Revised Core Rulebook (Star Wars Roleplaying Game) 
asked by orla on November 5, 2006 12:03 AM
Revised and updated with new information from Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, including game statistics, characters, creatures, and vehicles.
Containing all the rules needed to play the popular Star Wars Roleplaying Game, this rulebook has been updated and expanded to include changes based on customer feedback and all-new Star Wars: Attack of the Clones material. The book spans all Star Wars eras, including The Rise of the Empire era, The Rebellion era, and The New Jedi Order era, with material that has never been compiled into a single source.
Added features of the revised rulebook include rules for playing droid characters, a new starship combat system, and expanded creature design rules. New species, skills, feats, character classes, prestige classes, and equipment will be extremely well received by the players and fans who have asked for them.
The revised rulebook, which features all-new cover art and interior design, is 100% compatible with previous Star Wars Roleplaying Game products.
Containing all the rules needed to play the popular Star Wars Roleplaying Game, this rulebook has been updated and expanded to include changes based on customer feedback and all-new Star Wars: Attack of the Clones material. The book spans all Star Wars eras, including The Rise of the Empire era, The Rebellion era, and The New Jedi Order era, with material that has never been compiled into a single source.
Added features of the revised rulebook include rules for playing droid characters, a new starship combat system, and expanded creature design rules. New species, skills, feats, character classes, prestige classes, and equipment will be extremely well received by the players and fans who have asked for them.
The revised rulebook, which features all-new cover art and interior design, is 100% compatible with previous Star Wars Roleplaying Game products.
Reviews
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Overall, Star Wars RPG is a good system. Its very easy to learn if you've played D20 Modern especially. I wouldn't say that there are any big problems with the game system, but there are certainly a lot of minor problems that would be very confusing/frustrating to someone without a rules lawyer who understands game balancing. Its a fun game for roleplaying, but I'm not sure Wizards had any really competant game-balancing rules lawyers actually look over the system, or maybe they didn't play test it enough. Either way, the system has a number of very minor game unbalancing things that spring up in game from time to time that require a comptetant GM to resolve. Nothing especially terrible, and overall I enjoy the system as do many of the people I play with. So I would recommend the system to any Star Wars and roleplaying enthusiasts (in that order).
The book itself is well-laid out, I can find the info I need with relative ease.
The book itself is well-laid out, I can find the info I need with relative ease.
reviewed by librarian on November 28, 2006 10:45 PM
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If your thinking of buying this, then do. This book has provided many hours of fun just reading it, let alone playing star wars rpg.
reviewed by tsu on November 29, 2006 9:25 AM
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The 2002 version of the Star Wars core rulebook is an improvement over the original. It upgrades some underpowered character classes, adds some breadth, and makes much-needed improvements to the very abstract and annoying vehicle operation system used in the 1999 rulebook. Unfortunately, the central, crippling problem with the 1999 version remains: the d20 system just isn't well-suited to Star Wars storytelling. Playing this game is nothing like playing out a Star Wars story, and a lot like playing Dungeons and Dragons in space.
Star Wars is fast-moving, fluid, and dynamic, and not much concerned with power balance. A kid fresh off the moisture farm can fight his way past elite enemy troops to save the princess, and one Sith Lord can arrange the downfall of the entire Jedi order. Audacity and heroic (or villainous) attitudes matter more than experience and number-crunching. Major characters rarely die, and then only if there's a strong dramatic reason for it. Plotlines are loose and free-form. A game based on Star Wars should reflect that.
By contrast, d20 is very cut-and-dried, and very regulated, and much too lethal. Concepts like "level", "class", and "hit points" are fundamental to the d20 system, but are not very applicable to the Star Wars universe. The system has a lot going for it, and it's great for Dungeons and Dragons, but here it's a case of trying to stuff a square peg into a round hole.
I prefer the West End Games "d6" version released in the late 1980s. It has its flaws - it doesn't deal with very powerful characters as well as it might, and character creation could use some tuning (particularly for Force-sensitive PCs) - but it captures the feel of Star Wars. A revision of that rule system, or a completely new system incorporating the best features of both d6 and d20, would have been a much better choice than using the d20 system as a "one-size-fits-all" set of mechanics.
However, it seems unlikely that Wizards of the Coast will forsake their flagship d20 system for something as high-profile as Star Wars. So I suggest that if you really want to get into gaming in the Star Wars universe, look for a used copy of the West End Games version.
Star Wars is fast-moving, fluid, and dynamic, and not much concerned with power balance. A kid fresh off the moisture farm can fight his way past elite enemy troops to save the princess, and one Sith Lord can arrange the downfall of the entire Jedi order. Audacity and heroic (or villainous) attitudes matter more than experience and number-crunching. Major characters rarely die, and then only if there's a strong dramatic reason for it. Plotlines are loose and free-form. A game based on Star Wars should reflect that.
By contrast, d20 is very cut-and-dried, and very regulated, and much too lethal. Concepts like "level", "class", and "hit points" are fundamental to the d20 system, but are not very applicable to the Star Wars universe. The system has a lot going for it, and it's great for Dungeons and Dragons, but here it's a case of trying to stuff a square peg into a round hole.
I prefer the West End Games "d6" version released in the late 1980s. It has its flaws - it doesn't deal with very powerful characters as well as it might, and character creation could use some tuning (particularly for Force-sensitive PCs) - but it captures the feel of Star Wars. A revision of that rule system, or a completely new system incorporating the best features of both d6 and d20, would have been a much better choice than using the d20 system as a "one-size-fits-all" set of mechanics.
However, it seems unlikely that Wizards of the Coast will forsake their flagship d20 system for something as high-profile as Star Wars. So I suggest that if you really want to get into gaming in the Star Wars universe, look for a used copy of the West End Games version.
reviewed by 90210 on November 29, 2006 12:05 PM
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The Revised Core rules fixed much of what was wrong with the old core rulebook. The classes (and prestige classes) are much better. More flexibility for dark side PC's is available. Skills and Feats make more sense and aren't nearly as munchkined as they were before.
The downside is that they don't list nearly enough starships. There is no method to upgrade starships or create custom ships (that's all in Starships of the Galaxy, which is long out of print). Also there are no rules for cyberware (those are in the also out of print Hero's Guide).
Beyond that, the players I am running the Revised SW rpg in are avid d20 haters and despised the old rules, but they are all raving about the new "fixed" rules. Never thought I'd see them praise a d20 product, so if they like it, it's GOT to be good.
Warning: there are few, if any d20 products supporting the revised rules, so be prepared to hunt down conversion rules on wizards website or make them up on your own.
That being said, SSotG (if you can get a copy) is easy to convert to d20, just double the listed Damage resistance for Hull Points and give the shields the same DR as the hull.
The cyberware rules in Hero's guide needs no modification that I can see.
The skills and feats in all the non RCR books are still gimped, so be careful in allowing them into your RCR campaign.
Good luck and may the force (or darkside if you prefer) be with you.
The downside is that they don't list nearly enough starships. There is no method to upgrade starships or create custom ships (that's all in Starships of the Galaxy, which is long out of print). Also there are no rules for cyberware (those are in the also out of print Hero's Guide).
Beyond that, the players I am running the Revised SW rpg in are avid d20 haters and despised the old rules, but they are all raving about the new "fixed" rules. Never thought I'd see them praise a d20 product, so if they like it, it's GOT to be good.
Warning: there are few, if any d20 products supporting the revised rules, so be prepared to hunt down conversion rules on wizards website or make them up on your own.
That being said, SSotG (if you can get a copy) is easy to convert to d20, just double the listed Damage resistance for Hull Points and give the shields the same DR as the hull.
The cyberware rules in Hero's guide needs no modification that I can see.
The skills and feats in all the non RCR books are still gimped, so be careful in allowing them into your RCR campaign.
Good luck and may the force (or darkside if you prefer) be with you.
reviewed by allnet on November 29, 2006 1:16 PM