Allow me to preface by saying that I know almost nothing about the FFG Star Wars RPG in any flavor. Here's some backstory:

My RPG group is playing through the old Saga Rules module Dawn of Defiance. We're long-time d20 afficionados and experienced role-players (10-20+ years). We're getting to the point in the campaign where we're starting to accrue prestige class levels and experience a significant power jump. Three of the five PCs are Force-sensitive, though none are actually Jedi. The Saga Force rules are pretty good, in my opinion, but admittedly far from perfect. Several powers could probably be combined, and the use of skill rolls in place of attacks is kind of broken (we're working on house-ruling that). One of the players is not a fan of the "encounter power" format, and wants to push a pool-type power usage through. Otherwise, the rules are decent with two caveats: 1) Higher-level fights tend to get a bit monotonous, as damage output does not increase nearly as rapidly as HP and 2) Space combat is great (if deadly) for fighters & freighters, but absolutely terrible for any capital ships.

What I'm asking is this: is the Force & Destiny system going to appeal to any of my players? Aside from the Force powers, how well does the FFG system handle things like starfighter combat? How well will we be able to convert over our current multi-class characters to the FFG system? Is it worth it to buy in, and try to convert to a "living" system from our current "dead" one?

I'd appreciate any experiences and thoughts you might have. I've been around on the X-Wing & Armada boards, but this is my first foray into the RPG side - I'm hoping the community here is as supportive & positive.

It is way better. However you are going to need to reset some expectations. I recommend giving the Order 66 podcast Kung Pow chicken a listen.

The systems work very differently. But this is a good thing. As a GM your work will become much much easier. The power creep is different. Being a force user is not an I win button. and so on.

I moved to this system from Saga a few years ago, and I ain't never going back

I wouldn't try to convert. You don't know how the new system works yet, so it will be a frustrating exercise to match up capabilities. It's hard to see the value of many of the Talents until you understand how they affect the mechanics.

Probably the best thing you can do is get one of the Beginner boxes. Any of them will do. It lets you test out the system without committing a ton of money, but if you do like it, the extra dice will be handy. Each one has a free PDF followup that is about 3 times longer than the adventure in the box, so it's a pretty good deal.

Personally the AoR beginner box is my favourite, even though I like the Edge of the Empire setting more. But they're all decent showcases of the game system.

Pretty sure you'll find a heavy bias in favor of the FFG game over here. I only played Saga at fairly low levels, but I found it enjoyable. I've heard that at higher levels, it becomes pretty bloated and unwieldy. To address your particular issues:

Higher-level characters will be more competent, combat characters will be tougher, and so on. However, it's not the steep power angle of d20. A veteran warrior might be able to withstand one or two more blaster shots, and will have lots of cool abilities, but a great roll from a low-level mook can still give him a bad time.

Space and vehicle combat is one of the points of contention for a lot of players. Starfighters are very fragile, and going head-to head in empty space can be pretty underwhelming. It's important for the GM to think ahead and get creative with vehicle combat, so that the pilot can really shine. Most vehicle battles in Star Wars are chases, and they work best when they take place in fun terrain. Asteroid belts, space station trenches, massive battles with turbolaser blasts everywhere, the California Redwoods, these are all cool places. If someone is excited to play a pilot, he really needs to read and understand the piloting rules, so that he knows what he's capable of, and what orders he should be barking at everyone else on the ship. But as long as this is all understood, you can have a good time with vehicle combat. Capital Ship combat can also be fun, but again, the GM should plan ahead.

Look up "Emperor Norton's Starfighter houserules," starfighter combat in this game is a little borked but he pretty much fixes it. If you're flying in a light freighter or above, you probably don't even need the houserules.

Force powers in the game are great, but it's not like Saga where a Force User can beat out a non-Force user at everything all the time. It takes a lot of XP sunk into talents and force powers to get to a higher power level, and that means you usually have to neglect your skills and talents that let you do other things. Not to mention that the setting certainly makes being a force-user challenging!

Something to keep in mind but the Force in this system is .....well .... not as initially satisfying as it is in Saga. F&D charts Luke's journey and as such starting characters will under perform with the Force compared to a starting Saga character. Your progress through the Force is slower in this system. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing but it really does require you to buy into F&D's ideas on the Force in order to enjoy it to it's fullest. If you don't inherently buy into the slow build you are likely to find the Force rules not as fun.

Also ..... I wouldn't even bother trying to convert characters. If you guys move onto the FFG system it is in your best interest to start fresh. New characters. New concepts. New game. The design philosophies between to the two are just too different to do a conversion and you'll likely find yourselves frustrated by the system as things you used to be able to do in Saga may not be as doable.

Both are good games in my book. I really did enjoy Saga. And I really enjoy FFG. The advantage to a dead game is that you have all the books and all the rules and you don't have to worry about new books disrupting things. If you guys are happy with the Saga rules I see no reason why you need to convert. If you want to good. But I've played in plenty of dead systems and they are just as much fun even when there is a living version of the game going on.

I'm also a longtime Saga Edition fan, having had a lot of fun with that system, and would play it again if given the opportunity.

Now that said, I very much prefer FFG's system for a number of reasons. One of which is that GM prep is insanely simple; I'm more of an "off the cuff" style of GM, coming up with a basic plot idea, a few bullet points of scenes I want to have happen in my session, and not much else. So with SWFFG, I don't have to spend time coming up with new NPCs, especially as the PCs grow in power and experience, one thing that was a big issue with 3.X D&D (which Saga Edition is based upon, even if it was a test bed for several 4e mechanics)

I also enjoy that being a Force user isn't a quick "I win!" button in this system, something that Saga Edition struggled with greatly due to how skill checks interacted with defense scores, especially at low levels; the balance started to shift in favor of defenses at the higher levels, but most Saga Edition campaigns ended around 15th level at most, and many ended far sooner, so Force users were still very powerful. Which made some degree of sense as WotC was angling more to emulate the prequel setting where Jedi were far more common and demonstrated far more potent usage of the Force than anything we really saw in the original films.

As Kael noted, FFG opted to go the "Luke's Journey" path in being a Force user, where you have to pay your dues to become an awesome Force user, and being awesome with both the Force and a lightsaber is a serious investment. Especially as a basic lightsaber is a very dangerous weapon as it pretty much bypasses the benefits of personal armor, meaning getting hit is going to hurt.

As has been said, you're better starting fresh than trying to convert Saga Edition PCs over to this system. DarthGM (aka GM Phil of Order66) had some posts on his blog about trying that, and ultimately shrugged and just rebuilt the PCs trying to get as close to the general feel of the Saga Edition characters as he could manage.

From the initial post, I'm going to guess that the "slow road" to becoming a powerful Force user isn't going to appeal to your group. And the system requires several mental readjustments from the d20 mindset, namely that combat in FFG's system is far more dangerous, as a group of three stormtroopers are a serious threat to a group of starting PCs where in Saga Edition a group of three stormtroopers are little more than glorified target practice. Barefoottourguide (Garrett of Threat Detected) had quite a shock when he ran an EotE Beta game for his players and saw their characters get decimated by "mere" stormtroopers.

Whafrog's suggestion of grabbing one of the Beginner Boxes and using that to try out the system is probably your best bet. If your group is more focused on Force users, then I'd suggest the Force and Destiny one as it gives them a taste of how the Force works as well as how much more potent lightsabers are in this system.

Is it worth it? Yes. Is it the same experience as other SWRPG systems? No. Is it a Hex Grid magical swords Dungeon Crawl? No. But is it still Star Wars? Of course. And most importantly is it fun? Heck yeah!!!!

Grab a beginner box, try the system out, become a convert.

I'm also a big fan of Saga Edition but think this system has a lot to offer in creating a great star wars experience.

Force and Destiny also includes he "Knight Level Play" option which gives a big up front boost to XP for "starting characters".

This may not be a wise idea for players new to the game as they won't have enough familiarity with the system to spend the XP to get the results they want but you could dole out big XP bonuses over several sessions.

I think Saga does a better job of creating more fully fleshed out 1st level or low level charcters than FFG but a GM that hands out generous XP awards at the beginning of a campaign (and perhaps even uses Knight Level options) will easily allow players to realize most any character concept.

It does take more time to build up a powerful force user in this system but once they get there they are powerful. And there are very few "once per encounter" abilities as far as force powers go - for example once you get awesome at Move to force slam you can use it as much as you want round after round.

Over time I've grown to really appreciate FFGs force power system - it's a shift from Saga because you have to buy into each force power separately, while in Saga you could pick a single Feat and pick up a smattering of force powers (i.e., it's not too hard to create a 1st level Jedi in Saga with enough range of force powers to get a fairly good feel of playing a Jedi "knight" character). But in FFGs system it's a reasonable amount of XP before to get good enough at the Jedi force powers to get the well rounded feel and - what I like a about FFGs system - is that when you go deeper into in a particular force power you really are becoming a master of the force power and it distinguishes your character. I think it does a good job of representing a setting where you do have Jedi specializing in certain powers and that while a fully trained Jedi is well rounded and capable in a broad array of force abilities they still have a lot of deepening to do.

I've also been impressed with how they've worked in certain force powers/abilities that don't necessarily fit the strict era they are targeting (for example, a portion of the Seek power is pretty much Mace Windu's shatterpoint ability).

Combats in this sytem are more dangerous but not necessarily deadly (a character will likely be taken down after several hits but death is rare) - I think it strikes a great balance for the kind of high action but low fatality feel of star wars.

Like any system it has it's weak spots. I echo the comments of others that starfighter combat is more dangerous than it should be (starfighters are really fragile and starfighter/freighter/etc weapons are really powerful).

Also, while Saga Edition had Skill Focus: Use the Force which made force users too powerful at the beginning, many think FFG allows for Autofire blaster rifles to be too powerful even for a starting character.

I'll also say that the only two things I miss about Saga are (in order of importantce):

1. Skill Challenges

I love Skill Challenges because they really add a narrative flair to the game and allow the group to really let their abilities shine and push through scenarios at a cinematic speed.

FFGs dice system replicates some of the features of this and the FFG system encourages a lot of narritive aspects to the game so this is compensated for in a lot of ways - and you can still run Skill Challenges in FFGs system as a house rule - but it's not something that's fully formed in the system.

My advice is to realize that interpreting dice pools in FFG is where a lot of the narrative magic comes from in this game and it can take a while for new players to get a handle on (I'm still trying to).

2. Well rounded starting characters

I have to disagree with these two:

I'll also say that the only two things I miss about Saga are (in order of importantce):

1. Skill Challenges

2. Well rounded starting characters

I found Skill Challenges to be a clunky add-on to D20's basic near-uselessness at anything other than combat. It's interesting that Skill Challenges were the first thing I was glad to dispense with because you can easily incorporate any skill test into any situation. You don't have to be constrained by some artificial "now we're doing a skill challenge" structure.

As for well-rounded characters, again...almost every species can have a 3/3/3/3/2/2 character, or 3/3/3/2/2/2 + a few extra skills and talents. Obviously the characters will only be capable of Easy/Average tasks on a regular basis, but that's as it should be.

I have to disagree with these two:

I'll also say that the only two things I miss about Saga are (in order of importantce):

1. Skill Challenges

2. Well rounded starting characters

I found Skill Challenges to be a clunky add-on to D20's basic near-uselessness at anything other than combat. It's interesting that Skill Challenges were the first thing I was glad to dispense with because you can easily incorporate any skill test into any situation. You don't have to be constrained by some artificial "now we're doing a skill challenge" structure.

As for well-rounded characters, again...almost every species can have a 3/3/3/3/2/2 character, or 3/3/3/2/2/2 + a few extra skills and talents. Obviously the characters will only be capable of Easy/Average tasks on a regular basis, but that's as it should be.

I guess it depends on how you run Skill Challenges. And how you use skills in a game whether playing Saga or FFG. I thought Saga did a great job making non-combat skills useful and I don't see how FFG made non-combat skills more useful - it's still up to GMs to design (or allow) an encounter to incorporate more aspects than just attack rolls.

Yes, you can roll a skill check for just about anything but Skill Challenges put it in a nice framework and opened up the game for skill checks to do bigger things.

The party needs to sneak into some facility? Ok, the stealthy character can gets to roll to sneak the party over the wall or into a guarded gate/door/whatever. No more "my stealth skill is useless because someone in the party will botch it". Yes, in FFG you can hand wave this too but then you're hand-waving FFG RAW (nothing wrong with that but this sort of thing is intentional for Skill Challenges). Skill Challenges are also a great way of having combat in a scenario without needing to bog it down to fight the 5 Stormtroopers guarding the doorway: a character just states they want to take care of them using some appropriate Skill Check and you're done.

The social Skill Challenges also provided a good framework for allowing social characters to get their "combat" too - as it would take several different kinds of checks and approaches to achieve some goal instead of just making a single charm/negotiation/persuasion/whatever check.

And the various ways of adjusting a Skill Challenge added interesting tools for how success/failure could be interpreted and added a lot of atmosphere and tone to the encounter. FFG already has this particular aspect in the core dice mechanic.

Admittedly, a lot of what I like about Skill Challenges is bound up in how a GM constructs and runs an encounter and how the players think about it and approach it so most of it ports over to FFG (as it's a play style) but the Skill Challenge rule set made it an explicit part of the Saga system and I think they did a great job implementing it. The good folks over at the Order 66 podcast even created their own house rules for running "skill challenges" in Saga.

But to each their own.

Yes, you can roll a skill check for just about anything but Skill Challenges put it in a nice framework and opened up the game for skill checks to do bigger things.

The party needs to sneak into some facility? Ok, the stealthy character can gets to roll to sneak the party over the wall or into a guarded gate/door/whatever. No more "my stealth skill is useless because someone in the party will botch it". Yes, in FFG you can hand wave this too but then you're hand-waving FFG RAW (nothing wrong with that but this sort of thing is intentional for Skill Challenges).

That's not how I interpret FFG RAW, in fact a lot of the modules include examples of what you are attributing only to Skill Challenges. What you described is what I immediately started using with these rules, so I'd say your preference is a matter of misinterpretation rather than something missing in the FFG ruleset.

Yes, you can roll a skill check for just about anything but Skill Challenges put it in a nice framework and opened up the game for skill checks to do bigger things.

The party needs to sneak into some facility? Ok, the stealthy character can gets to roll to sneak the party over the wall or into a guarded gate/door/whatever. No more "my stealth skill is useless because someone in the party will botch it". Yes, in FFG you can hand wave this too but then you're hand-waving FFG RAW (nothing wrong with that but this sort of thing is intentional for Skill Challenges).

That's not how I interpret FFG RAW, in fact a lot of the modules include examples of what you are attributing only to Skill Challenges. What you described is what I immediately started using with these rules, so I'd say your preference is a matter of misinterpretation rather than something missing in the FFG ruleset.

Huh. I wonder how common that interpretation is (I don't doubt I may be an outlier here). I certainly agree that FFGs system easily allows for this sort of play but I didn't read that it explicitely promoted it either.

Without getting into spoilers - I'm genuinely curious - which modules do this sort of thing and in what scenarios?

Maybe you should illuminate us on what your players do/don't like about the Saga system. If you don't know, have a sit down with them and find out.

Do they find the tedious of combat annoying and would prefer a quicker, more narrative system?

Do they want to feel like combat is actually dangerous? Eventually you get so many HP in Saga (and any D20 system honestly), that combat becomes a "meh" point for most players, they're all damage sponges. Is this something they'd like to change?

Do they wish they had more flexibility in the powers/actions that they use in the game?

Etc etc.

These are important questions, because honestly, the main difference in Saga to FFG (in my opinion), is the way the information is presented, and resolved. It still does everything pretty much the same way Saga does. You gain XP, you spend it to become tougher/more powerful, you roll dice to see if you fail/succeed at actions. But it's in the little details where the games drastically differ.

FFG doesn't just have a pass/fail duality with dice results, there is a lot of nuance to it. You can fail a roll, but still have awesome stuff happen. You can pass a roll, but still have terrible things happen. The players have more agency in directing the narrative on a scene by scene basis in the FFG system, as they can color what is happening with their dice results, and other mechanics.

In short, the FFG system trims down the mechanics to the bare bones, streamlines them, and then holds out it's hands to the players and says "Ok, the rest is up to you guys to narrate. Have fun."

If that kind of free-flowing, improvised game structure is something you think they would enjoy, I would definitely check it out. If they like their regimented number crunchiness and min/maxing, which is a staple of D20, it might not be a system for them.

Basically, do they want to have more fun with the story of Star Wars, or with the mechanics of Star Wars? If the former, FFG, if the latter, stick to Saga

Without getting into spoilers - I'm genuinely curious - which modules do this sort of thing and in what scenarios?

I'm AFB (and they're in storage temporarily during house renos), but I believe Beyond the Rim was the first to have such suggestions, and I could swear all the others treat non-combat time similarly.

Granted, I could be projecting, but it seems to me it's common usage for the past few years. A lot of the discussions in the GM forum assumes the kind of usage you're talking about. If you're going across rough terrain for a considerable distance, you don't have to roll Survival for everybody, you let the survivalist lead the group. If you're rolling to notice something, unless people are widely scattered and looking for different things, one person makes a roll. If you're trying to stay unnoticed, the stealthy PC helps everyone stay under the radar.

However, the granularity can change at any time depending on the needs of the situation. If it's important that everybody makes their own Stealth roll, then you can do that too. The important thing is there is no artificial construct determining when there is a skill challenge and when there isn't. In a way, the FFG system's default is *always* a skill challenge, a lot more freeform than D20, and you can even use it during combat.

I played Saga for many years, own every book of the line, and enjoyed it greatly. Played Revised, regular, and WEG d6 before that. Some were hit and miss (WEG), some were very much fun (Saga, Revised), and I look forward to getting to try F&D, some day; my friends who like Star Wars aren't sold on this system, and I haven't figured it out well enough to try and sell them. I find some of the new stuff odd/confusing, with the special dice, and the variable options you might get, don't know how opposed rolls would work (do you and the opponent each roll, or would their skill just add difficulty and challenge dice, the same way you add ability and proficiency dice? It's a very different system, at least, if you, like me, have mostly played d20, WW d10, or something similar to those, for the last two decades.

Some opinions/things to consider:

• This game is heavily narrative. Some of it will purely be what the GM says, and some is vague enough to allow the GM, or the players, to shape a scene to their desires.
• The Force will initially seem crappy. You have to pay to get it, pay more to get anything out of it, and, at first, you will seem to be unable to do much with it. What you need to take into account is this is somewhat intentional, to again make the people who don't play Force-users maintain the truth that their characters are still relevant, as well as to illustrate that the Force is hard. Lastly on that, the system, at least initially, intends you to roll some dark pips, and need to flip destiny/strain/convert, in order to illustrate the pull of the Dark Side. If you've played Saga, or Revised, you know that their Dark Side had literally no temptation, unless you chose to use some evil powers. This feels like an improvement to me, even if it might initially cause some tension, as some people might think that the dice are not serving them well, or that to switch a pip is some tantamount dark act, and that they must refuse to accept it, which is certainly not the case, in the Conflict system.
• The setting is both very iconic, and yet possibly very limiting, depending on what you are comfortable doing. They want you in the movies/Rebellion time frame, as it gives you key events, powerful foes, and, if you'll forgive me, support of the seemingly weakened Force system. You might need to be a bit creative if you wish to try KOTOR, Legacy, the New Jedi Order, or something else outside of the cinematic universe.

Having whined all that, I still very much like the look of it, and if I can ever sit down, and figure the rules out better, maybe persuade a few of my friends to give it a try, I'm looking very forward to seeing how it plays. It and 5E D&D are sort of my little learning projects, at the moment. Best of luck to you, too.

I've GM'd Star Wars campaigns with Traveller, WEG, d20, SAGA, and now FFG. I will never go back to any of the other systems. Over half of my experience in over three decades of RPG's has been with d20 in some form. I don't ever plan on running another campaign using d20. But, YOU MUST LEAVE EVERYTHING ABOUT D20 AT THE DOOR when learning this new system. If your players are so entrenched in d20 they can't toss it's systems fully aside, then it will take some time to get used to. This forum has threads representative of that (see countless ones about trying to impose d20 style range and movement into FFG).

Start with AoR basic set for a single night of fun to introduce your players to it. Start the night by asking them to not compare this system with d20 at all.

I GMed games of SW from WEG d6 system, d20, SAGA and FFG's, I like FFG's the best, the problem I had was GMing to a SAGA group, they where hell bent on just playing SAGA, although all they ever wanted to play was Clone Wars stuff and used that as an excuse not to play FFG because it didn't contain anything from the clone wars or other eras of star wars, except the empire era. So now it just gathers dust on my shelf as they have convinced everyone that was playing that the system sucks because of this fact. So if your group is a bunch of diehard SAGA players tread lightly on buying the FFG system, go with just a starter set first before you gather all the core books up like I did.

I GMed games of SW from WEG d6 system, d20, SAGA and FFG's, I like FFG's the best, the problem I had was GMing to a SAGA group, they where hell bent on just playing SAGA, although all they ever wanted to play was Clone Wars stuff and used that as an excuse not to play FFG because it didn't contain anything from the clone wars or other eras of star wars, except the empire era. So now it just gathers dust on my shelf as they have convinced everyone that was playing that the system sucks because of this fact. So if your group is a bunch of diehard SAGA players tread lightly on buying the FFG system, go with just a starter set first before you gather all the core books up like I did.

A**hole Players there! Just because there wasn't fluff text on other era's they wouldn't play? Every single FFG product has mechanical rules for things that fit into any other era than the OT that the books are written for. Bahh I would love to slap them! But i guess they where just looking for an excuse to stay with SAGA. One thing is for sure FFG is much easier to GM, given that i would tell them to stick it, someone else GM or play FFG their choice (I know, very selfish of me but i have drunk the Kool-Aid*)

*Interesting fact; Us Australians call Kool-Aid cordial, I had to google how to spell it!

I GMed games of SW from WEG d6 system, d20, SAGA and FFG's, I like FFG's the best, the problem I had was GMing to a SAGA group, they where hell bent on just playing SAGA, although all they ever wanted to play was Clone Wars stuff and used that as an excuse not to play FFG because it didn't contain anything from the clone wars or other eras of star wars, except the empire era. So now it just gathers dust on my shelf as they have convinced everyone that was playing that the system sucks because of this fact. So if your group is a bunch of diehard SAGA players tread lightly on buying the FFG system, go with just a starter set first before you gather all the core books up like I did.

Were you GMing the game for them? Because if so, I would have told them "All the work for coming up with Clone Wars vehicle and weapon stats is on me, you don't have to worry about it. The game mechanics themselves work fine for any era. if you have a problem with this, then YOU can GM, because SAGA is a crapton of extra work for me."

Also ..... I wouldn't even bother trying to convert characters. If you guys move onto the FFG system it is in your best interest to start fresh. New characters. New concepts. New game. The design philosophies between to the two are just too different to do a conversion and you'll likely find yourselves frustrated by the system as things you used to be able to do in Saga may not be as doable.

Definitely this. Best to start fresh. The concepts are a little different to previous games, and it's definitely better to develop a character from low levels than convert an established one with lots of powers and Talents before you know the system well.

The game balances various types of character much better than previous systems, as others have said.

This is a pretty friendly community, and most of us are glad to help newcomers if you want to ask us questions.

Maybe you should illuminate us on what your players do/don't like about the Saga system. If you don't know, have a sit down with them and find out.

• Do they find the tedious of combat annoying and would prefer a quicker, more narrative system?
• Do they want to feel like combat is actually dangerous? Eventually you get so many HP in Saga (and any D20 system honestly), that combat becomes a "meh" point for most players, they're all damage sponges. Is this something they'd like to change?
• Do they wish they had more flexibility in the powers/actions that they use in the game?
• Basically, do they want to have more fun with the story of Star Wars, or with the mechanics of Star Wars? If the former, FFG, if the latter, stick to Saga

Wow, thanks to all of you who took time to respond. I've got a much better idea of what I'm in for and how to chart my path forward. I really appreciate the advice.

KungFuFerret had some great questions, mirrored in many of your posts, so here goes:

• Depends. They all like doing awesome things in combat and seeing their compatriots do the same. "Filler" encounters without any spice tend to be snoozefests. Regrettably, the module contains several in each chapter, and my time is limited (which is why we're running a module)
• I think so. We've had several close calls, with death averted only through use of a Force point. We came to Saga from a Ravenloft 3.5 campaign that featured several messy character deaths, so I think they like the feeling of tension. Right now everyone is 8th level, so we're just starting to get to the "tank" stage
• Probably. Flexibility in Force powers would be a definite plus... we've considered combining Force thrust, Force slam, Repulse, Force grip, and Move Object into a single, more nuanced power, but the Saga rules don't really support that kind of nuance and we're reluctant to implement big changes like that without play-testing. I've always enjoyed skillful characters and try to incorporate opportunities in every encounter/scene for skilled PCs to do their thing. I feel like Saga has a fair amount of flexibility built into the skill system (there's a ton of different things you can do with Treat Injury & Stealth, for example) but it's difficult to reference as the different skill uses are often scattered over several books.
• Mixed bag. To use several common gamer stereotypes, I have a rules lawyer/strategist, a (relative) newbie, a power gamer/munchkin, and a very casual player. They all love the Star Wars setting, but have varying levels of attachment to the Saga rules and/or d20 mechanics.

The rules lawyer likes the d20 mechanics, but wants to radically revamp the Force power system to a point pool and tweak individual powers as well. He's playing a PC with levels from every base class. He doesn't often challenge me outright, but he definitely tries to massage the system to the benefit of the party and himself.

The newb is a fairly hardcore console/PC gamer who just recently decided to try a tabletop RPG. He's having a good time, and I think he'd make the switch without any difficulty because he's not familiar enough with the Saga system to be invested.

My munchkin doesn't particularly like the Saga system, but doesn't have any better suggestions. He has a busy work/home life, so rarely has time to crack open a book (or PDF) and read the rules. He's really only comfortable in D&D 3.5 because he knows those rules well enough to do what he wants without having to look anything up. I expect the most difficulty from him because he wants his character to be awesome from 1st level on, and sulks if he isn't kicking ass & taking names.

The casual player is pretty easy-going, has a lot of free time, and bounces around between systems with at least three different groups. He's there to socialize & have fun, but doesn't actually care that much about the game. He should be an easy sell.

Once again, thanks for answering my questions. I've tried to answer some of yours, and if that inspires you to offer some more advice, great! I just bought F&D and AoR from a mail-order Spring cleaning sale. I'll probably pick up a beginner box (I need the dice anyway) and maybe a GM screen and see how it goes. I really like the Dark Times setting, but Clone Wars would be fun, too. Any suggestions for supplements that would fit in would be appreciated.

Replying to your replies to my questions, roughly:

1. Then I would point out that the Advantage/Triumph system, allows them to make significant and awesome changes to how the scene is playing out. And the Threat/Despair also helps to add spice and drama to what may at first seem like a run of the mill encounter. Point out that it rewards creative use of the resources, and that if you as the GM find the idea cool/fun, that it can pretty much be allowed, as long as they spend the resources to accomplish it.

2. Point out that there isn't a lot of increase in health in this game. Unless a player specifically focuses on increasing their Wound threshold, they're pretty much going to be as squishy later in game, as they were on day 1. Which is fitting for Star Wars. The heroes don't get hit very often, and when they do, it hurts . So point out that even the low level mooks you send at them on day 1, can still be a threat later on. Specifically, you won't run into the problem of having Stormtroopers (the iconic soldier of dread/evil from the movies), turning into a side thought, not worth considering. It won't be "oh great...more stormtroopers *yawn*" it will be "oh crap! more stormtroopers! run!"

3. If flexibility in Force powers (and most everything else really) is something they are interested in, then point out that the Force powers in this game are way more broad in their description than Saga. That list of powers from Saga your player wants to combine? Yeah that's pretty much all covered under Move Object, except for Force Grip, which is under Bind. So he doesn't have to invest in a dozen different powers, just Move Object, and then beef it up a bit with the upgrades, and he can pretty much do all of that with 1 power.

Well there will be plenty of room for rules lawyering in this game too.

This is just my way of trying to explain it, though it's my general phrase for any kind of roleplaying at all, but I think the FFG system reflects this more than most. Try to sell the game as an improvisational theater experience, with you as the director, and them as the actors. The game focuses more on the narrative side of it, and the players are encouraged to provide their own input into the course of the narrative as things progress, way more than most games. There's still plenty of room for tactical/strategic gameplay, but it does encourage the player to kind of make it up as they go along.

If that sounds fun to them, I would suggest trying out the system. I would consider sticking to the modules at first though, just for the sake of your wallet, and the system mechanics. If they're finding the scenes slow in the module, spice them up a bit. This system is really easy for a GM to just toss in a few more minion groups to add some extra threat, so feel free to adlib as you go along