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Nerdarchy > Roleplaying Games  > FFG Star Wars  > Star Wars Force and Destiny – Beginner Game Review – More in the Box than You think
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Star Wars Force and Destiny – Beginner Game Review – More in the Box than You think

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star warsHello Nerdarchist Ted here, May the Force be with you, and today we are going to delve into the Force and Destiny, The Star Wars Role Playing game, beginner box.  Last week we did the Age of Rebellion you can read it here.

I did a review of the Force and Destiny corebook here.but today I wanted to go through the beginner game in detail and talk about the value. Nerdarchist Dave, myself and fairly regular guest and DM on our channel, Scott Garibay sat down and did an unboxing video on this.

Contained in the box are a number of very cool and useful things. You get a complete set of 14 dice, very useful for playing the game. You get the read this first insert with a great example play.  You get the Long arm of the hit insert. There is a double sided fold out map.  You get a wonderful adventure book.  You get a mini or modified rule-book.  I say mini or modified because it is condensed from the core rule-book. Last you get 4 awesome character portfolios detailing the information needed to play these characters.

So lets break it down with each.  The dice.  The dice retail for rough $15 and though it looks like they are available again on amazon, if you are a dm, why buy just the dice when you can get so much more value by getting the beginner game.  These dice are custom made with cool symbols designed to stand out and counter each other.  These cool dice are d6s, d8s and d12s.  Your players will have to learn the complex dice mechanic that makes this game really shine.

The foldout map has 4 cool locations that can be used during the game play.  The one side is a full battle map on a temple complete with multiple locations.  Half of the other side is taken up by the map of the valley which the temple is in..  You also get a map of a bridge and ruins.  So having four locations to use is nice.  You can of course use these for the pre-printed adventure or for your own adventures. You can of course also use them for both.

Last week I accidentally grabbed the wrong map so I will have to go back and correct that one.

The Force and Destiny adventure book takes your Jedi characters on a 30 page adventure in which you are playing Jedi after the destruction of the order.  It is very cool, and who does not want to be a Jedi?  Hey I still occasionally wave my hand the the Jedi way to make the automatic doors open.  You do not have to tell me that I am a nerd.  Even the back cover is loaded with useful information.  It has what happens if a PC suffers critical injuries.  It has all the symbols on the dice to help all players familiarize themselves with them.  It lastly has the difficulty for skill checks.

The condensed rule book has 48 pages also jam packed with information.  Again the back cover has force and destinycharts to help everyone out.  You have skills their respective stats and what type of thing you would do to call for a roll of that type.  You also get another spot that helps you learn the dice.  Learning them is very important to speeding up game play and making the game more enjoyable for everyone.

The great thing about the condensed rule book is it tells you that the adventure book details a walk through of the rules so there is no need to read the rules in order to play the game.  The condensed rule book gives you more information so that you can expand the already created scenarios into a deeper story or take it where ever else you want to go.

The rule book gives you the rules for playing the game.  It guides you through combat, skills and talents.  It shows you all the things you can buy: gear, equipment, starships and vehicles.  The last section gives you NPCs that you can set up as new adversaries or interesting charters to meet on your missions.

If the rule book did not impress you than the full color multi page character folios certainly should.  The folios not only give you a full character sheet  prepared to play but every page is loaded with handy information designed to teach you the game as you play.  You have all the dice symbols and there meaning.

It gives you the four health stat info so you know what these numbers mean and how to use them.  The sheet also tells you what a PC can do on a turn.  When you turn the page it essentially levels up your character.  It shows you have earned 10 XP and it gives you several options of how you would like to spend that XP.  It also details where on your sheet those upgrades would be so that you can use the correct option.

When you turn the page again you have a blank character sheet so that you can continue going on adventures with your chosen character and be able to record in pencil your changes based on how much XP you earn.  The last page has a talent tree showing you what your options are for advancing up your beginner gametalent tree, well down actually.  There is also the information for advancing skills and talents so that you do not have to refer to a rule book.

When you close the folio and see the back cover you get the characters full back story so you have some role playing info for how to properly play that character.  It is enough to give you motivations and mindset which is all you basically need.

The four characters presented in Force and Destiny are Dao the Zabrak Mystic.  Zabraks are the same race as Darth Maul from the prequel trilogy and Clone Wars TV show.  There is a Kel Dor Sentinel, a Human Guardsman and a Togruta Seeker.  All very nice complete characters and a full back story on the back for easy reference.

If all of that was not enough let us not forget the online resources.  You can take the completed enclosed adventure further with the Lure of the Lost Adventure as well as two complete folios.  You get a Mirilan Consular and a Nautolan Warrior.  So having access the same race as Darth Maul and Kit Fisto just rocks.  From the prequel trilogy these two are far and away my favorite characters.

So If you want to grab your own copy of this you can do so here.  I would use my own force powers to persuade you to get this but that might be using my powers in the wrong way.  As always thanks for reading and Until Next Time, Stay Nerdy!

 

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Ted Adams

The nerd is strong in this one. I received my bachelors degree in communication with a specialization in Radio/TV/Film. I have been a table op role player for about 20 years 17 of which with the current group. I have played several itterations of D&D, Mutants and Masterminds 2nd and 3rd editions, Star wars RPG, Shadowrun and World of Darkness. I am an avid fan of books and follow a few authors reading all they write. Favorite author is Jim Butcher I have been an on/off larper for around 15 years even doing a stretch of running my own for a while. I have played a number of Miniature games including Warhammer 40K, Warhammer Fantasy, Heroscape, Mage Knight, Dreamblade and D&D Miniatures. I have practiced with the art of the German long sword with an ARMA group for over 7 years studying the German long sword, sword and buckler, dagger, axe and polearm. By no strecth of the imagination am I an expert but good enough to last longer than the average person if the Zombie apocalypse ever happens. I am an avid fan of board games and dice games with my current favorite being Quarrios.

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