Club Squirrel Board Game Reviews
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I've been a big
Star Wars fan
from the very
beginning, stuck
with it through
the prequels and
even love Jar
Jar Binks. I
started playing
the WEG D6 Star
Wars and stuck
with d6 for 20+
years with just
a few forays
into D20 and
Saga. So
needless to say
I was very
excited to hear
that FFG were
bringing out a
new Star Wars
RPG, albeit with
a little
trepidation that
the system was
similar to
Warhammer
Fantasy Roleplay
(3rd Edition), a
system I have
mixed feelings
about.
STAR WARS
Edge of the
Empire -
Beginner Game
Box Set
by Ugavine
IMPORTANT:
This is a
Beginner Game.
This is an
introduction
into
role-playing box
set, a teaser
for the full
game that is to
come, with just
basic rules and
no character
creation. As
such I'm going
to review this
on what it is.
What's in the
Box
Read This first
Rulebook
4 Characters
folios
Adventure book
Star Wars Dice
Character
counters
Map
FFG Flyer
The Box
Beautiful
artwork that
immediately
generates a Star
Wars atmosphere.
However, the box
is mainly full
of air and is
very flimsy. You
won't be
re-using this
too long before
it falls apart.
It's pretty
packaging and
sadly not a
place for
storing your
books for
constant use.
Read This
first
This is just a
four page
booklet giving
examples of how
to role-play.
Veterans can
pretty much
ignore this,
it's the usual
Dave says this,
Beth says that,
you get at the
front of most
RPG books. What
you will need
though is the
back page which
gives the
opening scrawl
to the
adventure.
The Rulebook
This is a 48
page softback
book with
everything you
need to get
started. Good
quality full
colour paper
with great
artwork.
The layout is
pretty straight
forward with
Chapters on
Playing the
Game, Combat,
Skills, Talents,
Gear &
Equipment,
Starships &
Vehicles and
Adversaries.
The instruction
is pretty clear.
There are a few
examples of play
which help
understand the
rules and it has
that all
important Index
at the back. I
did find myself
flicking back
and fourth
through the book
during play. A
couple of times
the rule I was
looking for was
not obvious, but
it still didn't
take long to
find in such a
condensed
booklet.
Generally the
book is nice and
easy to read and
easy to
understand.
4 Character
folios
These are the
sample
characters to
use in this game
- note: two
more characters
are available to
download from
the FFG web
page.
Each folio is
eight pages, if
you count the
cover. Each is
full colour and
like the
Rulebook is
excellently
illustrated. The
folios contain
information for
new players on
understanding
the Character
Sheet, which is
in the folio,
and explains the
use of the
custom Star Wars
Dice. The folio
includes two
character sheets
for each
character, the
starting profile
and an advanced
profile for when
they gain
experience. The
back of each
folio gives a
brief background
on the
character.
These folios are
certainly great
for new players
but even my old
school players
who have
role-played for
25+ years loved
the folios and
there was no
arguing over
characters. Each
character has
his/her role,
Human Smuggler,
Wookiee Hired
Gun, Female
Twi'lek Bounty
Hunter and Droid
Colonist. So a
thumbs up for
the characters
folios.
Adventure
book
The included
adventure is
very much a
beginner
adventure and
written in a way
so as to
gradually
introduce the
players to the
rules of the
game. For both
Players and GM
this was very
useful. The
adventure itself
is very linear
but is good for
learning the
system, but
being a long
time GM I
managed to flesh
it out a bit
with GM trickery
such as playing
the Cantina
music and
including extra
encounters. The
book itself is
32 pages in the
same full colour
and has many
boxes explaining
rules or giving
suggestions on
what the
characters might
do. There is
scope for added
role-playing
beyond the scope
of the adventure
should the
characters
decide to
explore Mos
Shutta more, so
GMs be prepared
for a little
off-the-cuff
improvisation.
Overall as a
starter
adventure which
is probably
planned for a
single evenings
play it is
pretty good,
immediately
immersing the
players into the
Star Wars
universe.
 Star
Wars Dice
Those of you
familiar with
WFRP3 will
recognise the
unique dice
system of FFG.
The use of this
dice can give
mixed feelings.
Cool, something
gimmicky, or
that sucks that
I have to buy
their dice too.
Personally I
like the dice,
although you
don't get a
great many in
the Beginner
Game and I know
that I will
personally buy
several packs of
dice when
released which
will bump up the
price of the
game. I'll go
over the use of
the dice in
gameplay.
 Character
counters
These card
counters will
again be
familiar to
players of
WFRP3. I'll be
honest, I have
not even opened
them (I have
more than enough
Star Wars
Minis). But
there are enough
counters to
represent
everything the
group may need
in the starter
adventure
including
counters for
Teemo the Hutt,
mynocks,
Stormtroopers,
starships and
even a Rancor.
The counters are
double-sided on
sturdy card.
There are also
counters for
Destiny Points,
again I'll come
to them later.
So while not
something I will
personally use
they are a nice
addition to the
box set and I
wouldn't
complain if they
are included in
later
supplements.
Map
I love maps,
especially Star
Wars maps, and
this doesn't
disappoint. Full
colour
double-sided map
for use in the
enclosed
adventure. One
side has a floor
plan for the
Krayt Fang, a
YT-1300
Freighter, the
same model as
the Millennium
Falcon. The
other side is a
floor plan of
the Cantina and
a map of the
town of Mos
Shutta. My only
minor quibble
with the map is
that it is
folded the wrong
way for using
the cantina or
town plan, I
ended up folding
it back on
itself.
FFG Flyer
Okay, not a real
bit of box
contents, but it
does direct you
to the FFG
website where
you can download
the follow on
adventure Long
Arm of the Hutt.
As minor an
inclusion this
is it's nice to
see FFG
supporting Star
Wars on their
website.
Gameplay
Jedi & Sith be
warned, this
game is for
Smugglers &
Rogues, The
Force is not
covered in the
starter game.
But the smuggler
and rogues have
a good time of
it.
A lot of the
mechanics of the
game are based
around the
custom dice. The
various dice are
the Ability die,
Proficiency die,
Difficulty die,
challenge die,
Boost die,
Setback die and
Force die. For
now the only use
of the Force die
is generating
Destiny Points.
There are
various symbols
on the dice;
Success,
Triumph,
Advantage,
Failure,
Despair, Threat.
I'm not going
into too much
detail, but the
system works by
the GM assigning
a number of
Difficulty dice,
these may
include the
Challenge and
Setback dice.
The Player gets
to roll his
Ability,
Proficiency and
Boost dice. The
aim is to get
more successes
than failures,
the number of
successes is not
generally
important except
for Medicine and
Combat
(inflicting
bonus damage).
Certain symbols
cancel others.
We found the
whole group very
much liking the
Advantage &
Threats, this is
a story-telling
mechanic. This
again is going
to be a
contentious
issue with some
role-players
feeling they
don't need a
mechanic to tell
a story. The
flip side of
that are the
gamers who want
to play a game
as much as they
want to
role-play. For
those gamers the
Advantages and
Threats can be a
treat. They
basically give
the GM a nudge
to add some
flavour to a
scene, weather
it's good or bad
for the
characters
depends on the
dice.
While I've not
played enough of
Star Wars
EotE yet, my
gripe with the
dice system in
WFRP3 is that
defending
yourself was
very difficult.
If you dodged or
parried you just
got to give the
enemy a single
Setback die,
which wasn't
much of a
challenge for a
high skilled
opponent. A
little more play
with Star Wars
will see if this
suffers from the
same problem.
The final
mechanic I want
to mention are
Destiny Points.
Each session the
players generate
a pool of
Destiny Points,
Light or Dark,
tokens are
supplied amongst
the counters.
Players get to
spend Light Side
Destiny Points
to boost their
dice for the
next roll. After
their roll the
token is flipped
becoming a Dark
Side Destiny
Point. The GM
can now use the
Dark Side
Destiny Points
to boost his
Non-Player-Character
or increase
difficulties for
the
player-characters,
after which the
token flips to
being a Light
Side token. The
balance of the
Force kept
between Light
and Dark.
Personally I
think that is a
great mechanic
for Star Wars, I
like that a lot.
So, overall Star
Wars Edge of the
Empire Beginners
Game is a great
product. It's a
great RPG and
it's a great
Star Wars RPG. I
would recommend
for any Star
Wars fan without
hesitation. For
non-Star Wars
fans, well if
the theme
doesn't grab you
it probably
won't for you.
But I can
certainly see
just the
Beginner Game
getting a lot of
play until the
full version is
released.
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Club Squirrel ratings
(1 Squirrel) Pretty bad. Not fun. Play
before you buy.
(2 Squirrels) Below average, not much fun.
(3 Squirrels) Good game. Fun with solid
mechanics.
(4 Squirrels) Excellent game. Great fun with
much replayability.
(5 Squirrels) GOLDEN SQUIRREL. One of the
best games out there.
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