Star Wars Adventure Game: The Invasion of Theed

Rating:
Summary: One of the best intro RPGs ever published
Review: Have you been gaming since 1980 and now want to get your kids interested in the hobby? If so, then this is the product for you!

This set is a complete game--except for involved character creation rules, but that's no big deal because fully detailed pre-generated characters of several different types are included--with easy to grasp mechanics, dice, and lots of maps and counters to help players visualize the action. Several adventures are also included.

If you have a kid who likes Star Wars and who has shown an interest in RPGing or storytelling, then you need to sit down and play this game with them.

Rating:
Summary: Been There, Done That, but Good for Beginners (3½ Stars)
Review: The 'Invasion of Theed' boxed set is designed more for younger players or people new to role playing. It provides everything you need to start playing the new Star Wars role playing game, but suffers from a lot of same problems that a lot of Phantom Menace merchandise does in that we have already seen this. A lot of writers and game designers have simply been retelling the Episode I story line in order to sell products. When the original West End Games Star Wars RPG came out, they didn't get you to replay A New Hope or the Empire Strikes Back, no, they gave you new adventures. But as an introduction to the new game mechanics, it works quite well.

Players use pre-generated characters that include two Jedi Guardians (the character class that eventually becomes a Jedi Knight at 7th level) Sia-Lan Wezz and Rann I-Kanu, a young Wookie scout named Rorworr, Deel Surool, a Twi'lek scoundrel, and a member of Naboo's security force, Galak. All of these characters are well-rounded, but more experienced players who still want to familiarize themselves by playing the adventure may wish to create their own characters.

The scenarios themselves revolve around the players escaping the initial attack by the droids of the Trade Federation and join the underground. From there they must rescue captured pilots and leaders, aiding Queen Amidala and finally a swamp adventure against swamp monsters a low-level Dark Jedi, (Darth Maul's assistant, no doubt). All in all, not bad, but too linear in scope and story or perhaps not enough meat for more experienced gamers. It does however come with free dice and a Wookie action figure, which you shouldn't open because it might be worth something in a few years. Also, I really liked the color character art by Adam Hughes, it has a nice clean and unfettered look to it.

If you have an interest in the new Wizard's of the Coast Star Wars RPG, buy the hard cover rules instead of or with this boxed set. It is worth the money, for what you pay compared to what you get, and even if you don't like it, the action figure is cute and everyone can use the dice.

The Force will be with you, always.

Rating:
Summary: A new review of an old standby
Review: The Invasion of Theed introductory boxed set was the very first supplement for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, and even though Amazon.com isn't stocking it any more, it is still widely available. This is a good thing, because despite the passage of time it is still a great accessory for introducing new people to the game.

This boxed set contains several components, all of which go hand in hand. Firstly, you have the Rulebook, which uses a simplified version of the Original Core Rulebook's ruleset. Within the space of a few minutes a new player is taught the basic nuts and bolts of the game, which prepares them to move on to the second portion, the Adventure book. The Adventure book contains a simple mini-campaign that allows a GM to guide two or more players through the events of the invasion of the city of Theed, during Episode I. Players have the choice of several characters, all featured on stylish, custom character sheets. In addition there are also six dice, several color maps to be used during the adventure, and two cardboard sheets full of punch-out tokens featuring battle droids, civilians, vehicles, and even the characters themselves.

And of course, we can't forget the one thing that has been understated so far, which may really make this game worth buying for a collector: it includes a unique Star Wars action figure of Rorworr the Wookiee. The figure is a nice treat. It features six points of articulation, a bowcaster accessory weapon, and as a Wookiee, it's noticeably taller than other human-sized figures.

When I ran the Adventure component in mid 2002, my test subjects were two Star Wars fans who had never played the game before. However, it seemed that the simple rules and relatively quick-paced mini-campaign easily facilitated their entry into the universe. As an introductory game, it is best to keep in mind that there really isn't a whole lot of role-playing to be done here. But this didn't bother my players at all, because they just wanted a chance to kill battle droids with their lightsabers! In that respect, the game definitely delivers, and fortunately the game has a *lot* of battle droid tokens. We completed the module in about two nights of gaming, and all in all it was an enjoyable experience for everyone that left us wanting more.

Of course, such a simplified approach may not interest more experienced gamers. Even if you aren't interested in the Rorworr figure, the wide array of tokens could be infinitely useful in a Rise of the Empire era campaign. The maps, to a lesser extent, may also be useful as well. Being the fanboy that I am, I also enjoyed the game for its artistic content, particular the excellent comic-style artwork that fully maintains the feel of Star Wars. If you're lucky, your box might still include the special Preview Issue of Star Wars Gamer, an excellent magazine that sadly is no longer with us.

All said and done, I really enjoyed this boxed set, and I continue to make use of the figure and the cardboard tokens. Because of this I'm rating the box a 5. As advertised it's a great tool for introducing people to the game, but keep in mind that experienced gamers will almost certainly be left unsatisfied.

Rating:
Summary: A new review of an old standby
Review: The Invasion of Theed introductory boxed set was the very first supplement for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, and even though Amazon.com isn't stocking it any more, it is still widely available. This is a good thing, because despite the passage of time it is still a great accessory for introducing new people to the game.

This boxed set contains several components, all of which go hand in hand. Firstly, you have the Rulebook, which uses a simplified version of the Original Core Rulebook's ruleset. Within the space of a few minutes a new player is taught the basic nuts and bolts of the game, which prepares them to move on to the second portion, the Adventure book. The Adventure book contains a simple mini-campaign that allows a GM to guide two or more players through the events of the invasion of the city of Theed, during Episode I. Players have the choice of several characters, all featured on stylish, custom character sheets. In addition there are also six dice, several color maps to be used during the adventure, and two cardboard sheets full of punch-out tokens featuring battle droids, civilians, vehicles, and even the characters themselves.

And of course, we can't forget the one thing that has been understated so far, which may really make this game worth buying for a collector: it includes a unique Star Wars action figure of Rorworr the Wookiee. The figure is a nice treat. It features six points of articulation, a bowcaster accessory weapon, and as a Wookiee, it's noticeably taller than other human-sized figures.

When I ran the Adventure component in mid 2002, my test subjects were two Star Wars fans who had never played the game before. However, it seemed that the simple rules and relatively quick-paced mini-campaign easily facilitated their entry into the universe. As an introductory game, it is best to keep in mind that there really isn't a whole lot of role-playing to be done here. But this didn't bother my players at all, because they just wanted a chance to kill battle droids with their lightsabers! In that respect, the game definitely delivers, and fortunately the game has a *lot* of battle droid tokens. We completed the module in about two nights of gaming, and all in all it was an enjoyable experience for everyone that left us wanting more.

Of course, such a simplified approach may not interest more experienced gamers. Even if you aren't interested in the Rorworr figure, the wide array of tokens could be infinitely useful in a Rise of the Empire era campaign. The maps, to a lesser extent, may also be useful as well. Being the fanboy that I am, I also enjoyed the game for its artistic content, particular the excellent comic-style artwork that fully maintains the feel of Star Wars. If you're lucky, your box might still include the special Preview Issue of Star Wars Gamer, an excellent magazine that sadly is no longer with us.

All said and done, I really enjoyed this boxed set, and I continue to make use of the figure and the cardboard tokens. Because of this I'm rating the box a 5. As advertised it's a great tool for introducing people to the game, but keep in mind that experienced gamers will almost certainly be left unsatisfied.

Rating:
Summary: a grand introduction to a great RPG
Review: The `Invasion of Theed' boxed set is designed more for younger players or people new to role playing. It provides everything you need to start playing the new Star Wars role playing game, but suffers from a lot of same problems that a lot of Phantom Menace merchandise does in that we have already seen this. A lot of writers and game designers have simply been retelling the Episode I story line in order to sell products. When the original West End Games Star Wars RPG came out, they didn't get you to replay A New Hope or the Empire Strikes Back, no, they gave you new adventures. But as an introduction to the new game mechanics, it works quite well.

Players use pre-generated characters that include two Jedi Guardians (the character class that eventually becomes a Jedi Knight at 7th level) Sia-Lan Wezz and Rann I-Kanu, a young Wookie scout named Rorworr, Deel Surool, a Twi'lek scoundrel, and a member of Naboo's security force, Galak. All of these characters are well-rounded, but more experienced players who still want to familiarize themselves by playing the adventure may wish to create their own characters.

The scenarios themselves revolve around the players escaping the initial attack by the droids of the Trade Federation and join the underground. From there they must rescue captured pilots and leaders, aiding Queen Amidala and finally a swamp adventure against swamp monsters a low-level Dark Jedi, (Darth Maul's assistant, no doubt). All in all, not bad, but too linear in scope and story or perhaps not enough meat for more experienced gamers. It does however come with free dice and a Wookie action figure, which you shouldn't open because it might be worth something in a few years. Also, I really liked the color character art by Adam Hughes, it has a nice clean and unfettered look to it.

If you have an interest in the new Wizard's of the Coast Star Wars RPG, buy the hard cover rules instead of or with this boxed set. It is worth the money, for what you pay compared to what you get, and even if you don't like it, the action figure is cute and everyone can use the dice.

The Force will be with you, always.

Rating:
Summary: Great fun for groups of friends!
Review: This game is really great for groups of friends. If your a little older, you might want to switch to the Star Wars RPG since it has much bigger. If you and your friends want to have lots of fun, this game is just great for that. You can play all day with this thing. There can be up to 9 players (1 Gamemaster, 8 player characters) if you use the original sheets. If you photocopy the character sheets (this is almost a necessity) you can have unlimited players. In the package you also get an exclusive Rorworr the Wookie figure. It's great to start off a new collection, or to add to your usage of figures in the RPG. There is also a VERY large map included that is double-sided. If you do not own any of the Star Wars figures, you can use the included mass of game tokens on the grid to play. If you own lots of the figures, or just a few, I reccomend you use the side with special grids for using the action figures. There is tons of dice included so that you can come up with statistics. It's a lot of fun to come up with quests for the characters and play them. You can also play without the map and just make a larger more complex play area for your characters. As a plus there is also leveling up, so you can become more powerful. This will stay fun for a long time. It might not even get boring, or atleast until you get the Star Wars RPG when you become more of an advanced RPG player. If you are a parent, this is a great way to get kids to play together and not fight. This is also great to encourage strategic thinking. If your a kid, well, what are you waiting for? Get it!

Rating:
Summary: a grand introduction to a great RPG
Review: while star wars* invasion of theed is truly an amazing starter role-playing game the keyword is starter. I'd say it's most suitable for people who have just discover the world of role-playing, It is far to simple for an experienced RPG'er. I definately commend WoTC for their glorious resurgence of star wars in the role-playing world. soft-core star wars fans who are new to role-playing buy this game! If you enjoyed it I suggest moving on to the core role-playing game, which is all in all more fun and in depth. But be WARNED upon purchasing either of the two expect to lose ALOT of sleep!