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I. Mechanics
While the logo appears on the back cover, rather than the front, this is a d20 game. Although there are significant differences between Star Wars and D&D, the games have many basic concepts in common. While far from compatible, Star Wars is recognizable to a D&D player. Character creation, especially, is nearly identical.
Characters have six Ability Scores--Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma-- that define their basic aptitudes. They also have a Species, which could be Human or Wookiee, as well as a Class, such as Scoundrel. They have Skills, cleaving closely to the standard d20 skill list. Feats are specialized abilities. Some, like Dodge or Point Blank Shot, reflect combat prowess, others provide bonuses to skills or specific applications of skills, and finally, some give the character access to an ability most don't, like the expertise necessary to pilot a capital starship, or the ability to use the Force. Characters have a supply of Force Points. Their ability to withstand damage is divided into Vitality Points and Wound Points.
The Species provided reflect a little of the Star Wars diversity, but is mostly fan-oriented. That is, stats are provided for oddities like Ewoks, Wookiees, and Gungans, as well as more common types such as Humans, Duros, or Twi'leks. Some of the playable Species are tucked away in the Gamemaster's section. All playable Species are considered equivalent, that is, a character of any race begins with equal experience to any other character. This means that an effort has been made to keep the Species roughly balanced. And they are, roughly. Some have above average ability scores, and a few have a unique ability or two that is a distinct advantage over the average character, but a character of any Species is viable. Humans, as in D&D, get nothing special, but receive a bonus Feat and extra Skill Points, reflecting their diverse talents. Just as in the movies, humans are likely to be the most prevalent PCs, but aliens have their own strengths.
The various Classes are intended to represent important Star Wars archetypes. Multiclassing is free and encouraged; most iconic characters are constructed from two basic Classes and a Prestige Class. In this way, a commando type character might be a Soldier/Scout, whereas a deep space trader might be a Noble/Scout. The Classes are:
Fringer-- In a setting like Star Wars, some characters don't come into the picture with an adventuring vocation. They are jack-of-all-trades, with jack for special abilities. The Fringer fills that role, but surprisingly, offers some strong and attractive abilities, especially for characters that aren't intended to fearsome. Essentially, the Fringer starts off with only simple and primitive weapon proficiencies, a fairly brief Skill list, moderate skill points, and a bonus Feat (which could be a blaster proficiency). However, they get to choose one bonus Class Skill, and a get a new Class Skill of their choice every four levels. They also get bonuses to barter, to jury-rig equipment, and to Survival checks, and the occasional bonus Feat. While the Fringer may look a bit weak at first glance, the longer you stay with the Class, the bigger the payoff.
Noble-- While this could be the democratically elected teenage ruler of a backwater planet, this class also covers all manner of face characters, from dipomats to merchants to military leaders. The Noble gets a single bonus Class skill, reflecting the diversity of characters this Class represents. Their primary abilities are resource access, contacts, and various inspiration abilities. In short, they're rich, connected, and strong leaders.
Scoundrel-- Sneaky characters, like Lando. They get an illicit barter ability, lucky re-rolls, minor combat bonuses, and lots of bonus Feats. The difference between a Scoundrel and a Noble is that a Scoundrel is not rich, at least, not consistently, and depends on physical sneakiness to some extent. They have the most Skill Points of any Class.
Scout-- Like other Classes, diffusely defined, but useful. Unlike the Fringer, the Scout is a dedicated explorer, typically some kind of scout, surveyor, or scholar. They have a strong skill selection, some wilderness abilities, and some abilities related to giving it all they have. For the D&D fans, this is the Class with evasion and uncanny dodge. This mixes well with other classes for any kind of traveling character.
Soldier-- The fighter. Like the D&D Fighter, this character is defined by their maximum Base Attack Bonus profession and a combat-related Feat every other level. They get the fewest Skill Points, 4 + Int bonus per level. Unlike a D&D Fighter, they are presumed to have some noncombat abilities, and possibly even a regular job. They don't get a bonus Feat at 1st level, but they do get an exhaustive collection of weapon proficiencies, and proficiency with light armor.
Tech Specialist-- The gearhead. Overall, this may be the weakest class, lagging behind the Scoundrel in Skill Points, and everyone else in everything else. However, they are still supreme within their specialty, able to achieve skill bonuses others can only dream of. This is probably a feature, not a bug, since it's probably not desirable for a Tech Specialist to be a specialist in every Tech Specialty. They are capable of creating powerful mastercraft items. The basic variations are craftsmen, computer programmer, repair technician, and doctor. In most cases, it is strongly desirable to multiclass, leading me to my stated conclusion this class could probably use a minor boost. However, like all Star Wars characters, they are capable of holding their own in a firefight. They have the same Base Attack Progression as everyone else but the Soldier.
Force Adept-- Non-Jedi Force-users. This generally translates into being a less capable Force-user, but they have their own advantages. Generally speaking, Force Adepts are primitive seers or mystics, but some are Force-users who simply lack formal training. Higher level Force Adepts can imbue melee weapons with the Force, making them nearly a match for a lightsaber-wielding Jedi, but without exotic deflection abilities.
Jedi Consular-- Not available in the Rebellion era. This is the talking Jedi type, the contemplative mystic who draws a lightsaber only as a last resort. They have a strong mix of combat and non-combat abilities, and plenty of skills.
Jedi Guardian-- The lightsaber guys. They have a Soldier-like Base Attack Bonus, and a similarly low selection of skills, but fairly strong Force abilities. This is the default Jedi type. In the Rebellion era, you can't start as a Jedi Guardian, but can become one if you gain access to Jedi training.
There are a couple of character types that don't seem to work as well as I might imagine. For instance, there are two ways to become a Pilot. First, you can take Fringer or Scout and select the appropriate Feat is one of your bonus Feats. Second, select it as your 1st level Feat. There really isn't a Class that represents a fledgling combat pilot. Similarly, building a military intelligence agent is difficult; while your inclination is to include some Soldier, most spy-type skills are Noble or Scoundrel skills, but such a character is not necessarily well-funded or versed in illegal activities. Perhaps Scout?
Some characters seem to wobble between Classes depending on what level you start them as. For instance, an outlaw is probably a Fringer who turns Scoundrel, but if you created the same character at 4th level, Scoundrel/Soldier is probably more reflective of his abilities. A seeker of lost Jedi Lore would probably advance something like Scout 1/Force Adept 1/Scout 2-3/Jedi Guardian 1, but you never see a character written up as such a hodgepodge. If you met him at 6th level, you'd probably call him Scout 3/Jedi Guardian 3. Fringers have to use up a Feat to gain blaster proficiencies at 1st level, but frequently multiclass into more martial Classes. In short, organic character growth does not seem to result in the strong archetypes suggested by the Class system. More often, characters end up with various and diffuse abilities in the course of pursuing the abilities they really want. By the time you advance a character to 6th level, it's not uncommon to see Jedi wanna-be's with the ability to imbue melee weapons with the Force, or military spies who are lucky and know how to illegally barter, or bartenders who become mind-bogglingly rich. That said, it's possible, and not usually too hard, to create just about anything.
There are also Prestige Class, notably Bounty Hunter, Jedi Master, Officer, and Crime Lord. Unlike regular Classes, you can't start in one, they must be earned. For the most part, Prestige Classes have very stiff requirements. A Scoundrel/Soldier can become a Bounty Hunter by level 7, and most characters have to be level 8. This is a good thing, I think, since it causes you to look at the basic Classes first for what you need. Prestige Classes are, as they should be, the icing on the cake. It gives the proper majesty to the phrase, "My character is a Bounty Hunter," or, "My character is a Jedi Master." The Bounty Hunter is the only Class in the core book who gains a sneak attack bonus to damage. The Jedi Master is the reason Force Adepts are second class; strong skills, strong Base Attack Bonus, and Force Secrets make the Jedi Master a formdiable addition to a character with already strong personal touches. Officers are a less Noble way for Soldiers to polish their people skills, and make facing skilled commanders a serious consideration. Crime Lords are Infamous, and inspire fear in just about everyone.
Two notable exceptions to what I said about stiff requirements are the Dark Side Marauder and the Dark Side Devotee. Both are essentially evil alternatives to the Jedi tradition, mostly self-trained. They can be readily entered by any Dark Side character with two or three levels. This could mean starting as a mundane Class, such as Soldier, or Force Adept or Jedi. Rather than fully-developed archetypes, these two classes are more like a spice with which to spice some other dish. Adding Dark Side Devotee to Force Adept creates an evil warlock, while adding Dark Side Marauder would instead create a deadly force-wielding assassin or enforcer. When more specific Prestige Classes aren't available, these classes can be used to construct Night Sisters, Sith, fallen Jedi, wicked seers, or various alternative Force traditions that embrace evil.
A minor problem with the Prestige Class concept is that many players are immediately attracted to the idea of being a Bounty Hunter, and feel slightly inauthentic until they achieve that Class. But even Boba Fett was level 1, once. Still, they might have made things easier on me and called it Expert Bounty Hunter, or something.
Skills in Star Wars work much as in D&D. Your maximum skill ranks is your level +3, or half that for a skill not normally associated with your Class. The skill list is also pretty familiar: Listen, Spot, Craft, Bluff, and so forth. The major difference is the Force Skills. These are skills that can be taken by characters with the Force-sensitive Feat. There are three basic Force skills, Enhance Ability, Friendship, and Empathy. Apart from costing Vitality to use, they are handled like other skills. The other Force Skills each depend on a certain Feat-- Control, Sense, or Alter,-- and require levels in a Force-using Class. While Force skills are purchased like Class Skills, their maximum level is based only on your Force-user level, making them neither precisely Class nor cross-Class skill. I assume the intent was to ensure only Force-using Classes achieved great power, but encouraging less dedicated users to multi-class early and often. In that respect, it is a success, but I feel like I have to turn up my nose, a little, at what seems like an inelegant, inconsistent solution. Perhaps that is simply my preconceptions at work.
Feats are virtually identical to D&D. You have combat Feats, such as Dodge, Rapid Shot, and Power Attack. Some Feats, like Starship Operation or Surgery, erase penalties for expert uses of a skill. There are many, many Feats, that grant +2 to two related skills. There are also three Feats that grant +1 to a certain Saving Throw and +2 to a skill, which I found appealing. Skill Emphasis adds +3 to just one Feat, but whereas it stacks with the two-and-two Feats, no published character has taken this approach that I've seen. Force-Sensitive is an important Feat; it grants an extra Force Point and opens up Force abilities and Classes. There are also various Force Feats; some give Skill bonuses, others allow exotic attacks or maneuvers, like Force Whirlwind, some relate to lightsaber combat, and a few allow Force-users to enhance themselves or others in spectacular ways. My main beef there is that sometimes it's hard to tell why some abilities were classified as Feats and others as Skills. Why are Force Grip and Force Strike Skills, but Force Whirlwind is a Feat, when all three depend on telekinesis? Is it really desirable to allow Force-users to start chucking lightning bolts as soon as they spend 1 Skill Point in Force Lightning?
Combat is mechanically similar to D&D. Basically, you roll a d20, plus your Base Attack Bonus and other modifiers, and try to beat the opponent's Defense. One difference is that characters get a Defense Bonus based on their class, making them harder to hit as they gain levels. Attacks of opportunity, initiative, and so forth, are handled as in D&D. The major point of departure is the Wound/Vitality system. Since characters in Star Wars rarely get hit, but when they do, it definitely hurts, the standard hit point system doesn't work. Instead, characters have Wound points, based on their Constitution, and Vitality, based on the Constitution and level. Wound points, therefore, don't automatically increase as you gain levels. Vitality points are like a buffer zone between you and actual injury. They represent frantic dodging, superficial hits, and just plain dumb luck. While you are losing Vitality, you're not really getting hurt at all, you're just getting tired. Vitality is also used to power Force skills. Once you run out of Vitality, though, damage goes straight to your Wound points, and wounded characters are automatically fatigued and may be knocked out. Critical hits bypass Vitality and go straight to your Wounds. In other words, getting shot in Star Wars hurts, and getting shot at is dangerous. Han Solo, for instance, burned a lot of Vitality when he turned the wrong corner and came running back the other way with a platoon on his tail. While the Wound/Vitality system may not seem intuitive, and does have its quirks (might axe blows are harder to avoid than blaster bolts), in practice, it works.
Force Points are similiar to mechanics found in many other games. You can spend them for an extra d6 on your rolls (more d6's if you are a Force-user or higher level). Force users can call on the Dark Side, netting them a nice bonus at lower levels, but wracking up Dark Side Points. You gain a Force Point at each level, and each time your character does something remarkably heroic, like blowing up the Death Star. You gain Dark Side Points by committing evil acts, or misusing your Force Powers. This is one part of the game I feel is pretty weak. Tainted characters take a penalty to light side skills (Heal Anther, in the core book), while gaining a slight bonus to dark side skills (Force Lightning, Fear). Dark characters have the same bonuses, but moreso, and can only call on the Dark Side when using Force Points. So far, pretty good, although there is not a strong incentive to stay with the light. That's presumably why they introduced Dark Side Deterioration. In some of the Star Wars Expanded Universe, the Emperor's clones apparently degenerate due to the power of the Dark Side in him, and his infeebled condition is blamed on his use of the Dark Side. Thus, in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, every time a Tained or Dark character gains a level, they stand a chance of losing a point of Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution. Besides being punitive, this does not seem to reflect the Star Wars milieu. There didn't seem to be anything wrong with Darth Maul's health, and Dooku looks pretty spry for an old man. Considering Vader is on life support, this rule should make him dead. I prefer to run a heroic campaign, so this has yet to come up. But in this area, I feel some sort of house rule is all but required. Considering how grouchy Dark Siders tend to be in the books, perhaps some penalty to Diplomacy to be nice to people is in order. Or you can hope that "kindness is its own reward." While other sourcebooks offer a wealth of options, the core rulebook has only one light side skill, so if you don't have ranks in Heal Another, the skill modifiers alone aren't that persuasive.
I'd like to make a complaint the Sith Lord class features are given in the book for the Emperor, Dooku, and Vader, but the class itself was not included for some reason.
Experience points are handled much like in D&D. You get XP for facing various challenges. However, unlike D&D, Star Wars does not offer a comprehensive Challenge Rating system. Instead, opponents are given a Challenge Code, which is less precise. Each encounter has an overall Challenge Code, which depends not only on the level and number of opponents, in the case of combat, but also on a good deal of ad hoc decision-making. The upside is that the GM is able to hand out XP whenever he deems appropriate. The downside is that it took some puzzling out to figure out what's about right. There is not a lot of guidance for new GMs unless you stick with droids and stormtroopers. In the end, I figured out my first two sessions had some pretty serious challenges for characters of their level, and made everyone level 2, because being level 1 sucks.
II. Milieu
Star Wars can be a tricky genre to emulate. Rather than try to judge whether this game allows you to play the movies, I'm going to judge it on whether it actively hinders such attempts, and whether it captures the Star Wars milieu.
Mechancially, the Wound/Vitality system seems to result in fights much like the movies, although stormtroopers don't drop quite as reliably. Armor isn't all that great, although it's handy for a front-line fighter, which also seems to reflect the movies. Jedi are powerful, but should still watch out for Jango Fett.
The Era notes are disappointing. While I enjoyed the stat blocks, there isn't a lot of info. Given, the Star Wars universe is so well-known as to make a summary redundant, but I would have liked more information. Sometimes, sections of the book are written with different eras in mind, which is potentially confusing. Such differences should have been laid out primarily in this section. I've never been a big Yuzhan Vong fan, but the game does them fair justice. Overall, I think you need era sourcebooks to play the game right, unless you have a wealth of primary sources already.
There aren't enough starships in this book. True, they have the basics covered-- Star Destroyers, X-Wings, TIEs, and Correlian transports,-- as well as iconics like the Millenium Falcon and the Slave I. However, even for a basic book, I feel the lack of Y-wings, B-wings, A-wings, yachts, Nubian space cruisers, and most importantly, the various TIE variants and their era notes. Again, the designers seemed to have fallen back on future (or previous edition) era and hardware sourcebooks to carry the load.
Some details don't quite jibe. Garmoreans are listed as primitives with clumsy axes, but canon describes their weapons as vibro-axes. Bothans, rather than being a noble, peaceful, perhaps even unassuming culture who gave the Rebellion some of their greatest heroes, are scheming freelancers of a Drasnian bent. I believe that particular bad idea was inherited from the Expanded Universe. In other places, the game departs, wisely, from the EU, in areas such as planet-busting Force powers.
Overall, I'd say this book gets only an average grade for setting support, which is a shame. You'd be well off buying the Star Wars Encyclopedia or various illustrated books for source material. For carrying the feel of Star Wars, I think it does an excellent job, especially in its examination of the Jedi Code and its bits about what space opera really is. I think the book could have been tightened up, increasing its depth without adding too much in the way of page count.
III. Fire Control
This book is low in technical errors. Han Solo and the Emperor have fishy looking stat blocks, but the rest seem to check out at first glance. However, Star Wars is still very much in playtest mode. Various official and unofficial FAQ's and boards offer a cargo-load of alternatives and fixes. Setting blasters on stun is pretty contentious. Because it bypasses the Vitality mechanic, and a hit always scores at least one round of stun, stun weapons are sometimes considered Yoda-killers. In the end, I downloaded and printed the latest version of the FAQ, which includes some pretty radical changes to some Force abilities and offers suggestions for dealing with stun weapons.
IV. Style
I like the cover. I like most of the stills. I like the writing style. I do not like all the cartoony illustrations. Also, the neato designs on the edges of the pages make it hard to spot the page number quickly.
V. Actual Play
In preparation for actual play, I brushed up on the latest FAQs and Errata, and digested the contents of the Hero's Guide, the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook, and the Ultimate Alien Anthology.
Character creation went smoothly. The one hitch was letting one of my players loose with the Ultimate Alien Anthology. He was bedazzled by the sheer number of options, which he felt he had to consider individually, and he had a magnetic attraction to the weirdest aliens available. Eventually, I was able to steer him towards something and we got down to business. We ended up with a human Force Adept, a gifted space freighter; an alien Fringer, a blue humanoid rabbit who tended bar and worked with droids; and an alien Soldier, a tight-lipped merc turned bodyguard and shootist. The human's player wasn't sure between Force Adept or some other class, but finally decided he wanted to start with Sense and Farseeing, and so chose Force Adept, taking blaster pistols with one of his Feats and Starship Operation with the other, and taking Pilot and Astrogate as cross-class skills. He was a mediocre pilot, but he was a pilot, nonetheless. The Fringer just spread her points around between Computer Use, Profession, Listen and Spot. She decided blasters were not important to her character, and took Trustworthy and Gearhead, and armed herself with a stun baton and a bow-and-arrow. Yes, a bow, and arrows. The Soldier had the easiest choice; Point Blank Shot, beginning his career as a blaster-slinger.
Even sharing the book three ways, with three new players, only one familiar with D&D third edition, we finished in one and a half hours, and had time for a short session. The characters got jobs as overpaid ship crew for a laconic Duros. Their NPC captain, the only one available, was a rogue 3P0 unit turned Scout. They left on their secret mission.
For the second session, I sent them to Alderaan for their employer to deliver a message. I introduced our fourth player, who created a Blood Carver Soldier Force-sensitive, intending to pursue the Bounty Hunter profession. Shortly after leaving, Alderaan was destroyed while they were in orbit plotting a course, and their ship was damaged by the debris. A Star Destroyer snatched them in a tractor bream. Their droid captain decided to hand them over and escape, and a battle ensued while they tried to escape the tractor beam. Finally, the droid was defeated, the ship broke free, and they made a jump into hyperspace, getting very lost.
They emerged with pretty severe damage. While they worked on repairs, they sent out a distress call. Their seeming saviors turned out to be pirates. The plucky PCs turned the tables on their opponents, taking control of the pirates' superior vessel and shooting the survivors off into space in an escape pod along with the droid.
Combat was smooth and exciting. Four 1st level PCs and one 6th level NPC leader proved a match for twelve 4th level pirates. A couple of Force Points allowed their dramatic esape. Interaction was light on the dice. I was able to work in some spotlight time for every character. The players took some prodding to know what to do with Force Points, but seemed to get the idea after watching their benefactor take out three pirates in one round with a Force point, Two Weapon Fighting, and good rolls. Despite the various combat conditions, I had to reference the book only once during head to head combat. Starship combat and pursuit proved slightly more complicated, requiring me to keep that page open.
For level two, the Force Adept took a level in Scout, netting him the Sharp-Eyed Feat and allowing him to boost his Pilot and Astrogate to quite competent levels. The Fringer decided to take a level in Soldier to allow her to use their captured weapons, including vibro-blades and blaster rifles, and beefed up her Repair skill. The two alien Soldiers each took another level in Soldier. Now the characters were truly starting to come into focus. One human explorer, armed with the Force, and handy in the cockpit. One alien fringer, a good talker but with surprising reserves of courage. One alien warrior, composed, and deadly with a blaster. Another, laconic, preferring to say what needed to be said with a vicious vibro-axe. I originally imagined the human as a Fringer -> Force Adept, but Force Adept -> Scout turned out perfect, even though the player hadn't thought as far as second level when he began.
I wanted to try the game at 1st level, to see how it worked. It worked. The players sweated a little, which is not a bad thing. For beginning players, I think 1st level is the way to go, because it's simpler to explain and requires less strategizing. Even for experienced players, I think being able to take your character from absolute novice to seasoned adventurer adds something. Certainly, my players enjoyed their first level-up. Perhaps 2nd level characters would have been too safe, too staid, too set in their ways. However, I think it's worth starting at 2nd if you want to jump right into the high action. First, it makes the characters a little more blaster-proof. Second, it means you can start as multiclassed character, greatly improving your ability to customize. For instance, the human character could have begun as a Force Adept/Scout or Force Adept/Fringer, and wouldn't have had to choose between Force powers or free blaster proficiency.
V. Evaluation
Basically, this is a fun game. There are a couple of mechanical glitches that stand in the way of the fun, but nothing that can't be worked around. To get the most use out of it, you will want to work with recent errata, especially for Force powers. I also found the Alien Anthology greatly improved the Star Wars feeling, since the core book doesn't offer a lot of suggestions for alien creation. I think there are a lot of great ideas in here. Nonetheless, it is still in need of more playtesting, and a greater consolidation of information, especially vehicles.
In comparison to WEG's old Star Wars, I feel it does some things better, some things not as good. The Force is more mechanical, but combat is more elegant. In comparision to D&D, I think the mission format lends itself more naturally to a greater level of talking, as well as more explosive battles.
Besides the updates given in the FAQ's, it's probably inevitible a certain amount of houseruling will occur. In particular, I don't think stun attacks, the lure of the Dark Side, and blaster deflection are quite where they need to be. But then again, I don't think any of those three factors are going to ruin your game even if you choose not to change anything.
If you like Star Wars, and you like leveling up, you'll probably be happy with this game. If its tactical focus and structured character development don't jibe with your narrative style, you may want to skip it.
Many Bothans died to bring you this review.
