Star Wars: Edge of the Empire. FG 3.0

[Trenloe]

You've highlighted one of the things that people familiar with a more rigid RPG sometimes struggle with - especially if they are coming from a d20 based system. When the very similar mechanic WFRP3 came out some people were trying to create a "table" of when to use fortune and misfortune dice (equivalent to the EotE boost and setback dice) - they just couldn't get away from a system that has a long list of modifiers and when to use them. But, there are many RPGs out there where the GM decides on the difficulty of a task without any predetermined rules structure and it works just fine.

Quite frankly, in any RPG if a GM wants to be malicious they can. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with the EotE game mechanic, the narrative nature of the dice pool and how it all works. But, if you want a rules heavy, predetermined difficulty, more structured (rules wise) type of game then perhaps this isn't for you... But if you want to play a system that empowers the players and the GM to narrate their actions, minimises rules "discussions", and has a very cinematic feel then I think you'll enjoy the system.

Now, don't get me wrong, I play lots and lots of Pathfinder and like the level of rules that has - so I'm not saying one type of system is better than another. Star Wars: EotE has particular characteristics that I like, and so I play it. It fits the cinematic flavour of the Star Wars universe well, is easy to pick up, I really like the dice pool mechanic and the open nature of the system.

[pauljmendoza]

Precisely. My friends and I are very attached to story telling and descriptions, and we have all fallen in love with this system for the narrative dice.

[jh79]

Hey guys,
Thanks for the insight, I was hoping the gist of my post wouldn't come across that I don't appreciate the potential of the narrative and the narrative dice, as foreign as that is from d20, actually the opposite is true! i'm very optimistic of it going well beyond d20, the caveat of my other post was "in the right hands"...

I'm just guessing, from what I've read today, without the right person at the helm, with extremely good judgement and approximating situations, it could get out of whack in either direction real quick, faster then it could in a d20.

For instance say you're arbitrarily handed a setback dice, and a challenge dice by the GM, and you fail - and despair comes up on the dice. I know the equivalent could happen in d20 also, but they're like you said, more tables, rules, to counter a bad GM decision.

Depending on the GM, he/she could rightfully say two completely opposite things according to this system: "OK you're 100 ft up, and fall from the building, and suffer a massive critical, you die..." instead of, "OK you fall from the building, but your leg catches a pole protruding from the wall, You're alive" Its really his/her choice on how they want to delegate their choice right?

Now, I think the system looks extremely intriguing, it's sooooo different, it's cool. Especially the cinematic and story telling potential of the narrative. I can't wait to see it in use, especially in this awesome ruleset that looks amazing, been playing with it all day... I think actual play will help in transitioning the d20 mechanics to a more free form SW EoE thought process, when playing this game. Then back to d20 when playing 5e. Is it time for FG-Con yet?

[AstaSyneri]

Signed up for the Fringers session and I am very much looking forward to what the ruleset can do. If that works well the next step is to buy either of the intro kits for my son's 7th birthday (it's for him, really! :P).

As an aside: What line is best for getting into the SW RPG - the white or the red line? Personally I am not a Star Wars fan, so I only know the six movies and have read a few books back when (Rogue squadron?)... My son is the big fan, although he doesn't have a clue what's really happening in the universe (he was allowed to see the first one, aka Episode IV, that's it so far, but SW is a big thing in school).

[Trenloe]

Signed up for the Fringers session and I am very much looking forward to what the ruleset can do.

Great stuff. I'll look forward to gaming with you.

As an aside: What line is best for getting into the SW RPG - the white or the red line?

They are the same underlying system, it is really just the flavour that differs between the two.

In Edge of the Empire (white) the PCs are freelancers/smugglers/traders/entrepreneurs - an example of this type of story would be Firefly. One of the underlying pushes/pulls for the players is a mechanic called "obligation" - where the PC has one or more things hanging over their head, like they owe someone, they're hiding from someone, someone is blackmailing them to do something, etc. and these "obligations" are frequently used as plot hooks and pushes/pulls to keep the PCs moving within the story. To take an example adventure, the beginner's box consists of the PCs all trying to escape from a Hutt Lord on Tatooine - the PCs are all beholden to the Hutt Lord in some way and want to escape. The PCs are a smuggler, bounty hunter, hired gun and a local droid. EotE deals with the seedier side of life in the Star Wars galaxy - there's lots of options for what type of game is played: smugglers, criminals, privateers, Robin Hood types, free-traders, etc..

In Age of Rebellion (red) the players are active members of the Rebellion and take on missions for the Rebellion, so it's a little bit more of a military structure. The underlying push/pull mechanic here is called "duty" where the PC is driven to do one or more things for the alliance: counter-intelligence, internal security, sabotage, tech procurement, etc.. The scenario from the AoR beginner's box is a group of Rebel Alliance members sent on a mission to infiltrate and secure an Imperial base. The PC's are an ace (pilot), engineer, soldier and spy. The the game is more mission based - either a short term mission or a longer term assignment. Whereas the PCs may be forced to deal with the underbelly of the universe, there are usually more ideals and morals involved with an AoR game.

There is a lot of cross over between the flavours- classes, races, talents, equipment, etc. use the same system and are completely interchangeable. You can run a smuggling game with the AoR rules and classes, and you can run an Alliance team doing missions with the EotE rules. Just expect the commercial scenarios to follow the main flavour of the specific book.

[AstaSyneri]

How do obligation and duty interact when you cross over the characters?

... still trying to wrap my mind around it.

The books sound like they are done very well and I might want to pick them up - of course getting a print/pdf combo seems to be difficult (FFG -> sending to Europe ).

Edit: I thought I saw a PDF option on the FFG store, so apparently there is no print/pdf bundle

Picking up all the volumes as book and pdf separately seems... expensive.

Edit2: And DANG, amazon.de just went through a hefty price increase for those books on my wishlist, apparently the exchange rate fluctuations have caught up with them finally .

[Trenloe]

How do obligation and duty interact when you cross over the characters?

You can use obligation only, duty only or both if you wish. The example given in the AoR rulebook is that Han Solo owed a debt to Jabba the Hutt but still felt a sense of duty to the Rebel Alliance.

Picking up all the volumes as book and pdf separately seems... expensive.

There's no PDF option at all. I don't know if FFG are planning to release a PDF at some point or not - the EotE FAQ says not at this time. They eventually did for WFRP3, but I haven't heard anything about PDFs for Star Wars.

Edit2: And DANG, amazon.de just went through a hefty price increase for those books on my wishlist, apparently the exchange rate fluctuations have caught up with them finally

Try Book Depository - free delivery worldwide. I used them a lot when I lived in Australia. Here's the EotE beginner game: https://www.bookdepository.com/Star-.../9781616615932

[AstaSyneri]

There's no PDF option at all. I don't know if FFG are planning to release a PDF at some point or not - the EotE FAQ says not at this time. They eventually did for WFRP3, but I haven't heard anything about PDFs for Star Wars.

Try Book Depository - free delivery worldwide. I used them a lot when I lived in Australia. Here's the EotE beginner game: https://www.bookdepository.com/Star-.../9781616615932

No PDF? Yikes! That means you have to enter all the stuff into FG manually. Oh my.

As for Book Depository - they aren't cheaper, unfortunately. I have seen a few online stores locally who still have the game listed at old values. Any extensions you'd recommend beyond the rulebooks and the beginner's sets?

[Trenloe]

Any extensions you'd recommend beyond the rulebooks and the beginner's sets?

Maybe the Game Masters Kit (comes with a GM screen, an adventure and some modular encounters). If you're going to GM you can pick up one (or more) of the adventures - Beyond the Rim is a 3 part actions/adventure scenario, Jewel of Javin is essentially a heist. Lords of Nal Hutta and Suns of Fortune are great source books for running adventures in that relevant portion of space. The other books basically expand one of the character careers with more options - no need for that yet!

On the AoR side there's basically the rulebook, GM's Kit and the one full length adventure Onslaught at Arda I. Plus the ace career book "Stay on Target" which is worth getting if you want to do a lot of dogfight style air/ship combat.

There are also free PDF adventures to download - there are follow on adventures to the scenario in each of the beginner games and also Under a Black Sun (which includes quickstart rules).

[Trenloe]

Oh, and some extra dice - unless you're buying both the EotE and the AoR beginner game, which both come with dice. Although you may still not have enough for a GM and players...