First, let me preface this by saying that I don't particularly care about the actual adventures, as I'd splice them around and change them anyway, so a bad story (by itself) isn't going to put me off.

I've got my eye on Friends Like These because of the setting and because it's got Mandos and Zygerrians, but I was wondering what other adventures might be worth picking up.

What I'm looking for:

Interesting settings (planets, cultures, organizations, etc.)
New, interesting, and/or useful game mechanics
New gear and equipment/vehicles
Good fluff text that gives useful/interesting information on the above (particularly anything in the settings category).
Useful encounters or encounter ideas
Story inspiration

Which adventures (from any of the three lines) do you think fit the bill?

Thanks in advance!

4 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

First, let me preface this by saying that I don't particularly care about the actual adventures, as I'd splice them around and change them anyway, so a bad story (by itself) isn't going to put me off.

I've got my eye on Friends Like These because of the setting and because it's got Mandos and Zygerrians, but I was wondering what other adventures might be worth picking up.

What I'm looking for:

Interesting settings (planets, cultures, organizations, etc.)
New, interesting, and/or useful game mechanics
New gear and equipment/vehicles
Good fluff text that gives useful/interesting information on the above (particularly anything in the settings category).
Useful encounters or encounter ideas
Story inspiration

Which adventures (from any of the three lines) do you think fit the bill?

Thanks in advance!

they all do. But what really matters is what kind of game do you want to run. So for criminal type activities the Edge adventures fit the bill. from the rebellion angle the Age adventures fit tht bill. and ditto for the F&D adventures.

Just now, Daeglan said:

they all do. But what really matters is what kind of game do you want to run. So for criminal type activities the Edge adventures fit the bill. from the rebellion angle the Age adventures fit tht bill. and ditto for the F&D adventures.

I tend towards rebel activities and bounty hunters/mercs, very little in FaD, but do the FaD adventures have any Indiana Jones-style adventures that I could adapt for other purposes?

5 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

I tend towards rebel activities and bounty hunters/mercs, very little in FaD, but do the FaD adventures have any Indiana Jones-style adventures that I could adapt for other purposes?

sort of.... probably not as indiana jones as you would like..

Just now, Daeglan said:

sort of.... probably not as indiana jones as you would like..

Can you give more specifics?

Not at the moment I am away from books. But for example Chronicals of the gatekeeper has you following clues to unlock aspects of a holocron..

A better way to phrase my question might be, "What do they have that would make purchasing them worthwhile?"

i.e. X has mechanics for Y, and also has useful information on the Z culture.

[watches this thread intently]

Jewel of Yavin had the most mechanical inspiration for me. I adapted its auction sequence with emphasis on high life and maneuvering, which my players really enjoyed.

Beyond the Rim captures Star War's roguishness as well as Suns of Fortune does, and is the one adventure I'd run from the book if that were my thing. And I'd say it slightly outdoes Chronicles of the Gatekeeper as a treasure hunt (but Chronicles has its own worthwhile nuggets).

Friends like these has the Mandalorian species and slaver adversaries and gear. Some mandalorian equipment.
Ghosts of Dathomir has the Dathomir planet info and adversaries.
Chronicles of the gatekeeper has a species and a force power

Beyond the Rim has Cyber Nexu.
Jewel of Yavin has an airspeeder race.

1 minute ago, Daeglan said:

Beyond the Rim has Cyber Nexu.

Ooo... That sounds fun.

7 hours ago, Daeglan said:

Beyond the Rim has Cyber Nexu.

Cyborg nexu? Or virtual reality nexu? Or something entirely?

4 minutes ago, Bellona said:

Cyborg nexu? Or virtual reality nexu? Or something entirely?

Nexu with cybernetics.

Freinds like these also has a clock mechanic as it happens on a time crunch.

My group really enjoyed Beyond the Rim. We played it as the second chapter of a year long campaign. It has some good characters and great narrative fodder. The cyber nexu are super fun. There is a really fun group of competitors that the PCs have to race and ultimately deal with. The side plots are interesting if you can work them in too. The campaign is great for explorer/hunter types. it takes you to three very distinct planets each with a unique feel. The second planet can really bring that ‘Lost’ season one feel and has a great deal of narrative flexibility. Anyways a great book.

For Indiana Jones feel, I highly recommend the Nexus of Power book which mostly just focuses on force sensitive worlds and places. I used this extensively when I developed my last FandD campaign which had the PCs follow the life of Exar Kun. I also drew from the old Tales of the Jedi comics. Either way, Nexus of Power is probably my favorite FandD companion book.

13 hours ago, wilsch said:

Jewel of Yavin had the most mechanical inspiration for me. I adapted its auction sequence with emphasis on high life and maneuvering, which my players really enjoyed.

Beyond the Rim captures Star War's roguishness as well as Suns of Fortune does, and is the one adventure I'd run from the book if that were my thing. And I'd say it slightly outdoes Chronicles of the Gatekeeper as a treasure hunt (but Chronicles has its own worthwhile nuggets).

Chronicles of the Gatekeeper got me really frustrated to be honest. But that was mostly due to the fact, that my players just kept asking everyone for "some blue crystal" instead of following my more than obvious hints. And the twist at the end is really obvious. But where Chronicles shines is the introduction of some really cool planets and encounters. The underwater part, with the giant creatures gave my players the creeps.

First I'll say they're all worth it imho, there's not really a dud in the mix. Each has useful things, too many to catalogue. All the regional books have several micro-adventures which can be single-session or starting-off points for multi-session/campaigns.

For the adventures, honestly, they all have their flaws, but all provide some useful insight into how the designers intended their mechanics to work. I've probably stolen bits from all of them. The only one I've run close to the original was Beyond the Rim. I really only used the middle section, but I'm a sucker for wilderness adventures. People mentioned the cybernetic nexus, but I had way more fun with the arboreal octopus (having a PC get snagged by one of these while it flees like a gibbon through the trees was hilarious), and there are the wasp swarms with extra mechanics on how to deal with creepy-crawlies. I also took the time to map out the downed separatist ship (flooding the lower levels where the "treasure" is) just to throw in a short dungeon crawl, and there's plenty of good art to use to for inspiration.

If I have one beef with all of them it's the lack of maps. I don't need a grid map with great detail, but a wide overview is handy.

If I had a second beef, it's that the mostly gorgeous art ends up being for the GM only. Too often there is text overlaying the art, so you can't hand over the book to the players and say "this is what you see". They really should offer up the art in some way, even low-res PDFs would suffice.

Sounds like Beyond the Rim is highly recommended, I'll look into that.

I've always been interested in the world-building sourcebooks. I have Strongholds of Resistance and I've got my eye on Suns of Fortune in particular, and I've been considering the other two as well.

Which adventure books would you say give the most world-building information? Onslaught at Arda I has never piqued my interest, largely because it doesn't seem like it would have a lot of world-building. Is there something in that one that I am missing out on (i.e. gear and vehicles or particularly strong and adaptable encounters), or is that adventure book more just about the adventure itself? (in other words, skippable)

Onslaught at Arda has mass combat rules. It does have gear and vehicles. Because all the adventures do.

1 hour ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

Onslaught at Arda I has never piqued my interest, largely because it doesn't seem like it would have a lot of world-building.

I would say it has as much as the others, there's kind a theme now that I think about it, that all the modules have at least 3 world-level places fleshed out to some degree. Except maybe Jewel of Yavin, which is solely on Cloud City.

3 hours ago, Daeglan said:

Onslaught at Arda has mass combat rules. It does have gear and vehicles. Because all the adventures do.

It should be noted that the Mass Combat rules also appear (possibly updated?) in Collapse of the Republic.

I found most of the adventures to be of minimal value and I only purchased them out of a desire to own the complete line.

Just now, Bellona said:

It should be noted that the Mass Combat rules also appear (possibly updated?) in Collapse of the Republic.

And in Lead by Example, so I've already got at least 2 copies of those rules.

Am I correct in believing that each Adventure has 3 planets, 1 "new" set of rules, and a selection of new gear and vehicles? Which books have new/unique species?

Lastly, if you guys were to order them by how useful you found them or what you'd suggest to someone else (namely me ), what would that order be?

48 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

And in Lead by Example, so I've already got at least 2 copies of those rules.

Am I correct in believing that each Adventure has 3 planets, 1 "new" set of rules, and a selection of new gear and vehicles? Which books have new/unique species?

Lastly, if you guys were to order them by how useful you found them or what you'd suggest to someone else (namely me ), what would that order be?

pretty much.
Gatekeeper has some birdlike species. and I think cato neimoidia and a couple others.
Beyond the rim does not have a species. Jewel of Yavin does not have a species. Onslaught does not have a species. I think gatekeeper is the first adventure with a species. Ghosts of Dathomir does not have a species but has inquisitors and Dathomir planet write up for imperial era.
Beyond the rim has Raxus Prime and Chulganna and the Wheel station.