28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Guns, armor, and crunchy goodness..., November 15, 2002
This review is from: Arms and Equipment Guide (Star Wars Roleplaying Game) (Paperback)
This is probably the one book that players of SWRPG have been waiting for. At first glance the book seems to be a bit on the small side at only 96 pages, and in truth it is- however, the authors have managed to do a good job of cramming all kinds of fun stuff in here.
And now for a synopsis.
Chapter 1: Weapons starts off with a quick-and-easy system for customizing your character's personal weapons. No longer must a character be a Tech Specialist to build a unique weapon (although it's still true that only Tech Specialists can mastercraft). Now anyone can make certain modifications or personalizations, as long as you have a sufficient Craft skill. Examples include increased range, improved critical, reduced weight, and increased accuracy. It is also very thoughtful that most modifications are balanced with a tradeoff in some other aspect of the weapon.
There is also a small but useful section that describes the process of Concealing a weapon on your person.
The main body of this chapter describes over 50 different blaster weapons, which is more than the entire weapon list from the Core Rulebook. There are also a few Ion Guns, a handful of lethal Disruptors (think disintegrator guns), slugthrowers, dart pistols, flechette launchers, crossbows and magna casters, wrist weapons, a good-sized list of melee weapons, grenades and grenade launchers, flamethrowers, sonic weapons, and even a few species-specific weapons like the Squip Tensor Rifle and the deadly but fragile Verpine Shatter Gun. Whew!
Chapter 2: Armor also starts off with a description of how armor can be modified, just like Chapter 1. In total 17 pieces of armor and protective gear are described, from simple tracker vests and leather jerkins up to some very tasty (and very expensive) sets of power armor.
Chapter 3: Droids, as you might guess, has an extensive list of Droid types. There are a lot of droids here, almost 20 pages worth in fact, which was a bit of a surprise. The droids cover the entire spectrum from Mouse Droids and assassin droids to Astromechs and tutoring droids. There is also some additional info on playing Droid characters.
Chapter 4: Vehicles is pretty short but still manages to describe a good array of machinery, including speeders, swoops, aircars, and walkers. Like chapters 1 and 2, there are additional rules for customizing vehicles.
Chapter 5: Equipment describes dozens of pieces of miscellaneous gear. Examples include breathers, comlinks, sensors, and medical equipment. Nothing here stands out as overly powerful, but most of it seems to be useful for a character to have.
And there you have it. There's enough equipment and technology in here to keep players and GMs picking and choosing for quite some time. In that respect, the book certainly delivers. All the items seem to be well thought out and nothing appears to be game-breaking or overbalanced.
The interior of the book is in black and white, not color, but is nonetheless tastefully done and easy to look at. The buyer should be aware that only about half the items described have a picture, but I found this to be acceptable, especially where a group of items were closely alike.
I did have a few complaints. In some cases, the picture for a given weapon or Droid is not on the same page, but on a page several numbers away. This is just a tad annoying. While I like the rules for modifications, I was disappointed at the utter lack of blaster pistol attachments (0) and rifle attachments (a mere 2). There were no cybernetics, also a disappointment (although rumor is cybernetics will appear in a future book).
In addition, there is not an alphabetical index, which can cause a bit of delay in finding a specific item. Finally, I felt that the book should have been hardcover. I don't like softcovers since they are too easy to damage. I would have gladly payed the few extra bucks.
Overall, though, these were minor complaints. I was very pleased with the book and feel that it can add a great deal of depth to any campaign. The GM can now unleash a bunch of new equipment, and the players have enough options to keep them happy too.
In total I give this book an extremely strong 4 out of 5. Along with the Core Rulebook, it is definitely the other "must have."
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13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A lot of stuff... A must have for any GM, April 11, 2003
This review is from: Arms and Equipment Guide (Star Wars Roleplaying Game) (Paperback)
If you are GMing star wars, living force or the like... this is a must. Why? It provides so much more than the Core Rule book does as far as specialized weaponry. It has simply pictures of selected weaponry, devices and droids. It has several new things that can really give your campaign that edge, taking into a different level of difficulty or adventure. It can also give your characters power they didn't know existed.
Each item comes listed with its type, a small description, Price (standard), how available it actually is and which Era it comes from (a real plus). For weapons it gives everything the RCR gives along with Hardness and Break DC's. Such weapons include the BlasTech DLT-20A 3d8+3 30m Long blaster, Disruptor Pistols, Mobile Mortars, a variety of Hold out blasters, including the Happy Surprise (palm blaster). It's melee section isn't nearly as extensive as its ranged section. There are some nasty specialized weapons like the Verpine Shatter Gun (6d6) or the Rodian Repulsor Knives. Many different types of weapon attachements and a guideline for customizing your own weapons.
Similarly there are the same thing for armors. Featuring multiple types of armor, from A/K Tracker Utility Vest, to the Shadowsuit to the AV-1A Assault Armor (that looks like something off of Warhammer).
There is a nice list of droids that basically is an expansion of the RCR's list. Nothing really new, as far as game mechanics go, but a nice new list to pick and chose from. There is also a nice new listing for Vehicles in the same way for the droids, a basic expansion from the RCR. The Equipment section has a new lift providing different brands of the most common items, with a more extensive list and with some more speicalized items, like detection equipment, sensors and blaster repair kits. Again, everything comes priced with listedd availability and era availability.
Again this is a must have for any GM. One of the first books I pass around before each module is this one. People make profession rolls, get some money, want to buy something, and this book is the first thing they turn to for merchandise. Now being the GM i am, i place certain restrictions, but that's just between you as the GM and the player. As far as any player goes... this is the book that you'll need to make that signature weapon for your bounty hunter, the location to find that R2 unit you've been looking for, or just finally have that little mobile mortar handy when you need it.
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for having a good blaster at you side."
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A must have for Players & GM, July 21, 2005
This review is from: Arms and Equipment Guide (Star Wars Roleplaying Game) (Paperback)
WEAPONS
The selection of weapons is HUGE (even adding more types than the RCRB has listed). Each weapon has WPs & break DCs (which I also like). Along with new rules on Customizing & personalizing weapons.
Species chip (a optional device for Sonic weapons) - which increases effectiveness against a selected species (a few species is listed, but a GM can add more if he/she wishes) - and they are pretty cheap too.
ARMOR
Vast selection of armor & protective gear. Also rules for non-human species.
DROIDS
All Astromech units are included (which are my favorite). They also have many, many more droid types & units listed.
VEHICLES
Rules on custimizing. A big selection including : airspeeders, swoops, speeder bikes, and many more.
Also for the STAR WARS fan who is familiar with Tatooine, this book also includes the popular "Sandcrawler".
OTHER
There's even a section on jetpacks & other devices that let you fly.
There are a lot more things in here (buy the book, I'm not telling you everything).
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