By now, those extremely well-versed in the expanded universe of the late 1980s should recognize where Rookies finds its origins. Or its partial origins, at the very least. Rookies: Rendezvous was an original story, but Rookies: No Turning Back is credited as being based on a scenario by Curtis Smith.

Those whose libraries date back to 1987 should dust off their copies of the original Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game rulebook from West End Games. Curtis Smith was the author of Rebel Breakout, an introductory adventure meant to set six player characters along a path that would have them join the Rebellion.

Now, Rebel Breakout starts rather abruptly - with the would-be Rebels spouting expository dialogue (courtesy of an adventure script that players are encouraged to read aloud) as they enter a decrepit mine built into Mesa 291 on the simplistically-named "Bothan's Planet." That's precisely how I gamed it many, many years ago with a group of players who went on to develop a very memorable cast: a Gambler, an Outlaw, a Bounty Hunter and an Annoying Squib who would become better know as Raal Yorta, Kestrel, Sammie Staable and Smileredon-Verdont.

This particular group of players began gaming in November of 1993, and we played for several years, and there was an instant chemistry and character dynamic that I hoped to capture in this strip. Whether playing store-bought adventures or homebrew scenarios, it tended to result in a really fun evening's worth of storytelling entertainment. Back then, I would take copious notes of the night's proceedings, realizing that they made for fun reading after the fact. I filed in the back of my head that some day, I'd tell the story of Raal, Kestrel, Sammie and Smiley to a larger audience.

The webstrip format offered the perfect opportunity for that, because RPG scenarios by their nature weren't epic, but additive - they were character-driven small stories that eventually wove into a larger tapestry. They were very much like episodic television, where a small story would add another chapter to the whole, even if it was largely self-contained.

So, that brings us to Rookies. These four Rebel-wannabes are working their way through old West End Games-era expanded universe tales. These webstrips are adaptations of a sort, since they use the settings and scenarios of the original adventures as building blocks, but they're new stories, since these characters will react to the scenarios in a manner that is unique to them. Does this mean that the Rookies version of certain WEG events become the de facto canon version of the story? Maybe. I'll let readers decide, after all the Rookies are playing in the periphery, rarely affecting the big picture. I'd hate for my little stories to take away the anonymity of a what previous encyclopedias and sourcebooks have simply called a "Rebel mission," since that vagueness allows all gamers out there to fantasize that it was really their group who carried out a particular task.

Now, am I just being lazy and going through adventures scene-by-scene, turning them into webstrips? No. There's a lot of editing, trimming and modifications required to turn a gameable adventure into a readable story, and you'll see that here with No Turning Back. And future Rookies stories will sometimes be based on adventures, and sometimes be wholly new stories required to bridge certain gaps. The next story, tentatively titled Rookies: Day Long Remembered, for example, is an original tale.

Back in the day, I served as gamemaster for this particular group. My friends played the main Rookies - Parris as Raal, Ariel as Sammie, Orrin* as Smiley and Kathryn as Kestrel. "Kestrel" had a different name back then which I wasn't about to use in an official story due to copyright concerns. Also, there was a fifth and sixth Rookie that may or may not enter the picture in the future. We'll have to see.

* Orrin may sound familiar... his full name, Orrin Marko, became the basis of Orrimaarko, the Dresselian commando.

Here's what I hope to do. Once No Turning Back wraps up in October, I'll turn over the art reins to a new artist but continue writing about these characters. And maybe, if their adventures continue, you'll see them rescue Adar Tallon from bounty hunters, supply the Rebellion with experimental B-wing fighters, or encounter a strange Force-sensitive coral in the shallow oceans of a watery planet. I think it's a fun way to serve up some older, obscure EU to a modern audience.

And heck, I just really love writing these guys. They are, literally, old friends.

As always, I welcome your comments. Please let me know what you think!

ph