Atten-Hutt!

For the expansion, see Jabba's Palace Limited.

Atten-HUTT! is Cory Herndon's advance tour of Jabba's Palace in The Duelist #26 (June 1998, pages 76–78). It includes an interview with designer Jerry Darcy and a sidebar on Decipher's 1998–99 plans.

The Duelist #26, June 1998, page 76.

The Duelist #26, June 1998, page 77.

The Duelist #26, June 1998, page 78.

Atten-HUTT!
An Advance Tour of Jabba's Palace by Cory Herndon

"If there's a bright center to the universe, you're on the planet that it's farthest from."
—Luke Skywalker, describing Tatooine

Tatooine sees a lot of action for a backwater planet. A major location in both Star Wars and Return of the Jedi, this desert world also features prominently in the new Episode One. Perhaps it is Tatooine's remoteness that makes it so popular as a hideout for gangsters and criminals. After all, when you're looking to establish a base for your crime syndicate, there are three factors to take into consideration: location, location, and location. So whether you're wandering the Jundland Wastes or buying a drink in the local spaceport, you're bound to encounter some unsavory type who has the death sentence on twelve systems and doesn't like you, either.

Decipher's newest expansion for the Star Wars CCG, Jabba's Palace, focuses on the best-known crimelord of them all, the slug-like Jabba the Hutt. Decipher also announced recently that in addition to an all-new game based on the prequels (see sidebar), the company is also licensed to create cards after the 1999 release of Episode One—one of the few current licensees who may do so.

These releases will definitely cover the Shadows of the Empire story as well as several recent novels and video games. In a recent interview, lead Star Wars designer Jerry Darcy was able to throw us a few Krayt Dragon bones about what to expect in the new set and what the future holds for the Star Wars CCG.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DESIGNER

Duelist: Several characters will no doubt reappear in Jabba's Palace in new forms. Should we expect new versions of any main characters—a Jedi Luke, for instance?
Jerry Darcy: Hmmmm. I can say that there will be a new main or two in the set.

There have been numerous references to characters "disguising" themselves for entry into Jabba's Palace. Care to elaborate? How will the disguise mechanic work?
It will not be a mechanic all to itself. The current "disguising" that we have in the set plays off of the Undercover mechanic already developed in the game. There are two cards that are disguised or disguising cards: Tamtel Skreej and A Gift (these are working titles).

It seems that whenever a new Star Wars expansion is released, there's grumbling about how it favors one side of the Force over the other. Which side gets more new characters out of Jabba's Palace?
It's pretty close. They're within a couple cards of one another. Right now, Dark's ahead by a Nikto and a Skrilling.

That's tantalizing. How about dropping a few other card names?
Jabba, Bib Fortuna, Salacious Crumb, Ephant Mon, Ree-Yees, and all the other aliens you can remember from the first third of Return of the Jedi will be in this set. One of my favorite new cards is currently called Scum And Villainy. Like Dark Deal and Echo Base Operations, this card gives you a "theme" for your crime syndicate deck.

Another card that I believe will have a very significant impact on gameplay is called Resistance (and its Light side counterpart—Ultimatum). These cards dramatically increase the potential for interaction in the game. I believe we're going to see an entirely new tournament scene as the result of these cards. Twi'lek Advisor and The Signal will also do a lot to change the current deck themes out there.

I'm excited about a lot of the new gameplay we have coming out in this set, and I think players will be very pleased with what's in store for them.

Not to Be Traveled Lightly

Both the Premiere set and the New Hope expansion covered a lot of ground on Luke Skywalker's homeworld, and now Jabba will cover even more. Will the new Tatooine locations be separated from the old in any way, perhaps making them harder to reach?
They'll be distinct from the other Tatooine sites. There will be Jabba's Palace sites as opposed to "regular" Tatooine sites, though they will still be considered Tatooine sites.

Not too many starships in the first part of ROTJ. Do you think this could be considered primarily a site-based expansion?
It does center mostly on the ground, but we've got several new systems coming out to offset this.

The Cloud City rules mentioned that the Jabba's Palace: Dungeon location was the third prison site to be introduced in the game. Are any other prisons planned, or is the Dungeon the last we'll see?
I don't want to say that it'll be the last you'll see, but we do not currently have plans for another one.

One of Jabba's favorite ways to dispose of his enemies is to take them to the Great Pit of Carkoon and drop them into the monstrous Sarlacc. What is the Sarlacc—a location, a creature, both, or neither?
It's a little of both. The Sarlacc is a creature, but it's confined to one site as its habitat. While this does seem limiting, you get quite a benefit from feeding your captives to the Sarlacc.

Jedi Mind Tricks

Star Wars games can often diverge wildly from what took place in the movies. What steps are you taking, if any, to preserve the story arc of the films—for example, making it harder to play Tarkin or Obi-Wan at Jabba's Palace?
Several. Jabba's Palace definitely has an "aliens only" feeling to it.

Hibernation sickness can strike the best of us. Will there be any special mechanics related to "thawing out" Han?
In the Carbon Freezing rules in Cloud City, we gave you built-in ways to thaw out your rescued captives, and we haven't done anything to make that redundant.

The past two expansions have been rife with Dark side bounty hunters. Will bounty hunting be expanded further in Jabba's Palace?
Yes. We've got several new bounty hunters in addition to some new ways of capturing. It should give those bounty hunting decks out there quite a boost.

How much impact will the backstory of the palace from the novels (the B'omarr Monks, etc.) have on the set, if any?
It had quite a bit actually. We looked at the stories for both the lore and the gameplay of some of the aliens. For example, in discovering that Hermi Odle was a weapons master for Jabba, we gave him "pro-weapon" game text. We did a lot of research to make sure that we were either supporting—or at least not contradicting—what came in the novels.

Far, Far Away

Speaking of novels, word is that Decipher is now licensed to create cards based on "non-canonical" works such as Shadows of the Empire. What other Lucasfilm properties will you be able to exploit?
As Warren Holland (Decipher CEO) said in a recent press release, we'll be able to draw from the novels, computer games, and more. I think it will be very interesting to see what comes out of these properties. Warren also said that our additional products would continue to be based primarily on the movies (i.e., don't expect a Jedi Academy Trilogy expansion), with the additional properties worked into new expansions. This is in keeping with what we've done in the past—such as the TIE Scout, the Punishing One, and other created images.

Will the images be entirely computer graphic images, like the ships you just mentioned? Will any artwork be used?
The members of our creative staff that make computer graphic images are definitely artists of the highest caliber. They simply use computers and software instead of paint and canvas. We will continue to use their talents to create new images based on concepts from the Star Wars universe. If you mean artwork on a more conventional level (paintings on canvas), I doubt that we'll use any. On the other hand, fans of our Star Trek CCG will remember the card Persistence of Memory which used the Salvador Dali painting, so I suppose anything's possible.

Will any of these new extended sets be introduced before the final ROTJ installment, Death Star?
Unknown. However, there will be product after Death Star, so it will be coming sooner or later.

Secrecy no doubt surrounds all of these new properties, but is there any chance you could give us some possible card names?
At this time, no. However, it would be hard to do cards from Shadows of the Empire without including Prince Xixor, Guri, Dash Rendar, and the other new characters introduced there. Similarly, it would be hard to do cards from some of the other novels without Mara Jade, Grand Admiral Thrawn, and other notable characters.

Decipher is one of the few companies that will be able to produce new material based on the original trilogy after Star Wars: Episode One is released. Exactly how far into the next millennium do you expect to produce new material for the "classic" game?
I'm not sure. Knowing Warren and the rest of the Decipher team, I know we'll want to keep bringing you this game as long as there is interest. We're not going to abandon our players. People have written to me, to Warren, and to others here at Decipher asking us if the game is going to "end" once we get past Death Star. Our answer is always no. There is still plenty to draw from the movies themselves, and with these new properties there are even more creative opportunities ahead for the design team and the Star Wars CCG. ■

Cory Herndon once attempted to sneak into the Re-Bar disguised as Boussh, but he forgot his thermal detonator. Can you say "Rancor chow?"

Certain Is the Future...Sort Of

There's more than Jabba coming in 1998. The Star Wars CCG Official Tournament Sealed Deck is due any day now. It features 18 exclusive cards designed especially for tournament play, three Premiere boosters, and one New Hope booster, all in a sturdy box that can hold 300 cards. Expect the Second Anthology not long after. This unique item combines an 800-card storage box with a dozen boosters from various expansions, and six exclusive preview cards from the upcoming expansions Special Edition, Endor, and Death Star. This summer should bring the release of the Return of the Jedi Two-Player Game, the third such boxed set for Star Wars. Hopefully we'll see the Special Edition (which will make use of all that added footage from the Star Wars re-releases) before the end of the year.

What to expect beyond 1998? In February, Decipher signed an agreement with Lucasfilm to continue production of the Star Wars CCG past the millennium, drawing on the wealth of unused material from the first three films as well as the novels and video games inspired by the original stories.

Perhaps more importantly, Decipher was also granted a license to produce a standalone trading card game based on the prequel trilogy. Whether these new cards will work with the original game, however, has yet to be decided. This is understandable: while it would certainly be cool to pit young Anakin Skywalker against his alter ego Darth Vader, it would make little sense storywise.

Decipher is saying very little about the license at this time, although a new game would probably offer new versions of Obi-Wan, Tarkin, and Yoda, as well as the aforementioned Anakin Skywalker. Whatever the case, Decipherians are unable to comment further until Episode One has been released to theaters. Decipher's art team must then go through the film with a fine-toothed lightsaber searching for card images. The new game should be released before the end of 1999. —C.H.

See also

• Magazines · Media · The Duelist · Cory Herndon · Jerry Darcy · Warren Holland
• Jabba's Palace Limited · Official Tournament Sealed Deck · Second Anthology

External links

• The Duelist #26, Internet Archive (Wizards of the Coast, June 1998)