My brother and I have worked on this for the past four years now, but we’re at an uncomfortable crossroads: we’re dog-tired. We don’t have enough people to effectively play-test this thing.
But most importantly is this - we’ve developed an extremely acute idea of our vision for this project, our interpretation of this franchise in Burning form…and while it’s evocative to us, we too tired to know if it’ll be fun for anybody.
So I want to show you guys the first twenty pages of this document to peruse, and the only question I have right now is this:
Who would be interested in play-testing the full ruleset? In running a Star Wars Burning Wheel game?
This is absolutely something that interests me and there seems to be some really cool stuff in here. I’ll look it over more thoroughly when I get a chance.
Yes! There was another one published a while back as a website, but has since been taken down. It dual-rooted force skills in a cool way, and had new skills, gear, etc.
I have a larger document that’s getting tidied up. It includes its own Character Burner, Skill and Trait lists, a Vehicle and Dogfight system, and a system for devising gadgets and modifications.
I looked it over and it seems to be remarkably well-made and very well presented! I’ve been looking for a good Star Wars hack, and this is great! You have to release the whole thing! It’d be a disservice not to! I would love to play-test it, given the chance.
Awesome! I will get to doing that right away. I do have one question about the hack. How do you handle using the Force? I noticed Force Lightning was a spell. Are all Force Powers mechanically spells?
That would make sense. Choking Hand seems like a direct Force Choke power, Call of Iron for Force Pull. Horror, Magesense, Persuasion all seem pretty solid, and Emperor’s Hand is definitely Force Lightning if you go by the RotJ depiction of it as a torture method rather than the video game magical burst damage.
I’m currently cleaning up the Traits list, and as soon as that is done I’ll post the full Character Burner, which will include the base rules for sorcerous skills. In this hack we found that, while lightning definitely functioned like a very specific spell, all other examples of Forceful power worked best as tests of Sorcerous Skill.
There are several skills:
Telekinesis, Telepathy, Lightsaber, and Proprioception Training. Additionally, Meditation has additional effects for those who are Attuned, and those skilled in its use will find the scope of their other skills are greatly expanded through its use.
Yes, Lightsaber is basically an open-ended weapon skill. This is why getting in a fight with a Jedi or Sith (even if you are one as well) is scary as hell…
That was something we considered early on in the design process. In fact, we hold onto the rules for Sustaining in the Sorcery section, but we use them just a little differently.
But just like you said, successfully casting Lightning in this system mechanically grants you tools for the Torture skill (which is then open-ended) for the duration of a scene.
That was mine… The problem I have is that all my files were gone because of a ransomware attack (which infected my computer right after I have taken the website down to revise it, a terrible idea), so I no longer have any of my files. Sad, really. I had put so many hours into that project.
But! This hack looks much better than mine anyway, I am really looking forward for the Character Burner. I wish I had lifepaths that I have wrote back in the day, just because maybe they’d help @SchoonerAskew in some way.
I’m sorry I never saw yours. It’s good to hear from someone who was playing with the same ideas. I’d very much appreciate any thoughts you might have on the burner once I’ve finally posted it.
I reread this part of the ruleset, and I remembered how really good the rules for Empathy and Hatred were. But I was wondering… Doesn’t Returning to the Light seem easy to you? You can tax Hatred pretty easily, and by a lot each time you do it. It doesn’t seem like it takes a concerted and repeated effort to Return to the Light. I figure once you’re down a dark path, once you’re addicted to power, it should be quite hard to snap out of it, and resist temptation.
This is a really thoughtful note. I can’t be completely sure by just rereading it - I think playtesting it would provide clarity. But you’re spot-on in how that clause should work - giving Hatred up should make even the player cringe. It might need some furnangling…
I would love to see this project completed! I often get people lament that BW to too focused on simulating medieval life. I that that impressions is mostly from the life paths. But this is a great way to show people how the mechanics are just great storytelling tools, regardless of setting.
It’s been a few months, have you made progress on a burner for your Burning Stars?
As far as I can see, players will use the standard lifepaths and say they live in a solar system unknown by the Order. Still very primitive, in that they don’t have star ships or advanced technology. The Force/Attuned just replaces magic/Gifted. Or is that what you were going for?