RPG Classics Review: The Star Wars RPG Part 1

[harro123]

Great review! Played West End Games 2e for years and was saddened when WEG went under. The D20 for star wars was a total let down for me and my friends. As for starting Jedis, I can't remember what the choice selection was (maybe 1D Sense and 2D Control?) there was some really good powers that you could have at the start. High end Jedis were ridiculously powerful though :P

[3ggman]

Great review! I loved the Star Wars rpg. I never played 2nd edition revised though. I started with 1st and my friends and I moved on to 2nd edition when it came out. So many fond memories. It was a much better time... a time before the prequels exisited!

[Webhead123]

@3ggman Yes, I still live in that period of mid-1995 to mid-1999, which was a *fantastic* time to be a Star Wars fan:

August '95 - Release of THX Remastered trilogy of VHS

December '95 - Release of Decipher Star Wars CCG

May '96 - Release of Shadows of the Empire novel

August '96 - Release of Star Wars RPG 2nd Ed. Revised

December '96 - Release of "Shadows of the Empire" game

April '97 - Release of "X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter"

October '97 - Release of "Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight"

Sigh..

[Biopunked]

How well would you say it handles force powers? I understand back in the 90s creators made psions/jedi a bit less powerful and I was wondering if that's the case here

[Webhead123]

@Biopunked I feel it handles it very well and it's system has really defined alot of forward-thinking on how the Force is modeled today.

There are 3 Force "skills": Control, Sense and Alter. They are not related to any Attribute. You acquire dice in them in the same way you do other skills. Each "skill" governs an assortment of different powers, which must be learned in order to be used. Advanced Force Powers often use more than one skill (Ex: "Lightsaber Combat" uses both Control and Sense).

[Webhead123]

..."Force-User" characters in WEG Star Wars have been called analagous to the Mage of older editions of D&D, which is to say they start off fairly weak in the beginning but get significantly more powerful later in the game. That's a pretty fair analogy but I also happen to think that it's a relatively narrow one. The "balance" to Force-Users in WEG if you will, is that they face a long and difficult road. The Force is not easy to master...unless you entertain the lure of the Dark Side...

[Biopunked]

@Webhead123  Interesting...

[Biopunked]

@Webhead123 so there is no 'cooldown'?

[Webhead123]

@Biopunked No. There is no game-mechanic restriction on how often a character can use the Force or any particular Force Power other than the time it takes to activate a given Power, the number of actions a character is attempting (every "skill" that a Power uses is considered an additional "action" for purposes of multi-action penalties)...and always the inherent dangers of the path of disharmonious "abuse" of the Force (to the Jedi, the Force is not a "tool" but a "symbiote companion")...

[Webhead123]

...It is possible for a Force-User to use Telekinesis to "Force-Push" people every round for an entire combat if they so desired. There's no "cooldown" or "fatigue" or any other such mechanic preventing them from doing so. Such behavior is generally unnecessary, impractical, undesirable and problematic in *other* ways, however.

The other thing to consider is that the capability really depends upon the skill of the user. A young Jedi will be moving beer mugs before he can begin moving people.

[Biopunked]

@Webhead123

I see.Thank you for your time :)

[DilutedDreams]

This game sounds good, however I'm only able to find copies of Second edition not the revised version - how does it compare?

[Webhead123]

@DilutedDreams The 2nd Ed. book (blue cover) is great too. The rules are virtually 99% identical to the 2nd Ed. Revised. The primary advantage of the revised book is that it is (IMO) much better organized and with more examples. I'm not completely sure but I also believe that 2nd Ed. Revised contains more vehicle and starship stats.

[DilutedDreams]

@Webhead123 Well thats not too bad than. I just wonder because revised is either not available or grossly overpriced.

I can get 2nd edition at a decent price, thanks.

[Webhead123]

@DilutedDreams Yes, it's a tragedy that Revised is rather difficult to get ahold of. Again, the original 2nd Ed. will still serve you well, if you can forgive its less friendly layout and organization. All the rules content is still there and only a handful of rules changed, most of them so small that a person might not even notice.

[zombiekiller1802]

thanks this really helped now i really got into the game and play it with my friends. 

[Webhead123]

@zombiekiller1802 You're very welcome! Glad I could help out!

[bshieldsbb01]

RIP West End Games.

Paranoia and Star Wars were the best examples that RPGs could be fun, easy to learn and NOT have to be geared toward Rule Lawyers. The beauty of simple game systems is they can be easily customised to suit your own game style. The way it should be.

My nephew has started to get into paper&pen RPGs and I recently dug out all my old SWRPG rule/source books from the 1st edition in 1987. All in mint condition (and I don't give a crap how much that would be on E-Bay).

[angriffdg]

and my point? f*cking language walls :)

[angriffdg]

In Spanish we only got the 1st edition published (which didn't give many NPC or vehicle stats). Later they released a rules companion which took some of the changes of 2nd vanilla and various suplements. Sadly we never got the revised and expanded 2nd ed (e.g. I didnt know wat Wild Die was till I read US books). I spent many hours translating it and i can say it is a much better book (enhanced but simple rules and some stats for npc and objects, which shouldnt be missed in any rulebook imo)

[Webhead123]

@angriffdg Interesting to know. Thanks!

[Sparrow9612]

Though I've never played any pen and paper type RPGs, my two favorites are Scavenger Hunt and Operation: Elrood. Both have Squibs in it, one of my favorite races.

[Webhead123]

@Sparrow9612 I love Squibs! Have since the first time I saw them in one of the alien species sourcebooks.

[Sparrow9612]

@Webhead123 The RPG I play is a forum one. Most of my characters are Squibs. My favorite one among them is an orphan fuzzling (squib name for child), named Kivo. His parents were killed by Ugors when they attacked his colony ship. He was adopted by a Shi'ido spacer named Shaa Krya.

[Webhead123]

@Sparrow9612 This takes me back! Squibs, Ugors, Shi'do, raided colony ships. Something about all that takes me back to the mid-90's and the "classic" Star Wars feel that seems to have been slowly changing over the last 10 years. They don't make Star Wars stories like they used to.

[Sparrow9612]

@Webhead123 The forum is a lot of fun. It's an alternate universe. The story goes that Anakin, Obi-wan, and apparently Padme (would have made sense if she had been kidnapped too, to lure Anakin in), did not survive the Invisible Hand crashing on Coruscant. Ultimately the Clone Wars continued for another 10 years. Republic is victorious, but the galaxy is a mess.The current year would be 23 ABY. There won't be any Vong thankfully, they aren't allowed. I really, really hate them.

[beatboxpeej]

Can I ask you a weird queston? How's your book smell? I know its weird but I love the smell of my first book I ever bought for myself. Its a strange fealing of nostalgia. In my case its DnD 3.5...yeah..I'm young

[Webhead123]

@beatboxpeej Oddly enough, my book does have a distinct scent to it when opened, most likely because we used to play outside quite a bit (on the porch, out on the grass, etc) and so it has probably taken on some of that "outdoor musk". You can also tell its age because the margins of a number of pages have sorta smokey smudging from so many fingers turning the pages. Other than that, it's in great shape and is a testament to the quality of the materials and binding used. Kinda rare these days.

[beatboxpeej]

@Webhead123 Totally. The only books I have that are in perfect shape are my collectors edition books from DnD 3.5. Their cover is in leather-kin material which is awesome.

[jordakai]

Hey I plan to buy this, do I need other books besides just the core ?

[Webhead123]

@jordakai You don't *need* any other books but you may end up *wanting* others. :)

The corebook will provide you with all the rules you'll need for characters, vehicles, starships, droids, most common equipment, a few alien species (specifically, it includes: Ewoks, Ithorians, Rodians, Sullustans, Twi'leks and Wookies) and Force Powers.

It has stats for many Rebel/Imperial troops and ships as well as some general types like bounty hunters and the like. It even has a good sample adventure.

[jordakai]

@Webhead123 Ahh right on, thanks man.

[guitardbucket]

My first Star Wars RPG was 1st edition WEG Star Wars. The only part I needed to houserule was the section on ship shields. It said that every time your ship was shot at, you needed to roll to raise your shields again. I thought that was silly. I had one roll when you first turn the shields on, and once they're up, they're up. I also have d20 Star Wars, but WEG Star Wars fits the feel of the setting so much better.

[Webhead123]

@guitardbucket Yes, I was glad that rule was removed from 2nd Edition. I was also glad that 2nd Ed. changed starship movement speed from a random die roll every round to a fixed value.

[stardestroyer2]

Would you mind telling me how i need to get started? What is required to begin? Dice, Guides?

[Webhead123]

@stardestroyer2 Certainly. First, you need a copy of the book featured in the review. I suggest first searching used book sellers in your area if you have any (like Half Price Books). If you have no luck with that, you can try online sellers like Amazon Marketplace, Ebay, Noble Knight Games, etc. The corebook will contain all the rules that you'll need to play. No supplement books are required but there are lots out there if you decide you want some of them for the extra details they offer.

[Webhead123]

@stardestroyer2 You will also need a handful of six-sided dice. I would say you'd want 6 at minimum but 10 or more would be recommended if your group is going to share dice. One of those dice should be a different color or otherwise easily distinguished from the others. This will be used as your "Wild Die". Then, of course, you'll want ample pencils and paper for notes, maps, character sheets, etc. That's all you need to play!

[beatboxpeej]

@stardestroyer2 Don't forget Mountain Dew, lots of imagination and fun..a bunch of it. But that's fairly include with the friends showing up at the game.

[GeneralThornton]

4 reasons why I will probably never bother to buy the D20 system:

1) I'm too lazy to learn a new system. The D6 works for me and allows me to focus on story, rather than game mechanics

2) I've always associated D20 with D&D and trying to force that into Star Wars really rubbed me the wrong way

3) The prequels really were bad. And since Wizard used the prequels to sell the new game - art, design, etc. - I really didn't feel like buying it.

4) Wizards is the Microsoft of the RP gaming industry

[scullkrusher]

Late comment. But I was actually checking out a used books store and saw a copy for $15 in good shape. I remember your review and so I bought it. Wow this game has really stood the test of time. I feel ya on d20. It seems there's a trend of games coming out with more "loose" rules that allow you to do more gaming. I feel jipped not playing this game with it was new (I was only 7) but now I wanna try it out. Idk about the Saga Edition but this is a fun read because of the references and jokes.

[Webhead123]

Good find. $15 is a steal for this game. Glad you decided to pick it up. It is the RPG responsible for bringing me years upon years of enjoyable gaming.

[saleporc123]

i found a pdf file that containt 46 books of star wars d6 rpg 1st and 2nd edition

its kinda cool

[LegendofFantasy]

Could you PM me a link?

[aikighost]

I'm a huge fan of WEG d6 system games. I haven't played much d6 SW over the last few years but have played a lot of Metabarons which is great fun if a little on the DUNE + "weird" side of things.

[woodwwad]

lol, D&D would be in the center of the rpg HOF, regardless of what is your fav. That's the biggest game, thus the center. Nice review though.

I liked SW d20, the first version. SW is a great rpg.

[Webhead123]

You are correct about D&D. I misspoke in my review and meant to say "at the center of my RPG Hall of Fame" as SWD6 was definately the most influential RPG in my 15 years spent in the hobby.

I've played all editions of Star Wars RPGs (D6, d20, RCR and Saga). The D6 version is the only one that really impressed me. All of the WotC editions had problems of one kind or another that eventually sent me back to using the D6 rules. Of the d20 version though, I think Saga was the most workable. IMHO.

[Webhead123]

That's not to say that people can't or don't like the d20 editions, just that they didn't work for me when trying to bring (my vision of) the Star Wars "spirit" to the table.

[woodwwad]

oh sure, that's totally understandible. Which one is saga? I've just stubbled across your reviews here, hope you put out more soon as I watched all of them today. Very nice job by the way.

[Webhead123]

Saga Edition is the latest version of Star Wars d20 that WotC released. IMHO, Saga Edition had a lot of great ideas and did some considerable refinement to the d20 System to make it fit the Star Wars mold. That said, it is still an iteration of the d20 System (albeit an evolved and improved one) which is one of my least favorite game systems for reasons too numerous to mention here. Thus I still had my issues with it. But Saga did receive a lot of support and many Star Wars players love it.

[pspboy7]

It's too bad that West End Games bit the dirt. They had a good thing going. I still have my Star Wars D6 books. I still flip through them for fun.

[MrSaber152]

@pspboy7 they now make boardgame in europe. i think france.

[salsatheone]

Coincidentally after I've posted my own review in portuguese the related videos list shows yours, so here I am and I'm astounded to your indepth description of the system, i'm unable to do such thing through my reviews cause I try to limit them to less than 10 minutes. Also in my SWD6 review I included much more background which left it less crunchy. Anyway yours is unparalleled in terms of rules. Great post!

[StriderIsAragorn]

Dig the video. Your knowledge and passion for Star Wars D6 parallels my own.

Tons of great memories playing it throughout the mid-90's when I discovered it. I actually was going through my storage room today, and found my box that was full of my old sourcebooks.

Over the course of about six years, I managed to obtain almost every Star Wars WEG book. I only need a small handful. Someday my collection will be complete...perhaps when I decide to delve back into Star Wars...

[hanshideout]

Hello there. I TOTALLY agree with everything you said about this version of Star Wars. Both part 1 and 2 were acurate descriptions of the game. Too bad West End Games Star Wars is no longer in print. Anyways.........I would like to maybe trade email with you sometime for some discussion. Thanks