Anakin Skywalker: A Cinematic Character

Introduced by Thomas Reid

Last month, I talked about the "cinematic" quality of the movies through concept of vitality in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. However, another challenge we faced during the production of the game was making sure we replicated the various movie characters’ skills and abilities while remaining within the framework of the rules. That is, could we make a game character do the same things the movie version did without cheating?

For example, the character of Anakin Skywalker in The Phantom Menace is an incredibly skilled Podracer. When it came time to create Anakin for the book, the design team knew it would be a challenge to build a game version of him -- with the game-rule limitations of a little kid -- that still allowed him to race as well as he did.

In the end, the rules design succeeded; both the heroic and the human qualities of our iconic characters fit within the framework of the system -- with no fudging! Look at this excerpt from Chapter Thirteen of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, and I think you’ll see what I mean.

Nine-year-old Anakin Skywalker will one day grow up to be one of the most evil men in the galaxy, feared as a tyrant and a mass murderer. But looking into his innocent blue eyes, hearing the simple joy of life in his voice, one would never suspect Anakin’s future could be so bleak. For his own part, Anakin dreams of being a famous starfighter pilot, and even a Jedi Knight, and returning someday to Tatooine to free all the slaves -- including his beloved mother, Shmi.

But as a slave himself, owned by the irascible Watto, Anakin knows in his heart that his dreams are just childish fantasies. What he does not yet realize is that within him the Force is stronger than in any living being, and that his dreams may actually be premonitions of things that will one day come to pass. For the time being, though, he works as an assistant to his Toydarian master, scavenging spare parts to repair and sell, bartering with Jawas, and piloting Watto’s Podracer in the local heats. To Anakin, being allowed to fly a Podracer is the next best thing to being in the cockpit of a starfighter, and when Watto recognized the boy’s astounding reflexes, Anakin jumped at his master’s offer to pilot a Podracer on Watto’s behalf.

Although that Podracer is now so much junk -- destroyed in a race against the vile Sebulba -- Anakin has put his extraordinary mechanical skills to good use, building a replacement in secret behind the slave quarters where he lives. He has also managed to assemble a protocol droid from spare parts, using only his innate understanding of electronics and machinery as a blueprint. The droid, which Anakin named C-3PO, though unfinished, has still proven useful to Anakin as a translator with some of the unusual species who visit Tatooine and need to buy, sell, or trade parts.

Anakin’s staunchest supporter in his home city of Mos Espa is another young slave, Kitster, who is as dark as Anakin is fair. Kitster was with him when Anakin discovered an old war droid among Watto’s junk piles, and they learned that it still held an ancient hologram of a Sith battle. (The two played "Sith Warrior" until an old spacer corrected their misconceptions about the nature of that ancient order.)

As a slave, Anakin wears simple clothing, with bindings at the wrists and ankles to keep sand out, and a necklace given to him by his mother; all of his most prized possessions fit into his small backpack. This has partly to do with the fact that nearly everything he has comes from the stingy Watto, but also because he is generous almost to a fault, sharing everything he finds or earns with his mother, his friends, and even strangers he meets in the streets. It is difficult to believe, observing his easy demeanor and open familiarity, that this same na•ve child will turn to evil, but his fear for his mother’s safety and his frustration over being unable to fulfill his dreams are both powerful influences that will gradually pull him toward the dark side of the Force.

Anakin Skywalker: Male Human Fringer 1; Init +2 (Dex); Defense 16 (+3 class, +1 size, +2 Dex); Spd 6m; VP/WP 8/10; Atk +0 melee (1d3Ð1, punch), +4 ranged; SQ +4 to Hide checks, barter; SV Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +0; SZ S; FP 3; Rep 1; Str 8, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 12.

Equipment: Podracer, partially finished protocol droid (C-3PO), backpack of spare parts.

Skills: Knowledge (Podracing) +5, Knowledge (Tatooine) +5, Pilot +9, Repair +3, Search +5, Read/Write Basic, Read/Write Huttese, Speak Basic, Speak Huttese, Spot +4, Survival +3.

Force Skills: Enhance Ability +3.

Feats: Force-Sensitive, Skill Emphasis (Pilot), Weapon Group Proficiency (blaster pistols), Weapon Group Proficiency (simple weapons).