and prequel era all alone, as shown on film. But anything else would be totally open season.

What I’ve usually done, when I want to make things familiar but different, is set my game in the Old Republic era where you can pretty much do anything without stepping on too many “canon toes.”