so, my regular EotE group is meeting next week and we are in the middle of a pretty complex and epic campaign but one of our players is unavailable for the next few weeks due to work travel and so we are putting that on hold. I have been talking to my group about picking up Genesys and have a few ideas for scenarios in mind and they asked if we can run a few "one-shots" before getting back to our EotE campaign.

So! I own the Genesys rulebook and have the outline for a few adventures but have very limited time between now and when we next meet and so wanted to ask the community, if someone who was very familiar with EotE wanted to get a crash-course in the major differences between the two systems to be able to run an adventure but doesn't have time to read the rulebook, where would they start and what would they need to know to pull this off?

Or is there really no substitute for simply plowing through the manual?

thanks in advance!

This thread has a very good list of all the changes and might help you immensely:

Focus specifically on Farnir's post and then my reply to it. That's the laundry list of differences from the Star Wars system.

If you need an even more TL;DR list of differences so that you can just jump right in, I'd say the only real thing to get your head around is the Talent Pyramid, as that has replaced Specializations in Star Wars. The idea is that you take Talents à la carte instead of as part of a tree. You have to progress down the pyramid in tiers, starting with Tier 1 [5 XP] and on to Tier 5 [25 XP]. You can only take a Talent in a new tier if you have at least one more Talent of the previous level (e.g., Tier 2 only after you've gotten two Tier 1's; Tier 3 only after you've gotten two Tier 2's, etc.].

Everything else, what you know about Star Wars should serve you quite well.

There's no substitute for reading the rules, certainly. But if you're already familiar with the Star Wars RPG , you already know most of it. There's no change to what the symbols mean, and the dice even have the same distribution. You'll know the hardest parts of the system, including using advantages, threats, triumphs, and despairs. Instead, here's a list of areas where you can focus on the few key differences:

• You'll need to learn how Story Points are different from Destiny Points.
• Read up on how archetypes and careers work. Archetypes aren't necessarily the same as species, and while careers are similar to how they are in Star Wars , there are a few important changes.
• You'll need to familiarize yourself with how players buy talents, i.e., build a talent pyramid.
• Most of the skills are the same or similar, but there are a few handy sidebars in the book that describe why some skills might get simplified and grouped together while others are split up into new skills. ("Computers" becoming "Hacking" and "Sysops" is one example.)
• One of the major changes I actually really like and have incorporated into my Star Wars games is the beefed-up social encounter rules. You'll want to read those.
• And of course, if your planned setting uses magic, you'll want to read that part and decide how you want magic to work in your game.

Otherwise, you're pretty much ready to go.

Get your head around the talent pyramid, browse the skills to get a sense of what's available and as CaptainRaspberry said, learn how Story Points work. As someone who made the shift and ran two sessions without really reading the rulebook, if you are familiar with running EotE, you should be good here too.

Aside from entirely new concepts like magic and talent pyramids:

• Social rules are more defined and structured than I think they ever were in Star Wars. Motivations play an important part in social encounters now. Familiarize yourself with these.
• The rules for attachments (modifying equipment) has been changed. While similar, it has been both simplified and refined to be less of a game breaker. I feel it's an improvement.
• If you plan to run vehicles, the vehicle rules in Genesys have been tweaked somewhat, with a few new maneuvers and actions. Some things have been simplified, while others have been expanded. There aren't many vehicles though, so you'll have to do some legwork in that regards.
• If you've picked up Realms of Terrinoth, it has heroic abilities, which are similar to signature abilities but you start with one instead of buying it later. I feel like it's a crime this wasn't included in the CRB, as heroic abilities add a lot to characters.

45 minutes ago, Swordbreaker said:

Social rules are more defined and structured than I think they ever were in Star Wars. Motivations play an important part in social encounters now. Familiarize yourself with these.

For those planning to use the social encounter rules, it might be worth mentioning that they have expanded on those rules a little in Shadow of the Beanstalk (Android setting book). There is info on how to handle "One against many" and a "Capitulation" option. (SotB p.247)

I plan to do the very same thing tonight for the very same reasons (an Amber setting). And though I did read the rules, explain Story Points and the talent pyramid and you should be all set for the first session. I even plan to intruduce Fear, Desire etc. later, assuming the players like it. Read the rules afterwards and introduce the once you like later.

Edit: In addition you can use this excellent GM screen from DrainSmith: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/raqr7usuzwizglm/AACsYe6LVU_-f372tRG6vxtya?dl=0&lst=&preview=DrainSmith's+GM+Screen+v1.2.1.pdf

Nearly everything one might need in a session is listed here, and I plan to give my players one each as a handout. A work of beauty honestly!