D&D 5E Trying out Star Wars 5E -- Any Advice?

[CleverNickName]

(I'm wasn't sure where to put this thread. I decided on "D&D 5E," because Star Wars 5E is essentially a re-skinned 5th Edition D&D setting. Apologies if I'm in the wrong room.)

Spoiler: So here's the deal.

I'm the DM for a long-standing group of gamers and best friends...we've been playing for about 12 years, and we take turns sitting in the DM chair every year or so. I've been running a 5E D&D game for almost a year now, and everyone is having fun, but unfortunately: I'm about to leave town for two and a half months on a work assignment.

It won't be a problem for me to log on and play (since we usually play over Roll20), but I won't have the necessary prep time that I need to properly DM the game. I asked my players at tonight's game if anyone would be willing to take the DM chair for a few months, while I step aside and become a player for a little while. To my relief, one of my players eagerly stepped forward.

"I've got a cool idea for a Star Wars campaign!" he said. "I've been working on it for a while, and I can have it ready to go in a couple weeks."

And to my even greater relief, everyone else in the group loved the idea, so I'm going to wrap up some loose ends in the current campaign, then shelve it until I get back in mid-October.

I'm shifting to a different role in the group (player instead of DM) and a whole new game setting (Star Wars). From what I've seen online, its a re-skinned 5th Edition D&D game, so I'm already good on the rules and mechanics and such. But since I'm being deployed to a job site, I won't really have time to study and digest all of the different species, class, and feats options. I'm looking for advice from anyone who has played Star Wars 5E, about favorite builds, pitfalls to avoid, combos, that sort of thing.

 

[CleverNickName]

If it helps:

• Exploration is my favorite tier of the game.
• I like characters that have more flavor than crunch. (I prefer warlocks to sorcerers, because to me? The warlock has the richer lore and a stronger backstory to build on.)
• I prefer a wide variety of offensive, defensive, and utility features, instead of specializing in just one.
• Sub-optimal character builds aren't a problem. (I'd rather play a half-orc wizard that breaks the mold, than a half-orc barbarian that fits it.)
• That said: I don't want to play an artificially hobbled character. (If I roll a 4, I'm not gonna put it in Dexterity and go with a monk.)
• We use the following optional rules in D&D, I presume we will use them in SW5E: Feats, Firearms, Hitting Cover, Milestone XP, Multiclassing, Renown.

 

[reelo]

Ugh ... Why does everything have to be "reskinned 5E" when a perfectly fine standalone RPG already exists...?

 

[TerraDave]

So this is a thing? Link?

 

[DammitVictor]

So this is a thing? Link?

Star Wars 5e

www.sw5e.com

 

[TerraDave]

Definitely a thing. Companies seemed to be much more relaxed about their IP these days.

 

[CleverNickName]

Ugh ... Why does everything have to be "reskinned 5E" when a perfectly fine standalone RPG already exists...?

Geez, sorry I asked.

I'm not the DM, so it wasn't my decision. But you asked "why," so here's the thing:

When he announced to the group that he wanted to run a Star Wars game, everyone else bristled at the idea. Eyes rolled, a couple of people even groaned. So he immediately interjected with "...but relax, it's with the same rules! We won't have to buy new books or learn a new system." And only then did everyone engage and begin to show interest. The cost of new materials, and the associated learning curve, are deal-breakers for us (and probably for a lot of people.)

I'm not saying it's good, I'm not saying it's bad. It's just the reality of the situation.

 

[CleverNickName]

Back on topic: I like the idea of playing a Nautolan Sentinel with the Force Adept background. I think it would be a good mix of features and abilities, and it's sort of tangent to most of the major lore of the campaign--lots of room to expand.

A Wookie Fighter would be iconic, too, and a lot faster to learn...but dangerously close to being typecast. Maybe that'll be my backup.

 

[Zardnaar]

Definitely a thing. Companies seemed to be much more relaxed about their IP these days.

It's a fan based thing. I checked ot out its a bit to 5E for me I kinda wanted an updated SWSE using 5E mechanics.

There's also a fan based D6 version we used that with the revised SWRPG D6 book earlier in the year.

The 5E one looks alright has some pros and cons ymmv.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

If you want crunch, you can update the saga edition, or get the fan edition. If you want lore, the fandom wiki is enough.

Maybe you should ask your players whant they want or may dislike. Maybe you should mix both continuities, the new saga and the "legends", and the timeline being rewritten, for example the Yuuzhan Vong arrival in several wave for different ages of galaxy.