Why would there not be just one core rule book with all the races/classes/skills/etc in it? This is a bad move to me because I don't want to pay $180 for three of the same source book material just to have access to the different races/class/etc from the other two. I've seen the different "master lists" and they just list the names and not the detailed info for the other races/classes. I got the F&D sourcebook but don't want to spend the other $120 for the other two. Having three different "styles" doesn't sit with me when players want to play races/classes from the other two books.

1. Each one is a different game. They're cross-compatible if you want, but they're meant to be played as separate lines.

The reason was how long it took to develop all the products. Rules for the Force are really hard to do.

You really only need the one book though, because you can get all the other careers and talent trees here:

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

You can easily mix and match careers in your game, it plays seamlessly.

It can be annoying trying to get a list of all race/class/equipment. I have some hope that once they have all the main and splat books out they'll put out 1 compiled species book, or the like. Even when you have all the books its a pain to have to leaf through them all to find that one gun you know you saw somewhere. I used to enjoy reading through the compiled equipment or species books in the old WEG Star Wars game. The more specialized format often let them add more flavorful information.

In the meantime there are online resources that people have compiled, or character creators that list most of the options (check out OggDude's character creator as it lists all but the most recently added race/classes from all systems.)

I'm thankful that now in my mid forties I'm in a position where I can afford all of the books, but I remember a time when I had to pick and choose which to buy.

[aside]

I'm wondering what kind of searches this thread title will come up on...

[/aside]

1. Each one is a different game. They're cross-compatible if you want, but they're meant to be played as separate lines.

Minor nit pick here. Each line has a different focus, but they are in fact meant to be playable together. Stuff like species stats are not line specific in the least.

Also each game is not "the same", as someone stated above but you can play them together. Each book has different "fluff" as well which is enjoyable to read. I am on a quest to gather all the books. Know this will take time, but it's worth it. Buy about 2 books a month, sometimes 4.. all depends on the bills.

How many races do we have now? Let's see, Humans plus 7 others per core book, then usually three per Career and Location book, minus a handful of reprints, 22 + 3 + 24 + 9, - 5ish, carry the Ewok... I get about 53 species (dang, really!?).

You know what's a terrible idea? Handing a new player a character sheet, and his choice of 53 of anything . Races, classes, weapons, spells, whatever. That first rodeo, you want to say, "Okay, this is a Force and Destiny game, pick one of these eight races, one of these six careers, and a specialization within the career. If you have a character idea in mind, I can help you decide." As you play, you'll probably pick up some books along the way, and people will become more comfortable with all the extra stuff. When it's time to build a new character, the number of choices won't be as overwhelming.

Pet Peeve -- the word here (in most instances) is " species ", not "race".

How many races do we have now? Let's see, Humans plus 7 others per core book, then usually three per Career and Location book, minus a handful of reprints, 22 + 3 + 24 + 9, - 5ish, carry the Ewok... I get about 53 species (dang, really!?).

You know what's a terrible idea? Handing a new player a character sheet, and his choice of 53 of anything . Races, classes, weapons, spells, whatever. That first rodeo, you want to say, "Okay, this is a Force and Destiny game, pick one of these eight races, one of these six careers, and a specialization within the career. If you have a character idea in mind, I can help you decide." As you play, you'll probably pick up some books along the way, and people will become more comfortable with all the extra stuff. When it's time to build a new character, the number of choices won't be as overwhelming.

Math is a little off. 48 species so far, with between 6-12 incoming with all the announced books (4 new from Nexus of Power, 2 new from Lead by example, and who knows for certain about Special Modifications and Savage Spirits).

Capitalism.

You know what's a terrible idea? Handing a new player a character sheet, and his choice of 53 of anything . Races, classes, weapons, spells, whatever. That first rodeo, you want to say, "Okay, this is a Force and Destiny game, pick one of these eight races, one of these six careers, and a specialisation within the career. If you have a character idea in mind, I can help you decide." As you play, you'll probably pick up some books along the way, and people will become more comfortable with all the extra stuff. When it's time to build a new character, the number of choices won't be as overwhelming.

Definitely this.

Every supplement in this entire system offers something for everyone at the table, yet absolutely none are actually required to tell deep and compelling story.

Our group decided early on that a different player would collect each line, this way no matter the future of our group we would each have a great collection to use that fit well together, and there are no double ups. When we game we use all the books, and actually having 3 Core books and 3 GM screens is wonderfull for quick referencing rules during drink/toilet breaks.

You know what's a terrible idea? Handing a new player a character sheet, and his choice of 53 of anything . Races, classes, weapons, spells, whatever. That first rodeo, you want to say, "Okay, this is a Force and Destiny game, pick one of these eight races, one of these six careers, and a specialization within the career. If you have a character idea in mind, I can help you decide." As you play, you'll probably pick up some books along the way, and people will become more comfortable with all the extra stuff. When it's time to build a new character, the number of choices won't be as overwhelming.

On the other hand, some of us have been gaming long enough (including Star Wars RPGs) that we don't need a new game to "ease us into it" like some kind of noibs.

We want the species, the ships, the weapons, the planets, all of it -- we're ready and eager for all the choices.

drc0369, on 26 Jan 2016 - 2:16 PM, said:

Why would there not be just one core rule book with all the races/classes/skills/etc in it? This is a bad move to me because I don't want to pay $180 for three of the same source book material just to have access to the different races/class/etc from the other two. I've seen the different "master lists" and they just list the names and not the detailed info for the other races/classes. I got the F&D sourcebook but don't want to spend the other $120 for the other two. Having three different "styles" doesn't sit with me when players want to play races/classes from the other two books.

You know the reason why they do this: to make you buy books you dont need. Yes it is a bad move but it is the move most RPG Publishers do. Even Wizard did it with Saga. Ok we could argue that buying 30$ differents books is not the same thing as buying the same 60$ core books three time but that wont change how it is.

OggDude's character Creator is probably your best friend in that case.

You know what's a terrible idea? Handing a new player a character sheet, and his choice of 53 of anything . Races, classes, weapons, spells, whatever. That first rodeo, you want to say, "Okay, this is a Force and Destiny game, pick one of these eight races, one of these six careers, and a specialization within the career. If you have a character idea in mind, I can help you decide." As you play, you'll probably pick up some books along the way, and people will become more comfortable with all the extra stuff. When it's time to build a new character, the number of choices won't be as overwhelming.

On the other hand, some of us have been gaming long enough (including Star Wars RPGs) that we don't need a new game to "ease us into it" like some kind of noibs.

We want the species, the ships, the weapons, the planets, all of it -- we're ready and eager for all the choices.

Sounds like you and your group are committed gamers. As awesome as committed gamers are, it's hard to mass-market a product that only appeals to them. My usual group is varying levels of casual. Some of them are downright frustrating in their unwillingness to learn the rules outside of table time. Most are better, but I'm certainly the most "hardcore" of the group. Even in my case, I'm not going to buy a massive compendium, because I know it won't get used.

RPGs are a difficult sell. Even the most popular are not nearly as profitable as most other entertainment (which, to my understanding, was a painful surprise to Hasbro after acquiring Dungeons and Dragons). RPG companies need to take the newbie and the casual gamer into account. This is why the latest version of D&D staggers most of the class features, so that you gain them as you learn the game. This is why each core book gives us semi-generic weapons that cover most things a character would want to use. It's why they give us enough species and career variations to cover most concepts, even if you need to get a little creative how you interpret it. Because choice paralysis is a thing, and it hits the casual gamer and the casual Star Wars fan the hardest. My players make jokes about my "extensive" Star Wars knowledge, and I don't know what a Xexto or a Snivven is.

So, yeah, a massive book with every species, career, specialization, talent, weapon, armor, vehicle, force power and adversary would be pretty amazing. It would also be extremely expensive, for a couple of reasons. First, even though it's a reprint of existing material, putting such a book together is a big undertaking, especially considering the aesthetic quality FFG puts out. The other problem is one of scale. Because it's a huge, expensive book, very few people will rush out to buy it. The smaller the print run, the more expensive each book has to be to cover the costs. The more expensive, the fewer who will buy it. I have no idea what the numbers would be, but I imagine it's been brought up down at FFG, at which point the marketing gurus fell out of their chairs laughing.

This is what I think of every time I hear someone complaining about FFG's publishing style. You need to grab the casual gamer. You need to snare the guy who's on the fence between playing Star Wars and just settling down with Pathfinder/D&D/Magic: The Gathering, because it's familiar and comfortable. And to do that, you need to snare them into buying one book. One book that gives them all they need to begin playing, but not so much that their eyes glaze over after the 20th species description. D&D gets away with the 3-book format because they're Dungeons & Dragons. They're the Kleenex and Band-Aid of RPG's. Hell, my son calls this game "Star Wars D&D."

So, yes, the committed gamer is great, the bread-and-butter of the RPG industry. But he is not the target audience. Consider how often folks post pictures of their Star Wars RPG shelves, and they have every book, plus a number of SAGA edition books, plus some old WEG books. Then the next shelf up is D&D, and the one below is WoD. They know they don't need to target the committed gamer, because if the game is good enough, he's already in the bag.

*EDIT* Wow... that was long.

Any compendiums will be down at the end of the line. Or maybe not at all if they go on to a new selection of cor books. By spreading things out they make their supplements more attractive to both players and GMs.

I've been building a spreadsheet of species/weapons/armor/gear as the books come out, so a compendium might not entice me too much, but I could see that being a big seller to most everyone else.

PC Master Race... Just saying.

1. Aqualish***
   
2. Arcona
   
3. Bothan
   
4. Caamasi
   
5. Cerean
   
6. Chadra-Fan
   
7. Chevin
   
8. Chiss
   
9. Drall
   
10. Dressellian
    
11. Droid
    
12. Duros
    
13. Falleen
    
14. Gand Findsmen**
    
15. Ganks
    
16. Gossam
    
17. Gotal
    
18. Gran
    
19. Human**
    
20. Hutts
    
21. Iktotchi
    
22. Ithorians
    
23. Kel Dor
    
24. Klatooinian
    
25. Lannik
    
26. Mirialan
    
27. Mon Calimari
    
28. Nautolan
    
29. Neimoidian
    
30. Niktos*****
    
31. Polis Massan
    
32. Quarren
    
33. Rodian
    
34. Sakiyans
    
35. Sathari
    
36. Selonians
    
37. Sullustans
    
38. Togruta
    
39. Toydarian
    
40. Trandoshan
    
41. Twi’lek
    
42. Verpine
    
43. Weequay
    
44. Whipid
    
45. Wookies
    
46. Xexto
    
47. Zabrak
    

Here is the list I came up with, not counting books that haven't been released yet. Did I miss any?

Several of these have subrace choices too, they are marked with a number of * next to them equal to the variations. Corellian Human was treated as a subrace too, since it's just a Human with the skill choices pre-selected.

That Correllian thing is one of the reasons why I like species and culture to be separate...

That Correllian thing is one of the reasons why I like species and culture to be separate...

Yeah, I thought it was odd to give them their own species write up. A small notation of which skills were most likely for Corellians would have been sufficient.

It can be annoying trying to get a list of all race/class/equipment. I have some hope that once they have all the main and splat books out they'll put out 1 compiled species book, or the like. Even when you have all the books its a pain to have to leaf through them all to find that one gun you know you saw somewhere. I used to enjoy reading through the compiled equipment or species books in the old WEG Star Wars game. The more specialized format often let them add more flavorful information.

In the meantime there are online resources that people have compiled, or character creators that list most of the options (check out OggDude's character creator as it lists all but the most recently added race/classes from all systems.)

I'm thankful that now in my mid forties I'm in a position where I can afford all of the books, but I remember a time when I had to pick and choose which to buy.

I know, same here. I'll be getting the other two books and some of the card decks to help on NPC creation. Got the app for the dice.

drc0369, on 26 Jan 2016 - 2:16 PM, said:

Why would there not be just one core rule book with all the races/classes/skills/etc in it? This is a bad move to me because I don't want to pay $180 for three of the same source book material just to have access to the different races/class/etc from the other two. I've seen the different "master lists" and they just list the names and not the detailed info for the other races/classes. I got the F&D sourcebook but don't want to spend the other $120 for the other two. Having three different "styles" doesn't sit with me when players want to play races/classes from the other two books.

You know the reason why they do this: to make you buy books you dont need. Yes it is a bad move but it is the move most RPG Publishers do. Even Wizard did it with Saga. Ok we could argue that buying 30$ differents books is not the same thing as buying the same 60$ core books three time but that wont change how it is.

OggDude's character Creator is probably your best friend in that case.

The one system that I played/GM'd years ago and stillt the best by far (imho) is Cyberpunk 2020. Yeah they had a revised core book that included all the erratta and a few extras, but they only had supplemental books that followed. Until that V3 crap came out and ruined it...

You know what's a terrible idea? Handing a new player a character sheet, and his choice of 53 of anything . Races, classes, weapons, spells, whatever. That first rodeo, you want to say, "Okay, this is a Force and Destiny game, pick one of these eight races, one of these six careers, and a specialization within the career. If you have a character idea in mind, I can help you decide." As you play, you'll probably pick up some books along the way, and people will become more comfortable with all the extra stuff. When it's time to build a new character, the number of choices won't be as overwhelming.

On the other hand, some of us have been gaming long enough (including Star Wars RPGs) that we don't need a new game to "ease us into it" like some kind of noibs.

We want the species, the ships, the weapons, the planets, all of it -- we're ready and eager for all the choices.

Sounds like you and your group are committed gamers. As awesome as committed gamers are, it's hard to mass-market a product that only appeals to them. My usual group is varying levels of casual. Some of them are downright frustrating in their unwillingness to learn the rules outside of table time. Most are better, but I'm certainly the most "hardcore" of the group. Even in my case, I'm not going to buy a massive compendium, because I know it won't get used.

RPGs are a difficult sell. Even the most popular are not nearly as profitable as most other entertainment (which, to my understanding, was a painful surprise to Hasbro after acquiring Dungeons and Dragons). RPG companies need to take the newbie and the casual gamer into account. This is why the latest version of D&D staggers most of the class features, so that you gain them as you learn the game. This is why each core book gives us semi-generic weapons that cover most things a character would want to use. It's why they give us enough species and career variations to cover most concepts, even if you need to get a little creative how you interpret it. Because choice paralysis is a thing, and it hits the casual gamer and the casual Star Wars fan the hardest. My players make jokes about my "extensive" Star Wars knowledge, and I don't know what a Xexto or a Snivven is.

So, yeah, a massive book with every species, career, specialization, talent, weapon, armor, vehicle, force power and adversary would be pretty amazing. It would also be extremely expensive, for a couple of reasons. First, even though it's a reprint of existing material, putting such a book together is a big undertaking, especially considering the aesthetic quality FFG puts out. The other problem is one of scale. Because it's a huge, expensive book, very few people will rush out to buy it. The smaller the print run, the more expensive each book has to be to cover the costs. The more expensive, the fewer who will buy it. I have no idea what the numbers would be, but I imagine it's been brought up down at FFG, at which point the marketing gurus fell out of their chairs laughing.

This is what I think of every time I hear someone complaining about FFG's publishing style. You need to grab the casual gamer. You need to snare the guy who's on the fence between playing Star Wars and just settling down with Pathfinder/D&D/Magic: The Gathering, because it's familiar and comfortable. And to do that, you need to snare them into buying one book. One book that gives them all they need to begin playing, but not so much that their eyes glaze over after the 20th species description. D&D gets away with the 3-book format because they're Dungeons & Dragons. They're the Kleenex and Band-Aid of RPG's. Hell, my son calls this game "Star Wars D&D."

So, yes, the committed gamer is great, the bread-and-butter of the RPG industry. But he is not the target audience. Consider how often folks post pictures of their Star Wars RPG shelves, and they have every book, plus a number of SAGA edition books, plus some old WEG books. Then the next shelf up is D&D, and the one below is WoD. They know they don't need to target the committed gamer, because if the game is good enough, he's already in the bag.

*EDIT* Wow... that was long.

I wouldn't expect it to be in ONE book, all of it. That would be like... the War and Peace New York City Phone Bible.

What I mean is, the approach of "just give them the bit they need to get started, then scatter everything across 20 books" approach is a complete fail when it comes to many gamers. We love the idea of going to look for ships in a book of ships, or personal gear in a book of personal gear, or species in a book of many species... etc.

FFG's approach of "sprinkle a little of everything into each book, spread every subject out across many books" actively dissuades me from ever getting into their products. And yet it seems to have become the standard approach for many RPG publishers...

Pet Peeve -- the word here (in most instances) is " species ", not "race".

Thank you!

My pet peeve is "classes" instead of "careers." They are different concepts that come from different games, and both have different (albeit nuanced) functions.

Careers, careers, careers.

Unless you mean "specializations." Which are still different from classes.