tuco said:

While I see where you're coming from (I was weened on Basic OD&D and AD&D 2nd Edition) in regards to the old school pen, paper, and dice style of play, you have to remember that the fiddly bits are merely a stand in for having to look up rules in a book, or in the case of D&D, an assortment of books.

Having played Star Wars D6, Star Wars SAGA, AD&D, and Warhammer 3rd Edition, I can say without a doubt that in my gaming group at least, the fiddly bits act only to increase the speed of play, and do not distract or get in the way of the story. Hell, when playing Pathfinder or Star Wars SAGA, I had gotten into the habit of printing out my character's various Talents, Feats, and Spells onto cards, using either an online Magic the Gathering card editor or similar, bc it really does help me to not get derailed in the middle of an encounter by having to figure out which expansion book as the various rules printed in it. Of course, this is all subjective.

IF (big IF), Fantasy Flight decides to put out fiddly bits for any as yet to be released Star Wars RPG, I would hope they would take the difference of play-styles into consideration by offering supplemental/optional play-aids. This would work with the dice example I posted a few posts up above. Custom dice that while adding flavor and theme to the game, can easily be replaced or supplemented with standard polyhedral versions. Maybe go the route of Paizo and their Pathfinder game, specifically the Gamemastery line of products (maps, cards, tokens etc) which are useful but not necessary to play the game.

Anyone have any speculations regarding when we may actually hear some news regarding a possible Star Wars RPG? Before/at Gen Con this August?

I hope we hear something soon ... it was my hope that the SWRPG would be a GenCon release

That would be very cool, though that sounds like it would be a very fast turn around - they've had the license less than a year correct? I'd just be happy with an announcement at Gencon, lol.

Well, here is hoping for the best!

The mechanics of a RPG should be a vehicle for imaginative story telling. This is especially true of Star Wars. Important to Lucas was a wide variety of settings and characters for his "used" Sci Fi Universe. The universe is huge after 3 decades of movies, books, TV shows, etc, etc.To do a Star Wars RPG correctly, in my opinion is a very difficult task. Currently I am playing A Song of Ice and Fire RPG and a Pathfinder Game. I love both for different reasons. In ASOIF, I esp. like the social combat / intrigue and the simplicity of the mechanics, among other aspects. A great system for telling a story within the structure of Martin's books (AKA: Game of Thrones). Pathfinder is a D&D setting so I live for all the craziness of rules and so forth. it is both complicated and fun to research the books; as such is not so much about storytelling as "campaigning".

Star Wars will require a very well thought out original system. I think only through play testing and the creative development process will that system reveal itself. SW is such a vast universe of characters, settings and social / political / religious / belief structures and is more familiar to people across the board than any other fictional setting I can think of. As such, there are very high expectations. FF's story telling vehicle for SW has a big job.

On a side note, too bad everything in Wookieepedia didn't come with stats during Saga Edition's hay day. To agree with another post, it would be nice to clearly separate the eras in which you saw vehicles, weapons, etc. Yet another dimension to complicate FF job.

The mechanics of a SW RPG will greatly determine how you will be able to interact with the universe and perhaps more importantly, each other. Do you like "social combat / intrigue" or do you want to go "campaigning". If done properly and with thought, I'm hoping FF will figure out how to allow players and GM's the opportunity to play in a way that suits the individual player's style. I personally don't like just going from one encounter to another, but on the other hand I do love rolling dice. And the reason? For me it is the story set up before the dice go in my hand. Die in my hand is one of the payoffs for developing my character's roll in the GM's story.

I am very eager to get my hands on a new SW RPG. I also hope FF has the courage to take its time and resources in developing a unique system that has staying power. One that maximizes moments of fun while preserving the opportunity for powerful longer term story arcs that reveal satisfying payoffs for PC's. Please FF, do it right. Do this and I will buy every book. I want you to take my money.

Personally, I'm against level- and class-based systems. The only one that I REALLY liked was Earthdawn, since the Levels and Classes translated into the setting. "I'm a 4th Circle Nethermancer" was a perfectly reasonable thing for a character to say in Earthdawn. "I'm a 6th level Scoundrel" was NOT reasonable in-character dialogue for the WotC Star Wars game. Is the 40K system level-and-class based? Kind of. Enough so that I wouldn't prefer it for a Star Wars setting. I don't see someone taking the profession "Scum" (er, Scoundrel) and ending up a General in the Rebellion… I'd LOVE to see the Open d6 system re-visited, just because I still have a slew of old books that I could immediately pick up and use for source material.

I'm a fan of percentile-based systems, mostly because I have 10 fingers. The math is easy. However, the setting REALLY calls for something open-ended. Where the average shmoe can roll up and up and up and get a stupid big number. That's pulp action in a nutshell. (I see the original Star Wars as a pulp adventure even more than a Sci-fi action flick.) You could argue, "Yeah, well, you can always roll an ought-one." Heck, that might even be MORE likely than several sixes in a row on the Wild Die. But there's something about having a target number that you can theoretically exceed by a STUPID number that seems better than a closed system, where I have a 15% chance and can only succeed by 14. It's style more than math.

So, yes, one more vote for Open d6.

Hmm. Great discussion here.

I just can't see them doing anything with a previous game. I'm possibly one of the biggest Saga Edition junkies out there. Greatest d20 system ever created, for my money. And I cut my teeth on WEG's d6 for Star Wars play. But re-hashing a prior rules system another company started just doesn't seem like FFG's style.

Over at the d20radio boards, all the Order 66 listeners are screaming for FFG to "reboot" Saga Edition. I can't stress what bad idea I think that is. A reboot of any system, frankly. From a purely business perspective, it's unwise. Especially if they hope to sell books (which is kind of why a company creates an RPG, lol…).

The eternal trouble with a Star Wars RPG is what is commonly called the "Fanboy Factor". (Speaking as a fanboy, of course.) More so than just about any other IP, Star Wars is rife with gamers who are slavishly devoted to a mental ideal - and if a game doesn't mete out that ideal as they desire it, it gets… well… quite a reaction. Couple that with the inherent dangers of a system that has to deal with such a strong established canon and "heroes" that are a part of collective subconscious at this point (check out http://www.gnomestew.com/hot-buttons/the-concept-of-a-star-wars-rpg-should-die-in-a-fire ), and it can be difficult to please all people.

I think there's some merit to saying "The system doesn't affect the GM's story, and can't if you don't let it…" But if that were the whole truth, then no new systems would ever be created. I think a system and its mechanics can actively and tacitly foster a style of gameplay - and can also tacitly prevent certain styles of gameplay. Bearing that in mind, I see several core precepts in Star Wars that an RPG should try to promote:

1. Cinematic glory . Despite the vast amount of EU material (some great, some less so…) out there, the cultural frame in all of the world's heads are the flims. When you roleplay Star Wars, the inclination is to imagine yourself in a movie! The system should allow for "epic scenes" like we see in the films.

2. Fast gameplay. Combat shouldn't be laborious or tedious or complex. It should be fairly abstract with narrative elements, but most of all run smoothly and quickly. This lends itself to the Cinematic Glory.

3. Black and White. Despite some fanboy's rage over it, no one can deny that Lucas' world is a world of clear delineation between "Good" and "Bad", with noble heroes fighting against obvious evil. (This may be why Star Wars has such an impact on so many…) As such, the system should define heroic characters and villanous foes - as well as delineated transitions between the two. (Becuase another key part of the Black/White motif is the fall and the redemption of heroes.)

4. Aliens. This sounds silly, but players in a Star Wars RPG tend to want to BE an alien, and have that translate to in-game differences for their character.

5. Droids. See above.

6. Starship Combat that Makes Sense. Starships and starship combat are a huge part of the Star Wars universe, and something that fans love. Unfortunately, some previous systems made it cumbersome, complex, or a ruleset so vastly different from character-level play that it was almost a seperate game, or required a character suited to "starship combat" at the expense of anythying else. Star Wars is full of heroes that can lay down some smack in a battle or in a negotiation, then hop into a cockpit and be somewhat competant.

7. The Trouble with The Force . Sigh. Star Wars canon establishes that Force Users are… frankly… better than normal people (ie: more powerful). This is why Jedi are such a force to be reckoned with. But another eternal problem with ANY Star Wars RPG is that this can't be reflected in the RPG. Because it creates imbalance that seriously impacts gameplay. Saga Edition attempted to mitigate this with Dark Side Points; abuse the raw power of The Force and you will eventually become an NPC. But this was less than optimal. The truth is that if you scale down Force power, then players will feel like the game doesn't represent Star Wars. But if you give the Force it's due, then the game breaks. I genuinely don't know how to solve this problem. And I'm anxious to see what FFG comes up with.

GM Chris,

I totally agree with you on your points, especially about Starship Combat.

If I'm playing a character in Star Wars, I want to be able to try to swindle my way past an Imperial Dockmaster, possibly fail, end up in a shoot out, steal a starship, rocket out into the atmosphere and blast my way through an Imperial blockade without having to stop…figure out a new stat block…ensure everyone understands how the mechanics work…and try to figure out from there what happens during starship combat. I want it to be as fluid as possible.

My main hope for this new system is FFG gives all of the eras their due. I loved the New Jedi Order (NJO), but WotC didn't even address it. And KOTOR was a single book. The Clone Wars is obviously a big cash cow right now, so it makes sense to lead with that, but still there are fans for every era.

In short, I want a quick system that allows for fun play and balance of the characters.

And, being a bit of a drama queen when it comes to RPGs, I would love a mechanic to help people truly roleplay their characters; an aspect feature (a la Spirit of the Century) or something like that.

Looking forward to what the future holds for us Star Wars Nerds!

having played and GM'ed SWRPGs since the D6 WEG days, there a few things that work well for each system that cater to different playstyles:

D6 - (WEG) - Strength: Very Cinematic and story driven gameplay. Weakness: Heavy reliance upon the GM's ability to craft not only the proper mood, but arbitration of Combat Rules. the free-form combat and general gameplay rules with nothing to back the GM up besides a "Because I am the GM & I said so!" makes for what should be a funny, dramatic, & overall exciting experience into a stressful outing for fledgling GMs or for GMs unfamiliar with the universe.

D20 - (WOTC) - Strength: Robust combat & class structure. Weakness: strict Character Creation guidelines and very slow combat gameplay kept players & GMs from pushing their imaginations. Once combat started, gameplay slowed to a crawl. even basic combat encounters took the entire session to resolve… especially with the Force mechanics.

D20 SAGA - (WOTC) - Strength: Balanced rules structure and combat mechanics. Weakness: Underdeveloped & contradictory rules sets as well as inconsistent publications.

Color me biased, but Saga Edition was the best of both worlds between cinematic and tactical RPG gameplay. Certainly not perfect, it did ride the line and for the most part had the Star Wars feel in its combat structure and character creation (thank you D20 Modern ).

things to consider when developing a new SWRPG system:

The one thing none of the other Game systems were able to accomplish effectively was the ability to go from "on-foot" conflict to vehicular conflict in a seamless & cinematic manner. no matter what system you used, it was always a difficult transition to give chase in an encounter whether it was D6, D20, or Saga. D6 was the smoothest, but Saga had the most potential. also, please include chase mechanics too

Vehicles are characters too! Flying in an X-wing or a YT-1300 is great, but it was always troublesome rules-wise to make it "Your" Starship. and forget about trying to make super weapons or prototypes as a GM! if you are going to make a new SWRPG system, FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY PLEASE INCLUDE IN THE CORE RULES FOR GMs & PLAYERS TO EASILY CREATE, MODIFY & USE VEHICLES EFFECTIVELY! fantasy games already have ironed out the other mechanics for a SWRPG, it's the vehicle rules that all others have stumbled over.

Being able to fail upwards toward a goal is integral to the Star Wars experience. unfortunately it is also the piece that most RPGs gloss over or simply ignore in their mechanics. what I mean is this- Stormtroopers & Battle Droids still need to be feared by players from time to time and need to be more than just scenery after level 2 or 3. likewise Big, Bad, Evil Guys need to be able to be a palpable threat to the bitter end. to tell an epic story, you need EPIC VILLAINS! D6 did fine with that, but only due to ridiculous dice rolling (50d6 for Vader's force Choke!). A "Hard Mode" mechanic would appease not only knit-pickers, but Epic storytellers as well

and there's my 2 credits of input

May the Force be with you Fantasy Flight, we'll be watching you

Well I'm sure FFG will do the best they can to make a good SW RPG for everyone to enjoy, I for one would like to see a D100 Star Wars game. as for it going into development I don't see this happening until around 2015 to 2020 i just feel it's very far off.

SinisterSyx said:

I can't be the only one thinking, "What's the hold up," with the RPG. Licenses aren't into perpetuity. I'd hazard a guess the license is for 7 years. Almost one year after the announcement of FFG acquiring the license the only thing we have is X Wing and that's not even out yet. Yes, FFG and Lucasfilm can extend the license but what if it doesn't get extended and you wasted a good chunk of your license? Granted, I'd rather wait for solid products but the amount of communication regarding Star Wars has been stunningly low. I don't think it's a stretch to say that Star Wars would be FFG's best selling product line. I find their lack of updates disturbing.

1. Make the SW game over the d100 system we know from the FFG 40k series

2. Let the player feel like a jedi or a Bounty Hunter. Balance it so that both Jedi and "normal" classes can play.

3. Make every calss usefull in his own way be in in combat or in social play

4. USE the univers and the freedom it brings. There is a ton of star wars lore our there, go explore!

5. Hero class, let the players be the elite. Like Deathwatch we want to go bear up some combat droids just for the fun of it.

and for gods sake dont mess this up! There have not been a realy good Star Wars game be it on a Consol/PC or in the Pen and Paper univers. We want somthing we can dig our teeth in to and not taste anus after a few houres!

FFG … I love you guys … but you have the Star Wars license. You have to do a better job with communication about these products. You have been alienating the fanbase to a large extent by being so silent about what you are going to do. The RPG for example, there has pretty much been a Star Wars RPG in print since the early 1980s … there hasn't been one in print for what …nearly 2 years now. That is really BS in and of itself, but you guys could mitigate that by sharing some details. How does saying "we are shooting for the ____ quarter of 2013 for the RPG" cause any problems for you or Lucas Arts? Seriously? You have been dangling the carrot of Xwing for over a year and that is BS as well. What is so complex about this game that it takes a year for you to produce it? An RPG or a full blown minis game … a year … ok … sure … two years even … a board game with some minis in it, come on guys you are more than capable of producing something like that in a shorter period than that. But even that said, if you just would communicate what was going on with your process, we fanboys would have the piece of mind that something is indeed coming.

In the mean time why can't FFG simply re-skin some of their existing games and do up "limited edition" star wars versions of them.

Star Wars Descent, twilight imperium, runbound, dust tactics, …. it could all be super awesome. Sure they don't want to compete with their own game with a more expensive licensed product but if they did limited edition/splash runs of them (20-50k or more units).

Please share more information on this, otherwise we are left to wonder if you are losing the license already or something terrible like that.

They won't have that long term of a license 2015 and they'll likely only have a few years left on the license. If Lucas Arts isn't rolling in dough from the license by then … they'll flip it back to Hasbro or one of the other big companies. 2020 is a pipe dream. Unless FFG gave Lucas the fattest blank check in the history of the tabletop game industry, there is no chance they have the IP until then (with enough left on it to justify releasing an RPG then). Frankly I don't think Lucas Arts themselves would support no RPG on the market at all for that long. It has been what, over two years now since there was a Star Wars RPG on the market, and there has been one always in print pretty much since the early 1980s …. this is beyond unacceptable to have it off the market this long without any word what so ever on when (if ever) there will be one in print again.

FFG has been one of my favorite game companies, but their handling of the Star Wars IP thus far has diminished that view. They can redeem themselves if they come out with a huge amount of information at Gencon. My fingers are crossed for that. Baring that though … I've already been losing interest pretty hardcore in the Star Wars IP anyway (thanks to episodes 1-3 and ToR … burned once, twice, thrice …) so if I don't hear anything beyond the "ya ya we know Xwing .. that was the game you pitched to Lucas right … its been in the can done for what 3 years now … PRODUCE IT ALREADY PLEASE!!!!!" … we know about Xwing, put it to market, and TELL US ABOUT WHAT ELSE YOU WILL BE DOING with this IP!!!!

RPG?

Miniatures Game … 28 MM Skirmish AND a small scale combat game (with capital ships!!)

Other board games beyond Xwing

Living Card Game

Stand Alone Card Games …

So far all you've done is make limited deck protectors with the IP … whoop deee doooo …

Come on guys we know FFG is a world class game manufacturer, in my opinion you guys are pretty much number 1! So execute on this stuff the way you do on all your other stuff, but also this is Star Wars guys, you have to give the fans more information, you simply have to, this is a big deal for you and for us so please treat we customers like you really value us … we just want to know what is going on …

I'm getting ready to start a new campign using WEG D6 Star Wars which I had had in every form since it debuted back in the 80s (yes my wheelchair is parked next to my speeder bike!)

I've played D20 (never liked D&D 3.5 so I didn't care for the Star Wars version of it) and I've played Saga Ed (enjoyed it). I love Star Wars gaming. Its something I want to get my kids into.

I just would like FFG to SAY SOMETHING!

"Hey guys, we understand and we're working on the game and it'll be great." Just say something. This total silence makes me think they aren't even working on one and are hoping that the miniature games and card games with get Lucas to keep their licensing going.

Done ranting…for now.

I like to play star war game. It was very fantastic game. I was playing this game in my leisure time. The game is beautiful - fantastic art. The music is awesome and of course familiar. The acting is great. I enjoyed it and almost all of my friends felt the same way.

Some people commented it already and also with a group of friends we discussed about SW RPG adaptations.

Almost all systems that appeared where pretty good (with good and bad things) but no one of them where a trully SW adaptation. I'm not sure if the creators put the movie videos and counted the seconds from a lightsaber duel and said "ok, a lightsaber move takes 3 seconds to impact the target and 2 if you are a great swordsman", but I have my doubts.

Edge of the Empire seems to take the best things from D6 (incredible freedom on character building and awesome cinematic posibilities) and the strong mechanics from a d20 or Saga ("talents, skill trees and other upgrades). Algo adding a few new ones like the awesone dice system ideas.

Probably, and until the moment, Edge seems the best to adapt de SW universe for my playstyle. Personally, I don't use to care about "balance" in games.

If an elefant is stronger than me because I'm an ant then… I will not cry or I will pick a whale as specie next time XD So in my play style balance is reallistic and I don't care if "Jedi are so strong or Force is so powerful" because thats the reality of the SW Universe.

I know that Edge is a great systems with the necessary structure level and flexibility to recreate a SW game but also I'm aware that its not 100% accurate cause of its "cinematic nature" (don't missunderstand me, I LOVE cinematic games), but I think that it will be enough.

I don't like levels or classes so probably my first patch on the game will be that paying XP you can access to all trees and skills (at a proper cost of course).

About other systems considerations I have to say that where good, but I have a first pretty goos sensation about Edge. I'm wishing to see it this summer

About Po-Guay M'aku I agree with a lot of its classifications from the older systems.

Darkstryder-- Enuff said!

Wow! It's been a long time since anything was posted in this thread, sorry I came so late to the party (although we now have Age of Rebellion, Edge of the Empire, and Force and Destiny core rulebooks available and several supplements and adventures available for these "settings").

I'm hoping/wondering if FFG might do something with the roleplaying game for the upcoming " The Force Awakens" and it's 30 years later setting. (Actually, depending on their license/agreement with Lucasfilm/Disney (or would that be Disney/Lucasfilm) ... in either case, depending on their agreement, I'd like to see supplements or sourcebooks that "fill in the gaps" between the period after Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens. (Much like the current, default "timeline" is between episodes IV and V). That is depending on the "leeway" FFG is given for the Star Wars RPGs).

And if anyone from FFG would care to comment (any little hint or comment will do) that would be super-cool.

​

Dean

Just speculating, id say we will either get a core book for each of the upcoming core trilogy films, or a bunch of splat books. Id vote fir the latter.