Who Should Make The Next Star Wars TTRPG, And What Should It Look Like?

[Retreater]

Free League, with a modified Year Zero Engine.

 

[zarionofarabel]

I'm partial to M-Space (Mythras) as it is already Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off, with some Traveller mixed in.

But if I had to pick a bigger producer to make it I choose Free League. They could use the Dragonbane engine instead of YZE to do something different. I really hope it wouldn't be another D&D 5e port though. I remember the old d20 Star Wars games and they were terrible at emulating the IP. Nothing like Stormtroopers that can take several blaster hits ruining the experience.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Free League, with a modified Year Zero Engine.

It's funny, I love The One Ring and don't have much interest in their other games, and almost all those other games use the Year Zero system, or something else very different from TOR.

 

[zarionofarabel]

It's funny, I love The One Ring and don't have much interest in their other games, and almost all those other games use the Year Zero system, or something else very different from TOR.

YZE is okayish, Dragonbane is pretty sweet, but I'm a BRP/RQ guy so I am biased.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I'm partial to M-Space (Mythras) as it is already Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off, with some Traveller mixed in.

But if I had to pick a bigger producer to make it I choose Free League. They could use the Dragonbane engine instead of YZE to do something different. I really hope it wouldn't be another D&D 5e port though. I remember the old d20 Star Wars games and they were terrible at emulating the IP. Nothing like Stormtroopers that can take several blaster hits ruining the experience.

Level Up has rules for cannon fodder-type creatures (similar to minion rules but less narrative to my mind).

 

[Deset Gled]

How about we get away from unified mechanics altogether? If we want things to feel cinematic, maybe the way to make that happen is by using different systems for different scenes.

For space battles and vehicle-scale assaults, we'll use a full on wargames miniature system. I'm thinking something like Full Thrust.

For lightsaber-and-lasers combat, we can make a modified Draw Steel with Force powers instead of magic.

For social combat, like Tarkin interrogating Leia or Qui Gon negotiating with Watto, we develop a nice little PbtA variant.

 

[overgeeked]

Whoever does Star Wars next should make it a rules-light game that’s easy to play so it can be used to onboard new gamers to the hobby. It’s one of the biggest media franchises on Earth and could bring a lot of people into the hobby. If only it were designed with non-gamers or novice gamers in mind.

Specialty dice, out. Massive rules tomes, out. Complicated mechanics, out. Absurdly-detailed character sheets, out.

Something dead simple like a stripped down tag system from Legend in the Mist or Shadowrun Anarchy. Something like Modiphius’ Discworld RPG would work well, but switch to just d6s. The system from Over the Edge 3E would be perfect. Characters fit on a 3x5 card and you only need 2d6. Maybe a force point meta currency and a clock system and you’re set.

 

[aramis erak]

Not a popular answer, but WotC, 5E.2024.

Not really. There are a stupidly large lot of people who think "5E or nothing." I think it a particularly poor choice, especially with the 2024 changes, but I don't much like atts dominating when there's a skill system.

I would prefer Cortex Prime, myself, with backups of Modiphius using 2d20 and Free League using YZE... but I expect Sprange will try again to do it as a Traveller setting.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Not really. There are a stupidly large lot of people who think "5E or nothing." I think it a particularly poor choice, especially with the 2024 changes, but I don't much like atts dominating when there's a skill system.

I would prefer Cortex Prime, myself, with backups of Modiphius using 2d20 and Free League using YZE... but I expect Sprange will try again to do it as a Traveller setting.

Fortunately, Level Up has nothing to do with 5.5.

 

[Autumnal]

Something rules-light, written by people who genuinely enjoy all thee trilogies and th ancillary stuff. It should worry much about grognards like, say, me; we can fem for ourselves. Th target audience should be th people of the latter 2020s who are enjoying Star Wars now, first and foremost.

With that in mind…throwing money at Shawn Tomkin for a customized, refined Starforged would be nice. A lightweight version of 2d20 or Year Zero would be nice. A super-stripped BRP with no skills but with personality traits and passions would be nice. Something like that.

For that matter, an updated d6 system that deals with scaling problems and makes the main characters’ level accessible would be nice.