Star Wars 30th Anniversary RPG Announced!!!

In a case of ‘very much didn’t see this one coming’ Fantasy Flight Games have today announced the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game 30^th Anniversary Edition – a limited edition two book set of the original West End Games Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and The Star Wars Sourcebook from 1987.

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First published in 1987 by West End Games, Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game arrived at a time when the future of the Star Wars galaxy was uncertain. The original trilogy had been completed. There were no plans for additional films. It was as if a hundred million voices had cheered at the Rebellion's triumph and then suddenly went silent…

But the Star Wars galaxy is too vibrant, too dynamic, and too full of adventure to simply fade away. Even after the Jedi had returned, the Empire had been toppled, and the original trilogy had been completed, the galaxy begged for further exploration.

This was where Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game came in. With its award-winning ruleset, its focus on operatic space adventures, and the many starships, vehicles, droids, creatures, and aliens detailed in its sourcebook, West End Games didn't just allow Star Wars fans to continue pursuing the ways of the Force, it left an enduring impression upon the galaxy itself.

Now, forty years after the debut of A New Hope and thirty years after its first printing, Star Wars: The Roleplaying Gamemakes its return as a highly collectible, limited edition set of two lovingly recreated, hardcover books, Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and The Star Wars™ Sourcebook!

[h=2]View attachment 87381[/h][h=2]Relics of an Earlier Age[/h]"For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic."
–Obi-Wan Kenobi

The Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game 30th Anniversary Edition faithfully recreates Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and The Star Wars Sourcebook as high-quality, hardbound tomes that feature all the original game rules, information, and graphic design. These are printed on higher quality paper than the original versions and shrinkwrapped together in a stylized slipcase that features the original cover art on a clean black background.

Every bit as playable now as it was in 1987, Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game offers fast d6-based action along with unique takes on the ideas of roleplaying, designing adventures, running adventures, and the nature of the Force. The rulebook also introduces a full-length adventure, "Rebel Breakout," and The Star Wars Sourcebook provides you with a wealth of information that you could use to populate additional adventures, including detailed descriptions of starfighters, capital ships, droids, aliens, blasters, lightsabers, and combat vehicles like the AT-AT and AT-ST.

Notably, these books and their contents did more than inspire countless gamers at their tables; they helped shape the Star Wars galaxy itself.

Elements from The Star Wars Sourcebook have since become Star Wars canon, such as the names of the alien races, Twi'lek, Rodian, and Quarren. Timothy Zahn was given the books as reference when he was developing Grand Admiral Thrawn and his Thrawn trilogy. And the rulebook's chapter on "Designing Adventures" so clearly and effectively deconstructed the particular nature of space opera to which Star Wars belongs that Pablo Hidalgo cites it as inspiration for the writers' bible he developed for the Lucasfilm Story Group.

This critical tie between Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game and our current apprecation of everything Star Wars is brought to life in the foreword Pablo Hidalgo wrote for the 30th Anniversary Edition, and it's one of the few changes between this edition and the original. You'll also find a few updated photos, pieces of concept art, and advertisements, but they're all carefully designed to match the book's original style, including its alternating use of black-and-white and full color.[h=2]The Game that Grew the Galaxy[/h]"Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff."
–Han Solo

Forty years after A New Hope, the Force and the Star Wars galaxy are more powerful and resonant than ever before. They permeate all walks of life by way of movies, television shows, comic books, novels, games, and licensed merchandise. They bind us together.

West End Games' Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game is a significant part of the wider Star Wars legacy, and Fantasy Flight Games is proud to present this limited, commemorative 30th Anniversary Edition!

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[h=2]Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook[/h]In just 144 pages, the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game core rulebook opened the way to boundless adventures among the stars, and its rules systems are as fast and effective as ever. All you and your friends need to enjoy this seminal roleplaying experience are the core rulebook, pencils, paper, and a bunch of six-sided dice.

The rulebook, meanwhile, is broken into three sections, each of which is divided into a number of smaller, focused chapters.

· In the Player Section, you'll find everything you need to understand how the game allows characters to interact with each other and their environment. The rules for character creation are clearly presented and make it easy to design every type of Star Wars character you could imagine, from an aspiring Jedi to a rogue freighter pilot, from a grizzled soldier to a secretive politician.
· The Gamemaster Section further fleshes out the game with insight into all the things a gamemaster needs to run his or her players through fully realized Star Wars adventures. You'll find a useful introduction to gamemastering alongside detailed rules for starships, combat, wounds and healing, and using the Force.
· Finally, the Adventure Section steps back to look at the art of designing and running adventures in such a way as to make them truly entertaining and memorable Star Wars experiences. Then it jumps head first into the fully realized adventure "Rebel Breakout" before it presents a range of other adventure ideas you and your friends might pursue on your own.

Of course, it's the Star Wars universe that draws us to this game, and the rulebook acknowledges this fact with a plethora of photo stills and concept art, plus some fantastic and comical, retro-styled advertisements that get you into the mindset of one of the galaxy's countless citizens.

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[h=2]The Star Wars Sourcebook[/h]Also weighing in at 144 pages, The Star Wars Sourcebook offers a wealth of information about the starships, vehicles, creatures, alien races, Rebel bases, and Imperial garrisons that can help ground your games fully within the Star Wars galaxy.

The book is divided into fifteen chapters: General Spacecraft Systems, Starfighters, Combat Starships, Space Transports, Droids, Repulsorlift Vehicles, Imperial Ground Assault Vehicles, Aliens, Creatures, General Equipment, Lightsabers, Stormtroopers, Rebel Bases, Imperial Garrisons, and Heroes and Villains.

These are accompanied by dozens upon dozens of charts, photos, pieces of concept art, schematic diagrams, and short fiction. This means that The Star Wars Sourcebook does more than simply help you populate your games; it provides a deeper insight into the Star Wars universe, itself, along with many of its various legends.

And as a relic of a bygone age, The Star Wars Sourcebook serves as a beautiful reminder of these legends, allowing you to enjoy them and recall an earlier time in the history of all things Star Wars, even as the newer films, television shows, comics, and novels blast us forward into the galaxy's future.

The Limited Edition set is due for release in the fourth quarter of 2017 and will retail at USD 59.95.

For more information please keep an eye on the Fantasy Flight Games Product Page.

 

[Jester David]

Did you really join in here just to share your own personal definition of "collectible" ?

No... I posted the second reply. And then returned to see what other people had to say, and felt compelled to comment.

 

[mykesfree]

You can use this as a start for your new campaign.

https://www.erictrautmann.us/2017/02/08/i-am-one-with-the-force-the-force-is-with-me/?logout=1

 

[Lord_Blacksteel]

No... I posted the second reply. And then returned to see what other people had to say, and felt compelled to comment.

Fair enough. I suppose I could say something similar

In case I am coming off as not liking this project I actually am pleasantly surprised - I really liked this game and I've run 3-4 sessions of d6 Star Wars in the past year and my teenagers love it. I'd just like to see a little more if they're going to go to this effort. WOTC added in the errata when they reprinted the AD&D books and added in an extra intro adventure when they collated the Slavers series. Green Ronin added designers' (and others) commentary when they created the 10th anniversary Mutants and Masterminds book. Some kind of enhancement would make this a lot more interesting I think.

As someone who never had the game, I kind of wished they would have reprinted the latest version. If I use the revised rules from d6 Space alongside this, will that get me to the most refined version?

I'm also wondering how much setting material on the Star Wars universe will be included in the Sourcebook. Is that the go to reference, or is it just hinting at things?

Honestly, I wish they'd put out more complete material so that people didn't have any reason to get the fan version.

The sourcebook was a pretty complete entry on aliens and gear etc. when it first came out (1987 remember) but that was when we only had 3 movies, a few novels, and some comic books. If your personal sweet spot is the original trilogy then it's great. If you're into the prequels, Clone Wars, Rebels, the newer movies, the Old Republic material, or the ever-growing set of novels or comics then you're probably going to want more. When it was new I thought it was awesome and it pulled me into the game in spite of the unusual (for the time) dice mechanics. I'm not sure it's quite as magical today for someone who is seeing it for the first time as there are much prettier books out there that cover this kind of stuff.

The good thing about d6 is that there are a lot of options out there. Our own "core" here is 2E R&E with a lot of the extra heft trimmed out or just ignored. The fan version is solid too if you poke around the internet. I just like having some physical Star Wars books around the table for people to use so that's what I keep handy. d6 Space is a good version, it's just not as Star Wars-y as one of the original books.

 

[Water Bob]

As someone who never had the game, I kind of wished they would have reprinted the latest version. If I use the revised rules from d6 Space alongside this, will that get me to the most refined version?

You are operating under the misconception that the later editions are better than the first. There are many--I am one of them--who have played with R&E, the last edition of the game, and went back to the core book.

As I said above, all editions of D6 Star Wars are good. But, there are two editions and five versions (3 versions of 1st Ed, 2 versions of 2nd Ed). Each has a different flavor.

If you like lots of detail, lots of skills, big handfuls of dice, and lots of rolls for various details, then Second Edition is your game.

But, if you like a slim, rules lite game, where you're rolling a lot less dice, there are fewer skills, and the game is less crunchy--being quicker and has a more fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants feel, then First Edition is your game.

Both are good. It depends on your taste.

If you want to know more about First Edition, take a look at this thread I wrote about a year ago: FIRST EDITION LOVE STORY.

I'm also wondering how much setting material on the Star Wars universe will be included in the Sourcebook. Is that the go to reference, or is it just hinting at things?

I would say it's a necessary rulebook to the game. It serves as a type of Star Wars game encyclopedia. Almost all of this content is not duplicated in the core rulebook.

Here's a description of its contents:

Chapter One - General Spacecraft Systems

Chapter Two - Starfighters

Chapter Three - Combat Starships

Chapter Four - Space Transports

Chapter Five - Droids

Chapter Six - Repulsorlift Vehicles

Chapter Seven - Ground Assault Vehicles

Chapter Eight - Aliens

Chapter Nine - Creatures

Chapter Ten - General Equipment

Chapter Eleven - Lightsabers

Chapter Twelve - Stormtroopers

Chapter Thirteen - Rebel Bases

Chapter Fourteen - Imperial Garrisons

Chapter Fifteen - Heroes and Villains

Honestly, I wish they'd put out more complete material so that people didn't have any reason to get the fan version.

I own the entire WEG D6 Star Wars line. All editions. And First Edition is my go-to, favorite version of the rules.

 

[Water Bob]

It's neat that the helmet that Rey wears in The Force Awakens is a squadron helmet from the Tierfon squadron. Tierfon base was created by WEG and first described in Chapter Thirteen of the Sourcebook.

Mucho cool!

 

[Bill Winski]

Thanks, Water Bob... That is absolutely awesome!

 

[Water Bob]

THE CORE FIRST EDITION GAME

In my opinion, you can get away with playing Star Wars just using the First Edition Core Rulebook, but you'll be making up the stats for 99% of the vehicles, starships, droids, and characters that you will want to use in your game. That's why I think the Star Wars sourcebook is a necessary Core component to the game.

The very least that you'll want to get (to play First Edition) is the Core Rulebook + SW Sourcebook combo.





Now, I'll go a step further than that. I would say that the complete, basic core rules and background material are provided in four books: You need the two books above, the Core Rulebook + the SW Sourcebook. And, you need the The Imperial Sourcebook and the Rebel Alliance Sourcebook.

Star Wars Roleplaying Game + Star Wars Sourcebook + The Imperial Sourcebook + The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook.​

These four books complete the core rules of the First Edition game, which is set in the years just after the Death Star is destroyed at the Battle of Yavin and the events that occur in The Empire Strikes Back. Later, the official game focus was expanded to include the entire trilogy period, and in Second Edition, the game added a new time period in which to play: The New Republic (which is now considered Legacy--the game followed the continued adventures of Luke, Leia and Han during the post-Jedi comics, novels, and computer games.)

The game is easily adaptable to any Star Wars period, though.

A note on Second Edition: First Edition D6 SW is about 95% compatible with Second Edition. Second Edition stat blocks are much longer, so there's stuff that you will not use in a 1E game. And, there are a few things, like the concept of Speed Dice, that are replaced in 2E. You'll need to convert if using a 2E supplement with 1E. But, I will say the conversion is minimal, and I would not hesitate to use a 2E supplement in any 1E game. In most ways, the games are identical--you just get more specifics with 2E.











ADVENTURES AND SUPPLEMENTS

WEG published a ton of adventures, and I think they're all quite good. WEG also had a policy to put an adventure in every supplement they publish. So, most supplments do have a short adventure in them. The Core Rulebook has two adventures. One is a Solo adventure designed to help you learn to use the rules and play the game. The second one is a short adventure that you can use as a starting point for a campaign. It's an adventure where new rebel recruits are thrown together in the face of Imperial attack, so it throws a wide selection of characters together and right into the blaster-firing action.

Besides the four books above, the supplements that I would recommend are:

-- Any WEG SW adventure that interests you.

-- Cracken's Rebel Field Guide, which is great if playing with a group of Rebels that are under-funded and under-equipped. Lots of useful misc. rules, too.

-- Death Star Technical Companion, which is a good DM book that helps give that Star Wars feel to Imperial installations. Lots of useful modular maps and room descriptions that you can drop into a game anywhere.

-- Wanted by Cracken, full of bad-guy NPCs and criminal organizations. Good GM book as it as baddies that you can use to face the Rebel PCs. Also good for a bounty hunter based game.

-- Galaxy Guide 4: Alien Races, full of alien races that a GM can use in his game, or a player can use as his PC.

-- Galaxy Guide 9: Fragments from the Rim, is an excellent book full of miscellaneous stuff a GM can use in his game. Primarily meant for the GM.

-- Galaxy Guide 11: Criminal Organizations, another good GM book full of adversaries for the player characters.

-- Galaxy Guide 12: Aliens - Enemies and Allies, another book of aliens for use as NPCs or PC, because this is Star Wars, and you can never get enough strange aliens into your game.

-- Alien Encounters, this is a large book of aliens, and it includes an alien creation system. If you only get one book that focuses on aliens, this is the one to get. Use the aliens as NPCs or PCs in your game.

-- The Planets Collection, is a compendum of three previous supplements. It is a collection of worlds that a GM can use to populate his Star Wars universe. Complete world descriptions. World map. And, interesting notes, including new alien races.

-- Shadows of the Empire: Planets Guide, more planets for you to use in your game. These worlds were all mentioned in the Shadows of the Empire story.

-- Creatures of the Galaxy, is an excellent book that will help the GM add creatures to his game (so that he's not using the Rancor or Mynocks over and over).

-- Cracken's Rebel Operatives, meant for the GM, this is an NPC book that a GM can use to populate his game.

-- Galladium's Fantastic Technology: Guns and Gear, one of the two books solely devoted to gear.

-- Gundark's Fantastic Technology: Personal Gear, is the second book devoted entirely to gear.

-- Platt's Starport Guide, excellent book focusing on starports and starship operations and procedures & licenses. Includes an interesting look at some well-known ports, like Kuat.

-- Alliance Intelligence Reports, meant for the GM, this is another good book with droids and NPCs that a GM can use to populate his Rebel based game.

-- Rules of Engagement: The Rebel SpecForce Handbook, a great book to use if you want to move beyond the typical Rebel to a more specialized, better equipped force. For example, this book would be useful for a GM who wanted to play the Rogue One storyline in his game. There are some intriguing combat rules and encumbrance rules in this sourcebook.

-- Cynabar's Fantastic Technology: Droids, the First Edition Core Rulebook as a quick-n-easy system for creating droids in seconds. If you get into droids, and you want some crunchy, detailed rules for their creation, then this is the supplement to get. Also includes several examples of new droids to use in a game.

-- Cracken's Threat Dossier, full of game data for people, places, ships, and technology featured in some of the later Star Wars novels that were being published in the 1990's.

-- Stock Ships, is a collection of freighters for use in your game, each complete with deckplans.

-- Wretched Hives of Scum and Villainy, details eight establishments that a GM can drop into his game when needed. The write-up are long and detailed. Maps provided.

-- Hideouts and Strongholds, provides the GM with ready-made bases and safe houses for Rebel PCs.







OTHER STUFF

WEG published a ton of other stuff for the D6 Star Wars RPG. What I focus on above is what might interest a GM running a standard game with a group of Rebels scratching out an existence, fighting the Imperials tooth-n-nail in any way they can. If you want to run a different type of game, there's probably a supplement to support that endeavor.

For example, if you want to run a game that focuses on bounty hunters, then you'll want to get No Disintegrations. If you want to focus on smugglers, then you will want to get Galaxy Guide 6: Tramp Freighters. If you've just read Brian Daley's Han Solo trilogy, and you think the setting for those books would be an interesting area of the universe in which to set your campaign, then you'll want to get the Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook. If you want to set your game on Tatooine, then you should look at the adventure, Tatooine Manhunt, plus Galaxy Guide 1: A New Hope, and Galaxy Guide 7: Mos Eisley. There are tons more, but you get the idea.

The Gamemaster Screen sets are all good buys. They come lots of good extras--and some excellent advice for GMs, both seasoned and newbie, in running Star Wars adventures.

There are also plenty of setting supplements, from single worlds, like Goroth - Slave of the Empire or The Black Sands of Socorro, to novel based settings, like the Truce At Bakura Sourcebook, Shadows of the Empire Sourcebook, or the Thrawn Trilogy Sourcebook. There are even sources for entire sectors of space, like Flashpoint! Brak Sector and The Player's Guide to Tapani.

And, there is much, much more.









THE STAR WARS COMICS

I want to mention these because they can be an excellent source for game session ideas even if you are not a comics reader. There are tons and tons of Star Wars comics out there, primarily published by Marvel (today and in the 70's & 80's, and by Dark Horse from the 90's to just a few years ago). Not only are a lot of them excellent Star Wars reads, but plenty of them are ripe for conversion into an adventure for your players.

 

[KahlessNestor]

I have only ever played the current FFG Star Wars (Edge of the Empire, etc. ) and enjoy it. I wonder if this is something I should get.

Sent from my SM-G900P using EN World mobile app

 

[mykesfree]

You can also use the Rogue One Galaxy Guide.

https://www.erictrautmann.us/2017/02...h-me/?logout=1

 

[ScaleyBob]

Wow! That's fantastic - great job there, Fantasy Flight.

It's one of my favourite RPGs, and it's amazing just how much background was created in the RPG. WEG was given access to the Lucasfilm archives, and used a lot of the concept art in the game. They came up with names, and background for a lot of it, which then became cannon.

At the time it came out, Star War mania had well and truly run down (even if it was only 3 years after Jedi had been released) and it was the small light in the Dark Times. If it hadn't been for the success of the RPG, then I suspect we never would have seen the Zahn novels, or the Dark Horse comics, or any of the other stuff that eventually led to cinema re release of the original trilogy, the prequels or the current movies. It pretty much saved Star Wars as a franchise.

I'm very tempted by this, even though I've still got my originals sitting on my shelf. 30th Anniversary does make me feel old though.