Star Wars Roleplaying Game

The force will be with you in this handy rulebook

Overall score:

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast

Get out your lightsabers fan boys, because here comes the long awaited return of role playing set in the Star Wars universe. Seems it's been forever since West End Games folded and took Star Wars with it, but Wizards of the Coast, the savior of dying RPG systems has once again rescued us.

The first impression you get from the rule book is Big. Shiny. Pretty. And it is. And Wizards of the Coast has done a better job presenting the information than they did in their D&D line. Tables are clear and understandable, the artwork is pretty good (although not amazing), the paper is thick and nice and it's well bound. A keeper.

But that's not what we play games for is it? We want to know how it plays. Well, there's some problems, but it's over all a pretty good system. They've abandoned the old d6 system that WEG used (and that was a pretty solid and straightforward system) and adopted the d20 system they used for D&D. They've modified it too. So if you've played third edition D&D, you can make the jump pretty easily to Star Wars: but beware of the changes. I like the new D&D rules a lot, so I'm not too disappointed, but the old WEG Star Wars was really nice, and I preferred them. Oh well, out with the old, in with the new, right?

One thing they altered was hit points, adopting instead a Vitality/Wounds combination system. I'm not sure why. Nor am I sure which I prefer. The Star Wars method is a bit more complex, but it seems to reflect a more realistic fighting system. I guess time and a lot of games will tell.

There are other problems. For instance, no rules on droids as characters. This seems like a mistake to me. R2-D2 and C-3PO were so central to the movies that it seems silly to not allow anyone to play similar characters. We made a jump though and decided to play some as characters anyway, adapting the rules as necessary. It seems to work ok this way, so why didn't WotC use rules for it in the first place?

Another flaw is the character classes. Not the concept of character classes, because after all, it's really no different from a template, but the implementation of some of the classes. You have to be a hard core ROLE player to use classes like Rimmer or Noble. They just don't have any useful abilities when compared to classes like Scoundrel or Warrior. And then there are the force using classes: the classes that basically can tear everyone else apart as they advance. The class system corrects problems with the old template system WEG used: after all, now you can have a Jedi Wookie, something you couldn't work out before without breaking a bunch of rules, but they need to find more balance, so that campaigns with a lot of fighting aren't full of Jedi and one or two useless characters.

And the Padawan/master rules don't make sense. Far as I can tell, you can't build Obi Wan Kenobi from the Phantom Menace with a sixth level character (the last level a force user is considered a Padawan). Plot hole! Plot hole! This could easily be rectified using prestige classes (detailed in the GM section), but they don't, so we have to live with it (or adapt the rules).

One other thing needs to be commended, however, is the approach to the novel spin offs. I personally hate the novels with extreme prejudice. I haven't liked any of the plots or ideas (ok, some of the ideas). The rule book makes a big deal out of the different eras: in the core book: the rise of the empire, the rebellion, and the New Republic. They do incorporate a lot of ideas from the novels: the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, for example. But they don't have any rules or bias toward making you use those elements. So people like me, who want to use nothing but the movies (and perhaps the old Daley novels) for source materials don't have to feel oppressed. Yet you can use the novels if you want. Good balance, and a big selling point for me.

The system is usable and a lot of fun. So if you want to role play in a galaxy far, far away, pick up a copy. That way you have access to the new material coming out, because none of it will use WEG rules. There is, however, a conversion chart at the back of the book for characters built in WEG rules. It's worked out very nicely.

So, overall, I recommend it. But I recommend using a lot of house rules as well. I say game on, Wizards. The force is with you.

Written by SaintEhlers on February 08th, 2002