The Star Wars novelization timeline (speculative discussion)

[Deleted]

In a conversation at Dragonsfoot recently, there were some musings about the novelization of the original Star Wars, ghostwritten by the excellent Alan Dean Foster. There seem to be a few concepts here concerning the nature of the Empire and makeup of the Galaxy that didn't survive into Empire Strikes Back and the developing Expanded Universe going forward. One of the biggest differences I can think of, with a deep implication of a very different timeline after the destruction of the Death Star, is the implication that the Emperor is entirely a figurehead by the events of the story of Rebels vs. Empire. It's men like Tarkin who actually run the Empire, first with their puppet Senate, and then with their super weapon which was prematurely destroyed. 

The idea I have, which I'm going to try to expound on to set the stage for a Star Wars tabletop campaign at some point in the future, is to build off this idea with only the first novelization being canon (with supplemental material from the radio drama) and dealing with the aftermath of the massive power vacuum in the Empire after the Battle of Yavin. If you imagine the Emperor is just some guy and not a powerful Force user and there's no more Imperial Senate to smoothly run the day to day operations of the Empire, and the basket the Moffs put all their eggs into has just broken, you can envision a quick collapse into civil war and competing factions, all while the Rebellion attempts to re-establish a Republican government. Something like what happened in the Thrawn books except earlier in time with a less developed Luke who isn't necessarily Vader's son. 

You could tell a lot of different stories with this backdrop, I feel. Perhaps Vader takes the place of Thrawn as he serves no actual master, especially since Tarkin is dead and the Grand Moff seemed to be holding all the chains in the original story. Vader as we see him in the novelization and the original movie isn't a brilliant strategist like Thrawn but he's a feared and ruthless figure and a known killer of Jedi as well as a capable pilot. He survives the book so he's a prime candidate to rise up in the power vacuum, probably still under the pretense of serving the Emperor. 

It might be fun to hear your guys' ideas about what Luke, Leia and Han would be up to (although if I run a tabletop scenario they'd only be NPCs and probably not the type lowbie players would run into) during this time period. Luke would want to continue his Jedi training. Yoda might or might not exist in this continuity. He's never mentioned before ESB so we're not obligated to imagine him. There could be several Jedi still in hiding here, or none. Maybe Luke has to study ancient tomes or recover data tapes. What sorts of diplomatic work would Leia be into, and would Han continue to be a rogue or would he continue to work with the Alliance as he did in the known continuity or the Expanded Universe? Perhaps he'd have to pay off his debt to Jabba the Hutt first. 

(Maybe you imagine an entirely different scenario. Just keep in mind the stipulation for this thought experiment is that only the original story happened for sure. The events of the movie, novelization and radio drama, assuming all are different tellings of the same events.)

[Mushgnome]

I remember that novel, with the gold cover! Here are a few random ideas for the thought experiment. I didn't put too much thought into these; just the first things that popped into my head.

* The series is called "The Adventures of Luke Skywalker."
* Luke travels the universe on a quest to find the truth about his father and mother (spoiler alert: Luke is Obi-Wan's clone!)
* Luke and Leia aren't siblings. They fall in love and name their son Han.
* Tarkin somehow survived the Death Star and becomes the primary antagonist
* We ret-con that Vader died in that Tie Fighter. His story ends at the Battle of Yavin, and his backstory is never explored. He's not Luke's father.
* Han died in the first movie, too (as was the original plan for the character, I believe) sacrificing himself.
* no Yoda
* no Sith
* yes Jabba

[Deleted]

One issue with no Sith. Vader is referred to as "Dark Lord of the Sith" in the novel, the radio drama and a deleted scene from the movie.

Of course, "Sith" is never defined. It's just a vague science fiction term.

Also, wouldn't Luke name his son Ben or Owen? Leia might call him Bail. That name goes back to the original script.

[Mushgnome]

I didn't realize that! Okay, I'll let you have Sith. But please no "rule of two." I want a "Sith of the Week" type situation. Like Darth Maul in TPM.

[geoffrey]

I love it.

One thing to keep in mind: Alan Dean Foster also wrote Splinter of the Mind's Eye, published in 1978 but finished before the original movie was released on May 25, 1977. This novel has a feel very much in keeping with the original film novelization, which is not surprising given that the two novels were written by the same author back-to-back.

If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend it. Splinter of the Mind's Eye might give you further food for thought in the very cool direction you are taking. Plus, Splinter of the Mind's Eye puts Cthulhu into Star Wars! Check out the panel from the graphic novel adaptation below (and the novel's verbiage parallels H. P. Lovecraft's description of an idol of Cthulhu in "The Call of Cthulhu").

[geoffrey]

Jan 28, 2022 5:48:16 GMT -6 @ampleframework said:

One issue with no Sith. Vader is referred to as "Dark Lord of the Sith" in the novel, the radio drama and a deleted scene from the movie.

Of course, "Sith" is never defined. It's just a vague science fiction term.

"Sith" comes from the Barsoom books of Edgar Rice Burroughs. The giant fly in the painting is a sith, making Vader the "lord of the flies", which is pretty cool:

[Deleted]

Ah. An epithet hinting at his prowess in killing, then. Clever, George.

[Deleted]

Jan 28, 2022 12:11:32 GMT -6 geoffrey said:

I love it.

One thing to keep in mind: Alan Dean Foster also wrote Splinter of the Mind's Eye, published in 1978 but finished before the original movie was released on May 25, 1977. This novel has a feel very much in keeping with the original film novelization, which is not surprising given that the two novels were written by the same author back-to-back.

If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend it. Splinter of the Mind's Eye might give you further food for thought in the very cool direction you are taking. Plus, Splinter of the Mind's Eye puts Cthulhu into Star Wars! Check out the panel from the graphic novel adaptation below (and the novel's verbiage parallels H. P. Lovecraft's description of an idol of Cthulhu in "The Call of Cthulhu").

I read it about a year ago and it's what inspired me down this tangent of pondering pocket continuities in Star Wars. I'm considering incorporating elements of it in my campaign. I don't want to feel tied down by much beyond the original book but Splinter is cool. I haven't ruled it completely out yet. Kyber Crystals will likely appear at least. I'm going for more of a pulpy feel.

[Deleted]

So what would we imagine Clone Wars were in our own versions of "77 Only" Star Wars continuity? If you just go by what you hear in either the movie, the novel, the radio play, whichever source is primary for you? When I was a kid I imagined evil clones against the Republic, and maybe Clone Jedi as well. It was really just a throwaway line. A cool sci-fi sounding thing to give Obi-Wan some background as a warrior. "Oh, this guy fought some clones or something. That sounds impressive."

[Mushgnome]

Trying to put myself in that 1977 head space: Human cloning was a major bioethics issue in the 1970s! For example James D. Watson's famous 1971 article in The Atlantic, titled "Moving Toward The Clonal Man"

I betcha George Lucas read Watson's article in the Atlantic during the time he was writing Star Wars.

I found this quote particularly interesting: "The idea that we might have a world populated by [clones] can belong only to the domain of the novelist or the moviemaker."

Or this: "Of even greater concern would be the potentialities for misuse by an inhumane totalitarian government."

Any my personal favorite: "But it would be short-sighted to assume that everyone would instinctively recoil from such purposes. Some people may sincerely believe the world desperately needs many copies of really exceptional people if we are to fight our way out of the ever-increasing computer-mediated complexity that makes our individual brains so frequently inadequate."

----------------------------------------

(On a somewhat overlapping topic, it's probably also worth mentioning that Star Wars came fresh on the heels of the 1973 Roe vs. Wade decision.)

[Deleted]

So, an inhuman, totalitarian government or guild being behind the clones. That seems to be something Zahn vaguely hinted at in his early books. I seem to remember throwaway references to "clonemasters". Mad scientist types no doubt. Wasn't one of the guys who threatened Luke in the cantina a Dr.? Dr. Evazan or something similar if I recall. He has the death sentence on twelve systems. Could he be an evil cloner? Perhaps.

[Deleted]

Oh, yeah, and going ahead and writing this down while I'm thinking of it. On the topic of Vader being "Lord of the Flies", you could go super literal and pulpy with that and give him some fanatically loyal insect people who are loyal only to him. Or maybe they're not even people but literal giant insects. Perhaps he controls them with the Force. Imagine a scenario where a Rebel is trapped in a dark labyrinth, like the sewers under the Imperial City, and Vader's Sith are hunting him relentlessly. That's a very OD&D scenario.

You could also go more metaphorical with the flies, though, like maybe the corruption of the Dark Side. It rots the soul and the body, hence the cybernetics sustaining Lord Vader. With only Star Wars '77 being canon to the campaign, there's no real explanation to why Vader is "more machine than man". Maybe he wasn't injured in a duel. Maybe using his hatred to hunt and murder Jedi has had a horrific consequence on his health. Maybe he's basically a corpse in that suit. A decomposing lich of a man. Maybe he always hears a buzzing sound in his head when he uses the Force. Maybe that's "the Sith" that seduced him.

I'm still in the early planning of all this so there's a hundred directions I could go. I won't say definitively which way I'm leaning because that should be a surprise for players who potentially encounter Vader or use the Dark Side, right? Just spitballing some ideas and aesthetics here.

[Mushgnome]

Lots of great ideas. I love your concept of Lord Vader as a rotting mummy, surrounded by insects. (Isn't he canonically referred to as a "sorcerer" by one of the imperial officers?)

The simplest possible explanation for the Clone Wars is also the most boring: Stormtroopers are clones, and "Clone Wars" refers to the rise of the Empire. When Leia says "you fought for my father in the Clone Wars" she means, against Tarkin, Vader and the cloned stormtroopers. I remember this being the prevailing playground theory when I was a kid, and the crux of the argument was Leia's line to Luke, "aren't you a little short for a stormtrooper?" (implying that all stormtroopers are the same height).

And how could we forget spice! It's briefly mentioned, but not defined, in ANH. The only detail we know is that spice is "mined." So you can have spice be anything you like, in your campaign. If you want to riff on your "Vader's corruption" theme, maybe spice is an ingredient in the embalming/preservation formula keeping him alive. Maybe he is the Lord of Kessel.

[Deleted]

Ah, so we could borrow the idea of Vader's Castle from the Eu and place it overlooking the spice mine of Kessel. This is even more "sword and planet" and works great for a pulpy OD&D setting.

What would the dark Knight's steed look like? Does he ride something? He surely must. He would patrol his lands, overlooking his slaves as they mine spice.

Perhaps we could borrow properties of Melange and say spice increases one's affinity for the Force but at a price. A Jedi Knight wouldn't use such a substance except in greatest need but Darth Vader puts himself into a spice trance regularly. His body deteriorates more with each use but the Dark Side grows stronger in him.

[Deleted]

Also, I just sort of figured the Stormtroopers had a height and weight regulation like actual military elites often do. Normal Imperial officers don't seem to be clones in the movie. Also, since in my version I am going by the novel primarily, I must consider the prologue made it clear that Palpatine was elected democratically and not in the midst of a war. I believe the intention was for the Clone Wars to have happened many decades ago. The troopers might still be clones, though. It's not stated what the legal status of cloning is in the Empire. If we borrowed an aesthetic from Timothy Zahn we might imagine some exceptional officers and troopers sometimes are made clonal templates. So, the Stormtroopers could have clones in their ranks, but cloned from multiple sources and not one dude.

[Vile Traveller]

Definitely an ongoing love triangle with Leia, Han, and Luke. 😉

[Deleted]

Jan 29, 2022 8:50:59 GMT -6 Vile Traveller said:

Definitely an ongoing love triangle with Leia, Han, and Luke. 😉

That would make for fun stories, or in the case of using those three as Traveller style patrons in a tabletop game, interesting quest hooks. What if the PCs are approached by Han or Luke and told to go get them some rare Klatooinian roses for Leia or some such. "I'm too busy with all this paperwork right now, but I hear you guys are looking for some quick credits."

[Zenopus]

Jan 28, 2022 16:43:49 GMT -6 Mushgnome said:

Trying to put myself in that 1977 head space: Human cloning was a major bioethics issue in the 1970s! For example James D. Watson's famous 1971 article in The Atlantic, titled "Moving Toward The Clonal Man"

I betcha George Lucas read Watson's article in the Atlantic during the time he was writing Star Wars.

Yes, cloning was very much in the popular culture in the 1970s. Widespread enough that we got a Clone spell in Greyhawk in 1975.

Dune was obviously a huge influence on the first Star Wars movie with its desert planet setting and mention of spice, and Dune has its own version of a clone, a ghola, which first featured in 1969's Dune Messiah.

Several years before Star Wars there was even a 1973 sci-fi movie called The Clones.

Just after Star Wars, in 1978, we have an episode of the live action Spider-Man show called Night of the Clones where he battles his own evil clone (I remember watching this), and the Boys from Brazil, with a plot revolving around cloning.

SPOILER: Click to show

The very 1970s plot twist of having Luke battle his own clone was used by Zahn in the Thrawn trilogy.

[geoffrey]

Jan 28, 2022 21:01:54 GMT -6 Mushgnome said:

I love your concept of Lord Vader as a rotting mummy, surrounded by insects. (Isn't he canonically referred to as a "sorcerer" by one of the imperial officers?)

Yep. "Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways, Lord Vader. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes, or given you clairvoyance enough to find the rebels' hidden fortress."

We should also remember that Vader was more of a bounty hunter in the original movie. (In fact, Boba Fett was created specifically because Lucas needed a bounty hunter to fill that space that Vader vacated in TESB.) Imagine taking that and the giant flies and going full-on pulp:

Darth Vader, one of the sith lords, commands a whole swarm of the giant flies. He even rides on one. He is a bounty hunter, and he is incensed that some snot-nosed farm-boy absolutely ruined his cushy bounty hunter-with-perks job with Tarkin. So Vader hitches up his giant flies and goes to collect the bounties on Skywalker and his little friends...

[geoffrey]

Jan 29, 2022 7:49:07 GMT -6 @ampleframework said:

I just sort of figured the Stormtroopers had a height and weight regulation like actual military elites often do.

That was always my assumption.

To be honest, I never thought of the Clone Wars as having anything to do with literal clones. That seemed to Star Trek-ish for me, too sci-fi, not space fantasy enough. I never had a clear picture in my mind as to what the Clone Wars involved, but I was deflated when 2002's AOTC featured literal clones.

Throwing a couple possibilities out there:

The Clone Wars centered around the Clone System. (I have seen the last name "Clone" in a phone directory, so "Clone" can be a proper name.)

The Clone Wars were a series of wars so similar in their underlying realities that they came to be referred to collectively as "the Clone Wars".

Neither possibility excites me, but they illustrate that the Clone Wars did not necessarily involve literal clones.

[Mushgnome]

Clone Wars: Looking at real-world politics, the idea of a war over reproductive rights is not totally far fetched to me. Perhaps the "Clone Wars" was a war over reproduction: One side wants to have children the "old fashioned way" while the other side believes reproduction by cloning is way of the future. In that Wilson article I linked above, one of the dystopian scenarios he envisions, is that working-class women would not be allowed to bear their own biological children; they would instead be used as surrogates or "incubators" for the clone-babies of the ruling class. So maybe the Clone Wars weren't fought by clone soldiers, but rather, war was waged over reproductive rights and the ethics of cloning.

Vader, Lord of the Flies: Maybe all the Stormtroopers have insect-faces under their helmets!

[Deleted]

Well, there's definitely a nature vs technology message couched in Star Wars. In the movie, Vader cautions against an over-reliance on technological marvels like the Death Star and champions the Force. I believe that's a lingering element of his Jedi training as he's a walking testament to over-reliance on technology. He clearly could no longer function without his exo-suit.

In the radio dramatization, Leia declares that Tarkin has become "an enemy of life itself". This influences my conception of how Imperial society would look. Sterile. No greenery in sight. Coruscant would be less friendly and diverse than we see in the prequels. All sharp angles and straight lines. All the trains arrive precisely on time, if you catch my drift.

I could see these people growing their babies in a lab and leaving their education and nurturing up to droids. I also envision the Emperor more like Shaddam IV in Dune with a classical Imperial look. None of that shriveled corpse wizard aesthetic here. That is not Imperial.

[thomden]

Jan 29, 2022 10:31:56 GMT -6 Zenopus said:

cloning was very much in the popular culture in the 1970s. Widespread enough that we got a Clone spell in Greyhawk in 1975.

There was a made for TV movie called Parts: The Clonus Horror that was about rich people making clones for their body parts. I recall it vividly because it was the first time I'd ever seen a nude scene (I was 10). It was late night tv, and pretty terrible according to reviews but I remember liking it.

Jan 29, 2022 10:31:56 GMT -6 Zenopus said:

Just after Star Wars, in 1978, we have an episode of the live action Spider-Man show called Night of the Clones where he battles his own evil clone (I remember watching this), and the Boys from Brazil, with a plot revolving around cloning.

I remember that episode too!

[Deleted]

What if we say that instead of Tarkin surviving, he keeps returning as clones? The sci Fi ideas about how cloning works (gholas, etc ) could easily turn a guy like Tarkin into a recurring villain, even when slain.

It's very pulp but that's the aesthetic I am going for, at least in my head canon. A sneering imperialist you love to hate, and don't even get the satisfaction of killing because he will return soon enough.

[ThrorII]

Jan 29, 2022 7:49:07 GMT -6 @ampleframework said:

Also, since in my version I am going by the novel primarily, I must consider the prologue made it clear that Palpatine was elected democratically and not in the midst of a war. I believe the intention was for the Clone Wars to have happened many decades ago.

For what its worth, the 1998 Official Star Wars Souvenir Manual (before the prequels) gives the following timeline:

35 BBY*  End of Clone Wars

29 BBY    Palpatine elected President of Republic

18 BBY    Luke & Leah Born; Darth Vader "Born"; birth of the Empire

*They officially call it BSW4 ("Before Star Wars Episode 4") which is functionally the same as BBY.

This seems to fit the timeline and actions from the WEG d6 game, the Zahn novels, and I think what Lucas was thinking before actually writing the prequels.

[Deleted]

All fine and good, but doesn't match the implications from the novelization we're basing this thought exercise on or the aesthetics of the original film, so for the purposes of this thread, these revelations from 20 years after the fact shall not be considered. Not by me, personally. These fine gentlemen and ladies might have their own thoughts.

[Finarvyn]

This is great stuff!

Back in the 1970's in the years between the release of Star Wars and ESB I ran an OD&D game based on the Star Wars universe as we knew it at the time, so this thread is awesome. I wish I could find my notes, or that I had a better memory about this stuff, but I will contribute what I can. Back in the day there were four novels I pulled from:
(1) Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker (Alan Dean Foster, but I didn’t know that then)
(2) Splinter of the Mind's Eye (Alan Dean Foster)
(3) Han Solo at Stars End (Brian Daley)
(4) Han Solo's Revenge (Brian Daley)

I know there were Marvel comics somewhere along the line, but I don’t recall using that as a big inspiration but it could be, and I don’t recall hearing the radio dramatization so it wasn’t an inspiration at all.

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From a 2012 thread: odd74.proboards.com/thread/7682/pre-esb-thoughts-star-wars

I ran a "OD&D in Space" game back in the 1970's. It was before Empire Strikes Back, so there were a few things that we got "wrong" and I wondered what ideas others had about the Star Wars universe before ESB changed things.

The primary source material was the movie, of course, and the novel tie-in. Shortly thereafter came the orphan book Splinter of the Mind's Eye which is sort of creepy now that we know how the saga really turns out.

I found some of my notes from my campaign and hope to find more. Here are some highlights, and I'd love to hear any of yours (if you're old enough, that is....)

* Darth Vader was the ultimate bad guy who manipulated a weak Emperor. Vader was "the Sauron of Star Wars" and his first name was actually Darth.

* I had a council of Jedi. Names included Phil Darklighter (father of Biggs), Odonnell Sabeslinger, and Ken Skywalker (father of Luke; interesting that Ken and Anakin are similar).

* Lightsabres did 3d10 damage, pretty cool in a "mostly d6 damage" campaign.

* Jedi Armor (black for evil Jedi or Grey for neutral; no white option) was zero encumbrance but acted like Plate+2.

* Jedi spells were essentially magic-user spells revised, such as "Force Lock" instead of Wizard Lock.

* Jedi were neural for levels 1-3, then had to pick light or dark side when they became Hero level (4). I had other level titles for Jedi, but mentally use 4th and 8th as special marker points.

* Jedi could deflect missiles (blaster bolts) as extra attacks. They got a number of blaster-bolt deflect attempts equal to their level. If they succeeded in their "attack" they deflected the bolt.

* The leader of the Rebellion was Bail Organa, King of Alderaan and father of Leia.

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So, as to specific things mentioned in this thread:

(1) Ampleframework’s post to start the thread describes a campaign much like what I had back in the day, and it was a lot more pulp than the final Star Wars movie series. I very much like the notion of taking the Thrawn books and having them happen shortly after the Battle of Yavin, rather than after the Battle of Endor. That’s a cool idea that has never occurred to me before, and I think it’s excellent because it brings in some great characters who fit the SW universe well. (Talon Karrde, Mara Jade, etc.)

(2) Mushgnome mentioned that Luke and Leia are not siblings. This was our assumption as well, and seems to be supported in Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. To continue some of the points made by Mushgnome, in my campaign Darth Vader did survive the TIE fighter crash and returned to be a major villain. I don’t like the idea of Han dying in the movie.

(3) To elaborate on Han, that’s sort of where the Daley novels come into play. There is a “Corporate Sector” where hackers and smugglers and the like hang out and eek out an income. We had the first two Han Solo books to draw from, and it’s been a long time since I read them but I remember there being some good background material. Background for the Sector, not so much for Han Solo. As an interesting note, WEG did a Corporate Sector sourcebook for the old WEG Star Wars if a person wanted to run a campaign on that system instead of OD&D. That's an interesting direction to ponder anyway, since all of that material was written prior to the sequels. It had “original trilogy” stuff in it, so one would have to decide which ESB/RotJ material was in or out.

(4) The question of “sith” is an interesting one. Vader was clearly the “Dark Lord of the Sith” but I never felt like the sith should be the same as the sith from Barsoom. Having Vader be lord of the giant flying wasps is strange and creepy somehow. It’s an interesting idea, however, and my initial thought was “hell, no” but the idea is starting to grow on me already and I sort of wish I had done that back in the 70’s.

(5) I knew that the Spice Mines of Kessel were a thing and had all read Dune at that point, so we had drawn the potential connection between the two. Back in the day I just assumed that Spice was some sort of drug or something to smuggle but didn’t really think much about it beyond that, but I love the notion that Spice could give temporary Jedi powers to folks and that Vader might be self-mummifying with the stuff. That’s so neat and I wish I had that in my campaign back in the day as well.

(6) The Clone Wars? I knew about clones back then and we didn’t know much about them, but I think mine were sort of like the “eugenics wars” from Space Seed – the ideas that maybe clones tried to take over. Certainly nothing like the notion that Stormtroopers might be clones, which is another cool idea I wish I had back then, but I would probably say that some units were human and others clones. Send the clone units into bloody situations and the humans as the second wave when it was safer.

(7) Love the idea that Tarkin could keep returning as a clone of himself.

[Deleted]

I love all your old campaign notes and ideas, especially calling Anakin "Ken" Skywalker instead of "Ani." I never loved that aspect of the prequels. I love the idea he was an adult man and a Jedi Knight for many years before falling, too. Hayden is a great actor but the writing of Revenge of the Sith isn't what I had in mind for the fall of the Republic.

And by the by, I know it was easy to overlook or miss because it's mentioned exactly once, but the name "Anakin" is uttered by Alec Guinness in Star Wars '77 once, when describing the history of the Jedi. Calling him Ken is still cool, though. It adds a bit of synchronicity and camaraderie to Obi-Wan and his friendship. Ken and Ben, those quixotic scoundrels, off on another crusade.

[Deleted]

Also @finarvyn I believe lightsabers should be very rare and dangerous indeed. I'm tempted to just make it a save vs. death and failure is instant death or dismemberment, unless the opponent also has one, in which case I'd have to develop or borrow some sort of dueling system. 

My conception of the rarity of lightsabers is supported by Vader taking Ben's after he cuts his body down. Perhaps the Empire has them all destroyed. If the Emperor has no actual power or Force abilities he wouldn't need one. He has other Force users and Inquisitors working for him besides Vader but I don't believe those people have lightsabers. Lightsabers are a Jedi thing. Vader carries one because he was a Jedi, and it's red because Ken liked the color red, or because he's evil now. It's not necessarily symbolic of some tradition that runs parallel to Jediism. 

[Finarvyn]

By the way, my council of Jedi were known as the "Brotherhood of Jedi Knights." I always assumed that light sabers would somehow reflect the soul of the wielder, which is why Vader's is red and Kenobi's is blue-white. Very much in the spirit of OD&D's law-chaos, at least in my mind.

This just popped into my head -- if my memory is correct, which it often isn't, I seem to recall that the novelization of ESB mentions that Obi-wan was a half brother to Owen Lars, which I think means the great "General Obi-Wan Kenobi, Jedi" is actually "Benny Lars, former Moisture Farmer of Tattooine." I always wondered why "Obi-Wan" is sometimes called "Ben" and that could explain it.

I'd love to see this alternate-timeline campaign written up as some sort of sourcebook.