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Star Wars: Edge of the Empire beta!!!

   
Star Wars: Edge of the Empire beta!!!

http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ed....asp?eidn=3496
Fantasy Flight Games has released their beta for their first Star Wars RPG with the license they somehow (amazing for the hobby business) kept under wraps until springing it on us. Now, with the same leak-free release, they have launched the beta on their webstore and at GenCon.

They have decided, not too much unlike the Warhammer 40,000 direction, to split the license into multiple games instead of just a single rulebook and add expansions at a later date.
The first release is Edge of the Empire, focusing on Hans Solo-type characters and the fringers of the Rebellion Era.
The second release, Age of Rebellion, will focus on playing as the myriad rebel forces and spies and those styles of adventure.
The last of the Rebellion Era releases is Force and Destiny, where you take on the role of the last surviving Jedi and their struggle.


<runs off through the flowers clutching a copy of The Empire Strikes Back>

There is a 99.9% chance I will be picking this up this week, if anyone is going to be up for a campaign of scum and villainy.

Update: Waiting on some information from people who have purchased the book already before I jump in.

I had heard there was only 4 playable races so far and it did include minor untrained force users who may have lightsabers. I know some people can't even imagine playing a SW game without being a Jedi, so they had to cater a bit.

The fact that they offer no incentive towards the full product purchase when buying the Beta is a huge turn-off, especially at the price of 30$.

With the corebook being slightly delayed, it reminded me to take another peek at EotE. With the beta being out for a bit now, can those with experience break down some pros and cons of the new FFG system? Are Force Powers done well?

I have played a couple of sessions and some brief PbP. Overall, I really like the new system, but I think I will be sticking with Saga for most situations.

The new dramatic dice system (kinda based on Warhammer) does a really good job of capturing the Star Wars feel. Everyone can accomplish anything if they're lucky, but only pros can do incredible feats. Also, the advantage/threat symbols (and their bigger brothers triumph/despair) can create the chaotic scenes that Star Wars is known for very well. However, if your group prefers tactical and controlled combat, I suggest sticking with Saga. The dice are very abstract.

Character creation does a decent job of balancing specialization and generic-ness. At a certain point, you cannot really move your character too far from your original concept, so the system might work better for shorter, less epic games. At this point, this system cannot bring Luke from a farm boy to a military officer to a Jedi master efficiently, but I expect that will change in 2014/15 when we get the next two books.

As for the Force, we really didn't get to try it out much. With the default setting being "Scum and Villainy" none of my players were interested in it much, so I haven't even really read the chapter much. It looks like you essentially give up some of your non-Force abilities in return for some fairly basic and mundane powers, such as mind reading, influence, moving smaller objects, and sensing the future. Nobody is doing Clone Wars or Force Unleashed stuff with this system, but it works with the setting.

What they do well is balancing the "dark-side" and "light-side" aspects of the powers. Every time you roll to use the Force, you generate both white and black points. The black points give the GM advantages later on, but can really help out for immediate results. If you stick with the white ones, you'll be limiting yourself. The temptation is definitely there. Overall, the Force system sets itself up very well for expansion in the future, but is very bare-bones at the moment.

If you want to run a game in the setting provided, EotE kills it. It captures the vibe perfectly, balanced, and is exciting. If you want to run a rebel freedom fighter or fighter jockey setting, or a Clone Wars setting, or a high Force setting, or anything other than the criminal underworld/backwater explorer setting, then stick with Saga.

Hope that helps! If MW (or someone else) can get a system that can simulate the unique dice set up, I would consider participating in a PbP game of EotE. I'm very excited for it to come out!

No options for playing Jedi/Sith characters has turned me off from the system, but other than that, it seems fairly well written.

I am very intrigued by this, as I haven't been satisified with either D20 or Saga Edition. But the whole premise of separate core books for different campaign types is a bit much for me and just seems like a money-making exercise on the part of FFG. As is having to pay top dollar for a beta release.




 

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