An Open Letter to Fantasy Flight and Cubicle 7 -- Cut the "Foreplay" and Give Us the Good Stuff

[Crothian]

You did not read it closely then. It specifically says it takes place after Star Wars, but right after.

It's almost a 500 page book, it's easy to miss things in there. Where does it say that?

Running "A New Hope" does NOT MEAN full combat stats for the Death Star, or playable stats for every race glimpsed in the background of the movie.

It does because I have to be ready to handle what the players want to do. If they want to gamble, I need gambling rules. If they want to go and sell out Luke Skywalker to the Imperials then I have to be ready and have the rules to do that. If I place a bunch of weird aliens in a tough bar that fights tend to happen in then I need to be prepared for a combat there. If I have a Star Destroyer in the sky then I have to be prepared for the Ace Y-Wing pilot to take it on because he was able to destroy one in the X-Wing video game in the early 90's. Players are unpredictable and it is no fun to tell the players "sorry, you can't do that because the game doesn't allow for it."

 

[Vigilance]

It's almost a 500 page book, it's easy to miss things in there. Where does it say that?



It does because I have to be ready to handle what the players want to do. If they want to gamble, I need gambling rules. If they want to go and sell out Luke Skywalker to the Imperials then I have to be ready and have the rules to do that. If I place a bunch of weird aliens in a tough bar that fights tend to happen in then I need to be prepared for a combat there. If I have a Star Destroyer in the sky then I have to be prepared for the Ace Y-Wing pilot to take it on because he was able to destroy one in the X-Wing video game in the early 90's. Players are unpredictable and it is no fun to tell the players "sorry, you can't do that because the game doesn't allow for it."

And a lot of those crazy things PCs want to do are not covered in ANY RPG. So complaining about this one seems a bit odd to me. If my Forgotten Realms PCs wanted to do something they saw in Neverwinter Nights, it probably won't be covered in the rules. It's why GMing is an art.

Also- there are gambling rules in the book, explicitly spelled out.

As for a bar fight with a lot of aliens, you do not need player-ready stats for that. Decide on their brawn, give them wounds and strain, done.

 

[Vigilance]

It's almost a 500 page book, it's easy to miss things in there. Where does it say that?

Well, I don't have the book with me at the moment, but here's what the faq says on their website:

What is Edge of the Empire’s setting and theme?

Set just after the destruction of the first Death Star, the Edge of the Empire Roleplaying Game focuses on the grim and gritty portions of the Star Wars universe. Characters exist in places where morality is gray and nothing is certain, and the game’s focus is on those that live on the fringes of both the galaxy and its society.

 

[Crothian]

And a lot of those crazy things PCs want to do are not covered in ANY RPG. So complaining about this one seems a bit odd to me. If my Forgotten Realms PCs wanted to do something they saw in Neverwinter Nights, it probably won't be covered in the rules. It's why GMing is an art.

The PCs get attacked like the beginning of A New Hope and it's crazy to think they might want to fight back? The odds might be against them but I'm pretty sure if I told them they'd say "Never tell me the odds" because doing "crazy things" is part of the Star Wars movies.

Sadly, the more I read the game the more it does seem all we need to do is give a few stats to creatures and be done. There really is not a lot of mechanical differences between he species.

 

[Vigilance]

The PCs get attacked like the beginning of A New Hope and it's crazy to think they might want to fight back? The odds might be against them but I'm pretty sure if I told them they'd say "Never tell me the odds" because doing "crazy things" is part of the Star Wars movies.

Sadly, the more I read the game the more it does seem all we need to do is give a few stats to creatures and be done. There really is not a lot of mechanical differences between he species.

They get bonus skills, and stat modifiers. It's pretty similar to d20.

But to run a bar fight, you do not need that much information. To me, that's a feature, not a bug.

 

[Scars Unseen]

The PCs get attacked like the beginning of A New Hope and it's crazy to think they might want to fight back? The odds might be against them but I'm pretty sure if I told them they'd say "Never tell me the odds" because doing "crazy things" is part of the Star Wars movies.

Sadly, the more I read the game the more it does seem all we need to do is give a few stats to creatures and be done. There really is not a lot of mechanical differences between he species.

In the context of an encounter, what mechanical difference does there need to be? What are the primary differences between an encounter with a human and one with a Wookie? The Wookie is bigger, stronger, and if you can't understand Shyriiwook, you aren't likely to have a meaningful conversation with him. Between a Rodian and a human? D20's assumption that every creature follows the same rules as a PC is a weakness, not a strength. It is unnecessary paperwork.

Make a few statblock templates for minions and such. Make specialized ones for rivals and nemeses. Adjust as the campaign demands. Simple. Effective.

 

[billd91]

The PCs get attacked like the beginning of A New Hope and it's crazy to think they might want to fight back? The odds might be against them but I'm pretty sure if I told them they'd say "Never tell me the odds" because doing "crazy things" is part of the Star Wars movies.

Who said that crazy things PCs do includes fighting back when attacked? PCs do a lot of crazy things, not all of which are going to be covered by the rules - at least not without GM interpretation.

Sadly, the more I read the game the more it does seem all we need to do is give a few stats to creatures and be done. There really is not a lot of mechanical differences between he species.

The more I think about this, the more I realize I'm content with it. That said, abilities and everything else may be bought up in highly variable ways. Add in the variability of the dice pool and the complications it can generate and I think you'll see plenty of diversity in actual play.

 

[Scars Unseen]

To be clear: I'm not saying any of this is "a dirty marketing scheme," I'm simply saying that it does not fulfill my criteria of diminishing marginal utility.

Yeah, sorry about that. That comment wasn't truly aimed at you, but there have been a number of people(not necessarily in this thread, or only directed at this game) that seem to take umbrage whenever RPG designers intend for players to buy more than just one book ever.

 

[Remus Lupin]

Understood. I fully expect that publishers are going to want me to be more books. I understand that their business model only works well if they have a certain number of people continuing to come back to the well every couple of months for whatever the new product is. As long as it's a good quality product, I'm happy to oblige.

At the same time, I want to be able to play the game I want to play with only whatever qualifies as the "core books," whether that's three books in the case of D&D (generally), or one or two books in the case of Star Wars (ideally only one!). I get that for some folks, the kind of Star Wars game they're looking for can be played potentially with just this one book, and that's cool. But since it doesn't reach that threshold for me, I'm looking at the price for buy-in for what I consider to be the core, and it seems steep to me, though as always YMMV.

 

[Psychman]

As for Star Wars I'm more interested in the Dragon Age conversion that's going on. Less dice and probably a lot better fit mechanic wise.

There is of course also a similar project already done using RuneQuest 6th Edition, but the pdf was taken back down by the designers to ensure no risk of legal suits. If one goes to related forums and asks nicely however...