The Star Wars Roleplaying Game is a tabletop role-playing game set in the Star Wars universe, first published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2012. It consists of different standalone cross-compatible games where each one is a separate themed experience. The sourcebooks support games set from the Clone Wars era to the original Star Wars trilogy era; there is limited support for the Star Wars sequel trilogy era. Since 2020, the game line has been maintained by Asmodee's subsidiary Edge Studio.
Previous Star Wars roleplaying game publisher Wizards of the Coast declined to renew their license in 2010 after 11 years.[1][2] At Gen Con 2011, Fantasy Flight Games announced they had acquired the license from Lucasfilm Ltd., and at the following Gen Con announcing Star Wars: Edge of the Empire for 2013, Star Wars: Age of Rebellion for 2014, and Star Wars: Force and Destiny for 2015, while releasing Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beta and Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game later in the same year. These releases revealed that the new RPG was based on Jay Little's Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 3rd edition, with the dice becoming the narrative dice system.[3]: 315 [4][5]
Age of Rebellion's beta version was released in October 2013, a beginner set released on April 25, 2014,[6] and the final version of the game, the Age of Rebellion core rulebook, released on July 3, 2014.[7] The third line of products, Star Wars: Force and Destiny, for playing Jedi characters,[8] was released in beta in September 2014. In August 2018, the sourcebook Rise of the Separatists, set during the Clone Wars, was announced;[9] it was released on May 9, 2019.[10]
Also in 2018, Fantasy Flight Games published a 30th Anniversary Edition of the original Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (1987–1999).[11]
In 2020, Fantasy Flight Games announced that they were discontinuing their tabletop role-playing game lines. Parent company Asmodee then moved the Star Wars Roleplaying Game license to their subsidiary Edge Studio.[12][13]
In October 2021, Edge Studio announced continued support of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game line via future reprints in phase one and new supplements in phase two.[14][15][16] Edge Studio's RPG Manager Sam Gregor-Stewart, former lead developer of Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, "hinted at the possibility of a new" Star Wars roleplaying game system.[14] However, in November 2021, Edge Studio "told Dicebreaker that no standalone Star Wars RPGs are in development, despite the indication last month that it was working on brand new titles in the sci-fi setting".[16]
In October 2022, ComicBook.com reported that "Asmodee has announced a new print run of several Star Wars Roleplaying Game era sourcebooks, ending a multi-year hiatus of sorts for the once-popular game".[17] The titles to be rereleased in November 2022 are: Dawn of the Rebellion, Rise of the Separatists, and Starships and Speeders along with the Game Master's Kits for Age of Rebellion and Edge of Empire.[17] In December 2022, Edge Studio announced the upcoming reprint of eleven books including the Core Rulebooks for Age of the Rebellion, Edge of Empire, and Force and Destiny.[18] The three entry level boxed sets for Age of Rebellion, Edge of the Empire, and Force and Destiny respectively are scheduled to be reprinted and released in December 2023.[19]
The Star Wars Roleplaying Game is divided into various themed product lines which can be played as standalone games or as cross-compatible games:[20][21]
Star Wars: Rise of the Separatists (2019) is set during the Clone Wars era at the beginning of the Palpatine regime. Star Wars: Collapse of the Republic (2019) is set during the second half of the Clone Wars and the waning of the Republic. Star Wars: Dawn of Rebellion (2018) is set during the ascendance of the Empire. It deals with the events at the time of the animated series Star Wars Rebels and the film Rogue One (2016), in which the Rebellion is divided into factions and is opposing the Empire just as it is consolidating its power.
The first three installments of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game are set within the time period of the original Star Wars trilogy. Star Wars: Edge of the Empire (2013) is set shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star, and deals with characters on the fringes of galactic space. Star Wars: Age of Rebellion (2014) is set around the time of The Empire Strikes Back (1980), and allows players to join the Rebellion. Like Edge of the Empire, Star Wars: Force and Destiny (2015) is set shortly after the destruction of the first Death Star and the death of Obi-Wan Kenobi, when the force sensitives and Jedi slowly start to re-emerge in hopes of rebuilding the Jedi Order.
The Force Awakens Beginner Game is set during the current era depicted in the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), with the adventure provided taking place just before the events of the movie.
The Characteristics are Brawn (Physical Power), Agility (Physical Precision), Intellect (Intelligence and "Book Smarts"), Cunning (Wisdom and "Street Smarts"), Willpower (Endurance and Focus), and Presence (Charisma and Attractiveness).[27]: 15–16 [28]: 22–23 [29]: 24–25 Characteristic levels (called "ratings") range from a minimum Rating of 1 to a maximum Rating of 6, although there is a ceiling of 5 during character creation. Each character race has different base Characteristic ratings, though additional ratings in each attribute can be gained during or after character creation.
There are additional derived characteristics:
After determining attributes, the player designs their character using a Species Template.[27]: 43–53 [28]: 51–60 [29]: 54–63 Each species[note 1] has different racial characteristic minimums and maximums. Each species also has additional features such as Talents or Special Abilities.
The player then picks a Career[22][23][24] and then pick one of the three or more Specializations of that Career.[27]: 80 Each Specialization grants Career Skills and a "Specialization Tree", which grants specialization-based Talents.[note 2]
All the Career Skills listed under the character's Career and Specialization (whether chosen or not during character creation) can be bought for a flat point cost. The Career Skills chosen by the player from the career and specialization lists are granted their first level free during initial character creation, but cost the same as other Career Skills when buying higher levels. Characters cannot buy a new Career but may buy additional Specializations - whether they are under their Career or not. However, if a character wishes to buy another specialization, it costs less for one under their chosen Career than for one under another Career.
The Universal "Careers" are generic Specializations that can be used by any of the core games. Some allow characters from one game to crossover to the others. Force Sensitive Exile and Force Sensitive Emergent allow veteran characters from Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion respectively to become Force users and use the Force and Destiny game rules. Recruit allows Edge of the Empire characters to cross over to the more idealistic Age of Rebellion campaigns. They cost the same as if they were Specializations under the character's existing Career, making them cheaper and more effective than buying a Specialization under a different Career.
There are three types of skills in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. Knowledge skills cover intellectual pursuits, Combat skills cover confrontational actions, and General skills cover non-combat actions.[27]: 101 [28]: 113 [29]: 111
The game's rules assume that all characters have all the game system's skills at "zero level" if they do not have a level in it. The character's default skill level is equal to the skill's governing Characteristic score.
Purchasing a level in a skill (called a "rank") makes the character an expert in it. Regular skill rolls substitute a yellow 12-sided Proficiency die for a green 8-sided Ability die per skill rank. It can also add green Ability dice if the character's skill level is higher than their attribute level. Blue 6-sided Boost Dice are added for advantageous events or if another character is helping the player character with the attempt.
Skill rolls are opposed by rolling a pool of purple 8-sided Difficulty Dice. Depending on the complexity of the task the character is attempting, it could range from one Difficulty die for an Easy complexity task to five Difficulty dice for a Formidable complexity task. Black 6-sided Setback Dice are added for disadvantageous events.
If the character is being opposed by an NPC antagonist while performing a task, then the dice pool is based on the NPC's opposing skill. The Difficulty Pool is created by adding a purple Difficulty Die for each green Ability Die the NPC has in the skill and a red 12-sided Challenge Die for each yellow 12-sided Proficiency Die the NPC has in the skill. Black Setback Dice are added if another NPC is helping the antagonist NPC to hinder the player character's attempt.
Talents are advantages that add flavor to a character and either grant bonuses, benefit allies, remove penalties during play, or penalize adversaries.[27]: 127–145 [28]: 139–159 [29]: 135–153 They cost experience points to buy, and must be unlocked in the order they appear on the "Specialization Tree".[27]: 93 [28]: 103 [29]: 103 The further down the diagram, the more powerful (and expensive) the Talents become. Each Career Specialization has its own Specialization Tree.[27]: 93 [28]: 103 [29]: 103 When the tree is all filled out, the character cannot buy any more talents from it. If the player wishes to obtain more Talents for their character, then they must purchase a new Career Specialization and begin filling out that Specialization Tree.
Talents are split into two groups. "Passive" talents denote abilities that are considered always on and can be used for the entire duration of the session. "Active" talents denote abilities that require a difficulty roll to turn on prior to use, and in some cases can only be used a limited number of times in a given session. Some talents have levels and can be purchased more than once. The talent's levels stack, even if they are bought for different amounts of experience points.
Disadvantages can be taken during character creation to offset point costs:
Motivation is the character's guiding principle:
If the player uses the character's Motivation during gameplay, they get an experience point bonus.
Using the storytelling dice from their earlier Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (3rd edition) as its basis, Fantasy Flight Games tweaked the design to make a dice pool system that was more evocative of the Star Wars universe. It renamed the dice types,[note 3] uses 6-, 8-, and 12-sided dice rather than 6-, 8-, and 10-sided dice, abandons the "exploding die" mechanic,[note 4] and removes the Stance dice.
The narrative dice system uses seven different types of dice.[3]: 315 [20][27]: 10–11 [28]: 17–19 [29]: 17–19 They use symbols rather than numbers and are interpreted on two axes: Succeed / Fail and Lucky / Unlucky. You can succeed, but have negative complications or fail but have positive advantages.
The facets contain either a blank or one of six results.[3]: 315 [27]: 12–14 [28]: 19–21 [29]: 20–21
Destiny Tokens are small round pieces that are black on one side and white on the other. They represent the party's pool of Destiny Points. They are granted based on Force Dice rolls at the beginning of each session. The Player Characters' party gets the tokens of one color and the game master gets the remaining tokens of the opposing color.[22][23][24] White Tokens (The Light Side of the Force) are for the Good Guys. Black Tokens (The Dark Side of the Force) are for the Bad Guys. The party's affiliation determines which color they get.[27]: 27–28 [28]: 34–36 [29]: 35–37
A Destiny Point can be spent to award a bonus die for a character's action, or inflict a penalty die to the opposition's effort. Destiny Points can also be used to change a situation or cancel out or re-roll an unfavorable result like a fatal hit or pivotal skill-check failure.[27]: 27–28 [28]: 34–36 [29]: 35–37 Every time a Destiny Point is used by the party or the game master, one of their Destiny Tokens is flipped over to change its color. This flipped token can now be added to the opposite side's pool.[22][23] "The game is intended for a relatively regular flow of destiny points back and forth".[24]
The first step in combat is to figure out Initiative,[22][23][24] which is figured by making a Cool or Vigilance skill check. The results (best to worst) indicate the order in which the characters and their adversaries act.[27]: 198–200 [28]: 210–212 [29]: 204–206
The Combat skills are Brawl, Melee, Lightsaber, Ranged (Light), Ranged (Heavy), and Gunnery.[27]: 204–206 [28]: 131–133, 216–219 [29]: 139–141
Combat modifiers are calculated using Range Bands (the approximate distance the character is from the target).[27]: 208–209 [27]: 221–222 [29]: 213–216
In combat the player characters have three kinds of adversaries: Minions, Rivals, and Nemeses.[27]: 389–390 [28]: 409–410 [29]: 399–400
Fantasy Flight initially drew criticism for releasing a beta version, making people pay twice, and for the extra expense of the unusual custom dice; but reviews after launch were enthusiastic about the dice, with Game Informer saying "In practice, this system offers tremendous flexibility to allow the players to participate in the storytelling process, rather than just waiting for the GM to respond after a die roll. The players talk together about how to interpret a roll of the dice, and shape the results to make the most exciting story. It also speaks strongly to the cinematic nature of the Star Wars universe; characters in the movies often succeed or fail along with potent side effects."[20] and Penny Arcade saying "This dice system is designed to facilitate awesome storytelling and it worked great!"[30] In 2022, CBR also highlighted the dice system — the article states "the Star Wars Roleplaying Game excels in its theming and incorporates it into every part of its system. The best example of theme influencing the mechanics of SWRPG is the dice pool system. [...] While many TRPGs use their dice as a simple mechanic that adds nothing to storytelling, the Star Wars Roleplaying Game uses themed dice and group interpretation to immerse its players in the story".[31]
Force and Destiny was on Popular Mechanics's 2015 "The Ten Best Tabletop Games of 2015" list — the article states "there have been a lot of Star Wars role playing games over the years, and unfortunately few make the player really feel like a grounded member of the franchise universe. But that's where Star Wars: Force and Destiny shines".[32] Giaco Furino, in a separate review of Force and Destiny for Popular Mechanics, commented that "this is a roleplaying game that commands your attention, and is full of fanservice and nods to the die-hards. [...] Since 2012, Fantasy Flight Games has been on a roll, creating insanely fun RPG's set in the Star Wars universe. [...] And now [...] they're putting out Star Wars: Force and Destiny, where you take on the role of wannabe Jedi and Sith, and head out into the galaxy to use the force for good and evil".[33] Furino highlighted that "this game digs deep into the Star Wars mythos, but it's not so esoteric as to drive away newcomers and casual fans of the franchise. [...] While some RPG's encourage intense number crunching and data management, Force and Destiny is all about story".[33]
The 2015 Strange Assembly review of Star Wars: Force and Destiny states that "of all the Star Wars RPG lines, Force and Destiny is arguably the most ripe for cross-line use. All three lines are, of course, designed to be fully compatible with each other, but [...] it seems less likely to have a whole group of hidden force users than, say, a Rebel cell or a cadre of smugglers".[24] On the mechanics of running a character from one game line in a different themed game, the review states that these characters have "to give up something to join a group of the others [...]. This dichotomy is exemplified by the two line-specific mechanisms of EotE (Obligation) and AoR (Duty) – each is to some extent a group-based mechanic, with the group as a whole getting dragged around. The equivalent from Force and Destiny (Morality), however, is a deeply personal concept to each individual character. Just as a character can easily have both Morality and Duty/Obligation, so too can a force user built from Force and Destiny be dropped into a campaign with few or no other force users, and fit right in (indeed, that’s basically what the Force Sensitive specializations in those game lines were)".[24]
Daniel Foster, in a 2020 review of Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game for FanSided, wrote that "the most challenging thing to me as an experienced role-player was learning the new dice system. [...] My group completed the adventure in the beginner set in about two hours. [...] The game never got bogged down even as we were getting used to interpreting the dice rolls, and the included maps, markers, and stats were easily referenced while adding to the game experience".[34] Foster commented "though the game predates the Disney acquisition, we did not run into any major conflicts with new canon".[34] He also commented that the various Star Wars Roleplaying Game "games are sold separately, but are compatible systems, allowing a good Game Master to move their players through a campaign that could touch on any of those settings".[34]
Richard Jansen-Parkes, in a review of the Dawn of Rebellion (2018) for the UK print magazine Tabletop Gaming, stated that the sourcebook is "designed to work with all three of the subtly different rulesets released by the studio" and "aims to set up adventures in the early days of the Rebellion. [...] It's a time of stealth missions and sabotage rather than pitched battles, where the heroes are likely to be desperate renegades rather than superpowered warriors".[35] Jansen-Parkes highlighted that Dawn of Rebellion evokes the film Rogue One and the animated series Star Wars Rebels; it also includes details on running adventures inside the Death Star. Jansen-Parkes commented that "You could potentially argue that the book is a little on the slim side – and when you cut out everything that you could probably piece together with a couple of hours on Wookiepedia it gets slimmer still. That doesn't change the fact that it's still a beautifully put-together volume. If you're looking for a new spin on roleplaying in that galaxy far, far away it's well worth a look".[35]
Cannibal Halfling Gaming, an ENNIE Award nominated website, reviewed both the Rise of the Separatists[36] and the Collapse of the Republic sourcebooks in 2019 — the second review states "if you're coming at this era of Star Wars Roleplaying cold and don't already have Rise of the Separatists, you'll be fine with just Collapse of the Republic so long as you stick to its specific era (later seasons of The Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith), although you might feel a little squeezed for options without the Padawan, the more run-of-the-mill Clone Soldiers, and so on in certain play styles. If you're not fighting for the Republic, though, or at least not as Jedi and clones, well in that case you'll have an easier time of it. Final word: Rise of the Separatists got my curiosity, Collapse of the Republic got my attention, and together they're giving me ideas. Get one or get both, but if you're interested in playing in the twilight of the Republic, they'll be money well spent".[37]
These items can be used with Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion and/or Force and Destiny rules sets.