I was browsing through the EotE Beginner Game box contents the other day, and I couldn't find any character creation rules.

I assume this means the game was designed to be run with just the pre-generated characters?

If one were to pick the core rule-book alongside the Beginner game, how would one go about running it with custom characters ?

The core rulebook has all the rules necessary for creating custom characters. If you want to use custom characters for the Beginner game adventure make sure someone in the party has Mechanics, Negotiation, Pilot (Space) and Ranged Weapon skills. You don't have to give the party a starting ship as they will acquire one during the adventure.

After you finish the Beginner game adventure you can continue the campaign with the free follow-up adventure Long Arm of the Hutt and then the adventure in the core rulebook and/or the one included with the GM screen.

yeah you can use the pregens (dont forget the downloadable ones on the website) or make their own. 2 things to keep in mind, the pregens are a little better than staring characters (they seem to have a few extra xp) and keep in mind the encounters

2 things to keep in mind, the pregens are a little better than staring characters (they seem to have a few extra xp) and keep in mind the encounters

Not really. Mostly, they're right on with the XP (actually, I think one or two characters don't have all the skills they should have). Credits might be another issue, but I think they're mostly in line with what is feasible at character creation.

I remember looking at some of them and they had a kill or 2 that they shouldn't have had or an extra rank in something, like I said not too bad.

No, I've ran them through the character generator a couple of times, and they all comply as far as XP is concerned.

Thanks to everyone who replied

One more question: are the rules in the beginner game any different than the full rules in the core rulebook ?

no they are identical. I know that the AoR one skips the duty mechanic and I am fairly certian that the EotE skips obligation.

The rulebooks in the beginner games are identical to the rules in the core rulebooks but the text is more condensed. The lite rulebooks don't have character creation rules, the Obligation/Duty/Morality mechanic. The talents are only for the pregenerated PCs and the equipment list is pared down to the essentials.

The lite rulebooks do have the stats for a couple of different vehicles and a handfull of adversaries, which are not identical across game lines.

Three out of the four times I've ran people through the beginners game, my players used their own custom characters. The beginners game works just fine with original PCs, and I actually prefer it if my players don't have all the answers to the problems that will pop up in the beginners game. From narrative stand point, you just need them to be on Tatooine regardless of their backgrounds and such, so Teemo can want them dead. The system works really well for this and I highly recommend the core rule book. If you shop around online you can find it for $10 to $15 dollars off the cover price on various websites, but you should always look into how much your local hobby shop is selling it for.

The rules are the same, but they are greatly expanded in the core rule book, which breaks down everything into fine detail, that you'll need for more adventures.

In other words; If you're asking if you could get by with just the beginner book while playing EotE for a longer time, then the answer is: Not really.

It's worth noting that the pre-gen PCs from the other two lines will work just fine in any of the beginner games. You may have to fudge the 'motivation' a bit, but they'll work fine mechanically. The advantage of the pre-gen PCs over custom is that the layout of the character sheet is condensed, all calculations are complete, and the options for "leveling up" are laid out for easy reference. It's designed, after all, for complete beginners who may have never played an RPG before. Making your own PCs, with or without your players, requires a bit more work on your part.

If you have the time and money, I'd suggest having a talk with your players to determine which flavor of Star Wars RPG interests them. Run them through a different setting's Beginner Box so that everyone can learn the game. Once that's done, if everyone's still on board, you can create characters to run through the setting you want to campaign in. The core rulebook has an adventure in the back. There's also a downloadable adventure on the FFG website. The three adventures are loosely connected and can certainly be welded together in an introductory campaign.

I don't think I've ever used the stock characters with the beginner boxes. Also, I've never used beginner characters with the beginners box, either.

So don't be afraid to think outside the box.