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Defining a Galaxy
In the late 1980s, Star Wars was becoming a fading memory. The movie trilogy had concluded. The comic books and novels were winding down. The action figures had run their course. As the franchise celebrated its tenth anniversary, there was a new ride at Disneyland and … not much else. Not until a small hobby game company released Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and The Star Wars Sourcebook. And suddenly the galaxy began to expand.
This is the story of how a group of dedicated fans and gaming professionals helped pave the way for the Star Wars Expanded Universe — as told by one of the original architects! This book explains how material created for roleplaying games helped shape the Star Wars universe — and continues to influence it to the current day.
This is the story of how a group of dedicated fans and gaming professionals helped pave the way for the Star Wars Expanded Universe — as told by one of the original architects! This book explains how material created for roleplaying games helped shape the Star Wars universe — and continues to influence it to the current day.
155 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 27, 2018
10 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Bill Slavicsek
108 books25 followersBill Slavicsek's gaming life was forever changed when he discovered Dungeons & Dragons in 1976. He became a gaming professional in 1986 when he was hired by West End Games as an editor. He quickly added developer, designer, and creative manager to his resume, and his work helped shape the Paranoia, Ghostbusters, Star Wars, and Torg roleplaying games. He even found some time during that period to do freelance work for D&D 1st Edition. In 1993, Bill joined the staff of TSR, Inc. as a designer/editor. He worked on a bunch of 2nd Edition material, including products for Core D&D, Dark Sun, Ravenloft, and Planescape. In 1997, he was part of the TSR crowd that moved to Seattle to join Wizards of the Coast, and in that year he was promoted to R&D Director for D&D. In that position, Bill oversaw the creation of both the 3rd Edition and 4th Edition of the D&D Roleplaying Game. He was one of the driving forces behind the D&D Insider project, and he continues to oversee and lead the creative strategy and effort for Dungeons & Dragons.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
January 5, 2026
In this small book, Bill Slavicsek, a prominent designer, editor, and producer of role-playing games in recent decades, gives us a detailed account of the work done by West End Games to create the first Star Wars role-playing game and how the lore for it was forged, which became the basis for the famous expanded universe and still echoes today in Disney's new Star Wars productions.
The book is full of personal anecdotes and goes beyond Star Wars to show us what it was like to work in a role-playing game publishing house at the time.
Whether you are a fan of role-playing games in general or Star Wars in particular, you will find this book fascinating. If you are a fan of both, it is a must-read.
The book is full of personal anecdotes and goes beyond Star Wars to show us what it was like to work in a role-playing game publishing house at the time.
Whether you are a fan of role-playing games in general or Star Wars in particular, you will find this book fascinating. If you are a fan of both, it is a must-read.
March 1, 2020
Una muy interesante crónica sobre cómo Slavicsek y su equipo en West End Games crearon gran parte de lo que se conocería como universo expandido a mediados de los 80. No es algo que se comente mucho, pero el juego de rol de Star Wars de WEG supuso un renacimiento para la franquicia en 1987 cuyas consecuencias aún se notan hoy en día, y todo gracias al autor y su equipo de diseñadores. Muy recomendable si os gusta SW.
October 18, 2024
A great look at the development of much of what current fans consider to be "the Star Wars universe". The WEG Star Wars RPG came out just when I getting into the industry, so much of this was a reminder for me of those days. The book mentions TORG, which was the first game I wrote for professionally (and Bill was the person who gave the opportunity to write for WEG), and I later wrote a sourcebook for the Star Wars RPG (though after Bill had left WEG) called WANTED BY CRACKEN.
Beyond it's focus on Star War, this book is also an interesting look "behind the scenes" of the RPG writing/design/publishing business, including the different writer/developer/editor roles, how the design team works with other departments, how companies need to deal with licensees, and more.
Beyond it's focus on Star War, this book is also an interesting look "behind the scenes" of the RPG writing/design/publishing business, including the different writer/developer/editor roles, how the design team works with other departments, how companies need to deal with licensees, and more.
February 17, 2019
I've been a player of the Star Wars roleplaying game for over 3 decades and finding this book about the genesis of the game told by one of the most important contributors was a highlight!
And that is high praise since I had already written an article about the RPG game for "A More Civilized Age" and had done my own research.
At 155 pages it's a short book based on a conference where Bill Slavicsek describes his career and the path towards the encounter with West End Games and the acquisition of the Star Wars license. Special attention comes in the details of the negotiations with the licensing area to create the empty areas around the franchise that would serve as a definite basis for all the work that would come forward.
Even if you are not a fan of the roleplaying games, there is a lot of information that describes the growth of a galaxy, from naming species, creating new planets and material that influenced all the writers beyond that point.
It even contains a big shout out to one of my friends, so there is no possible way I can give this book less than 5 stars or the highest recommendation possible!
And that is high praise since I had already written an article about the RPG game for "A More Civilized Age" and had done my own research.
At 155 pages it's a short book based on a conference where Bill Slavicsek describes his career and the path towards the encounter with West End Games and the acquisition of the Star Wars license. Special attention comes in the details of the negotiations with the licensing area to create the empty areas around the franchise that would serve as a definite basis for all the work that would come forward.
Even if you are not a fan of the roleplaying games, there is a lot of information that describes the growth of a galaxy, from naming species, creating new planets and material that influenced all the writers beyond that point.
It even contains a big shout out to one of my friends, so there is no possible way I can give this book less than 5 stars or the highest recommendation possible!
May 29, 2023
A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away....
I was 8 or 9, having been introduced to Star Wars by my father. He and his friend loved to paint miniature models. One of them gifted me with a set of Star Wars minis. I never painted them, and lost interest in trying to build playsets for them as they weren't to scale with Legos, and not bendable like GI Joes or Turtles. But I remember that the paper that they came with mentioned the West End Games Star Wars RPG.
Fast forward a decade, I buy the W0tC d20 Star Wars core rulebook, try to run a game, and we quickly discovered that one of the party was a Jedi Knight, and another was a way-way-way overpowered assassin droid because brand new role players don't know how to balance homebrew, and the CRB rules for droids made it fairly cheap to build a droid that can outfight most PCs at low levels... the campaign ended poorly, except for the assassin droid who made off with a ship, a lightsaber, and some credits.
This is to say I have almost no experience with WEG or Slavicsek's two iterations of Star Wars role playing. But I know he is a somewhat hidden contributor to my childhood. I read the EU novels. I played the Decipher CCG. I read some of the comics, when I could get my hands on them. I knew what an Ithorian was. I knew about Muftak and Kabe. I knew that Gamorrean guards came from a savage warlike society where women ruled and men fought endlessly. I memorized facts about that galaxy like it was studying for the SATs. What I didn't know, until reading this book, is that I have Bill to thank for all that, and more. That the D6 game sourcebooks he helped write and edit had a direct impact of everything I knew about the Star Wars universe.
This is a short but fascinating look at what Bill helped breath into life, and his thoughts on how it has taken on a life of its own. There are some areas I wanted more information about, other parts were a little dry, but I'm glad I know more. And now I am interested in tracking down some of these sourcebooks and adventure modules... I know I have friends who would play with me.
May the Force be with you.
I was 8 or 9, having been introduced to Star Wars by my father. He and his friend loved to paint miniature models. One of them gifted me with a set of Star Wars minis. I never painted them, and lost interest in trying to build playsets for them as they weren't to scale with Legos, and not bendable like GI Joes or Turtles. But I remember that the paper that they came with mentioned the West End Games Star Wars RPG.
Fast forward a decade, I buy the W0tC d20 Star Wars core rulebook, try to run a game, and we quickly discovered that one of the party was a Jedi Knight, and another was a way-way-way overpowered assassin droid because brand new role players don't know how to balance homebrew, and the CRB rules for droids made it fairly cheap to build a droid that can outfight most PCs at low levels... the campaign ended poorly, except for the assassin droid who made off with a ship, a lightsaber, and some credits.
This is to say I have almost no experience with WEG or Slavicsek's two iterations of Star Wars role playing. But I know he is a somewhat hidden contributor to my childhood. I read the EU novels. I played the Decipher CCG. I read some of the comics, when I could get my hands on them. I knew what an Ithorian was. I knew about Muftak and Kabe. I knew that Gamorrean guards came from a savage warlike society where women ruled and men fought endlessly. I memorized facts about that galaxy like it was studying for the SATs. What I didn't know, until reading this book, is that I have Bill to thank for all that, and more. That the D6 game sourcebooks he helped write and edit had a direct impact of everything I knew about the Star Wars universe.
This is a short but fascinating look at what Bill helped breath into life, and his thoughts on how it has taken on a life of its own. There are some areas I wanted more information about, other parts were a little dry, but I'm glad I know more. And now I am interested in tracking down some of these sourcebooks and adventure modules... I know I have friends who would play with me.
May the Force be with you.
June 4, 2019
I'm currently working on a project about the Star Wars Expanded Universe - the collection of tie-in novels, comics, video games, and other media before the Disney era - and how it influenced the Star Wars animated TV shows. I picked up Bill Slavicsek's Defining a Galaxy as part of my research. Slavicsek worked as an editor at West End Games while the company was creating material for Star Wars roleplaying games during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
At the time, WEG's products were the only officially licensed Star Wars product being produced. As such, Slavicsek had enormous creative freedom to explore and expand the Star Wars galaxy as he saw fit. Lucas hadn't named all of the aliens and ships in the original films, so it fell to Slavicsek to define them for the RPG sourcebooks. Ever wonder how the musicians in the Tatooine cantina got their names? How to the rules for Sabacc evolved? Why the Jedi have a code? A lot of that comes from Slavicsek. In Defining a Galaxy, he walks through the creation of the RPG sourcebooks, telling readers which terms and concepts he came up with.
After the publication of Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, which became a massive success, Lucasfilm Licensing started exerting greater control over tie-in materials and world-building in Star Wars. Lucasfilm actually instructed EU authors to stay consistent with the world-building contained in the WEB sourcebooks. As such, it's no exaggeration when Slavicsek claims his work became the foundation of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. io9 called WEG's original Star Wars RPG sourcebook "insanely influential."
Fans of the Star Wars RPGs will get a lot out of Slavicsek's book, but I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the history of the Star Wars franchise. Most accounts tend to skip over the late 1980s, but it turns out that's when so much of the world-building came to fruition. Defining a Galaxy is a fascinating peak behind the curtain of Lucasfilm tie-in materials. I hope other creators follow Slavicsek's lead and tell their own stories.
At the time, WEG's products were the only officially licensed Star Wars product being produced. As such, Slavicsek had enormous creative freedom to explore and expand the Star Wars galaxy as he saw fit. Lucas hadn't named all of the aliens and ships in the original films, so it fell to Slavicsek to define them for the RPG sourcebooks. Ever wonder how the musicians in the Tatooine cantina got their names? How to the rules for Sabacc evolved? Why the Jedi have a code? A lot of that comes from Slavicsek. In Defining a Galaxy, he walks through the creation of the RPG sourcebooks, telling readers which terms and concepts he came up with.
After the publication of Timothy Zahn's Heir to the Empire, which became a massive success, Lucasfilm Licensing started exerting greater control over tie-in materials and world-building in Star Wars. Lucasfilm actually instructed EU authors to stay consistent with the world-building contained in the WEB sourcebooks. As such, it's no exaggeration when Slavicsek claims his work became the foundation of the Star Wars Expanded Universe. io9 called WEG's original Star Wars RPG sourcebook "insanely influential."
Fans of the Star Wars RPGs will get a lot out of Slavicsek's book, but I'd recommend this to anyone interested in the history of the Star Wars franchise. Most accounts tend to skip over the late 1980s, but it turns out that's when so much of the world-building came to fruition. Defining a Galaxy is a fascinating peak behind the curtain of Lucasfilm tie-in materials. I hope other creators follow Slavicsek's lead and tell their own stories.
February 16, 2022
A great look at some of the history of Star Wars RPG gaming and the development of the Expanded Universe. The author was heavily involved in the early parts of the original Star Wars RPG under West End Games, and oversaw the second iteration of the game under TSR/Wizards of the Coast/Hasbro. He also authored the second and third editions of the Guide to the Star Wars Universe.
This book collects his memories about his involvement from watching Star Wars on its opening day in 1977, to seeing his contributions included in Star Wars Rebels. In addition, there’s a short rules addendum for the original D6 system that could be of interest to anyone running that original system today. I certainly plan on trying it out at some point.
My only criticism is that the author spends a little too much time explaining what a roleplaying game is, and some of the basic terminology involved. With a subtitle of “Celebrating 30 Years of Roleplaying in a Galaxy Far, Far Away” I don’t think too many readers are going to be ignorant of what an RPG is.
This book is highly recommended to fans of Star Wars gaming. It’s a welcome addition to my gaming history shelf.
This book collects his memories about his involvement from watching Star Wars on its opening day in 1977, to seeing his contributions included in Star Wars Rebels. In addition, there’s a short rules addendum for the original D6 system that could be of interest to anyone running that original system today. I certainly plan on trying it out at some point.
My only criticism is that the author spends a little too much time explaining what a roleplaying game is, and some of the basic terminology involved. With a subtitle of “Celebrating 30 Years of Roleplaying in a Galaxy Far, Far Away” I don’t think too many readers are going to be ignorant of what an RPG is.
This book is highly recommended to fans of Star Wars gaming. It’s a welcome addition to my gaming history shelf.
December 28, 2023
This personal account of a life well-lived in the professional world of games design and guidebook creation is fantastic. Slavicsek's recollections about creating WEG's Star Wars Roleplaying Game, the guides to the Star Wars Universe, Star Wars D20, and other products are historically significant and worth your time if you're looking to dig deeper into these topics. I found plenty of quotations to use in my nearly finished book on Jung and the mythology of Star Wars. This book gave me a rare, rare buzz. His voice is engaging, too. I finished it in a day!
January 1, 2020
As an avid gamer and a fan of Star Wars, this is a fascinating read. I cherished WEG's Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and The Star Wars Sourcebook growing up and my original copies sit in a place of honor on my bookshelf (just a few feet from me as I write this). As a fan, I lived through the birth of the Expanded Universe and I loved reading about it from Bill's perspective, a point of view which really is one of a kind in this regard.
August 1, 2019
Excellent
What a fun walk down memory lane of Star Wars role-playing. I played all of different versions of Star Wars RPGs from the past and was fun to reminisce about how it came together from behind the scenes. What an enjoyable read.
What a fun walk down memory lane of Star Wars role-playing. I played all of different versions of Star Wars RPGs from the past and was fun to reminisce about how it came together from behind the scenes. What an enjoyable read.
January 16, 2022
A really fascinating exploration of the development of the Star Wars RPGs and their continued influence in the Star Wars universe canon today. It’s only flaw is that it often gets bogged down in the authors self congratulations and ego.
Read
December 28, 2022Offers the inside story of the development of the first Star Wars tabletop RPG - and how that process catalysed the creation of the Expanded Universe and the revival of the franchise. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
November 4, 2018
Fascinating Read
A great history lesson about the galaxy far far away and how much of it came to be. A great read.
A great history lesson about the galaxy far far away and how much of it came to be. A great read.
November 12, 2018
I loved this book, my only complaint might be that it wasn't longer, I wanted even more of it.
December 26, 2024
An interesting history which mashes up two of my favorite hobbies
September 28, 2019
Interesting story of the author and the development of the Expanded Universe.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews