Jürgen Hubert said:
From what I've heard, the Star Wars Saga Edition is supposed to have rather different rules than the previous editions.
So what are the big differences?
I'll try to give you a summary.
1) characters start with a feat at 1st level and every even level (and a feat at 3/6/9etc as normal), thus giving heroic characters more feats to play with.
2) characters have talents every odd level. Different classes have different talent trees, so you can think of these as ultimately configurable class abilities. Two jedi, two scoundrels, two nobles could look completely different from their opposite number.
3) No skill ranks. Everyone gets to make skills at d20 +(level/2); you have a certain number of trained skills (depending upon class for no. and choice) which get +5 on this roll. You can take skill focus feat for an additional +5. Ability bonus is added as normal. This means that you can have very competent low level characters (+10+ability bonus at 1st level!) but a 20th level character would have that level of competence in everything and could be up to +20+ability bonus in trained and focussed skills
4) There is one 'Use the Force' skill which can do some things untrained, more things if trained, and is used to (typically) activate force powers.
5) The force. How good you are depends upon your Use the Force (Cha) skill, and whether you are trained and skill focussed. You use feats to gain (1+Wis bonus) force powers, which are your 'force suite' (you can take those feats multiple times). There are exceptions but you basically get to use each of your force powers once per combat, which helps to duplicate the feel of the movies much more (where people typically don't spam off the same attack over and over again).
6) The Condition Track. Damage over a certain threshold value moves you down the condition track, giving you penalties to skill use and other stuff. The penalty basically goes (from memory) -1/-2/-5/-10/KO'ed. You can take recovery actions to move yourself up the condition track too. The neat thing is that this encompasses all kinds of conditions (there are persuasion skills that can move you down the condition track, poisons do, diseases do, fatigue does... it really unifies all kind of things). Applies to vehicles too, which is nice.
7) No saving throws. You have a Reflex defence, a Fortitude defence, a Will defence. Attacker rolls to overcome the appropriate defence. e.g. shoot at someone and you have to overcome their reflex defence to hit them. Poison them and the poison strength attacks their fortitude defence. These are not the droids you are looking for? make a use the force check against their will defence. That kinda thing. Drop a grenade in the midst of a bunch of foes? one attack roll matched against all their reflex defences.
Those are the big differences that immediately come to mind.
Helpful?