Scavenger's Guide to Droids

[ValhallaGH]

While I have you folks here: what are the key books for SAGA?

Must:
Core Book.

Very worthwhile if you'll be using those elements in your campaigns:
Starships.
Droids.

Great ideas but unnecessary:
Most of the "Era" books.
Scoundrel book.
War book.

Avoid:
Threats of the Galaxy.


I'm sure I've forgotten some but it's late and I'm tired.
Good luck.

 

[Blackrat]

Yeah, I think Valhalla nailed it. Starships is pretty much must have and the droid book is probably the most useful to come out ever since that. Threats of the Galaxy is indeed somewhat horror, but if you don't mind NPC's bending the rules then it's ok. Then again, you'll do better by checking the OP's signature for NPC list

Then depending on the era you play you should invest in the appropriate era book, especially if you are the GM.

 

[Belen]

I loved this book. It was very much old school saga. I dislike how the rules have shifted to more encounter power BS over time, so these rules work for me.

As for the best books, here is my must have list:

Saga Core
Starships of the Galaxy (out of print)
Scavengers Guide to Droids
Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Setting

 

[lukelightning]

My favorite PC "combat" droids are the ones that aren't combat models. I designed a droid called XT-RMN8 who was an exterminator droid. Sounds dangerous until you realize it's basically a cleaning droid that was designed to get rid of vermin.

 

[fireinthedust]

Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Setting

Why Knights of the Old Republic?

I'm going to be playing in late Clone Wars/Early Rise of the Empire. I don't know that I need it to be too close to Cannon, though, so other than good monster stats, I think I'm fine.

Does anyone have a map of a Star Destroyer or (preferably) a Republic Cruiser? My players are the crew of one, and it's their base for now; it'd be handy if the map worked for our group.

 

[MarkB]

Why Knights of the Old Republic?

I'm also keen on that one. Taking its lead from the Knights of the Old Republic computer games, it converts many of the items, abilities and Force powers from them into decent, balanced game elements. It also presents a campaign setting in which you can have lots of Jedi and Sith without being at odds with the established backstory.

However, the book is currently very difficult to find.

IDoes anyone have a map of a Star Destroyer or (preferably) a Republic Cruiser? My players are the crew of one, and it's their base for now; it'd be handy if the map worked for our group.

That's a popular request over on WotC's Star Wars forums, and so far nobody's found one. I'd recommend not trying to stat out every last chamber and corridor, and concentrate on just putting together the major features, with some fairly firm ideas of how they fit together.

Galaxy At War helps immensely with this process, through its excellent Bases & Battlestations section.

 

[NMC]

I agree. I've really enjoyed the KotOR comic from Dark Horse, and I'm sad that it's going to be concluded in the next two issues, but it does lay out some nice possibilities for a really epic SW campaign.

As far as deck plans go, if you have access, some of the old West End Games materials might be of use. The Rebel Alliance Sourcebook has complete deckplans for a Corellian Corvette, if that would work. There's also a supplement called The Far Orbit Project which has fairly detailed plans for a Nebulon-B cruiser. Alternately, I think an old adventure called Starfall has some plans for a Star Destroyer.

-Nate

 

[ValhallaGH]

Why Knights of the Old Republic?

I'd recommend it, like I do all the Era books but especially that one, for a wealth of talents, feats, and equipment that can greatly enhance your games.

If you never see them, you won't miss them. They may never even see use. But they are generally fun and interesting expansions on the rules that provide options that can enhance your games a great deal.

 

[fireinthedust]

I got a look at Clone Wars today, and I think that might also be on my list. That and Scavenger's, mostly for monster stats.


What's in Force Unleashed? crunch-wise, i mean. lots of scoundrels and/or Imperials?

I'm shocked about starships being out of print. Oh well. My local game store guy told me to just draw on a battlemat! Brilliant, though I'll have to find ship tiles at some point.

 

[ValhallaGH]

What's in Force Unleashed? crunch-wise, i mean. lots of scoundrels and/or Imperials?

Imperial organizational stuff, Rebel organizational stuff, a tiny bit of criminal organization stuff, and a metric crap-ton of Force stuff (powers, talents, and feats).
The Unleashed mechanics vary between "not quite worth the entry fee" and "holy crap, that super broken but very cool"; and then you realize that all of them are accessible by any force user that takes one feat.
There's a lot of good, balanced, fun stuff in there too. But some of the over-the-top stuff is about five parsecs over the top.