Hi everyone. I've jeot my eye on this RPG a while now and really would like to pick it up. Unfortunately $60 is expensive for me right now. But that's neither here nor there. I'd like to ask some basic beginner questions. So let's get started

1. Is there a PDF of the core rulebook anywhere?

2. How popular is this game? I'm new to tabletop RPGs and this sounds like it doesn't really need a game board and is more of a "narrative" RPG much like Shadowrun where players and GMs explain what's happening. But I look on roll20 and I only see a few games. Maybe I'm not searching right but it would be great to find a new campaign that welcomes new players.

3. What types of adventures will players be going on? I know the Star Wars universe is huge so I imagine there's tons of things to be done but give me some examples of what players will be doing.

4. How long is a typical session? Right now I only have about 2-2.5 hours a day for a session and I have a feeling that they go much longer but maybe I can negotiate with my gf to give me a night a week or something once we move and I get a job

5. I read that this rulebook and all other Rulebooks are compatible with each other? So I could create a Force character using this rulebook in an EotE campaign?

6. How does morality all play in with the adventures? If one player is a dark side character, but there are others who are light side, how are they supposed to cooperate during an adventure? Or is it expected that all players are light side? I'm not sure how that works. I really wish I could get my hands on a rule book. Even just to read!

7. Could anyone give me a brief overview of the classes and their specs? I know there's a lot but just a general gist would be good

I think that's it! Since I don't have the rulebook I don't have any rule specific questions so thanks!

1) No PDF available.

2) Depends on location. you are correct about it being more narrative then game board. online the games can be almost endless (just post in the forums and i'm sure you'll find players. I find skype works well)

3) depends on your group. mine at the moment are journeying through the old republic as jedi. (old game they were rebellion operatives)

4) depends on how long you want to run it. Generally my groups go a couple of years before we start a new campaign (only play once a week). also depends on how heavy handed you are at giving xp

5) all the games (EotE, AoTR, F&D) are completely compatible. as for where you can use the books you would have to ask you GM

6)that depends on your group. mine will soon have a dark side character playing with light side. I suggest for mixed alignment groups that you talk to the players at session zero so that you can disscuss rules for character interaction. (Darksider knows not to destroy the group with too much evil, also running a mixed group makes it a little more difficult to engage the whole party during sessions, though it can be very fun if handled correctly)

Hope that answers your questions

Across three books, you have 6 careers with 3 specializations each. That's 18 per book (with some repeats). There are also 3 universal specializations found across the three. This does not cover the career books, which include an additional three for each career. Going over every single one would be an undertaking, but here's a key thought:

Careers and specializations are different -- careers are permanent, and are more like character types rather than classes. You can't swap, change or take on a second. Specializations are more like classic classes, but you don't change those, you just get more.

Thank you all for the help! So the careers are like Sentinel, Mystic, etc? And the specializations are their sort of sub classes? There are quite a lot lol. So what about giving a brief overview of the ones just in F&D? For example, I assume Mystic is the classic Force user who specializes in using force powers while the Warrior is the one who specializes in lightsaber combat?

Thank you all for the help! So the careers are like Sentinel, Mystic, etc? And the specializations are their sort of sub classes? There are quite a lot lol. So what about giving a brief overview of the ones just in F&D? For example, I assume Mystic is the classic Force user who specializes in using force powers while the Warrior is the one who specializes in lightsaber combat?

Not quite. The careers reflect background character types, but come with a set of career skills. The specs each have their own talent tree; each of the six careers has its own lightsaber specialization. The F&D careers and specs, however:

• Consular: Healer, Niman Disciple and Sage
• Guardian: Peacekeeper, Protector and Soresu Defender
• Mystic: Advisor, Makashi Duelist and Seer
• Seeker: Ataru Striker, Hunter and Pathfinder
• Sentinel: Artisan, Shadow and Shien Expert
• Warrior: Aggressor, Shii-Cho Knight and Starfighter Ace

So each career has a different lightsaber specialization? What are these specializatios? Different stances or forms? Or something else?

Also, regarding number 2, I meant how long is a typical night of gaming? Night or day, whichever. One session. Doesn't necessarily have to complete an entire encounter or anything but how long is. A normal gaming session?

There is no set length of time for a session. That will always come down to the group involved and would need to be negotiated. If your short on time I recommend finding a play by post game.

The specs with the funny sounding alien names are the lightsaber specs, covering 6 different lightsaber forms from lore. I can't give to adequate an explanation with out a colossal wall of text (and I'm bad at those anyway), but you can pick up any spec you want (out of career costs extra), so if you worry about being locked into a class you don't like, you won't be.

There is no set length of time for a session. That will always come down to the group involved and would need to be negotiated. If your short on time I recommend finding a play by post game.

I'd just need to negotiate time with my gf or play for 2-3 hours during the week now while I'm unemployed lol

Also, regarding number 2, I meant how long is a typical night of gaming? Night or day, whichever. One session. Doesn't necessarily have to complete an entire encounter or anything but how long is. A normal gaming session?

I know a lot of GMs who prepare for 4 hour sessions. That's usually the same amount of time a typical game at a convention will run. But I also have a casual game that runs every other week where we play for only 2 hours. That game is a lot of fun since we're all playing errand boys for a lazy and useless Darth (in the Old Republic era where you couldn't throw a dead womp rat without hitting a Sith lord).

Four hours seems to be the standard for tabletop RPGs it seems that I've found. I Don't want to do play by post but I also can't do four hours right now. Not unless I started at 9 am every day and didn't do anything else before my gf came home. Which she probably wouldn't be happy about considering I should probably do something other than game while unemployed lol

Four hours seems to be the standard for tabletop RPGs it seems that I've found. I Don't want to do play by post but I also can't do four hours right now. Not unless I started at 9 am every day and didn't do anything else before my gf came home. Which she probably wouldn't be happy about considering I should probably do something other than game while unemployed lol

4 hours is about average for most groups I've played in. But from the sounds of it perhaps you should focus on finding a job? This game is fun, don't get me wrong, but not worth angering a loved one over.

Haha yeah agreed. I definitely am doing that too though!

Just curious but how does Morality work in the game? I know I don't have the book and could read it if I did but if one player is dark side and one is light, how does the role playing aspect of that work if the point is to work cooperatively?

Tyr4el, I highly recommend grabbing the Force & Destiny Beginner game, especially if you're new to the hobby. It won't have the mechanic depth of the core book, but it will teach everyone the basic rules. It has an adventure, rulebook, dice, tokens, a double-sided map and four character folios, all for $30.00. It's a bargain, IMO. There are two additional characters and another adventure for free, online. After you've played through everything you should know if the F&D core book is for you or not. If it is, then the maps, tokens and dice will still be useful. Heck, players may want to keep the characters they used from it!

Just curious but how does Morality work in the game? I know I don't have the book and could read it if I did but if one player is dark side and one is light, how does the role playing aspect of that work if the point is to work cooperatively?

If being a dark sider is a gateway to ass-hat power-fantasy, that's an entire can of icky worms that I hope you never have to deal with.

Here, have a FAQ: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/185718-frequently-asked-questions-for-force-and-destiny/

Just curious but how does Morality work in the game? I know I don't have the book and could read it if I did but if one player is dark side and one is light, how does the role playing aspect of that work if the point is to work cooperatively?

The FAQ above answers the mechanics of that question under "Morality and Conflict", third paragraph (scroll down some). As for the roleplaying aspects, well, that's up to how you and the players, well, play it out. It is entirely in the hands of the group on how they work with a dark sider in the party. No hard and fast rules on what you can and cannot do with it.

Just curious but how does Morality work in the game? I know I don't have the book and could read it if I did but if one player is dark side and one is light, how does the role playing aspect of that work if the point is to work cooperatively?

Again it comes down to the characters. It depends on what the darksider does really. There are grounds where someone is a darkside but isn't horrifically dark, in which a more lightsided character may be able to work with. The Clone Wars broached this a bit when they had Ventress working along side Obi Wan and Ashoka.

Across three books, you have 6 careers with 3 specializations each. That's 18 per book (with some repeats). There are also 3 universal specializations found across the three. This does not cover the career books, which include an additional three for each career. Going over every single one would be an undertaking, but here's a key thought:

Careers and specializations are different -- careers are permanent, and are more like character types rather than classes. You can't swap, change or take on a second. Specializations are more like classic classes, but you don't change those, you just get more.

If you don't mind me asking can you elaborate on why the players cant take a second career (and page reference)? From what I read on pg 43 of F&D core its says "the choice of career establishes the cental focus of the characters training, practices, and even professional experience. while not Intended to limit a character, the choice of career does establish what kind of skills and talents are going to be most readily available, as well as roles the PC is likely to excel at within a group. players should think of their character's career as an archetype that forms the initial framework for constructing their PC."

Across three books, you have 6 careers with 3 specializations each. That's 18 per book (with some repeats). There are also 3 universal specializations found across the three. This does not cover the career books, which include an additional three for each career. Going over every single one would be an undertaking, but here's a key thought:

Careers and specializations are different -- careers are permanent, and are more like character types rather than classes. You can't swap, change or take on a second. Specializations are more like classic classes, but you don't change those, you just get more.

If you don't mind me asking can you elaborate on why the players cant take a second career (and page reference)? From what I read on pg 43 of F&D core its says "the choice of career establishes the cental focus of the characters training, practices, and even professional experience. while not Intended to limit a character, the choice of career does establish what kind of skills and talents are going to be most readily available, as well as roles the PC is likely to excel at within a group. players should think of their character's career as an archetype that forms the initial framework for constructing their PC."

I don't recall the page number but in a nutshell, because you're allowed to take any specialization there is no real need to take a second career. The career just helps to determine general theme of the kind of character and from a mechanical stand point helps to determine in class skills for the purpose of buying skills with XP. But then again you also gain the skills of any specialization as class skills.

@Kael/Blackbird - Thanks for the response. So then my next question is how dark side powers come into play if character are pushed more towards the Light side? I suppose you could have a game with a dark character working with the Light. That could work but I'm thinking full on dark side, no hope of turning back working with other players. Or would the GM basically have to rule the players are either one or the other? Or am I reading too much into this lol.

And I will buy the beginner box if only for the dice haha. But no I will definitely. This game sounds like a lot of fun. I just wish I had someone to play with. I don't have anybody down here to play with.

Some powers are darkside powers. But in most cases taping into the darkside is a matter of using darkside pips. When you roll your force die you can either fail the roll or it will come up either with lightside pips or darkside pips. You can choose to use those pips to active the power but doing so with darkside pips give you Conflict. There are other threads that go much deeper into how Conflict works, but basically using the darkside pips to make a power work increases the odds that you will go down in Morality. You are officially considered a darksider when you hit 30 in Morality.

As for in play, it again comes down to the group. There are no rules that says a dedicated darksider who has no hope or desire at redemption can't play with a lightsider. Whether or not it works is always dependent on the group involved. Some tables it might work. Others it won't work. There is no fast and hard rule on darksiders and lightsiders playing together. It will always default to the individual group as they are the only ones who can decide just how much slack they want to give the other characters in regards to how they act.

Thank you Kael for your response. That helps me out a lot. I'll have to invest in the beginner box and the rulebook at some point and find some people to play with

Check local gaming stores. If that fails (as was the case with where I live in which none of the local game stores made it possible for groups to find other people) use online methods. I found my current group with a combination of Meetup.com and Facebook. There's also a thread on one of the Star Wars forums that has players posting where they are at.

I run beginner game sessions on roll20.net all the time. Look me up if you want to try one sometime.

Kuda