FFG Star Wars

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Gabriel

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Calling Tenbones.

So, I have all three of the corebooks for this line. I have the GM screens for each. I have all three of the starter sets, not the least of which is that they were a good way to get dice. I also have at least two extra packs of the specialized dice. The only splatbook I have is for Age of Rebellion. It's the splatbook for the starfighter pilot character. I think it's called Stay on Target.

I tried to get this to the table. I tried to run the Force & Destiny Starter, but that one is simply awful from my perspective. Nothing about it feels Star Warsish, and it's just a really flavorless low level D&D adventure. I liked the Age of Rebellion starter adventure a lot better, but, of course, when I was trying to get started with this game, my player insisted that he wanted to play a Jedi and not some generic rebel character. Since then, the game has been put away for a rainy day. I'd like to get going with it, because I find the system interesting, but I don't know when that will happen. It may be a month from now. It may be 10 years from now.

But Star Wars Narrative Dice is clearly on it's way out. The fact that it's still readily available at this point is something of a blessing. So, before it's gone, what would you recommend as the absolutely critical items to pick up before they're gone and hit collector prices?

Since I want to do starfighter stuff, I'm thinking the Starships and Speeders book should be a no brainer. Just from the title, I'm thinking the Allies and Adversaries is another fundamental buy. At this point and can't and won't be buying the whole set, so what would you choose as the do-not-miss highlights?
 
Okay lemme parse this...

There are some big caveats here.

1) I don't like starter sets on principle. Because I feel like I'm being teased. I do understand there is a natural hesitancy to go "all-in" and buy the core book(s) because it's a financial commitment.

2) because of the above - when I came to FFG, I did a *LOT* of reviewing other people's reviews. Runeslinger and SteveisBoard were big influences on me going against every instinct I had telling me to pass on this game.

3) it made me consider IF... I was going to run Star Wars, what kinda of Star Wars did I like? I actually have run enough WEG d6 that I know doing the whole mixed Jedi/non-Jedi thing was always a touch-and-go and without having run this system it immediately made me not wanna go that route. Fortunately for me only Edge of the Empire was out which was fine because I loves me some Bounty Hunter, Pirate, Edgerunner action.

Okay so my suggestion is this - Now that all three lines are out I can EASILY dismiss Force and Destiny, unless you want to do a SUPER HEAVY Jedi/Force related campaign (maybe your PC's are all on the run because of Order 66 or something) F&D is really the formal high-powered end of the pool.

Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion DO have Force rules in them. They're just not as robust as F&D because they're meant to be for half-steppers that are just "sensitive" or have limited experience/training. Fine. I say ignore all that stuff because in the big picture of the Star Wars sandbox it's an outlier phenomenon unless you really want to dive into it. (this is what happens when you realize there are less than a dozen Jedi amongst trillions of other inhabitants in the galaxy).

So pick the theme you want to play around with. Military? Go Age. Adventurers living by the seat of the pants - Edge of the Empire. Get the base book. My suggestion is Edge simply because it's more open to put your own spin on things and it gives your PC's maximal flexibility in terms of concepts. If you go Age of Rebellion - everything is tied to Military training between the Imps and Rebs. So is their social system "Duty".

Edge of the Empire better represents the baseline of the galaxy-as-sandbox to me. So that's my recommendation.

Other books

Starships and Speeders - Must buy
Gadgets and Gear - Must buy.

For GM's - Aliens and Adversaries - this is your monster-manual. Super handy.

Here's where you're gonna have to make big decisions I can't answer for you because it will mean monetary investment. FFG cunningly (if I'm being REALLY nice) spread a LOT of its sub-systems across all three splats. For the most part it's pretty limited, but for some goddamn reason Armorcrafting is in the Force and Destiny series...

I digress.

Edge of the Empire and it's splatbooks are where its at. Each core class has its own splatbooks which further develops TONS of aspects of the game. I can't say enough about the Scoundrel and Bounty Hunter books. They also regularly put new PC races in each one... so yet more incentive to buy them.
The whole Edge Line is enough to give you a rock-solid foundation that greatly enhances the Core book's outline.

The adventures are solid. And I'm *not* an adventure-module guy, but I own them all and I find them all pretty damn good. Enough so (shh! I actually ran one without my players knowing!).

If I had to prioritize - Fly Casual (Smuggler's book) Special Modifications (Techie book) would be top because they give you good tools within them for GMing.

I'd also prioritize Lords of Nal Hutta - which is a regional sourcebook for Huttspace, it introduces a lot of good sandbox material. If you want an adventure to - Jewel of Yavin is pretty fun and a great way to get your players dipped into the game and will give you saddle time with a lot of the core systems. It's a heist! How can you go wrong? Oh... it can go wrong. Beyond the Rim is a good adventure too.

If you're wanting to go BAREBONES

Edge Core, Gadgets and Gear, Starships and Speeders + adventure.

If money isn't an issue - I'd get all the splats and prioritize Into the Unknown last. The additional specializations are BIG options for your PC's and worth having for your game (some are obviously better than others).
  • Dangerous Covenants (Hired Gun Career Book) - Adds the Demolitionist, Enforcer, and Heavy Specializations.
  • Enter the Unknown (Explorer Career Book) - Adds the Archeologist, Big Game Hunter and Driver Specializations.
  • Far Horizons (Colonist Career Book) - Adds the Entrepreneur, Marshall, and Performer Specializations.
  • Fly Casual (Smuggler Career Book) - Adds the Charmer, Gambler, and Gunslinger Specializations.
  • No Disintegrations (Bounty Hunter Career Book) - Adds the Martial Artist, Operator and Skip Tracer Specializations.
  • Special Modifications (Technician Career Book) - Adds the Cyber Tech, Droid Tech, and Modder Specializations.
If you got more questions - just ask!

Edit: Starfighter combat in the game is surprisingly good. The Starships and Speeders book has most of the ships from the other books compiled into it - but not all. Fly Casual has some extra stuff in there. And I can't underscore the Special Modifications book - because all the Technician stuff directly impacts building and modding your ship.
 
I found FFG Star Wars to be wildly over written and inaccessible, as a game rule book. Is there a concise version of it out there? Or a compelling reason why I should give it another look?
 
I found FFG Star Wars to be wildly over written and inaccessible, as a game rule book. Is there a concise version of it out there? Or a compelling reason why I should give it another look?
You'll have to cite examples of what you mean.

I find the writing pretty sparse except where trying to explain the system. Where they do kinda overdo it in places. It's a pretty simple system.

No way for me to know what would compel you to check it out if you didn't like it on a read. I'm pretty on the record I had extreme reservations about this game until I ran it. And it performed way above my expectations. It has flaws (crafting), but otherwise hits on every aspect of Start Wars I engage in.

Did you run it?
 
I ran a successful Age of Rebellion game where all the characters were pilots of a squadron of Y-wing fighters. One player was the squadron leader, and the rest of the party was a variety of pilots (rigger, new recruit, & hotshot), and since the Y-wing has a two-seater model, one guy played a commando/gunner (he later switched to a pilot character). One pilot was force sensitive, but not a jedi. One of the main NPCs to make it more star warsy was Huk Porkins, kid brother of Jek Porkins.

Their base and some of the gameplay came from Onslaught at Arda I, but it was heavily altered and not the main storyline. The main focus was them being the antiquated "Rust Squadron" competing with the hotshot x-wing "Grit Squadron." The back story was they mainly did escort duty missions and had not had any serious action. I started with an edited version of "Dead in the Water" that came with the GM Screen. Every AOR adventure product I used was heavy converted to fit my campaign.

It was the first RPG for half of the players, and we had a blast.

Here was my starting description for players:
The setting is a couple of months after the destruction of the first Death Star. The characters are members of Rust Squadron (formerly "Dust" squadron but due to old equipment it was unofficially re-named...they all fly Y-wings) which is part of a starfighter wing in a rebel base (the other squadrons are the elite Grit Squadron, the recently almost decimated Sand Squadron, and Vortex sandspeeder Squadron. The base is on a rocky desert planet (Sorosuub Rock 152) that was a former mining colony. The mission is to 1. perform hit-and-run missions on TIE fighter production facilities in this sector of space, 2. escort a variety of rebel ships, 3. gather intelligence on Imperial forces.


Here was my initial Star Wars scrolling into text:

A New Hope: Age of Rebellion

Civil war engulfs the galaxy. A small rebel force was able to achieve their first major victory against the evil Galactic Empire by destroying the DEATH STAR battle station.

Sensing a real threat, the Empire has increased its efforts to destroy the alliance at any cost. Struggling against all odds, the rebels fight with hit-and-run tactics as they continue to evade a superior force.

The pilots of RUST SQUADRON are tasked with both defending rebel ships as well as locating much needed equipment. Supplies and resources are growing scarce and IMPERIAL SPIES seem to be lurking around every corner....​


Here are the squadron members that survived out of the original 12 starting Y-wings. (PCs are in red frames):
Screen Shot 2021-06-11 at 5.17.06 PM.png
 
Picaroon Jack Picaroon Jack Didn't all Y-wings have an astromech droid slot? That would suggest there'd be more than one astromech droid in the squadron.
 
Picaroon Jack Picaroon Jack Didn't all Y-wings have an astromech droid slot? That would suggest there'd be more than one astromech droid in the squadron.
They did, but Captain Chib had his own personal droid. All the others were loaded in for missions and rarely interacted. R5-X7 was a NPC with a connection to Chib. Most of the Y-wings also had rear gunners, but only one was a PC. Towards the end of the campaign he swapped the gunner character out to become Rust 8.
 
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