Defining A Galaxy Shows How RPGs Influenced The Star Wars EU
Defining a Galaxy is the story of how an RPG helped expand Star Wars into the massive world it is today. Step back 30 years ago to a galaxy far, far away.
Odds are good you’ve heard about Star Wars, and since you’re reading this particular site, you probably have strong opinions one way or another about the world. It’d be hard not to at this point. With eleven movies, dozens of video games, tv shows, cartoons, and hundreds of thousands of pages of novels, comics, and more, the Star Wars Universe is big enough to encompass so much of our culture. But it wasn’t always that way. If it hadn’t been for West End Games and a team of dedicated designers and fans wanting more material for an RPG, we might not have the Star Wars we know today.
We’ve touched a little on the story before, but Defining a Galaxy, a new book by RPG Designer and Writer Bill Slaviscek tells the story of how some of the most iconic things in Star Wars have come out of three little gaming books.
via Bill Slaviscek
Defining A Galaxy – $29.95
In the late 1980s, Star Wars was becoming a fading memory. The movie trilogy had concluded. The comic books and novels were winding down. The action figures had run their course. As the franchise celebrated its tenth anniversary, there was a new ride at Disneyland and … not much else. Not until a small hobby game company released Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and The Star Wars Sourcebook. And suddenly the galaxy began to expand. This is the story of how a group of dedicated fans and gaming professionals helped pave the way for the Star Wars Expanded Universe — as told by one of the original architects! This book explains how material created for roleplaying games helped shape the Star Wars universe — and continues to influence it to the current day.
