After the credits rolled.... * * * * The characters match dissolve to 3" tin figures of themselves standing on a tablecloth. The camera pans out and we see a variety of information sheets, bowls of potato-chips and six sided dice lying all over it. Around the table, a group of kids is seated. Their names are Mark, Carrie, Harrison, Anthony, Kenny and Peter. At the head of the table is a kid named George. GEORGE: Okay, well played guys! MARK: Yeah, great session! I blew up the evil battlestation and even got to learn some Force Skills! HARRISON: Right, now for the important stuff: my character points. I think I deserve a lot of them, seeing as how I risked my ass by returning during the heat of the space-battle. PETER: Wait a minute, Harry: returning was *my* idea! If there's anyone who should get the points for it, it's me! After all, I didn't even get a medal! HARRISON: Oh yeah, the medal. Hey George listen, Han uses his 'value' skill to determine how much credits he can get for it if he hocks it. MARK: Not so fast guys, this isn't over yet. George, Luke runs back to the docking bay, jumps into one of those fighters and goes after the escaped imperial leader, Darth Vader! Anthony, picks up a Star Wars Source Book and flicks through it. ANTHONY: That's got to be possible. He was flying a TIE-fighter, which only has sublight drives. He can't have gotten far. George thinks feverishly and looks at the clock. He has an appointment with his Howard the Duck roleplaying group in a few minutes, but for obvious reasons he's too ashamed to admit it. GEORGE: Um..no. You can't do that, Mark, the adventure is over. CARRIE: What do you mean, he can't do that? I want to go after Vader too! He blew up my home planet! GEORGE: Um..uh.. nonono.. that was Tarkin's idea! Kenny sits silenty at the corner of the table and just gobbles away potato-chips. KENNY: These are delicious! CARRIE: Okay, we'll go after Tarkin then. Surely he must have escaped as well. GEORGE: Uh.. no, actually! He was still onboard the Death Star when it blew. See, he's one of those overconfident types. He never thought the rebels could pull off blowing away the thing. Yeah, that's the ticket! He never thought you'd pull it off! MARK: Well, it *did* cost me all of my Force and Character Points! HARRISON: Which brings us back to the important thing: the character points, I'm in it for the character points. Now, I think I've played my role better than anyone else, so... PETER: No way! If you deserve any kind of points, it's Dark Side Points, for shooting that Tatooine bounty hunter in cold blood! In reaction to this, Anthony immediatly picks up the Star Wars Rule book and flicks through it to the appropriate page. ANTHONY: Actually, Harrison can't get Dark Side Points because his character isn't Force Sensitive. . See? Says so right here. HARRISON: You tell him, 'Tone! And anyway, I was only acting in self-defense, 'cos the bounty hunter shot at me first. PETER: What are you talking about? He didn't shoot first! Would he miss at point-blank range? HARRISON: Well..uh .. maybe George rolled a fumble, right George? GEORGE (looking at the clock nervously): I..I really don't remember.. PETER: The bounty hunter did NOT shoot first! You killed him in cold blood! HARRISON: He did too shoot first! PETER: Did not! HARRISON: Did too! CARRIE: Would you guys stop it? Anyway, I do think Mark should get a few points deducted for calling me by my real name instead of "Leia". HARRISON: Oh, don't be childish! It was only that one instance! And who knows how to pronounce your damn name anyway? ANTHONY: No, I agree with Carrie. One should try to stay in character at all times. MARK: But I didn't say 'Carrie'! Actually, I said 'hey'!! Honest! Alec walks back into the room after spending some time on the toilet. ALEC: Ah, that was some leak! So, is the adventure over yet? MARK: Not if I can help it! Come on, George! I want to go after Vader! ALEC: Yeah, that Vader's gotta die. He killed off my character! A character I've been building up for years, I might add! Carrie groans. Mark shakes his head. MARK: Come on, Alec, we've been over that... ALEC: Yeah, well I'm going over it again! So I rolled a fumble during a lightsaber fight.. I can live with that. But since when does a fumble mean you accidently stand still, do nothing at all and wait until you're chopped down? KENNY: Well, you gotta admit, George, Alec has a point there... GEORGE: Okay, okay. Alec, listen: we'll work something out so that you can still play Ben next session. Although I can't promise we'll be bringing him back to life... CARRIE: Then that's still enough reason to go after Vader: he killed Ben. MARK: Yeah, and don't forget he killed my character's dad too. Alec and George grin and give each other a knowing nod. The door opens and a new kid, Billy, enters the room. He's waving a character sheet. BILLY: Mornin', all! Sorry I'm late, but I have come up with a cool new character to play; I used the gambler template, see, and... All other kids groan. CARRIE: Well... look who decided to get out of bed! MARK: Billy, you dolt! HARRISON: You were supposed to be here at eight! ALEC: This *always* happens, asshole! BILLY: (offended) Well, excuuuuse me for having a life, losers! I was grooving to the funk in the discotheque till well over midnight last night. Surely you can't expect me to get up at seven-thirty? ANTHONY: I'm afraid you missed the entire adventure, Billy. BILLY: Whaaat?! Ah, man!! Carrie, baby, say it ain't so! CARRIE: Well, maybe it.. um.. "ain't" so, because Mark and I still want to go after an escaped Imperial leader called Darth Vader! MARK: Yeah, it'll be cool: a boy and a girl on a quest against evil. They fight Darth Vader, and then they fall in love.. CARRIE: Yeah, a classic story! Alec and George grin and give each other another knowing nod. MARK: So, how about it George? Can I go after Vader? GEORGE: Um.. no. Vader's way to far away by now. ANTHONY: No, that can't be the case. Like I said, TIE-Fighters only have sublight-drives, which... GEORGE: Well.. um.. he wasn't flying a TIE-Fighter! HARRISON: What are you talking about? He was! I'm sure you asked me which of the THREE TIE-Fighters I was aiming for! GEORGE: Um.. well... see, it *looked* like a TIE-Fighter, but it was actually a very *special* TIE-fighter. Which.. which had a hyperdrive. Yeah, that's it! A hyperdrive! So.. um.. he could be anywhere by now! MARK: Oh, darn it! Now we'll never catch him! GEORGE: Don't worry, Mark. Vader's an important imperial. I promise you'll meet him again in the next session. MARK: Well, then I can't wait until the next session! PETER: Me neither. And George, will "The Wizard of Oz" be joining us next week? Heh heh.. All laugh, except Mark. HARRISON: Haha! Wizard of Oz! Good one, Pete! MARK: Come on guys, it's not nice to laugh at Frank behind his back. ALEC: Well, you've got to admit he's a pretty weird guy, Mark. GEORGE: Oh, Frank'll be there. He's already created a character, too. I'm still not too sure if I'm going to allow it, though, because get this: he wants to play a green gnome who's strong with the Force! All laugh, now including Mark. CARRIE: Ha ha! A green gnome! Yep, that's our Frank! PETER: Heh heh! And to think Harrison called my 'walking dog' idea too weird! HARRISON: Hee hee! What's next? Spear-wielding Teddy-bears? GEORGE: Another reason I'm not too sure about Frank's character is that it's a pretty powerful one. If I allow it, I may have to come up with a new, more powerful enemy to provide a challenge... MARK: More powerful than Vader? That's gonna be tough. ALEC: (Sarcastically) Hey, George, don't sweat it: you can always kill off Frank's character if he ever rolls a fumble! CARRIE: Come on, Alec, shut up about that already! So guys, when is the next session, anyway? All turn to Anthony; he's the know-it-all of the group. ANTHONY: Oh, um.. It's next saturday, at 2pm. HARRISON: Good! Hear that, Billy? 2pm! Then you can sleep late and still be on time for once! BILLY: Wait a minute. Guys, I don't think I can make it. I promised my girlfriend I'd take her out to lunch next saturday! All groan. Billy realizes they've just about had enough of his constantly breaking dates. BILLY: But..but.. you can start without me! And I promise you I'll get here as fast as I can! GEORGE: Well, okay, if you don't mind missing the first half of the adventure... BILLY: No, it's okay, really! HARRISON: It's settled then, next saturday 2pm. Now George, about those character points... [fade to black] * * * *