Category: Star Wars RPG

04/24/2024 Site Work!

If you take a look around the place, you’ll no doubt notice that some changes have been made to the appearance and layout of my little corner. And you’d be right!

Firstly: when I put this site together in the beginning, I had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I didn’t realize until I went back through a few essays that navigating this place could be a headache for everyone who doesn’t know how I organize things. That made it comfortable for me, but that’s not the point of having a website to show off my work.

Secondly: a subscriber messaged me and asked if I could fix a few things, after I reminded her that she pays me for the content I put up, so her opinion carries legitimate weight.

Ahhh, capitalism. A great idea; just needs strict ethics following it around.

Thirdly: some of the stuff here was just old or was hindering me from publishing. I had to take down a couple short stories that I was trying to submit to a magazine here and there, after realizing that they couldn’t publish anything if I had already put a copyright here. So, I had played myself from getting my name out there by actively protecting myself. Go figure.

A consequence of this was, as you’ve noticed, that a lot of my pages and links are either down or under construction. That’s because as I’m learning, some aspects of the template here are also being updated or restructured. Note to the subscriber: don’t feel guilty that I have more work to do, it really needs to be done.

I’ll be fixing things up and setting them back up in the top menu (had to figure out why I lost a whole damn menu option yesterday; that was frustrating) over time and after consulting with my subscriber. If any of you, readers, spot something that you wanted fixed or just put back up, let me know!

It feels very mercenary of me to mention, but if you donate or subscribe, I’m kinda obligated to listen to you.

My Personal pages and the primary page for the Sidewinder Stories should be active, and the Search Bar can help you find something that doesn’t have an active link. I’m now off to write a little more in the sci-fi story and the SWRPG novel. And to message my players so I can set up my next sessions. And also talk to the artist who’s coming into the campaign.

It only sounds overwhelming until I remember that I can type really fast. Stay safe out there, folks!

-JB Swift

04/06/24 Solo Arcs and Quiet Creativity

A Saturday night that hasn’t surrendered to the chaos of adult living!

I can be irresponsibly responsible!

Trust me, it makes sense. Ask your neurodivergent friends.

I’ll be able to step back into Zino’s Solo Arc and move that story a little bit forward, tonight. After that, I’ll be answering a question I’ve had about the sci-fi novel that’s been bugging me: ‘how do you map out an interstellar empire’?

Answer: notepad!

It’ll be a wild evening for me!

Stay safe out there, folks.

-JB Swift

04/03/24 Sketchwork Makes the Dreamwork

I’m not entirely sold on that title, but it did make me laugh.

I am emphatically not an artist in the traditional sense. I cannot tell you how many times I have warned my players “this is not to scale” when drawing out an idea.

That said, I will keep trying!

That’s an old picture. I swear I’ve made progress…cue anxiety…

I’ll keep working!

Stay safe out there, folks.

-JB Swift

04/01/24 New Month, Old Routines, Gamer News!

Starting the day with an event I wish was more of a routine and a more visually-inspiring moment: greeting the dawn on my property.

There’s a slight worry about the dead branches way up there.

It’s slightly frustrating to know that there’s a gorgeous sunrise in the distance, but you live in a sparsely wooded area.

The biphasic sleep pattern konked me out before 10 and back in at 2, so I managed to get a bit of writing work done. Part of that was wrestling with the ever-present self doubt of writing a sci-fi story, wanting to provide a “hard” science for that story, but unable to present that science as plausible.

I could’ve written some great stories back in the 60’s.

Following up on that desire to get back into old routines, I’ve made it back home from the mail route, tumbled the kids into their beds, did the ‘responsible adult’ thing of paying a few bills (I still mail out my payments and work through a ledger…I know, but it’s comfortable), and now I have time to write!

Which means I’ll be shutting off social media for a couple hours and fighting my executive dysfunction to get at least five pages!

Since the main project for tonight is the SWRPG story, I thought it’d be appropriate to list upcoming sessions, campaign news, and story news!

We have four(!) upcoming sessions: focusing on Zino’s further delving into making a Star Wars version of James Bond (“Secrets of Csilla: From Here to Yaga Minor” will be written up shortly), hopefully followed up this Thursday (I’m really hoping I didn’t mess up my calendar); Beak learning more about his enigmatic past with his new companion, Sion; a first-time session with a new character, the Wookiee’s take on Druidism named Li (Liakdrrl); and the Main Arc session that (unfortunately) was put on hold due to adulting (third time rescheduling’s the charm, or so my fellow insane GameMasters say).

Yes, my performance anxiety as a ‘professional’ DM is ramping up just thinking about it.

Personal Note: I really want to work on the Orada Novella, which would be a great standalone story, but I’m trying to be responsible with my writing time.

We also now have a Campaign Artist! I’ll be releasing more information on them soon, especially when I can show off their artwork here and help promote their work (expect a link to their social profiles soon), but expect a few changes to the SWRPG section of the website it becomes more and more personalized as a fan-fiction writing.

With that, it’s time I turned off social media, plugged in my headphones, and whittle away at the keyboard until I either accomplish my goal or wake up in the middle of the night with a crick in my neck.

Stay safe out there, readers.

-JB Swift

03/21/2024 “Professional” Nerd

It’s been a busy time, folks. That, and I’ve been working on things.

Spring-cleaning this property has taken over a great deal of my attention, especially since things keep cropping up. A good example: carpenter ants infesting a shed at the far end of the property and making the thing collapse.

This was an ‘oh shit’ moment and way louder than you’d expect.

Watching your old tin shed start to cave in for absolutely no reason is a moment of concern, to put it lightly. After looking through the building (and battling a nest of wasps), I decided it was time to take the thing down and recycle the metals.

I’m not sure why there’s an old pit in there, to be honest.

Most of the lumber used for the shed was riddled with carpenter ant tunnels, which I learned about in the worst way possible and had to scramble to get my gloves removed. Fighting a nest of homicidal wannabe termites was not on my “To Do” list, but here we are. The tin is still good, though, so it’ll be reshaped for a smaller shed and used to keep the lawn mower out of the weather.

Following that, we’re getting back into the swing of things concerning the campaigns! Back-to-back sessions! Q&A discussions! Seeing 5 different players in my Discord messages with queries and RP notes!

Sigh…if management knew that I actually do handle multiple conversations and can be coherent (mostly) throughout the talks, they would try to make me a supervisor.

Not happening.

Of course, now that the flurry of activity is handled, I’m taking advantage of the day off and necessity to stay in town (doctor’s appointment) in order to write and post!

Cue the executive dysfunction…

It’ll be a struggle, but there’s determination! Also a self-imposed deadline, which will hopefully spur me on to reach a goal.

We’re working on the Star Wars novel today, but I’ve been to also add to the Campaign pages for a while. My players are making great strides in developing their homebrew concepts, and several have been play-tested and implemented. Getting them put on this thing gets a tad difficult (I think the layout might need restructuring and I just don’t wanna), but we’ll figure it out.

With that, I’ve finished rambling and procrastinating. For everyone that’s been patient with me, here’s Korra being the water-wolf that she is.

She keeps taking Jojo’s bed…

Stay safe out there, folks!

-JB Swift

02/04/2024 A DM’s Praise of Players (and writing news!)

I know I’ve said this before, but I feel like I get to take a point of pride in the caliber of players that attend my RPG campaigns.

We had our Main Arc session last night and it was stupendous to watch these players bounce back and forth with each other and act as if they were characters in a book. For a few minutes, I, the DM, did not speak but simply sat there and listened to the improvised dialogue.

I might set the stage and challenges, but after two years these players are the ones telling the story, not me. I’m the narrator, and I am proud to have these people at my table.

I could sing my praises for these folks all damn day.

In writing news: the ‘soft edit’ is nearly complete! Soon I will back to whittling away at this fan-fiction novel that will never be published!
Contemplating sanity while I tell myself this.

I know why I’ve wanted to write these campaigns into novels: both to give the players their characters in actual books, and my own selfish desire to see the Expanded Universe live on.

So, while the kids are distracted, I’ll be finishing this little chore.

Stay safe out there, folks.
-JB Swift

02/01/2024 I’m back!

Folks, it’s been a minute, hasn’t it?

But the mail is beginning to slow down, and while my day-to-day is still chock full of tedious chores and happenings, I’m able to carve out small moments for writing.

In other words:

Some updates! The SWRPG campaign, “Sidewinder Stories” is active once again and heading into Arc 4. I’ve been waiting for this particular Arc for check notes 2 years now, so I’ll be nervous as hell about giving the players the best story. In the meantime, I used the Hiatus to work on a fan-fiction novelization of Arc 1, titled “A Crisis of Generals”.

Let me tell you NanoWriMo folks: y’all are beasts when it comes to hitting those daily word count goals. It was a struggle for 4 months to break 40K.

It’s currently in a ‘soft-edit’ as I talk to a player about his characters’ POV, but when I get time today (Read As: when I struggle at the desk after the family is asleep), I’ll hopefully have that section done and can move on to the next chapters.

While I’m in “Stupidly Ambitious” mode, I’ll also get to work on updating the site and might even play around with my “publishing possible” novel.

Until the next posting, stay safe out there, folks.

-JB Swift

08/27/2023 Weekly Write-Up!

In giving myself a bit more time to think on how I’d go about my daily posts becoming weekly, I would like to say I had used such to come up with a more in-depth analysis of how the writing and gaming has been.

In truth, I mostly slept during that free time.

But I did make some progress! Mostly focused on my non-scheduled day from the post office, when I told myself that for once, I would be doing what I actually wanted to do instead of lining up a list of random chores.

Resulted in nearly 2,500 words to “Peregrine: Rising” and a much more in-depth look at the upcoming gaming sessions.

Note to self: Fill out the Session Schedule up to the hiatus.

Now, there is a slight deviation from my statement of once-a-week postings that I’ve been considering: reviewing the old Star Wars Expanded Universe (now called Legends) novels. I might set these for Wednesdays, since I somehow always find a lull during that day where I’m not much up for writing but instead, would like to be a nerd with my nerdy old books.

So, if I manage to remember, keep an eye out as I take a look at “X-Wing: Rogue Squadron”.

With that, I’m off to handle a birthday party at a bowling alley.

Stay safe out there, readers!

-JB Swift

08/20/2023 Books, Writing, and Gaming!

I maintain that I would be starting this Sunday for weekly posting, but I have to admit that I only gave myself three days to start the routine, so this one will be a little rough.

We managed to get to the SWRPG Main Arc session on Saturday, but after 5 days of 10hr shifts, I barely made it into 3 hours of the game before the party, in their wonderful graciousness, flat-out told me to go to bed and rest.

(I slept for 11 hours, so maybe they were right)

Now, I will continue to host sessions through September and hopefully into October, but they’re going to be sparse leading up to the real Heavy Season time. I’m hoping to finish Arc 3 “War Diaries” before the cut-off time, so we’ll have to see how well I plan out my sessions in that time.

Meanwhile, I’m wanting to also finish Zino’s Solo Arc “Trouble in Ord Trasi” before that cut-off time, so Zino! Be ready for a session soon!

A quick aside, but Han has reached the point in here Kung Fu training that she’s ready for weapons, so the Sifu and I got her a gift: her own staff.

I’m going to get hit in the head so many times.

Writing-wise has been hit-or-miss this week, unfortunately. When the day job shifts were more consistent with the 8hr limits, I was more inclined to whittle away at my stories, but now that it’s looking to be more like 10hr shifts for the rest of the year, I’m going to have to use an older method to parcel out my writing times. I’ll be setting aside each day of the week for something to write in, except for Sundays (as that is for here).

And that is also being besieged by a very fun distraction: D&D world-building and Creation Mythology crafting thanks to picking up a book that I knew, I just knew, would put these ideas in my head.

Can you tell I’ve read this a few times?

In an odd way, the Dungeon Crawl campaign world is based off one of the Creation Myths I had written some years ago, but never got around to finishing. But as I’m getting back to Fantasy writing, that old, old itch has come back and I went through my bookshelf for one of my oldest surviving journals.

A gift from my brother and his family; I’ve added to it slowly over the years.

I expect this little craze to die down over the next few months, but it will result in a few nights of not adding to my current stories while I keep figuring out a Tolkien-esque mythology that is also completely ‘my own’. Yes, I’m also writing out a new language, just to see if I can.

There’s also a new challenge for me! The SWRPG campaign has a PODRACE!

LINA! Study this course!

There are no real rules withing the Revised Edition for podracing, so I’ve been having to make my own! Will it work? Well, I tried it once before, but that was very much-so a draft idea, so I’ve been researching to perfect the challenge.

(Pray for Lina, folks)

With that, I’m off to cook a dinner and plan out my week.

Stay safe out there, readers!

08/11/2023 I’m Alive! I’m here!

I’m still alive!

Apologies for not posting in so long, everyone. I’ve been exhausted from the day job and haven’t thought to put up anything in a while.

But I do have a ton of photos to add to my albums, and I have been writing!

Here and there, when I’m lucid enough to do so.

So, some news!

My SWRPG group are way too wonderful of group of people and pooled their money together to help me get a mesh router system, so I now have a steady internet connection! This has allowed me to switch my gaming over to Discord! It only took me ten years!

(Considering how I am with taking up new things, that’s actually pretty quick)

I’ll be updating everything when time (and endurance) allows, but for some players who may be out of the loop, especially my Solo Arc players, I’ll be messaging you to bring you up to speed. (If it hasn’t happened by next Monday, tell me and I’ll try to wake up)

I’m going to try to write a bit before the heat of the day catches up with me.

Stay safe out there, readers!

-JB Swift