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

[Reynard]

So, if we aren't getting a new game, and we're not making new product for the last game, is the property just on reprint life support forever?

No license deal lasts forever.

Also, if the money is right I don't see why they would not sub out the TTRPG. That is to say, if someone is willing to pay more than they would make from selling reprints. Which i can't imagine would be difficult.

 

[Micah Sweet]

No license deal lasts forever.

Also, if the money is right I don't see why they would not sub out the TTRPG. That is to say, if someone is willing to pay more than they would make from selling reprints. Which i can't imagine would be difficult.

Here's hoping. I like FFG's Star Wars, a lot, but if they're not going to keep working on it or even market it really, why bother with the property. A sub-license seems like it would be a boon both creatively (obviously what I care about), and from a profit perspective.

 

[Reynard]

Here's hoping. I like FFG's Star Wars, a lot, but if they're not going to keep working on it or even market it really, why bother with the property. A sub-license seems like it would be a boon both creatively (obviously what I care about), and from a profit perspective.

I wonder if they did a second edition if they would abandon the 3 game format. I did not follow it closely but it seemed like the last couple years there were more and more supplements not specific to any one line.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I wonder if they did a second edition if they would abandon the 3 game format. I did not follow it closely but it seemed like the last couple years there were more and more supplements not specific to any one line.

The "black books", yes. They focused on era-specific sourcebooks (like the Clone Wars and the Rebels/Rogue One period), and compilations of vehicles, gear, and NPCs (with additions). The Starships and Speeders book is the only reprint I'm really looking forward to. I have all the other books in that series.

One of those supplements dealing with the Mandalorian/Book of Boba Fett/Ahsoka era immediately post Endor would IMO be very cool.

 

[Reynard]

The "black books", yes. They focused on era-specific sourcebooks (like the Clone Wars and the Rebels/Rogue One period), and compilations of vehicles, gear, and NPCs (with additions). The Starships and Speeders book is the only reprint I'm really looking forward to. I have all the other books in that series.

One of those supplements dealing with the Mandalorian/Book of Boba Fett/Ahsoka era immediately post Endor would IMO be very cool.

And seems like a no-brainer.

 

[Justice and Rule]

It needs to be way faster player than any previous SW game. It shouldn't get buried in anything technical, no shopping around for better weapons, armour, upgrades, etc.

Fallout 2d20, stripping out a few things may work. The system in Barbarians of Lemuria would be even better.

Eh, I think the style and equipment are actually part of the roleplay aspect that people go to an RPG for, especially Star Wars, especially when we look at things like the Falcon.

At least from the original movies, I don't remember a drive for better equipment being an important element. I don't remember the Falcon getting any upgrades in ESB. On Hoth, we saw a Falcon that was poorly maintained and in desperate need of some serious repairs, but for whatever reason those repairs didn't happen until they got to Cloud City. Once those repairs were done, the Falcon wasn't any faster, the shields weren't more robust, nor were the weapons any stronger. It was just fully repaired and reliable again. I don't remember Han and Luke spending time to upgrade their weapons. Han stuck with his blaster and the only change to Luke's lightsaber was the color of the blade.

The obsession with equipment and upgrades to do more damage is something you find in RPGs not in most Star Wars movies or shows. It's just a byproduct of our expectations of getting experience points and better equipment.

I think it plays into Star Wars more than you think, it's just... you aren't there for it normally. The Millennium Falcon doesn't start out as the fastest ship in the galaxy, it gets upgrades, modifications, and all sorts of things that make it go from a stock YT-1300 to the ship we see in the movies. But in an RPG, you are there for it, because you are watching all the parts that might not be covered in a movie. Similarly, Luke building a lightsaber was almost covered in the original trilogy but was cut, and eventually got a focus in a book (Shadows of the Empire). And hell, making lightsabers gets plenty of expansion and coverage in other Star Wars media like the shows.

The stuff is there, but they don't cover it because it's not something that is fun on screen; you aren't doing it, so why focus on it? But when you're playing in an RPG, customizing your kit to your liking is something you are doing, something you can take enjoyment from because you are participating. Yes, we don't see Han struggling by to get money for the modifications and the time it took to install them... but we all know those took time and money, and people want to live that fantasy of a character scrapping credits to make their ship into their ship.

 

[Cergorach]

So, if we aren't getting a new game, and we're not making new product for the last game, is the property just on reprint life support forever?

I suspect years, at least 5-6 before they would even consider giving up on the license... And if we'll ever see another book for FFG SW, I doubt it at this point. Maybe a second edition IF Asmodee ever gets in a better financial situation and I suspect that's also going to take years.

Now, look at the history of the SW RPG: WEG went bankrupt, WotC choose to not continue the license in 2010, apparently the sales of the RPG and the prepainted miniatures line were not good enough for WotC to extend the license. And they already did essentially two editions... FFG did board, card, miniature and RPG games. They did that in a less congested market, and they did it to increase revenue for a future sale of FFG, more revenue means a higher evaluation (generally).

FFG got the license to SW about a year after it expired with WotC. WotC had already announced in January 2010 that they wouldn't extend the license, I suspect that there weren't many parties that could realistically do anything practical with it, otherwise it would have been picked up far sooner. Before the Asmodee merger they release SW X-wing (miniatures), the SW Living Card Game, the SW RPG, not much after (or even during) they released Imperial Assault (board game), and SW Armada (miniatures).

I would also like to add that FFG has historically not been afraid to drop IPs they have milked dry, examples are the whole Games Workshop license, DUST, DOOM, StarCraft, WarCraft, Battlestar Galactica, and quite a few others. Even in their own IPs, they'll drop them hard when there's no more money in them. As Edge is still reprinting SW books, there's still money in that, and looking at the miniatures/cards side, there's money there as well. Just currently not in making more new books...

Why would Disney pull the license when they get paid the licensing fee? I suspect that the RPG license is contractually tied to the other fields of cards, miniatures and boardgames. So splitting that up would be a headache for Disney. Not to mention re-licnesing a property is going to cost quite a bit in lawyer fees. Currently, as long as Asmodee keeps extending the license and paying on time, for Disney there is no upside. Especially if there's a risk that a new (smaller) licensor might go broke and even more costs for a new licensor deal need to be made. Not to mention the damage to the IP, because a couple of books and then another licensor that again reinvents the wheel is going to damage the IP.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

No one shops in star wars, except as a plot point. There is lots repairs,but no one in the trilogy buys armours, better blasters, droids, ship upgrades, etc. It is just not a feature

Right, because shopping and comparable mundane concerns are not a big part action-adventure movies in general. And that's fine for an RPG leaning into just being a movie. If you want the max cinematic version of Star Wars ttrpg I think I already mentioned the knock off Star Wars options for Outgunned which is a super fun game, but probably not one most people would want to have as the staple of their rpg diet (I love it, but it glories in being an action movie by railroading and leaning into tropes in a way that gets old if you play it all the time). I think many (if not most) gamers want a little simulationism and resource management in their ttrpg diet; want to feel like they're playing a person in the Star Wars universe, not just a character in a Star Wars movie; or at the very least want the "you can do anything" part of ttrpgs to also include buying stuff, which of the various anythings players might try is one of the ones that most benefits from official support from the game designers.

But yeah, you can do a Star Wars game without shopping, you're just limiting the type of Star Wars experience players can have. In FFG Star Wars terms an Age of Rebellion type game rarely would miss having shopping, one does not expect rebel pilots to have to go buy new blasters. An Edge of the Empire type game meanwhile is probably a lot more concerned with money and the things it can buy.

 

[Reynard]

I think it is a failure of imagination to want a TTRPG experience to be exactly like some other medium. TTRPGs are their own thing, and while not every genre or playstyle makes things like gear important, I am of the opinion that trying to plan attacks against space-Nazi opponents kind of requires considering gear and other "logistics" and that is part of the fun.

 

[Justice and Rule]

I think it is a failure of imagination to want a TTRPG experience to be exactly like some other medium. TTRPGs are their own thing, and while not every genre or playstyle makes things like gear important, I am of the opinion that trying to plan attacks against space-Nazi opponents kind of requires considering gear and other "logistics" and that is part of the fun.

I mean, it's also a rather crucial part of so many other Star Wars mediums. So many video games deal with adding equipment or customizing your gear (particularly the RPGs, but also the legendary pod racer game from back in the day). Within the RPG space, Star Wars has always been a book that is a bit about the "chrome": they've always had equipment books, starship books, droid books, etc... it's been a real feature of the Star Wars RPG games for a while now.