Which system for a Star Wars game?

[Sunglar]

Ranger REG that is a terrible image … Anakin I choose you!

Diggus don’t worry about not getting the oriental Jedi! I guess the Uber (as in super or “being a superlative example of its kind or class”). The wuxia is a reference to the Chinese martial arts genre in cinema, and other media, sometimes referred to as wire-fu.

The Sudoku reference I made is about a highly addictive Japanese numbers game (or as wikipedia defines it “a logic-based placement puzzle”) that my mother loves (and I am getting addicted to them too!) and I imagine is the only way I could get my mom to play.

She fully supported my gamming while I was growing up but never got into it.

Diggus the consensus among 4 of my players who HAVE played SW d20 (including the one that hates it!) is that it is that Jedi are simply too powerful when compared to other classes and that there is no motivation in the system to play anything but. They also mention many instances where loopholes or mistakes in the system create the escalating need for house rules.

Mind you I have NOT played SW d20 but I was able to see what they mean, and the Jedi power creep seems to be there. Mind you I think many of the previous posters are right when they say that is how the Jedi were portrayed on the prequels, but the whole idea of the campaign I will be running is to re-imagine the prequels and I don’t want Wuxia-Jedi running around.

I read on the Saga information and transcripts floating on the net the integration of elements from D20 modern to the rules, looks promising. I generally have steered away from D20 psionics in D&D and the Modern games I’ve played. I’ll give them another look.

 

[Diggus Rex]

Sunglar I'd like nothing more than to show you're players how D20 SW can be. As I cant and their opinions are so set, and WOTC isnt paying me, they must remain ignorant

I'm not sure Jedi-wuxia is such a new innovation. When Luke finished his training, he was pretty much like that in RotJ.

If you're already familiar with Modern, and the players enjoy that system, the choice is pretty clear.

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

Sunglar,
You mentioned that one of your players made the suggestion of using d20 Modern for your up-coming Star Wars campaign.

This link here might catch your interest. It's a thread on the WotC Star Wars RPG forum about using d20 Modern/Future for the Star Wars setting.

I haven't had a chance to really look through it, but you might find it of interest, especially if you and/or your players are a big fan of d20 Modern.

 

[Gothmog]

Diggus the consensus among 4 of my players who HAVE played SW d20 (including the one that hates it!) is that it is that Jedi are simply too powerful when compared to other classes and that there is no motivation in the system to play anything but. They also mention many instances where loopholes or mistakes in the system create the escalating need for house rules.

Mind you I have NOT played SW d20 but I was able to see what they mean, and the Jedi power creep seems to be there. Mind you I think many of the previous posters are right when they say that is how the Jedi were portrayed on the prequels, but the whole idea of the campaign I will be running is to re-imagine the prequels and I don’t want Wuxia-Jedi running around.

I read on the Saga information and transcripts floating on the net the integration of elements from D20 modern to the rules, looks promising. I generally have steered away from D20 psionics in D&D and the Modern games I’ve played. I’ll give them another look.

Our experience with D20 SW was the same Sunglar, both in a Rebellion era (with one Force user) and old Republic era (with four Jedi and one non-Jedi pilot 3 levels higher) and the Jedi were horribly overpowered and created many game problems. The Jedi were portrayed in the prequels as uber-powered, but in a game it doesn't work so well to have them be that way- it causes player resentment and boredom. D6 SW is worse in this regard because the Jedi aren't even limited by how many times they can use their force powers.

I haven't tried D20 Modern with psionics- it might work, but you've have to do a LOT of conversion to make it work well in the SW universe.

Sage SW sounds kind of promising, although I'm not crazy about some of the things I've read about- for example not having control over skill development.

I agree if you have to use a D20 variant, I'd use True 20. Its closest to the SW universe in flavor and feel of any of the D20 games, and Conviction would work well as Force Points. The powers seem very close to Jedi powers as well.

I still maintain that Savage Worlds is the best fit of any game I've tried for Star Wars though. Plus, the Action Deck you can download from Pinnacle's website has been a blessing to our game, allowing the players to influence events in the campaign by playing certain cards.

In any event, no matter which game you choose, good luck to you!

 

[Skywalker]

If you can wait until SW Saga Ed, I would go with that from all accounts so far.

Otherwise, I recommend True Force for True 20 for now.

Thinking outisde the square, especially for a short term game, I would recommend Spirit of the Century by Evil Hat (www.evilhat.com/?spirit). Though designed for 1930s pulp it does pulp of all kinds very well including Star Wars.

 

[jeff37923]

I'd say go with d6 Star Wars, it is tried and true for use as a Star Wars rules system.

I don't personnally have a lot of love for d20 Star Wars, but I'd also say keep an open mind and borrow someone's d20 Star Wars Saga Edition when it comes out and see if that works for what you want as a campaign. Just because I don't think that something will work for me doesn't mean that it won't work for you.

 

[Ranger REG]

I'd say go with d6 Star Wars, it is tried and true for use as a Star Wars rules system.

Heh. That's like saying the Wright Flyer is tried and true for use in the airline industry.

 

[Owen K.C. Stephens]

For the record, I played in a d6 SW campaign before I wrote for SW d20, and in fact played in Steve Miller's d6 SW game while he and I worked on the Alien Anthology for SW d20. I am no longer an employee of WotC (not for five years now), though I do freelance for them regularly. And, of course, I'm helping put the Saga d20 SW together.

If you have time, I strongly recommend you take quick playtest spins with anything that's been suggested here that sounds interesting to you. One of the difficulties all SW game designers have is deciding what SW characters -should- be like. Do we decide the movies are primary and use everything else only where we need a gap, or do we try to hit a medium between all the different sources? Do we treat starship combat the way we see it in the movies, the way it plays in the computer games, or the way it's described in the Rogue Squadron books? Are Jedi objectively more powerful than other character archtypes? Does Yoda saying "size matters not" mean he could move the Death Star out of orbit? If the Force is never used to attack, why are Jedi knocking droids around like leafblowers?

Decide how you want your game to work, have some material that supports that ready for your players to absorb, and pick a system you're comfortable with. Me? I really like how Saga is shaping up, and we've already had some very successful playtests. But I sleep, eat and wash with d20 rules, so it's no surprise I find them comfortable. I also like fiddling with things, leading me to write whole new core classes for my Sovereign Kingdoms fantasy game, and a whole new d20 ruleset for my Mutant Age PA game.

I really think there are people who are going to be happier with d6, some who love d20 of each edition, and some who are thrilled to run GURPS Star Wars.

I will say for support I think your best choice is either d6 (if you can get the old books), or d20 (if you can't). The fan support is enough to run a game for a lot of other systems, but if you prefer having most of the work done for you, stick to a system that has lots of books you can find.

Owen K.C. Stephens
d20 Triggerman

Need better cheap magic options?
Get Loot 4 Less II: Rods, Staves and Wands

 

[Sunglar]

Owen K.C. Stephens, I am not worthy of you dropping by this thread…

(Thanks by the way!)

I have a lot of D6 material and one of my players is a BIG D6 fan having most of the books. I must admit to being a big D20 fan. D&D is and has been my poison of choice since 1987, so D20 is comfortable for me and most of the group. I am leaning heavily towards True 20 right now, but I will wait and give the Saga rules a break.

Since I’ve begun speaking about running a SW campaign most of my players are psyched and have found data about the Saga edition and seem to be looking forward to either that or True 20.

Savage Worlds has been mentioned but since I am the only one that has the book there is no interest.

One question Owen and I know there is a non-disclosure agreement, etc. etc. Will other characters be balanced with the Jedi in the Saga edition or will they still be the the BEST choice in the game? (If you can answer that of course!)

Thank you, and all the guys and gals dropping by… I am psyched about running mu version of Episode 1.

 

[jdrakeh]

Heh. That's like saying the Wright Flyer is tried and true for use in the airline industry.

Well, in fairness, D6 Star Wars was around for much longer than d20 Star Wars