Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook

Star Wars: Edge of the Empire

by Jay Little (Lead Designer), Sam Stewart (Lead Producer, Designer), Andrew Fischer (Designer)

It is a time of unrest and opportunity. The Empire struggles to maintain its grip on the galaxy in the midst of civil war. On the edge of the Empire, scoundrels and smugglers, bounty hunters and bandits, explorers and exiles all scramble for a living.

Embark on your own adventures in the Star Wars galaxy with the Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Roleplaying Game. This complete tabletop roleplaying game explores the lawless fringes of the Empire. Flee from Imperial entanglements, double-deal with Hutts and gangsters, and jump to lightspeed in the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy.

This core rulebook includes:
• A dynamic dice mechanic that goes beyond success and failure to enhance
narrative gameplay.
• Full playable rules for six careers, nineteen specializations, and eight
species, enabling flexible character creation and development.
• Obligation rules to invest player characters in the story of Edge of the Empire.
• Starship combat, customizable equipment. Force powers, dangerous
adversaries, and much, much more!

Genres: Role Playing Games, Star Wars, Games, Science Fiction, Gaming, Reference

448 pages, Hardcover

First published July 5, 2013

Reviews

[Seán · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of the FFG system - the dice-rolls can be a little complicated at first and rely on both the players and GM being able to come up with some interesting narrative events on the fly - but once you get into the swing of things this is a perfectly cinematic system that really helps to capture spirit of Star Wars. The focus here is on the more outer-rim planets and so the themes for games are often of the smuggling/heist nature. I've found that these sort of adventures are a perfect way to start of a Star Wars campaign, which might evolve into a larger entity involving the politics of the Empire and Rebels if the campaign really gets going.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing system. I want to play this for always.

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a terrific rule book to read through. The system is explained well and there is a lot of background information, so even someone who has no previous Star Wars knowledge can jump right in.

[Randy Jarvis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely new cinematic system. With the right people gives a great Star Wars experience.

[David Stoneking · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great game, I'm running a campaign currently on roll20.net and even played a few games at home with my kids. It's a lot of fun.

[Nathan Albright · Rating 4 out of 5]

As one might expect, there is a great deal of similarity between the various Star Wars roleplaying games.  Those who have played some of the core rulebooks will find that a lot of the information travels over as well, with different class and specialization options available in one game that are not discussed in the other.  There are other subtle differences as well, in that this game focuses on obligations, including the unpleasant specter of indentured servitude or slavery to employers who might not respect the freedom of one's character or might take out their frustrations on family left behind.  Likewise, this book offers the chance to the player to enjoy a self-insert experience into the Star Wars universe as one of the players on the edge of the empire that does not likely like the empire very much but is not involved actively in the rebellion either.  For those who are less idealistic in their desires to play within Star Wars and who find it appealing to play smugglers or bounty hunters or other assorted riff raff, this game has a lot to offer even if the experience would be tangential to the most popular material within the Star Wars universe.

This book is a large one at almost 450 pages.  The book begins with an introduction that takes place before the table of contents and then the contents of the book properly begin with an introductory chapter that discusses the mechanics of playing the game and interpreting the complex set of dice that one rolls (1).  After this there is a discussion on character creation as backgrounds, species, career, specializations, and one's ship are chosen (2).  After that there is a discussion of various skills in general, combat, and knowledge categories (3) as well as a large variety of talents that one can choose (4) and gear and equipment that includes weapons, armor, gear, and black market items and custom modifications (5).  There is a discussion of conflict and combat including the concept of soak as well as wounds, strain, and states of health (6).  There is then a chapter on starships and vehicles (7) as well as a look at force (8) and the role of the game master (9).  The book gives a deep discussion of the galaxy of Star Wars and some of the locations within it (10), after which there is a discussion of law and society including the Empire, Alliance, Black Sun, Hutts, and other organizations (11).  There is a relatively brief list of possible adversaries for the characters (12), and then an introductory campaign (13) before the index ends the book.

The fact that this game was created and that people do find it appealing to think of themselves as being involved in various shadowy actions likely accounts for the appeal of the Mandalorian.  Sadly, there is no Baby Yoda character here (nor any Mandalorians, alas), but the general roughness and lack of polish of life in these worlds is appealing for those who like that series and the struggle of beings who are not committed enough to overthrow the empire but who are not law abiding citizens either and find being on the periphery of a corrupt civilization in crisis to be appealing to imagine themselves working within.  I found this book and the scenarios it discussed appealing, and could see how it would be possible to become embroiled in the search for justice in a world of casual violence and intense corruption, with possibly serious conflicts.  After all, such situations and consequences take place within our real world, so why should we not imaginatively prepare for such matters in our games.  The fact that this game was made before the Disney purchase of Lucas Films makes this book and others in its series even more appealing, it must be admitted.

[Krzysztof · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preliminary rating based on a read through, no gameplay yet.

The mechanics are interesting and promising, I hope they deliver. I wasn't a fan of the custom dice, but I can slowly see the merits of having them.

Content-wise it's mostly good, but I have a few complaints of the usual kind - the focus is all over the place in the world-description sections. Too much information in one field (I doubt many people will make full use of all the different Imperial offices and bureaus), and too little in others, potentially more useful ones (like more one-page planet profiles or info or galactic history with adventure seeds). The scenario included is pretty weak, with not enough of a hook and a lot of dependency on the players actually acting in a few situations when keeping out of them makes perfect sense given the book's focus on antiheroes. I'm always grumpy when the scenario in a core book isn't fun.

There's also plenty of repetition - repeated sentences, two sentences in a row saying the same thing, entire paragraphs of just pointless fluff. Stylistically, I'd love it to be more brushed up. A few sections have missing symbols for dice results, which is annoying because all it needed is another proofreading pass. For a book this lavish and expensive, there's little excuse for sloppy work like this.

Other than those nitpicks (pretty much pet peeves of mine) - so far, so good. It certainly seems to dodge the idiocy and combat focus of Star Wars Saga edition, which was my last meeting with a SW RPG.

[Mark Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've tried out pretty much every version of Star Wars RPG that has come out - the various incarnations of d6 back with West End, the d20 spree, and even the Buy-Our-Expensive-Unique-Dice version from Fantasy Flight.

Each had their advantages and drawbacks.

d6 had one of the hardest/longest/slowest Jedi paths, which felt right and its lack of levels made it seem more natural (the first level-less system I played). However, it has lots of fiddliness with modifiers and the amount of adding everyone does every roll can bog gameplay down pretty quick.

d20 had some neat stuff - usually gorgeous art (especially Saga), great layout, simple rules - but suffered from my growing dislike of level-based systems. The split of Wounds/Vitality from HP was a great step that I think was a huge and missed opportunity for later versions of D&D.

Fantasy Flight had the literally mixed bag of dice - the system was cool and innovative, but slow, clunky, and often challenging for the GM. The way character's bought advances was cool, but it took me hours trying to design a future theoretical Jedi that could do even half the stuff we see in the movies and it would take a year of playing to get there.

If I were to play Star Wars again, I'd probably drift indie towards Impulse Drive or Scum and Villainy.

[Filip · Rating 5 out of 5]

RPG in Star Wars... and what an RPG it is. While I'm not to keen on doing special sets of dice, everything else works really well. Even the dice themselves provide an interesting alternative to traditional rolling. Using the characters from the seedier parts of galaxy and making the setting a bit more low-key was also a great idea. Generally I like systems without levels and I'm torn about having professions or not and this system presents a great solution to it.

The books itself is done really well, if sometimes the formatting of the text seems a bit off. If I were to find some faults, I'd say I'd appreciate better rules on creating antagonists and more sample ideas for adventures - because the attached adventure is pretty poor.

What is best is that the book is fully compatible with other two lines of FFG SW RPGS. Want your smuggler to become a rebel ace pilot and then develop as a Jedi? No problem.

I really, really wish I had more time for RPGs, so I could run this game.

[William · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a chore to read. It has good information on the setting and explains the rules well. The system itself is fun. But while several of the RPG manuals I’ve read take pains to be accessible, this really is a book not intended to be read from beginning to end. I was originally planning to knock this out in a week or two and then read the other books for Fantasy Flight’s StarWars system, but I no longer intend to do that.

Apart from ponderousness of reading, I have very few criticisms of this book. If you just want it to play the game and refer to once in a while, it should be fine.

[Brady · Rating 5 out of 5]

11/10. I'm new to tabletop but this is an excellent entry for anyone unfamiliar or seasoned with Star Wars and tabletop/RPG mechanics in general. I've been running one-shots, playing in a campaign and writing up ideas for my own GM-ing. As expected, there's an entire galaxy of information on hand.

The narrative dice system is so much more fun than rules-lawyering and endless tables, really loving the narrative interpretations by both GM and players.

[Marina Joranhezon · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the first RPG book that I read entirely, so I can't compare it with anything else. But I absolutely loved it. The system, although a bit confusing at times, seems really fun and the book does a great job of explaining it and encourage you to take small steps while exploring it.

It has a lot of information about the edges of the galaxy, giving you a lot of insight and ideas to use im campaigns. I'm really looking forward to playing this with my friends.

[Randy Varnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful and interesting book.

As an RPG, one of my favorite systems (Genesys). This book walks through running games with the smuggler and criminal side of the Star Wars universe.

As a reference to the Star Wars universe, it's full of beautiful art and cool lore.

[Jared · Rating 4 out of 5]

A big book, but well produced! Excited to play this game again.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking forward to giving this a whirl shortly.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know how to RPG! Great intro to roleplaying and good source material for a life on the fringe! Cannot wait to read the expansion stories.

[Alexander Lenz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book, interesting systems, good way to differentiate, terrible marketing, bad access, hate the dice.

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a review of reading the book, not playing the game. I will come back and revisit my review of this after I have run a few sessions.

Introducing a new dice system into the classic Star Wars Universe, Jay Little and Fantasy Flight Games attempt to launch a new system, as many others have, to replace the classic West End Games D6 version.

The book gets off to a poor start, perhaps assuming that they could just get everyone to say, "Star Wars, but the dirty grimy stuff," they elect to not include any sort of opening flavor fiction. Instead, this got printed later and stuffed into the book as a separate insert. The first part of the book is the basic explanation of a role playing game and then several pages dedicated to the arcane proprietary dice system, those you have to buy separately, and then on to its other more promising innovation, the Obligation system, which provides helpful hooks to draw the players into the story.

After that is the standard character creation, offering a promising array of careers and specializations. I found the race selections a bit odd, but this is apparently the first of three stand together RPG volumes, presumably all costing $60, but suffice to say I think most of this is pretty well thought out and offers a great deal of flexibility to the players.

Next is gear and equipment, followed by an explanation of conflict and combat. While I'm normally okay with this, this comes before the explanation of starships, and an additional specialization, so the order seems a bit jumbled.

Once we finally get into the game master section is when things really get to be a bit of a mess. While some basics of the universe are necessary, including brief snippets on various planets around the galaxy, a lot of this is stuff that could be found on many websites, e.g. wookiepedia, and while I understand the argument that this collects it all in one place, the documentation is brief and the book is $60. If you can afford that, arguably you have already obtained internet access and can get all the information included here, and more.

In the last two sections are a bit on adversaries, which helpfully provides a variety of plug and play NPCs, one of the best things when you need to just come up with stats on the fly, and an introductory adventure that does have some potential in helping both the players and GM get used to the system.

So what's missing? The big thing is a guide for GMs on creating and statting out your own NPCs. While they have provided some NPCs you can use, it would seem obvious that you would need the rules for creating original ones.

The second thing is better guidance on using the variety of dice complications they have come up with in the system. This dice system is going to be very demanding on GMs and players in a way that I do think has potential, but it's still a bit unclear on how they intend to use it.


That said, I do intend to run a campaign with this system, and will revisit my review after having completed a few sessions


Summary: Good - Easy player character creation and flexible growth, Plug & Play NPCs
Bad - Arcane dice system with unclear implications, price, material covered elsewhere, organization

[Jeff Lanter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read most of the rulebooks for Star Wars RPGs but never played a single one. I always wanted to, but was either intimidated by the rules or didn't have someone else equally interested in playing. Fortunately, this has changed because of Edge of the Empire.

Overall, this system favors cinematic moments and a collaboration between the players and GM. The dice can lead to all kinds of interesting results and the GM and players will have to use creativity to come up with interesting outcomes. This is one part that has me truly excited to try this part of the game out. In addition, this game focuses on the fringes of the galaxy like bounty hunters, smugglers, thieves, mercenaries, etc. I've enjoyed that part of Star Wars as much as anything so I think its awesome that Fantasy Flight made a rulebook just for this style of game instead of focusing on Jedi.

This book has rules covering character creation, combat, space combat, a little bit of force stuff, and then a lot of material for players and GMs alike including weapons, ships, vehicles, NPC stats, and sections on the planets and galaxy. All of this material certainly helps you feel like you get your money's worth. I thought that this book was enjoyable to read and the rules were easy to grasp. The only thing that I found somewhat confusing was space combat, but I'm hoping that it just didn't click with me the first go around and I can figure it out later on.

The overall production values in the book are excellent with a painted style. Many of the weapons, vehicles, and ships you can get in the game are represented in the rulebook and all of the eight races and careers are also shown. This is certainly appreciated and helps provide inspiration for the players and GM.

While I haven't played this game yet, Edge of the Empire is the first RPG I'm going to really try and play. After I play a game or two, I'll add some more information to this review and possibly raise my score of the book even higher. As it stands now, this is an excellent rulebook and system that looks a lot of fun and should even draw in first time and experienced RPG players with its simplicity and focus on exciting action and cinematic moments.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nothing in recent memory has captured my imagination quite like this rulebook. It provides almost all the necessary components to run your game, the framework for character creation, motivations and obligations for these characters, lists of skills they will have, the gear, tools, and starships to use, the minions and villains the players will face. The rest you need? -- players, dice, and your imagination.

Instead of encompassing all things Star Wars, this book is Han Solo and Chewbacca, Lando, Bobba Fett, and Jabba the Hutt. The smugglers, scoundrels, bounty hunters and criminals of the galaxy. Other books cover in detail the Rebellion, and The Force. So, if you are looking to build a Jedi or a Princess Leia-like member of the Rebel Alliance, this is not the book for you. Those features and traits are lightly touched upon, but certainly are not the heart of this book. Edge of the Empire is Mos Eisley -- a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

This is a hardbound textbook to be studied and used as a jumping off point for adventures. It is potential. I keep returning to it and finding a strange piece of gear and get an idea for a character, a particular vehicle conjures up a scene to create, a look at the galaxy map gives interesting locations for a story. A playground, far far away.

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

The narrative dice system is the primary draw here (there are other Star Wars games). I'm hard-pressed to think of a system that pushes narrative development through the game mechanics in a similar way. White Wolf had a multiple success system that could be interpreted similarly and (to a lesser extent) the Cypher system can generate GM interference and complications based on a single roll, but it's not quite the same as rolling triumph/despair and figuring out advantage/threat narratively.

The career aspect is maybe a bit too narrow for my taste. Is it so hard to imagine that a pilot might have a different set of traits than those listed (other than piloting, of course). But this is a rather minor complaint.

The artwork, like that of all of the books in the series, is great.

This is my favorite of the three games. It's much more open than AofR, and I think the obligation sustem works better than the F&D morality system, at least narratively (which makes it difficult in F&D to have a Sith character who doesn't outright think, "I'm evil!", limiting the scope for the character to basically a murder-hobo a la D&D, but that's a review for F&D. This game, thankfully, doesn't shade into those areas).

[Diz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This latest Star Wars tabletop roleplaying game is a great system. It focuses more on the narrative of the story than on combat, which I enjoy much more. Also, skills play a big role in this system, so if you want to play a character who doesn't focus on combat, there is still a lot for your character to do. This particular book focuses on the smugglers, bounty hunters, and colonists of the Star Wars universe, so if you're looking to play a rebel or a Jedi, there will be other core system books coming later. Perhaps a good way of thinking of the setting of this book would be if Star Wars was like the Firefly universe.

[Urbanmech · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the best Star Wars RPG made to date. Fantastic narrative dice help make nearly every roll interesting. The book could have used one or two more organizational passes as some rules are over explained and others hidden away in obscure locations. This does make learning the rules a little difficult, but once you have them down game play is very smooth.

Bottom line is that FFG has made a fantastic game with a beautiful rule book. If you like Star Wars and want a RPG set in that universe you won't go wrong here.

[Raul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy role-playing and spiritual descendant of the West End Games version of the classic trilogy plus expanded universe. The unique interpretive story telling dice system makes this an intriguing system and one which emphasizes narrative over cumbersome rules, in other words, rulings not rules, role playing and not roll playing. The D20 has fallen. Long live the triumph and despair of Fantasy Flight Games' historic, game-changing effort!

[Josiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

At least on paper, this is the most impressive Roleplaying system I've seen.

Also probably the most comprehensive Star Wars IP info I've seen in a long time. Rational and detailed. At least as rational as pulp adventures in space can be.

[Ryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love this rpg, just wish I had more time to play it

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a reader, not a player, this game shows promise and takes a more narrative approach to the lore.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is a good book but the real proof is in the playing which I have yet to do. Graphically, the book is gorgeous. It is well presented.

[Abraham Ray · Rating 5 out of 5]

nice star wars rpg book!

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite RPG.