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Title: Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Revised Core Rulebook
Authors: Bill Slavicsek, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast
Release Date: 10 May 2002
Cost: $39.95 (US)
Pages: 384
Moridin's Review
Well, this is it. The most anticipated book since the Star Wars RPG Core Rulebook was released. The Star Wars RPG Revised Core Rulebook. This is it's review.
The story behind the new revised rules is a long and sordid affair that has brought about a good deal of both discussion and debate. The original Core Rulebook was, in many opinions, a flawed game when released. Much lamenting was made over the starship combat system, the lack of droid rules, the format, and many other problems, both small and large. So, the fans complained. WotC offered solutions in sourcebooks and Star Wars Gamer, and online. Still, many were unhappy. With the approach of Episode II, LucasFilm was looking to use its release to push sales of all its licensed products, and pushed for a new version of the RPG to cash in on the sure-fire success of Attack of the Clones. Rather than simply revamping the artwork and fixing the errata, however, Wizards of the Coast did something that few people expected: they listened to the fans and incorporated their feedback into the game. The result is that what could have been simply a reprint becomes a reaction to fan complaints. This scored points with me early on.
The book itself is a thick, thick volume. Adding around 64 pages to the book, the RPG design time has packed the tome full of useful information. While there was a lot of space taken up in the first edition of the book by random quotes, this version of the book appears to have removed such a large wasted of space in favor of more content and better organization. The images are also well-placed, and usually fit the tone of the section. In fact, several sections have had their entire layouts changed; the NPCs section has been completely redone, and instead of the previous 3-column approach, the stats are organized in the familiar stat block format used in most other supplements. Additionally, they have preserved the "varying levels" concept, so each type of NPC has plenty of variation for GMs. The whole book is much more utlitarian in layout, with the tables neatly arranged and easy to read. In fact, even the starship and vehicle stats have been rearranged slightly to make them easier to read and reference (once you get used to the changes).
But that's not what this book is about: it's about content. So, diving right in, the first major changes are noticeable in the species section. While all the species from the original version have been retained, several species made the transition from the GM section to the player section, including Bothans. There are a couple of new species that weren't even in any section of the basic rulebook, and all of the species have artwork for them that easily lives up to the previous standard of quality. Additionally, as some have noticed thanks to the WotC website, the stats for some of the species have been tweaked or even changed in order to better accomodate both gaming and continuity. The species chapter is decidedly more usable, as it is one of the few places where more almost always equals better, upping the number of standard player species to 17.
Moving into the classes section, we see some of the largest and most fundamental changes to the game thus far. No class has gone untouched, and most of the changes seem to be for the better. Some abilities simply were renamed so they made more sense and were consistent with what was elsewhere in the books, while some abilities were radically altered or even removed/replaced. In some cases, these changes are for the better. The Fringer has become a much more attractive class, thanks to the addition of some bonus feats and more frequent and earlier-attained bonus class skills. Others, however, remain to be seen; the Scoundrel has lost the Sneak Attack class feature, and some of the Defense scores have been lowered by 1-2 points (though the Soldier's has gone up), putting every class on a very level playing field. Force Adepts have been given a major boost in class features, now with much fewer gaps in their advancement table than before. The Jedi classes have had their Deflect Blasters integrated into the class, and both have picked up some bonus feats along the way. One of the most significant and pleasing aspects of the new Force classes is that they get to choose which Force feat (Control, Sense, or Alter) they get as a bonus feat at early levels, meaning more customization for the Jedi. And, of course, the addition of the Tech Specialist class is a major change. Very skill-oriented, the class features of the Tech Specialist include the ability to make Masterwork items, bonuses when performing research, and other non-combat, technically oriented abilities. The class looks to be a great addition to the book's standard repetoire, and should give all those aspiring slicers and engineers a good start. Additionally, the section on multiclassing has been fleshed out and simplified to make it more readable for those unfamiliar with the d20 system. No class has remained untouched, and each seems to have received quite a boost in power, bringing them up to the more "heroic" standards that many Star Wars fans have come to expect.
The skills section has seen some positive changes all around as well. No longer are the Force skills and the regular skills separated; they now flow seamlessly together, making skill lookup a simple matter of alphabetical order. Some new skills have been added, such as Balance (a d20 system veteran), as well as the Gamble skill (which is definitely in response to fan feedback). Additionally, the Force skills have seen some new additions, some from the Dark Side Sourcebook (like Illusion and Drain Energy), as well as the transition of the Force Lightning power from a feat to a skill. The early portions of the chapter have also been revamped so that skills are more thoroughly explained, and the revamped sidebar explaining the purpose of skills in the life of a character makes the game seem much more flexible than before. Though not much has changed in the way of skill mechanics, the whole chapter seems not only more thorough but also easier to comprehend.
The feats chapter has seen a good deal of change. Of course, the biggest change is the simple addition of several feat; for instance, the Force Feats have been expanded with several new "Additive Feats" that give bonuses to a pair of Force Skills. Additionally, some feats from other sources like the Dark Side Sourcebook and the d20 Modern license (in the case of the expanded martial arts feats). Of course, with the addition of Attacks of Opportunity (more on this later), we get several new feats specifically designed to interact with the new AoO rules, such as Combat Reflexes. Some of the Force feats have been tinkered with and are a little strange to read now, but overall the changes seem to make the feats section more smoothly interact with the rest of the game. There's actually a good amount of new material in this section, including some all-new feats and a couple of nice surprises that augment class features and other abilities.
Not much changed in the Heroic Characteristics or the Equipment chapters, though the equipment chapter did get a lot of new illustrations, especially of armors and weapons. Moving on to the Combat chapter, though, we see possibly one of the largest changes to the game: Attacks of Opportunity. The AoO rules are explained in a very straightforward and logical fashion, complete with several illustrations that depict what does and does not invoke an Attack of Opportunity. For those unfamiliar with the rules, AoO's are in place to illustrate the vulnerability of a character when distracted in combat that speeds up the game considerably. While these rules take a bit of getting used to, they actually cause combat to go quicker and involve a lot more strategy than some would believe. The explanation in this book is on par with that in the Wheel of Time RPG, which is both thorough and simplistic. Having never used Attacks of Opportunity before (I always ignored them both in D&D and Wheel of Time), after reading the description in the combat chapter I feel I fully understand them and could use them with relative ease now. Additionally, the reincorporation of AoOs means that some of the discrepancies in the combat system caused by their initial removal have been resolved.
Vehicle combat has seen a complete overhaul, and functions in the same manner as starship combat now. Additionally, the use of the new grid-based system allows character combat, vehicle combat, and starship combat to flow seamlessly into one another, thanks to the use of some handy grid and distance numbers. The system works as well as the space combat system, providing not only basic actions, but also a number of stunts and maneuvers that can be performed in the vehicles. Though I haven't tested this theory, I suspect the additions will make vehicle combat, and specifically chase sequences, not only easier to run but also slightly more cinematic. My only gripe with this section is that some of the inherent problems with some vehicle stats weren't changed; for instance, the AT-AT still only has a DR of 15, making "That armor's too strong for blasters" an incorrect statement. However, other than that, the chapter is well done.
Another significantly altered chapter, the Starships section of this book saw a much-needed and very useful revamp. The first and most striking change is found in the form of the new galaxy map. Frankly, it's stunning. It has not only a massive amount of planets on it, but it also seems to conform more to the established continuity in the Star Wars galaxy. I personally was pleased to see planets as small as Adumar making it onto the map, but just glancing at it I see more planets on there than any other galaxy map thus far. It's well labeled and laid out, spans two pages, and should make astrogation vastly more simple than the previous map. Possibly the most often-lamented part of the original release, the starship combat system has seen a complete overhaul to a system that has overall been well-received. Originally introduced in Star Wars Gamer #8, the new grid-based starship combat system introduces new stats for movement ratings, something sorely lacking in the original system. While based on the Gamer #8 system, this section has been expanded and revised to include lots of new info in addition to the new combat system. There's an excellent 2-page spread on what a crew can do; no longer does your party of non-pilots have to sit like lumps while one character spins the transport about in space combat; have the Jedi man the turret, your Tech Specialist hit the communications station, your Scout on sensors, and your Noble acting as commander of the vessel. It's a great section that gives lots of good suggestions and ideas, as well as some in-game mechanics. The whole section is VERY thorough, listing everything from the results of damage (similar to what was seen in Starships of the Galaxy), to the results of ion cannons (which have been given an actual damage rating rather than "Special"). One strange but interesting change is that airspeeders and high-altitude vehicles, like the Rebel Alliance Snowspeeder, have been included in this section due to their more 3-dimensional movement qualities. Again, I'm not 100% happy with the stats in this section (Why are Imperial Star Destroyers so slow?!), but there's a great variety of info in this chapter. The starships section is probably the most heavily-altered section in the entire book.
Next up is the Gamemaster's section, which is both the same and different. New to this chapter is a much-improved rewards system, making doling out experience a more logical process as opposed to the abstract nature of the previous system. This portion of the chapter integrates well with explanations on building adventures, providing ideas on what it takes to be a good GM and how to make the game system work with your story. There's a lot of info in this chapter, most if it was there in the original version, but some of it has been made to better fit in with the game. Moving into the Prestige Classes section, we are thankfully given several new illustrations of the prestige classes, done in the same art style as those of the iconic characters in the standard Classes section. Like the standard classes, many of the prestige classes have been changed, not only to improve their class features, but also to make them a little more accessible and logical to attain. The starfighter ace has become the starship ace, allowing it to be used with more than just starfighters and accounting for those exceptional space transport pilots in the galaxy like Han, Lando, Dash Rendar, etc. Reprinted and updated from previous sources, we get the Dark Side Devotee, the Dark Side Marauder, and the Jedi Ace prestige classes. Completely new are the Jedi Investigator and Jedi Master prestige classes, which help balance out the Dark Side classes. There's a cool sidebar on favors and contacts that takes up an entire page, which should give GMs a boost when trying to decide how to use those in-game abilities.
The Eras of Play section is mostly the same as the previous addition, though updated and expanded for Episode II. An interesting note is that the Sith Lords in this chapter have levels in the Sith Lord prestige class from the Dark Side Sourcebook; however, rather than just leaving their abilities unexplained, the characters have special notes on their SQ's to make them still usable. A strange decision, but one I imagine was made after the Sith Lord PrC was cut for space reasons. Additionally, Jorus C'baoth makes an appearance in this chapter (the original Jedi, not the insane clone), complete with a neat backstory on a strike force sent to the Elrood Sector which earned him the title of Jedi Master.
The Allies and Opponents chapter seems to have had most of its changes come in the form of additions. There are now 27 species commoners featured in this chapter, including many species that can simply be quickly converted over for character use. The creatures section of this chapter also got the much-needed creature creation rules from the Alien Anthology revised and added in, allowing GMs to craft new creatures using official rules, as opposed to simply winging it as we were forced to do with the initial release. The archetypal NPCs have, as I stated above, been listed now in stat block format for ease of use. Thankfully, almost every type of generic NPC a GM could want can be found in here, with varying power levels to be used in any situation.
The droid chapter hasn't seen as large of a change as I had hoped. Though the droids-as-PCs rules made it into the game, essentially adapted from the excellent article in Star Wars Gamer #3, the construction rules themselves are somewhat lacking. However, since enough information was given on using droids as PCs, I would be willing to wager that more thorough and extensive rules for droid construction may be found in future supplements. It's enough to go on, but not as much as I'd like. Fortunately, there are a large number of example droids presented in the chapter, so there's lots to go on.
Two more things before we wrap up. The first is, there's a lot of Episode 2 material in this book. Were I not already thoroughly spoiled on the plot, characters, and events of Episode 2 before picking up this book, I would have been blown away. There's a lot of spoilers in here, folks. Since the book doesn't actually release until May 10, you'll only need to wait 6 days before cracking it open if you want to avoid spoilers. But there's a lot in here; the Eras of Play chapter is brutal on the spoilers, and spoilerific images are littered throughout the book. The upside is that the book does a great job of blending the Prequel Trilogy and the Classic Trilogy together, but the downside is that you're not going to be able to read much of this book without seeing some reference to Episode II. That's okay, though; a lot of the rules benefitted from changes as depicted in Episode II, so the alterations in this book more easily fit in with continuity.
The second thing is this: There's no way WotC could have released "just an update package." Not only would it read like 64 pages of nothing but boring errata, but everything is so tightly integrated that it would be impossible to list just the changes. Additionally, it would be a major pain to have to lug around 2 books, especially when almost every chapter has been changed. The book is different enough that I feel purchasing it is necessary, even if you have the old rulebook. There's just too much that's different; aside from just integrating errata and Episode 2 stuff, even the simplest of additions (like Attacks of Opportunity) have sweeping repercussions in almost every section of the book. It's a lot that's different, and I don't think anyone should feel ripped off buying this book. It's more expensive, yes, but it's a thick tome with a lot of great additions, not to mention the fact that you're only paying $5 for an extra 64 pages (think how much a standard 64-page supplement costs).
Overall, this book is everything the original core rulebook should have been. Attack of the Clones information aside, the book really does make the most of the d20 system. The biggest problem with the original release was that the designers were rushed and had to put out an incomplete product based on still-changing design documents. This time around, things are set in stone and look a lot more polished. The designers listened and made lots of changes; it's not perfect, but then again no system is. Do yourself a favor and check out this book; it's possibly the best d20 system game yet.
Content: 90%
Art: 90%
Layout: 90%
Game System: 95%
Overall Score: 90% (not an average)
Related Links
» Review of the Star Wars RPG Core Rulebook
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| Post Comment - view all comments (56 comments) |
| These are the last three comments in this thread. To view all of the comments on this entry, please click "view comments" above. | | vornskr28 | LONG, AND DETAILED. | | OverLord | I did find a few off the same errors in this book that I would have thought they had fixed, but besides that, it's great and well worth it's price. | | LFoz | I was initially disappointed with having to buy a revised edition of the core rule book only a year after I bought the first one but I would have to agree that this book is well worth it. WotC did an [ . . . ] |
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