Best Star Wars RPG?

[delericho]

On balance, I went for SWSE. The WEG d6 system is great, but I was never fond of the way it handled Jedi, and the d20 systems had significant problems in many areas. I've never played the new FFG system - those funny dice are a deal-breaker for me (plus, after six previous versions, I don't need another).

So, SWSE it is. Though at this point I'd very much like to see a 5e-ish version of the same.

 

[aramis erak]

Even Force & Destiny won't have characters start as Jedi... It will take a long time and a lot of XP for that to happen.

When I talk of FFGs Star Wars I put all three games in one group because it is one game system to me, and everything in the game is fairly well balanced around that fundamental core engine.

Starting characters in F&D don't start with lightsabers. They are not Jedi. Starting F&D characters are about equal to Luke towards the end of A New Hope. They will have one Force Power, I am not sure if they could manage to start with two.

Starting characters in F&D are equal to those in AoR and EotE.

Judging from the beta, it does - as an option. Look up "Knight Level". And judging from some forthcoming non-beta stuff I've playtested, they're using the Knight-level option as the expected default. It's possible to start with 3 force dice under the beta. I've had a player do so. And it gets the Clone Wars feel VERY right.

 

[Pseudonym]

West End gets a nostalgia nod, but I went with SAGA because that's what we are playing now and after a little confusion switching gears back from 5E D&D, it's working pretty well.

 

[Staffan]

If the color blind element is true, FFG needs to rethink their dice a little bit though. You think they would of tested that. I personally am a big fan of the saga system WOTC did. WEG's original was amazing too. EotE I'm watching closely. FFG have great production value but they can unnecessarily over complicate games and ruin their full potential IMHO. Look at WFRP or BSG board game.

Not being color-blind myself, I wonder to what degree it would actually be a problem when combined with the different die shapes used. FFG uses a total of six different dice for task resolution (plus a seventh that only get involved when you use the Force):
* Red and yellow d12
* Green and purple d8
* Blue and black d6

I looked at a picture of the dice through a bunch of different filters meant to simulate various types of color blindness, and had no trouble telling them apart. Notably, out of each pair one is relatively light-shaded with black symbols, and the other is relatively dark-shaded with white symbols. The most problematic one was blue-blind color blindness which made the yellow die look pink, which is fairly close to the red one, but not to a degree where I had trouble telling them apart.

 

[Stan Shinn]

I am colorblind. I have a big complaint with playing with color coded dice since I have trouble seeing colors.

I can mostly tell the _physical dice_ colors apart; the bigger issue is the color of the dice symbol _icons_ in the book. They are very difficult for me to tell apart. It's even worse when you print out a PDF adventure like Under a Black Sun or a character sheet. Printer ink varies in shade and tone -- sometimes it's easier to tell colors apart, sometimes much harder.

It's also very difficult at the table when folks yell out 'use the green die'. Or if someone says 'which die do I roll?' Color blind guys instinctive answer: 'Use the one shaped like a d8 but that is lighter than the darker one shaped like a d8'. Not very satisfying conversation.

Can a color-blind person make do by memorizing light and dark shades, and doing translations in their head? Yes. Is it as satisfying and as fun to play as someone who can see colors? Absolutely not.

It's a bit like Fate dice -- if you don't have have Fate dice you can use regular d6's and say '1-2 is a minus, 3-4 is a zero, and 5-6 is a plus'. Then do the translation with each dice roll to 'make' them work like Fate dice. Will it work? Yes. Is it fun and satisfying? In my opinion, no. I would play Fate if I had Fate dice. If I could not use Fate dice and had to do that translation, I would seriously reconsider using that system.

 

[fjw70]

Despite being a big Star Wars fan I haven't played much SW RPGs. I played a little Saga and wasn't impressed (I did hope for a second edition of Saga based more on the 4e D&D rules). I payed a little FFG as well. Loved the dice but the rules are too fiddly for me (e.g. Talent trees, move power trees, equipment mods, etc.).

I have thought about giving d6 a try but maybe something more free form like a Barbarians of Lemuria or Fate hack would be better.

 

[bone_naga]

It was close between d6 and FFG but FFG won out for it's non-binary resolution. I really like the mechanics of the dice and the narrative focus of the game. Of course I'll always have a place in my heart for West End, not to mention the wealth of material that exists for that game.

d20 and Saga weren't even in the running. Saga was far better than d20 but it still felt more suited for D&D than Star Wars. It never really captured the same feel as the movies.

 

[wingsandsword]

Before you comfortably settle on your stance, give FFG EoE a try, you might re-evaluate your 'prefered' edition.

No.

I was getting tired of having to buy new editions of Star Wars by the time Saga Edition came out. I've got shelves full of d6 books, every single book published for the d20 version, and about half of the Saga Edition books. . .and I was really getting tired of it by Saga Edition. Buying several new books to try a new game (since the core rules are apparently spread out among different books, like D&D, and unlike prior Star Wars games) isn't for me.

I like how fairly rules-light d6 is and how flexible it is. I like how I've been able to teach people with no prior gaming experience how to play it in less than 5 minutes and how I've had people who normally hate RPG's as being too rule/math intense play it and like it.

FFG going to the trouble of spreading out the rules for things like force users away from the main rules just seems like a patently obvious cash grab, then special dice on top of that? No.

Then hearing that starting force-users are that weak? All in the name of game balance? (Game balance has very little place in Star Wars, this isn't D&D. Model the setting not the idea that all characters have to be mechanically equal) So I guess a Clone-Wars era game with PC's starting as Padawans is right out. WotC followed that canard of game balance, but they at least set starting characters at the point that a starting force-user could have the basic skill set and equipment of a young Jedi.

I understand that it's got people voting for it now, it's the current game, it's the one that's got hype and "support" and people go to their FLGS and see the shiny new thing on the shelf.

People said the same thing about Saga Edition when it was out, and people said that about the d20 OCR and RCR rules when they were out too.

Me? I'll be fine with my d6 rules, and converting things from the d20/Saga versions back to d6.

Then again, I'm also similarly cynical and uninterested at the Disney reboot of Star Wars, so I'm not one to just jump on something because it's got hype and a marketing blitz behind it. The moment they labelled the Star Wars I'd known and loved for 20+ years as "Legends" and talked about how "Legends" wasn't the real Star Wars (unlike their new stuff), I realized I was probably done buying new Star Wars stuff.

 

[bone_naga]

No.

I was getting tired of having to buy new editions of Star Wars by the time Saga Edition came out. I've got shelves full of d6 books, every single book published for the d20 version, and about half of the Saga Edition books. . .and I was really getting tired of it by Saga Edition. Buying several new books to try a new game (since the core rules are apparently spread out among different books, like D&D, and unlike prior Star Wars games) isn't for me.

I get not wanting to invest in a whole line of new books, but the core rules aren't really spread out between multiple books. Each of the core books is more like a sub-setting within the SW universe, but each of the books contains all the core rules needed to play. The starter box has enough rules to get you going and includes dice. Or there is a free app, but of course most people prefer to roll real dice.

There's nothing wrong with continuing to play the edition you love, I just wanted to point that out. No one should miss out on a good game because of any misconceptions.

 

[wingsandsword]

I get not wanting to invest in a whole line of new books, but the core rules aren't really spread out between multiple books. Each of the core books is more like a sub-setting within the SW universe, but each of the books contains all the core rules needed to play. The starter box has enough rules to get you going and includes dice. Or there is a free app, but of course most people prefer to roll real dice.

There's nothing wrong with continuing to play the edition you love, I just wanted to point that out. No one should miss out on a good game because of any misconceptions.

Okay, so the rules for force-users weren't only in the later supplement Force and Destiny?

I've been running Star Wars games since the late '90's, in d6 and all the WotC editions, and I can say that if you create a group of Star Wars PC's, you'll have people wanting to play the following as starting characters:

Bounty hunters
Jedi apprentices
Starfighter pilots
Smugglers
Soldiers/troopers
Slicers/technicians (usually humans, sometimes verpine or other highly intelligent/technically astute species)
Martial Artists/Non-force melee combat experts (sometimes humans, but often wookiees or gamorreans)

The core of FFG's Star Wars game includes support for those character types, it's not spread among multiple books?

Also, my favorite era to run in is the New Republic era, as once the Jedi Praxeum is founded in 11 ABY (basically the period 12 ABY to 19 ABY, the period between when the Jedi Praxeum was open to new applicants and the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty as once the Galactic Civil War was over and the Empire wasn't an adversary anymore it just never seemed quite as appealing), but sometimes I do run games set in the late Republic era, starting in the buildup to the Clone Wars, and going through the Clone Wars up to their end and the aftermath (usually most of the PC's dying and the survivors hiding or retiring). My understanding is that FFG's materials are more restricted to the movies, especially the Original Trilogy?