Star Wars saga edition review

the star wars saga edition RPG is the third incarnation of the star wars RPG line. it was preceded by the star wars D20 edition and the D6 star wars from WEG. this edition was made by Wizards of the cost just as the D20 version was. it is the edition I have the least experience in as I never owned the books. The reason I never got into it was due to spending a lot of money on the prior star wars games and not wanting to get into another one.

this game represents the transition between the D20 system of D&D and the engine they used for 4E D&D. many elements that would be found in 4e came from here as Chris perkins was part of both development teams. one example is the fact that starting pc’s begin with a ton of HP. for example in saga the soldier begins with 30+con modifier in HP. in D20 the same soldier began with 1D10+ con. this is similar to the high starting HP of 4e. also instead of one AC you now have three defenses based on Reflex, fortitude and will again similar to how 4e works. finally the game requires mini’s and a grid just like 4e.

the core book only has 5 classes which is low for most WOTC rpg’s. this is negated a bit by having each class have several paths that can be followed. the skills could also be condensed a lot as they still have jump, climb and swim as separate skills. supposedly this game weakens the Jedi/force user class, but i never played one so I am not sure hos true that is. the game did nerf the lightsabre though. in the prior editions a lightsabre in the hands of a jedi was a rare and powerful weapon. now in the hands of a jedi a lightsabre is a rare and mediocre weapon.

I only played one session of the game (i was a human fighter) and it was not a great experience. the fast moving quick combat of the movies, and the  D6 star wars was dead and gone. I spent the first battle behind a wall trading blaster shots at some storm troopers. now when I say trading shots I mean it was the core mechanic of RPG’s in its full glory. I rolled added modifiers and tried to beat a TN. then the troopers did the same thing and we went back and forth like that for 20 real world minutes. again anyone who tells you that adding grids and mini’s speeds up play or that it makes the game more tactical  are blowing smoke. neither mini’s nor grids by themselves do those things. the second fight in the game was a star ships battle and oh boy was that slow and painful. I would fire one shot then spend four rounds trying to get back around to get one more shot off at the TIE fighter. note that the space fight was between just me in my X-wing vs one single TIE fighter. now I will say that this bad time could have been a result of a bad DM, so try it for yourself before you decide if this game is right for you.

overall this is going to have to be my least favorite SW RPG. again I played once and the experience was bad. having said that many people say this game was fun and rate it above the D20 SW so if you can find a copy give it a try. if you like 4e give it a try.