A question about lore not game mechanics.

By Black Knight Leader, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

I will not knock ffg for making a new SW RPG. If you guys got reasons to play if over the retired wotc version I will not mind hearing it. My question is where did they get the lore for the star fighters? I just was browsing through the EOTE book and wanted to see what fighters they had in their. I was kinda shocked about what they said about the TIE Fighter and Y-Wing A4 S3.

It says the TIE Fighter has hardly any computerised systems and that the A4 & S3 are the same.

The stats I imagine can easily be changed for the two Y-Wings, A4 carry two heavy duty long range laser cannons, the S3 carries two blaster cannons and a diffrent model of ion cannon.

The Tie Fighter on the other hand has alot of functions that are better than most reb fighters computer,sensor,targeting computer, avaionics, ecm, eccm, astrogation sytems, and they get better per upgrade and new models.

my sources for this are SW TIE FIGHER, Stele chornicles, complete Stele chronicles, SW complete vehicles, and SW new complete vehicles and vessels.

My Y-Wing refrences are SW guide to Warfare, SW complete vehicles, SW blueprints rebel edition.

Edited by Black Knight Leader

I took it to mean "astrogation computer" ("navi-computer") whose primary purpose is to calculate a hyperdrive route. The typical TIEs don't have one because the typical TIE has no hyperdrive.

Well, there are lots of threads about what is so great about this system, here are a couple I started:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/87176-okay-i-officially-love-this-game/

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/89228-other-games-are-just-sad/

And there are plenty more.

As for the ships, I don't think this game strives to replicate the level of nuance that all those technical differences might make. If it pleases you to revise the TIE and Y-Wing fluff, nobody's going to fault you, but as far as game mechanics go, it isn't going to have any impact at all.

On a related point, if there is a weakness in this game it might be the space combat. It's quite abstracted, which may not appeal to everyone. In my games so far it hasn't been a problem, and I actually enjoy being freed of all the technical and tactical details.

On a related point, if there is a weakness in this game it might be the space combat. It's quite abstracted, which may not appeal to everyone. In my games so far it hasn't been a problem, and I actually enjoy being freed of all the technical and tactical details.

EotE is a narrative RPG. It's not here to let players live out their fantasy of rolling a natural-20 on a proton torpedo launch that destroys the Death Star. It's here to tell the story of a plucky farmboy from Tatooine who overcame tragedy and immense loss to master a mystic power that allowed him and his allies to overcome a great evil.

In my eyes, this is the greatest strength of the system. Not a weakness.

You are right that it won't appeal to everyone, though. That's fine. There are plenty of other RPG systems out there that can play up the tactical aspects of more rules-defined combat.

Edited by borticus

The narrative part of the game is its greatest strength, I agree. However, I don't think the space combat is particularly well thought out. I'm not saying it needs to be more tactical, I'm saying it's not great even narratively. It has worked well enough so far for quick battles with a YT-1300 and some TIEs, but I'm not looking forward to something larger.

Well, keep this in mind... Even in the movies, the "space battles" concentrated on the narrative and the story and the individual characters...

The biggest battle is of course the one over the forest moon of Endor, but we don't see a large tactical event, we see inside the cockpits and hear the dialogue of Lando, Akbar, etc. How many ships did Wedge shoot down? Does it matter to the story? :-)

I took it to mean "astrogation computer" ("navi-computer") whose primary purpose is to calculate a hyperdrive route. The typical TIEs don't have one because the typical TIE has no hyperdrive.

You are right, they wouldnt carry a navi computer or at least the kind needed for hyperspace travel.

Well, there are lots of threads about what is so great about this system, here are a couple I started:

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/87176-okay-i-officially-love-this-game/

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/89228-other-games-are-just-sad/

And there are plenty more.

As for the ships, I don't think this game strives to replicate the level of nuance that all those technical differences might make. If it pleases you to revise the TIE and Y-Wing fluff, nobody's going to fault you, but as far as game mechanics go, it isn't going to have any impact at all.

On a related point, if there is a weakness in this game it might be the space combat. It's quite abstracted, which may not appeal to everyone. In my games so far it hasn't been a problem, and I actually enjoy being freed of all the technical and tactical details.

Yeah I don't believe any game unless it is a flight sim can do dog fighting justice. The best I have seen RPG wise are WOTC Saga & Robotech. I havent looked at the rules EOTE so I cant judge it fully.

On a related point, if there is a weakness in this game it might be the space combat. It's quite abstracted, which may not appeal to everyone. In my games so far it hasn't been a problem, and I actually enjoy being freed of all the technical and tactical details.

EotE is a narrative RPG. It's not here to let players live out their fantasy of rolling a natural-20 on a proton torpedo launch that destroys the Death Star. It's here to tell the story of a plucky farmboy from Tatooine who overcame tragedy and immense loss to master a mystic power that allowed him and his allies to overcome a great evil.

In my eyes, this is the greatest strength of the system. Not a weakness.

You are right that it won't appeal to everyone, though. That's fine. There are plenty of other RPG systems out there that can play up the tactical aspects of more rules-defined combat.

So it kinda plays like the Marvel Super Heros rpg that came out early 2000?

I'm working on some guidelines, and expansions, for the space combat system. Within its framework however, no drastic changes, just more options and ideas for how to let narration have tangible effects beyond what the rolls produce. The initial stuff has been posted on my blog, based on some stuff generated in the AoR forums. I'd like to credit Aservan for that, as I've used some of his ideas as a basis. Also Aramis for pitching in, even if we seem to disagree a lot on the subject of space combat, his input is always good to consider.

It seems TIEs are capable of mounting navicomputers and basic (slow) hyperdrives. The Empire doesn't do this because it increases the cost-per-unit significantly (and they're encouraged to field lots and lots of expendable units).

Perhaps more importantly, it's useful to have the fighters rely on command ships. If they flee a fight or don't obey orders, they're as good as dead because the command ship is their only route home.

The rebel forces are far more humane - an x-wing can still retreat if the carrier it's attached to is destroyed.

I'm working on some guidelines, and expansions, for the space combat system. Within its framework however, no drastic changes, just more options and ideas for how to let narration have tangible effects beyond what the rolls produce. The initial stuff has been posted on my blog, based on some stuff generated in the AoR forums. I'd like to credit Aservan for that, as I've used some of his ideas as a basis. Also Aramis for pitching in, even if we seem to disagree a lot on the subject of space combat, his input is always good to consider.

Very interested in this and thanks for the work! Please announce this loudly in its own thread when you are complete.

I might have given the wrong impression now... it's nothing major, just some new actions at the moment (already posted), next step is "how to use your imagination and keeping track of it all in there" ... and apply that to the game. Problem is, my group had its last session about one and a half week ago, and now its Christmas and people are off to their respective places of origin far away from me... so I cannot test and check stuff on them.

But imagine, and this is taken from B5, skin dancing, i.e. flying as close to the hull as possible of some enemy ship... pretty hard pilot check, at least +2 or 3 (if not more) setback dice, now what's the result? Applying the "firing at engaged" allies rules, if enemies fire at you... in result, an upgrade on combat checks against you since you are engaged with a vessel. Treat is as being engaged in melee combat. Additionally, if you're successful, you could also combine it with Evasive Maneuvres, that's two upgrades, the chance of a Despair is definitely there = enemies hitting their allies. Now, there is no need for a "Skin Dance" action... I mean you could make it, but why? Why not just let a player narrating this use it as an Action, and roll dice...? This is my basic idea...

I don't know what sources FFG is using for the background and technical information. I presume it is all being vetted by someone at Lucasfilm (or Disney now). How familiar that vetter is with either Star Wars or RPGs is anyone's guess.

Interesting observation. This IP is generally pretty tight, but it's honestly become so saturated over the last couple decades that I'm sure you'll find conflicting information between product lines. 5 years ago I would have probably been pretty disturbed by the technical inconsistencies but since then I've migrated away from simulators and into narrative systems and I find myself worrying about certain details less and less. It hasn't happened yet, but if I come across something that bothers me I'll most likely just import that data, stat, or info into the current system and call it space bananas.

I think we will find where things are going with episode VII. That will determine how much lore from the expanded universe is kept or lost. As long as Kyle Katarn stays, the rest can go as far as I'm concerned.

And even if the eu is expunged, you can keep it as a possible future, because: "always in motion, the future is."

I have very little EU in my games, simply because I am not very familiar with much of the EU. I want to play fun space opera with a Star Wars flavour. How many nipples a female Bantha has or whether Rhodians are viviparous or oviparous is irrelevant to my game. Same goes for the exact specifications of the various TIE models.