Monkeys Took My Jetpack #113: Star Wars – Rebel Breakout, Part 3

Podcast – Monkeys Took My Jetpack

Hey, ev’rybody! WE’RE BAAAA-AAAAAAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!

The whole hiatus was unintentional. To make up for it, these next few issues will be bare-bones, in order to get them posted to you as quickly as possible. Thanks so much for sticking around through this unexpected absence.

As promised long ago, this issue brings to a close our Star Wars: Rebel Breakout run-through, from 2018.

I have a whole lotta love for this particular version of the original Star Wars Roleplaying Game—the true _original version. Not only do I love it for the simplicity of its system, which I think got more bloated and unnecessarily complex with each edition, but also the simplicity of the setting at the time. Don’t get me wrong; I love the Star Wars of today. It’s just that as more material is produced, there are fewer and fewer gaps to fill, and mysteries to address. This isn’t unique to Star Wars; any large franchise encounters this problem sooner or later. I just love how this game takes Star Wars back to its roots, since … well … that’s all there was at the time. I bring this up because I hold this First Edition close to my heart, and I don’t feel I did it justice as a GM during these sessions, particularly this one. It’s obvious I didn’t do a thorough read-through of the rules before we started, and this led to misunderstandings of initiative rules (or the lack thereof), and how to handle certain situations involving Force Points, etc. Sorry, Josh. I should’ve had you ignore that Stun result, or given you back the Force Point. Chris, I’m pretty sure there’s something we could’ve done to regain your character’s consciousness—even if I had to make it up. “Rulings, not rules”, and all that. My goal for revisiting this blast from the past was to encourage a rediscovery of the joy this game can provide; although we had fun, I feel like the Force just wasn’t with me. Still, there’s much to enjoy here, and I hope you do just that. And maybe someday, I’ll revisit this game with my (if I may say so myself) improved skills as a GM, and give it the cinematic celebration it so richly deserves.

Enjoy!