Level One - Lesson 1
What is Level One?
Also available are archives of live broadcasts, where the Program Director goes over the lesson, answers any questions that folks may have and sometimes goes on tangets about other elements of judging. You can find the playlist of broadcasts on youtube.
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While proper translation and localization are among our long-term goals, we are currently offering Google Translate on the page. Please keep in mind that the translation is automatic, which means that specific game terms, names of cards or mechanics, or technical language used to describe the game may not translate well. As with the documents for the game itself, the English page is the authoritative document in case of any confusion or discrepancy.Join the discussion in our Discord and talk with other judges about what you learned, and ask any questions you may have!
Hello there!
Welcome to the Judge Program for Star Wars™: Unlimited!
If you’ve gone through the Judge Apprentice lessons, you’ll already be familiar with this, but I’m Jonah - and I am the director of the Judge Program here at Cascade Games. We are working in concert with the designers and developers of Star Wars: Unlimited at Fantasy Flight Games to create a certification program that lines up with the needs of competitive Organized Play, as well as casual-tier play at local game stores across the world.
This is the first in a series of lessons to help you earn your certification as an official judge for Star Wars: Unlimited. These seventeen (at least) lessons are part of the educational modules for the level one certification, which will help you further develop core rules knowledge and better understand the game, as well as begin to understand tournament policy, tournament logistics, and how to interact with your community in a positive and healthy way.
Let’s Get Philosophical
This lesson is going to be a bit more philosophical than many others. Now, “philosophy” is a term that I throw around a fair amount - whether I’m talking about rules, policy, best practices, or other elements of judging.See, one of the most exciting things about judging is that it’s not solved. It’s not possible to predict all the things that players will do at events, it’s not possible to run a perfect event - the world is a dynamic place, and everything is shifting. Philosophy is the guiding light behind the judge program - it’s the ideals, the logic, the perspective and the goals of the judge program. It’s where you should look when education and documentation don’t cover the situation you’re in.
Before everything else, before all the documentation, before the rules - Star Wars: Unlimited is supposed to be fun, and it’s supposed to be fair. When in doubt, look to those principles to keep yourself on track.
We Are Gatekeepers
As judges, we are the gatekeepers to the community. We are the people that most players will first interact with in a formal capacity while playing, whether it be at a local game store or at a large convention.It’s our responsibility to keep those gates wide open. Sharing the joy of Unlimited and developing a positive and welcoming community is a key part of the judge program. In one of the early Judge Apprentice lessons, I mentioned that players will frequently think that judges have more connection to FFG and more authority than they actually do - and that means that you, as a judge, have a significant impact on the development of your community.
There’s a saying about great power and the responsibility that comes with it. It’s up to us to be kind and generous custodians of this community.
Be Professional - Always “On”
However, there are costs to this role. Once you begin to judge regularly, players in your environment, whether it be at your local game store or at larger events, will begin to recognize you and see you as the judge, and that means that your actions, even when you’re not in a role as a judge, will be perceived as you representing judges.Professionalism means being kind and respectful to your players. To not show bias or favoritism. To use language that isn’t offensive or makes anyone feel uncomfortable. When you take a call at a table, make sure to listen to both players if there’s any disagreement or concern at all. Introduce yourself and ask to know who they are if you’re not familiar with them.
However, this extends beyond just being respectful when you’re a judge as a player in an event, it is important to call for a judge when you make a mistake or a rules discrepancy comes up. Brushing it off by saying “I can fix it, trust me, I’m a judge.” undermines your credibility. Acting as a judge at your match comes with conflicting incentives - and while it is something that you can pull off, especially at unsanctioned and more relaxed events, it’s critical to be cognizant of the impression that you are delivering.
When hanging out at your store and chatting with your friends - watch your language and how you present yourself. If a player overhears you saying “Oh, Boba is the worst leader, and anyone who plays them is stupid.” that can make them feel excluded
There’s this concept that I want to instill in judges that “perception is reality” - with that above comment if someone is playing that deck and overhears your judgment, they may perceive you as someone who is judgmental and dismissive, even if that’s not who you are. Their reality is that you are because the only information they have is their observation of you. While it can change over time, their feelings and any feedback they may provide are no less valid.
Keepers of the Peace, Not Enforcers of the Law
As judges, it’s our job to ensure that games are fun and fair - that’s why we’re available to answer questions and we have the training to provide remedies in situations where mistakes are made.However, to be able to do that job, we need to be able to know when these errors occur or when folks have uncertainties about cards and game mechanics.
To be able to do that, players need to feel comfortable calling for a judge. They need to know that when they call for a judge they are going to get a fair ruling that doesn’t punish them. That the way we fix it is the best possible solution. That they’re going to get the information they need.
To use a couple of cards as examples, judges Rule With Respect, we don’t Enforce Loyalty.
We don't assume guilt, but we also don't allow cheaters in our game. We are not patrolling aggressively to catch people out and punish them. We are there to make sure people who are damaging to the community don't prosper, and those who are playing their games fairly have a positive experience that they want to return to time and time again.
We stand at the gates, and the gates are open.
An Organization About Learning
On top of being an organization dedicated to creating a welcoming community that prioritizes education, we’re an organization that seeks self-improvement and personal growth.Judges are tied together by two key elements - a shared passion for this game and a desire to help others learn and understand more. One of the requirements for the long-term success and growth of the program is for judges to help teach other judges. While we here at Cascade have a lot of experience and knowledge and are creating educational content that’s freely available, one thing that we’re not able to do is provide personalized education and feedback for everyone - there are hundreds upon hundreds of judges. Talking to other judges and providing feedback to them is a great way for you to learn and improve, and to grow yourself.
Be Prepared to Be Wrong
Now, as experts, we’re going to get used to being right. In fact, that’s a huge part of our relationship with the greater community - being right.But, you’re (probably) human, and humans make mistakes. Our memories can fail us, or we can misinterpret some rule.
That means that you will get things wrong. You’ll get questions wrong on exams. You’ll get questions wrong when speaking to players. You’ll get questions wrong when speaking to judges. You’ll not know the answer when somebody asks you.
And that’s okay.
It’s important to not let your pride get the better of you. It’s important to be able to say “I’m not actually sure. Let me double-check to see what the rules say.”
However, it’s also important to strive to learn from those mistakes. If you take a test and every question you got wrong has to do with resolving events, maybe you should take some time to read the rules about events or ask your friends and mentors to help you understand a bit better.
How To Get Better
There are an endless number of ways to improve as a judge, and of course, it can be as “simple” as just reading the rules and going over the lessons again, but there are a few other ways.Of course, there’s nothing better than actually getting experience. All the book learning in the world won’t provide you with the knowledge and wisdom you need to be able to handle the wide variety of situations that actually come up at events. It won’t give you the knowledge of what questions players ask frequently or the reflexes to handle a common infraction almost unconsciously.
Be a part of the community! Don’t just judge events, but play them too! Calling a judge and getting an infraction and penalty for a silly mistake can reinforce how it feels for a player to receive that penalty. Of course, playing the game also makes you a better judge! It helps you see what interactions come up frequently and it also helps you better understand what’s important. It may sound silly right now - this encouragement to continue to play the game - but a lot of people try to pursue mastery and don’t have the time to dedicate to both judging and to playing. This isn’t to discourage you from your path of judging, and if you’re primarily or entirely judging at your local game store, this likely won’t even come up!
You can also teach the game! Teaching either new players or new judges is a great way to sharpen your skills. Especially the pedantically minded judges, or those who just truly hunger for all knowledge - they’ll ask you questions that you’re not prepared for, and will push you into a better understanding of the rules and policies of the game, and consequently help you become a better judge. In order to be able to explain something well, you have to deeply understand it, so that you can effectively answer questions like “Why does it work that way?”
What To Study
One of the things that I want to take a moment is what knowledge a judge should aspire to have.Knowing or memorizing the key interactions, particularly the ones that are weird or aren’t clear in the rules (for the moment), can feel particularly gratifying. Being able to just say the answer when someone has a question is great.
But that’s not actually what we’re training you to know.
Rather than knowing “this is how Lurking TIE Phantom works with Power of the Dark Side”, we want you to understand the rules behind the cards. Being able to explain why you’re ruling a certain way is important, and not just reiterating what your ruling is. Being able to extrapolate from one interaction to another, and being able to come to the answers yourself is so much more valuable.
It means that as new mechanics and cards get added to the game, your knowledge is able to keep up. As you start judging, it is easier to just memorize the few interactions you don’t already know and go from there, but as you go deeper, the mechanics become more complex, and memorization of all of the interactions becomes exponentially more difficult.
A corollary to this goal is knowing how to look things up. As we’ve said - you’re going to be wrong sometimes, and you’ll definitely not be entirely sure what the correct answer is sometimes. Becoming familiar with the comprehensive rules and knowing where to look in the document to find an answer is hugely important. Rather than relying on your memory, you can look to the rules, interpret them and give an answer with confidence, even if you didn’t have a clue a minute before.
Finding Your Motivation
One of the drivers to this growth and improvement is your motivation - pursuing the next level is not for everybody - and there’s not an expectation that every judge should want to pursue further certification.However, it’s important to know what you want, otherwise you might find yourself not enjoying the experience.
Your motivation can come from all sorts of places - and in the grand scheme, it doesn’t matter where it’s coming from, so long as it’s making you want to become a better judge. If you want to be a judge to create a welcoming environment for everyone - great! If you want to be a judge to make sure there aren’t any cheaters at events you’re at - great! If you want to be a judge because you want to see if you have what it takes - great! If you want to be a judge to have the opportunity to go to cool events - great!
What Judging Can Mean To You
I just want to take a moment to make this a bit more personal - I want to talk about what judging can mean to you.It can simply be just a way to get improve yourself at your job at your local game store. It can be a way to have more fun with your friends and a game that you enjoy.
But it can also be an opportunity to become a part of something bigger. With the launch of the judge program, we had a community several thousand strong, in just a few days, with hundreds of people demonstrating interest in being a judge for Star Wars: Unlimited.
I was an events manager at my local game store, running events four nights a week on top of a full-time job because I enjoyed my local community so much. I’ve had players thank me for disqualifying them. I’ve had players quit the game because I disqualified them. I’ve gone from having my knees shake telling eight players in my local store to start their matches to confidently grabbing a microphone and making announcements in a hall with thousands of players.
I’ve had a friend who knows nothing about Star Wars ask me all sorts of silly questions about the universe (Where’s the best sushi? Which character would be best to raise flamingos? Which writer who hasn’t written for Star Wars would I like to have write something?) because he knows I love the lore of the universe so much, and it’s a way for us to bond.
I’ve had friends get job offers because of the skills they’ve demonstrated as a judge. I’ve had friends get married because they met as judges.
For many, it’s a place where they can be a part of a community that cares about them and their growth. To be a place where they can advocate for others who have a difficult time speaking up for themselves. It can teach you how to better manage conflict or communicate more effectively.
Judging is a service provided to the whole community - and to be a good steward for the community, you have to learn to take care of yourself.
Judging is a portal that allows you to visit locations near and far, to experience cultures and communities you might never have had the chance to other, and to meet people that you never would have spoken to.
Judging is a way to help everyone have fun with this great game.
That’s all we have for this week’s lesson! Check back next week for section one of the Comprehensive Rules - Game Concepts! Some of those have been covered in lesson three of the Judge Apprentice track, but we’ll go over the ones we didn’t touch on there and start to develop a stronger foundation of your rules knowledge! Good luck, and have fun!