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Post by Stu Venable on Sept 30, 2015 9:22:21 GMT -8
Having none of the beginner's boxes, I can only speak about my experience with 10-year-old.
I've checked with my kids, and they ALL want to play Force users. So I'm using the Force and Destiny book to make their characters.
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fredrix
Master Douchebag
Posts: 2,142
Preferred Game Systems: Fate, L5R, Pendragon, Gumshoe, Feng Shui
Currently Playing: Pendragon, Song of Ice and Fire, L5R, Feng Shui, Traveller
Currently Running: Fate, Coriolis, Nights Black Agents
Favorite Species of Monkey: 1970's NTV, dubbed by the BBC (though The Water Margin beats it)
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Post by fredrix on Sept 30, 2015 13:17:30 GMT -8
Well, my boy wants Edge of the Empire for Christmas, and I'm pleased to say I found it today for £16.53, just 53p more than the very cheapest ones I missed when I started this thread. That's about 1/3 off the list price. So good enough for me.
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Post by ayslyn on Sept 30, 2015 13:25:58 GMT -8
I've checked with my kids, and they ALL want to play Force users. Always the big "problem" with any Star Wars game... ^.^
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Post by ericfromnj on Sept 30, 2015 13:58:54 GMT -8
I've checked with my kids, and they ALL want to play Force users. Always the big "problem" with any Star Wars game... ^.^ Lol. Very true though I think I can work my way around that...
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G.I. Joe
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 147
Preferred Game Systems: L5R, FATE, GURPS
Currently Playing: Isawa Miriko: Split soul made whole again... with memory issues. Homura (Formerly Isawa Kiyoi) - wandering fire Priestess; Girart - a GURPS low-tech combat monkey w/19ST
Currently Running: Fushigina Ronin (L5R 4th ed)
Favorite Species of Monkey: Winston
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Post by G.I. Joe on Oct 6, 2015 10:22:00 GMT -8
Ok, I'm considering getting one of the books, and having my two friends get the other two, but I have a few questions first: How compatable are the different classes with each of the different books? Like could I take a class from one book and run it easily in a custom campaign? How different are each of the rule-sets really? Is it really just one mechanical difference between the three? And if that difference changes the flavor, how compatable would, say, a force user from FaD work with a Bounty Hunter from EotE?
Also, why are there very few rules for making Star Wars purple (or grey)? I mean there is the "light" side where they have blue lightsabers, and the "dark" side where they have red lightsabers; similarly, they have the "bad guys" who are 100% evil no questions asked, and the "good guys" who are the champions of justice, and represent everything that is good and "right" in the galaxy. I want some grayscale in there! I prefer ambiguity in both my PCs and my Villans. They are too 1D otherwise.
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willh
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 220
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Post by willh on Oct 6, 2015 12:00:32 GMT -8
Also, why are there very few rules for making Star Wars purple (or grey)? I mean there is the "light" side where they have blue lightsabers, and the "dark" side where they have red lightsabers; similarly, they have the "bad guys" who are 100% evil no questions asked, and the "good guys" who are the champions of justice, and represent everything that is good and "right" in the galaxy. I want some grayscale in there! I prefer ambiguity in both my PCs and my Villans. They are too 1D otherwise. Well the movies are black and white, but there is no reason you can't have moral ambiguity in your game. Earlier in this thread we talked about running a game with Imperial protagonists where the Rebels are terrorists and religious extremists. That really isn't that radical of an interpretation. Yeah the emperor is bug nuts evil, but the whole galactic system can't be corrupt. Who says the whatever replaces the emperor will be any better, the Old Republic wasn't. I recommend the Star Wars YA novel Lost Stars for a more grey perspective on things.
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Post by Stu Venable on Oct 6, 2015 12:02:25 GMT -8
Firstly, yes, characters from one book would mechanically fit well into another. The story-driven mechanic changes from book to book, but (in the case of Edge and Age) they would integrate easily. I haven't read the mechanic in Force and Destiny yet, so I can't answer that question about the story-driven mechanic.
In all other aspects, the game mechanics seem identical.
I've only had a cursory read through the Force powers, but I recall there are times when a PC can spend Dark Side points as well as Light Side.
I'm going through that part of the book tonight, so I'll post a more thorough answer after I've read it.
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Post by Stu Venable on Oct 6, 2015 12:05:21 GMT -8
I recommend the Star Wars YA novel Lost Stars for a more grey perspective on things. I'll start reading that once my son is done with it.
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Post by ayslyn on Oct 6, 2015 13:03:55 GMT -8
Earlier in this thread we talked about running a game with Imperial protagonists where the Rebels are terrorists and religious extremists. That really isn't that radical of an interpretation. Yeah.... It really is. Vader is the closest we get to a sympathetic character from the Empire side of things. Everyone else not only supports the Empire and the Emperor's agenda, but many show initiative in forwarding it. The Emperor didn't tell Tarkin to go blow up a highly populated planet just to demonstrate how powerful the Death Star was; he came up with that plan on his own. He could have easily chosen an unpopulated world along a major trade route, and just as effectively shown what he could do. I'm sure people could easily extrapolate what might happen should that weapon be turned on a populated world.
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Post by ericfromnj on Oct 6, 2015 14:17:37 GMT -8
How much overlap is there between the books? What percentage is the same information?
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Post by ayslyn on Oct 6, 2015 17:03:50 GMT -8
AFAIK,
The basic rules are identical, so that should be the same in each of the books. It's the fluff and flavour specific rules are different for the games.
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Post by jazzisblues on Oct 6, 2015 18:49:24 GMT -8
They are all equally as good and well designed. Just depends on the flavour of Star Wars you want to start with: Grim, gritty and living on the fringes of the Law and the Galaxy: EotE Rebels fighting for a cause against the military might of The Empire: AoR Jedi, jedi, jedi or Sith: FaD Aaron I agree they're all amazing. The only reason I give EotE any edge is my personal prefrence of finding the maps that set comes up with being more often reused for later games. EotE: You get a map of your ship, a canteena, spaceport control room, and a town map AoR: You get a military base, a launchpad, a comm tower, and a jungle area map FaD: You get a "Jedi" Temple, some ruins, a bridge, and an area map In reality its that ship map and canteena that sets it over the edge for me as my players tend to prefer flying planet to planet and bar fights. The maps are a big part of why I want all three. JiB
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Post by Kainguru on Oct 7, 2015 1:56:05 GMT -8
You can also 'cross specialisation' across all three books. Eg: I have a Zabrak Bounty Hunter gadgeteer with force sensitive emergent and the foresee force power in my campaign. So that's EotE plus AoR and AoR/FaD Aaron
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Post by yojimbohawkins on Oct 7, 2015 3:39:59 GMT -8
Ok, I'm considering getting one of the books, and having my two friends get the other two, but I have a few questions first: How compatable are the different classes with each of the different books? Like could I take a class from one book and run it easily in a custom campaign? How different are each of the rule-sets really? Is it really just one mechanical difference between the three? And if that difference changes the flavor, how compatable would, say, a force user from FaD work with a Bounty Hunter from EotE? Also, why are there very few rules for making Star Wars purple (or grey)? I mean there is the "light" side where they have blue lightsabers, and the "dark" side where they have red lightsabers; similarly, they have the "bad guys" who are 100% evil no questions asked, and the "good guys" who are the champions of justice, and represent everything that is good and "right" in the galaxy. I want some grayscale in there! I prefer ambiguity in both my PCs and my Villans. They are too 1D otherwise. All three books are completely compatible. The different careers can easily work together; they've been designed with that in mind and balanced accordingly if that worries you. The rule-set is exactly the same, except for Obligation, Duty and Morality. The Obligation and Duty mechanics can (and should) be used for any character, regardless of specialization from any of the three core-books. Morality is specific to force-users, but anyone can be a force-user; you just have to cross-spec into a force-using career. The force-users actions generate conflict, and that conflict can move Morality up towards the light side, or down towards the dark side. Go too far either way and you can become a light-side or dark-side paragon (which has associated benefits/drawbacks), but anything else in the middle can be pretty grey, especially if the force-user is faced with difficult morale decisions, or simply has to use dark side pips to use a force power to save the party. It works very well. Moral ambiguity? Edge of the Empire is the book for you; the clue is in the title. The careers are basically the "scum and villainy" you'd expect. Whilst the films focus on the classic good vs evil tropes, we saw in Chalmun's Cantina the sort of shady characters you'd expect. One of the first published adventures for Edge was 'The Jewel of Yavin', a great big heist on Bespin which can be played any number of ways, depending on your party. Lightsabers are supposed to be super-rare in the game (with good reason; they're frickin' deadly!). F&D has information on lightsaber construction, and you can always create your own crystals for your players to find/acquire.
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G.I. Joe
Journeyman Douchebag
Posts: 147
Preferred Game Systems: L5R, FATE, GURPS
Currently Playing: Isawa Miriko: Split soul made whole again... with memory issues. Homura (Formerly Isawa Kiyoi) - wandering fire Priestess; Girart - a GURPS low-tech combat monkey w/19ST
Currently Running: Fushigina Ronin (L5R 4th ed)
Favorite Species of Monkey: Winston
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Post by G.I. Joe on Oct 7, 2015 8:58:29 GMT -8
Thanks everyone. Your comments were very helpfull. I am definately going to check this system out.
On the note of ambiguity, that is one of the things that I do not like in the Star Wars movies. That and the physics... or really, the lack thereof. I do understand that there are the fringe elements who don't really care about the galactic civil war, but I prefer stories that have heros of questionalble morality (which is conveniant because that's how most PCs are), some people who don't really give a shit, and sympathetic villians. My main issue is in most media, we never see the good side of the Empire, nor the bad side of the Rebellion. Dumb George Lucas..... Making me extrapolate ambiguity on my own....
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