SW p&p

[exarkun]

Please tell me a)Where I can buy Star Wars p&p or whatever it's called (and for how much),

b)if it's any good, and

c)all about it

[palathas]

a) I can give you an Australian site to buy it from, not sure if it will be helpfull though. Usually costs around $AU60 for each core rule book.

 

Try These guys.

 

b) I liked the d6 version. Haven't tried the d20 version(latest) yet. I thought it was good. You'll probably need at least 4 people though. It helps if you have someone that's played it before as the GM too.

 

c) Not enough space to tell you all about it here. Suffice it to say that it can be as simple as the Computer Version or a great deal more in-depth. It would depend on other players that you are with and the GM. Besides, like I said, haven't played the d20 version so I don't realyy know how different it is.

[warstrekkid]

The old D6 books are out of print, but if you know any 2nd hand bookstores, like Half-price books or something, you can usually dig them up. They're quite simple(at least it seems like it to me) compared to the new D20 system for Star Wars now. The old one doesn't require a ridiculous collection of dice(as the name implies, all you need are regular 6-sided dice), most of the rules are pretty intuitive, and it practically has flexibility built into it.

 

The new D20 books come from Wizards of the Coast and are much more similar to the system used in KOTOR, which seems to be a variation built for computer games. They're the ones on the market right now, though I honestly haven't tried them out as much as other RPG systems.

 

In any case, I think the best site right now for any type of Star Wars RPGs is SWRPG Network. Check it out.

[Sammael]

There are rumors that an updated d20 Star Wars game will be launched at the same time as Episode III hits the theaters, so you may want to wait a couple of months before shelling out the money. SW games are, in general, more expensive than other systems, because the licensing fees are outrageous.

[The Great Phantom]

How much does it cost to set up a 'game?' Like, all the books dice, etc.

 

I saw the DS Source Book... 50 friggin dollars? Are they all like that???

[Sammael]

It depends on what books you consider essential to playing the game. Theoretically, you can play with just the core rulebook, but you'd need a pretty thorough knowledge of the SW universe to pull that off. A friend of mine estimated that the "essential" SW d20 RPG books can be bought for around $160 from Amazon.com. Dice are around $5 per set.

[The Great Phantom]

Wow... good thing I have no life, huh?

 

I may buy the Core book, DS Source, Jedi Source, and maybe a few other things... I have an exceptional knowledge of the SW Universe, but does it really help that much?

[warstrekkid]

Honestly, you can get all the sourcebooks you want, but in the end, you might end up not using them and simply doing it all yourself. Think of them more as... pricey guidelines... you can find a lot of stuff online for free to supplement instead. Most of the gaming should be the GM's creativity 'neways.

[Kissamies]

I don't like the d20 system as much as the second edition d6 SW RPG. Then again, I never preferred class and level based systems.

[Silvershadow]

I just played the d20 version of SW today... I hadn't played p&p RPGs in something like 10 years due to loss of interest, but this totally got me back into it. It was awesome. I definitely think it's worth checking out.

[EnderAndrew]

Since the D6 system is no longer supported, you can usually find used books real cheap.

 

All you really need is the main book. You can find websites with all the Force Powers, and supplemental info online.

[Walsingham]

We considered playing a campaign against the rebels, as Empire COMPNOR agents. But it never happened. The Empiure sourcebook is cool, though. If only for the scale pics of Imperial starships.

[EnderAndrew]

I had friends that played a brutual Sith campaign, with truly evil characters. And my wife used to roleplay the NSO. But I'm just not into that.

[Walsingham]

I do think that the name the 'Ubiqtorate' has a nice ring to it.

[Epicenter]

There's two versions of SW RPGs as people on here described. I've played them both. Heck, one of the writers for the West End Games (WEG) Star Wars RPG is (or maybe was, see below) a part of the WotC Star Wars effort so there's some things that feel very familiar between the two systems.

 

They both have their plusses and minuses.

 

D6 advantages: Their system is nice and simple. The d6 system allows you to generate characters quickly. Combat moves quickly. Stat-controlled skills lets you be pretty good in things even if haven't taken a skill specifically for it provided it's under that stat. There's no levels. There's plenty of sourcebooks out. The game is OOP, so you can get it pretty cheap. Jedi really feel like Jedi. The D6 "wild dice" system adds flavor to ability checks.

 

D6 disadvantages: Their handling of the Force isn't so hot. Because of the way the Force is handled (there's three Jedi stats for the Force - you can learn many abilities, and they're controlled by three stats) it feels like when a Jedi turns on his or her lightsaber in combat everyone else in the group can go out and eat lunch or watch DVD movies in the front room while the Jedi cleans up. The D6 "wild dice" system essentially has you screwing up once badly one out of very six times. It was a mature system so a lot of the sourcebooks, especially the Imperial and Rebel have stuff that is obviously made up and feels a little contrived or just not very "Star Wars-y" (Torpedo Spheres, Victory Class SDs, and Imperial Army really come to mind) - especially since the d6 version was OOP before Ep1, you have a bunch of "older" equipment and ships WEG speculated on which has since been much more neatly explained in Ep1-3. The game is OOP so you won't be getting new 'official' supplements and the community is shrinking.

 

D20 advantages: I much more prefer the way the D20 system (second rev) handles the Force (as feats). Jedi still feel powerful, but don't feel quite as powerful as they were in D6 - this is good and bad as it makes parties with Jedi and non-Jedi easier to balance but Jedi don't feel as "cool" sometimes. The breakdown of Hit Points into Vitality Points and HP is a pretty nice improvement over D&D's straight Hit Points. It's still supposedly being published, there's more people playing. It was published after Ep1, so there's some info about Ep1 and Ep2 stuff.

 

D20 disadvantages: It's pricey due to the licensing mojo. There's also the typical gripes about D20 system in general like levels, classes, and experience points. The D20 system isn't well-suited to a skill-based RPG, which I tend to prefer for futuristic games. WotC hasn't published a new sourcebook in ages and looking at their planned releases, they don't seem to have any plans to release more SW:RPG books so I wouldn't call the system dead but certainly a bit comatose at the moment.

[EnderAndrew]

Jedi power levels are certainly a concern in D6. But by the official D6 rules, you have to spend attribute dice on Control, Alter and Sense. And if you only have 1D in each of the three, it will be pretty hard for you to do much with the Force. Furthemore, it is ten times as costly to raise your Control rating as your Blaster rating. I've seen a lot of D6 games run where people ignore these rules because it is more fun to play powerful Jedi characters, though this disrupts balance with non-Jedi characters.

 

I often gave some extra dice to Jedi characters and allowed them to start around 3D/3D/3D for Force skills, which wasn't entirely fair to Non-Jedi, but in turn I put alot more danger and expectations on players of Jedi characters.