Hi, to begin my books are still coming so haven't had any experience in play.

Been watching the movies, rebels and clone wars again.

Maybe more of a topic for for FaD, but how well do you feel the cinematic feel is captured? I mean from something as simple as the fact that the stars just about never get hit despite being under a continous hail of fire, in the open? And even the non-jedi are capable of some really fantastic feats of agility and super leaps...

Maybe more of a topic for for FaD, but how well do you feel the cinematic feel is captured?

The rules are simply a tool, it is up to you and your group to abandon the min/max attitude and rules lawyering and imagine inventive and exciting ways to interpret the dice. For me this is core to they game experience.

Not just you (player 1) hit for 5 dmg he has 6 hp so he is alive, but: (take calc dmg) you hit him in the chest, he falls against a cache of cargo, but you notice he still has the strength to lift his blaster and retaliate! (look at dice results) BOOM! He strikes you but with his failing strength his aim is also failing him so its only a glancing blow against your armor. etc, etc.

The rules allow for fairly fast and cinematic combat, with many opportunities for drama (if you're creative enough to come up with stuff.)

Characters will get hit, sometimes a lot. It's fairly easy to knock characters out, but much more difficult to kill them. As they start getting better talents and equipment there combat staying power will increase, but you still have to be careful. A couple squads of troopers can rock a PC parties world.

The cinematic feel is great, but both the GM and the players have to participate in supplying a cinematic narrative.

One thing that will help is to absorb this: unlike other games, a combat (or social) turn does not represent a single shot or talking point. In combat, a turn might represent squeezing off several shots from your blaster before diving behind cover. You don't roll for each shot, it's all represented by the single die roll. So that's one of the ways how this:

I mean from something as simple as the fact that the stars just about never get hit despite being under a continous hail of fire, in the open?

...is accounted for. There are other ways that assist that situation, especially "minion groups"; another is that "taking a hit" doesn't really mean "injury", it's more like "physical strain"...at least until the opposition rolls criticals...

Absolutely what whafrog said.

Don't get bogged down with endless combat, or let the players make combat-only characters. Get away from the d20/Pathfinder mindset where everyone is constantly locked in grid-combat.

Have chases, vehicle battles, stealth, and social encounters, and it really can feel like a classic pulp movie.

Keep it fast moving and keep throwing curve balls, and it really can feel like the SW films.

Watch the movies again, as you've been doing. Plan your adventures like that, what you think the players would find fun.

The dice are there to guide you in creating a story, but they are not the be-all end-all. I get more thrill from hearing the GM narrate my bog standard success than I do rolling a Triumph.

Story's only as good as the people who are telling it, and that's you.

I played my second session of my new campaign (redoing Escape from Mos Shuuta...it's good enough to begin a second campaign, in my opinion) and there's been plenty of action, suspense, and tension. The PCs feel like they're on the run, hiding and sticking to the back alleys while they try to make it from one side of town to the other. There was a tense moment at the Starport Control when they tried to get past the security droids. Obligation got triggered (rolled doubles, too!) and the bounty hunter who owes a favor to a rebel officer had to tag the Lambda shuttle with a tracking device - getting into and out of that landing bay was harrowing! Then, they almost made it to the landing bay with the YT-1300, only to have stormtroopers emerge at the last second and accost them - and the PCs about jumped out of their seats!

Don't take too long adjudicating results of the dice. If you can't come up with something, then just use the table. If the PCs have this problem, make suggestions. Keep the story rolling...even if that means fudging a roll or two to prevent the PCs from twiddling their thumbs trying to come up with a "Plan B" because their "Plan A" failed on check.

As I have said elsewhere, This system keeps things moving along. Everything happens when you roll the dice