I have been looking for a simple, yet well-designed science-fiction role playing game for many years – one that supports a story-telling style of play and isn’t too heavy on rules. I have looked at a number – Traveller (in all its incarnations), FFG’s Star Wars, Elite Dangerous RPG, Alternity, Firefly RPG, The Expanse RPG, and many, many others. None quite grabbed me enough to get me to invest in them. They all had their merits and I am sure thousands of people enjoy them enormously, but… well… it’s not them, it’s me.

I was having this conversation with my mate Andrew when he suggested I look at the West End Games D6 Star Wars rules. I was a little doubtful at first because they are so old (they came out in the mid 1980s and have been revised and redesigned several times since then). But I started to read the core rulebook and was staggered at how simple and yet playable the rules are. I was sold, these were perfect for how I wanted to play – quick, simple game mechanics without the need to invest in ‘specialist’ dice sets (my pet hate) and a strong focus on story-telling. And it’s in a wide universe with a rich story line that we can completely choose to ignore if we want (or we can pitch in and eradicate those pesky Rebels once and for all).

The funny thing is, I have had these rules on my bookshelf since the mid 1980s and never played them.

And so it began…

While I was just looking for a system to pour some “world-creation” time into, Andrew was keen to play a game and soon roped our friend Greg into it also. I figured that the world-creation can come as a result of the game play and would be a lot of fun at the same time. So, yep, it’s game time.

We decided between us that the players would dwell on the fringes of the Galactic Civil War without actually taking sides. At least, not yet. Who knows where the story will take us. We thrashed out a basic premise that the crew would be ‘scrappers’ – salvage operators who pick over the carcasses of wrecked starships or even blasted cities. They need to be licensed of course (since without one, they are just looters) and licenses are expensive.

A lot of discussion was had around the type of ship they would have. It needed to reflect the nature of their job and really shout ‘scrap’ to anyone unlucky enough to be stuck behind it in the space-lanes. After much hunting around, we settled on a Wayfarer-class light freighter. This is essentially a cargo container with an engine and cockpit strapped on. The ship was christened “Didn’t See That Coming” as a homage to Iain M Banks.

We also decided they would have an astromech droid (R2-C8 – known as “Cate”). Greg and Andrew also considered the need for a protocol droid to handle the bureaucratic waffle that comes with Imperial contracts). As game master, I have ruled that this second droid will enter the story during game play.

I invited a friend and colleague, Matt, to join us. Matt is an experienced RPGer and Star Wars fan and said “yes” without hesitation.

So we booked an online session for one Sunday night (Greg and Andrew are in Melbourne, Matt and I are in Adelaide). The day before the session, Andrew asked if another player, his friend Simon, could join. I was keen to include him (and should have asked him if he was interested much earlier). So there were four on board now, but Simon needed to create a character pretty quickly. He suggested either a Medical Officer or an Imperial Scout (deserted?), either of which would have been fine. He’s playing a combination of the two. There was no time to define his character stats so we just winged it on the night.

So it’s pure 1st Edition West End Games Star Wars RPG. If we find things a bit confusing or limited, we’ll add in selected rules upgrades from the Rules Companion and possibly from 2nd Edition.

We’re using MS Teams as the meeting software and chatting in between sessions on Google Hangouts (I have no idea how to use Roll20).

The Team:
The team is the crew of a ‘scrapper’ (a salvage ship), who make a living picking over the wreckage and detritus that the Galactic Civil War leaves in its wake. Working on contracts through a scrap agent called Melajic, they are always on the lookout for the ‘big one’ – a wreck that will set them up for life.

Soontir (Andrew) A blue-skinned Pantoran mechanic. Soontir rebuilt their ship (a heavily modified Wayfarer-class light freighter) from various parts. The cargo module has been converted into a workshop and storage space and is crammed floor-to-ceiling with various ship parts and scrap metal. This is Soontir’s domain and he knows where everything is. Soontir left his Mechanical Engineering studies several years ago under a cloud and has never returned to his home system.
Quote: “I can’t fix it, but I can replace it.”

Jon (Greg) Jon is a pilot and a good one at that. He flew for a large salvage company for many years until the owner was killed by his rivals and the company folded. Jon joined the crew of the Didn’t See That Coming after the previous pilot left. He’s been a part of the crew for numerous years.
Quote: “”

Jow Tharr (Matt) A young Wookiee kidnapped and sold into slavery by a Trandoshan named Bossk. While being transported to the spice mines of Kessel, the slave-ship was attacked by pirates and left drifting in space, holed and without power. Being still small enough to fit inside a human vac-suit, Jow survived long enough to be rescued by the crew of the Didn’t See That Coming.
Quote: “Hnnn rrraarrrgh” (translates to “are you going to eat that?” – Sorry Matt, give me a real quote to use)

Simon’s character is still to be defined.