Fantasy Flight Games

GM Guide: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Published 18 October 2017 | The Force Awakens Beginner Game

GM Guide: The Ultimate Sacrifice

Guest Writer Bryan Young on Tales of Desperate Heroics

"Saw Gerrera used to say, one fighter with a sharp stick and nothing left to lose can take the day. They have no idea we're coming. They have no reason to expect us. If we can make it to the ground, we'll take the next chance. And the next. On and on until we win… or the chances are spent."
–Jyn Erso

Like Star Wars™ fans around the world, we're eagerly looking forward to Episode VIII. At the same time, we're delighted simply to live in this new age of Star Wars riches. Constantly growing with new movies, television shows, novels, comics, and more, the Star Wars galaxy is larger and brighter than ever before.

It's also more diverse. Recent materials have focused on both a greater diversity of characters and styles. And while the Star Wars galaxy was always full of potential for stories of all shapes, sizes, tones, and themes, we're seeing more of them realized than ever before. From the expansion of the classic Star Wars saga presented by The Force Awakens, to the formation of the Rebellion in Star Wars Rebels, to the gritty war genre stylings of Rogue One, there's more here than ever before.

For those of us who enjoy bringing the Star Wars back to our tabletops via Star Wars roleplaying—whether through Age of Rebellion™, Edge of the Empire™, or Force and Destiny™—these stories and styles serve not only as entertainment, but as inspiration for our own adventures.

Today, guest writer Bryan Young follows that inspiration toward the pinnacle of heroism—designing adventures in which the player characters may be called to make the ultimate sacrifice.

Guest Writer Bryan Young on Game Mastering Desperate Heroics

One of the most striking things about Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was its message.

At its core, Rogue One was about a group of reluctant heroes who, at the end of the day, were willing to sacrifice their lives to create a better universe that they would never personally see. Watching stories of these ultimate sacrifices are emotional, even heart-rending. A doomed mission has a lot of weight to it, and it takes a special kind of character to embark on a mission you know you’ll likely never return from.

If your players are game, though, there is nothing more gratifying than playing a single session or limited series of sessions that are billed from the top as a mission that most likely no one will come back from. There are a number of steps you need to take to make sure your players are satisfied by this sort of sacrificial storytelling, but you and your group will be rewarded for it if you do it right.

Finding Inspiration

The first thing you need to think about is what the mission is.

Rogue One can offer plenty of inspiration for what the mission could be and how it can work, but you can also peel back a layer of Rogue One and see what sort of movies inspired it. World War II films. The Dirty Dozen. The Guns of Navarone. A Bridge Too Far. Even Saving Private Ryan has an air of futility to the mission you might be able to tap into.

All of these films have one thing in common: a team is gathered by the military and given a job they don’t necessarily want to do, but know that it would be good for the war effort. It’s really easy to come up with ideas like this that fit within a galaxy far, far away.

Getting Your Players on Board

The next thing you’ll need to do is talk to your group.

Some players get attached to their characters to the point where playing a sacrificial mission might not be appealing to them. Getting the buy-in of your players is really the most important thing you need. The point of any roleplaying game is to have fun, and if this isn’t the sort of fun they want, then you’d do better looking for a different kind of campaign. But if they are into the idea, you’ll need to decide if you’re playing a one-shot or a campaign with a finite amount of sessions. Then you’ll have to decide the mission objectives.

For the purposes of this exercise, let's say that the mission objective is to destroy a secret Imperial weapon on a planet that borders a vital space lane to the Rebellion’s cause. The Rebellion needs this space lane so they can use it for a vital rescue mission. The problem facing your characters is that they don’t know exactly where the weapon is hidden. They’ll need to infiltrate the planet, make contact with locals who can get them more information about the weapon, infiltrate the facility, and destroy the weapon so the Rebellion can pass through on their way to an important rescue mission. An important Rebel leader has been captured, and another team is leading that fight. If the mission fails, the rescue mission cannot occur. If that rescue mission doesn't succeed, the Rebellion might well be over.

The stakes are everything.

In order to have a mission that keeps your players at the table, ready to sacrifice themselves for the cause, you’re going to need to raise the stakes as high as you can while still fitting your adventure within the Star Wars universe. If there’s no cost to the galaxy for the failure of your players, there’s no incentive for them to lay down the lives of their characters.

Pacing Your Adventure

Pacing is important.

In my example scenario, I’d recommend a three- to five-session arc. The first session would be the initial briefing and the insertion onto the planet and all the danger that that implies. The second and possibly third session would be making contact with the locals and the intrigue involved in actually finding the weapon. The next sessions would cover the actual infiltration and destruction of the weapon. The game ends as soon as it’s destroyed or all the characters are dead. If you’ve planned the session out well enough, those two things will happen simultaneously. They’ll have to give their lives to win. And they’ll be okay with that.

Getting everything to line up can be tricky, but the important thing is to plan the adventure so that the characters need to divide their attention between the mission and the enemies, especially when everything is coming to boil. There's nothing more classic to the sacrificial mission than the point where the party is forced to split and some characters willingly throw themselves in harm's way to buy time for the others.

Perhaps some of the characters might be able to survive. Getting away isn’t part of the session, though. That’s when the credits roll and your group does its post-mortem on the campaign. With the right amount of planning, it’ll be a campaign that will keep your players talking for a long time.

Like Jyn Erso, Cassian Andor, Bodhi Rook, Baze, Chirrut, and K-2SO, your players’ characters could go down in history as heroes of the Rebellion willing to lay down their lives in defense of the galaxy.

When he's not making life difficult for his friends' small band of Rebels, Bryan Young is a writer, podcaster, and gamer. He writes regularly for StarWars.com and Star Wars Insider, and hosts the Star Wars podcast Full of Sith. You can follow him on Twitter @Swankmotron.

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GM Guide: Making Characters Memorable

Published 12 September 2017 | The Force Awakens Beginner Game

GM Guide: Making Characters Memorable

Guest Writer Bryan Young on Bringing Your NPCs to Life

"They're my friends. I've got to help them."
–Luke Skywalker

Details bring characters and their stories to life. Characters without details are like skeletons. They may have some shape, but they're dead. They can't move. And you can't really tell one from the other. But once you flesh them out with details, they quickly become able to move you.

We recognize something fundamentally human in the young Tatooine farmboy who dreams of joining the Rebel Alliance to escape his planet's barren wastes and embark upon adventure amid the stars. We get a kick out of Han Solo not because he's a helpful smuggler and pilot, but because he projects a cocksure attitude and talks about how he completed the Kessel Run in under twelve parsecs, even though his modified freighter looks like a hunk of junk. And we respond to Darth Vader's presence with immediate fear and respect because a wealth of details suggest his terrible powers—his imposing stature, confident stride, masked helmet, deep voice, measured speech, and even the strange, wheezy sound of his suit's life support.

Physical details are important, but even more so are behavior quirks and the relationships these characters have with others. And just as these details helped us connect to the characters and conflicts of a galaxy far, far away, so can they enrich our games of Age of Rebellion™, Edge of the Empire™, and Force and Destiny™.

No matter what your characters are doing, your Star Wars™ roleplaying sessions are bound to prove more entertaining when they're set amid a galaxy full of three-dimensional characters with lives, challenges, and desires of their own.

So how do you fill your games with these Non-Player Characters (NPCs)? That's the question that guest writer Bryan Young explores in today's look at our Star Wars roleplaying games.

Guest Writer Bryan Young on Fleshing Out Your NPCs

When you’re looking to Game Master one of the pre-written adventures for any of the Star Wars roleplaying games, you'll find the cast of characters you'll get to play has already been taken care of for you. But when you’re running a game of your own design, all of those characters will have to come directly from your own head. So how do you invent the details that will bring them to life?

When I’m running a game, I like to come up with a few random details for each of my Non-Player Characters (NPCs) so I know exactly how to play them. The details I try to keep are simple and progress naturally as I think about how they interact with the players and the story.

Who Are They?

In a game I’m running, there’s a mechanic the players could deal with. Naturally, to make the mechanic feel more Star Wars, I made this mechanic a Rodian and gave her her own story. I did this because I believe it helps make the world feel more real when the NPCs have their own lives moving in the background of the game.

Her name was Leota. Her specialty was making modifications that the Empire might consider… illegal. Fake transponders. Illicit weapons. Extra shields. Even cloaking devices. So long as the price was right.

That was all the info I needed for the first session in which she appeared, but I had the idea that Leota owed debts to a number of people and might have bounty hunters coming after her at odd times. This was an idea I kept tucked in my back pocket in case I needed an idea for future sessions. At any point, if the characters came back to see her, this backstory could lead them into an interesting mystery.

Perhaps, they'd find bounty hunters hassling Leota when they showed up. Or maybe the bounty hunters would have abducted her.

Then I started to think about what her connection to the players might be. Did she trust them? Or did she think they were going to burn her, exposing her to Imperial attention? I opted for a mix of the two.

These bits gave me enough information to be able to interact with the players. You’ll still have to do plenty of ad-libbing when you’re talking in your NPC’s characters voice, but at least you’ll know where they’re coming from as a starting point.

Where Are They Headed?

These few rough points are all you really need to consider for each major NPC—name, appearance, role, motive, relationship with the PCs. And once you get used to bringing NPCs to this level of detail, making up new NPCs on the fly will be no problem.

Say there is a bounty hunter at the mechanic’s hideout. What’s he like? Is he a Zabrak with a vendetta? Or is he an Imperial loyalist working for the sector Moff. Maybe there’s a piece of one player character’s backstory that hooks into having a bounty on his or her head, too, doubling the trouble for the characters.

All it takes is a few questions and you’re ready to go:

What's the NPC's name?
What does this NPC look like?
How does this NPC typically operate?
What does this NPC want?
What does this NPC's presence in a scene mean for the PCs?

Given this list, I keep a list of names handy for whenever I have to come up with a new NPC. Nothing breaks the tension of the game more than when the Game Master has to stop and think up a name for the character the players are currently interacting with. I’ll write down ten or fifteen names and what species they’d belong to… just in case. This is one Game Master trick that always comes in handy.

Where Can Your NPCs Take You?

Hopefully, these tips about handling non-player characters will help you flesh out your game.

All it takes is asking questions and coming up with enough of a story for you, as the Game Master, to do some riffing. You just need to know enough about your NPCs to help your players visualize them and enjoy interactions that flow naturally.

Once you get that down, your games will be much more exciting and detailed, and your players will feel like you’ve dropped them in a Star Wars galaxy that is fully realized and in which every character they encounter has his or her own exciting story.

When he's not making life difficult for his friends' small band of Rebels, Bryan Young is a writer, podcaster, and gamer. He writes regularly for StarWars.com and Star Wars Insider, and hosts the Star Wars podcast Full of Sith. You can follow him on Twitter @Swankmotron.

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Your Guide to the Galaxy

Published 11 October 2013 |

Your Guide to the Galaxy

The FAQ for STAR WARS (R): Edge of the Empire (TM) Beginner Game is Now Online

It’s a big galaxy out there, and stubborn fringers, intrepid explorers, and brash pilots are among those most likely to face the unknown in their travels. Along with a trusty blaster, a fast starship, and a lot of luck, here’s one more tool your character can add to his arsenal to help even the odds on his next jump to hyperspace. The official FAQ and Errata for the Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ Beginner Game is now online!

The changes made were minor, but will add additional clarity and insight for beginning players. Download the FAQ (pdf, 371 KB) on the support section today! May the Force be with you!

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The Long Arm of the Hutt

Published 14 December 2012 |

The Long Arm of the Hutt

A Free Adventure for the Star Wars(R): Edge of the Empire(TM) Beginner Game

The Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ Beginner Game is poised to introduce new and veteran roleplayers to exciting adventures on the fringes of galactic society. The perfect starting point for roleplaying in the Star Wars galaxy, the Beginner Game includes a complete learn-as-you-go adventure, plus all the references and components three to five players need to experience it.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve explored what new players can expect when opening their Beginner Game and we’ve discussed the core dice mechanic that gives Edge of the Empire its unique narrative focus. Then, in our last preview, we looked at character advancement, and we concluded with a promise that the excitement doesn’t end when you’ve finished the game’s included adventure.

Today, we’ll discuss the first steps new Game Masters can take as they move beyond the introductory adventure and into a whole galaxy of excitement. First, we’ll discuss “The Long Arm of the Hutt,” the free downloadable Beginner Game adventure that’s now available on our support page! Then we’ll detail the process for advancing Beginner Game characters beyond their first adventures and describe the resources available to the GM to enhance the game. Finally, we’ll discuss creating your own brand new adventures in the Star Wars galaxy!

The Long Arm of the Hutt

The included adventure in the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game is entitled “Escape From Mos Shuuta.” Presuming that all goes well for the Hero Players, by the end of the adventure they will have - Spoiler alert! - escaped from the crime-ridden Tatooine spaceport of Mos Shuuta and are ready to embark on a galaxy-spanning adventure!

Even if the Hero Players have been successful in that adventure, that doesn’t mean they’ve escaped their own shadowy pasts. After all, even in a galaxy as expansive as that in Star Wars, you carry your reputation (and your problems) with you wherever you go. Can the players escape the grasp of a ruthless and influential crime lord once and for all?

Today, FFG is pleased to announce the release of “The Long Arm of the Hutt” (low res pdf, 2.4 MB) a totally free pdf adventure designed to serve as a sequel to “Escape from Mos Shuuta”! Now available on our support page, “The Long Arm of the Hutt” continues the action immediately after “Escape from Mos Shuuta.” Throughout this comprehensive 46-page adventure, the Hero Players will travel from the Ryll mines of Ryloth to the noble courts of Geonosis as they seek to escape the ire of a powerful Hutt crime lord. With an exciting blend of action and intrigue, “The Long Arm of the Hutt” is an ideal next-step for groups just finding their stride in the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game. The multi-session adventure is also suitable for veteran roleplayers, providing 20 hours or more of additional gameplay!

How to Proceed

Having finished the included learn-as-you-play adventure, both the GM and the Hero Players alike will have developed considerable knowledge of the Edge of the Empire setting and mechanics. The training wheels can now come off, and while your group will still be relative novices, they will be more comfortable improvising, adapting, and facing a wider array of narrative choices. There are two main resources that the group should consult as they proceed: the Rulebook and the final spread in the Character Folios.

Let’s begin with the Rulebook. Marked “Read This Book Last,” the Rulebook provides a quick and easy reference both during and after “Escape from Mos Shuuta.” Having played through “Escape From Mos Shuuta,” both the GM and the Hero Players should have a strong grasp of the mechanics of the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game. However, reading the rulebook will give all players a better, more detailed understanding of the rules of the game. Subjects that were addressed in a more limited fashion in the introductory adventure are expanded and described in detail.

The Rulebook also describes how player characters can spend experience points to improve their skills and talents, which brings us to the next important resource. In our last preview, we met Lowhhrick the Wookiee Hired Gun, and we saw how the Beginner Game guides players through spending their first ten experience points. Essentially, that advancement is as simple as turning the page in Lowhhrick’s Character Folio, then spending the XP on a pre-determined menu of choices. Indeed, those ten XP are enough to see Lowhhrick through the remainder of “Escape from Mos Shuuta”; he won’t have another opportunity to advance unless he and his compatriots succeed in that adventure. At that time, he’ll again turn the page in his Character Folio (to the final two-page spread), this time finding something very different than before.

The final spread of Lowhhrick’s Character Folio, used only if his player chooses to adventure beyond “Escape from Mos Shuuta.” Click to enlarge.

Upon first turning this page, Lowhhrick’s player should simply transcribe the stats and other pertinent information from the previous page (in pencil). Later, as he gains and spends further XP, acquires new equipment, and grows as a character, his player will edit the sheet accordingly.

What’s more, on the right side of this spread, Lowhhrick’s Talent Tree clearly displays the paths that his talent selections might take. If you remember our previous article, then you’ll remember that Lowhhrick’s player selected the “Toughened” and “Feral Strength” talents when spending his first ten XP. Now, therefore, that player should mark those two talents on this spread as well.

Two New Bonus Characters!

Two more pre-generated characters, Sasha the Explorer and Mathus the Technician, are on our support page for download, adding more character options for players. Any of these six characters can be used to undertake the escape from Mos Shuuta and then continue their adventures in the “Long Arm of the Hutt.” If you’ve already played through the first adventure with any of the original four characters, we recommend continuing into “Long Arm of the Hutt” with that character. If Pash the Smuggler, Oskara the Bounty Hunter, Lowhhrick the Hired Gun, or 41-VEX the Colonist didn’t appeal to you, then try stepping into the shoes of Sasha or Mathus to begin your adventure anew!

What comes after that is up to Lowhhrick’s player. After each adventure or session, his GM will award him more experience points to spend. Hopefully, the Wookiee Hired Gun will live a long and profitable life, and he’ll continue to grow over the course of his adventures on the Outer Rim. If that’s the case, Lowhhrick’s player will find his Character Folio open-ended enough to accommodate that growth.

Going Further

Between the rules in the Rulebook, the information at the end of each character folio, and the free downloadable adventure, your Edge of the Empire Beginner Game group has everything they need for many more sessions of play. (We estimate 5-6 more evenings of gameplay from the free downloadable adventure) But eventually you will exhaust even those options. When that happens, it’s time to start making your own adventures and telling your own stories. The Rulebook includes an adversaries chapter with a selection of classic Star Wars allies and villains to populate your adventures, and there’s a wealth of Star Wars content already available to mine for ideas and inspiration. You can tell any sort of story you like with the tools given to you, and even create your own NPCs, starships, and even whole worlds to populate your game.

The galaxy’s the limit in the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game. Visit your local game store Monday to pick up your copy, and begin your adventures in a galaxy far, far away!

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At the Core

Published 19 November 2012 |

At the Core

A Preview of the Star Wars(R): Edge of the Empire(TM) Beginner Game

In September, we announced the upcoming release of the Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ Beginner Game, a standalone roleplaying game (RPG) experience that’s the perfect starting point for roleplaying adventures in the Star Wars galaxy. Today, we’ll continue a series of previews outlining what new roleplayers can expect when they open their copy.

In our last preview, we guided you through an overview of the the Beginner Game’s introductory content: the learn-as-you-go Adventure Book and the first two pages of the convenient Character Folios. We explained how as the Game Master reads the first six pages of the Adventure Book and sets up the story to come, the Hero Players select their characters, familiarizing themselves with the included backstories and initial skills.

All of this leads up to the first encounter, a simple scenario designed to teach the basics of the game’s core dice mechanic. Entitled “On the Run,” Encounter One is intentionally the briefest and simplest of the adventure; it consists of a scene spent hiding from pursuers. “On the Run” places the characters in the entryway of a small and sparsely patronized cantina, where they must quickly find hiding places to avoid the goons chasing them. Each player may only make one attempt to hide before burly Gamorreans enter, and each attempt is subject to one “skill check,” which we’ll explain below.

What Do You Do?

This brief opening encounter serves two main purposes. First, it is a relatively low-pressure way to introduce new roleplayers to the experience of actually roleplaying. Discussing how RPGs work in the abstract is fine, but when the Game Master leads his players into an genuine situation, explains a few options, and asks “What do you do?,” things get real. For someone unaccustomed to the range of narrative possibilities an RPG presents, such a question can be unsettling, or even a bit daunting. “On the Run” is sort of a narrative encounter with the “training wheels” still on. It presents a problem, offers several possible solutions, and invites the players to either select a solution or concoct one of their own.

Above, a two-page spread that constitutes the first encounter, with the dice mechanic instructions magnified. As you can see, this brief encounter is designed to familiarize players with the basics of dice pools and skill checks. Click to enlarge.

Second, this initial encounter establishes the basics of the all-important dice mechanic, a concept that will serve the players in everything they do throughout their exploits. Let’s take a closer look at the core dice mechanic in the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game, and see how it will enrich your adventures by providing outcomes that go beyond mere success and failure.

Accounting for Fate

Stated simply, a skill check is a way of accounting for random chance or the fickle whims of fate. Whenever a character attempts anything that has a chance of failure, a roll of the dice is necessary to determine success. But which dice should a player roll, and how many of them? To explain that, let’s first look at the symbols present on the Beginner Game’s custom dice.

An explanation of the dice symbols. Today’s simple example won’t delve into Triumph and Despair, but suffice it to say that these two symbols represent rare and extraordinary twists of fate.

Below are the seven types of dice that come in the Beginner Game. For now, we’ll ignore the Force Die (white); it’s used in rare and special dice pools when the mysterious power of the Force is taken into account.

The other six main dice, three positive and three negative, make up the Edge of the Empire custom dice system. Ability, Proficiency, and Boost dice provide beneficial symbols, and represent a character’s basic aptitude, advanced training, and environmental advantages. Conversely, Difficulty, Challenge, and Setback dice provide negative symbols, and represent a task’s inherent complexity, active opposition, and environmental disadvantages.

Success, Failure, and Everything in Between

At the most basic level, if there are more Success symbols () than Failure symbols () after a roll, the check passes. Whatever the Hero Player wanted to accomplish has been accomplished, for good or ill.

41-Vex needs to fix his broken speeder in our dice pool example below. Click the image above to read more about this intrepid droid colonist.

Events are seldom as black and white as mere success or failure, however. Often, things can go well overall but with annoying side effects, or fail utterly while producing an unexpected benefit. Edge of the Empire presents a unique way to explore these further narrative possibilities: Advantages () and Threats ().

In the Beginner Game’s first encounter, Advantages () and Threats () simply cause characters to suffer or recover “strain,” a measure of mental fatigue or stress. Everything we do (or try to do) has the potential to either discourage or exhilarate us, and strain is an abstracted measure of one’s level of exhaustion and general anxiety.

Once the Game Master becomes more confident in shaping the story, he or she can come up with other engaging narrative outcomes of Advantages () and Threats (). It needn’t always be about suffering and recovering strain; these “side effects” can instead have very real narrative consequences. Perhaps you will successfully break into a building (enough symbols), but unbeknownst to you, you’ll trigger a silent alarm (too many symbols). Or perhaps in failing to haggle with a merchant (too many symbols), you’ll discover that he’s a hopelessly indebted gambling addict (enough symbols). Once your group becomes experienced enough, Edge of the Empire’s narrative dice mechanic opens up a range of storytelling options.

The Deep End of the Dice Pool

To drive the point home, let’s build a dice pool based around a task of average difficulty: making basic repairs to a speeder. Let’s imagine that 41-Vex, the droid colonist, needs to fix his broken vehicle in time to keep an important meeting. First, we’ll look at Vex’s Character Folio, where we’ll find his “Mechanics” skill listed under the “Skills” section.

The (Int) after Mechanics tells us that this skill is based on the Intellect Characteristic, and Rank of “1” tells us that Vex has special training in Mechanics. All we really need to know for our example, however, is that his dice pool for a Mechanics skill check consists of three Ability Dice (green) and one Proficiency Die (yellow). That’s clearly listed in the third column.

Vex’s player sets aside those four dice, and the Game Master declares that this particular repair is of average difficulty. This means that two Difficulty Dice (purple) will be required. All things being equal, this would be a complete dice pool for a skill check: a character’s abilities balanced against a task’s inherent difficulty.

However, all things are not equal. The Game Master declares that it is raining on a pitch-black night, making the repair more daunting. It’s important to note that extenuating circumstances such as these do not reduce Vex’s capabilities, taking away his Ability or Proficiency Dice. Nor do they add Difficulty Dice of the check; making this particular repair to this model of speeder would always be a task of average difficulty, regardless of other circumstances. Instead, they add Setback Dice to the pool, one for each negative factor (at the GM’s discretion). Luckily, Vex has brought his trusty hydrospanner along, so the GM agrees that this is worth the addition of a Boost Die. Since no one is actively opposing Vex and his task has a standard difficulty, the Challenge Die (red) won’t be needed. Now, we’re ready to roll.

41-Vex’s player makes his roll, with the results seen below. At a glance, all the players can see that several of the and symbols cancel each other out, and that likewise several of the and symbols cancel each other out, leaving two and one symbol. The skill check has passed, but with an unintended negative side effect.

The Game Master declares that while making his successful repair, Vex took a nasty shock from some frayed wiring, suffering one strain. Vex boards the speeder and rushes off to make his meeting, considering himself fortunate that things didn’t go worse.

41-Vex’s skill check, after his roll. Dice with symbols canceling each other out have been faded slightly to emphasize the final tally: two Success results and one Threat result. A successful check...with one unfortunate side effect.

In this way, the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game’s straightforward dice system takes a number of narrative conditions into account, allowing players and Game Masters quickly build a dice pool for each task. Then, players simply roll and let the dice help guide the growth of the story.

Check back as we discuss character advancement and other details, then look for the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game on store shelves in just a few more weeks!

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Edge of the Empire for Novices

Published 12 November 2012 |

Edge of the Empire for Novices

What New Roleplayers Can Expect from the Beginner Game

In September, we announced the upcoming release of the Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ Beginner Game, the perfect starting point for roleplaying adventures in the Star Wars galaxy. This standalone roleplaying game (RPG) experience features a complete, learn-as-you-go adventure; pre-generated character folios keep rules right at the your fingertips, while custom dice and an exciting narrative gameplay system make every roll into a story. The rules provide hours of entertainment as you tell your own tales of a galaxy far, far away

Looking for the basics? Visit the “What is a Roleplaying Game?” section of our description page.

Veteran roleplayers might be interested in the Beginner Game for its abridged introduction to the Edge of the Empire rules, as well as its complete set of dice, maps, and other components (which can be used with the upcoming Core Rulebook). Today’s preview, however, is not intended for those veterans. Rather, today we’d like to address players who are totally new to RPGs. If that's you, keep reading as (over the course of the next few weeks) we’ll take you through exactly what you can expect from the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game.

The Beginner Game is full of useful content. Visit the "What is Included in the Box?" section of our Description Page for a complete list.

Opening the Box

Upon opening your copy, you’ll find an array of booklets, folios, punchboard, and custom dice. On top of it all is a four-page foldout sheet with “Read this First” conspicuously printed across its front.

This “Introduction Sheet” is your first step toward roleplaying adventure, and if you’re still a little uncertain about how RPGs work – what they actually look like while they’re being played – these four pages will help put your apprehensions to rest. Chiefly, this booklet contains an example of play, a script in which five players (one Game Master and four Hero Players) play through a brief dramatic scene.

To reinforce your understanding of RPGs and how they work, you’ll next open the somewhat thicker “Adventure Book” (marked “Read this Second” on its front cover) and peruse its welcome page. You’ll be invited to choose roles; one player, the Game Master, will officiate the game and set the scenes. The other two to four players will each take on the role of an individual character in the Star Wars galaxy. Next, you’ll take a moment to better understand your individual function in what is about to take place.

Split Up and Meet Back Later

From this point forward, the Adventure Book is off limits to Hero Players, as it contains plot elements that should only be read by the Game Master. But while the GM is familiarizing himself with the story to come, the Hero Players will have plenty to keep themselves busy.

They must each choose one of the four pre-generated characters included in the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game. This is an important decision, since these characters will serve as the players’ in-game avatars. The Hero Players should talk the matter through, as they each read the characters’ backstories. Then, they should each take the Character Folio matching the persona that appeals to them most.

Character Folios contain everything the Hero Players need to get started.

Let’s take a closer look at what the Game Master and Hero Players do to prepare for the start of the story:

The Game Master’s Experience

Over the next four eyes-only pages of the Adventure Book, the Game Master will find a component list and a “How to Use This Book” section. This handy overview explains the use of color-coded sidebars throughout the product as a whole (subtle features like these work intuitively to keep the focus off the rules and on the story).

While the Game Master reads an overview of the story to come (above), the players select and study their characters (see below).

The two pages after that provide the “lay of the land,” a guide to both the overall setting of the adventure and the structure of the story that’s about to begin. This section instructs the Game Master on setting up the play space and establishing the narrative context, and it presents the “opening crawl,” that iconic and recognizable method of exposition. Do you have a copy of Star Wars soundtrack? If so, play its famous introductory score, start reading the opening crawl, and immerse your players in a galaxy far, far away!

Pash the smuggler is one of the four characters available to Hero Players. Click the image above to read his backstory.

The Hero Players’ Experience

While the Game Master is setting up, the Hero Players have important decisions to make. Wookiee mercenary or a human smuggler? Droid colonist or a Twi’lek bounty hunter? Each character has his or her own unique strengths, and the convenient character folios present all the information players will need.

Let’s imagine, for instance, that you choose Pash, the roguish smuggler. On the back of Pash’s eight-page Character Folio, you’ll find his backstory; from his expulsion from Imperial flight school to an unfortunate incident with an Alderaani noble’s daughter, Pash has had a tough existence on the fringes of galactic society. Next, you’ll open his Character Folio, take on this role, and see if you can improve poor Pash’s fortunes.

The Character Folio itself is largely self-explanatory, and it’s full of handy reference information that will lead you through skill checks and other important mechanics. Click the image below to see a closeup of Pash’s Character Folio, where you’ll find a definition of each of its main sections and a guide to the symbols on the custom dice. How do your character’s experiences help him learn and grow? We’ll look at the Character Folio, as well as the custom dice, in greater depth in a future preview. For now, suffice it to say that character advancement is as simple as turning a page and making your selections!

The first two pages of a Character Folio present plenty of convenient references. Click the above image to get a closer look.

Time to Reconvene!

Once the Game Master has read the first six pages of the Adventure Book and the Hero Players have selected and briefly studied their characters, the story starts! Remember, it isn’t necessary for the Game Master to read the entire Adventure Book in advance...far from it. With its learn-as-you-go adventure, the Beginner Game allows for all players, including the GM, to experience the mechanics as the plot moves forward.

Once the Game Master has set up the play area and the Hero Players are familiar with their characters, they can begin the first encounter together!

For now, the players will simply reconvene and begin. The GM should move gradually, reading ahead slightly as the players discuss their next move, and sharing information from the Adventure Book with them only as required. This is usually accomplished by reading the “read-aloud” sidebars when instructed by the book.

There’s far more to the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game than we’ve discussed here, but for more, you’ll have to check back. In the coming weeks, we’ll look at the core dice mechanic, character advancement, and a few more character backstories. We’ll also examine the included Rulebook (marked “Read this Book Last”), and we’ll see how it lays the foundation for new adventures in the Star Wars universe.

Look for the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game on store shelves next month!

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Begin Your Galactic Adventures

Published 17 September 2012 |

Begin Your Galactic Adventures

Announcing the STAR WARS (R): Edge of the Empire (TM) Beginner Game

Gather your friends and prepare for adventure in the Star Wars galaxy! Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce the upcoming release of the Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ Beginner Game, the perfect starting point for roleplaying adventures in the Star Wars galaxy.

Want to learn more about the Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ Beginner Game? Click the applicable link below:

The Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game features a complete, learn-as-you-go adventure. Pre-generated character folios keep rules right at the your fingertips, while custom dice and an exciting narrative gameplay system make every roll into a story. The rules provide hours of entertainment as you tell your own tales of a galaxy far, far away!

Learn the Mechanics as you Play

The abridged and simplified ruleset, which is incorporated into the included adventure, lets you learn as you play; you and your team will navigate the suns-blasted streets of a small Tatooine town in hopes of securing your own spaceship. With plenty of opportunities for combat, social encounters, and more, the included adventure teaches the fundamentals of Edge of the Empire as part of its narrative.

Thrusting players directly into the action, Escape from Mos Shuuta begins with a desperate escape from ruthless thugs, and ratchets up the action from there. All the while, pertinent mechanics are introduced incrementally as part of the exciting narrative.

Character Folios Include Everything You Need to Know

The Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™ Beginner Game lets you choose one of four pre-generated characters and jump right into the game. Will you be a Wookiee mercenary or a human smuggler? A Droid colonist or a Twi’lek bounty hunter? The choice is yours, and the convenient character folios present all the information you’ll need.

Each eight-page folio includes a background explaining that character’s connection with Teemo the Hutt (the adventure’s villain) and the other heroes, quick reference guides for the game’s core mechanics, and plenty of options for advancement during Escape from Mos Shuuta and into adventures beyond.

Build the Story with Unique Custom Dice

The unique custom dice mechanic provides a wealth of narrative options. Symbols for success, failure, and complications are all printed directly on the dice! Even a successful roll can place you under threat, and even a failure can create some advantage.

Through this system, which takes all narrative conditions into account, players and Game Masters quickly build a dice pool for each task, then they roll and let the dice help guide the growth of the story.

Visit our Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Beginner Game website to learn more, then gather your friends; adventure awaits on the fringes of the galaxy!

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