Rating: 
Summary: The Destruction of the SWRPG
Review: What can I say? WOC has done it again. They have gone and ruined one of the most flexible and fun role-playing games in history. If you really want to enjoy a Star Wars RPG go find West End's Edition at a used bookstore. Basically WOC has has written their there very own GURPS. D&D=GURPS Fantasy. Star Wars=any GURPS space titles. Too many rules get in the way of the story, and the story is what is really important in RPG Campaigns. Can you really have fun as a player if you have to keep referring to Alien Table 4 in the Table Annex on Page 34 in Chapter 4? No. Give me the old D6 system, good friends, and good beer.
Rating: 
Summary: Star Wars Roleplaying book a must!
Review: I was really impressed with the quality of the book. Not only is the game great but the book itself is put together real well. If you are a first time Star Wars Role player, like me, it takes awhile to completly understand the rules. After you have it is really fun. I really enjoyed the chapter on the force. It's got a lot of interesting information. My only complaint is the section on vehicles and starships. Unlike the weapons and equipment, this section is very brief and has very few vehicles to choose from. Otherwise this book is great. A++
Rating: 
Summary: Disapointed
Review: Maybe I should have known better, but I was expecting more than simply D&D (3rd Edition) in space. The original version did have its flaws (character development was slow for example), but I felt realy captured the feel of star wars. The things that sum it up for me are firstly the combat rules, which spend FAR too long talking about hand to hand combat... when was the last time you saw someone in the films using anything (apart from the lightsabers of course) that short ranged. Also the ship to ship combat rules are far far to short. And there are no where near enough stats for ships in this book. The whole thing is just not space opera, wheras that was the WHOLE POINT of the previous version. e.g. counting blaster shots, do you really want to have tally up all the shots people fire to work out when they run out of amunition, or have to slot in another power pack, people should run out of ammo at dramatically appropriate moments, otherewise it is unnecessary book keeping. As you can read from the other reviews the whole package is well put together, and well presented. It still feels more like D&D in space than starwars to me though, and that is a BIG shame...
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Star Wars, but still requires key elements
Review: What WoTC did in this version of SW RPG (called 3e SW or d20 SW), they did well. Admittedly, SW 3e is a port of D&D 3e. If you throw out the argument that SW "deserves its own system", then this book does an excellent job of delivering a fun, streamlined, and cinematic feel of the Star Wars galaxy.Die hard fans of the old game will undoubtedly claim "classes, levels, XP, and d20s are for D&D" but this can never be an argument against a role playing system of any kind. Having run several sessions with the new product, I can say the game captures the feel of blaster fights, chases, encounters with strange creatures and NPCs, and the balance of the Force. However, some things are left out. And in a world like Star Wars, leaving them out hamstrings GMs completely. The vehicle and starship rules in their entirety span 25 pages, or less than 10% of the book! For longtime SW fans, it is nearly impossible to create classic cinematic scenes among characters of different "scales" (that is to say, characters running from vehicles, or vehicles running from starships, or starfighters running from Star Destroyers) with any level of satisfaction. The movies blend these scales together seamlessly, and the movies also demand that characters fight, and run, on foot, in vehicles, and in starships. In short, the Starship/Vehicle rules aren't there... and to make up for it a supplement for Starships will be out later in 2001. I won't fault the designers for this. They worked hard to make this all happen in one year, and they've done as good a job as possible. I have to fault WoTC corporate, for not putting more designers on the team, and refusing to perhaps launch multiple books so GMs have a guide to run these scenes, (such as the old PHB and DM Guide combo) even if Players are only "introduced" to the rules in the PHB. Instead, GMs are on their own to craft inconsistent rules that they can't possibly playtest too well. The Internet SW RPG community is already fragmented due to this, with different groups making different mods, making characters from different GMs basically incompatible. So I give the book 3 stars, because what they've completed (an RPG without vehicles and starships) is fantastic. What WoTC has left us with is an incomplete work, however, and I hope they remedy that as soon as they can.
Rating: 
Summary: Waht an improvement!!
Review: This game is such an improvement over the old WEG system, there's hardly a way to compare them. The system isn't cumbersome (it uses the D&D 3E d20 system), players have more control over their character's development, and the Jedi Force powers are clearly defined, and limited. My only beef is with the starship combat rules. They seem overly simplistic and limiting. Also, the number of starships available is disappointing. I had to convert all the ships I could find from the old WEG game just to have some variety.
Rating:
Summary: Well done, TSR!
Review: TSR's Star Wars Roleplaying Game is very well-organized and beautifully put together. Bill Slavicsek, who has had his share of high-profile Star Wars projects, doesn't disappoint here. The rules for the game are described clearly and as succinctly as possible. There are a great selection of character classes and alien races to play as well as a plethora of technology for the players to use. The introductory adventure is slanted more toward beginning roleplayers, but that's to be expected in the main rulebook. You don't want to go scaring off new players! Graphically, the book is very nicely done. Highly professional illustrations share the pages with well chosen photos from all of the Star Wars films. They've done a particularly fine job of pairing the graphics appropriately with the text. It's obvious that no stone was left unturned in the attempt to make this game as good as it can be. I wholeheartedly recommend this game to both experienced roleplayers and newcomers looking to get into the hobby. My only criticisms of the game are a) the material is often a bit slanted toward Episode I. Not that I mind; I was one of the fans who fully enjoyed the Phantom Menace. But many fans will want a more Classic Trilogy-related slant. They'll have to wait for The Secrets of Tatooine (a future product for this game), from what I hear. And b) the D20 system is great, but sometimes a bit too reminiscent of AD&D. AD&D's a great game, but I almost wish they would have done away with the character levels and experience system for a more unique approach. The final verdict: A great product and a great game. Highly professional as you'd expect from TSR and well organized. Don't miss it!
Rating:
Summary: Good but not well covered.
Review: This book is so much prettier than all the weg books. The art is great, the photo's cool. Everything on that side of things looks really professional. It is great to see Wizards doing the game as it looks like they are going to do a really good job of it. My only complaint is that there isn't enough in the book to play. Forget playing in the rebellion or new republic era. They are not covered at all in any detail. Episode 1 is the only era covered in any detail. Which is a big disappointment. I will be running games in that era but there isn't stats on the standard stormtrooper in the book. There is a very high level of favortism to Phantom menace in the game. In time I hope it will balance out so we can play in all 3 eras. Some of the stats are very weird for movie character stats. They have Maul stronger than Vader. Not a hope in hell of that being the case. Episode 1 is the in thing and the game reflects that. But overall this is a good book and the game looks like it will grow in some interesting directions. if they continue to do things at this standard then it should do well.
Rating:
Summary: A fantastic D20 game for Star Wars
Review: I've really only played the WEG version once. I actually hated it a lot. The D6 system is strange to me. When I first played the Star Wars IoT game, I kinda liked D20. So I bought the Core Rulebook, and I think it's a great game. I won't go into comparison with WEG, because this review is not about that. It's about this product... I think the battle system is great, especially with this new Wound Points and Vitality Points system. The Starship battle system doesn't seem too good though. It should have been changed a lot, but too late for that. First of all, it does not mention anything to do with specific systems being damaged. For example, in Episode I we noticed that the Royal Starship had it's hyperdrive damaged. In the RPG, it doesn't matter as long as the ship has hull points. It can go on forever as long as it still has hull points. One thing that I believe truly deserves much credit is the way a character sheet and enemy stats are handled. I absolutely love this set number ability score system. You get a number for your Strength, Dextirity, Wisdom, Constitution, Charisma, and Intelligence. You also gain proper modifiers. Besides a few glitchy things (why does a low level Jedi still do less damage than a low level soldier who has a blaster? It improves as the Jedi grows?) and some almost harsh rules, this game is awesome to play. If you have kids, this would be a great game to develop their minds. My cousins were born on shooting everything. Your kids will find out that combat isn't the solution to everything. They have to try stealth, diplomacy, and bargaining before trying to just blow everything away. There are a WIDE variety of skills to help them do this. The adventure scale on this game is limitless. You can make whatever type of adventure you'd like. Also, 3 different eras of play give you a nice variety. Star Wars fans who want a fun game that can let their galaxy limitless, this is your game. RPG fans, this would be great to look into.
Rating:
Summary: Almost Perfect (4½ Stars)
Review: First off the new Star Wars role playing games by Wizards of the Coast is a complete departure from West End Game's earlier version. The d6 system used by West End had to be one of the least heroic game engines I have ever seen, forcing players to horde their experience points in order to focus on the most important skills. Instead, the new Star Wars system uses a modified version of the 3rd Edition Dungeons & Dragons core rules to make it work. Which is does to a certain extend-I still have major issues with 3rd Edition D&D, which unfortunately have crept into this game. And I have to agree with Jim Jenkins comments that the core rule book pays too much attention to Episode 1: there just isn't enough of anything good to focus the book on. Players familiar with 3rd Edition D&D will find that much of the rules are pretty straight forward from the core stats of the character Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, etc. to saving throws and movement. They even imported the concept of Prestige Classes in from the 3rd Edition. Character generation is easy, with only minor glitches such as who gets which Class Skills and who doesn't- for some reason they decided that Piloting is a Cross-Class skill for Jedi, meaning it costs double the skill points to purchase over a Class Skill, when most of the Jedi we have seen in the books or movies have been pilots and good ones at that. Forcing a character to multi-class in order to be a good pilot is extreme, even paying double the cost is too much. AD&D has always been at its best with only minor tweaks here and there in order to make it a fun, exciting game to play-at least in the genre of super heroic fantasy is concerned. Thus using these rules for Star Wars makes a certain amount of sense since they are very close in relation to one and other. AD&D has magic, Star Wars has the Force, both have weird creatures and monsters and a strong sense of mysticism and epic history. Both genres possess a lot of what I like in a role playing game, so using the same rules is not just efficiency and economy, it makes good sense. The test characters I have worked out are well balanced, but only time will tell how they work in an actual game environment. Book layout is clear and concise, the text is easy to read and the rules are actually better explained than there were in the 3rd Edition D&D rules. Speaking of rules there are only two that I dislike and are carryovers from 3rd Edition. First is the flat footed rule: starting a combat flat footed (even if surprised), especially for low level characters can mean death and should be ignored. Second is the static initiative rule for combat rounds-let players roll their initiatives each round. Beyond that everything else is simple, seamless and meant to enhanced and accelerate play. And while there may be rules that need to be tweaked in-game, they are not worth mentioning. The art is so-so, (I generally prefer the art from the Invasion of Theed boxed set) and the sample characters are a good way to show new players how PCs and NPCs increase in ability as they gain levels. I tended to wince every time they had a Phantom Menace character who was better than an old trilogy character, i.e. Queen Amidala having a higher charisma score than Princess Leia or Darth Maul just having so much better stats than Darth Vader-it just smacked of favoritism to me. However, the spread of characters goes from Episode 1 to the New Jedi Order and even has stats for Yuuzhan Vong-their equipment and coralskipper fighter. All in all a well done book. I still recommend using West End Game's books as source material. Much like Fasa (good source material, lousy game systems), WEG produced a lot of good supplements for the old Star Wars game-adventures and source books, that can be used for the new system and converting between them won't prove to be that difficult. So finally a game system worthy of Star Wars has finally been produced. It isn't perfect, but it comes very, very close. Go for it! May the Force be with you.
Rating:
Summary: This is worth your money
Review: Being a newcomer to the Star Wars RPG world, my experiences are rather limited but I have indeed played both the new d20 system and the old West End Games d6 version. Personally, I prefer the d20 system based out of this book; it seems neater and more dynamic. It also seems more current. Hopefully, some serious resources will come out as far as ships and equipment, etc., and this particular system will have everything it could require. I suggest this book for any RPG lovers.
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