The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Before you read this review

**SPOILERS FOR EPISODE II ARE ALL OVER THIS REVIEW. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU ARE SPOILED/WANT TO BE SPOILED**

In my eyes, the original Wizards d20 version of Star Wars was recieved in the same manner as Episode 1: the Phantom Menace. Long terms fans of the old d6 franchise had a big time axe to grind regarding the skewering of a classic. From the starship rules, the droid rules, classes, the handling of the Force, everyone had major gripes (the Winkie Kid included).

Hopefully, Attack of the Clones will be a lot like the Star Wars: Revised. The new book has got me excited about playing Star Wars with the d20 system again. The changes were, as the foreward indicates, made based on fan criticism. Some changes seem to be made to unify Star Wars with D D. Overall, I thought the original d20 version of Star Wars was okay (I would've given it 4 for style, and 2.5 substance). In this review, I'll focus on the changes made to the game, not a retread of the original book. Please note I'm not a super-technical systems monkey (I'm sure there will be better reviews than mine focusing on this angle)-I focus more on if the game looks fun, what cool stuff (monsters, equipment, etc)is included, and how conductive the contents of the rpg are to fun storytelling and interesting characters.

APPEARANCE As can be expected from Wizards, the book is beautiful. The artwork is great, and there are a lot of cool movie stills throughout the book. I noticed a lot more pictures of things gettin' killed this time around (p. 167), and more badass 'I'm gonna beat you silly' shots that seem to be new (170, 181). I dunno-one of the major reasons I game is not only to get into a character and enjoy a good story, but to be a posturing cinematic hero. There are also more illustrations of guns in the equipment chapter. On a more subtle note, the whole book is 'darker', with most pages having a darkish blue background.

SUBSTANCE

I'll break this down by chapters.

1. Abilities Nothing new here.

2. Species

Six new species have been added as recommended for player characters. Note this is not a restriction. Much like D D3e, you can play something else with the GM's approval. New species: Bothans-although strictly EU, this race offers some interesting possibilities for roleplaying. Basically, doggish/cattish aliens that are big time information brokers/spies. Duros-the green, yellow eyed cantina aliens from A New Hope. Renowed space travellers, but seem pretty boring to me. Gammoreans-The pigfaces from Jabba's were probably added to provide a 'half-orc' option. Since there was no race that was included for 'big dumb and strong' as a recommended race before, this option is welcome. Kel-Dor-Like the gasmasked Jedi Master in Episode 1. This race seems to be into 'eye for an eye' justice, and has the intersting limitation of not being able to breathe most 'normal' atmospheres. Good story potential-interesting addition. Quaren-Squid-faced aliens. I dunno, seem to overlap with Mon Calamari. Zabrak-I guess were included so your player can say 'DUDE! MY BOUNTY HUNTER 8/SITH LORD 12/SOLDIER 14 IS THE SAME RACE AS DARTH MAUL!'

3. Classes The biggest change here is the addition of the Tech Specialist class. Basically, the tech specialist relies on his Int and skills to do research, and get bonuses to craft/repair skills and feats. This is a welcome addition to the game, since the 'tech whiz' of the movies (R2D2) always ends up saving everybody's butt when things get tough. It also facilitates in depth narrativist, simulationist, deep immersion story-telling focus on technical aspects of space fantasy (R2D2 saving everybody's butt when things get tough). Jedi are given the class ability to deflect blasters (which makes sense for this genre), and fringers begin proficient with only primitive and simple weapons. Overall, however, the classes are pretty much the same as before.

4. SKILLS Lots of clarification and new skills here. Some feats-such as force lighting-have been made into skills. Additionally, Balance and Force Illusion are among the skills added. One thing that stuck out is that Force Lighting seems to do a static amount of damage this time around-always 3d8. The explanations of which skill gets used when are improved this time around. Skill synergy, when using two skills at once at a 2 bonus, is also more clear.

5. FEATS See SKILLS. Feats are clarified, and some are added to take advantage of attacks of opportunity, which have been added this time around.

6. HEROIC CHARACTERISTICS Not many changes here, except making reputation more important in Diplomacy and related skills. This makes good sense.

7. EQUIPMENT Biggest difference here is armor reduces damage instead of adding to defense. Some have posted concerns that this change will result in more PC's wearing armor, and diminishing the star wars feel. I don't think this will be a problem, since most armor with a DR above 4 lows the maximum dex bonus allowed to two or less. Since blasters and lightsabers hurt a lot, it could still be better not to get hit than shave off a few points of damage. I do not see a sudden armoring up of characters on the horizon because of the rule change.

8. COMBAT Say it with me: attacks of opportunity. Here, the Star Wars book provides CLEARER explanation of the beloved AOO than D D3E, with neat examples. This addition is good in my opinion, since it unifies the game furthur with D D, and provides another cool tactical aspect to Jedi battles.

9. FORCE The changes here are more information on the implications of dark side points, and makes force point accounting simpler since you no longer need to keep track of when the point is gained (instead, you just use your level at the time when the point was spent).

10. VEHICLES No more abstract combat! Get out your checkered battle mats, kids...we're going for a ride. The rules are much more like the character combat rules in terms of facing, movement, etc. this time around. Although this makes things a little more technical, I think this is a good change. It may take a little more effort to keep track of things, but in game terms it will be easier to see what's going on in terms of positioning.

The new vehicles make me think of a sci-fi black hawk down. Super huge retro AT-ATS (AT-TE) and Republic Gunships (think Platoon meets buck rogers) have been added.

11. STAR SHIPS The system has been changed as per vehicles above. I also detect some old d6 influence seeping in when looking at the fire arcs and diagrams for manuvers, which is all right with me.

The new map of the galaxy is very comprehensive and looks great.

New toys: Jedi Starfighters (with built in R4 droid), superhuge Republic Assault Ships, Combat Airspeeders, and Attack Gunships.

Unlike the new ships in the first rulebook, I feel a lot more 'wars' in my stars this time around.

12 GAMEMASTERING More rules on acid, falling, and radiation. Mediocre section on making instant star wars communities (reminded me of the generic 'randomly roll who is in this town' charts from fantasy games). Some sith classea are added from the dark side book, but we get 3 new jedi presteige classes: the Jedi ace (super force pilot), Jedi investigator (sherlock holmes with the force), and the Jedi Master (mostly, I think, to give players a sense of accomplishment when they reach the rank of Master, instead of just saying 'you're a high level Jedi-you're a master now). The new Jedi classes seem to offer more differentiation amongst Jedi, which is good for a game with multiple Jedi PC's. The new illustrations for the presteige classes are very nice.

13. ERAS OF PLAY Basically stats for the 'big' characters from the movies and fiction. Lesson 1: Count Dooku will be an awesome villain for prequel era play. Not only is he trying to become the chosen one by mastering the light and dark side of the force, but he is rich, charismatic, intelligent, and could beat the living crud out of pretty much any party. A great villain. Lesson 2: Jango Fett is even tougher than Boba. I remember when I sicced good 'ole Boba on the PC's in my old Star Wars game-they almost wet themselves. Jango is even worse. Even twinked out munchkins will be in trouble. Lesson 3: Say you run a campaign with all evil siths as player characters. Even after reaching becoming Sith Lords, they will gibber like investigators seeing Azahoth when Mace ('It's your decision') Windu and Yoda (who, throughout the book, always has a pissed off, I'm gonna git you sucka look on his face) have their miniatures on the board. Crud, they'd rather play good guys again, since they would 'only' be facing Dooku or Jango in the worst case scenario.

14. ALLIES AND OPPONENTS New aliens-Genosians (battle-droid building, caste-system having insectoids); Kaminoans (tall, A.I. looking, darwinian cloners) are added.

New critters-Did george look in a D D Monster Manual when he thought up these critters? Acklay-big, mean praying mantis; Nexu-big, mean Fizzgig (or hairy critter that seems to be mostly mouth, if you're not in the know); Reek (giant bull); Kouhan (venomous killer centipedes).

Clone troopers are also included. Seem a lot like stormtroopers to me...

15 DROIDS Now you can play a 3PO droid-or a Super Battle Droid! Basically, you graft a class onto a droid and gain experience normally. The rules make sense-you need to be repaired, not healed,; droids are immune to poison, etc.

New Droids-Superbattledroids (the little guys from Phantom Menace on steroids).

SAMPLE ADVENTURE None is included this time around. No real loss, since the adventure in the first one was very pedestrian and forgettable.

FINAL THOUGHTS I realize that many gamers do not like the idea of classes in star wars, or force skills causing vitality loss, or even the use of a d20 at all in star wars gaming. I am not trying to change your opinion, since all of these aspects are still present in the game.

However, I'm actually excited about giving this a spin. I did own the original version of the rules, but never really got excited about getting a game going. The new starship, droid, and new 'kewl stuff' from Episode II has got my imagination going into overtime. Maybe this is a result of hype that will dissipate after I see episode II. However, the book seems to have the attitude that Star Wars is more about fighting and cool toys this time around. The book has a darker feel.

I may be eating crow in a few days, but I think that the new rulebook may reflect on the direction attack of the clones has taken. More butt whooping, more action, a darker feel, and more 'wars' in star wars. Although the changes in the rules may not be major, I feel like jumping in, blasting genosians in my Republic Assault Gunship, and using my Jedi Investigator to unravel the myths of the hidden Sith.

Before revised, I actually preferred d6 because I felt there were fewer options for characters, and that the starship/vehicle combat system was too abstract. While character generation is a little more constrained than the d6 version, it is still possible to get the kind of character you want by assigining the correct skill points and feats. Also, I like that fact that I don't have to roll tons of d6es multiple times for each attack. I may be biased because I like d d and its random damage, but with the new starship rules and droid rules, I no longer think that there are any super huge problems with this game. Even the little bit of new Episode II information has me super excited to play in the prequel era, take on count dooku, and slay some reek.

The new version is better than the original d20 version, and about as good as the d6 version. I hope George has done as good a job reviving the franchise on the screen as Bill and company have done in revising the rule book.

ADDITIONAL WINKIE KID COMMENT

I hope I don't think 'wow!! yoda rolled two critcals on dooku, doing 87 vitality damage!' when I see attack of the clones in a week or so. But right now, I feel like the new monsters/vehicles/characters in this game should be made into a movie. Usually, when I look at a new game and see all the cool bits, I think 'wow, that would be cool to see in a movie!', but know a really cool movie will never be a reality (see: D D, Kindred the Embraced).

It almost seems like a committe of gamers got together to determine what should be in the movie.

'Three cool but ridiculous monsters fighting Jedi in an arena full of mosquito men?' check!

'Boba Fett's dad, with 5d6 exploding rocket, flamethrower, wolverine claws?' check!

'G.I. Joe meets Buck Rodgers transports that carry multiple clone troopers, AT-ATs, and heavy repeating lazers?' check!

'Resevoir dog with purple lightsaber and little green elf laying the smackdown on Saruman/Dr. Doom/Darth Vader analagam?' check!

Heck, I don't care if the dialogue is goofy, or the love story cringe worthy. If what's in the rule book only scratches the surface of the kewl stuff I'll see when the clones attack, I'll be a happy kid.

FINAL VERDICT

In conclusion, if you really don't like the idea of star wars d20, you still won't. If you wanted better starship, droid, and Force rules, you're in luck.

Winkie Kid signing off. Let the flames begin!

Star Wars: Revised
Star Wars: Revised Capsule Review by Winkie Kid on 10/05/02 Style: 5 (Excellent!) Substance: 4 (Meaty) Slavicsek and company have made a revision that addresses many of the concerns over the prior edition-and the style of the book makes me excited about playing d20 star wars again! Product: Star Wars: Revised Author: Slavicsek, Collins, Wilker Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Line: Star Wars Cost: $40 Page count: 380 Year published: 2002 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Capsule Review by Winkie Kid on 10/05/02 Genre tags: Science Fiction	Before you read this review SPOILERS FOR EPISODE II ARE ALL OVER THIS REVIEW. DO NOT READ UNLESS YOU ARE SPOILED/WANT TO BE SPOILED In my eyes, the original Wizards d20 version of Star Wars was recieved in the same manner as Episode 1: the Phantom Menace. Long terms fans of the old d6 franchise had a big time axe to grind regarding the skewering of a classic. From the starship rules, the droid rules, classes, the handling of the Force, everyone had major gripes (the Winkie Kid included). Hopefully, Attack of the Clones will be a lot like the Star Wars: Revised. The new book has got me excited about playing Star Wars with the d20 system again. The changes were, as the foreward indicates, made based on fan criticism. Some changes seem to be made to unify Star Wars with D D. Overall, I thought the original d20 version of Star Wars was okay (I would've given it 4 for style, and 2.5 substance). In this review, I'll focus on the changes made to the game, not a retread of the original book. Please note I'm not a super-technical systems monkey (I'm sure there will be better reviews than mine focusing on this angle)-I focus more on if the game looks fun, what cool stuff (monsters, equipment, etc)is included, and how conductive the contents of the rpg are to fun storytelling and interesting characters. APPEARANCE As can be expected from Wizards, the book is beautiful. The artwork is great, and there are a lot of cool movie stills throughout the book. I noticed a lot more pictures of things gettin' killed this time around (p. 167), and more badass 'I'm gonna beat you silly' shots that seem to be new (170, 181). I dunno-one of the major reasons I game is not only to get into a character and enjoy a good story, but to be a posturing cinematic hero. There are also more illustrations of guns in the equipment chapter. On a more subtle note, the whole book is 'darker', with most pages having a darkish blue background. SUBSTANCE I'll break this down by chapters. 1. Abilities Nothing new here. 2. Species Six new species have been added as recommended for player characters. Note this is not a restriction. Much like D D3e, you can play something else with the GM's approval. New species: Bothans-although strictly EU, this race offers some interesting possibilities for roleplaying. Basically, doggish/cattish aliens that are big time information brokers/spies. Duros-the green, yellow eyed cantina aliens from A New Hope. Renowed space travellers, but seem pretty boring to me. Gammoreans-The pigfaces from Jabba's were probably added to provide a 'half-orc' option. Since there was no race that was included for 'big dumb and strong' as a recommended race before, this option is welcome. Kel-Dor-Like the gasmasked Jedi Master in Episode 1. This race seems to be into 'eye for an eye' justice, and has the intersting limitation of not being able to breathe most 'normal' atmospheres. Good story potential-interesting addition. Quaren-Squid-faced aliens. I dunno, seem to overlap with Mon Calamari. Zabrak-I guess were included so your player can say 'DUDE! MY BOUNTY HUNTER 8/SITH LORD 12/SOLDIER 14 IS THE SAME RACE AS DARTH MAUL!' 3. Classes The biggest change here is the addition of the Tech Specialist class. Basically, the tech specialist relies on his Int and skills to do research, and get bonuses to craft/repair skills and feats. This is a welcome addition to the game, since the 'tech whiz' of the movies (R2D2) always ends up saving everybody's butt when things get tough. It also facilitates in depth narrativist, simulationist, deep immersion story-telling focus on technical aspects of space fantasy (R2D2 saving everybody's butt when things get tough). Jedi are given the class ability to deflect blasters (which makes sense for this genre), and fringers begin proficient with only primitive and simple weapons. Overall, however, the classes are pretty much the same as before. 4. SKILLS Lots of clarification and new skills here. Some feats-such as force lighting-have been made into skills. Additionally, Balance and Force Illusion are among the skills added. One thing that stuck out is that Force Lighting seems to do a static amount of damage this time around-always 3d8. The explanations of which skill gets used when are improved this time around. Skill synergy, when using two skills at once at a 2 bonus, is also more clear. 5. FEATS See SKILLS. Feats are clarified, and some are added to take advantage of attacks of opportunity, which have been added this time around. 6. HEROIC CHARACTERISTICS Not many changes here, except making reputation more important in Diplomacy and related skills. This makes good sense. 7. EQUIPMENT Biggest difference here is armor reduces damage instead of adding to defense. Some have posted concerns that this change will result in more PC's wearing armor, and diminishing the star wars feel. I don't think this will be a problem, since most armor with a DR above 4 lows the maximum dex bonus allowed to two or less. Since blasters and lightsabers hurt a lot, it could still be better not to get hit than shave off a few points of damage. I do not see a sudden armoring up of characters on the horizon because of the rule change. 8. COMBAT Say it with me: attacks of opportunity. Here, the Star Wars book provides CLEARER explanation of the beloved AOO than D D3E, with neat examples. This addition is good in my opinion, since it unifies the game furthur with D D, and provides another cool tactical aspect to Jedi battles. 9. FORCE The changes here are more information on the implications of dark side points, and makes force point accounting simpler since you no longer need to keep track of when the point is gained (instead, you just use your level at the time when the point was spent). 10. VEHICLES No more abstract combat! Get out your checkered battle mats, kids...we're going for a ride. The rules are much more like the character combat rules in terms of facing, movement, etc. this time around. Although this makes things a little more technical, I think this is a good change. It may take a little more effort to keep track of things, but in game terms it will be easier to see what's going on in terms of positioning. The new vehicles make me think of a sci-fi black hawk down. Super huge retro AT-ATS (AT-TE) and Republic Gunships (think Platoon meets buck rogers) have been added. 11. STAR SHIPS The system has been changed as per vehicles above. I also detect some old d6 influence seeping in when looking at the fire arcs and diagrams for manuvers, which is all right with me. The new map of the galaxy is very comprehensive and looks great. New toys: Jedi Starfighters (with built in R4 droid), superhuge Republic Assault Ships, Combat Airspeeders, and Attack Gunships. Unlike the new ships in the first rulebook, I feel a lot more 'wars' in my stars this time around. 12 GAMEMASTERING More rules on acid, falling, and radiation. Mediocre section on making instant star wars communities (reminded me of the generic 'randomly roll who is in this town' charts from fantasy games). Some sith classea are added from the dark side book, but we get 3 new jedi presteige classes: the Jedi ace (super force pilot), Jedi investigator (sherlock holmes with the force), and the Jedi Master (mostly, I think, to give players a sense of accomplishment when they reach the rank of Master, instead of just saying 'you're a high level Jedi-you're a master now). The new Jedi classes seem to offer more differentiation amongst Jedi, which is good for a game with multiple Jedi PC's. The new illustrations for the presteige classes are very nice. 13. ERAS OF PLAY Basically stats for the 'big' characters from the movies and fiction. Lesson 1: Count Dooku will be an awesome villain for prequel era play. Not only is he trying to become the chosen one by mastering the light and dark side of the force, but he is rich, charismatic, intelligent, and could beat the living crud out of pretty much any party. A great villain. Lesson 2: Jango Fett is even tougher than Boba. I remember when I sicced good 'ole Boba on the PC's in my old Star Wars game-they almost wet themselves. Jango is even worse. Even twinked out munchkins will be in trouble. Lesson 3: Say you run a campaign with all evil siths as player characters. Even after reaching becoming Sith Lords, they will gibber like investigators seeing Azahoth when Mace ('It's your decision') Windu and Yoda (who, throughout the book, always has a pissed off, I'm gonna git you sucka look on his face) have their miniatures on the board. Crud, they'd rather play good guys again, since they would 'only' be facing Dooku or Jango in the worst case scenario. 14. ALLIES AND OPPONENTS New aliens-Genosians (battle-droid building, caste-system having insectoids); Kaminoans (tall, A.I. looking, darwinian cloners) are added. New critters-Did george look in a D D Monster Manual when he thought up these critters? Acklay-big, mean praying mantis; Nexu-big, mean Fizzgig (or hairy critter that seems to be mostly mouth, if you're not in the know); Reek (giant bull); Kouhan (venomous killer centipedes). Clone troopers are also included. Seem a lot like stormtroopers to me... 15 DROIDS Now you can play a 3PO droid-or a Super Battle Droid! Basically, you graft a class onto a droid and gain experience normally. The rules make sense-you need to be repaired, not healed,; droids are immune to poison, etc. New Droids-Superbattledroids (the little guys from Phantom Menace on steroids). SAMPLE ADVENTURE None is included this time around. No real loss, since the adventure in the first one was very pedestrian and forgettable. FINAL THOUGHTS I realize that many gamers do not like the idea of classes in star wars, or force skills causing vitality loss, or even the use of a d20 at all in star wars gaming. I am not trying to change your opinion, since all of these aspects are still present in the game. However, I'm actually excited about giving this a spin. I did own the original version of the rules, but never really got excited about getting a game going. The new starship, droid, and new 'kewl stuff' from Episode II has got my imagination going into overtime. Maybe this is a result of hype that will dissipate after I see episode II. However, the book seems to have the attitude that Star Wars is more about fighting and cool toys this time around. The book has a darker feel. I may be eating crow in a few days, but I think that the new rulebook may reflect on the direction attack of the clones has taken. More butt whooping, more action, a darker feel, and more 'wars' in star wars. Although the changes in the rules may not be major, I feel like jumping in, blasting genosians in my Republic Assault Gunship, and using my Jedi Investigator to unravel the myths of the hidden Sith. Before revised, I actually preferred d6 because I felt there were fewer options for characters, and that the starship/vehicle combat system was too abstract. While character generation is a little more constrained than the d6 version, it is still possible to get the kind of character you want by assigining the correct skill points and feats. Also, I like that fact that I don't have to roll tons of d6es multiple times for each attack. I may be biased because I like d d and its random damage, but with the new starship rules and droid rules, I no longer think that there are any super huge problems with this game. Even the little bit of new Episode II information has me super excited to play in the prequel era, take on count dooku, and slay some reek. The new version is better than the original d20 version, and about as good as the d6 version. I hope George has done as good a job reviving the franchise on the screen as Bill and company have done in revising the rule book. ADDITIONAL WINKIE KID COMMENT I hope I don't think 'wow!! yoda rolled two critcals on dooku, doing 87 vitality damage!' when I see attack of the clones in a week or so. But right now, I feel like the new monsters/vehicles/characters in this game should be made into a movie. Usually, when I look at a new game and see all the cool bits, I think 'wow, that would be cool to see in a movie!', but know a really cool movie will never be a reality (see: D D, Kindred the Embraced). It almost seems like a committe of gamers got together to determine what should be in the movie. 'Three cool but ridiculous monsters fighting Jedi in an arena full of mosquito men?' check! 'Boba Fett's dad, with 5d6 exploding rocket, flamethrower, wolverine claws?' check! 'G.I. Joe meets Buck Rodgers transports that carry multiple clone troopers, AT-ATs, and heavy repeating lazers?' check! 'Resevoir dog with purple lightsaber and little green elf laying the smackdown on Saruman/Dr. Doom/Darth Vader analagam?' check! Heck, I don't care if the dialogue is goofy, or the love story cringe worthy. If what's in the rule book only scratches the surface of the kewl stuff I'll see when the clones attack, I'll be a happy kid. FINAL VERDICT In conclusion, if you really don't like the idea of star wars d20, you still won't. If you wanted better starship, droid, and Force rules, you're in luck. Winkie Kid signing off. Let the flames begin!