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Adventures of the Starkiller

Star Wars has been a part of my gaming experience for a long time. I was born in the middle of the original trilogy releases, and it has certainly had an impact in my life.
Whether through lightsaber battles as a kid, my introduction into role-playing, or my large amount of digital games, Star Wars has always been incorporated in my life in some way.  Some of my earliest
memories of imaginary play were of Jedi and Stormtroopers. Sure, Pirates, Knights and He-Man may have all been in heavy rotation, but Star Wars was certainly up there. Just picture a young jedi, brown towel slung over his head as a robe, card board tube swung around to self-made sound effects, slashing off the arms of invisible stormtroopers. All kids dismember their imaginary friends right? Or slightly later, with the official Kenner “the Force” lightsaber, hollow green plastic tube and black handle whistling through the air as I charged through the house. It didn’t sound like a real lightsaber, but it was a prized possession that got ample playtime. That is, until either my parents decided it was too dangerous or I’d made one too many dents in that green tube. I can’t be sure, but it’s possible this artifact of a Star Wars toy even impacted my favorite color… green. Yoda may have had something to do with it, too.

Readers may get the impression from previous posts that I’m more a fantasy fan than a Star Wars nerd. It might even be true,but it may come as a surprise that Star Wars was my very first foray into traditional tabletop RPGs, with none other than Bugsy himself at the helm of the game. I’d been exposed to the concept of RPG before (Eye of the Beholder on PC was a major deal in my household) but never to a TTRPG itself. My dad had tried to garner interest by explaining what these games were, but I just didn’t get it. By the time we played, I had long forgotten my days as a young Jedi Padawan, and this adventure rekindled that long-dimmed magic. It began with character sheets in science class and ended with rolling dice in my best friend’s house. We may have only played a few sessions, but I wanted more. Unfortunately, I didn’t have another opportunity until after high school, when I was lucky enough to find a club with an existing Star Wars game that would let me in. I ended up playing a lot of D&D and trying other games, but I was almost always playing or running something related to Star Wars.

My love affair with Star Wars didn’t end with tabletop, either. I’ve spent long hours alone and with friends playing many Star Wars video games, something else that started in my younger days. A friend (yet again, it was Bugsy) introduced me to Star Wars: TIE Fighter, not long after it came out. My first flight did not end well, with me turning on my own Star Destroyer. Over the years, I've flown Jedi starfighters, lost a pod race or two, re-enacted battle scenes with friends while throwing out movie quotes, and followed new Star Wars stories set in the Old Republic. I skipped a few gaming systems, but one of my recent purchases was the most recent Battefront game. My control and reflexes feel frustratingly sluggish, and maybe I’m getting too old for such fast-paced games. I’ll be sticking around for the story, though.

For me, May the 4th isn’t so much a holiday as it is a reminder to enjoy the universe with our friends, even if it’s just through an exchange of salutations. A time to celebrate Life Day… even if it isn’t actually Life Day. A time to purchase and consume all sorts of Star Wars media - at least it’s all on sale! Some time soon, I hope you can find your own venture into the Star Wars story. Maybe even run your own TTRPG session online. If you haven’t had a chance, go read Bugsy’s post on the Star Wars Radio Plays and even give them a listen. I know I plan to.

May the 4th be with you.

-A

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