I'm looking to get a Star Wars Table-top Roleplaying game started with my friends, and am wondering what my best option would be. I'd like to consider price, ease of access, and how much source material the option covers.

So far it seems like the 3 options are:

1. FFG's versions

2. West End Game's versions

3. Wizards of the Coast versions

I'd like honest opinions, though I am sure most will say FFG, I'd like to know what (if anything) the other 2 options have over FFG.

Thanks.

I've only played FFG's, so I can really only speak from experience on that one. The big thing about it is the special dice for it and its narrative system. For the dice, essentially things can have varying results. Instead of some systems where you just succeed/fail, or critically succeed/fail, there's a wide range of succeeding and failing. And getting the results from the dice for this is pretty simple since most of the symbols cancel each other out (success to failure, advantage to threat). The system is pretty great and to me, it feels like Star Wars. It's also stupid easy to get into. I've GM'd the Beginner Games numerous people to introduce them to the system, and they've gotten much of the core mechanic down half-way through playing the included adventures.

This is just second hand knowledge, so feel free to discard it: I've heard WEG's is pretty great and simple, and is fun, but my friends prefer the nice mix of everything in FFG's. I've heard WotC/SAGA can be pretty broken if not all players are on the same page, but if you like d20s a lot, it's probably going to end up being for you.

If you're interested in FFG's, if you've got a little cash to spend to try it out first, the Beginner Game is a great place to start since it introduces players and the GM into the system as you go, so you don't have to (but still should) read the Adventure and rules ahead of time. If you rather save your money, there's a Free RPG Day adventure that gives the basic rules and a nice little adventure with some character sheets, and you can use one of the many free online dice rollers to work your way through and check the system out.

WEG:

Lots of material, much of very easy to get.

Stops before TPM, anything prequel is fan made, some good, a lot op.

System is fairly easy to learn, good but not super tight.

Starting characters run well, but min/maxed advancement can get silly. Forces can become rock stars.

Reasonably easy to translate to FFG.

WotC

Lots of material, some very hard to get.

Covers through clone wars and into legacy iirc

Tight system, easy to learn if you know d20. Likes maps and minis.

Reasonably balanced, but there are some broken builds. Forcees can become rock stars

Good if you see star wars as space fantasy.

FFG

Good amount of mats, though not everything. Priced new, and chopped up into three core categories, so its a little expensive to get the full Monty.

Original trilogy, though some prequel bits sneak in.

Solid system, but has some quirks that take a little getting used to if you've played other games. Doesn't rely on maps and minis, so expenses will be limited to dice, books, and optional card decks.

Reasonably well balanced, but there are some broken builds. Forcees better balanced with mundanes than previous systems.

Active community, so support is easy to get, ranging from rules questions, to a fan made character builder.

Personally, go with FFG. It's got its quirks, but it really is a good system that's fun, flexible, and reasonably easy to learn.

I'm looking to get a Star Wars Table-top Roleplaying game started with my friends, and am wondering what my best option would be. I'd like to consider price, ease of access, and how much source material the option covers.

So far it seems like the 3 options are:

1. FFG's versions

2. West End Game's versions

3. Wizards of the Coast versions

I'd like honest opinions, though I am sure most will say FFG, I'd like to know what (if anything) the other 2 options have over FFG.

Thanks.

Your best option? Finding a group that wants to play... the rest is just icing on the cake from there.

I've played all 3 versions. FFG is nice as the rules are designed around the story, rather than forcing there to be a rule for everything and everything has its rule. WEG is great and simple with tons of material out there (it was in print from '87-'97 and tons of fanmade material still is out there). Nice, organic growth of the characters in both versions.

WOTC sucks... It never felt like Star Wars. It felt like D&D in space. A character with a dexterity higher than their strength could NEVER be better at shooting a gun than swinging a sword. Combat was all about the tactical board, just like all D20 games with little of the dynamic fighting like you see in the movies or read in the books. The breakdown of the world into classes with some getting crap for skills was a joke. Growth of the characters wasn't organic... you stagnate for a while and then hit a level bump and bam, tons of things change. For example, we had a Scoundrel (WotC's version of a rogue in Star Wars) go from not knowing what a datapad was to hacking Imperial databases in one level (0 ranks - 10 ranks in one shot and a high Int mod giving him a +14 or 15 modifier). At some point the "minions" stop being any real threat to the characters as you'll have tons of "hit points" to just soak up all those blaster shots as you mow them down with a vibrosword in melee...

I come from a group that is really heavy into tactics and rules, so naturally I tend to gravitate towards WoTC d20 systems as much as I dislike them.

FFG

Much like White Wolf's Exalted, FFGSW is a cinematic system that gives the GM and his or her players a lot of freedom. There is a good base line of rules, but for the most part everything is "feel as you go." This can be extremely hard for inexperienced groups to handle as it gives too much freedom and not enough structure. It tends to be overwhelming for newer GMs to keep the group on track and tends to be hard for newer players to collectively picture the scenario in their heads. You'll see a lot of "Whoa, he's next to me?! I thought he was further away...ugh, can I redo that?" That said, narrative games can be an amazing adventure and really build up the roleplaying experience.

WoTC SWD20

My experience is limited as I got into this just as SAGA was being released, but it's essentially D20 in space as Kallabecca stated, though I've never see such an exaggerated situation as above. If you are a group coming from 3.5 or earlier D&D games or a group that has a lot of experience with the various D20 Systems, this will feel the most like home. Probably the easiest material to get a hold of. If you live near a half price books, you'll see books pop up all the time.

WoTC SWSE

Both the shining star and the smelling bucket of Wizard's last days with the Star Wars license. Saga Edition has it's moments but is essentially a test for the systems that they would use for D&D 4e. Take that as you will but it's actually mostly good. A fairly balanced system (knock-out builds were broken) with a ton of narrative elements, as well as a non-linear character development made it my groups favorite. Towards the end of the run however they made a lot of errors and pretty much tried to churn their ideas out faster than they could proofread or balance. It had a really active community up until recently (it's died down quite a bit) and they worked their butts off to errata what WoTC couldn't legally support. It also requires some common sense and house ruling to avoid some nasty cheese. They also had limited printing of books towards the end and notoriously stopped printing the Clone Wars Era sourcebook way too early so even after a few weeks of release the price was well over $100 for one book.

WEG

I have glanced at the material but could never get into it so I can't say anything good or bad, though I have heard pretty amazing things.

Both WEG and WotC versions have a problem handling hight level characters. They become very broken and unbalanced. FFGs power curve is much better. And Force Users can be very powerful. But if you take a powerful force user and give another PC the same XP the other PC will also be very powerful in a different way. In WotC and WEG a force user would trounce everyone else.

If you like crunchy D20 systems then WOtC is the way to go. If you like rolling obscene amounts of dice then WEG is the way to go and practically free since most of its run can be found in PDF scan format all over the internet. WEG is also the most flexible in builds but with Force characters being OP late game. FFG is great for storytelling and all character types appear to be well balanced and is the only setting with new material being produced that will likely take you into the world of the upcoming films.

Most good material = I've heard WEG hands down

WEG

I have glanced at the material but could never get into it so I can't say anything good or bad, though I have heard pretty amazing things.

The reason WEG gets such high marks is because it's books are responsible for much of the galaxy's odds and ends as we know it today.

The system was good, not amazeballz, but certainly playable without much trouble. However at the time there realy wasn't much to know about Star Wars outside of the films and a couple novels and some cheesy cartoons and comics. That was all. So WEG had a lot of freedom to develop ships, species, equipment, locations, and so on, and they did.

The is important for two reasons:

1) Since it was new, they had to explain and describe everything in detail. There was no Wookieepedia back then, so any new item or location needed something explaining what it was, why it was, ect. As a result WEG still contains a lot of the most detailed descriptions available, as later books, games, ect, have taken WEGs stuff and cut it down to bare bones, or glossed over it in favor of getting to their materials. After all if you want to know more you can go to wookieepedia. It's worth noting that as later authors used WEG materials in new novels and such, some items evolved and were added onto. So you'll see some inconsistencies between original WEG appearances and descriptions and modern Wookieepedia entries.

2)Since they were making it all for their game, they had to do it in a reasonable, controlled, balanced fashion. So 90% of what WEG generated was pretty darn appropriate for the setting, at least in form, function, and stats.

WEG still is very influential on Star Wars. FFG still brings in materials that first appeared in WEG regularly, there's even an illustrations in one FFG book showing a spacer looking at a datapad that actaully has a WEG sourcebook loaded on the screen.

Also a WEG author and illustrator by the name of Pablo Hidalgo is now one of the big movers and shakers at LFL in relation to what is canon, and what isn't. So assume what you will about that.....

My opinion matches everyone else's here so I don't have much to add. However as someone who has played each of the incarnations of the Star Wars RPG I'll add the following 2 cents:

Which feels like Star Wars when playing it?

WEG: Absolutely! Whether you're a young untrained Jedi or a Droid mechanic this has the feel that you're in the Star Wars universe. I especially liked the way they handled Force skills even though, yes, it can get OP at high levels (but when it was published ALL games were OP at high levels so take from that what you will).

d20/SAGA: Not a bit. As Tyler Durden once said, "Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken." In this system you can shoot a heavy blaster and swing a lightsaber, but you're still just a ranger and a wizard.

FFG: It depends... on the GM. The FFG line is great in that it really emphasizes the story-driven aspect of the game and keeps things moving without needing to roll 30 d6 every round. But the drawback to that is the GM really needs to flesh it out in the players minds (I still have to remind myself to do this). If the GM (and players in some instances) doesn't describe things at all then you're just rolling pretty dice. With that being said, I was a devoted WEG fan that has since converted to now preferring this system.

I would LOVE to compare the Starship flying rules between the three but sadly I don't really have much experience with the older versions since no one in my playing groups then really cared about it. They all wanted to play silly Jedi.

2)Since they were making it all for their game, they had to do it in a reasonable, controlled, balanced fashion. So 90% of what WEG generated was pretty darn appropriate for the setting, at least in form, function, and stats.

WEG still is very influential on Star Wars. FFG still brings in materials that first appeared in WEG regularly, there's even an illustrations in one FFG book showing a spacer looking at a datapad that actaully has a WEG sourcebook loaded on the screen.

Really? Where? I never noticed that (not that I'm shocked by that development)

I will only play Fantasy Flight's Star Wars.

WotC had so many issues of things not making sense, such as the size of the HWK-290 being comparative to the falcon. WotC only had the licence since they were owned by hasbro and make toys. They neglected it.

WEG. I loathe. Seriously. If I had the money, I would buy any of their books that are in the secondary market and burn them. I have. I nostalgia for it, and frankly, I am sick of hearing people go on and on about it: WEG did this, WEG did that. WEG did an imperial army troop that doesn't exist anywhere else in any media ever but it exists. Stormtroopera are only the super elite strike force that has a larger force than most modern militaries similar the GI Joe team.

The system is mediocre, the fluff has become ingrained in the consciousness so much I grudgingly accept. Except those army troopers. They can find re nearest airlock and space themselves.

The only REDEEMING quality of WEG is that they got the license when palladium books was also trying to acquire it, from what I hear, and that could have been worse.

Okay, here's my breakdown:

The Worst: WotC - A terrible system, it was simply D&D in space, the starship combat was impossible, the rules were way too kludgy and number crunchy, and the ridged class system is a terrible idea for Star Wars characters. The only reason I have most of their books is for the E1-3 source material (but even then, it is so wildly different from FFG that any adapting requires total overhauling.

The Middle: WEG - I played the hell out of the game from it's launch back in '89 through the launch of FFG's game, well past the demise of the system. The system does have problems - Jedi can really throw the game out of whack once they get past about 5 or so dice, and you do need buckets of dice to play. But the system just feels like Star Wars, far more than WotC ever did. It's a fast, loose, easy to learn system, and it did a ton of the world building that still forms much of the bedrock of today's modern universe. That said. . . .

The Best: FFG - Without a doubt the best one of the three. It's very much the spiritual successor to D6, it's got great story telling potential, it's fast and loose and fun - and it has the benefit of being a live, active system. It took a little getting used to, learning to interpret the dice, the GM and Players both tell the story - but once I figured that out, it turned my head away from WEG and I'll probably never look back.

People are seem to be conflating WotC's systems. Yes, they were all d20 systems. But OCR/RCR was markedly different from Saga.

• Star Wars Roleplaying Game (OCR) was "D&D in space."
• SWRPG Revised Core Rules was "D&D 3.5 in space."
• Saga Edition was much more simple, much more cinematic, and much more story-driven than it's OCR and RCR counterparts. The rules were lighter, and overall I felt that they did a good job of making it feel like Star Wars.

Now, with that said, FFG blows Saga Edition out of the water on a whole buncha levels. At least IMO. But I believe Saga definitely had the edge over WotC's previous systems. I don't think Star Wars OCR/RCR should really be considered as a contender for "a good SWRPG." But Saga Edition is a fantastic d20 system, especially if you're looking for a system with a tactical combat side.

The Order 66 guys do a great job of explaining some key differences between Saga Edition and FFG's system, here http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Order66/~3/UpskIMPjkV0/Order%2066%20Podcast%20Episode%2024%20-%20Kung%20Pow%20Chicken.mp3

(among other places)

Their discussion starts around 1:08:30 and I think it's a pretty fair overview.

Edit: Here's a link to actually download the episode rather than embedding it in the forum post...

http://podbay.fm/show/276381727/e/1389592140?autostart=1

Saga didn't fix any of SW D20's issues and it was still, very much, D&D 3.5 in space, complete with broken character combos, badly designed prestige classes, trap options and Force powers/magic that eliminated non-Force users from equal participation in the game.

WEG still is very influential on Star Wars. FFG still brings in materials that first appeared in WEG regularly, there's even an illustrations in one FFG book showing a spacer looking at a datapad that actaully has a WEG sourcebook loaded on the screen.

Really? Where? I never noticed that (not that I'm shocked by that development)

Enter the Unknown, pg 71. One of the best mail order catalogs in the galaxy.

The Best: FFG - Without a doubt the best one of the three. It's very much the spiritual successor to D6, it's got great story telling potential, it's fast and loose and fun - and it has the benefit of being a live, active system. It took a little getting used to, learning to interpret the dice, the GM and Players both tell the story - but once I figured that out, it turned my head away from WEG and I'll probably never look back.

My sentiments as well. If WEG was X-Files, FFG is Fringe. A little different, a little weird, but just as good if not better once you get into it.

2)Since they were making it all for their game, they had to do it in a reasonable, controlled, balanced fashion. So 90% of what WEG generated was pretty darn appropriate for the setting, at least in form, function, and stats.

I'd have called it 60%, but then I never played WEG, so my opinion really comes from the fact that all to often when I run across something that doesn't make any sense or didn't fit, it traced back to a WEG supplement. A lot of WEG 'feels' like Star Wars now, because (as Ghost said) a lot of writers used it to build from. At the time, though, half the stuff reads like it could have come from any SciFi.

Fair point. To clarify, I meant you rarely come across some silly super blaster, or ultra gadget.

I agree that some thing do feel less star wars then others. Lord of the Expanse didn't feel very star was to me at the time, though the Prequels actually helped LotE with all it's debating in the senate....

Saga didn't fix any of SW D20's issues and it was still, very much, D&D 3.5 in space, complete with broken character combos, badly designed prestige classes, trap options and Force powers/magic that eliminated non-Force users from equal participation in the game.

I kinda saw this up front, but after a while I realized it's a Certain Point of View issue as well.

I never felt the D20 Class and Leveling system really worked for Star Wars from an original trilogy perspective. The GM either had to level up stormtroopers with the players (kinda eliminating the point of leveling) or accept that after a certain point Stormtroopers were a kind of joke.

However, if your vision of Star Wars is more a High Fantasy with lasers (which there are people that see it that way) and you want to have your Jedi nearly unthreatened by Battle droids after they get to a certain power level in much the same way a Barbarian might stand atop a hill laughing while hundreds of orcs charge up after him... D20 might be your thing. So a Tales of the Jedi/Starships made of stone and canvas kinda guy will probably love D20.

Saga didn't fix any of SW D20's issues and it was still, very much, D&D 3.5 in space, complete with broken character combos, badly designed prestige classes, trap options and Force powers/magic that eliminated non-Force users from equal participation in the game.

Hmm...I think that's a bit of a broad brush stroke, but to each his own. I'll agree that you could come up with "broken" combos, but IMO it was the responsibility of the GM and the players to make sure that they restrained themselves from such power gaming to be able to focus on the story (Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you ought to do something). In my experience, the rest of the assertions above did not hold true.

I ran many successful campaigns were Force users did not overshadow their non-Force-using allies and where everyone had a lot of fun. Conversely, we played D&D 3.5 for all of half a dozen sessions and completely hated it. Again, that was one group, but we played Saga Edition for years and absolutely loved it. It just took a little effort on the part of the GM to deal with power-gaming, which there wasn't much of to begin with (I was by far the biggest power gamer, but I GM'd most of the time, so it really wasn't an issue).

I never played Saga, but played WEG extensively both the written modules as well as a lot of original material.

It is great if your PC want to be part of the Rebel Alliance or have leanings towards it. I think it breaks down (especially for pre-written material) for characters that want to live on the fringe of the Galactic War. There are several guides and material of it but very few adventures. Also the balance between Force users and mundanes at higher levels is non-existent. Force users are way overpowered in my opinion.

I really enjoy the FFG "feel" and the edginess of it, particularly the EofE material. If you are looking to run a campaign where your players want to play bounty hunters, smugglers and thieves, then I would definitely go with FFG if you can afford it. As mentioned before, it is somewhat expensive since it is new.

Ohhh, and how about those in-universe adverts in WEG material? Nice touch.

I never played WEG, but I hear it was quite good. So if you went with that, you'll likely enjoy it. I believe the d6holocron will have everything you need.

I prefer FFG Star Wars for many reasons, but as a GM I find it's easy to prepare for and run. Creating an NPC can take only a few seconds or 5 minutes. There's no need to generate one as you would a PC. It's very liberating and allows me to focus on the story.

I never played WEG, but I hear it was quite good. So if you went with that, you'll likely enjoy it. I believe the d6holocron will have everything you need.

I prefer FFG Star Wars for many reasons, but as a GM I find it's easy to prepare for and run. Creating an NPC can take only a few seconds or 5 minutes. There's no need to generate one as you would a PC. It's very liberating and allows me to focus on the story.

Creating NPCs for WEG's version is the same as for FFGs. Just give them what they need. No need to build them under the rules of the PCs, unlike all the various D20 variants of games.

I never played WEG, but I hear it was quite good. So if you went with that, you'll likely enjoy it. I believe the d6holocron will have everything you need.

I prefer FFG Star Wars for many reasons, but as a GM I find it's easy to prepare for and run. Creating an NPC can take only a few seconds or 5 minutes. There's no need to generate one as you would a PC. It's very liberating and allows me to focus on the story.

Creating NPCs for WEG's version is the same as for FFGs. Just give them what they need. No need to build them under the rules of the PCs, unlike all the various D20 variants of games.

My comment was mainly in comparison to SW:SE, which is the only Star Wars RPG I have as a reference for comparison. But it's good to know that WEG is pretty fast and loose as well, in that regards.

I'm going to go with WEG as it sounds simple and cheap, plus it turns out I already have 4 of the books. I have second edition revised and expanded, imperial sourcebook, rebel alliance sourcebook, and dark empire sourcebook.

Any books you'd consider MUST have? I was thinking of getting the shadows of the empire sourcebook and 'Heros and Rogues'.

PS. Do any of the books have Death Troopers aka zombies?

If you do go with WEG/d6 then Heroes & Rogues is a really good resource for pc's, lots of templates and background and story ideas. When I ran it Galaxy Guid 6: Tramp Freghters was almost essential. But 'must haves' really depends on what you want to run and what your players are playing.