I am a huge fan of pen and paper RPGs and played a lot of the old Star Wars one years ago. Now that all three (EotE, AoR, and FaD) of the core books are out I'm trying to figure out which to get. I'd like to know what some of the key differences are between each is so I can weigh my options. Not sure if it's ok to pick any of them or if I should start with EotE since it came out first.

It depends on the game you want to run. If you want to run games like The Godfather, Treasure of the Sierra Madre and the Good The Bad and The Ugly, go Edge. If you want classic Rebels versus Empire: AoR. And if you anticipate a Jedi heavy game, get F&D.

Mechanically they're the same book (save for Duty vs Obligation vs Morality), really just the stats and color text is different.

Also, AoR has a snappy red cover. You should go with that one.

Ask your players what kind of characters they want to play and what themed campaign. That's the most practical.

ALL THREE!

Now, if you are only going to pick one, it depends a lot on what you want your game to be about:

*Edge of the Empire focus on the criminal underworld at the fringes of the galaxy. Characters are bounty hunters, smugglers, outlaw technicians, mecenaries and the like.

*Age of Rebellion focus on being an active part of the Rebel Alliance, with a more militaristic approach. Characters are tacticians, soldiers and spies.

*Force & Destiny focus on force-users trying to follow into the footsteps of the Jedi Order. Characters are all kind of force-sensitives: pilots, mystics, soldiers, technicians.

It's also worth mentioning that both EotE and AoR have barebone rules to play a Force-user as well, but not as complete as FaD.

I'm relatively new to the game and, from what I've played and read, it's fair to say that you could choose any one of the three and do well. However, I will say that EotE is much more "developed" as a character system because of the supplements. Which is not to say that it is different *as* a game system: it is, in most of its functions, identical to the others.

All things being equal, and in the absence of a preference, I'd vote EotE. Your players will have more options (if they have access to the books), and the variety of scenarios available to EotE campaigns seems much broader than AoR or F&D. I'm a fan of "low fantasy", so gritty scenarios in hardscrabble environments with desperate characters is kind of my wheelhouse. EotE is a perfect fix for this. But honestly, the system is beautifully flexible, so it's all down to the writing and the roleplaying. In most senses, it's best to think of the core books as guidebooks for character arcs and storytelling, rather than different sets of rules. The books *contain* rules, but only insofar as storylines and character-building are concerned.

Either or all. They are all great...

Edge has freighters. Age has X-Wings. Force has lightsabers.

Personally, I've been getting the most use out of Edge and Force. My Age books are mostly going untouched, but my players and I haven't taken that step into military or rebellion-type adventures.

Personally, I've been getting the most use out of Edge and Force. My Age books are mostly going untouched, but my players and I haven't taken that step into military or rebellion-type adventures.

Some of the specs in AoR are great, but I/we prefer the Edge setting at the table and Obligation as a mechanic.

I run an Edge campaign where two out of three players have AoR careers. I think Edge is a better starting place, as Obligation is an easier mechanic to deal with (including ignoring it altogether). AoR Duty is more tightly bound to character development, and AoR includes Talents that rely on Duty being in use, which honestly kind of bugs me.

I run an EotE game as well as a F&D game and I play in a AoR game... I am lucky!

Personally, I've been getting the most use out of Edge and Force. My Age books are mostly going untouched, but my players and I haven't taken that step into military or rebellion-type adventures.

I'm in the same boat - we've been living on the Edge since we started playing in '13. However it looks like our new game is going to be Jedi heavy with us eventually transitioning into a traditional Rebels against Empire game - so it'll be interesting to see what book comes off the shelf more often now.

Also - I just realized the product line is 2.5 years old now. That's scary.

Some of the specs in AoR are great, but I/we prefer the Edge setting at the table and Obligation as a mechanic.

I've not used the Duty mechanic so I might change my opinion on it, but of the three Obligation is my favorite. It really gives you loads of hooks to play with as a GM. Given my druthers, I'd dump the other two and just keep the obligation.

Force of Destiny is my favorite but only because the mysticism and the morality system.

Edge of the Empire is probably the one to go if you dont have a clear idea of what to do. You can pratically run any kind of campaing with that one, even a low powered jedi game if you want.

It really depends on the game you want to play. All 3 games use the same combat system and core mechanics, but feature different races, classes, and settings.

Edge of the Empire is about life on the fringes of society. Take everything you love about the show Firefly, and put it in the Star Wars setting. The players are bounty hunters, smugglers, mercenaries, explorers, pirates, etc, taking on jobs from whoever is paying. You don't have to be an upstanding citizen, and the game has plenty of room for political intrigue as well. You can play the different crime lords against each other. That's the way my group plays, anyway... We went with Edge to get away from the usual Star Wars experience for a bit.

Age of Rebellion has more of a military focus. You are a part of the Rebel Alliance, and you work to defeat the Empire. I haven't played this game yet, but it's the approach that I always took when GMing the older (d6 and d20) games.

Force and Destiny focuses solely on Force users as PC's. There are more Force-using traditions than just Jedi vs. Sith, and there are more Force powers available than in the other two games. This is a great choice if you really want to explore the mysteries of the Force.

Many GM's will start off with one of the games, but will allow PC's to branch out and use character options from the other games. Your Jedi from Force and Destiny might decide to train as a bounty hunter and pick up a talent tree from Edge of the Empire (like Jaina Solo). Your Smuggler from Edge of the Empire might join the Rebellion and start taking talents from Age of Rebellion (like Han Solo did). Or your Rebel pilot may discover that they are Force sensitive and start taking things from Force and Destiny (like Corran Horn).

Also - I just realized the product line is 2.5 years old now. That's scary.

... and we still don't have all the career books for EoTE!!! FFS *facepalm*

True, but we're aaaaaaallllmost there. If we dont have the Bounty Hunter by the end of Q3 at the latest, I'll be shocked.

I can't say I dislike Duty, but it always just felt like what AoR PCs would be doing and accomplishing regardless. Morality is fine if you want to play dark/light. Ultimately I agree though I think Obligation is a nice combination of plot generator/background source/meta currency, and the most useful practically of the three.

Also - I just realized the product line is 2.5 years old now. That's scary.

... and we still don't have all the career books for EoTE!!! FFS *facepalm*

Technician book is on the way, and there's no reason to assume that we won't be getting a Bounty Hunter book as well.

I managed to get all the current books of $560 some dollars through a combination of eBay and amazon.

DidntFallAsleep66, on 19 Jan 2016 - 2:49 PM, said:DidntFallAsleep66, on 19 Jan 2016 - 2:49 PM, said:

Desslok, on 19 Jan 2016 - 1:22 PM, said:Desslok, on 19 Jan 2016 - 1:22 PM, said:

Also - I just realized the product line is 2.5 years old now. That's scary.

... and we still don't have all the career books for EoTE!!! FFS *facepalm*

This is what happen when you take the same small design team and you ask them to produce 3 seperate rpg lines at the same time.

The phase the books are being released it's fine. The game it's expensive, they need to give us a break between books.

This is what happen when you take the same small design team and you ask them to produce 3 seperate rpg lines at the same time.

I'm not complaining, the quality is top notch IMHO. If we had them faster, it would burn the game out and I think quality would suffer.

True, but we're aaaaaaallllmost there. If we dont have the Bounty Hunter by the end of Q3 at the latest, I'll be shocked.

Following the pattern we should get an announcement on the next AoR book in this Q1 I would think. Then the BH book announcement in Q2 I would think with a Q3 or maybe 4 release for it. There is no CRB, GM screen, or boxed game likely this year so with luck Q3 release.

The phase the books are being released it's fine. The game it's expensive, they need to give us a break between books.

If you need a break, learn German! The publisher here has managed to translate THREE books by now: EotE CRB, Beyond the Rim in 2014, and Enter the Unknown in 2015.

And to the OP: But, the EotE CRB of course! It's the only one that's got the jetpack. And we all need jetpacks, don't we?

The phase the books are being released it's fine. The game it's expensive, they need to give us a break between books.

If you need a break, learn German! The publisher here has managed to translate THREE books by now: EotE CRB, Beyond the Rim in 2014, and Enter the Unknown in 2015.

And to the OP: But, the EotE CRB of course! It's the only one that's got the jetpack. And we all need jetpacks, don't we?

Heh, they don't even translate the books for us finnish people, but that's ok, we just play it with english rules just the same.