Star wars - which version?

[possum]

I pretty much have every edition of the game, from WEG to WotC. Each system has its strengths and weaknesses, I must say. Wizard's early efforts weren't all that good, but they weren't exactly bad, either. Saga Edition is definately the best one that Wizards put out, but it is out of print and certain books (Starships of the Galxy and Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide) are very difficult to find now without spending a lot of money.

As for WEG, it too has its weaknesses. Several have commented that at times it involves "Buckets of dice" to roll even something kind of simple. Then again, it does have the best non-mechanics material that has ever been made for any RPG, let alone a Star Wars one. In fact, even if you do decide to go with Saga edition, I recommend picking up some WEG books for the info alone. For most of the 1980s, WEG was the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Personally, I say that you should go with Saga Edition. That's my personal preference.

As for PDFs, there are no legal PDFs out there of any Star Wars RPG material. There was always some type of loophole in the contract or in the way the Lucas companies are set up that means that any electronic format--even PDFs--are the sole province of Lucasarts, the video game company. At least that's how I remember what someone said on the message boards when that question was asked years ago.

As for finding books, especially in the UK, I would recommend ebay. You might want to see if Amazon.uk has any of the books still in stock, as well as your friendly local game stores.

 

[JediSoth]

If you really want to focus on some elements that aren't in the movies, no matter which version you end up playing, you should hunt down a copy of Han Solo and the Corporate Sector Sourcebook put out by WEG. It's indispensable for create a game that feels Star Wars without Jedi baggage or The Empire.

 

[Deset Gled]

Then again, it does have the best non-mechanics material that has ever been made for any RPG, let alone a Star Wars one. In fact, even if you do decide to go with Saga edition, I recommend picking up some WEG books for the info alone. For most of the 1980s, WEG was the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Quoted for truth.

The WEG 2e version will probably also be much better if you want to do things other than fight. The skill system makes it possible to build characters who have absolutely no combat skills; you can focus entirely on repairing/building technology, social skills, piloting, etc.

Be warned that it's also a level-less system. Because of the extreme variation in character skills and lack of power quantification, the only tried and true way to balance a SW 2e game is by using eigen plots. This may or may not be a bad thing.

 

[Treebore]

I like SAGA the best. I didn't like WEG's D6, I absolutely disliked WOTC's first attempt, but had a lot of fun running SW SAGA, and I had the most success with getting the right feel across as well.

 

[kitsune9]

My favorite version was WEG's D6. Had so many fun games with that system.

 

[pukunui]

I have only ever played Saga Edition (so I can't speak to WEG's d6 or WotC's earlier d20 versions). Personally, I find Saga Edition to be the best RPG game I've ever played. Does it have flaws? Sure. What RPG doesn't? It's hardly a mess, though, as pawsplay claims.

In terms of getting Saga Edition books: try Miniature Market. They've still got a bunch of the supplements and at rock-bottom prices too ($10 for The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide, which is arguably one of the best supplements for the game!). Unfortunately, they're all out of the core rulebook, so you'll have to look for that elsewhere (eBay most likely ... definitely look for a second printing, as that has the errata incorporated into it).

Also unfortunately, two of the earliest (and best) supplements, Starships of the Galaxy and Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, went out of print long ago and the price gougers are now the only ones offering them (at outrageous $100+ prices - I think there's someone on amazon asking for $300 for the KotOR book).

So I would personally recommend Saga Edition.



FWIW, there are rumors that a new company has picked up the license. Whether or not they will release a new, tailor-made SW RPG or not remains to be seen. A bunch of smaller companies have denied having the license, but whoever has got it (if anyone does) hasn't said anything yet ...

 

[wolff96]

My favorite version was WEG's D6. Had so many fun games with that system.

This is my reaction as well.

I've given just about every one down the pipe a try and I loved the (final) WEG d6 best.

The advancement is generally pretty slow, but the initial characters are actually competent -- something I thought carried over well from the movies. Even fresh off the farm, Luke kicked some ass... and that was before he learned much about the Force.

Jedi in D6 *are* flat-out more powerful than other characters. It's been my experience, though, that they're also a lot more FRAGILE than other characters until they've gained a LOT of advancement. In our group, I can only think of one Jedi that actually became a real force in the campaign -- the spotlight was almost always on the Bounty Hunters, Pilots, and Troopers that could actually survive for a while in a fight. *IF* you can keep them alive, they do become amazing, though.

As mentioned above, it has amazing supplements as well, really doing a great job of fleshing out the worlds invovled.

I still miss a couple of my characters... including a smuggler who bore quite a bit more than a passing resemblance to a certain movie character. (What can I say, I was young! )

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Jedi in D6 *are* flat-out more powerful than other characters. It's been my experience, though, that they're also a lot more FRAGILE than other characters until they've gained a LOT of advancement.)

To explain this a bit.

When creating a D6 Star Wars character you have 18 dice to divide into six statistics. Jedi (and only Jedi) have an extra three statistics to add to. This means that you start out pretty weak compared to the other players but after lots of advancement of your character (by adding extra dice to your statistics) you can eventually make up for the starting weaknesses and surpass the other players with you Jedi skills you learn along the way.

To answer the OP, I recommend D6 Star Wars as I think it supports personal, vehicle, and starship combat most seamlessly. It would be a hard choice for any pre-episode-4 era since there was no official support for such.

DS

 

[kitsune9]

[MENTION=342]wolff96[/MENTION]. I think that's what I really enjoyed about the d6 was that you started out pretty much able to kick butt, take names and chew bubblegum.

I know that I would create my run-of-mill tech guy or laborer and it would be an awesome character.

Also, for the powergamer in me, I would specialize and max out certain skills (namely blaster) and shoot several baddies in the same round in every combat. Pure awesome.

 

[pukunui]

[MENTION=342]wolff96[/MENTION]. I think that's what I really enjoyed about the d6 was that you started out pretty much able to kick butt, take names and chew bubblegum.

You can do that in Saga too. For starters, all heroes get triple max hit points at 1st level. Then there's the whole Skill Focus thing which makes Force users and frontmen (Deception/Persuasion) overpowered at low levels.