Edge Review:

Star Wars:

Endgame

Reviewed by Rob Vaux


  • by Timothy O'Brien, George Strayton, and Eric S. Trautmann
  • Published by West End Games
  • 128 pages
  • $18.00

The Darkstryder Campaign was established about eighteen months ago as an alternative to typical Star Wars campaigns. Set five years after the Battle of Endor, it sent a group of ready-to-play characters out into unknown space, with orders to hunt down a renegade Imperial Moff and the strange technology he carried. Pressed into a cramped frigate and cut off from regular contact with the Alliance, the characters would have to rely on themselves alone to succeed in their mission.

Darkstryder suffered from some limp adventures and flaccid writing, but had some huge advantages going for it. Firstly, it allowed the characters to come out of Han Solo's shadow - to establish some legitimate heroics in the Star Wars universe without playing second fiddle to the movie characters. Second, it established a character system that permitted such dramatic developments as inter-player betrayal and self-sacrificed without unnecessarily excluding anyone.

And while the adventures themselves may have been flat at times, the overall themes and tensions of the campaign were quite extraordinary. Now comes Endgame, the fourth product in the Darkstryder line and the conclusion of the campaign. As such, it is more or less useless without the previous adventures, and "regular" Star Wars players will find it quite frustrating.

It details the final confrontation of the Darkstryder characters with their adversary, Moff Sarne, over the remains of a dead planet on the far side of an enigmatic rift in space. Details of the planet and its history are provided, as well as a run-down of its surviving species, the Imperial forces stationed upon it, and the sinister alien being which has been providing Sarne with his strange technology.

Suggestions for future scenarios on the planet are included, and the final chapter contains sketches and project note for the campaign's principal designers.

As the capper of an eighteen month campaign, Endgame comes across as a bit of a disappointment. Hints had been dropped during the previous three supplements of the ancient mysteries Sarne has been hiding, and the shocking surprises he had in store for the characters.

The payoff, unfortunately, consists of some standard battle sequences, some Gigeresque alien slime, and a liberal dash of TSR's old Star Frontiers game (anyone remember the Villains of Volturnus modules?)

The problem, I think, lies in the fact that the designers have allowed a great deal of leeway in the progression of their story. Character development and the exact situation the players are in when they begin the module could vary from group to group. With that constraint around them, the writers are reduced to merely pointing out the villain's intentions and providing GMs with enough plot twists to bring the story to a close.

That being said, however, there is nothing to keep Endgame from being a perfectly satisfying conclusion to a Darkstryder campaign. The themes and conflicts are a bit old hat, but are certainly well-thought out, and presented in a engaging format. There are enough story hooks to give motivated GMs plenty of ideas to end their particular campaigns, and several alternate scenarios are provided which allow players to exercise a certain amount of control over how they confront the challenges.

The design notes at the end are very interesting as well, giving role-players some uncommon insight into the process of developing a role-playing line. Finally, a fair number of story hooks are sprinkled liberally about, allowing the campaign to continue into new and different directions.

Endgame is not a great product, and certainly comes as a bit of a let-down after the potential of the first Darkstryder books. But it is competently executed, and provides enough information to both bring the campaign to a satisfying close, and to branch it out if players so choose. And in the end, that's all it really needs to do.

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