So you'd have preferred, say, a Sun or Vice style exploration of, say, Just the Mon Calamari Sector, as opposed to a collection of Rebel-aligned worlds?

What is it about the geographic organization you find appealing over a thematic organization to the planet selection?

Or is there something else at work here?

What about the other books "grabbed you" or "was useful" that you aren't finding here?

You say you aren't running an AOR campaign, what kind of campaign are you running, exactly, that you're finding the book less than ideal to support?

I think your questions are more directed at Donovan than me (especially because I hope you don't get the impression that I'm not finding Strongholds of Resistance useful), but I can speak a little bit as to what I liked about the organization of the LoNH and SoF. Basically, it comes down to the fact that the various worlds aren't just geographically linked - they are linked geographically, politically, and thematically.

As a sourcebook, I felt like Lords of Nal Hutta gave me a great framework to hang a campaign on. Just reading through the book seems to suggest a solid narrative. Nar Shaddaa is a great "basecamp" and can lead to jobs to the various other Hutt controlled worlds. Visiting each world (particularly Kintan, Klatooine, Sriluur, and Toydaria) gives opportunities to showcase different locations and aliens while assembling the clues along the way. The Bootana Hutta is pretty sandboxy, allowing other stuff to be dropped in there as needed. It can all lead nicely to a high stakes infiltration of Varl and then to the Bou'Halec on Nal Hutta to confront the Ruling Council with the evidence. I liked that about LoNH because I wasn't previously very interested in the Hutts but just reading the book got me planning out huge arcs. It was also great because I don't have (or know of) any other single volume with that level of depth on the Hutt Cartels (even outside of the RPG). It felt really "tight" and I would probably call it my favorite sourcebook from among the three game lines so far (and Suns of Fortune is near the top of that list too).

Strongholds of Resistance isn't like that. It will be useful to me for many adventures, but it is never going to be the genesis of a whole campaign (though I will certainly get good mileage out of Polis Massa Base). I do appreciate the world write-ups individually as well - Sullust or Kinyen (or most of the others, frankly) are places that I could see using as an adventure setting (or at least as a meaningful stop), and the fact that most of the planet write-ups include at least one creature is a huge plus for me. However, the nature of the subject matter makes it hard to use too cohesively - it feels like no individual Rebel operatives should visit or know of so many different bases, for security reasons if nothing else.

I really hope it's clear that I don't think SoR is bad at all. It is a book I'll pick up and many times over many games; it's hard to have Star Wars without at least one Rebel base. This gives me a lot of great options for those bases. Between the crazy long wait for this book and the fact that the other setting based books have been favorites left me with some pretty high expectations I got a little "underwhelmed" when this was different from them. However, I absolutely appreciate it. I also appreciate you coming on here and engaging with us about your work on these books. I can't be easy to see people dissecting your work on the internet.

Also, you wrote the Kinyen/Gran section, yes? Is there some level on which the Gran are inspired by Niven's Pierson's Puppeteers? (Obviously, I know the Gran as a species have been around since RotJ, so some of those elements are probably from way before you were professionally involved with Star Wars, but I'm also really curious.)

Strongholds of Resistance isn't like that. It will be useful to me for many adventures, but it is never going to be the genesis of a whole campaign (though I will certainly get good mileage out of Polis Massa Base). I do appreciate the world write-ups individually as well - Sullust or Kinyen (or most of the others, frankly) are places that I could see using as an adventure setting (or at least as a meaningful stop), and the fact that most of the planet write-ups include at least one creature is a huge plus for me. However, the nature of the subject matter makes it hard to use too cohesively - it feels like no individual Rebel operatives should visit or know of so many different bases, for security reasons if nothing else.

Lords of Nal Hutta was, like virtually all source books, a tool intended for use primarily by GMs, but it also contained a considerable amount of information that would be useful to players. As you pointed out, a lot of players would find find valuable details that could add to their characters and ground them a bit more in the universe. By contrast, Strongholds of Resistance is more firmly a GM book with comparatively fewer opportunities for players to seize on its contents on their own initiative. It makes sense that, as you say, PCs would have compartmentalized knowledge of the Rebel Alliance. Therefore, it's not that SoR is a weak book, but LNH was just surprisingly strong.

The other half of it, I think, is that LNH went to a lot of trouble to highlight the adventure possibilities within the book, while SoR leaves a lot of it understated. When I was first flipping through the book, I too was disappointed, since it appeared to just be general descriptions of locations, bases, and the like without much depth. There was a dearth of sidebar information. However, once I started doing a close reading, I realized that all of the adventure hooks are there, just in the form of off-hand comments mixed in with the descriptive text.

It reminds me a lot of Suns of Fortune, in that way. For my current campaign, one of my players decided to play a Selonian, so I sat down to read the section about Selonia, expecting just a run-down of their history and culture. (Like SoR, SoF doesn't have a lot of sidebar material.) But I was surprised and pleased to find about a half-dozen adventure hooks hidden there, enough that I was able to concoct a decent backstory and spin a four-session adventure out of it. I think SoR has the same strength: it's weak when you're looking for an overview, but when you want to burrow into one particular aspect, you'll find that it contains a wealth of useful information.

That said, again, LNH is a really great book, and I think it benefits greatly from its sidebar material. I just think that SoR is also great but in a different way, more in the vein of SoF. If I had to guess, I'd say one of the key differences was giving us such an in-depth look at the Hutts and how they operate. Having a deeper analysis of an organization alongside a location adds a lot more material for the writers/developers to work with.

I think Kael pretty much hit the nail on the head as for why I found this book underwhelming.

It's primarily a GM's book, and those for me tend to fall flat, as I can do the creative stuff such as designing a central base for a campaign just fine on my own, and in fact prefer to do so rather than use somebody else's pre-canned material.

I think the other thing is that Lords of Nal Hutta and Sons of Fortune did a lot to flesh out their respective regions of the galaxy. Strongholds pretty much said "here's a bunch of pre-generated bases," included a bit of backdrop on some planets... and that was about it.

My copy arrived today and I've had a first cursory glance at it. While I can understand that people who expected the next Lords of Nal Hutta are disappointed, I can say that I don't feel underwhelmed. It's true that they could have gone more in depth on the individual planets, they chose to go a different route with this one. Instead they put in planets with enough information to get you started with a couple of adventure hooks between the lines. Then in a different part, they cover Alliance bases in general, so the GM has some guidelines to make up new ones. Also we get more Alliance ships (MC30, MC40 (which one has the a?) and the super-size-me Independence (Home One size). This is OK for me, too. Another SoF or LoNH would have been fine, too, but this isn't bad either.

As the guy who keeps on whining for Vratix, I just have to say that I am deeply sorry that the did not include Vratix as a species. You can put a few things together off the Ashen stats, but it just isn't the same.

My rating may change once I've had time to actually read it, but from the first look I'd give it a 4 out of 5.

MC40A, MC30C

I still wish they included stats for some of the Sorosuub rebel capital ships they mentioned in the book in this book rather then saving them for later though

I think Kael pretty much hit the nail on the head as for why I found this book underwhelming.

Not to dogpile, but I had the same response as well and for the reasons stated above. "These are planets in rebellion" isn't enough for me to hang a campaign on. I've found that stronger RPG campaigns tend to be ones where the PCs are invested in "the neighborhood." Maybe they're trying to take it over, maybe they're trying to protect it, maybe they're exploring it or maybe they're just trying to survive in it. But the key is a defined space that they view as "their's." This allows the GM to reuse locations, supporting characters and antagonists and really flesh them out.

Chandrila and Mon Cala are physically on opposite ends of the Empire and have nothing in common, culturally or geographically. I get that the characters in the films fly all over but the nice thing about an RPG (or a TV show [see Lothal]) is that you can spend a lot of time in one place and not worry about boring the movie-going audience by building up the location over time.

I don't want to play the armchair developer card but a Mon Cala region book or Ringali Shell book would have been neat and both have pre-existing Legends material for writers to draw on.

The bases section, from a production standpoint, was disappointing. Other than the small Tierfon base, that section didn't even include complete maps of the facilities they described. After the DK Complete Locations books, Echo Base was underwhelming and the actual hidden Rebel base bit of the Polis Massa station wasn't even included! Ugh.

I'm looking forward to the inevitable Imperial allies sourcebook but I think my reaction will be much the same. Strong writing, strong illustrations but nothing to get excited about.

While I can understand that opinions diverge, I just have to - with all respect - contradict the "neighbourhood" comment. Sorry Concise. You can still have a neighbourhood in any of the depicted planets. If they had done one sector only that would have been terribly limiting. They chose to go the way of distributing their little kernels of Rebellion across the Galaxy so campaigns in any part of it can use one or more planets. It just makes most sense.

While I can understand that opinions diverge, I just have to - with all respect - contradict the "neighbourhood" comment. Sorry Concise. You can still have a neighbourhood in any of the depicted planets. If they had done one sector only that would have been terribly limiting. They chose to go the way of distributing their little kernels of Rebellion across the Galaxy so campaigns in any part of it can use one or more planets. It just makes most sense.

You're being very literal but it might be my fault for not fleshing out my definition.

I was defining a neighborhood as a cluster of locations with both a shared geographic space and shared cultural and political influences. The planets in Suns of Fortune were all unique but all paid fealty to and were located close to Corellia. Same with the planets in Lords of Nal Hutta but to the Hutts.

I disagree with the idea that Strongholds of Resistance "just makes most sense." It's certainly a way to present the information, but the EotE books demonstrate that SW sourcebooks don't have to be yet another rehash of the mishmash WEG Planets of the Galaxy format. That's already been done. Heck, even WotC SW broke from that format.

I was defining a neighborhood as a cluster of locations with both a shared geographic space and shared cultural and political influences. The planets in Suns of Fortune were all unique but all paid fealty to and were located close to Corellia. Same with the planets in Lords of Nal Hutta but to the Hutts.

That was the way I understood it, too.

I disagree with the idea that Strongholds of Resistance "just makes most sense." It's certainly a way to present the information, but the EotE books demonstrate that SW sourcebooks don't have to be yet another rehash of the mishmash WEG Planets of the Galaxy format. That's already been done. Heck, even WotC SW broke from that format.

That's true, it's a way of doing such a book. And I believe here it's the right way, because these Strongholds are distributed all over the galaxy. Otherwise the Rebellion would be very easy to root out. But, well, tastes vary.

Of course I agree with you that for Lords of Nal Hutta or Suns of Fortune it would not have made sense at all.

And I believe here it's the right way, because these Strongholds are distributed all over the galaxy. Otherwise the Rebellion would be very easy to root out.

It's a Rebel Alliance; lots of groups - sector commands and allied governments - coming together. All of those groups have their own territorial concerns that they may put before the greater rebellion. A game group can absolutely play a campaign set primarily in a single sector, not concern themselves with the rest of the Alliance Command at large, and still be playing an AoR themed game. To put it another way, putting out a book called Smuggler Worlds for Edge would have been fine but it wouldn't have won the unique style points of LoNH or SoF.

So to say that a Rebellion location book has to feature strongholds distributed all over the galaxy isn't true or keeping with the game's own lore. That's simply a choice the line developers made.

We agree that we don't agree, I guess and that's OK.

If I gambled, I would place my bets on seeing more books like Strongholds than Suns of Fortune or Lords of Nal Hutta, as the vast majority of expanded lore is more spread out than gathered to small areas. So far, we have two sourcebooks that focus on a specific area of space, and two that focus on on planets from one end of the galaxy to the other.

If I gambled, I would place my bets on seeing more books like Strongholds than Suns of Fortune or Lords of Nal Hutta, ...

Anybody's guess, of course... but I wouldn't be so sure. As mentioned, I like SoR, but I'd prefer a couple more sectors like LoNH or SoF.

Really, what is the second distributed-planets-book? Did I miss something? The upcoming Nexus of Power, I guess?

Nexus of Power has everything from Core Worlds to Unknown Regions, so I'd say yeah.

I finally got the book and it was definitely worth the wait.. I loved the list of Sorosuub ships, and I'm hoping the ones not in current products are scheduled for future products. That being said I really wish they had included at least the Bulwark in this book. IMO if you are going to include an adventure hook that involves stealing a ship then stats for the ship should either be in the book or at least available in a book that's already been released for the rule system in question

And am I the only one wondering if the section talking about the Strike-class might be a tease of a future adventure, either a full book or a upcoming modular encounter of some kind?