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

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Since this thread is full of Star Wars fans who also play RPGs, I want to shout out Notorious, a solo RPG I played here last year. As a game generator for bounty hunter adventures (not you, Book of Boba Fett), it was incredible.

I cannot hype it up enough. I loved Star Wars: Tales of the Old Republic when it came out, but even at its best moments, it never felt as much like Star Wars as the serial numbers-filed-off Notorious did. I cannot recommend it enough, especially the hard copy version, which is spiral-bound, to make it easier to use during play.

 

[Reynard]

I still stand by the idea that if it's design does not model something in the world, but instead represents an intangible for the purposes of driving a story plot or character development, it is to some degree a narrative mechanic.

The Force exists in the Star Wars fiction.

Bennies/drama points/etc are meta mechanics IMO.

But they aren't narrative mechanics.

 

[aramis erak]

Fortunately, Level Up has nothing to do with 5.5.

And isn't WotC. Which is what I was responding to. And what most people are going to want: same mechanics as current Official D&D.

Stockholm Kartell, so we can have Star Borg.

But seriously, I figure the only companies that could afford that license would be the big ones. So that would be, what, Wizards, Paizo, or Modiphius.

Mongoose, as well. They did get an interview in 2008 on their bid for it.
Matthew Sprange blogged about it... and how he knew it had just been assigned to someone else. (but had it actually? Or was it just a panic response to a competitive but disliked bid? FFG staff denied having gotten the bid. But then they got it.)

Free League, Darrington Press, or MCDM might also be able to put a credible bid. It scares me to think about what Monte Cook would charge for a SW core box, but given a KS, they certainly could.

Odds are, however, we won't see a new licensee until 2027 or 2029, depending... such licenses usually being 7 or 5 year leases.

 

[overgeeked]

Something else that's boring for a fun thread is that getting new books for the current rpg approved by Disney might also be an uphill struggle right now. IIRC Mandalorian books where given a no because "it the storyline wasn't finished" so that would not get an okay until after the movie at the earliest. Later efter they want to add more.

That’s also a reason to DIY the thing. You don’t have to wait years for approval. I’ve worked on licensed RPGs as a freelancer. The nerds into RPGs and into the IPs enough to want to work on them are a lot of the same people who’re writing the wikis. There’s a lot of overlap. A lot of the gaming stuff is slightly rewritten wiki articles. All you’d need is the game stats. Which most gamers could manage easily enough for most of the popular media franchises.

 

[Fenris-77]

I find your excess of faith disturbing.

 

[Celebrim]

Bennies/drama points/etc are meta mechanics IMO.

They certainly can be and are often intended to be, but I think it's possible for that to cross the line. D6 has a "force point" that is both a meta currency and intended to represent something that does exist in the setting. Whether the ability to occasionally dramatically access the force (or be used by the force) to do something incredible is best represented by meta-currency is a different discussion, but it is clear the designers weren't throwing them in purely with the idea of "meta currencies are good" but because they felt the dramatic narrative and the setting supported the idea and that players saying "I use a force point" would feel like they were doing something very relevant to Star Wars narratives.

 

[Micah Sweet]

They certainly can be and are often intended to be, but I think it's possible for that to cross the line. D6 has a "force point" that is both a meta currency and intended to represent something that does exist in the setting. Whether the ability to occasionally dramatically access the force (or be used by the force) to do something incredible is best represented by meta-currency is a different discussion, but it is clear the designers weren't throwing them in purely with the idea of "meta currencies are good" but because they felt the dramatic narrative and the setting supported the idea and that players saying "I use a force point" would feel like they were doing something very relevant to Star Wars narratives.

Force points are specifically one I feel is ok, because it represents something real in the fiction.

 

[MichaelSomething]

I'd use Level Up, particularly it's Voidrunner's Codex sci-fi supplement, modified with material from other 5e-based games (including the aforementioned Star Wars 5e). Oh wait, I already do that! Wrote up a bunch of Star Wars fighters as well.

You are correct in that EnPublishing would be an excellent choice to make the next Star Wars TTRPG! I'm sure "What's Old is New" could also be used to run Star Wars but I bet Morrus could assemble a team that would make a great Star Wars game from the ground up!

 

[Breaking Star Games]

I've got Scum & Villainy for myself, so I am voting for the rules-lite, mass appeal category to get more people to funnel into the hobby outside of D&D (which can be clunky and slow around combat). And by rules-lite, I don't mean your typical incredibly light,. all vibes and barely any GM support. It should be able to run adventures or handle more improv style.

I think FFG Star Wars was actually pretty damn close. Streamlining the narrative positive and negative consequences like how Daggerheart would go a long way - there's no reason a table should ever look at Crit + 3xSuccess + 3x Threat and have to BS their way into making those meaningful. Streamlining the skill list to be simpler to understand and specialize (like how Swords of the Serpentine made Gumshoe fun for me to run!). Streamlining combat and gear a bit more would help. And of course, getting rid of the unique dice. Also, PDFs need to be a must, it's 2026.

But it gave some great basic 101 advice that many RPG books don't bother with - table management. How to actually herd those cats that we call players. It separating campaign premises into different books with a different core mechanic is actually pretty smart - I think it makes a ton of sense to have the Scoundrels, Rebellion and Jedi be uniquely separate games. I'd go further and make the skill list and combat systems match these better too. Obligations are still one of the coolest takes on that mechanic I've seen but it doesn't have as much GM Support as I would like around it.

 

[Aldarc]

Something akin to Daggerheart wouldn't be the worst option, though I would prefer a better hammering out and refinement of the rules. (Like come on! Tier 1 should be three levels and not one!) Turn Fear/Hope into Dark/Light side. Domains could involve force powers, tech, techniques, etc.