I am looking into getting into this game, as it looks fantastic and I love Star Wars. Since there are now all three books available, I was going to purchase all the core books so players have a full range of thematic character builds from the star wars universe!
Here is my question, which GM kit/Screen would be most useful if I am using material from all 3 core books?
I haven't seen the FaD one yet, but I own the other two. They seem to be the same info wise so I put them upside down to each other so both sides of the table can read them.
So you are saying they are textually identical? The only difference is the art that faces the players? Is there any good reason to get more than one GM Kit?
So you are saying they are textually identical? The only difference is the art that faces the players? Is there any good reason to get more than one GM Kit?
I don't know what EoTE's comes with, since I don't own it, but AoR's GM kit also came with a pretty kick ass adventure and rules for squads/squadrons. I'd bet F&D's also comes with a kick ass adventure, and according to the preview, further rules for customizing your lightsaber.
Edit: The biggest thing I use my screen for is having quick access to crit charts and weapon profiles, should a player pick up loot and need to add it to their character sheet. It could be handy to have multiple of these to pass around, but certainly nothing you couldn't manage by scanning and printing select pages from your book for personal use. Buying a second copy would almost certainly be for the adventure.
Edited by WhatGood to know, Thanks to both of you!
Extra rules differences: EotE comes with suggestions on building a Nemesis. Most of it is narrative suggestions on how to pick what they're like, but there's some advice on how to build them up mechanically in terms of giving talents and such. AoR comes with Squad/Squadron rules, essentially having bigger characters get help from a bunch of minion NPCs (for both PCs and NPCs). FaD comes with further Knight-Level Play rules and more advice on building a lightsaber based on what players might find in adventures.
Stories: EotE is about
a droid uprising
. And AoR is about
a droid uprising in a ship
. I preferred the latter.
Rules on the screen itself: All the same with minor differences in listed weapons that you'd more likely encounter or deal with in each (like 2 weapon difference between EotE and AoR; FaD would probably list the basic lightsabers on its screen).
Picture differences (if that mattered to you): EotE: Boba Fett, Millenium Falcon, Slave I, Ties, and pictures of generic characters (scout and Jedi). AoR: Hoth-pilot Luke, Vader, Stormtrooper Sergeant, Death Star. FaD: Darth Maul, Yoda, generic Jedi, and what seems to be Endor and the Dagobah Swamps.
I liked the EotE GM adventure. So did my players. Nemesis rules are good to read once, but really boil down to give the really powerful bad guys an extra action at the end of the round.
Both GM Screens list page numbers for their respective books. So that may be something to consider as well.
I wrote the AOR GM Kit adventure/rules, so I might be a bit biased, but if you can only get one, the AOR Kit is the best one to get....The Squad and Squadron rules help mitigate BBEG vulnerability and space combat lethality, both of which have been among what few criticisms have been levied against the game. Edge, however, also addresses BBEG vulnerability, though in a different way. The adventure is also very easy to run with Edge characters instead of Age characters (smugglers/mercs hired by the rebellion work just as well as rebels), so it might be slightly easier to adapt for your players.
Get all three and build the most awesome fort of GM'ness.
Never look a player in the eye again.
I think the screens should have been marketed as an introductory adventure and additional GM rules and notes. All this and as an added bonus a screen for the GM. I feel that I have received great value from the adventure and rules, as long as I think of the screen as a bonus I have never felt cheated for having bought them both.
If I ever were to play face to face I would lay them with the tables up on the table. I wouldn't use the screen to hide my dice as I roll everything with the players in full sight.
If I ever were to play face to face I would lay them with the tables up on the table. I wouldn't use the screen to hide my dice as I roll everything with the players in full sight.
Agreed. They are a very useful aid to anyone who might be rolling dice, not just GMs.
When I do cons and the like, I pretty much ONLY use the GM Screen, dice, and a deck of adversary cards, and don't even bother to bring a CRB anymore. Much lighter to travel with. The crit tables are all I really find myself needing to reference with any sort of regularity. Otherwise, I leave the CRBs at home for character creation type stuff, which is when you really need them once you've really gotten familiar with the game.
I'll be using the one with the sexiest cover.
When I do cons and the like, I pretty much ONLY use the GM Screen, dice, and a deck of adversary cards, and don't even bother to bring a CRB anymore. Much lighter to travel with. The crit tables are all I really find myself needing to reference with any sort of regularity. Otherwise, I leave the CRBs at home for character creation type stuff, which is when you really need them once you've really gotten familiar with the game.
I didn't realize that ffg released adversary cards? or is this a homebrew or personal idea you came up with. So far the idea is intriguing to me
I didn't realize that ffg released adversary cards? or is this a homebrew or personal idea you came up with. So far the idea is intriguing to me
They're official, and they're pretty neat and handy.
Awesome,
i think i need to buy them just because they seem so handy.
I second the post about buying for the adventures. The screens are really useful for quick reference - I usually have the EotE one in front of me (the artwork is better IMO) and the AoR one flat on the table with the players for their use. Both adventures and both 'extras' (nemeses, squads) were certainly worth the money as well.