G'day, I'm hoping to get some feedback on if my cursory look over the core books of the series to see if this system is adaptable to my needs and what purchases will benefit my table.

I haven't run a proper Star wars RPG in twenty years but I've played though a lot of RPGs. I have had a cursory read of the AOR and EOE core books and the beginners box of F&D. But I may be making assumptions that may not fit with my plans.

Lets start at the most obvious two questions, how well does the X-Wing miniatures game cross with the RPG and how much crossover is there between AOR, EOE, and F&D?

The X-Wing miniatures game I like, especially because the biggest lacking element from D6 through the d20 incarnations were weak space combat. I get star fighter combat is inherently lethal however the dialogue around Porkin's death implies the some fighters have ejection seats plus force points plus the occasional lost limb should keep it lethal enough but safe enough for player character engagement.

Re the crossover between the three core books, the systems for the most part appear to my cursory reviews to be all the same, but the themes of each are reinforced by the Duty/Obligation/Morality systems for tonal consistency and these would seem to clash in crossover. The campaign story I have planned is primarily focused on EoE themes with the heroes picking from three different background lines. One of those lines, being linked to Tapanni nobility would appear better supported by the AoR Duty concept, and inherently at least one player who wants to roleplay star wars will want to play a Jedi so I want to be aware of how it plays out if needs be.

To aid in being clear for answers, the concept I have is that the players will be starting in a Hutt skyhook palace on Nar Shaddar or similar vertical city.

The backstory is they can play from one of three backgrounds,

Guards or attendants to a Tapanni princess confronting the Hutt about another kidnapped princess (options include Human minor nobles, human/alien/droid guards/attendants (with some encouragement to one being a minor noble and at least one pilot).

Scoundrels and scum of the Red Corsairs, a crew of the Bounty Hunter/Smugglers involved in a recent kidnapping for the Hutt (Human/Alien/Droids)

Hutt Slaves - guards/entertainers

The opening will be the players in their roles attending this confrontation between a furious young princess who is prepared to pay for the return of her lost cousin, heir of House Pelagia and one of the few voices holding off more Tapanni sector assets falling further into Imperial hands. This is where Storm troopers led by an ISB agent enter. The Hutt will die, the princess be arrested and the Red Corsair killed. The players will be forced to flee and rely on each other to escape the skyhook, hopefully with some morality choices to risk their lives for others, then they will have to cross gang territories to the ship yard where they see the Red Corsair ship flying off and the Tapanni ship stripped by locals to the frame.

Let them stew before finding an ally in a ship captain heading through the Tapani sector to an outer rim sector basically under Tapanni authority, and use the players knowledge to help smuggle through Tapanni, where they will have to pick up their lives, trying to track the kidnapped princess stuck in carbonite on the Red Corsair ship, evade the Imperials and help their Tapanni house, stop the Empire from bringing it all down, deal with nobles of the tapanni and their illegal endeavours, explore a mystery of the sector, and maybe find a little force instruction.

I doubt the EoE RPG would struggle at all with the above concept but can't hurt to ask if anyone thinks it would?

Final question, what are GMs issues with the Destiny system. Specifically how quickly do you find that the players spend light side destiny pool?

I ask because I have a deck of specialty made cards that I use for games to add narrative side plots. These cards are labelled with sub plot elements that are generally very awkward to introduce as a GM without being a bit of a screw over to the player targeted. Dealing these cards to the players turn the players on each other with these elements which allows the fun without hard feelings as well as have more opportunity to pursue plots they like. Example cards would be:

'Past History - Play when a fellow player meets an NPC for the first time. They and the GM will quickly work out a past relationship and roleplay a flashback. The GM gives 100-1000 xp to the card player and the card target, based on the added detrimental struggle this will add to the future. The GM can pay similar to return the card to the player should the NPC be impossible to have backstory with.'

'Pick pocket - Play on a fellow player and the GM has someone steal an object from them. Gain 500xp'

'Friends in High Places - Play on another player as they enter a new region. They and the GM will work out the history between this new NPC and the player and how they can help the player. The character gets 100-1000xp based on inversely on their relative power to help and any hiccups to them doing so.'

'Mistaken Identity - Play on a fellow player who is meeting a new group for the first time. The new group is sure they have meet the player and he owes them money or blood. You and the target player earn 100-1000xp, based on how much the double does damage to the players reputation. x2 if the double becomes a rival/villain.'

'True Love (Unrequited) - Play on a fellow player who has had a long or intense interaction with an appropriate sexual partner. If they fall choose to fall for the NPC they gain 100-1000 xp but have to roleplay it out or give the points back (x2 if spent). If not, the card player gets the XP and the NPC will go to Misery levels to realize their love.'

There are some others about giving visions, diseases, interludes with near appropriate partners, finding clues, finding rare finds in bazaars, etc. You get the idea. Of course details will have to be changed (the art needs to be too) and I am thinking to destiny points and dividing a hundred off the xp would fit if destiny points are not flowing like a waves in this game.

Thanks for any suggestions/advice.

Yes.

I personally can't speak to the X-wing side of things as I've never played the X-wing miniature's game. So I'm unfortunately not much help there.

As for the crossover of the three books, they absolutely cross over. That is the FFG design and intent from the start. How they cross over is overall up to you as the GM. You can mix and match in the Obligation/Duty/Morality as works for your game and your characters. These three systems don't clash but operate independently of one another. This means you can have 1, all or some combination of these systems in play and it works just fine.

I haven't read your full explanation of the concept you have but what it comes down to for these storytelling systems is you have several choices:

1) Use just one of the systems, the one most suited to the overall theme. In your case Obligation from EotE. In the case of the Tapanni Nobility their obligation could be Dutybound to their house.

2) Each character uses the system most suited to their career/character background. So the fringers would have Obligation, the dutiful Tapani noble has Duty, the member of the local militia group might have Duty, the force sensitive seeking out lost Jedi knowledge would have morality, etc...

3) Combine the systems.. everyone has the mechanic fit to the overall theme of the game (Obligation) plus they /might/ have a second (or third) one as relates to their character's current situations. The rebel pilot fighting alongside the group might have Duty and Obligation, the Force Sensitive Tapani Noble might have all three. Etc.. In this case, they can only gain the extra credits and/or extra money through one mechanic though not all three.

The Force and Destiny Core Book has some good suggestions about handling combining the systems as does the Errata for the Beta. You might find that information helpful.

I have not personally had a problem with players abusing destiny points, and they're not just for the player's to use, they're for the GM as well. They are a technically infinite resource, and can be used for the first described card you use. They can be used for a lot of narrative things, but some into play with dice rolls, talents and are required to use signature abilities.

X-Wing does not cross over at all. There is no way to accounts for all the skills and talents a PC might possess, and transfer them to the X-Wing game.

The three core books cross over perfectly, there are no issues. I have AoR players in my EotE campaign.

For the rest, that's just too much to account for without actually being involved in your campaign. I think these are things only you can decide once you know how the system plays. And for that, the only way to get a handle on this game is to play it. I hope I don't offend you when I say, it sounds to me like you're clinging too much to stuff from the past.

Make a clean break, create a small story arc and run at least 3-5 sessions. After that you'll have a much better idea how much of your old stuff you want to migrate over. I suspect you'll find you can do everything you want just using the FFG mechanics.

FWIW, I find the F&D beginner box and follow-on adventure the weakest of the three. Of the other two, I find the EotE has the strongest out-of-the-box experience but the follow-on adventure is "okay"; while I really liked the AoR follow-on adventure but the out-of-the-box was "okay".

Cross Compatibility: All three RPGs are perfectly cross-compatible. It's basically one RPG with three distinct flavors (let's not open up the argument about three big core books. It never goes well). It sounds like for your scenario, you would want to start with Edge of the Empire. When starting, I would generally pick one game and say, "This is an EotE campaign. We may transition to AoR if folks want to join the Rebellion, or we may use bits from F&D, but for now, let's keep it simple."

Unfortunately, the RPG is NOT compatible with X-Wing. Or Armada. Or the card game or anything. While I realize it would have been extraordinarily difficult to make the games play nice together, it would have been pretty awesome. Some folks have come up with ideas of how to port characters over to the minis game, but you'll need a thorough understanding of the rules of both games. I wouldn't use it for most space battles. Maybe a few times in the campaign for big climactic things, like the Battles of Yavin and Endor.

I like your card-based idea, but I would probably run a few sessions before introducing it. The game is pretty solid, so see what works for you and what doesn't before adding a bunch of stuff in. And yes, the XP bonuses you have listed would be insanely high.

The card idea is interesting, but I would limit it to 5-10xp max. F&D allows you to add 150xp beyond base chargen to create “Knight-level Play”, so 1000xp would be on the scale of Grandmaster-level play, or somesuch.

In comparison, 75xp would be enough to take you from zero to five ranks in a career skill, and for a non-career skill you would need 100xp to go from zero to five. No skill rank goes above five, so that’s as good as you get in that skill.

So, play a single card against another player and suddenly they go from knowing nothing in ten different non-career skills to instantly being the most knowledgeable person in the galaxy on that subject?

Wow.

I would also add that the ship combat part of FFG SWRPG is considered by many to be a bit of a weak spot. It’s designed to be short, nasty, and brutish, if you’re in starfighters.

And only slightly less short, nasty, and brutish, if you’re in a larger ship, and you’ve got the right ship with the right attachments and modifications to allow the entire crew with the right skills and talents to be useful in ship combat, as opposed to having the pilot get overloaded and do everything.

Now, if you exceed your Hull Threshold or your System Strain Threshold, your ship is not destroyed, merely disabled. At least, if you’re a PC or a Nemesis that is the case. For everyone else, the ship just blows up. And you see lots of explosions in ship combat.

Several people have tried mixing X-Wing and SWRPG, and generally speaking, it has not worked well. Sure, you can have pretty models on the table representing the different ships that are involved, but those models could just as easily be cheap WOTC versions, or Matchbox, or whatever else, as compared to being X-Wing or Armada models.

It's an awesome system that can be viewed as 1 system with 3 differently focused core books. Get a beginner box to start, it's worth it just for the dice and tokens, probably the EotE one, it could be re-skinned to be on Nar Shadarr too quite easily. There is a free PDF module for each on the Product page as well so check those out too.

As brad said the space combat is short, Narative, and brutal, with lots of dodging and weaving in fighters then 1 shot kills. A good pilot can do amazing things while a bad pilot is going to run into just about everything. The best part is the enormous variety of things that the non-pilots can be doing on a ship to make a difference to the outcome of a fight, particularly if it's a bit bigger ship such as a CR-90.

Thanks for the insights.

For the most part it seems that FF have a reasonably good system ready here.

Re: the Miniatures, normally I avoid the miniatures for combat in any narrative heavy RPGs but in my experience there is a specific difficulty to many ship based systems and ship to ship based combat that is awkward.

Some players will invest onto a favourite ship very easily, most in my experience won't. Part of my choice of going EoE heavy is the because I see them taking their own ship and going world to world as being a centric component, so I need the players to invest in their ship. So I have some hard and fast rules from experiance, don't insult the name, don't risk its existence often, make sub plots about it and originating on it, use it as a backdrop as often as possible, etc, but the miniatures offer two extra qualities.

Using a miniature and having it visible and tangible I find helps many players connect easier. Fortunately I have access to a range of space craft miniatures, mainly Star wars, and most can sit on a X-Wing miniatures base, that when time comes they can choose from.

The other appeal of the miniatures is the system isn't too brutal on accounting damage, and the movement system accounts for enemies overrunning you or you moving out of firing arcs way more fluidly than narrating those aspects.

I'll tinker a little but it seems viable and important.

Thanks for your replies.

Ship to Ship combat is actually really good imo in how fast it is. And you can use the X-Wing minis to make a reference of distance on the table.

I actually saw someone describing a huge spacebattle with a victory star destroyer and using the armada minis to tell the players which side of their corvette was facing where. That made it a lot easier for them. In Starfighters this isn't needed as much, but with capital ships it is important because of the defensive zones and which firearcs may be used.

he just used the minis and the stands, no tokens, no range meter, no movement tool.

But you can do that just as easily with Legos of cardboard cutouts of course. Armada just looks cooler.

I'm not a fan of the system when it comes to simple dogfights. However, I'm a huge fan of the system when it comes to chases over an obstacle course. Basically, the scene needs a purpose other than two parties trying to blow each other up in clear space. Once you inject the chase and terrain mechanics, the narrative capabilities of the system really shine.

I'm not a fan of the system when it comes to simple dogfights. However, I'm a huge fan of the system when it comes to chases over an obstacle course. Basically, the scene needs a purpose other than two parties trying to blow each other up in clear space. Once you inject the chase and terrain mechanics, the narrative capabilities of the system really shine.

Right, thats important, too. The Stay on Target SB actually gives us the advice to use the difficult terrain rules when flying through a battle between capital ships. Something that makes describing the Situation a whole lot easier.

I use the Xwing Miniature System. What I do is take your number of proficiency in Gunnery and Piloting and add them together to get your overall Pilot Skill. The groups bounty hunter has a single proficiency in Gunnery and Piloting (Space). So his pilot skill is two which works out well with the using the "Wild Space Fringer" YT-2400 but you can making custom cards is easy for other numbers is easy.

Things work best when everyone has their own ship but I try to toss more role playing elements into things. Our bounty hunter gets a distress single from a shuttle and has to chase off a pack of Cartel Marauders over an ocean world.

Combat occurs and damage is dealt. When a ship takes maximum damage it is simply damaged beyond escaping to hyperspace and is floating around disabled. Enemy pilots may or may not be dead.

After the bounty hunter got onboard the shuttle (ended up shot down) after taking out the Marauders he discovers the crew dead and gathers a few things before the shuttle sinks and he has to return with his crew later to try and recover the value-ables. Two of the three Marauder Pilots are waving for help as they stand on their sinking ships and the PC have to decide what they want to do with these guys.

Next session they will be trying to break a Captured Wookie Quartermaster out of an Imperial Carrier transfering him off world. (I just got the Carrier today). I am looking forward to the space battle then the ensuing boarding action battle with Imperial Assault minis and tiles.

FWIW, I find the F&D beginner box and follow-on adventure the weakest of the three. Of the other two, I find the EotE has the strongest out-of-the-box experience but the follow-on adventure is "okay"; while I really liked the AoR follow-on adventure but the out-of-the-box was "okay".

I haven't read (yet) the EotE and AoR beginner games, but I have run the FaD beginner game and while I agree that the basic adventure was very simple but I really really liked the pdf expansion adventure.