Recently the online classic game store Wayne’s Books posted the “Mos Eisley Shoot-Out” pamphlet under its home
page’s “New Arrivals” banner. I always enjoy seeing West End
Games material on the site. Nothing tells me more about how the
gaming public views a title as the price listed at Wayne’s Books.
It’s always nice to know people still appreciate the work we did
long ago. Collector’s prices reflect a game book’s physical
condition as well as the product quality and the demand among
aficionados (and I’m sure a number of other considerations of which
I’m unaware). I was somewhat surprised, then, that the 11x17-inch,
double-sided, full-color folded brochure mini-game West End published
and gave away for free in 1997 was listed at $25.99.
Although the entry for “Mos Eisley Shoot-Out”
does not note a designer, I remember working on the brochure long
ago. I can’t recall who first came up with the idea. Perhaps I
found inspiration in some of the promotional material other game
publishers were producing at the time (though nothing comes to mind
at the moment, more than 20 years later). Maybe someone from the
sales or production staff suggested it. But it came to my desk for
implementation.
I’ve long been an advocate for encouraging
newcomers and kids to get involved in the adventure gaming hobby,
first through West End and later on my own. In late 1996 I was busy
working on the Star Wars Introductory Adventure Game, a boxed
set chock full of goodies to lure newcomers into gaming in the
universe far, far away: booklets with programmed solo and gamemaster
adventures, maps to spread out on the table, cardstock cut-out
figures, and a complete campaign (created by a longtime gaming
friend) that escalated both the action and the involvement with more
complex rules as the story progressed. The boxed set was published in
March 1997...“Mos Eisley Shoot-Out” released sometime in 1997 as
promotional giveaway. Both had the same goal: to entice Star Wars
fans to buy and play the game. “Mos Eisley Shoot-Out” served as a
quick freebie introduction to the most basic game systems, hopefully
enough to send players on to one of the more complete versions
mentioned in the sales pitch. West End hoped both would capitalize on
renewed interest in the Star Wars franchise on the 20th
anniversary of the first film’s release and the release to theaters
(and eventually DVD) of the classic trilogy’s “special edition”
with new CGI improvements.
At first “Mos Eisley Shoot-Out” seemed like an
“easy” promotional item to pull together, ideal for a company
whose management often balked at wasting time and money on freebies.
The graphic design folks took a section of Jaquays’ amazing
full-color map of Mos Eisley from the original first-edition
adventure, Tatooine Manhunt, set a square grid over it, and
pared it down to fit on the 11x17-inch flyer as the game board (the
map was also included in the boxed Mos Eisley Adventure set
published in 1997). The art guys also found original and stock art to
reduce and color for the individual character and adversary pieces.
It was a no-cost use of existing graphic assets.
I’d already consolidated the second edition Star
Wars Roleplaying Game rules for the Introductory Adventure
Game; since “Mos Eisley Shoot-Out” was intended as a more
concise product for gaming newcomers, I stripped down the company’s
classic D6 System mechanics even further. All the stats had to
fit on the tiny back panel of each character stand-up piece. I
knocked the skills back to the bare essentials: blaster, damage,
dodge, perception, strength, and speed. I somehow managed
to explain how all game mechanics worked – including damage and
range charts – so it all fit onto the “back” of the folded
brochure, at 5.5 x 8.5 inches essentially half a piece of
letter-sized paper. Each piece could take two actions each turn:
move, dodge, or shoot, an extremely simplified form of the original
game’s innovative multiple actions rules. A full letter-sized page
contained five different scenarios played out on the space defined by
the board map. The back of the map surface – useless during play –
served to feature information on the roleplaying game, including hype
for the recently released Introductory Adventure Game and
full-color, second edition, revised and expanded edition. I recall
making sure whatever text was on the other side of the cut-out
stand-up figures wasn’t vital (the “Did You Know?” blurb with
bits about the Star Wars roleplaying game).
I don’t recall when or where exactly the
promotional mini-game was distributed. If it was in the turbulent
first six months of 1998 it might have been lost in the flurry of
desperate activity. I’ve heard it released at San Diego ComicCon
and through Shadis Magazine, though confirming that and the
supposed dates of release seems impossible, even given the wide reach
and seemingly infinite information available on the interwebzes. The
piece has a 1997 copyright date on it, but I don’t recall exactly
when it released. It would have been after the March release of the
Introductory Adventure Game. Was it in time for ComicCon 1997
or was it completed later that year for distribution throughout the
tense first months of 1998 as West End spiraled out of control toward
bankruptcy?
West End Games' offices, north of Honesdale, PA, circa 1993. |
The Star Wars Roleplaying Game was always
considered one of the more accessible games for fans to break into
the adventure gaming hobby...it still maintains that reputation even
today. Other staffers attempted to engage newcomers with our games in
different ways. George Strayton was instrumental in further
distilling the D6 System into a more basic format in the
Hercules & Xena Roleplaying Game; I also worked to adapt
the introductory adventure game format to the Men in Black
license. I don’t recall if we tried producing promotional mini-game
flyers like “Mos Eisley Shoot-Out” for other licenses. Non-Star
Wars efforts met with little success though the staff was proud
of its work on the final publications. Nothing sold quite as well as
Star Wars Roleplaying Game material. West End saw film
franchises as ready markets of fans; even if only a portion bought
into a roleplaying game related to one of their favorite movies, the
company might still make enough money to justify the efforts. Some
might view the company’s pursuit of licensed properties as
contributing to its downfall. Probably. To those on the creative
staff it not only enabled us to work on and design material for our
own favorite film worlds, but gave us some influence in drawing
similarly enthusiastic fans into the roleplaying game hobby.
WEG - good times!
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