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From: [e-mail] (Jason D Corley)
Newsgroups: rec.games.frp.archives
Subject: REFERENCE: Tales From The Rebellion FAQ
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Date: 3 Apr 1995 10:27:08 -0400
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Okay, while the perennial and moderately climactic space battle
is being written, here's the new updated version of the TFTR FAQ.



UPDATES TO THE FAQ:

The percentage yield of Tales From The Rebellion!
Tales From The Rebellion net.resources!  (think of it as merchandising...)
Spelling errors corrected!  (wow!)
More cast members, musical guests, explanations and snide comments!
Half the calories!





-----------------------------------------------------------------
The Tales From The Rebellion FAQ
    Version 1.5
         A New Hope
================================
A long time ago, in a Galaxy far, far away...
================================

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1. Names
   a) Naming the Droids
   b) Naming the Ships
2. COMPNOR
3. Stupid Character Tricks
4. Vehicle Notes
   a) Ships
   b) Speeders
5. A Larson Origin Story?  A Zorel Origin Story?
6. Our Email Addresses
7. Celebrity cameos and the Cast List
   a) Greg Proops and Tony Slattery
   b) Everyone else--Our cast list.
   c) Explanations of the more inexplicable cast members.
8. The "Real" Star Wars movies: where do we fit in?
9. Bloopers in "Tales From The Rebellion."
10.  Percentage Yield of "Tales From The Rebellion."
11.  Tales From The Rebellion Net Resources



================================================================
1. a) Your Droid names are really weird: give us a list, willya?
      An explanation of what they mean would be nice too.

Well, droid names in our game are very similar to Paranoia names:
they are meant chiefly as bad puns.

CHIP'S MODIFIED R2 DROID:
R2 MADIKS: (R2 Modified Accelerated Developmental Interactive Klupbrg
        System)

Chip's first R2 unit is named for Artie Maddicks, the proverbial "little
pink mutant guy" from the "X-Terminators" comic book series of the
mid-80s.  (He also appeared in several other "X" books around that time
period.) Artie was a mute, but he could make pictures appear above his
head to communicate.  His best friend was Leech, alias "the little green
mutant guy".

John Hogg was the first one to point this out in the first ever
Tales From The Rebellion Contest, for which the Postal Service
received an autographed copy of Larson and Chip's wanted poster
for publication in their Dead Letter Office.

There are other droid names that we used, most of them worse puns
than this one.  No spoilers in this FAQ, though...


-----------------------------------------------------------------
    b) Come on, then, we know you want to, give us a list of all
       the ship names you guys gave to the ships you flew:

Well, if you put it that way, all right:

The original Z-95 wasn't originally named anything except This Heap Of Junk
by Larson.  After meeting Kestren, however, they renamed it The Kestren
Surprise.

The Modified Shuttle that Ryetar flies probably had a really cool name,
but we forgot to ask what it was.

There will be other ship names, and this part of the FAQ will
justify it's existence, really, it will, trust me on this.

I just don't want to hand out too many spoilers.

================================================================
2.  What the heck is COMPNOR Science?  (from Part 1)  Or
    "COMPNOR Intelligence"? (from Part 11)

If you haven't seen West End Games' _Imperial Sourcebook_, it's very
likely you don't know what COMPNOR is.  COMPNOR stands for Committee for
the Preservation of the New Order.  It started as a sort of "Empire
Booster Club", but quickly developed into a political and military tool
for use by the Emperor.  It can be likened to the civilian arm of the
Empire: regulating art, education, colonization, scouting new planets,
taxation, and, as Chip found out, science.  It often works closely with
Imperial military forces, as we also found out.  It is also a sort of
neo-NSA "intelligence service" for rooting out treason in the
military...gee, all of a sudden this sounds like another game... ("Commie
mutant Rebels!")

COMPNOR is not in the "real" movies.

======================================================================
3.  Stupid Character Tricks

    a) Jeez, if Chip is so smart, how come he, Larson and Zorel would
    do something as stupid as try to fly to Selerthon when they didn't
    make contact with their pickup? (from Part 7)

When we thought about it later, we realized what a stupid idea it had
been.  If you like, you can call it a momentary brain malfunction, but I
like to think that when Chip and Larson decide that a mission is screwed
up, they don't want to do it halfway. John also informs us that there were
in fact things to do on that other planet, but that we were taking the
wrong route in getting there.

    b) The Empire builds an extensive base in order to transmit
    for a cloaking shield for capital ships, it puts up a cloaking
    shield around the base, and it _neglects_ to put any means
    of communications into the base other than a single computer
    cable?

Well, John isn't one of COMPNOR Architectural Engineering's fine
employees, so sometimes he does stuff like that.  However, we pointed out
that the cloaking shield was experimental---they may not have worked out
all the quirks yet, and perhaps there was only one shielded line
available.  John has confirmed that this is in fact the case, covering his
tracks in a big way.

==================================================================
4.  What is the deal with the vehicles in the story?

    a) Specifically, tell me about the ships in the story.

OK.

The Z-95 STARFIGHTER that Chip and Larson fly to Atraxis, and later to
Rakrir, is a heavily-modified version of the ancient design of the Z-95,
(of which Han Solo has been known to say: "What did you do, knock over a
museum?"  John calls it "the VW bug of the spaceways") The Z-95 is not
widely used by the Rebellion, since it has no hyperdrive.  Of course,
since Chip can make ships sit up and beg just by brandishing a
hydrospanner at them, there was little problem in inserting a hyperdrive
into the Z-95, at the expense of most of the hull, all of the shields and
guns, and most of the sublight capability.  Though it is conceivable that
Larson could complain more about the Z-95, it is unlikely that any human
would be able to do so.
    The even more modified version that appears in Parts 18-?? has a single
medium blaster cannon mounted on the front and more shields. However, it's
pokier, both in normal- and hyper- space, and is very fragile.

The LANCER-CLASS FRIGATE that Chip and Larson blow up on Atraxis is
slightly different from the Frigate listed in _The Imperial Sourcebook_.
According to John (our GM), the Lancer _class_ indicates the sort of
engine in the frigate (a Lancer, oddly enough). The military design of the
frigate is for starfighter suppression, though it doesn't hold up well in
fleet engagements.  The model that Chip and Larson blew up had been
quickly and heavily modified to carry prefabricated mining facilities to
Atraxis and power stasis field generators to remove the baradium.  John
informs us that this is to emphasize the quickly cobbled-together aspect
of the Imperial mission.

The CONVERTED SHUTTLE that Ryetar flies in Part 9 and crashes in Part 10
is a design by John himself.  Since the only shuttles we see in the movies
are Imperial military shuttles, he used that as a jumping-off point for
other military shuttles.  It looks very similar, with the three fold-out
wings, but they are swept back for easier deployment in atmosphere.  Also,
this particular shuttle did in fact have more guns and shields than the
ordinary model, but since we never got to use them, they aren't referred
to in the story.

     b) All right, enough about the ships already.  What about the
        speeders in the story?  What about them, huh, wiseguy?

Sure, thing, sizzlechest.

The MILITARY SPEEDER that Larson steals on Wevsignington Six is
essentially an ordinary landspeeder, much like the one Ben and Luke drove
at the beginning of "A New Hope", with two exceptions: first, it is
armored a lot better (although it is still open to the air), and second,
it has a blaster turret mounted in place of a rear passenger seat.  Other
than that, it looks very similar, cheesy special effects and all.

=====================================================================
5.  We've seen Chip's origin story.  What about Larson's?  How about
    Zorel?

There is little hope for a Zorel story.  Consider this scene:

CHIP: Where are you from, Zorel?
ZOREL (stares steel-eyed into distance): A ways off.
CHIP: Yeah, but where?
ZOREL (glares at CHIP, then walks away.  Cue music)

On the other hand, a Larson story is possible.  If you want to see a
Larson story, bug Ryan at the address below.

===================================================================
6.  Yeah, gimmee your email addresses!

No sweat.  I'm [e-mail].  Ryan (who plays Larson)
is [e-mail].  John Brownlee (our GM and Director)
is [e-mail].  Eric Vens (who briefly played Zorel) is
[e-mail].

===================================================================

7.  The Celebrity Section

a.1)  Who are Greg Proops and Tony Slattery?

They're the guys who play Chip and Larson in the movie.

a.2)  You dummy.  I mean who are they in real life?

They're British comedians.  They can be seen on "Whose Line Is
It Anyway?", which currently airs on Comedy Central.  Also,
Tony Slattery is in "The Crying Game", in a small role.

This would be Greg Proops first semi-serious role.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
b) How come you have so darn many celebrity cameos in this flick?

Because we don't have to pay them.  Here's the current list
of people we have playing what parts

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

Tales From The Rebellion
A Lucasfilm Production
Special Effects by Industrial Light and Magic
Musical Score by John Williams
Additional Music by Tori Amos, Timbuk3, Laurie Anderson, Richard Vranch,
         Tom Petty, Counting Crows, and Jane Siberry.

STARRING
Greg Proops as Chip Stevens
Tony Slattery as Larson Margath
Jonathan Pryce as Commander Kestren
Tommy Lee Jones as Outlaw Zorel

ALSO STARRING
Patricia Arquette as Sherilyn
Sean Connery as Prefect Naynosn
George Lucas as the Crotchety Old Guy
Anthony Hopkins as the Freaky Old Guy
Steven Seagal as Captain Vogel
Clint Eastwood as The Stranger
Paul Hogan as Lieutenant Ryetar

FEATURING
Michael Caine as Commander Ontsius
Kim Cattrell as Commander Syrtys
Gavin Macleod as Captain Simkith
Sandy Toksvig as Generic Rebel Commander #4
Clive Anderson as Admiral Ptovny
Ryan Stiles as The Colonel
Josie Lawrence as Slicer Mary
John Sessions as Chancellor Fromp
Jack Nicholson as Chief Technician Stonway
Richard Vranch as the Cantina Musician
Mike McShane as the Mining Camp Trader
Laurie Anderson as the Shuttlecraft Stewardess
Gene Hackman as the Bartender
Rick Moranis as the Used Repulsorbelt Dealer
Francis Ford Coppola as the Gun Dealer
Florence Henderson as the Bo-Nasty Dark Jedi
Brad Pitt as the Generic Rebel Technician
Kimmy Robertson as the Rebel Officer Babe


-------------------------------------------------------------
c) Why the heck did you pick...

    i) Bill Murray as a fighter jock?

Well, we wanted to make a joke: as we never actually _saw_
Vul-Dea, only heard his voice on a commo unit, we referred
to him like Carlton the doorman from the 1970s show "Rhoda",
one of Murray's first roles.  Carlton never appeared in an
episode and was only a voice in the wall.

    ii) Laurie Anderson as the Shutlecraft Stewardess?

Listen to her story "Language of the Future" on United States
Parts I-IV, and you will know why: she does a _stunning_
stewardess impersonation.

    iii) Brad Pitt as a technician?

We wanted to bonk him on the head.

    iv) Kimmy Robertson as the Babe Officer?

Because she hasn't gotten much good work since "Twin Peaks."

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

SUGGESTIONS FOR MORE PEOPLE (OR BETTER PEOPLE) FOR THE CAST ARE MUCH
               APPRECIATED!

============================================================

8.  "TFtR" and the other Star Wars movies.

    a) Are any of the characters from the "real" Star Wars movies
    going to turn up?

Darth Vader made a cameo appearance in Part 9.  There will be others.

    b) So when is "Tales From the Rebellion" set anyway?

"Tales From The Rebellion" is set, at least during the beginning, in the
"golden age" of Star Wars: just after the battle of Yavin (the end of "Star
Wars IV: A New Hope."), although the time scale is not clear.  Events from
the other movies eventually turn up in this one.  John has done a great
job trying to keep us abreast of where we are in relation to the other
movies.

======================================================================
9.  Hey!  I've seen discrepancy X in the story!  What's the deal?

Well, like all movies, and like all role-playing games, we make mistakes,
we make errors, and we don't remember things all that well.  Hence, we've
made the "Bloopers" section of the FAQ. Some are "true bloopers" in that
they represent actual error. Some are "false bloopers" in that they
represent areas of discrepancy that were explained out-of-character, or
off-screen, as the case may be.

FALSE BLOOPERS
--------------

1.  "Jedi...Jedi...Who's got the Jedi?"
=====================================

One that I saw during the game came up in Part 9: Chip is unable to find
the power source with his sensor pack because of interference from the
metallic rocks in the soil.  Yet the stormtroopers had no problems
finding the Freaky Old Guy, even underground!  The explanations that were
given are: 1. The stormtroopers knew what they were looking for.  2.  The
stormtroopers had been specifically trained in the use of that specific
sensor unit, whereas Chip, being somewhat of a technical genius, was
navigating on pure talent.  3.  The stormtroopers were lucky---they walked
right past the mouth of the cave.  4.  The time that elapsed between the
shuttle's hasty departure from the planet and the stormtroopers
discovering the cave was much larger than it appeared---they in fact _did_
cast around aimlessly for many hours before they found him.


TRUE BLOOPERS
-------------

1.  "Money money money money.  MONEY!"
======================================
In Part 7, as Zorel and Chip are fleeing the landing pad after
Zorel has used a blaster dispersion grenade to dispatch some
stormtroopers, Chip says they are "Worth every cent."  This should,
of course, be "Worth every millicred" or something like that.


MORE BLOOPERS WANTED!  LET'S MAKE DICK CLARK SQUEAL LIKE NED BEATTY!

=======================================================================


10.  Tell me about the Percentage Yield of "Tales From The Rebellion."

The percentage yield is a measure of how many explosions have occurred in
Tales From The Rebellion:

CURRENT NUMBER OF PARTS: 18
EPISODES IN WHICH SOMETHING EXPLODES: 10
VOLUME PERCENTAGE YIELD: 55.5%

The average yield is the total estimated amount of megatonnage exploded in
all Tales episodes divided betwixt all the episodes.  It is in the process
of being calculated, as it is quite large even by conservative estimates.

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

11.  Okay, I'm sold.  Where can I get Tales From The Rebellion?

Well, all the currently available parts of Tales From The Rebellion
are accessible via anonymous ftp from tau.lpl.arizona.edu.

We are working on a WWW connection.  Until we get one of our own,
Bernard Hsiung, honorary Tales From The Rebellion Generic Officer
#5, has em connected to his homepage.  You can gettem at:

http://www.engin.umich.edu/~bshsiung/TFTR/tftrindex.html

Also on the Tales from the Rebellion ftp site, you can find the
trailers to Tales From The Rebellion, this FAQ, and a bunch of other
neat stuff.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Other questions and additions to the FAQ are also welcomed.



In the works: A game-speak summary of Chip and Larson's skills,
          Why John allowed Chip force skills,
          Tales From The Rebellion merchandising (including
        music videos, action figures and models!)
          and much much more!



--
"FREEDOM: Liberty.  There is no scientific distinction between
 Freedom and Liberty, naturalists having never been able to find
 a living specimen of either."        ---------- Ambrose Bierce
Jason "[e-mail]" Corley has been on this road before.