What would you pick as the next Sourcebook (or other release)

By MonkeyInSpace, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

Beyond what has recently been announced, if you were put in charge of the development of the 3 SW RPG's, what would you choose as the next release? Would you pick a career sourcebook, a 'flavor' sourcebook (LoNH and SoF), would you pick an adventure (and if so, in which setting), or would you pick something else, closer to the GM kits or the specialization decks?

Although I know that the TFA Beginner's game was a stand-alone but I would love to see a sourcebook laying out how to run a campaign in that era - changes in the galaxy, some political backdrop, and updates on the First Order ships and equipment.

Mystic book Mystic book Mystic book Mystic book Mystic book!!!!!

Then I'd force the remainder of the books to fit back into the pattern that they had when EotE was the only line, because patterns are important, gosh darn it :P !

Mystic, Spy, Warrior, and then a book on shadow ports throughout the galaxy (including Tatooine).

34 minutes ago, Absol197 said:

Then I'd force the remainder of the books to fit back into the pattern that they had when EotE was the only line, because patterns are important, gosh darn it :P !

That was before my time - what is this pattern you speak of?

12 minutes ago, Vorzakk said:

a book on shadow ports throughout the galaxy (including Tatooine).

What would constitute a shadow port? Presumably a backwater world, far from the Empire's prying eyes? If so, would this be the EotE version of Alliance Strongholds?

6 minutes ago, MonkeyInSpace said:

What would constitute a shadow port? Presumably a backwater world, far from the Empire's prying eyes? If so, would this be the EotE version of Alliance Strongholds?

In Star Wars, shadowports are underworld, criminal, and smuggler havens. Nar Shaddaa and Tatooine are examples of shadowports, as well as Maz's castle on Takodana and Ord Mantell. So a book on shadowports would be kind of roving about the galaxy like Strongholds of Resistance.

16 minutes ago, Blackbird888 said:

In Star Wars, shadowports are underworld, criminal, and smuggler havens. Nar Shaddaa and Tatooine are examples of shadowports, as well as Maz's castle on Takodana and Ord Mantell. So a book on shadowports would be kind of roving about the galaxy like Strongholds of Resistance.

thank you, first time I've heard that term related to Star Wars - but that sounds amazing.

Mystic please be mystic

Should be Mystic. I promised Absol.

52 minutes ago, Vorzakk said:

Mystic, Spy, Warrior, and then a book on shadow ports throughout the galaxy (including Tatooine).

They won't do a book dedicated to shadow ports, but they might do a regional book or adventure with a shadow port in it. The most successful marketing formula is a book with: at least one new species, a small amount of new equipment and/or ships, a couple new adversaries, a new game mechanic of some sort, and a couple locations with mini-plots. It almost doesn't matter what the book is about (career, adventure, region), as long as it has those elements it's likely to appeal to the broadest audience.

So we'll never get a book of shadow ports, like we'll never get a book of species, adversaries, equipment, starships, etc. It's a marketing model that is doomed, as WEG and WotC learned.

10 minutes ago, whafrog said:

They won't do a book dedicated to shadow ports, but they might do a regional book or adventure with a shadow port in it...

So we'll never get a book of shadow ports, like we'll never get a book of species, adversaries, equipment, starships, etc. It's a marketing model that is doomed, as WEG and WotC learned.

Yet we have a book dedicated to Alliance bases, and a book dedicated to "worlds strong in the Force," and a book dedicated to Hutt Space planets, and a book dedicated to an entire sector. A book on shadowports isn't conceptually any different.

I really want to see the Spy career book. I feel that it's the career that most need to be fleshed out with some additional specs, since it's a bit lackluster at the moment (two out of three specs are repeats from EotE).

Other release: KOTOR era book, Core book in size, has ships, personalities of note, important time line things, planets, more descriptive galaxy map divided among era factions, weapons and equipment, force powers. No new basic rules because we have plenty of core books for those. More or less a copy and paste EotE, AoR, or F&D into KOTOR timeline.

12 hours ago, whafrog said:

They won't do a book dedicated to shadow ports, but they might do a regional book or adventure with a shadow port in it. The most successful marketing formula is a book with: at least one new species, a small amount of new equipment and/or ships, a couple new adversaries, a new game mechanic of some sort, and a couple locations with mini-plots. It almost doesn't matter what the book is about (career, adventure, region), as long as it has those elements it's likely to appeal to the broadest audience.

So we'll never get a book of shadow ports, like we'll never get a book of species, adversaries, equipment, starships, etc. It's a marketing model that is doomed, as WEG and WotC learned.

To know that it is the best, they would have to try something else.

Edited by korjik
6 hours ago, Blackbird888 said:

Yet we have a book dedicated to Alliance bases, and a book dedicated to "worlds strong in the Force," and a book dedicated to Hutt Space planets, and a book dedicated to an entire sector. A book on shadowports isn't conceptually any different.

Good point. I got lost in the other point, which was that all these books include those other basic elements.

My guess for a regional book for edge would be the Arkanis Sector. The Arkanis sector was a sector within the Outer Rim Territories . Within it was the Arkanis system , [2] along with the Geonosis system , the Tatoo system , [1] and the system in which Sentinel Base was located. [4]

You could do Geonosians, Jawa, Tusken Raiders, Pod Racing, Boonta Eve, Mos Eisely, Mos Espa, Mos schuta, discuss shadowports, Planet entries for Geonosis, tatooine, Sentinel Base, etc

Second Edition. EotE is a really good first edition but it suffers from most of a first edition's problems.

Me in charge? I would start working on editorial of all SW RPG books, integrate the FAQ and other sources of developer questions, make GtA clearer, find a solution for defense issue, etc
This includes a significant shortening for chapter 3 and a lot other passages in the books, so the text is less mind numbing to read and people will actually notice all the hard work the designers invested into the skills and advantages, success and threat suggestions for each and every skill in the game. But I never would get approval from FFG management for such a big project and most certainly I would not get to hire staff to do it properly.

But realistically speaking, I would most likely write an adventure, because those have a super low skill ceiling, are quickly done and I can introduce a lot of those clarification in helpers text for scenes from the module, like for example writing a few good space combat scenes which make proper use of arcs. range bands, squadron rules and GtA.


Besides, to make this clear, I don't think a second edition is necessary, we are talking here about rules clarifications, better editorial and errata only. The same stuff they already did for the second print run for all three lines anyway, they just do it in a very cheap and lackluster fashion.

No that all the EotE careers are covered, I would love them to come up with NEW careers. That would be interesting :)

I want to say Mystic just to appease the great prognosticator, Absol, but I fear that if it does come out next she will abandon us to our own devices and we will be blind to the future from that day onward

Edited by warchild1x
typo

You can rest easy, warchild :) . My OCD would never let a little thing like my favorite book coming out stop me from continuing my predictions! Regardless of how horribly inaccurate I've been of late...

I want Warrior to be next, not to spite the Prophetess Absol, but because I believe Warrior needs an identity besides Angry guy with a Lightsaber who can pilot. Mystic while in close second to what I want released has an Identity, one that needs to be further differentiated from Cosular but an Identity.

11 hours ago, SEApocalypse said:

Me in charge? I would start working on editorial of all SW RPG books, integrate the FAQ and other sources of developer questions, make GtA clearer, find a solution for defense issue, etc
This includes a significant shortening for chapter 3 and a lot other passages in the books, so the text is less mind numbing to read and people will actually notice all the hard work the designers invested into the skills and advantages, success and threat suggestions for each and every skill in the game. But I never would get approval from FFG management for such a big project and most certainly I would not get to hire staff to do it properly.

But realistically speaking, I would most likely write an adventure, because those have a super low skill ceiling, are quickly done and I can introduce a lot of those clarification in helpers text for scenes from the module, like for example writing a few good space combat scenes which make proper use of arcs. range bands, squadron rules and GtA.


Besides, to make this clear, I don't think a second edition is necessary, we are talking here about rules clarifications, better editorial and errata only. The same stuff they already did for the second print run for all three lines anyway, they just do it in a very cheap and lackluster fashion.

What you describe is a second edition, SEApocalypse.

On 5/23/2017 at 10:04 AM, whafrog said:

So we'll never get a book of shadow ports, like we'll never get a book of species, adversaries, equipment, starships, etc. It's a marketing model that is doomed, as WEG and WotC learned.

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It wasn't the marketing model that killed WEG, it was the mismanagement from the shoe company that killed the company and took WEG down in the process. I'm less familiar with the WotC side of thing, but from what I've heard from friends who worked there, it was the high cost of the license and the onerous approval process from LFL that made Hasbro/WotC go "F it, it's not worth it" and throw in the towel. Now, neither of these two conditions means that getting a Big Book of Blasters any more (or less) likely, but it doesn't mean that it's a failed approach to releasing.

2 hours ago, Desslok said:

It wasn't the marketing model that killed WEG, it was the mismanagement from the shoe company that killed the company and took WEG down in the process. I'm less familiar with the WotC side of thing, but from what I've heard from friends who worked there, it was the high cost of the license and the onerous approval process from LFL that made Hasbro/WotC go "F it, it's not worth it" and throw in the towel. Now, neither of these two conditions means that getting a Big Book of Blasters any more (or less) likely, but it doesn't mean that it's a failed approach to releasing.

Especially when you take into account that some of the best books of the WEG and WOTC lines were compilation books