FFG Star Wars over my head :\

[Couvs]

Years ago (can't believe it's already been so long) I got super interested in the d20 Star Wars RPG that Wizards published, had every core rulebook & update up to Saga Edition and a few of the sourcebooks, but sadly never got into actually playing it.

Now, seeing that there's yet another new system for Star Wars, I'm looking at what info I can find online and find myself completely baffled by how FFG's system works. I'm further confused as to why they have three separate "Core Rulebooks" (EotE, AotR & F&D) for the exact same system rather than a single core rulebook and restrict other material to additional variants and story settings. Dropping $60 on each core book seems excessive (the additional D&D books at least have completely separate info from the PHB, and players who don't also DM don't really need the DMG or MM beyond their own curiosity). So I'm left with not even knowing which core book would be best to refer to if I were to try and get into the new system.

Anyone got any clarification on this or advice?

[Honken]

About the 3 rulebooks... I would guess, money? I can see how they would have 2 at least. One mundane, and one force.

The system in it self is fairly. What can look complicated is the dice mechanics, but about 4-5 rolls in, you will understand it.

If you are interested in it, I would suggest buying one of the beginner games. That includes enough dice to play the game, and some fancy maps and enough rules to play the included pre-gens through the adventure. And each of the Beginner games has an adventure you can download from FFG's homepage.

Edge of the Empire is geared towards the underbelly of the galaxy (Smugglers, and gamblers). Age of Rebellion is about the War against the Empire, and finally Force and Destiny is about force users. All books have TOP notch layout and art. They are beautiful books.

/H

[Couvs]

I had another look at the (rather small) wiki and I think I get how the rolls work for combat (at least the basic example made some sense). Still unsure of how they work on skill checks though.

I can sort of see there being some difference between EotE/AotR and the Force based stuff. I guess the main thing I'm wondering is how much of the 3 core books is base mechanics and how much is story/campaign related and what exactly warrants them all being priced that high. They're each something like 400 or more pages and I'd think there must be some overlap in their coverage.

[OTG_Wraith]

It comes out to be about thirds...

A third of each book is replicated material about how to play the game.
A third is descriptions, story or rules specifically for that book's setting.
A third of each book is dedicated to new 'stuff' (from classes to weapons to vehicles) that are useful in any of the three settings.

[Couvs]

suspected as much. double then triple charging the consumers on a third of the content :\

[ianmward]

They claim that the idea is to give you the ability to choose the setting you want and be able to play with just the one book. Giving you more choice - If you want to play rebels, just buy AoR, Jedis? Just buy F&D.

Of course, real fans end up buying all three...

[Trenloe]

The free "Under a Black Sun" scenario includes quickstart rules and is a good place to get an idea of the mechanics: Get it here: https://images-cdn.fantasyflightgame..._sun_lores.pdf

There is a lot of crossover between the three main rulebooks, some sections are 100% the same (basically the game mechanics - dice rolling, skills, combat, etc.). There are minor differences between the three flavours (obligation, duty and morality mechanics), and each flavour has different character careers, new species (some duplication here too - like Human, droid and humans in EotE & AoR, for example), scenarios and campaign information. There is also quite a bit of cross-over between careers - especially in EotE and AoR.

You can play a Star Wars game with just one of the rulebooks. There's Force careers/abilities in all three, so you don't necessarily need F&D if you want to use the force. Although you probably will need F&D if you're concentrating on a force centric game. You can easily get away with one EotE or AoR rulebook, as a lot of the careers are similar - just talents will be more fringer/scoundrel based or more duty/armed forces based.

[Couvs]

yeah the problem arises when you want to put together a party that mixes the careers across the three books and develop a campaign that could conceivably span the themes in all 3 books. Then you're paying for a third of the book three times. This was either a deliberate cash grab on FFG's part or else they weren't keeping this in mind.

in any case I read through the abridged rules in that free adventure and I think I'd need to sit down with someone who knows the system and have them explain it better, b/c my eyes glazed over..

[OTG_Wraith]

in any case I read through the abridged rules in that free adventure and I think I'd need to sit down with someone who knows the system and have them explain it better, b/c my eyes glazed over..

There is a video series of Trenloe's introductory FFG Star Wars game on my Youtube channel that might be helpful to you.

[Couvs]

I'll have a look at it. as luck would have it the comic & game store where I play D&D ADL is doing a showcase of the star wars RPG and miniature games on the 19th, so that should be a decent tutorial