Thoughts of a new Star Wars System

scourger · May 15, 2014

The most fun I had playing Star Wars was in a Revised (d20) all-jedi game. So, I would like to see a return to that game. Ideally, miniatures would be incorporated as I really like the visual & tactile elements that minis give. The older RPGs and the minis were not well integrated. I've got my old material, so that is a bonus.

Star Wars would be great converted to Savage Worlds, but that is a lot of work. It would be easier to run, though. The story I would like to tell is an alternate version of the original 3 movies with the player characters as the heroes (or villains as they choose), but I don't think my players would be too interested.

pickin_grinnin · May 15, 2014

scourger said:
Star Wars would be great converted to Savage Worlds, but that is a lot of work. It would be easier to run, though. The story I would like to tell is an alternate version of the original 3 movies with the player characters as the heroes (or villains as they choose), but I don't think my players would be too interested.

That is probably the type of thing I would most want to see. Maybe Fate or some other similar system, even.

pickin_grinnin · May 15, 2014

Evenglare said:
I think the point of the poster was referring to the fact that the EU as a whole IS being entirely ignored as part of the canon. As of now according to disney nothing in the EU ever took place in the star wars universe. Sure they can cherry pick from content that is already out there under the old "Legends" moniker, but the stories are completely and utterly being thrown away. As of now it's simply a giant tool box they can use for the new whole unified EU, which as this point contains absolutely nothing beyond the clone wars cartoon.

Yes, that's generally what I was getting at.

They can slap a "Legends" banner on all the EU stuff, but in the end they have chosen to ignore the EU. That really doesn't sit well with me.

amerigoV · May 15, 2014

scourger said:
Star Wars would be great converted to Savage Worlds, but that is a lot of work. It would be easier to run, though. The story I would like to tell is an alternate version of the original 3 movies with the player characters as the heroes (or villains as they choose), but I don't think my players would be too interested.

There are a couple of nice fan conversions out there already. To me, the hard part is the power level. I can easily make an all Jedi Campaign (the Super Powers Companion is perfect for this) or an all "normal folk" campaign (you can do this straight out of the Deluxe edition or add on the Sci Fi companion for some extra depth). Mixing the two is always the problem.

In the original (and some would say only) trilogy, Luke was a budding pilot and a N00b Jedi growing into a competent one through the series. So about the time he was going to leave the other heroes in the dust the series ended. Eps 1-3 basically showed off Jedi as super heroes. Only Jango Fett, who was geared up to be the equivalent of Batman, was the only "normal" person to give the Jedi a run for their money.

So you have to decide how to make the mix playable (nerf the Jedi or say the non-Jedi heroes basically are transcendent of the normal population by a wide margin).

billd91 · May 15, 2014

RevTurkey said:
My group and I tried the Edge of the Empire Beginner Game and enjoyed running about in the Star Wars universe. We didn't like the custom dice at all though. We found them slow to read and a bit of a gimmick. I don't mind trying new things and I am open minded but I didn't find reading several player's dice results easy and quite tiring to be honest. I ran 13th Age the following week and it felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders...I was able to put my energy into descriptions and imagination.

I don't mind the dice mechanic idea - but I do think they could have picked symbols that were easier to interpret. +/- for success/failure. Maybe a circled +/- for advantage/disadvantage.

Sword of Spirit · May 15, 2014

amerigoV said:
There are a couple of nice fan conversions out there already. To me, the hard part is the power level. I can easily make an all Jedi Campaign (the Super Powers Companion is perfect for this) or an all "normal folk" campaign (you can do this straight out of the Deluxe edition or add on the Sci Fi companion for some extra depth). Mixing the two is always the problem.

In the original (and some would say only) trilogy, Luke was a budding pilot and a N00b Jedi growing into a competent one through the series. So about the time he was going to leave the other heroes in the dust the series ended. Eps 1-3 basically showed off Jedi as super heroes. Only Jango Fett, who was geared up to be the equivalent of Batman, was the only "normal" person to give the Jedi a run for their money.

So you have to decide how to make the mix playable (nerf the Jedi or say the non-Jedi heroes basically are transcendent of the normal population by a wide margin).

Of course, Jedi are supposed to be head and shoulders above most other people. They are knights and special forces operatives all in one. Any system that makes the average adventuring non-Jedi combat-equal to a full-Jedi is doing it wrong (IMO). In Savage Worlds, I'll probably either treat Jedi as you described Luke--you aren't a full-Jedi yet--or advance the power level of the campaign just to the point where full-Jedi become possible, and the other characters are highly competent. The story should also take advantage of the idea that people can be focused on different things. One character might have a gazillion knowledge skills and languages, and no combat capabilities of note, for instance.

JediSoth · May 16, 2014

My wife loves the EotE dice. She always struggled in Pathfinder after rolling (what do I add, why do I add this and this for this roll and this other thing plus this and this for this other roll, but minus this, etc. etc.*). With this game, she can roll, and tell almost immediately how well she did. She doesn't get stressed out over "doing it wrong" and can concentrate more on the game.

* Her medication causes her memory problems, so complex mechanics with lots of fiddly bits are really difficult for her to remember.

GMMichael · May 17, 2014

Morrus said:
A N.E.W. system, perhaps!

Now you're talking. I'd +1 this, but I personally think that Star Wars should go the free, public-access, fully customizable route under construction here.

But where's the

profit

fun in that?

Alriiiiiight....I'll sign the petition for N.E.W.

Sword of Spirit said:
Of course, Jedi are supposed to be head and shoulders above most other people. They are knights and special forces operatives all in one. Any system that makes the average adventuring non-Jedi combat-equal to a full-Jedi is doing it wrong (IMO). . .The story should also take advantage of the idea that people can be focused on different things. One character might have a gazillion knowledge skills and languages, and no combat capabilities of note, for instance.

Jedi are head and shoulders above most...but what are the exceptions (and is this also true in the books)? You could have droid-PCs that give Jedi a run for their money. Some of the monsters gave Luke problems - there's no reason why another alien species could be Jedi-tough.

I'm just speculating on what PCs would look like. Just like no one takes the Commoner class, I wouldn't expect anyone to be a smuggler or wookie without having some special powers on the side.

I'm on board with the storyline presenting diverse challenges, but it should be somewhere between everyone participating equally in a challenge, and only one character can solve this problem. Balancing that is the tough part.

scourger · May 18, 2014

amerigoV said:
So you have to decide how to make the mix playable (nerf the Jedi or say the non-Jedi heroes basically are transcendent of the normal population by a wide margin).

I don't want nerfed jedi. I would offer (read: expect) the player characters all to be jedi aspirants. That's why they're on Tatooine looking for Obi Wan Kenobi (maybe at Mos Eisley or Anchorhead) when they get an assignment to find some droids. Their rebel affiliation helps explain why they each have an X-Wing or other ship back at the spaceport.

But I do like the idea of transcendent normals. I think Savage Worlds does that quite nicely.

Thoughts of a new Star Wars System

scourger

Explorer

pickin_grinnin

Explorer

pickin_grinnin

Explorer

amerigoV

Guest

billd91

Not your screen monkey (he/him)

Sword of Spirit

Legend

JediSoth

Voice Over Artist & Author

GMMichael

Guide of Modos

scourger

Explorer

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