SW Saga SWSE Saved My Marriage

[DM_Jeff]

Well, no, it didn’t, but it helped. You see, we’ve known each other for 18 years, been together for 13 of those, and finally, after all this time, I have convinced her to try some Star Wars roleplaying. It’s been a long road.

Back in 1998 I played the WEG version with friends, and it felt like Star Wars in name only. The rules certainly didn’t let us play like the movies. When the 2nd Edition came out that group tried it a bit again but it never went beyond a one-shot here or there.

In 2000 I tried getting her into the d20 version. She refused based on not liking the idea of messing with continuity and the limitations thereof. She watched us all try a horrible bum-clutch session with a maze of intricate rules to wade through and she chuckled. She watched again as we tried the d20 revised rules with similar halting adventures too caught up in too many rules. She pitied us.

This year I slowly, carefully, leaked that I wanted to run a sci-fi game and revealed a neat rules system I found and touted its features. She agreed, and I showed her the Saga Edition book. “This is the system?!” she said skeptically, and then casually flipped through. 2 hours later her character was rolled up. She was sold. The book layout was easy, crisp, clear; it was even practically ‘rules light’ she said, allowing for quick play.

But what about messing with continuity? That week the Legacy of the Force campaign guide came out and when I explained anything goes she was sold yet again.

We’ve run 5 sessions and it’s a total breeze. GMing it is easy as pie. I have no idea how I have all these miniatures. I never bought a case, I just kept picking up packs whenever I could get a good deal. SWSE’s been out for 2 years and there are only 8 books in the series, that’s an easy release schedule I can live with. The books are very clear and organized. We always find what we’re looking for (if even necessary) in very short order. Many of the rules are just intuitive to remember in play. And best of all it all feels, finally, like we’re playing a movie adventure.

So this is just hats off to the team there that put so much work and finally, after all this time, ‘got it right’. The books are a joy to read and game with. Huzzah.

-DM Jeff

[Remus Lupin]

And here I figured Dawn would have been a Star Wars gamer from way back!

I have to admit, I'm loving SWSE myself, but we had a hard time getting critical mass for our game last year. I miss my Jedi character. It was the most fun I ever had playing Star Wars (don't get me started on the GM who started us on a Star Wars campaign and then threw in Drow).

[DarkMasterBR]

I also really love the SWSE system and find it superior to 3.5 and 4e. But as a RPG gamer in Brazil, it's hard enough to find a group to game with, let alone play a Star Wars RPG, so I'm happy enough having a regular D&D group

[DM_Jeff]

OK, so after 10 sessions of the small SWSE game, a friend of mine is taking over as a Pathfinder DM so I can relax and play during the summer. It worked well because it allowed me to tell a complete story arc I mashed together so we had different adventures that all came to a nice conclusion.

Overall, running SWSE was just a joy. Prep was minimal, the players had loads of fun, and it moved VERY fast. In fact 5-hour sessions seemed too long, next time I'll cut that down. Our healer had a few stumbles trying to get the most out of some of her abilities, but it worked out fairly. When we did have to look something up (which does happen when you're playing a new game) finding things was really a snap.

Anyway, as an experiment I call it a success. Something else to mention: the books are really fun to read. There are lots of game books I have to use but don't care for just reading, which can be a big draw for me.

-DM Jeff

[Kamikaze Midget]

SWSE is a stellar system, and the books are clean and crisp.

Smoother than 3e, not "baby with the bathwater" of 4e, engineered for heroic space opera keenness....yes, please!