is it me? FFG Star Wars

JeffB · Sep 3, 2014

I downloaded a Edge of Empire fast play adventure freebie thing, and the resolution mechanics seem crazy complicated to me. Probably the whackadoo dice make it worse when reading, but IS it a scomplicated as it seems? My first reaction is " I would never get into RPGs, if this was my first experience with a rulebook".

I am burnt out on D&D for the Kids group and looking to try something completely different. The kids like Star Wars. I am a big fan of the old D6 game, but not of the first two D20 versions (never bothered with Saga because of them).

Is it worh printing this thing out and buying some of the dice? I want fast cinematic Star Wars. Not involved tables and complex dice mechanics.

JeffB · Sep 3, 2014

And while I appreciate suggestions, I really do not like Savage Worlds :-S

dbm · Sep 3, 2014

In my experience it isn't actually difficult, just different. You fairly quickly get used to pairing up positive and negative icons to look for a net effect. You just need to do it I on two axis at once.

To be honest, I find that Fate suits me best for cinematic games and it achieves a lot with a very simple set of core mechanics at it's heart. A Fate Star Wars hack would potentially be the work of moments unless you wanted specific mechanics for the Force (not a given in Fate - you could just make a simple implementation if you preferred that approach).

Ratskinner · Sep 3, 2014

If the kids are familiar with the SW universe, then I'd actually recommend Fate Accelerated Edition. There's folks already doing just that. Check out that Google+ community for it.

Personally, I've heard such mixed reviews about the FFG SW system that I'm very leery of it... despite finding the central mechanics very intriguing.

Ratskinner · Sep 3, 2014

Duplicate...cross posted with myself.

Torg Smith · Sep 3, 2014

You can get used to the dice pretty easily. What the dice bring is two results. You have success and failure as one result and advantage and disadvantage as the second result. You can get any combination and this adds some interesting affects. I kind of like what it can bring.

TrippyHippy · Sep 3, 2014

There was a really good free Star Wars supplement for RuneQuest 6, that made use of the very well suited and dynamic combat rules of that game just as it was released. Alas, they decided to withdraw the pdf downloads for fear of trademark prosecution.

Other than that, the original D6 rules are quite easy to find on fan sites still.

mips42 · Sep 3, 2014

i Have been playing in a Edge game for a bit now and, while it does take some getting used to, in a way it's actually better than the straight 'hit or miss' of a lot of games. You can hit but cause a problem (alerting Stormtroopers is BAD), miss and cause problems (Accidentally shooting the controls to the elevator you were going to use) miss but cause something good or hit and cause something good.
For the game to be it's best, you need a GM who knows the story, is good at interpreting the dice results and storytelling the results in a way that makes sense.

Jan van Leyden · Sep 3, 2014

What the others said; it takes some learning but actually prompts you for a vivid narration of the scenes. Especially with younger players still having this spark of spontaneous creativity it leads to very colorfull scenes.

I started a game for my son (then 12 years old) and his friends which was Big Fun!!! But even though their are Star Wars fans, they informed me that roleplaying have to include swords, spells, and dragons.