The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Well, I waited a while before doing this, I gave it every chance I could, I picked up a few of the core suppliments and ran a mini campaign hoping that all my ranting and raving to friends was unjust. Star Wars (by west end) was one of the best gaming experiences of my life, much like seeing the first film when I was five, a new world opened up to me. Well that was then and this is now, just as episode one proved to be a disappointment, so too did the new Star Wars. I'm not angry or bitter about this like I was when I first heard that WOTC had planned to use d20, just saddened by the loss of one great gaming legacy.

As those who play it know, the new Star Wars is based on the D20 system (the same system as D&D 3rd ed.) while it's obvious that the design team tried their damndest to change the system to fit the new genre (the concept of wounds and vitality vs straight hit points for example) To thier credit they even developed some rules that really fit the genre, for example, your character's defenses (armor class) can be modified by either your armor bonus or your class/level bonus, which is why high level characters wearing cotton, take less damage than fully armored storm troopers. The game does work, but the game does not work well....

The West end system was for one thing one of the simplest RPGs to introduce players to, just like the films the system was simple and elegant. but whats more character creation takes only about 5 minuets. find a template you like, add skills, develop a background. After a two hour session trying to develop characters for the WOTC (and raising ones blood pressure about 10 points) you really start to appreciate the ease of the WEG system. Also there is very little distinction between the classes, save a few feats, which does make the "class system" less useful and more overly complicated. Then there is the 3 genre ideal that the new book tries to promote. The main problem of which is that there simply isn't enough information on the episode 1 universe. The anticipation of the rest of the films combined with the lack of real source material presented in the first film makes the episode one universe less than ideal for roleplaying. I mean how many evil forces really use nemiodian battle droids? Personally I think they should have focused on the classic genre, and maybe come out with a suppliment for the prequell universe.

The force is handled adiquately but in an overly complex manner in comparrison to the elequently simple WEG system, the Starship rules are, well practially non existant. I think that the system is adiquate, much like usinga flat head scredriver to tighten a phillips screw is adiquate, it will work, but the D20 system is not the right tool for the job of playing in the starwars universe

Star Wars
Star Wars Playtest Review by Jamie Herbert on 27/04/01 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 2 (Sparse) Well, At least the podrace scene was kinda cool, Product: Star Wars Author: Bill Slavicesk,Andy Collins,JD Wiker Category: RPG Company/Publisher: W.O.T.C. Line: Star Wars Cost: $35.00 Page count: 318 Year published: 2000 ISBN: 0-7869-1793-8 SKU: tsr11793 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by Jamie Herbert on 27/04/01 Genre tags: Fantasy Science Fiction Space	Well, I waited a while before doing this, I gave it every chance I could, I picked up a few of the core suppliments and ran a mini campaign hoping that all my ranting and raving to friends was unjust. Star Wars (by west end) was one of the best gaming experiences of my life, much like seeing the first film when I was five, a new world opened up to me. Well that was then and this is now, just as episode one proved to be a disappointment, so too did the new Star Wars. I'm not angry or bitter about this like I was when I first heard that WOTC had planned to use d20, just saddened by the loss of one great gaming legacy. As those who play it know, the new Star Wars is based on the D20 system (the same system as D&D 3rd ed.) while it's obvious that the design team tried their damndest to change the system to fit the new genre (the concept of wounds and vitality vs straight hit points for example) To thier credit they even developed some rules that really fit the genre, for example, your character's defenses (armor class) can be modified by either your armor bonus or your class/level bonus, which is why high level characters wearing cotton, take less damage than fully armored storm troopers. The game does work, but the game does not work well.... The West end system was for one thing one of the simplest RPGs to introduce players to, just like the films the system was simple and elegant. but whats more character creation takes only about 5 minuets. find a template you like, add skills, develop a background. After a two hour session trying to develop characters for the WOTC (and raising ones blood pressure about 10 points) you really start to appreciate the ease of the WEG system. Also there is very little distinction between the classes, save a few feats, which does make the "class system" less useful and more overly complicated. Then there is the 3 genre ideal that the new book tries to promote. The main problem of which is that there simply isn't enough information on the episode 1 universe. The anticipation of the rest of the films combined with the lack of real source material presented in the first film makes the episode one universe less than ideal for roleplaying. I mean how many evil forces really use nemiodian battle droids? Personally I think they should have focused on the classic genre, and maybe come out with a suppliment for the prequell universe. The force is handled adiquately but in an overly complex manner in comparrison to the elequently simple WEG system, the Starship rules are, well practially non existant. I think that the system is adiquate, much like usinga flat head scredriver to tighten a phillips screw is adiquate, it will work, but the D20 system is not the right tool for the job of playing in the starwars universe