Our group finished playing Edge of the Empire beginner game and we loved it and wish to purchase the adventure books and the DM screen with it's adventure, too!!! I have no problems using the sourcebooks to enable me to help create more adventures, but my main worry is they make the game TOO complex and add too many race and class choices despite our gentlemens agreement we would play as either two Bounty Hunters or as a Smuggler and hired gun and we would also play as droid characters and use temporary NPCS to help provide whatever shortcomings we have coming to us. Are those sourcebooks necessary?

All you need are the rules, dice and imagination, you don't 'need' anything else. Everything else is simply to add inspiration and options within the framework of the game mechanics. Lord knows there is content aplenty to draw on for story ideas. If you're happy with the careers and specs in the CRB, I personally think you are all set.

You can use just the Core Rulebook to play. The GM could limit what is available for play if not all is wanted.

Most the extra books are for options like races, classes, and equipment. You do not need them. They don't really add new rules in them as well.

Core rulebook for any of the three product lines (EotE, AoR, and FaD) work just fine on its own, and you can run plenty of games using just that one book. A number of GMs did just fine using the EotE Beta for several months, and I'm sure there are plenty of GMs and players with cool stories that were played out well before the actual core rulebook for EotE was released.

The additional species, specializations, and equipment are nice to have, as more options is generally a good thing, or at least that's my view. But none of them are really necessary to run a fun and satisfying EotE game.

You don't need anything but the core book and either dice or the dice app. But me being me, I have every non beta book out so far, both GM screens, the dice app which is awesome but truth be told I only have it for "pickup games" and I haven't used it in that capacity, I am old school I prefer real dice, I have 4 sets of dice (one of which is from the EotE beginners box set). Since I have seven players and I don't want to mix dice with any players I am thinking of getting another two packs of dice so we don't have to pass them around the table. I also have roughly 400 wotc star wars minis and a fair amount of maps. My game bag is HEAVY it's an old duffle bag style book bag I had from high school and I am so glad it has a shoulder strap otherwise I wouldn't be able to carry every thing (snacks and maps don't go in the book bag) to the game store (active imagination, Albuquerque NM there really awesome flgs are more expensive than Amazon.com but I pay the extra just to support the store which I think is fair because they provide a place for people to game and help introduce people to the hobby).

Necessary? Not at all. They add a lot of cool equipment though!

Ill come from the other direction.

The sourcebook (so far) don't complicate anything. They have some extra options, but none of them excessive. The thing to remember is that classes are really only a skill list and talent tree. Once you've settled that, the new specs are nothing to worry about. Species are likewise no big deal after the character is created.

So while you don't need any of the supplements, you likewise shouldn't be afraid of them.

I think the only substantial rules added are the Signature Abilities and a few Talents but even though some of them are interesting and kinda cool you don't need them. I would say though that for those that may be reading this in the future when Force and Destiny comes out you'll probably want one of the other two CRBs unless you want to run a Force User only game.

Necessary: Core book, dice, people, brains.

My games ran rather well with just the core book, and 90% of what I use is still in that book.

Everything else is really optional. Apparently, even knowledge of the Star Wars Universe is optional (my wife had JUST watched the entirety of the 6 films around the time I started my game).

Like ghostofman said, the other books are really USEFUL without bogging down the game too much (I say "too much" since gear can get a bit zany when players don't write it all out). Adding the sourcebooks is like saying "Hey Bob, you wanted to play a Aqualish, right? Here's the book for you!" Think of them as useful expansions with some extra rules and ammo for both the GM and the players.

I've mentioned it many times on this forum, the core book is what you NEED and the rest is just a matter of how deep you want to get into it, how many books you want a the table and what's going to be the most useful for you and your group. I have a synopsis sitting around I can fish out if you'd like; just need to expand my views on Far Horizons since I've finally read more than twenty pages of it ^^;

Not to beat a dead bantha, but the core book + dice is more than enough to play for, dare I say, years of gaming. Our group made do with the EotE Beta (plus beginner box) for about a year before scoring a core book or two. If you want stats for something not in the core material, it is fairly simple enough to make up your own.

The adventures are decent enough. I really like the Jewel of Yavin. It is a great heist adventure plus good source material on Bespin.

The GM screen is great for tables. I generally don't use it because I find it gets in the way during gaming. If I do use it, I put it on a TV tray beside me for reference. I copied the tables onto my tablet for ease of use during the game.

The sourcebooks are excellent for new material without unbalancing the game. The races and specializations add some nice variety. The equipment is generally "better" than the core book stuff, but the cost and rarity sufficiently balances this. The ships add even more variety. If I had to pick just one, the Suns of Fortune book would be my favorite. There is so much there for both players and GMs. Enter the Unknown would be my second favorite, as it adds some decent resources for the Explorer career. I recommend these if you are thinking about a sourcebook. For my personal tastes, the Dangerous Covenants book is my least favorite. However, it is still a great sourcebook.

You want all the Core books and the supplements. You fell an inordinate need for them. Like your life would be complete with all of them and any future books.

You want all the Core books and the supplements. You fell an inordinate need for them. Like your life would be complete with all of them and any future books.

... I want all the core books and the supplements. I feel an inordinate need for them. Like my life would be complete with them and any future books...

I'm going go place a pre-order just as soon as I find the two droids I'm looking for

Definitely agreeing with what has been said. A single CRB and dice is all you need to get a great experience with this game.

The source books are fun, but no where near necessary.

Although I would add that these are some of the best source books I have ever seen in an RPG (and that's 34 years of RPG'ing now!). Beautiful art, good balance of crunch vs fluff, no significant power creep. ...your life would be complete with them and any future books...

Thanks for the replies. I put the Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook on order from Amazon and got it last night. I just read some of it and I should be good for a while. I'm still getting the GM screen and two adventure books and I conveniently left out the bonus pdf downloads. I worry about not enough content. But I should point out I got the Age of Rebellion beginner set and I plan to get it's adventure book and DM screen and beginner set pdf download. I am still buying two extra dice sets for the extra dice + I want the plastic light side/dark side disks despite already owning 2 dice sets and a cardboard force pool!

Thanks for the replies. I put the Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook on order from Amazon and got it last night. I just read some of it and I should be good for a while. I'm still getting the GM screen and two adventure books and I conveniently left out the bonus pdf downloads. I worry about not enough content. But I should point out I got the Age of Rebellion beginner set and I plan to get it's adventure book and DM screen and beginner set pdf download. I am still buying two extra dice sets for the extra dice + I want the plastic light side/dark side disks despite already owning 2 dice sets and a cardboard force pool!

I am a Completionist. I have all the books that have been published so far, plus the betas for AoR and F&D. I also have three or four sets of dice.

My only problem is that it is a Royal Pain In The Ass trying to haul all that crap around. I’ve got a rolling case that I bought at OfficeDepot that was meant for use by sales people who had a lot of stuff to haul, and even that doesn’t work so well. All those **** books are incredibly bloody heavy!

Thanks for the replies. I put the Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook on order from Amazon and got it last night. I just read some of it and I should be good for a while. I'm still getting the GM screen and two adventure books and I conveniently left out the bonus pdf downloads. I worry about not enough content. But I should point out I got the Age of Rebellion beginner set and I plan to get it's adventure book and DM screen and beginner set pdf download. I am still buying two extra dice sets for the extra dice + I want the plastic light side/dark side disks despite already owning 2 dice sets and a cardboard force pool!

I am a Completionist. I have all the books that have been published so far, plus the betas for AoR and F&D. I also have three or four sets of dice.My only problem is that it is a Royal Pain In The Ass trying to haul all that crap around. I’ve got a rolling case that I bought at OfficeDepot that was meant for use by sales people who had a lot of stuff to haul, and even that doesn’t work so well. All those **** books are incredibly bloody heavy!