The book pictured above was among the various extremely cool presents I got this weekend in celebration of both Father's Day and my birthday later in the week. Thanks for all the nifty gifts, everyone!There's been a bunch of hoopla surrounding this new Star Wars game. Two items in particular have been discussed at length, the size of the book and the industry implications. The odd 9" by 9" size I find utterly charming. This book sits easily in my hands and lays flat. It should be no harder to use at the table than my 3.5 hardbacks. My only concern with the size of the book is that the charsheet in the back isn't very convenient, since it is the same size as every other page. But I'm sure PDF sheets will not be hard to find on the internet.
There's been a lot of buzz about this 'Saga Edition' in the form of the question "Is this the face of 4E D&D?" Based upon an initial investigation, my answer is "Probably not." Every change made in this book looks to me like it was done to make the game more Star Warsy and less D&Dish. Some of the changes, such as clarification/simplification of combat actions might make it into 4E. Others, like the Talent Tree fueled classes, maybe not so much. And using your Reflex save as your Armor Class is a great move, but if I saw such a shortcut in my baseline D&D I would decry it as heresy.
But more importantly based upon my first, casual readthrough I really like this game. A lot. Unlike all the previous Star Wars rpgs, I've immediately got some ideas on what to do with the game. And I don't feel intimidated by either the weight of the rules or the breadth of the included expanded universe materials. Assuming interested players, I very much like the idea of making my next campaign some sort of Star Wars Saga Edition based freakout.
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My Mom, dear and wise and kind and generous and strong and wonderful and loving and patient and understanding woman that she is, thinks I like Hawaiian shirts.
ReplyDeleteShe thinks I [i]really[/i] like Hawaiian shirts.
She also keeps receipts, though, so s'okay.
Ooookay, Mr. Hawaiian shirt.
ReplyDeleteThe 9x9 size sounds kinda funky, but should fit in the shelf all the same. And will still fit in the File box of books well too.
Didn't d20 Modern have Talent Trees also? Are they quite similar in the kind of feats they bring you?
Yeah, the Talent Trees look like a direct lift from d20 Modern. That was the one part of d20M's class system that I quite liked.
ReplyDeleteThat's cool. I've been debating whether to pick this one up - d20 SW has mostly been a disappointment to me - to be honest, it seems too much like D&D with lightsabers. I love D&D, but I already play D&D - I didn't really need a D&D clone for Star Wars.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time swallowing it too.
ReplyDeleteI fear nothing will replace 2nd Edition Revised & Expanded in my heart.
Saga codifies a lot that needs no codifying in Star Wars, and does not give you anything else to do but fighting, according to the rulebook. I can see me running this rules system, but I cannot see anything Star Wars in it. It does not even look like Star Wars.
Strange how perception can differ.
In Short: It doesn´t come off as a "roll & shout" system, but more as a d20 tactical fastplay setup.
ReplyDeletePlaytests will show if it can cross tthe line over into R&S.
I'm all about some Star Wars!
ReplyDeleteI might have to drop some cash on Star Wars space minis so I can play a Y-Wing pilot.
"And using your Reflex save as your Armor Class is a great move..."
ReplyDeleteThe Judge Dredd D20 game by Mongoose used something similar. You would add your Reflex save to 10 to get yuor AC (as opposed to your Dex bonus). It seemed to work pretty well.