@emsquared:

1) Maybe a force power, but not in the box

2) No, no stats there... and as it was said before no stats for a starfighter something like this.

For Kylo Ren stopping that blaster bolt in mid-air, that's just narrative fluff from his usage of Bind to freeze Poe in place, possibly inspired by Poe rolling a Despair on his Ranged (Heavy) combat check and the GM wanting to impress upon the players just how much of a threat Kylo Ren would be to most ordinary beings so that he's a dreaded figure in the campaign.

Hell, I might even bypass using the Force altogether on the Stopping the Bolt. If the character had Move, I'd call it a coercion roll with a hell of a modifier for being a cool idea from the player.

Hell, I might even bypass using the Force altogether on the Stopping the Bolt. If the character had Move, I'd call it a coercion roll with a hell of a modifier for being a cool idea from the player.

Or a Coercion roll that scored at least three Triumphs.

To be honest, if I had a player roll three Triumphs on a successful check, I'd pretty much let them narrate the scene however they wanted, because how often do you really see a player roll that many Triumphs on a single check?

Hey, so I bought the box over the AoR beginner box because of the campaign I plan to run (set between RotJ and TFA).

Here's what it has:

A softcover rulebook with a huge amount of world-building for the 30 year gap, including the history of both the Resistance and the First Order -3 pages of background with minimal pictures and small text, followed by basic gameplay mechanics, for when you don't want to lug your CRB to the table (one of the big reasons I wanted a box). The gear lists are pretty standard, but is flavoured towards the Sequel (it also includes costs for reloads... is this now a thing?). It has adversary stats for the Resistance, First Order and some scum & villainy (KanjiKlub and the Guavian Death Gang) and some beast stats too (a rathtar, and a luggabeast).

8 Destiny tokens and 49 other character, vehicle and adversary tokens.

A2 sized map of the known galaxy, with information on the planets that featured in TFA and 5 hyperspace routes clearly marked with others also marked. On the back are two A3 maps for use in the adventure.

There are 4 character folios, and the adventure book itself which I need to properly read through.

Then you have a bag of 14 dice, and an X-Wing winter 2015 catalogue which I think may be a bit of a mistake.

In answer to previous questions: There are no lightsaber stats or ship stats in the rulebook, nor do there appear to be ship stats in the adventure (which is weird as there is a ship...) However, there are official stats for a certain First Order officer.

As far as new crunch goes, there's a handful of new weapons (Longshot Blaster, Heavy Staff, Riot Shield, Shock Baton, and Shock Stave) and new NPCs (such as Guavian Death Gang, Kanjiklub, Jakku locals, and Rathtars)

No vehicle stats at all, though the adventure does make mention of a quadjumper that belongs to one of the PCs, so it's possible that the "Call for Heroes" follow up adventure will have those stats, especially as one of the pre-gens is an Ace.

That's the way to do it ! Good on you, Nytwyng!

Thanks. I've been a customer of theirs for longer than the son managing the new location has been alive. (****, that makes me feel old.) Sure, the game store is closer and maintains a stock of the RPG books, but I'd rather support people who've treated me awesomely and provide a personal touch, as opposed to someplace where I'm just another faceless consumer.

Since he's trying to build a gaming customer base, and seems interested in the Star Wars system, I'm thinking of asking him if he'd be interested in me coming in once a month or so and running one of the Beginner Games in their game room, to see if it sparks some interest in the system among his customers.

Willpower...weakening.

He's even having trouble getting the books that have been out for a while.

Need...triumph...on...willpower...check....

As far as new crunch goes, there's a handful of new weapons (Longshot Blaster, Heavy Staff, Riot Shield, Shock Baton, and Shock Stave) and new NPCs (such as Guavian Death Gang, Kanjiklub, Jakku locals, and Rathtars)

What I thought was interesting about this is that the FO's shock batons and staves don't indicate that they have the ability to go toe-to-toe with lightsabers. This is something that isn't only demonstrated in the movie, but also specifically mentioned in the canonical books. Well, at least one canonical book .

That, and there are no restrictions, but I forgot to check if that's a beginner's box thing or if that's because this is all post-Empire.

As far as new crunch goes, there's a handful of new weapons (Longshot Blaster, Heavy Staff, Riot Shield, Shock Baton, and Shock Stave) and new NPCs (such as Guavian Death Gang, Kanjiklub, Jakku locals, and Rathtars)

What I thought was interesting about this is that the FO's shock batons and staves don't indicate that they have the ability to go toe-to-toe with lightsabers. This is something that isn't only demonstrated in the movie, but also specifically mentioned in the canonical books. Well, at least one canonical book .

That, and there are no restrictions, but I forgot to check if that's a beginner's box thing or if that's because this is all post-Empire.

It's probably a Beginner Box thing, since there's no mention of lightsabers in either the rulebook or the adventure. So the Cortosis quality isn't needed as there aren't any weapons with the Sunder quality, and neither the Cortosis or Sunder quality get mentioned.

As far as I see it, although they are not producing other Force Awakens stuff (yet) they are giving us a decent amount of stuff based on the movies, enough to be getting on with if we want to set a game in that era.

Seriously, we have much of what we need anyway; in what way to stormtroopers and x-wings differ between the movies?

I will assume they would seed the new races, weapons, vehicles etc into the regular books, and that's just fine.

I wouldn't object if they had a new range and new Core book, but this way makes sense too. It's a gateway product for new fans who may have only just started watching Star Wars, it's not really aimed at those of us who are already hooked. We shall get it because that galaxy map is sweet and I can always cannibalise new stuff for our game. In many ways, our campaign resembles a post-movies galaxy more than a classic-era one (Empire in ruins, Jedi returned), so it's even easier to incorporate.

I have to say that enless it's you'r first box set or you are thinking of running a Force Awakens game there's not much here to make this worth buying.

I will probably get it at some point just due to being a RPG packrat but its last on the list at this point.

So its not worth picking up?

Haven't seen anything about the extra characters they usually offer with a beginner game set along with the bonus adventure they provide online yet.

Do you think they'll post two Force & Destiny characters or select one from both Edge and AoR to emphasize the Luke is the last Jedi part?

again there is very little for someone like myself who's game is set in the original trilogy in this box.

if I was going to run a campaign during the Force Awaken time frame it would be different.

Got it today. It's just like the others, which is fine (moar dice for my cheapskate players!) but I think it's a slightly missed opportunity not to give us a new Force power or species... But then the others didn't have any either, which is perfectly in keeping with it being a Beginner Box. Just sayin' that some new crunch might have convinced those existing fans who were borderline...

It has a decent amount of new adversaries and the like. Enough to tide you over if you wanted to set a game in this era. I wouldn't say no to more new-movies products, but giving us the guns and races in the other books seems equally fitting, so no problem there. It does what it says on the tin, and might draw in some new blood who saw the new movies and have never thought of role-playing before. My gaming shop was packed full of people (it's the school holidays) and I was asked to GM some games when I'm feeling better.

They have stats for Phasma, who is as useless as her movie appearance suggests. Stat line of a starting human PC and a few skills to 2. The adventure is as workmanlike as Desslok suggests (it's a tutorial, natch), but the online sequels are always far superior and enjoyable, so I have high hopes for 'Call To Heroes'. I think Poe Dameron and Maz Kanata are the only Force Awakens movie characters I'd actually use in my game.

The pregenerated characters are a nice mix, implying that we're likely to get Abednedo as a species soon. One of the characters actually looks a lot like the leader of our AOR group, assuming she spent the last twenty years huffing crystal meth instead of getting expensive plastic surgery.

For my own game, it's not hard to incorporate the 'Unknown Regions' into another corner of the ongoing Galactic Civil War, with the First Order as one of the Imperial Remnants trying to carve out a mini empire for itself, and the unimaginatively-named 'Resistance' as a local proxy for the Alliance in fighting them (intending to steal their best pilots and troops and let them swing in the wind when the shooting stops). Ren and Supreme Leader Stimpy are a pair of incompetent clowns, but with decent leadership these would-be neo-Nazis might be a force to be reckoned with. Even considering letting a PC try their hand at (quite literal) Empire building and seeing if they could run their own mini-faction.

Got it today. It's just like the others, which is fine (moar dice for my cheapskate players!) but I think it's a slightly missed opportunity not to give us a new Force power or species... But then the others didn't have any either, which is perfectly in keeping with it being a Beginner Box. Just sayin' that some new crunch might have convinced those existing fans who were borderline...

The problem is if they start adding in species and powers and whatnot, suddenly this goes from a "Eh, I might pick it up if I need some more dice someday" to a mandatory purchase, annoying many people. It's a fine line to walk, providing new content without rocking the boat too badly.

. . . . Mind you, the map alone would have justified the purchase in my mind. But I'm a freak that way.

Got it today. It's just like the others, which is fine (moar dice for my cheapskate players!) but I think it's a slightly missed opportunity not to give us a new Force power or species... But then the others didn't have any either, which is perfectly in keeping with it being a Beginner Box. Just sayin' that some new crunch might have convinced those existing fans who were borderline...

The problem is if they start adding in species and powers and whatnot, suddenly this goes from a "Eh, I might pick it up if I need some more dice someday" to a mandatory purchase, annoying many people. It's a fine line to walk, providing new content without rocking the boat too badly.

. . . . Mind you, the map alone would have justified the purchase in my mind. But I'm a freak that way.

It certainly did in my mind. The other stuff was gravy.

So its not worth picking up?

Haven't seen anything about the extra characters they usually offer with a beginner game set along with the bonus adventure they provide online yet.

Do you think they'll post two Force & Destiny characters or select one from both Edge and AoR to emphasize the Luke is the last Jedi part?

As for "worth picking up", that depends. There's not any major new crunch offered (some new weapons, some new Adversary stat blocks) although the galaxy map is kinda nice, if only focusing on "major" planets.

As for the extra characters, it'd be possible to have at least one of them be a FaD career but simply not geared towards using a lightsaber. After all, three of the pre-gens (2 in the box, 1 online) for the FaD Beginner Box had nothing to do with lightsaber usage (Mystic, Seeker, and Sentinel if memory serves), so for this one they could easily do a PC that has the Force but no 'saber. As you said, lack of a lightsaber user to reinforce the notion that the Jedi are pretty much gone from the galaxy due to Luke's self-imposed exile in the wake of his students being butchered.

So the idea that the Jedi and them wielding a lightsaber is one and the same?

So the idea that the Jedi and them wielding a lightsaber is one and the same?

Yes, since a Jedi is someone that's trained in both usage of the Force but most importantly in using a lightsaber.

However, there are plenty of Force users out there who are in no way, shape, or form related or associated with the Jedi or their teachings/belief structure. Maz Kanata is one such example. saying outright that she is no Jedi but that she knows the Force (with a deleted scene showing her actually using the Force to collapse a ceiling on top of a bunch of FO stormtroopers).

Point of fact, in FaD it is entirely possibly to make 100% viable Force using PCs that having nothing to do with the Jedi beyond being able to use the Force.

Sadly, WEG made the mistake of deciding that the term "Jedi" was the universal term for "Force user" when that couldn't be further from the truth. It'd be akin to saying that all martial artists in the real world are Shaolin monks, when the reality is vastly different, especially as the term "martial artist" can also refer to boxers, wrestlers, and MMA combatants, all having learned a style of unarmed combat.

in short, while all Jedi are Force users, not all Force users are Jedi, so it is possible for FFG to offer a Force using pre-gen that's categorically not a Jedi.

So the idea that the Jedi and them wielding a lightsaber is one and the same?

Canonically, no. According to the Before the Awakening book, FN-2187 makes specific note of the fact that their weapons were meant to go toe-to-toe with lightsabers which he thought was odd since nobody used lightsabers. So a) FN-2187's training was at least comprehensive enough to tell him what lightsabers were, and b) someone in the First Order obviously thought that people with lightsabers were enough of a threat that their basic stormtroopers needed to be equipped with weapons made of cortosis.

As far as WEG, the reason why they use the term Jedi as a blanket for all Force users is because the original 3 movies did just that. Although off screen Vader was described as a Sith lord, the word Sith was not used canonically until Episode I. Before that, he was a Dark Jedi - this was prevalent even in Timothy Zahn's landmark Thrawn trilogy. Since Episode I, the word Sith has been retroactively inserted into the original movies to make them more streamlined with Lucas's original vision for the Dark Side of the Force.

in short, while all Jedi are Force users, not all Force users are Jedi, so it is possible for FFG to offer a Force using pre-gen that's categorically not a Jedi.

In all honesty, in a canon game set in the original movies, I’d have thought that this era was the ideal place for non-Jedi Force traditions to shine.

I’m kinda surprised they haven’t done a ‘Traditions’ book for Baran-Do, Nightsisters, etc.

in short, while all Jedi are Force users, not all Force users are Jedi, so it is possible for FFG to offer a Force using pre-gen that's categorically not a Jedi.

In all honesty, in a canon game set in the original movies, I’d have thought that this era was the ideal place for non-Jedi Force traditions to shine.

I’m kinda surprised they haven’t done a ‘Traditions’ book for Baran-Do, Nightsisters, etc.

I get a sense that FFG is trying to avoid shoe-horning any of the specs into specific Force traditions.

I'll grant you, the LS Form specs are very strongly inferred to be linked to the Jedi, but they could just as easily be used for the Sith or the Jen'saarai (though Guardian's Armorer spec from KtP really seems geared towards that group). But the rest of the specs could be used for a variety of Force traditions without being pigeon-holed as "if you're part of Force Tradition X, then you'd need to start with one of these specs." So while it might behoove a Baran Do Sage to start as either Mystic/Seer or Consular/Sage, a PC could just as easily opt for Guardian/Protector and still be a part of that Force tradition.

In all honesty, in a canon game set in the original movies, I’d have thought that this era was the ideal place for non-Jedi Force traditions to shine.

I’m kinda surprised they haven’t done a ‘Traditions’ book for Baran-Do, Nightsisters, etc.

I'm actually predicting that the second "Region" book for Force and Destiny will be exactly that, an exploration off various non-Jedi Force traditions.

I get that, Donovan, and I'm fine with the idea of not tying traditions to specs, but I meant an exploration of the various 'under the radar' traditions.

It need not necessarily even be a 'crunch' thing - just a splatbook on the various groups out there who aren't Jedi. Maybe species, a few gear items that are iconic to these traditions, that sort of thing.

I don't know much about any of them aside from the names, and while we could look it up on Wookiepedia, it strikes me as a pretty good concept for a Force book that's set in the original movie era.

It might encourage players do something other than try to 'restore the Jedi order' or whatever. A lot of new fans probably see 'Force user' and 'Jedi' as being synonymous, as you've mentioned. This sort of book could offer alternatives, discussing groups who are small or subtle enough to have gone mostly undetected.

Anything would be better than more holocrons at this point

So we have Homesteads, Businesses (Far Horizons), Bases (AoR) and now Fortifications... how long before some bright spark suggests Force Orders?