A report, wherein a new Headmaster is elevated, an old favorite returns, and some scary universe changes are discussed. Today's episode is brought to you by the City of Mishawaka, Indiana and the number 43.

As was alluded to in the notes from Friday's DC meeting (we have those, yes), thhere's been a lot of discussion about who we should bring on the DC as Headmaster. Solari had done great things in the office, and much of the daily grind is already automated, so the next headmaster's regular workload is lessened.... what does that mean? It means that the next headmaster can't operate under a 'business as usual' mode, since we all already know that the daily load is a lot lighter than it used to be. We were looking for someone with the vision to help expand the SA into the rest of the club, to increase it's role in the modern DB, and to recognize that the SA is a critical part of our new join (i accidentally typed 'hire' there...spending too much time at work these days) process.

Thaat is actually, one of the biggest issues facing the Brotherhood right now, make no mistake. With the new films in production, we are going to see a lot more popular interest in Star Wars, and we absolutely Must capitalize on it. We have been mobilizing to take advantage of it (see increased social media moves, etc), and the Shadow Academy is going to need to prepare for an influx of new joins, eager to learn what we're about, what we do, and how we do it.

We had quite a few great applications. Each person had some unique ideas for what they thought that the SA needed, what the DB needs from the SA. It was not a terribly easy call, hence why the whole DC was advising on the scenario. In the end, one person came out ahead of the others, based on their ideas and plans as laid out in their application. Daciien Victae di Plagia will be stepping up into the role of Headmaster.

Normally, when a Dark Council position comes up, the DGM and the GM talk a bit, sometimes asking some old GMs for advice. This time, we involved the whole Dark Councill. That's not the norm, according to the past. And no, it's not a vote sort of scenario, but it is critical to working as a team. We've had a lot of times (more in the ancient past) where the DC was fractitious, backstabby, and hyper-political. While an argument could be made that this sort of arrangement created a more aggressive sort of competition, with each faction trying to create better things so as to gain influence over the other, it seems that this is simply not the case. Over the past few years, I have found that when the DC is 'on the same team', it actually helps get things done a lot smoother, a lot faster than otherwise.

Now, I can already hhear some people snarking about how that could be a platoon of yes-men and sycophants, and how that could limit the DB to moving only in that one, myopic vision. And I can understand that being a threat. Frankly, it's not the case right now. I'm not overly interested in yes-men. Contrary to some critics, I don't think I am always right. So I need people who have ideas of their own, and can defend them as well as they can critique mine. We have a group of people, from many walks of life, who each bring something different to the table. We don't always agree. That's going to happen. But we can come to agreements, compromise, and get the club moving in the right direction.

The folks over at Disney dropped a few atom bombs recently. First, they released the casting for the newest of the films (tentatively being released for the Christmas season next yyear. Of local importance, Adam Driver (who was signed, as rumors say to play the bad guy) is from the city where I live now. The City of Mishawaka, IN, known for...well...not much else, to be fair... but that's still kinda cool.

The other thing that they discussed, was the breaking up of canon. The games and books will be called as part of the 'Legends' canon, separate from the films. This surprised very few people, as it makes sense. Why set a film in a time where the books have already beaten everything to death. They almost HAD to call a ddo-over, otherwise the fans (who are likely pissed right now about things like Thrawn and Boba Fett not being slowly digested on Tattooine) might have ruined their prospects by spoilering everything.

Let's be honest, guys...as fans go, Star Wars Fans are a pretty fickle bunch. If they made a feature length film about Jar-Jarr helping the Ewoks get their groove back, we will complain about it as we open our wallets for tickets, as we type up nerd-rage on the internet. But this is more than just about us. We're going to go anyway. What this is about are the new people...those kids who never got a chance to get drawn in as deeply into the mythos because they were hung up on pod races, pseudo-science and terrible child actors. There's a whole new generation of fans out there waiting to be made...and Disney is not going to want to have anyone (even us) go 'Meh...the story is the same as in this Stackpole/Denning/Traviss Novel, read it instead.' and take away from their box office.

Which leads us to the next big question that everyone is thinking: "where does the Dark brotherhood fit into all this new stuff?"

And the answer is "We don't know just yet." Fictionaally, the DB was founded by a Dark Side Adept (think a minion of Palpatine's) who went his own way when the Emperor took his swan dive into a reactor core. That could possibly still happen. And once we get to Antei, we can hide behind the Shroud easily enough. Admittedly, that leaves a good long time in between where we were linked up with the Imperial Remnant (the Emperor's Hammer), and we have no idea how the new canon is going to deal with that, so there's a bit of consternation involved there. Other than that, our retaking of Sith Empire space is probably something to watch out for. At any rate, there are plenty of eyes watching the situation and working to sort out a way for us to exist fictionally in the drastically redefined universe. There's a few options (including one I call 'the nuclear option') on the table for us. Obviously, we'll have to wait at least a year and a half before we know much more.

Once upon a time, there was another Star Wars MMO. It was pretty fun, and lots of people played it. There were some insanely different things about it, like being able to multiclass to death, and not knowing exactly how to become a Jedi (hey, it was set in the time between Empire and Return, if i recall). There were also player cities, and an incredibly deep crafting system and economy that made things really interesting. It also had sandbox planets as well as an open space system, with loads of fully customizable ships. It was called Star Wars Galaxies.

While SWG was first maimed and then crippled by really dumb 'expansions' by the game company, it still remained fun for a lot of people. Ultimately, the game company wasn't able to keep it going, because of their 'upgrades' chasing too many people off the servers, and LucasArts shopped around for a new MMO company (which led to TOR). That meant SWG got closed down, and more than a few people weren't terribly happy about that.

Some of those people happened to be coders, and they used the last few years of the game in decline to mine data off of the servers, working diligently to recreate the game as it initially launched, when there were so many cool things different from every other mmo out there. They called this the Emulator, and my understanding is that it is live, running pre-CU software. The SWGEmu has a website with client launchers and so forth, so anyone who has a game install disc can basically patch it and log into a fan-made server and get playing.

Jonuss Rai clued me in to the fact that this was done and that he was playing it. Catching up with him could score you some server details and additional information, if you are so inclined.

Just a quick reminder that we will be having some pretty cool one-day-only events on May 4th to celebrate Star Wars day. You should check out our site repeatedly throughout the day for those cool competitions and possibly some other cool stuff.

In addition, those of us with kids should make sure that we get the little ones over to your local Disney store on May 4th. There's all sorts of cool happenings in store for Disney's first Star Wars day, including give-aways and the launch of new toys.

Pravus, Mav and crew have been working hard to get t he ACC going, and we're going to have an inaugural championship as the sole event for the next chapter of The Dark Crusade: Fading Light. You should signup. Fading Light ACC Signups!

Ask the GM Time!

Sight asks "<Sight> for Ask the GM, if a normal (non dc or unit head) wanted to get in a vendeta fiction, or featured in one, what would they have to do? also How are the vendeta fictions formed, whats the basis for them? and finaly what is the usual breakfast of champions that get muz going in the morning?"

I'll break this down. If a 'normal member' wanted to get in on official fiction/comics, whatever, you should do a few things... First off, be active. We won't use you if you're not noticeable. Second, be readily identifiable. All too many of our characters are non-descript. If you're playing a human male with brown hair, you're not going to stand out in a crowd, even if your eyes are some unnatural color. If you look back across things, you'll see that playing an alien usually helps. But yeah, I get it, maybe you don't want to go that far. Winning major comps helps a lot. If your character was the one responsible for (insert game-changing event here), you bet your sweet *(&^ that you'll probably get a cameo, at the very least.

vendetta fictions are a collaborative effort. It usually starts with someone having a great idea. That person can be anyone. But the team (usually the DC, or a small subsection of it) gets together and starts work-shopping it, doing 'wouldn't it be cool' scenarios and working it together to get a cool end product that we hope everyone will be happy with.

And Muz the character probably eats some sort of eggs and steak combination to get him going in the morning. In real life, I rarely get more than a protein bar, a multivitamin and a glass of water.

Atty asks "With the revamped ACC in its final stages and about ready to roll out in FL2, what's the next major project for the DB as a whole? The Possessions system? The LS guide? Something secret and darkity?"

The Lightsaber guide is actually nearing completion. It's just some final touches and a little bit of heavy lifting left. Same for the Alchemy Guide. The Hand to Hand Guide is plodding along, albeit a bit slower than many of us on the project would like. Possessions is a huge deal, and Jam3z and company have been working with me on it for some time now. It is a huge project, and it will continue to take a lot of time and effort to get it done, and get it done right. For the DC as a whole, the biggest thing on the horizon is the work for GJWXI.

TL;DR

• Dacien is Headmaster!

• Disney announced casting for new film!

• Disney calls everything except for clone wars and films noncanon. Much gnashing of teeth.

• SWGEmu launched!

• Special One-Day-Only events on May 4th!

• Get to the Disney Store for May 4th.

• Sight and Atty get DCs for Ask The GM.

And that is about all for this time. Have fun out there!