So a new preview of the Beginner Box was just released, and it revealed some interesting information:

"You’ll learn, for instance, that Sarenda grew up in a big, close-knit family and would beat up anyone who threatened her sisters. Her love of exploring the outdoors led her to a secluded cave in which she found and activated a lightsaber, the first sign that she was sensitive to the Force."

Looks like at least one PC will definitely have a lightsaber from the beginning. There were also images of the Kel Dor character wielding a green blade, so maybe more than one character will be lightsaber-focused.

"You and your companions are high up in the snow-clad slopes of a Mount Tellec on the Outer Rim planet Spintir. You all have received a signal from your mentor, Hethan Romund, that she is being held captive on Spintir by a dangerous, dark-side Force user known as Malefax."

Ugh, that name. Malefax. Not their greatest work, name-wise. But I guess it fits with the Original Trilogy feel of cheesy sci-fi and connecting the Force to tropes of magic (Maleficent immediately came to mind).

Also interesting that Romund is described as the players' mentor, so it seems they'll be trying to introduce characters with more obviously connected backstories. The Edge of the Empire Beginner Box had a lot connections between characters but they were more for character-building, while it seems that this expects players to start with a pre-established connection with Romund that will be pretty central to setting the stage for the adventure.

"At the top of this mountain lies an ancient, partially ruined temple where you hope to find Romund – but where you may also have to confront Malefax."

The trick here will be making the confrontation suitably grand for a finale without either making it too easy, letting the players kill Malefax, and making the fight so obviously designed to allow Malefax to escape (I suspect they will be featuring in whatever supplement adventure FFG releases) that the players feel no ability to make an impact.

"Once you and your companions have reached the top of that cliff, what will you find? Who – or what – dwells amid the snowy crags and forested valleys of Mount Tellac?"

This combined with the fairly extensive map of the area around Mount Tellac sounds to me like they're doing another version of Mos Shuuta - a pretty big sandbox, somewhat thought out, that ultimately has little bearing on the adventure. I'm both pleased and saddened - I'm glad there will be fodder for expanding the adventure as GMs see fit or making the location a recurring one, but I felt like FFG didn't use Mos Shuuta to its fullest.

Looks like at least one PC will definitely have a lightsaber from the beginning. There were also images of the Kel Dor character wielding a green blade, so maybe more than one character will be lightsaber-focused.

Not too surprising, they've been showing off a couple of the characters wielding lightsabers for a while. Big question is if they'll give the characters real lightsabers, or if they'll stick to the norm, which has thus-far been to keep Beginner Game characters mostly in-line with what you can make with normal character creation rules, and have them just be given training lightsabers.

This combined with the fairly extensive map of the area around Mount Tellac sounds to me like they're doing another version of Mos Shuuta - a pretty big sandbox, somewhat thought out, that ultimately has little bearing on the adventure. I'm both pleased and saddened - I'm glad there will be fodder for expanding the adventure as GMs see fit or making the location a recurring one, but I felt like FFG didn't use Mos Shuuta to its fullest.

They do it that way so there's more space to run around in the downloadable continued adventure, and so people without the full rules can keep playing with just the stuff in the Beginner Box for a number of sessions before the core finally comes out.

Equipment was the more unbalancing factor in the last beginner box. Most or all of the characters could be made with standard character creation rules but their equipment didn't line up.

However, It's not a big deal to give the pregen characters lightsabers (those that use them as part of their schtick) since all of the characters are Force users and only need to balance against each other.

Equipment was the more unbalancing factor in the last beginner box. Most or all of the characters could be made with standard character creation rules but their equipment didn't line up.

Equipment wasn't too far off. There were the handful of made up items that essentially condensed two pieces of gear into one, but it really wasn't too bad. I did this quickly, so I may have miscounted, but here's what the starting credits and gear basically adds up to:

With the starting 500 credits and the 1,000 credit bonus for a base, Jin-Rio is pretty much the closest, but once you start cutting into Duty for each character by 5 for the extra 1,000 credits, pretty much everyone falls in line except for Cael and Zal, who aren't too far off and could technically be fine if you subtract their Duty by an extra 5 to bring it to 2,500 credit boost.

Looks like at least one PC will definitely have a lightsaber from the beginning. There were also images of the Kel Dor character wielding a green blade, so maybe more than one character will be lightsaber-focused.

Not too surprising, they've been showing off a couple of the characters wielding lightsabers for a while. Big question is if they'll give the characters real lightsabers, or if they'll stick to the norm, which has thus-far been to keep Beginner Game characters mostly in-line with what you can make with normal character creation rules, and have them just be given training lightsabers.

And I guess it would be disappointing for new players to not get to swing around a laser sword in the Jedi-themed RPG. Maybe they'll be given damaged weapons (to account for age) that are somewhere between training and the unmodded base lightsaber, so there's an incentive to quest for better crystals/repair the weapons? Seems like giving the PCs lightsabers off the bat removes some of the "do cool things to get cooler stuff" that drove EotE and AoR, since in those you could gain newer and better items and resources by either pulling off more daring schemes (money/Obligation) or standing out to Rebel command (Duty).

So as long as they don't mess up the characters like they did with the Force & Destiny Beta it should be okay then?

So will they rule the characters with lightsabers used up the 10pt they'd otherwise use for extra credit or extra xp so they can gain their basic lightsaber?

The thing that everyone seems to be forgetting is that this box is suppose to be an introduction to the bigger game. So they'll probably throw the PCs a little extra outside of what we would normally do for character creation, all for the sake of being fun (come on, it's a Jedi game! Where's the fun in Jedi without lightsabers and a bit of skill to use them!)

It's also suppose to be a tutorial, meaning that it's probably not going to be a epic climax to shake the heavens. It's going to be very basic, very linear, very simple. All the Epic will be in the free download game.

I don't expect every pre gen character will have a lightsaber, more likely it will be just those that start with the Lightsaber skill among their starting career skills, which currently seems to be the Kel Dor Sentinel and Human Guardian

"You and your companions are high up in the snow-clad slopes of a Mount Tellec on the Outer Rim planet Spintir. You all have received a signal from your mentor, Hethan Romund, that she is being held captive on Spintir by a dangerous, dark-side Force user known as Malefax."

Ugh, that name. Malefax. Not their greatest work, name-wise. But I guess it fits with the Original Trilogy feel of cheesy sci-fi and connecting the Force to tropes of magic (Maleficent immediately came to mind).

The name Malefax doesn't surprise me at all. It's very similar to the odd convention that's present in naming the Darths and Sith. Malgus, Sidious, Tyrannus, Caedus. Malefax could most likely be based from Malefactor.

I guess for me, I should apply the Fisto Test to Malefax:

I guess for me, I should apply the Fisto Test to Malefax:

You mean more "This is not the name you are looking at"?

Star Wars isn't exactly known for having the best names, especially for the non-hero individuals.

Elan Sleazebaggano for that deathstick dealer in AotC anyone?

And Obi-Wan's home planet is Stewjon...

"You and your companions are high up in the snow-clad slopes of a Mount Tellec on the Outer Rim planet Spintir. You all have received a signal from your mentor, Hethan Romund , that she is being held captive on Spintir by a dangerous, dark-side Force user known as Malefax."

Which character token is Hethan Romund? Or does she have one? I don't see her race listed anywhere. I would like to know how to roleplay her for my group.

While there are some bad names in Star Wars, they are outnumbered by the awesome ones:

Boba Fett, Darth Vader, Lando Calrissian, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obi Wan Kenobi, Grand Moff Tarkin, Jar Jar Binks…

I think one of the greatest ways Star Wars draws from its roots in serial action is by following the tradition of Flash Gordon or Buck Rogers with its fantastic names.

Of course, you will always have the occasional Lumpy or Luuke and the unforgivable Xanatos. With a name like Xanatos, you don't have to be a Force seer to know he's headed for the Dark Side.