Hello

I've been wanting to roleplay Star Wars lately and so I've looked into EotE. I've got a few questions

I know my players will want to have something to do with the force and do some dog fighting in space. With that in mind, what books would I require?

Has the core rulebook been reprinted with the latest errata updated in it?

I'm only interested in long term campaigns that last at least a year of gaming with weekly sessions. How much character growth/improvement does the game offer, does EotE support long term campaigns?

Thank you

The core book should have the latest errata as of at least a year ago I believe. But the errors aren't huge, I have one of the originals, it's never been an issue.

Yes, I'd say the game supports very long term campaigns. Lots of people here have been running campaigns at least a year.

I'd suggest if you want to check it out, get the beginner box. It has a good adventure, introduces the rules in a measured way, comes with a set of dice you'll need anyway, and has a long PDF followup adventure.

Enjoy!

How interested in the Force are they? Force and Destiny might be your thing over Edge. Edge has a couple powers and one spec that allows them to use it a little, but F&D has the full menageries of options.

All three cores share the same base rules for space combat, Age has some extra for capital ship combat. Of the various supplements, Stay on Target adds to vehicle combat; Fly Casual covers some aspects of space travel. Full disclosure: many have found the vehicle combat rules to be one of the weaker parts of the system; there is a set of house rules on this forum that addresses some of the issues, although YMMV if they are effective or not. Those can be found here: https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/182940-starship-house-rules/?hl=%2Bstarship+%2Bhouse+%2Brules

My suggestion for those: if you buy the book and expect to use the starship rules, study them thoroughly to get a full understanding.

The most recent reprint of Edge of the Empire just hit, so I can't say what's different.

Yes, long term campaigns are supported. Character growth is based on ability trees, and characters can take on as many as they can afford.

Having something to do with the Force can be had with any of the 3 CRBs. Being a a full blown Jedi themed PC is for the F&D CRB.

In regards to the Force and space combat, overall the Force is handled pretty good although it takes a fairly advanced character to get a real feel like you are something seen in the movies, it's definitely a long term kind of campaign to build Force users.

Space combat is another thing entirely. I think the system works fine for what it's trying to accomplish and offer, there are plenty of people here though who are/were looking for more of a tactical simulator in regards to space combat. It's probably the one aspect of the game most people come here with the most questions about. Doesn't mean it's bad, but the rules are very open ended and require stepping away from a 'measure distance' 'line of sight' 'X # of grid squares movement per turn' mentality.

Force: The EotE and AoR cores both have force options, but they are both pretty limited. If the players want to be Luke in EP IV&V or Anakin in EP I, you're covered. If the players want to get their lightsaber and Jedi on you're probably better off with FaD. Just a heads up that "Jedi" is a flexible term with a lot of different meanings, so if your players are big on the Jedi thing you should ask about that on it's own (and be ready for a flame war as opinions vary widely)

As 2P51 said. Vehicle combat is pretty weird. It's good, and you can do a lot of neat stuff with it once you get the hang of it, but it's not what a lot of people expect, and the encounter design for Starfighter and light vehicle scenarios is tricky as fighters are pretty easy to remove from play if you're not careful. If you're going to give it a go, I strongly recommend you get the AoR GM kit (even if you don't get the AoR Core) so you can use the Squadron rules to keep players alive early in their career. Currently AoR (with Stay on Target) has the most support for the starfighter theme, but EotE and FaD have a pilot option each so you won't be totally left out (the basic Pilot specialization in EotE and AoR is actually identical).

The SW campaign I'm running has been going on since Feb 2014 and is showing no signs of letting up. So it's perfect for running long-term campaigns.

I find that most people new to SWRPG immediately think "I want to be a Jedi!" because it's the first thing that comes to mind when you think "Star Wars". However, from my experience, most players end up preferring the rough-and-tumble Edge of the Empire style, with smuggling for fun and profit, getting on the wrong side of criminal underworld figures (Hutts or not) and the law both, and general mischievous mayhem. After all, lightsaber or not, Han Solo is a much cooler character than Luke Skywalker

It basically breaks down like this: Edge of the Empire for swashbuckling fun, smuggling and shooting your way across the Outer Rim; Age of Rebellion if you want to go on military missions for the Rebellion, with generally cooler equipment and ships; or Force and Destiny, if you want a more galaxy-sweeping and epic campaign about the struggle between good and evil (think high fantasy in space). They're all fun in their own way, and I'd at least let your group experience each one before making up their mind about what sort of campaign style they really want.

To that end, as others have stated, the beginner games offer a great taste of each style. Purchasing all three will set you back $90 (boo), but you'll get $45 worth of dice included (yay!), which will set you up nicely for playing, plus you'll get some maps and a bunch of tokens, if you enjoy those sorts of things. So, for basically under $50 (assuming you'd buy three sets of dice anyway), you get three possible starting campaign settings with pre-made characters for quick play, three basic adventures to help them learn the system and the style, plus three downloadable follow-up adventures if they want to continue on a bit with the same characters. After playing all three, they'll have a better understanding of the different styles to help them choose what's really the campaign setting they'd prefer.

Thanks all for the recommendations

About the only thing bothering me is the fact that you have to buy 3 books to get the full spectrum of FFG's 'Star Wars'. No doubt the books are great and the rules look solid enough, but in the UK that's going to cost me £120.00p.

Ok I could probably do without the AoR book for now, but even so, when you figure in 2 sets of dice, you're still looking at £100 or thereabouts. That's too expensive and even though the above advice is solid, there's little chance me making do with one book; I'll have to get both EotE and FaD too for the Star Wars experience our table requires.

Still, something to consider

Not that I want to prevent FFG from making a profit, but you can easily start with just Edge of the Empire. The major differences between rule books come down to the careers, talent trees, and the Force powers*. The careers and talent trees and force powers for all the books are available from fan sources, e.g.:

http://beggingforxp.com/2014/star-wars-talent-sheets/

This lets you try it out before you commit to buying all the books, and if you like it you can easily expand.

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* there is also the basic character development mechanics of Obligation, Duty, and Morality, but you can easily get your feet wet without paying too much attention to those in the beginning.

you can alway start with EoTE and tell the player who want to be force user to take the Jedi exiled specialization to begin with. Then you can run a couple of weeks or months like that before buying FaD, It would still be expensive but spread out so it would be less hard on the wallet.

You can also try to convince the players who really want to play jedi to split the price of FaD with you.

Cool thing about this game, unlike the Other Fantasy RPG, is that you can buy as many or as few books as you want. If you want just the EotE book, then thats all you need. Sure, the other books will expand on concepts, and maybe give you some module ideas, but they aren't vital for the game.

Good idea

Of course right now my biggest problem is finding someplace in the UK where they stock EotE!

EDIT: Wow that's a ton of talents! A campaign could last years. Possibly. Not that I've ever played the game or read so much as a page of the rule book mind

One thing to keep in mind, though this won't come up until you play.

Some people find things start to breakdown once you get in the 500+ XP range. It can happen, but if you keep the XP slightly conservative with a steady stream and a focus on roleplaying, you won't have a problem. I play in a campaign that has some characters with 1000+ XP and others with only a few hundred. We get around 20 XP per week, and play weekly. Things have worked great for us.

EDIT: Wow that's a ton of talents! A campaign could last years. Possibly. Not that I've ever played the game or read so much as a page of the rule book mind

It depends on how you spend and the character build design. A fairly straight forward character can start wrapping up after around +500XP... While a complex "Jedi" build might want to start at around +500XP...

Certain Point of View caveats apply....

The other thing you may want to watch out for is the fact that EotE is addictive. I picked up a copy about a week ago out of the back corner of a local gaming store. After reading it I ran a playtest now I own all the core books and most of the supplements. It has been some of the most fun I have had running games in years. The system which I was skeptical of at first really does hold up the dice add a wonderful amount of narrative to the game. My players were sold after a couple of rolls.

That being said the core books offer a lot pick the one that deals with aspects of Star Wars you love and go with it. There is enough meat in there along with some of the fan supplements to run for a while. You can then look at supplemtents and other core books and add what will bring the most your game.

Get the Edge basic set. If you aren't used to a narrative system this explains it well for you. And, it has a set of dice. If you like the system, then continue with more purchases.

An extra set of dice.

Unless your players want to play a party of all force-users, I would avoid Force & Destiny as your first book. Both Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion include force rules for a PC or two wanting to be Luke while still having lots for those that don't want to be force-users. Even if they go all out at improving their force skills, it will be some time before your lack of Force & Destiny would be noticed.

If they have stated they want to be all about the Rebellion, then get the later. Anything else, get Edge.

Whatever errata is in the reprint of Edge won't be much. I think it will mainly be about rephrasing or clarifying, not changing. You could wait, get the Basic set first, then get the reprint. But, if you can't wait for the 2nd printing you won't have any problem at all with the current Edge book. It's what almost everyone here learned and gamed this system on.

You don't need to go all out and start a collection of all source and core books from the start. Try Basic. Like it? Try one core plus another set of dice. Love it? Get some more dice and start expanding. Warning - you will probably love it. So, purchase in stages.

I would recommend the basic Edge CRB first, because all three delve into the basic rules, and because it has all the smugglers and bounty hunters you could need for a good campaign. If you really want to go deeper, some of the good Splats would be Stay on Target (for space combat and beast riding) and Fly Casual or Dangerous Covenants (both really solid additions for Smuggler and Hired Gun, respectively) or the other two CRBs. If your players (when you get to that stage) want to improve their base of operation, Far Horizons has rules for homesteads and businesses, and Desperate Allies has rules for Rebellion bases

I'll second the start with a Beginner Box depending on the game theme your group wants:

EotE is in the Underworld/edge of society,

AoR is supporting the Rebellion either with combat or negotiations

FaD is focusing on Moral choices and grand adventures .

Then get the core book if your group enjoy the Narative dice system.

Me and the other GM in our group agreed that he would get all the EotE books, while I get all the AoR. I still got the EotE and FaD core, all 3 beginner boxes, all 3 GM screens.

You could also suggest that players get the career supplements that they need/want to reduce the cost for you.

Less people get the adventure books due to lots of people writing their own campaign. the sector books are an great for inspiration.

There is an immense amount of inspiration for adventures in every book, almost every page has some idea or other that can turn into an entire session or even campaign.

The production quality, artwork is exceptional in all books.

Campaign length can also depend on the length of your party. If you've got a small party who are cross-specking a lot to fill the gaps, you could easily last more than a year (depending on how generous you are with xp). A large party - 6 or more - might plateau by the end of a year, particularly if you've got 2 or more combat oriented characters who will be destroying it by the time they get to 400xp.

Great advice all - thanks

Right now though, I cannot find a store online in the UK who has the 'core' rule book in stock. Not even FFG have it on stock. I'm going to go for the beginner's box set anyway but I was hoping it would be in print at some time in the future

Leisuregames

Infinity Games

Gameslore

E Bay

Amazon

Spirit Games

Orc's Nest

Patriot Games

Waylander UK

Gameskeeper

None of them have it (at least not at a reasonable price)

Hey Sparky,

The Core rule book just came back into stock at fantasy flight games, so I presume stockists will be receiving fairly soon too. I've pre-ordered mine from IGUK which was the best price I could find. I have bought from them in the past so am assured of their reliability

Hey Sparky,

The Core rule book just came back into stock at fantasy flight games, so I presume stockists will be receiving fairly soon too. I've pre-ordered mine from IGUK which was the best price I could find. I have bought from them in the past so am assured of their reliability

That's great news!

Thank you

And yes, IGUK are the most competitive stockist out there as far as I can tell

Just phoned them up and pre ordered a copy too

Is there advice in the book for justifying why there'd be no 'Jedis' in the game if you only have the EotE book? I'm looking to get FaD in the future but I'd like a sort of rational explanation as to why nobody can play full force sensitive characters in the mean time.

Thanks all

Is there advice in the book for justifying why there'd be no 'Jedis' in the game if you only have the EotE book? I'm looking to get FaD in the future but I'd like a sort of rational explanation as to why nobody can play full force sensitive characters in the mean time.

Thanks all

Well, I believe EoTE is set just after the Battle of Yavin, meaning the Death Star has been destroyed and, more to your question, Vader has wiped the Jedi out.

That being said, with the Force Sensitive Exile you can still create an Episode IV Luke type of character.

Is there advice in the book for justifying why there'd be no 'Jedis' in the game if you only have the EotE book? I'm looking to get FaD in the future but I'd like a sort of rational explanation as to why nobody can play full force sensitive characters in the mean time.

History. I think the rationalization for the setting was so they could test the Force rules and get them in the hands of a live audience in a measured way before releasing everything untested. It was a very wise decision to make a better product--making rules for the Force and balancing them is extremely hard to do--but it unfortunately leads to consumer confusion now.

Is there advice in the book for justifying why there'd be no 'Jedis' in the game if you only have the EotE book? I'm looking to get FaD in the future but I'd like a sort of rational explanation as to why nobody can play full force sensitive characters in the mean time.

Thanks all

Even with F&D unless you're prepared to hand out a starting PC 500 bonus xp on top of CHAGEN they aren't going to be performing at anything like a Jedi anyway. To get to that cinematic level in the game is a lot of xp.

Even with EoE they have access to the some of the most iconic Force powers, and quite honestly save for the lack of skills in the Exile tree, the tree itself hands out some pretty handy Talents. Really your biggest issue as a GM is whether to hand out a lightsaber at that point, as there is plenty for a PC to spend xp on.

So they can be full Force sensitive with Exile in EoE.