Hi everyone, I want a little advice from you, if you wouldn't mind.

I ran an awesome Star Wars campaign which spanned many a week and many a star system back in about 2002, with some great friends. I think we used the original good old D6 system. In 2009 me and the same guys got together, from all around the UK, and completed Episode II, this time using the d20 system.

Next year it's time for me to complete the decades spanning saga over one intense long-weekend RPG session. My friends and their characters are older and more grizzled and, like when I screwed them up in the darker episode II, I have all the ideas fizzing around my head for an epic and fitting end to their tale in Episode III.

I really want to move on to the new system offered by Fantasy Flight, it's a much more modern and flexible game than the older systems. The problem is, it appears (to someone who doesn't (yet) own any of the books) that they're all terrible timeline specific. I have established characters, that I need to introduce into *my version* of the Star Wars galaxy. I had written and run a story (my Episode II) set 10 years after Endor, six years before The Force Awakens!

so, my question is this: in order to get a solid grip of the mechanics as well as how to run and play a good campaign using this system, is there one core rule book I can buy? One book that will allow me to use the system but also create my players beloved characters ... Wookiee war veteran, Trandoshan bounty hunter, retired smuggler, pariah Jedi and his friend the Jedi in turmoil.

And all of this hopefully without having to pay hundreds of £££s on loads of books.

Is there one book with enough breadth of content to do what I need to do ... and if so, which one?!

Thanks in advance everyone,

Robbyb

Hi RobbyB,

Good questions! I'm a firm believer that any any of the core books would be great to introduce the mechanic, but your group looks to have characters defined in 2 if not all 3 core rulebooks. While this isn't a problem for the system, it sure is for the wallet! The odd beings out here are the Jedi, but if they're not particularly experienced Jedi, you might be able to get by with just the Edge of the Empire core rulebook as most of your characters fall squarely in that realm.

We've often discussed how cool it would be to have one book that contains everything, but that book itself would be a meter wide and weigh as much as a small trunk. Sadly, FFG isn't licensed to nor will likely be licensed in the future to distribute these books electronically.

My vote also goes to plain old Edge of Empire core. It has light-duty versions of anything you could ask for. The nice thing about the system is that the rules are relatively basic, while the complexity comes mostly from the flavour- it makes house rules and modifications relatively simple. The whole thing is optimised to run quick and easy, leaving the GM with more brainpower to spare.

However, if you wanted to pick up one of the beginner games and run it as written in order to give your players a taste of what's to come, that's never a bad idea. It'll net you some extra dice, at the very least. If you go this route, try to find the Force Awakens beginner game, because then you'll be able to make use of the timeline-appropriate Galaxy Map as well.

Any CRB gives you the core rules. All of the published career/spec trees are out there from fan support stuff. So book, dice/app, free spec sheets.

I would suggest buying the CRBs for Edge of the Empire and Force & Destiny . Edge is pretty robust and will take care of your non-Jedi player characters. F&D takes care of all of the Force stuff and introduces "knight-level play" which might fit the bill for your Jedi players. There is a The Force Awakens Beginner Box which has Episode 7-specific NPCs but I don't think you need to go all in for that, though the map and an extra set of dice is nice.

If your players want more from their career choices, they can spring for the career-centric supplement books. As a GM, I think they're all pretty great but don't feel obligated to buy them.

A few general pointers:

1. FFG Star Wars is a narrative RPG, not a tactical RPG. That will require a bit of adjustment if your players are used to D6 or D20 systems.
2. Combat is resolved in one or two dice rolls. Don't try to pad out your adventure sessions by stacking them with combat encounters. Really focus on puzzle solving and interactions with NPCs to fill out your story.
3. Try running a pre-written adventure module, like Beyond the Rim , first. That will give you a good handle on how the system works and the expected play style. You may have to swap out some characters to match your preferred place on the timeline but you can still use the same NPC stats.

I'd say go with Edge of the Empire as well... Seems best suited to most of your characters!

I'd maybe suggest looking for a copy of the Force & Destiny Beta... The rules are pretty much the same u just don't get the art work or the background stuff that's in the Core Rules books.

In fact I've got a copy of the F&D beta that's not being used since I got the core rules book if you're interested?

Edge core, unless your campaign is heavily militarised in which case the Ships in Age Core and the Duty mechanic will fit better.

As far as time setting you need not worry. The entire game is themed around the original trilogy, but it's just fluff text, changing time periods requires zero work

I'll second the Edge + F&D, but if you can only afford one book, go with Edge. Edge comes with a couple Force powers, and you can get the others online, though they might be missing detail.

As noted, the game really is timeline-agnostic, they probably picked the OT timeline simply for marketing purposes. You won't have any trouble in a different setting.

However, before you take the plunge, I'd strongly recommend either getting a beginner box or running the free Under a Black Sun adventure available on this site. You might think you're a veteran gamer, but this system will challenge your assumptions Treat it as a one-off with the main purpose being to learn some of the ins and outs of the system. You'll probably be able to weave some of the NPCs into your own campaign, or treat the pre-gens later as friendly NPCs. Anyway, a little pre-experience with the game is especially important if you are thinking of bringing over established characters from another system. Those characters will presumably be worth hundreds of XP, and your players will have a much better idea how to spend that XP if they understand how the skills and talents work. There is a lot of subtlety in the system that can get lost on a first read.

Under a Black Sun has a chart for how to use normal dice to replicate the FFG dice, but the beginner boxes have a set of dice built in...which you'll probably end up wanting anyway.

On 3/11/2017 at 10:10 PM, Robbyb said:

Hi everyone, I want a little advice from you, if you wouldn't mind.

I ran an awesome Star Wars campaign which spanned many a week and many a star system back in about 2002, with some great friends. I think we used the original good old D6 system. In 2009 me and the same guys got together, from all around the UK, and completed Episode II, this time using the d20 system.

Next year it's time for me to complete the decades spanning saga over one intense long-weekend RPG session. My friends and their characters are older and more grizzled and, like when I screwed them up in the darker episode II, I have all the ideas fizzing around my head for an epic and fitting end to their tale in Episode III.

I really want to move on to the new system offered by Fantasy Flight, it's a much more modern and flexible game than the older systems. The problem is, it appears (to someone who doesn't (yet) own any of the books) that they're all terrible timeline specific. I have established characters, that I need to introduce into *my version* of the Star Wars galaxy. I had written and run a story (my Episode II) set 10 years after Endor, six years before The Force Awakens!

so, my question is this: in order to get a solid grip of the mechanics as well as how to run and play a good campaign using this system, is there one core rule book I can buy? One book that will allow me to use the system but also create my players beloved characters ... Wookiee war veteran, Trandoshan bounty hunter, retired smuggler, pariah Jedi and his friend the Jedi in turmoil.

And all of this hopefully without having to pay hundreds of £££s on loads of books.

Is there one book with enough breadth of content to do what I need to do ... and if so, which one?!

Thanks in advance everyone,

Robbyb

I've found Age of Rebellion & Force and Destiny to be a bit more clear, especially around starship/vehicle rules, than Edge of the Empire , simply because they were printed later after more feedback.

For those 5 PCs you're converting...

Wookie & Trandoshan are in Edge of the Empire .

Humans are in all 3 core books.

Smuggler & Bounty Hunter are in Edge of the Empire .

Jedi are covered in Force and Destiny , though Edge of the Empire has a Force Sensitive Exile (with the Move, Influence, and Sense talent trees) & a lightsaber...so depending on the key characteristics of your two Jedi PCs, this may or may not be sufficient.

Here's my break-down of the books...

Careers / Specializations - Age of Rebellion

Ace (Driver, Gunner, Pilot)

Commander (Commodore, Squadron Leader, Tactician)

Diplomat (Ambassador, Agitator, Quartermaster)

Engineer (Mechanic, Saboteur, Scientist)

Soldier (Commando, Medic, Sharpshooter)

Spy (Infiltrator, Scout, Slicer)

Universal: Recruit

Universal: Force Sensitive Emergent (Enhance, Foresee, Move)

Careers / Specializations - Edge of the Empire

Bounty Hunter (Assassin, Gadgeteer, Survivalist)

Colonist (Doctor, Politico, Scholar)

Explorer (Fringer, Scout, Trader)

Hired Gun (Bodyguard, Marauder, Mercenary Soldier)

Smuggler (Pilot, Scoundrel, Thief)

Technician (Mechanic, Outlaw Tech, Slicer)

Universal: Force Sensitive Exile (Move, Influence, Sense)

Careers / Specializations - Force and Destiny

Consular (Healer, Niman Disciple, Sage)

Guardian (Peacekeeper, Protector, Soresu Defender)

Mystic (Advisor, Makashi Duelist, Seer)

Seeker (Ataru Striker, Hunter, Pathfinder)

Sentinel (Artisan, Shadow, Shien Expert)

Warrior (Aggressor, Shii-Cho Knight, Starfighter Ace)

Species

Bothan (AoR, EotE)

Cerean (F&D)

Droid (AoR, EotE)

Duros (AoR)

Gand (EotE)

Gran (AoR)

Human (AoR, EotE, F&D)

Ithorian (AoR)

Kel Dor (F&D)

Mirialan (F&D)

Mon Calamari (AoR)

Nautolan (F&D)

Rodian (EotE)

Sullustan (AoR)

Togruta (F&D)

Trandoshan (EotE)

Twi’lek (EotE, F&D)

Wookie (EotE)

Zabrak (F&D)

Overlap in Core Books

Which core book should you get? It depends. While Edge of the Empire (EotE) is an older book it has lots on gritty smuggler/mercenary types. About one-fifth of the vehicles, adversaries, and ships overlap between Age of the Rebellion (AoR) and EotE. Less so with Force and Destiny (F&D) . Also, AoR and F&D are more up to date with rules clarifications, particularly clearer starship rules. You might want to check out the indexes at http://swrpg.viluppo.net/ for specific content you are looking for.

Starships: All three core books have Lambda's, CR-90's, and TIE-LN. Note that there are a few that ONLY appear in the Beta books (including some old favorite SLFs - like the Ghotroc 720).

Talent Trees: Six of the AoR-line and EotE-line talent trees overlap in the core books. I’m not sure how much overlap there is in supplements.

Force Powers: EotE and AoR have 3 force powers each, with some overlap. All of those plus 7 more are in the F&D core book. None of the force user talent trees in F&D overlap with each other.

Species: Humans are in all the core books. Droids and Bothans in EotE and AoR. Twi’leks are in EotE and F&D. See the index link above or the species sidebar below for a complete list.

Fluff Text: Each is somewhat different. It's harder to codify because much of it is rewritten in each. The fluff overlaps most in the Galaxy chapter, but generally, takes different slants on the material.

The Worlds: Different in each core book.

On 3/13/2017 at 10:52 AM, Concise Locket said:

Combat is resolved in one or two dice rolls. Don't try to pad out your adventure sessions by stacking them with combat encounters. Really focus on puzzle solving and interactions with NPCs to fill out your story.

Great advice; this is something that I still struggle to remember in the moment, which can lead to adjudicating combat rounds too short and stretching the encounter out longer than stays fun.

If the cost of books is an issue and you're only getting one CRB, I'd second the advice of the Edge CRB. Quickleaf's summary is great, and I'd supplement the viluppo.net index with the talent sheets at http://beggingforxp.com/2014/star-wars-talent-sheets/ . Looks like they haven't been updated with the complete latest supplements, but if you're trying to round out specializations and force powers not in the Edge CRB, these are a good quick guide.