How tabletop role play shaped my view of Star Wars

Over the last year, I’ve jumped into the world of tabletop role-playing for the first time. I always wanted to play Dungeons & Dragons, and with the rise of webseries like Critical Role and one of my favorite shows, The Legends of Vox Machina, my interest was piqued. Yes, I got caught up in the Matt Mercer Effect.

Coming together with fellow content creators, I finally got to play my first TTRPG. We chose Star Wars 5th Edition (SW5e for short), set the game in the High Republic era, and set off on an adventure! Something I was not expecting when jumping into tabletop was how it would change how I thought about Star Wars. It wasn’t just one thing but a series of moments that made me consider different parts of the franchise in a new light.

When building a character, I had to rationalize how and why things in canon are the way they are. We don’t have answers for every single detail in Star Wars, so part of the fun was coming up with my own story of why.

For example, I play a Gozzo because I adore Star Wars Resistance and wanted to pay some homage to Flix, one of my favorite characters. There are no female Gozzos in canon yet, which made me sit and craft how a female Gozzo would act in her society. We’ve also yet to have a Gozzo in canon wear pants. I know this is strange to bring up, but I had to figure out what she would wear when determining her armor class. After watching a lot of Resistance, it dawned on me why. Their knees bend 360 degrees all the way around, and any pants would hinder their movement. Like Wookiees, they’re simply a pants-less society, leading to many fun jokes over our first story arc because of my character’s lack of bottom clothing and pockets.

The twists, turns, and oftentimes random dice-rolling chaos of tabletop also lead to exploration in the story. For our TTRPG, we dove into places that I never considered before as a fan.

Our crew found ourselves on an entire side mission on Yag’Dhul, the homeworld of the Givin. Let me tell you, dear reader, how I knew nothing about this world going into this. I forgot that a Givin is in the cantina scene in A New Hope. I never cared to learn. Along with my character, I got a crash course in everything Yag’Dhul which was something I probably wouldn’t have sought out on my own if not for going along for the ride.

The collaboration aspect is so wonderful, too, as my fellow players teach me about their favorite parts of fandom. I’ve never been a Legends person. I’ve dipped my toe into the Extended Universe but never fully jumped in. We discovered one of our crew members has ties to Zakuul, which delighted my fellow players who adore The Old Republic games. Learning about this lost empire from my co-podcasters has been one of the best parts as they share their piece of their Star Wars fandom with me.

I did say co-podcasters just now, as this is a show we’re creating together to share with the world. It’s called For Light and Dice if you want to check us out.

Diving into tabletop has changed how I think about Star Wars. Looking at different aliens in the franchise makes me really consider how they function in the galaxy. It makes me question fun details like if Quermians don’t have spines, how do they stand? It’s something we have to figure out on our own! I get to go to planets and deep dive into places I never considered looking up. My fellow fans teach me why they love this franchise and vice versa. Best of all, I get to go on an adventure in a galaxy far, far away with friends.

There’s nothing better than that.