Back in 1977, a couple of weekend after it opened, my mother took my younger brother and I to a movie that changed things for a lot of people. That movie was, of course, Star Wars. A short ten years later, all three of the original Star Wars movies had come out and everyone thought that there wouldn't be any more movies coming out. That was when West End Games entered with their Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. Thirty years later, Fantasy Flight Games (the current holder of the Star Wars gaming license) are putting out a slipcased edition of that original game, along with the Star Wars Sourcebook.
I came into the Star Wars Roleplaying Game with West End Games' second edition, nearly ten years after this so this new facsimile edition is really my first encounter with the original edition of Star Wars.
One of the things that was interesting to me about this original edition is that, like so many games that came out over the course of the first ten or fifteen years of game design is that the setting comes secondary to the rule. Yes, this is the Star Wars role-playing game, but despite a number of photos from the original trilogy, write ups of X-Wing and TIE fighters and the Millennium Falcon, not to mention an obvious section on The Force, there really isn't an overwhelming Star Warsness to the rule book.
I'm sure that some will disagree with me on this, but I don't think that this edition of Star Wars is all that Star Wars. That isn't a negative. With the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, West End Games made one of the best and most influential science fiction/science fantasy role-playing games to have been published. I would go so far as to say that the Star Wars Roleplaying Game is more important to science fiction gaming than Traveller or post-apocalyptic games like Gamma World. The D6 System, originally created for West End Games' first licensed RPG, Ghostbusters, is a simple and elegant role-playing ruleset that is incredibly robust despite that simplicity.
If your exposure to the D6 System is via the Purgatory Publishing era of West End Games, you were exposed to a more complicated version of the rules that drew upon elements of other West End Games like Masterbook and Shatterzone, and that added advantages, disadvantages and special abilities to characters. This stream of the D6 System also added another attribute to characters and based what had been Force Abilities off of that attribute. This more contemporary version of the rules isn't really better or worse, there are just more moving parts to the system. Both have their advantages and disadvantages to them. If you like a game with more mechanical "bite" to it, the later D6 System games like D6 Space will likely be more to your interest.
The game uses a system of pools of six-sided dice to determine a character's successes in the game. For example, if your character has a 4D score in their blaster skill you would roll 4 six-sided dice to determine whether or not your character hits their target. The single die type coupled with a simple task resolution system makes the game easy to play, regardless of how experienced you might be with role-playing. This ease of play has always been one of the great strengths of the game, regardless of which incarnation of the D6 System that you use.
I like the simplicity of the original edition of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. The second edition probably does a better job of being a Star Wars game, and it has the benefit of being able to add later Extended Universe concepts like Force Sensitivity. I would also say that the second edition benefits from an additional near decade of experience with running Star Wars games. However, I like the raw energy of the original edition better, and the less overtly Star Wars nature of the game means that you can conceivably do a lot more with the game's rules as written. A friend wrote a pretty good blog post about how he used the original edition of the Star Wars game for swords & sorcery fantasy role-playing.
As later genre books like D6 Adventure and D6 Fantasy demonstrated, the D6 System can be used for a number of different genres and types of campaigns.
Now, in case you've never played the D6 version of Star Wars, and you're concerned that there's just not enough Star Wars in this game for you, don't worry. This is why the second book in the slipcase is there. The Star Wars Sourcebook has all the Star Wars (up to the time of the original trilogy, obviously) that you'll need to run a classic Star Wars campaign. In the Sourcebook you'll find the heroes and villains of the original trilogy, maps of important locations like Rebel bases, blueprint for the Millennium Falcon, common creatures of the universe and much more. It seems like they realized that they needed more Star Wars in their Star Wars and made up for any setting shortcomings with the Sourcebook. With these two books you'll have all the tools that you need for classic Star Wars gaming.
They are hard to find, but if you can come across any of the Galaxy Guides published by West End Games (at a decent price) I would suggest picking them up for your games. Each Guide focuses on a particular location or starship type, and they made them for each of the original trilogy movies as well. The Galaxy Guides focus in greater detail on these locations, giving more information and writeups for the important characters as well. I have the Galaxy Guides for A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. The Guide for A New Hope gives a lot of information on Mos Eisley, which could make for an excellent starting point for anyone's Star Wars campaign.
This reissue of the original edition of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game is geared towards people who weren't in gaming when it came out the first time. There's nothing new in this reissue for people who already have these books from the first time around, except of course for the Star Wars completionists. If you've heard for years about the greatness of this role-playing game, and want to experience it for yourself, this is the place to do it. Ignore the unauthorized pirates and go with this set of books instead. I don't think that you will regret your choices.
You will also see the inspiration of the D6 System and Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game upon more contemporary games like Savage Worlds. The D6 System itself continues on. Khepera Publishing successfully Kickstarted their Mythic D6 rules, an evolution of the D6 Legend rules that were used in West End Games' DC Comics role-playing game. Nocturnal Media plans a new edition of the core D6 System that will also be Kickstarted. The core rules had previously been released under the OGL, and there are a number of publishers who have utilized those rules.
Hopefully we will see a renaissance of D6 System games in the near future.
The reissue is also dedicated to Stewart Wieck, who had purchased the last of the West End Games assets (including the rights to the D6 System and the West End Games name) to reintroduce them to the world through his Nocturnal Media company. Wieck and Nocturnal Media worked with Fantasy Flight Games to produce the files that were used to print these books. Unfortunately, Wieck did not live to see this co-production come out.
I came into the Star Wars Roleplaying Game with West End Games' second edition, nearly ten years after this so this new facsimile edition is really my first encounter with the original edition of Star Wars.
One of the things that was interesting to me about this original edition is that, like so many games that came out over the course of the first ten or fifteen years of game design is that the setting comes secondary to the rule. Yes, this is the Star Wars role-playing game, but despite a number of photos from the original trilogy, write ups of X-Wing and TIE fighters and the Millennium Falcon, not to mention an obvious section on The Force, there really isn't an overwhelming Star Warsness to the rule book.
I'm sure that some will disagree with me on this, but I don't think that this edition of Star Wars is all that Star Wars. That isn't a negative. With the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, West End Games made one of the best and most influential science fiction/science fantasy role-playing games to have been published. I would go so far as to say that the Star Wars Roleplaying Game is more important to science fiction gaming than Traveller or post-apocalyptic games like Gamma World. The D6 System, originally created for West End Games' first licensed RPG, Ghostbusters, is a simple and elegant role-playing ruleset that is incredibly robust despite that simplicity.
If your exposure to the D6 System is via the Purgatory Publishing era of West End Games, you were exposed to a more complicated version of the rules that drew upon elements of other West End Games like Masterbook and Shatterzone, and that added advantages, disadvantages and special abilities to characters. This stream of the D6 System also added another attribute to characters and based what had been Force Abilities off of that attribute. This more contemporary version of the rules isn't really better or worse, there are just more moving parts to the system. Both have their advantages and disadvantages to them. If you like a game with more mechanical "bite" to it, the later D6 System games like D6 Space will likely be more to your interest.
The game uses a system of pools of six-sided dice to determine a character's successes in the game. For example, if your character has a 4D score in their blaster skill you would roll 4 six-sided dice to determine whether or not your character hits their target. The single die type coupled with a simple task resolution system makes the game easy to play, regardless of how experienced you might be with role-playing. This ease of play has always been one of the great strengths of the game, regardless of which incarnation of the D6 System that you use.
I like the simplicity of the original edition of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game. The second edition probably does a better job of being a Star Wars game, and it has the benefit of being able to add later Extended Universe concepts like Force Sensitivity. I would also say that the second edition benefits from an additional near decade of experience with running Star Wars games. However, I like the raw energy of the original edition better, and the less overtly Star Wars nature of the game means that you can conceivably do a lot more with the game's rules as written. A friend wrote a pretty good blog post about how he used the original edition of the Star Wars game for swords & sorcery fantasy role-playing.
As later genre books like D6 Adventure and D6 Fantasy demonstrated, the D6 System can be used for a number of different genres and types of campaigns.
Now, in case you've never played the D6 version of Star Wars, and you're concerned that there's just not enough Star Wars in this game for you, don't worry. This is why the second book in the slipcase is there. The Star Wars Sourcebook has all the Star Wars (up to the time of the original trilogy, obviously) that you'll need to run a classic Star Wars campaign. In the Sourcebook you'll find the heroes and villains of the original trilogy, maps of important locations like Rebel bases, blueprint for the Millennium Falcon, common creatures of the universe and much more. It seems like they realized that they needed more Star Wars in their Star Wars and made up for any setting shortcomings with the Sourcebook. With these two books you'll have all the tools that you need for classic Star Wars gaming.
They are hard to find, but if you can come across any of the Galaxy Guides published by West End Games (at a decent price) I would suggest picking them up for your games. Each Guide focuses on a particular location or starship type, and they made them for each of the original trilogy movies as well. The Galaxy Guides focus in greater detail on these locations, giving more information and writeups for the important characters as well. I have the Galaxy Guides for A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. The Guide for A New Hope gives a lot of information on Mos Eisley, which could make for an excellent starting point for anyone's Star Wars campaign.
This reissue of the original edition of Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game is geared towards people who weren't in gaming when it came out the first time. There's nothing new in this reissue for people who already have these books from the first time around, except of course for the Star Wars completionists. If you've heard for years about the greatness of this role-playing game, and want to experience it for yourself, this is the place to do it. Ignore the unauthorized pirates and go with this set of books instead. I don't think that you will regret your choices.
You will also see the inspiration of the D6 System and Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game upon more contemporary games like Savage Worlds. The D6 System itself continues on. Khepera Publishing successfully Kickstarted their Mythic D6 rules, an evolution of the D6 Legend rules that were used in West End Games' DC Comics role-playing game. Nocturnal Media plans a new edition of the core D6 System that will also be Kickstarted. The core rules had previously been released under the OGL, and there are a number of publishers who have utilized those rules.
Hopefully we will see a renaissance of D6 System games in the near future.
The reissue is also dedicated to Stewart Wieck, who had purchased the last of the West End Games assets (including the rights to the D6 System and the West End Games name) to reintroduce them to the world through his Nocturnal Media company. Wieck and Nocturnal Media worked with Fantasy Flight Games to produce the files that were used to print these books. Unfortunately, Wieck did not live to see this co-production come out.
