34 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than the videogame, a fraction of the cost, September 16, 2008
This review is from: The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide (Star Wars Roleplaying Game) (Hardcover)
Can't really go wrong here. WoTC did it again with this one, possibly better than their recent kotor supplement (comes down to a matter of taste really). I shall list the new features for your reading pleasure, in hopes that you purchase this product and perpetuate the WoTC Star Wars line.
New Species:
Aleena, Caamasi, Chiss, Felucian, Gran, Nosaurian, Talz, Togorian, Togruta, Whiphid, Yarkora
New Talents:
Various new talents for every class. New trees include Noble's Ideologue tree, Scoundrel's Smuggling tree, Scout's Spy tree, and a nicely expanded Soldier's Mercenary tree from Threats of The Galaxy.
Feats:
Twenty new feats, all of which seem pretty useful (lots of rage enhancements here). The real cream of the crop is the Unleashed feat, which greatly enhances the Destiny Point mechanic.
Prestige Classes:
Bounty Hunters and Jedi Knights get some new talents, Elite Trooper gets a Critical Master tree, and Force Adepts get an Imperial Inquisitor tree.
New prestige classes include: Enforcer, Independent Droid, Infiltrator, Master Privateer, Medic, and Saboteur.
New Force Abilities:
The real draw here (for me at least). Obviously, Unleashed Force powers are very very cool. New powers include: Corruption, Force Blast, Force Shield, Force Storm, Kinetic Combat, and Repulse. Each Force tree (Alter Control, Sense, Dark Side) gets new talents and there's a slew of new force powers and force secrets.
Other:
New equipment all around, an in-depth chapter on the Empire, a slew of new vehicles, and the mandatory stats for characters of the era. I'm probably leaving some stuff out but that's really the bulk of it. Highly recommended.
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24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Saga Edition: Unleashed, September 29, 2008
This review is from: The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide (Star Wars Roleplaying Game) (Hardcover)
I am a casual SW:SE player and I find that I truly enjoy the two recent campaign settings that WotC has put out for it (This and
Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide (Star Wars Roleplaying Game)). Each adds a great deal to your options, has splendid flavor and lore intertwined and seems like it had some decent production value (especially Force Unleashed, as it has actual concept art from the game of the same name
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed). But now, onto the review.
Chapter 0: Introduction
The introduction is done exceedingly well. It begins by giving a short situation report on the status of the galaxy; How the Republic has fallen and the Dark Times are upon the beings of the galaxy. Then, it goes on to summarize what you will find in each chapter of the book. It then explains how a Force Unleashed campaign is markedly different from the other era's you might play in. Much more so than the Rebellion Era, the Empire is supreme. There's no Rebel Alliance to help you when you're in dire straights, it's quite an epic set up for You vs The Empire. The last part of this chapter is six item timeline of events that span the Dark Times. It begins with the execution of Order 66 and Palpatine's New Order speech, and ends with the Corellian Treaty, where the Rebel Alliance was born. This is an excellent primer for the rest of the book.
Chapter 1: Species
We have 10 new species for everyone to try out. Each species block is approximately a page long, give or take, and they're as detailed as they were in the Core Rulebook. I found each of their descriptions to be brief, but full of good information about their species and important events in their history. It's a very nice smattering of races that cover a good bit of the spectrum, from feral Felucians to the pacifistic Caamasi and the mysterious Yarkoa. Other races include the Aleena, Gran, Nosaurian, Talz, Togorian, Togruta, and Whiphid.
Chapter 2: Heroic Traits
This chapter begins with ideas for character origins, such as what first made your character start upon the path of a hero. It continues into a section tailored to each Heroic class, explaining their lots in the new order and offering new options for talents, or even new talent trees! Jedi get two new talents for each the Consular, Guardian and Sentinel trees. Nobles get a single new Inspiration talent, two Lineage talents and a new Ideologue tree. Smugglers make out with three Slicer talents, and five new talents from a Smuggling talent tree. Scouts get a single Awareness talent and a six-talent tree called Spy. Soldiers get five skills from the Mercenary talent tree. After this, there are new ways to use current skills, such as Acrobatics helping out in Low/High gravity or how to conceal large items with Stealth. 20 new feats await your discriminating eye, a couple new Destinies, and, of course, the much awaited Unleashed Abilities. The Unleashed abilities seem very interesting. They are very cinematic and can potentially turn a very dire situation into a favorable one.
Chapter 3: Prestige Classes
Bounty Hunters, Elite Troopers, Force Adepts and Jedi Knights get new talents to fill out their own trees, while new classes are introduced. Enforcer, Independent Droid, Infiltrator, Master Privateer, Medic and Saboteur are what you have to look forward to.
Chapter 4: Organizations
The Rebel Alliance is not around yet, but this chapter gives you the tools to create your own small resistance group, planetary rebellion or even, should it tickle your fancy, a group that spans the entire galaxy. it explains what benefits, risks and power levels such bodies will represent and what the players can do with them. It goes on to describe organizations such as the Antarian Rangers, Black Sun, Bothan Spynet, Bounty Hunters Guild, Car'das Smugglers, House Organa, Kota's Militia, and he Lok Revenants. Each has a section on history, what type of group it is, Enemies and Allies, Operational Scale, Criteria for positive and negative modifiers for the group, Titles, Benefits, Duties and Roleplaying applications. Very good stuff here.
Chapter 5: The Force
A section on how Jedi are living, how the Force is viewed in game, six new Force powers, six new Force talents, ten new Force Techniques, five new Force Secrets, and yes, even eleven new Unleashed Force powers. There are even two more Force using traditions to round out the chapter.
Chapter 6: Equipment and Droids and Chapter 7: Vehicles and Starships
These are both lumped together simply because they're both equipment and it's easier this way. There's a good bit of new equipment, droids and ships. Enough to keep most players busy, at the least.
Chapter 8: Campaign Guidelines
From here you can mine quite a bit of inspiration for character histories. It can also help figure out how to get your group together to begin with. Following that are common campaign elements such as trying to remain hidden from the Empire, scarce resources and garnering allies. The end of the chapter has a few challenges that you might throw at your heroes in game.
Chapter 9: Galactic Gazetteer
A good bit of information on new planets, and additional information on previously described planets, but with the Dark Times in focus.
Chapter 10: The Empire
Everything you'd want to know about the galaxies best Monolithic Authoritarian Regime. It explains the Imperial Government, personnel such as the Dark Troopers and the 501st Stormtrooper Division. It even goes on to detail the Death Star. Fans of Timothy Zahn will be happy to find stat blocks for the Noghri and Chiss in this section. At the end of the chapter you'll find Stat Blocks for Admiral Thrawn and Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin, and the big ships of the Empire during this time.
Chapter 11: Allies and Opponents
This chapter finishes the book and relates to you a few important characters, such as Bail Organa and Garm Bel Iblis. It also gives you some NPC people to use with or against your heroes.
Overall, an amazing book. There are a few shortcomings: I wish the Chiss and Noghri stat blocks were included with the other ones for ease of use. I wish some of the Imperial/Droid equipment was thrown into the equipment chapter, but all-in-all, this is a fantastic buy. It's a very well made campaign setting, it's well written and it inspires excitement in me to play this game. What more can you really ask for?
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