Hey everyone!

I just purchased Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook, Force & Destiny Core Rulebook, 2 Sets of Dice, F&D Game Master Kit, Allies and Adversaries, Rise of the Separatists and Collapse of the Republic. Whew..that was a lot to write! I have been recently lurking around these forums, reading a lot of the posts and playing my usual SWTOR. I have been a DM for D&D for about 35 years, and have ran sessions for Call of Cthulu module designers as well as played with a designer whom would go on to help craft the Rolemaster gameline. I also worked for Blizzard Entertainment during the endgame of Burning Crusade as well as the design and implementation of Wrath of the Lich King expansion.

In all my years of crafting stories for Cyberpunk, Vampire the Masquerade and all iterations of Dungeons & Dragons, I have never played or GM'd within the Star Wars milieu. I saw Star Wars in the theatre in 1977 and fell in love with the vision crafted by George Lucas. It's a love I still have all these years later.

I recently experienced a "burnout" of sorts with DM'ing for my group of players after an ongoing campaign that has lasted over 5 years. Yes, the same players too! Luckily, my players understood and have begun to dip their toes into the waters of Dungeon Mastering for the first time. I have actually been able to play for once!!

That being said, I feel the need to restore my creativity by engaging in the Star Wars universe. To be honest, it scares me! I've crafted and developed stories for most of my life within the genre of sword & sorcery. It is because of this "fear" that I have chosen Star Wars by FFG. The fear excites me! It gathers around me, cloying and seductive. It echoes like a dark-side nexus inside my head, attempting to gnaw and undermine my confidence, drawing upon my innermost fears of narrative failure. My fears of failing to properly tell a "good" story within the Star Wars framework, and perhaps never knowing anyone who actively played Star Wars RPG's has reached the point that I find myself reaching for it like a lifeline to save myself from creative burnout.

My players have expressed interest in joining me on this adventure, this attempt to re-ignite the creativity I had always relied upon...

I know that my skills as a tale-spinner and storyteller will be stretched anew, but...I am so excited to begin!

I want to thank everyone here on the forums for a shared love of Star Wars and I know that, should I ever need help, that many of you would offer me whatever wisdom you have to share!

I am the Padawan now, "..but a learner" but with your shared love and wisdom, perhaps one day, "..a Master".

Best of luck in the new genre. Your resume sounds like you will jump right into it with little problems. Star Wars has always had more of a Science Fantasy feel so instead of sword and sorcery, you'll just be swapping to Sword and Force-ry.

The narrative dice system should really work with your story telling background and I think you will flow right into it. You have a good set of books to start with and the resources and support you will find on this forum (and possibly some strange arguments) can only help.

I've never ran a campaign that adhered completely (or maybe even not mostly) to the canon. So if that's a part of your fear, throw it into the wind. Make the Galaxy your own.

As mentioned, Star Wars is just as much about fantasy as D&D is. It's space opera, by default. Big personalities, good vs evil, high flying heroics. That said, the system supports a wide range of story types and feels. My first game in Edge of the Empire was basically a Star Wars take on cyberpunk - gritty, crime, fighting against galacti-corps. Then we played a war-drama. Now we're doing a very cerebral game that focuses on the fringe elements of the Force, and what IS the Light and Darkside.

Have fun! But beware, you may never want to pick up a D20 again after witnessing the power of the Narrative Dice System.

Give the Order 66 podcast a listen. Specifically kung pow chicken episode. All of them give you good info

Thank you Varlie,

I am really looking forward to seeing how the narrative dice system works and I enjoyed your "sword & force-ry" take.

Thanks emsquared,

Your various campaigns sound intriguing, and I am looking forward to getting away from the d20 mechanics!

Thanks Daeglan,

I have briefly listened to part of an episode from Order 66, and liked what I heard, even if briefly. Also, I appreciate the heads up on the kung pow chicken episode and I will need to seek that episode out!

2 hours ago, Padawan Learner said:

Thank you Varlie,

I am really looking forward to seeing how the narrative dice system works and I enjoyed your "sword & force-ry" take.

Thanks emsquared,

Your various campaigns sound intriguing, and I am looking forward to getting away from the d20 mechanics!

Thanks Daeglan,

I have briefly listened to part of an episode from Order 66, and liked what I heard, even if briefly. Also, I appreciate the heads up on the kung pow chicken episode and I will need to seek that episode out!

It is all about resetting expectations which you and your players will need. This game works different and it is beat to get away from the d20 mentality for maximum enjoyment.

On 7/26/2019 at 9:48 PM, Daeglan said:

It is all about resetting expectations which you and your players will need. This game works different and it is beat to get away from the d20 mentality for maximum enjoyment.

Indeed. The mechanics are designed to be very "crunch-light", and "fluff-heavy", compared to other systems. The dice mechanics are meant to facilitate narrative roleplaying within the scene. For the players, and GM, to improvise details about the scene, based on the results. Beyond just the "Pass/Fail" duality. There is "Fail, but Fail Awesome" kind of result, and the player gets to describe the awesome part.

Don't let the mechanics become the focus of your game. D&D is notorious for being all about looting, and combat. It's what 95% of the published material focuses on. FFG isn't like that. Sure you CAN be obsessed with looting and gear and credits, but the game doesn't really want you to be that focused on that stuff, like D&D is. It wants you guys to act out a MOVIE, in the spirit of the franchise that you love enough to decide to play a roleplaying game of it. To be dramatic about swooping across a gap, as if John Williams music started playing to accompany it. That kind of thing.