The Dark Side Sourcebook (Star Wars Roleplaying Game)

Rating:
Summary: Sith ROCK!
Review: All I have to say is that this is an excellent source for those players wishing to give in to the dark side of the force, and provides detailed statistics and information for GM's wishing to run dark side campaigns and adventures. Well done Wizards of the Coast!

Rating:
Summary: If only you knew the power of the dark side...
Review: Have you ever wondered about the Sith? Have you ever wanted to run or play a darkside character? This is the book for you.

I was compelled to buy this book, not only out of my own curiosity, but because I'm running a Star Wars game where the players expressed a desire to explore the realms of ethical questionability with their characters. I'm glad I bought it.

I might have only rated this with three stars instead of four, but for one thing: Hardcover. The hardcover alone is enough to make me appreciate a gaming book these days. Yes, they're heavy. But you can write on the back of them, the pages generally stay flat, and they're slightly more resistant to moisture. I could go on and on about hardcover gaming supplements, but I won't.

The contents of the book suffer some the same problems as the core rulebook. Sidebars and pictures tend to clutter each page, making it a little harder to find the rules nuggets you're looking for. Some of the information seems to be repeated in different sections too, making for a slightly redundant read at times.

Once you find what you're looking for, however, it's a decent sourcebook. Feats, skills, prestige classes, and equipment for dark Force-users are present, as you'd expect. Nothing mind-blowing there. They have some history and NPCs too.

My favorite part details the psychology of the dark side, and how characters get lured into it's grasp. It even tells how Love can motivate someone to turn to the dark side. This is the kind of material you need to make convincing and varied darkside characters, and to lure your players into courting the dark side of the Force.

I wanted more historical details about the Sith, the Republic, and the Hyperspace Wars, but I guess some of that is vague on purpose. They can't give everything away, and a lot of that kind of material has probably been written elsewhere anyway.

My end conclusion: A good book, and definitely useful if you enjoy dark and gritty role-playing.

Rating:
Summary: If only you knew the power of the dark side...
Review: Have you ever wondered about the Sith? Have you ever wanted to run or play a darkside character? This is the book for you.

I was compelled to buy this book, not only out of my own curiosity, but because I'm running a Star Wars game where the players expressed a desire to explore the realms of ethical questionability with their characters. I'm glad I bought it.

I might have only rated this with three stars instead of four, but for one thing: Hardcover. The hardcover alone is enough to make me appreciate a gaming book these days. Yes, they're heavy. But you can write on the back of them, the pages generally stay flat, and they're slightly more resistant to moisture. I could go on and on about hardcover gaming supplements, but I won't.

The contents of the book suffer some the same problems as the core rulebook. Sidebars and pictures tend to clutter each page, making it a little harder to find the rules nuggets you're looking for. Some of the information seems to be repeated in different sections too, making for a slightly redundant read at times.

Once you find what you're looking for, however, it's a decent sourcebook. Feats, skills, prestige classes, and equipment for dark Force-users are present, as you'd expect. Nothing mind-blowing there. They have some history and NPCs too.

My favorite part details the psychology of the dark side, and how characters get lured into it's grasp. It even tells how Love can motivate someone to turn to the dark side. This is the kind of material you need to make convincing and varied darkside characters, and to lure your players into courting the dark side of the Force.

I wanted more historical details about the Sith, the Republic, and the Hyperspace Wars, but I guess some of that is vague on purpose. They can't give everything away, and a lot of that kind of material has probably been written elsewhere anyway.

My end conclusion: A good book, and definitely useful if you enjoy dark and gritty role-playing.

Rating:
Summary: Inadequate Dark Force Powers
Review: I had high hopes for this book. They were dashed by the low number of Dark Force Skills and Feats the authors decided were acceptable. One would think that the fearsome Sith, having existed as a separate culture for tens of thousands of years, would have many more applications of the Dark Side of the Force. The Force powers included in The Dark Side Sourcebook are insufficient to warrent the fearful reputation of the Sith. Also, the powers do not reflect the EVIL of the Dark Side. For Instance, "Sith Illusions" are simply visual, there is no tactile effect(i.e. PAIN or other discomfort). Bottomline - The Sith have been powered down to satisfy some demographic. I give this book one Gigantic YAAWWWNN!

Rating:
Summary: The Dark Side...
Review: It is abouttime that the OTHER side of the Force is reveled. I like the book as a Star Wars fan and as a role-playing sourebook. I like all the stats, the background on the Sith and information I didn't know. I can't wait untill the other sourcebooks come out. Until then, pick up a copy and KNOW THE POWER OF THE DARK SIDE.

Rating:
Summary: Generally great, but some embarrassing flaws
Review: The Dark Side Sourcebook is largely for a gamemaster who wants to produce serious villains, or for someone who wants to run a Dark Side campaign. It contains all the tools necessary for either of these tasks, including a load of very powerful prestige classes (including the mighty Sith Lord) and jaw-dropping items (including the Sith Talisman and Orbalisk Armor). There is also included the requisite gallery of known baddies, and some monsters that will pose an extreme challenge for even the most powerful heroes.

There are only a few problems with this book. Let's start with the most obvious one: the lack of a sourcebook for the ancient eras where Dark Jedi ran rampant. Most of the prestige classes, items, ships, and individuals mentioned in this book are exclusively available in that time period, so this absence is significant. This can be addressed soon, however, and is not one of the 'embarrassing flaws' I mentioned. The charts for the prestige classes have odd discrepancies in convention that seem to be a halfway point between the original and revised core rulebooks. For example, reputation is either noted as ever-increasing or a series of +1 and +0s, and lightsaber damage is listed as +1d8 +1d8 +1d8 ... +2d8 rather than 'increase lightsaber damage.'

Some other gamemasters might have noticed another interesting problem. The Sith Lord prestige class has 10 levels, but it is impossible to become a 10th level Sith Lord (I'm assuming a 'non-epic' campaign here). The reason for this being that the class requires a reputation of 10, and it is impossible to get that in 10 levels. A more obvious problem is with the Emperor's Hand prestige class, since there can only be one Emperor's Hand. This rather limits the potential of the class, does it not?

Of course, the gamemaster is by no means held to obey the whims of this sourcebook. I simply threw out what I thought was unreasonable and went on with the game. Though I generally found the book to be a worthwhile investment of time and money, it could have been far more satisfying with a bit of improvement in the range of options available. This especially applies to campaigns run in the Rebellion Era which, let's face it, is the only really FUN era to run in!

Rating:
Summary: Darkfyre
Review: THE DARK SIDE SOURCEBOOK RULES>
IT HAS EVRY THING YOU NEED TO BECOME AN AWESOME DARK JEDI> IT IS A GREAT THING FOR ANY STARWARSRPG PLAYER WHO WANTS TO BECME A SITH ESPECIALLY A SITH APRENTICCE>

Rating:
Summary: Inadequate Dark Force Powers
Review: The Star Wars RPG, even in the hands of West End Games, never ventured to the Dark Side. As far as we can tell, Lucasfilm never wanted to detail material on playing the darker side of the Force in campaigns since they feel Star Wars is a story about good overcoming evil.

Of course, if you are an avid Star Wars roleplayer, you've probably just ventured out onto your own. Now, you have official material that draws together quite a bit of EU books and comics and gives you a solid reference on the history and power of the Dark Side. As a book that summarizes the history of the Sith and the what we know about the villains of the books and movies (so far), it succeeds.

So why not five stars? This book is a double edged sword. The rewrite of Darth Vader's stats continues to illustrate the problems with the armor rules (see my review of the Core Rules for more info here). Dark Side character concepts are presented as Prestige Classes. However, some of the prestige classes have so little requirements that they are practically base classes.

Where else does the book succeed? There is an excellent chapter that is written as an antithesis to the chapter on The Force in the Core Rules. Written in identical style and format, the book intriduces you to the Dark Side's seductive and controlling power. It's a good read for GM's who need to portray this to PCs in their group that are wobbling on the edge.

Depending on your taste for EU, you may appreciate or not appreciate the powerful Dark Side equipment that is more than a match for the game mechanics of the Jedi. Sure, some GM's were looking for a game mechanic based challenge for their Jedi, but others (like myself) felt the constant challenge of tempering the Force with the Jedi Code was difficult enough to roleplay.

Nearly every Star Wars GM will love some parts of this book, and dislike others. That's because covering the Dark Side fully, by necessity, means covering the EU as well. Your own personal taste will come into play when deciding what rules to adopt, and what to leave out. But that's okay, it's a normal part of roleplaying. This one is a good buy.

Rating:
Summary: A place the RPG has never been before...
Review: The Star Wars RPG, even in the hands of West End Games, never ventured to the Dark Side. As far as we can tell, Lucasfilm never wanted to detail material on playing the darker side of the Force in campaigns since they feel Star Wars is a story about good overcoming evil.

Of course, if you are an avid Star Wars roleplayer, you've probably just ventured out onto your own. Now, you have official material that draws together quite a bit of EU books and comics and gives you a solid reference on the history and power of the Dark Side. As a book that summarizes the history of the Sith and the what we know about the villains of the books and movies (so far), it succeeds.

So why not five stars? This book is a double edged sword. The rewrite of Darth Vader's stats continues to illustrate the problems with the armor rules (see my review of the Core Rules for more info here). Dark Side character concepts are presented as Prestige Classes. However, some of the prestige classes have so little requirements that they are practically base classes.

Where else does the book succeed? There is an excellent chapter that is written as an antithesis to the chapter on The Force in the Core Rules. Written in identical style and format, the book intriduces you to the Dark Side's seductive and controlling power. It's a good read for GM's who need to portray this to PCs in their group that are wobbling on the edge.

Depending on your taste for EU, you may appreciate or not appreciate the powerful Dark Side equipment that is more than a match for the game mechanics of the Jedi. Sure, some GM's were looking for a game mechanic based challenge for their Jedi, but others (like myself) felt the constant challenge of tempering the Force with the Jedi Code was difficult enough to roleplay.

Nearly every Star Wars GM will love some parts of this book, and dislike others. That's because covering the Dark Side fully, by necessity, means covering the EU as well. Your own personal taste will come into play when deciding what rules to adopt, and what to leave out. But that's okay, it's a normal part of roleplaying. This one is a good buy.

Rating:
Summary: We've been waiting for years...
Review: The StarWars Roleplaying game is a game for heroes. There were no ways to play someone evil, or just someone who's on the edge. Every time your character used a Force Power in a bad situation, he became slightly unplayable. This time is over.

For the first time, George Lucas authorized the fans to play Dark Side characters. We may now ALL thank him for allowing us to see the DARK SIDE of the FORCE !

Frédric Toutain, French Student.