I looked briefly in the thread dedicated to this and didn't see what I was looking for. I am a vet of the old d6 system and am having a hard time figuring this new game out and material for it. Being used to the very expansive and very customizable Star Wars game of old and only having had a brief time to read the book itself I have a few questions.

-The old system had no classes although it had tons of helpful templates to work from to give direction on character creation. Are the "classes" in the book templates in the sense they are a direction to work from if you do not make your own character?

-Where are all the Imperial and Rebel ships? I flipped through quickly to see what resources were available and didn't see the basic ships like the Star Destroyers or Calimari Cruisers or even some of the smaller military vessels that PCs would encounter normally(I did see a TIE Fighter and Xwing pic).

-Where are all the races at? I looked briefly at the products page and didn't see any books with bonus information like all the other races in the galaxy. Is there not such a beast out there? If not has anyone gone and done an online write up for the many races that for some reason got skipped?

Hopefully tonight I will get a better chance to read the book, but on first glance I was really disappointed in the lack of info so far given(the force for example, yes I know there are very few masters left, but that's kind of an important part of the background). What are these deck things that are all over the products page?

The careers do point you in a direction for character dev, but you can also use your imagination quite a bit. For instance a Politico need not be a politician, it could be a traveling crazy preacher of some obscure religion, or some rabble rousing social malcontent.

Age of Rebellion due out shortly will have the military ships you are looking for.

They spread races out throughout the various books they release.

The Force will be more completely covered in the Force and Destiny beta book due out in August-ish.

The Talent decks are not for me.

-The old system had no classes although it had tons of helpful templates to work from to give direction on character creation. Are the "classes" in the book templates in the sense they are a direction to work from if you do not make your own character?

I think the closest thing to a "character template" in the WEG d6 system would be FFG's pre-generated characters, of which there are several. Otherwise, you just make your own character. However, there are a lot of ideas presented in the CRB about how to develop your character both in game mechanics and in personality/motivations/etc, which I think would be another way of looking at a "character template" idea from WEG.

The Careers, selected at character generation, offer 3+ specializations (3 in the Core book, + more in the book associated with a particular career, e.g. Dangerous Covenants). However, you can buy any specialization from any career (with enough XP) so you're not locked into a set number of "career-only" specializations.

Each specialization has a talent tree, and when the design of the talent tree becomes apparent, you can really get a sense of a "template" for your character. I won't say much more because it would be confusing if you haven't actually read the book yet; suffice to say that you have various "development paths" that are presented to you.

So not exactly like WEG, but if you need help building a character or just grabbing one that someone else built, there is help.

Also in this vein: Heroes on demand from GSA has lots of pregenerated characters for EotE and AoR (and some other games) that can give you ideas and/or get you rolling right away. They are all built as beginning characters per the rules as written.

-Where are all the races at? I looked briefly at the products page and didn't see any books with bonus information like all the other races in the galaxy. Is there not such a beast out there? If not has anyone gone and done an online write up for the many races that for some reason got skipped?

Yeah, there are new species (added to the 6 in the Core Rulebook) in pretty much every supplement book.

A fan-made supplement that is quite popular in the gaming community is The Unofficial Species Menagerie . Lots of cool species there if you want more or if you want ideas on how to homebrew your own in a balanced way

Hopefully tonight I will get a better chance to read the book, but on first glance I was really disappointed in the lack of info so far given(the force for example, yes I know there are very few masters left, but that's kind of an important part of the background). What are these deck things that are all over the products page?

So...there is a chapter on the Force in the CRB, and it does have a lot of setting-appropriate information. What other information are you lacking? Perhaps we can help.

The specialization decks are basically just the talent trees in card form. They are pretty and shiny, but too expensive for me.

Being a long time D6 player, lets see what I can add. . .

-The old system had no classes although it had tons of helpful templates to work from to give direction on character creation. Are the "classes" in the book templates in the sense they are a direction to work from if you do not make your own character?

Think of them as structured templates. You can wander from the template if you want - your politico really needs a blaster skill, we'll say - but it will cost you more slightly experience. Unlike D&D (or the D20 system) here you can buy any skill for any character.

Of course the talent trees are an all new beast, unlike anything WEG had. Those are more structured and class like than your "buy any skill you want" skills. However, even then you could add on new trees as you desire, turning your politco into a politico/smuggler/hit man/explorer/mechanic.

Also, the talents are super-duper cool. Far more fun than just the skills alone.

-Where are all the Imperial and Rebel ships? I flipped through quickly to see what resources were available and didn't see the basic ships like the Star Destroyers or Calimari Cruisers or even some of the smaller military vessels that PCs would encounter normally(I did see a TIE Fighter and Xwing pic).

That's the one flaw of the system, something I wish they'd address: a book of things. take a bunch of stat blocks from other sources, stuff that's spread out over several books, and combine them into one big tome, everything in one easy place for easy reference.

That said, we're still in the early days of the system. There's a bunch of stuff still yet to come, loads more ships and gear and whatnot waiting in the wings. So that embarrassment of riches from the WEG days? Dozens of imperial and rebel and generic ships? It's coming - just gotta wait a bit for it.

- The force for example, yes I know there are very few masters left, but that's kind of an important part of the background

I kind of see where they're trying to go with it. They don't want Jedi to overshadow all, and they probably wanted to get any bugs with the game engine worked out with two other rule books before throwing something game changing into the mix like full blown force powers.

Me, I'm thrilled to keep the Jedi far, far away from my table. It's a twist we've not tried yet.

- What are these deck things that are all over the products page?

Just the talent trees in a different form. Useful? No idea - I've got one coming to me with my AoR book. Guess we'll find out if I've just pissed away 6 bucks. . . .

I should also say, regarding the specialization decks: from the people that use them, I have heard only good things. So if you have the cash, they are probably going to be a fun investment and might be useful for groups that only have 1 Core Rulebook when 3 players want to look at their talent trees all at once

That's the one flaw of the system, something I wish they'd address: a book of things. take a bunch of stat blocks from other sources, stuff that's spread out over several books, and combine them into one big tome, everything in one easy place for easy reference.

That's not a flaw in the system, it's a necessary marketing decision. WotC and WEG before them both learned that providing books specific to "equipment" or "species" or "starships" or ...what have you, resulted in a very bumpy revenue stream. You put out two books that not so many people are interested in, and suddenly your cash flow takes a dive, and the game dies.

People consistently buy books that have a variety of new stuff, resulting in a more stable revenue stream. We may not get everything we want in one book, but that's a price I'm willing to pay to keep the game alive longer.

To the OP: I think your level of expectations may be somewhat high as it regards resources. It took WEG many years to provide the level of resources you seem to be expecting. Edge of the Empire is a setting that doesn't have much to do with Star Destroyers and Mon Calamari ships, and neither does it have much to do with the Force. This is intentional, and personally I find it's a breath of fresh air, letting you explore many different stories and themes.

If you really want to test drive the system, I'd strongly recommend the Beginner set. It's worth it for the extra dice, plus there is a free PDF sequel you can download from FFG. You'll have a much better idea how the game works and how to create characters once you've run a couple games.

FFG is doing a great job with their star wars line.

Edge of the Empire deals with characters on the fringe or outer rim.Dealing with the underworld and it's gritty and dangerous aspects.The empire has minimal dealings within this book.

The second book,Age of Rebellion,focuses directly upon the galactic war between the rebellion and the empire.(released soon)

The third book,Force and Destiny,focuses upon the jedi and the force itself. (the beta will be out this year,with the actual book next year)

Although there will be three rule books,each is a stand alone game with it's own product line that can be integrated without

any problems,since each book/game uses the same core mechanics.

In the end,you could have a bounty hunter from edge of the empire, an x-wing pilot from age of rebellion and a force user from force and destiny,all at the same table/game,and not worry as to how they will integrate.

I too have been a GM for star wars since WEG all the way to FFG,and i will certainly say,FFG is by far my favorite version of star wars.

That species list that was posted was awesome. Exactly the kind of resources I was looking for and very well done. Still missing a few of what I consider the primary races like the Sullustans and Duros although I would assume the Sullustans will be in the next book since they are big Rebellion supporters.

I like the criminal aspects of things but definitely prefer the Imperial side of things more, cool armor, cool ships, always getting hunted by a superior force, giant space battles. Oddly enough, old Republic and Clone War stuff has no attraction to me whatsoever. I prefer the Imperial/Post-Imperial timeline, especially the period following Endor when the Empire was in a hard fought decline to hold onto the status quo until the Grand Admiral makes an appearance.

The Rim is where the Rebellion has much of their resources and its surprising there isn't more mention of Imperial forces rooting them out. Perhaps not big hunts and such but all of this is Imperial Space. Has there been any mention of the Hapes Cluster, Corporate Sector or the Unknown Regions?

That species list that was posted was awesome. Exactly the kind of resources I was looking for and very well done. Still missing a few of what I consider the primary races like the Sullustans and Duros although I would assume the Sullustans will be in the next book since they are big Rebellion supporters.

Duros and Sullustans are both in the Age of Rebellion Beta Book, and will most likely be in the Age of Rebellion Core Rule book.

Duros were also printed for the Edge of the Empire line within the "Enter the Unknown" source book for the Explorer career.

I prefer the Imperial/Post-Imperial timeline...

Sounds like you will be wanting the Age of Rebellion core rules instead, they should be available soon. There is an Age of Rebellion Beginner set already out...I'd strongly recommend getting it, the plot is good and the free PDF follow up is even better.

It would be but I didn't know there would be no pertinent info in this book, plus aside from the background fluff the rules are the same. Ill wait for the real book to come out before I get the new AoR rules from the beta. I can use the races and such plus in the past my campaigns went all over the place so having more background material is cool. I'll likely be incorporating the alien species menagerie as well.

Knowing the main rules wont be as specific as I would like, I hope they plan on an Imperial Sourcebook and a Rebellion Sourcebook. I always loved the silhouette pages for the ships that had them compared to each other and how the Super Star Destroyer started on one page and kept going like four pages later. I wish I still had mine but the binding in those old books wasn't the best in the world and I think they got tossed when my parents cleaned out my room when I went off and did the military thing. They sold my boat without informing me, throwing this stuff out would easily be in the realm of believability.

And if you want imperial themed games. Get the Beginner box for age of rebellion.as that is where the imperial and rebel stuff will be.

It would be but I didn't know there would be no pertinent info in this book, plus aside from the background fluff the rules are the same. Ill wait for the real book to come out before I get the new AoR rules from the beta. I can use the races and such plus in the past my campaigns went all over the place so having more background material is cool. I'll likely be incorporating the alien species menagerie as well.

Knowing the main rules wont be as specific as I would like, I hope they plan on an Imperial Sourcebook and a Rebellion Sourcebook. I always loved the silhouette pages for the ships that had them compared to each other and how the Super Star Destroyer started on one page and kept going like four pages later. I wish I still had mine but the binding in those old books wasn't the best in the world and I think they got tossed when my parents cleaned out my room when I went off and did the military thing. They sold my boat without informing me, throwing this stuff out would easily be in the realm of believability.

I doubt they will be doing a rebellion or imperial source book. Those 2 aspects will likelely be spread through all of the age of rebellion books. It really sounds like what you want is the age of rebellion more than edge. though Edge will have useful stuff for you.

It would be but I didn't know there would be no pertinent info in this book, plus aside from the background fluff the rules are the same. Ill wait for the real book to come out before I get the new AoR rules from the beta. I can use the races and such plus in the past my campaigns went all over the place so having more background material is cool. I'll likely be incorporating the alien species menagerie as well.

Knowing the main rules wont be as specific as I would like, I hope they plan on an Imperial Sourcebook and a Rebellion Sourcebook. I always loved the silhouette pages for the ships that had them compared to each other and how the Super Star Destroyer started on one page and kept going like four pages later. I wish I still had mine but the binding in those old books wasn't the best in the world and I think they got tossed when my parents cleaned out my room when I went off and did the military thing. They sold my boat without informing me, throwing this stuff out would easily be in the realm of believability.

I doubt they will be doing a rebellion or imperial source book. Those 2 aspects will likelely be spread through all of the age of rebellion books. It really sounds like what you want is the age of rebellion more than edge. though Edge will have useful stuff for you.

I doubt that there will be a Rebel or Imperial sourcebook per se, but we may end up with a supplement that's similar to Suns of Fortune in that it focuses on a distinctly Imperial sector of the galaxy. I think that if they did one for the Deep Core it'd be amazing to see them flesh out the details that were hinted at in the Core book (p.330 - 331). There's a lot of stuff in the Core book, so much that with each revisit I seem to find more and more material that can work as seeds for some really interesting adventures. IMHO, the Core has thousands of seeds without the details that a supplement may later fill in for us if at all. Instead FFG allows for GMs to create content for themselves without having to worry about it conflicting too much with future releases (hence the lack of detailed maps of worlds and locations). EotE leaves that up for GMs to create on their own.

Not really too worried about detailed planets and such but a good book detailing the organization of the Empire, its branches, ships, primary military industry, and obviously the military itself with the different branches of troops and weapons and something similar for the Rebels. Both with current stats for the new game. Again age of Rebellion is the main rule book for this and I don't think we would see these source books until after it comes out. I spent hours pouring over the old books when I was a kid playing this. Might have to check and see if they are on ebay and come up with my own stats.

You can download pdfs of most of them here: http://d6holocron.com

Normally I wouldn't advocate that, but all of them are way out of print.