Tell me about STAR WARS: EDGE OF EMPIRE

Agatheron said:

I think you might be missing something here. I've only just read the rules in the free rpg day release, as well as having glanced at the Core Rulebook today.
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Yes, damage can be soaked, but on the whole minions aren't going to last long. Additionally, since the dice are narrative, if the first shot doesn't take down a minion, it might not mean its a direct, solid hit.

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I'm talking primarily about damage against the PCs. Blaster pistols will hit and wound PCs (using game terminology), those wounds can be healed with a medicine roll. But, to take you up on that 'first shot not killing a minion,' when does that happen in the movies? Blasters pretty much kill you or they miss entirely. I can recall one time where a blaster bolt grazes ... Han's? shoulder in Return of the Jedi. But that's really it, I think. That scenario happens pretty much during every combat in this game, which is... not right.

You mentioning soak reminds though of another mechanic that probably shouldn't be in the game, except for in space combat. Storm trooper armor doesn't do crap against blasters, and most of the characters are dressed for agility. Soak is an obvious hold over from Warhammer Fantasy RP 3E, but in this universe it's... not right. I'm probably raining too hard on the parade, but I'm actually bummed that they seemingly decided to make a Good RPG instead of a Good Star Wars RPG. With the exception of the art and presentation which I'm happy with.

Well... I can think of at least twice where a main character gets hit with a blaster bolt: Luke on Jabba's Sailbarge, and Leia on Endor. While it obviously hurt both of them, and Leia's hit may have even been a mild critical strike, the current game mechanics would emulate this well. Mooks go down quickly, while the lead characters carry on with but a flesh wound from the same type of weapon. Remember, the PCs in this game are supposed to be heroic, and hard to kill by grunts with blasters. Their exceptional nature is reflected in their respective stats. PCs are the equivilent in power to a Nemesis, who are indeed much harder to kill. If you think of the various Nemesis in the film, did any of them go down with a single blaster shot?

As for Soak... I can't say for certain, I need to look through the Core Rulebook to see what it says for minion-type Stormtroopers versus say a Stormtrooper sergeant (rival).

I'm not saying the system isn't without its flaws. No RPG system is perfect, but at first blush I like how this system forces it out of straight up mechanics and encourages more cinematic storytelling that involves everyone around the table.

fuzzlewump said:

Storm trooper armor doesn't do crap against blasters, and most of the characters are dressed for agility.

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Actually, if you watch A New Hope, in the scene where the stormtroopers board the Tantive IV, there are a few times where stormtrooper armor deflects blaster bolts. The WotC games also included DR on armor (lightsabers would then ignore that DR). Remember that Stormtroopers are the Empire's elite. They look like mooks in the movies because they're fighting the heroes. Those heroes have destinies that must be fulfilled. In other words, they have Plot Armor and Plot Armor-Penetration. Stormtroopers miss because they have to, and the heroes hit because they're the heroes.

In regards to the FFG game itself, soak is mostly a function of the character's innate Brawn characteristic--not armor. Armor adds to it, but it's mostly Brawn. That simulates the ability to shrug off attacks to non-vital areas or just put the pain aside until combat is over. Laminate (stormtrooper) armor specifically adds 2 to the Soak value of a character. A typical stormtrooper has a wound threshold of 5 and a soak value of 5. A blaster rifle or carbine does a minimum of 10 damage on a hit. A single hit by a blaster rifle or carbine will kill a stormtrooper. Han's DL-44 does a minimum of 8 damage on a hit. But, Han's a skilled shot, and he's probably going to get more than the single net success on that test, so he can probably kill that stormtrooper in one shot, too. When fleeing to the Millennium Falcon on the Death Star, Luke has an E-11 (a blaster Carbine), and his witnessing the death of his mentor grants him the use of a Boost die. He can easily kill stormtroopers with one shot. He might even be using Destiny points to upgrade his most likely low-skill (or unskilled) attacks. He got a Triumph on his shot to close the blast door so Vader and his reinforcements couldn't get to the hangar.

Agatheron said:

As for Soak... I can't say for certain, I need to look through the Core Rulebook to see what it says for minion-type Stormtroopers versus say a Stormtrooper sergeant (rival).

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The Soak value is the same for both. They have a soak value of 5; they get 3 from Brawn and 2 from their laminate armor.

Lindeloef said:

On topic: If I remember correctly, I read somewhere that the other Star Wars books that will come out (like the Jedi one) are not meant to mix with the others. So you have a jedi campaign, a "Scoundrel" campaign and so on.

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Ugh, really? That doesn't make any sense to me, except as a lazy cop-out. It's like releasing a Lord of the Rings RPG with separate all-hobbits, all-elves, and all-dwarves campaign settings. Definitely not what I'd want to see as a fan of the movies.

Jhaelen said:

Ugh, really? That doesn't make any sense to me, except as a lazy cop-out. It's like releasing a Lord of the Rings RPG with separate all-hobbits, all-elves, and all-dwarves campaign settings. Definitely not what I'd want to see as a fan of the movies.

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Just to clarify apperantly I didn't remember that correctly as [MENTION=6704070]Fiddleback[/MENTION] pointed out.

Nevermind. Misread the quote that the text I was responding to responded to.

I picked up the box set but haven't played it yet, how are the character creation options in the full game?

Well there are eight races, and six careers compared with the four careers and races in the boxed set. Each of those talent trees at the end of the character folios are known as specialisations, and there are 19 of those in total, three for each career and a force one.

So a lot more options, characters are built with xp, (bit like later on in the beginner set) which depends on your chosen race some have better base attributes or special abilities and thus less starting xp to spend.

Pretty straight forward as it is basically like improving your character is in the beginner set, just a lot more to choose from.

I picked up the book yesterday as well so I can attempt to answer questions as well

MadApeGames said:

I picked up the box set but haven't played it yet, how are the character creation options in the full game?

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Actually... rather large... larger than I expected. Six "classes" each with three specializations. However, the specializations are in some cases VERY different from those in the same class. For example, under "Colonist" one can be a Doctor, Politico, or Scholar, which are all quite different from each other, even if they do share eight common class skills (of which they take 4).

When I started reading through the various classes and specializations, I realized that I'd be needing to do some heavy reading to really distinguish how each class specialization works. In many respects, even though there are only 6 classes, the specializations really do make it more like 18... and then players have the option of spending experience on being a "Force Sensitive" as well. I will never complain about option overload, although it does take a while to read through them all!