WEG Star Wars D6 Editions

[Whill]

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There are six official variations of the WEG Star Wars D6 ruleset, plus one semi-official one...


FIRST EDITION
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (1987, FFG 2018) 1e
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game + Rules Upgrade free pamphlet (1988) 1eRU (GM screen = Star Wars Campaign Pack)
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game + The Star Wars Rules Companion (1989) 1eRC (GM screen = Star Wars Gamemaster Kit)

SECOND EDITION
Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, Second Edition (1992) 2e (aka Blue Vader) (Star Wars Gamemaster Screen)
The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded (1996) R&E (aka Star Wars, Revised and Expanded)
R&E game system also achieved with 2e + Star Wars Rules Upgrade free pamphlet (2eRU). (Star Wars Gamemaster Screen, Revised)

OTHER EDITIONS
Star Wars Introductory Adventure Game box set (1997) IAG
D6 Space (2004, now OGL) D6S


Registered lurkers and active members, voting in polls here is 100% anonymous! As admin I can't even see what options people vote for. A lot of us are tinkerers and don't use any ruleset as-is. For the poll, just choose a favorite official game system. If you had to use an official WEG-published game system as-is, which would you choose? Feel free to explain your vote as much or little as you wish (or not at all). And please don't be bothered by not having seen all of these variations - Vote based on what you know. But the poll is just an add-on to the thread discussion...

In addition to the poll question, I thought this thread could be a general discussion about the various official systems, their evolution and differences. What are some general aspects of the game systems you like? What are some things you don't like?

Here are some other edition-comparing threads about specific topics:
The Round, in all editions of Star Wars
Passive Physical Awareness rules, from D6 cores
Tactics skills, in both main SW editions

Here are some general comparisons from other websites:
Comparison details for Star Wars D6 and D6 Space
WEG’s Star Wars RPG: Which Edition?

OTHER EDITIONS?
The WEG space opera RPG Shatterzone was supposedly based on ideas WEG had for the Star Wars RPG that were rejected by Lucasfilm. The original game system for Shatterzone was based on TORG. The game system of WEG's D6 Space is based on a little known document called D6 Space Opera, which was the specific game system for Shatterzone's conversion to D6.

D6 Space takes the Star Wars RPG R&E ruleset and further develops it into a functionally subsequent edition of the game stripped bare of all Star Wars setting and other IP. Game system-wise, this is essentially the WEG SW/D6 Third Edition for all intents and purposes. The owner of WEG during the Purgatory Publishing era did play a Star Wars campaign using D6 Space rules (which are generic to setting), so it has been done. The D6 Adventure and D6 Fantasy games are genre-reoriented spinoffs of D6 Space.

I don't expect D6 Space is the favorite WEG-published game system for Star Wars of anyone here but I think it is important to include it in this thread. It has some aspects worthy for consideration in our game system, and we have actually used it to clarify the intention of R&E due to similar rules having different wordings or examples. I also don't expect many will choose IAG as their favorite, but it is another variation of the rules and deserves to be part of the discussion.


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[OuttaWindu]

I'll just go ahead and say that we gonna have some 55-70% votes on 2E R&E, based on the FB & G+ polls done sometime earlier this year. But with even the latest book being out of print for two decades, it's not the least bit supprising. REUP ofc been helpful for 2E R&E.

I agree that D6 Space deserves a spot among the other, for thr reason you gave and the fact that it's OGL.

[Whill]

[Raven Redstar]

I voted for 1E+. I have to admit that all of my experience is with playing and running R&E, but reading the 1E rulebook, I wish I'd started with it. I like how loose a system it is.
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RR
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[Whill]

[Raven Redstar]

Yes, with Companion!
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RR
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[nuclearwookiee]

I will always have a special place in my heart for 2e. My old Blue Vader book was my first real introduction to roleplaying. During high school, it brought together a rotating cast of over a dozen regular players, earning it the affectionate nickname "Grand Daddy."

Aside from 2e, I like the customization options offered in d6 Space. But like Raven Redstar , I too have a growing appreciation for 1e to such an extent that if I had it to do all over again, I would have started my group off with 1e instead.
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Obligatory postscript: It's your game; you do you.

[KageRyu]

I wish there were an option in this pole for a combination. I generally prefer certain aspects of 1E, but there are some elements from all of the later editions and other D6 elements I like and have adapted into my rules set. There are a lot of things in the Rules Companion that are very useful and helpful (especially the chapter on Starship combat, and I prefer the combined action charts as presented there), while 2E added advanced skills which I like in select cases, and 2E R&R had some refinements and addendum. I like the burst rules as presented in newer D6 (Space/Adventure) and apply it to Repeaters (may attack up to 3 times for 1 action with no MAPs). I like the Wild Die from 2E and later editions, but prefer the less fatal wound scaling of 1E...

I run a mutt system of the editions.
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra

[Whill]

[Whill]

[OuttaWindu]

It seems everyone uses at least some house rules(not counting fancreated stats for later SW material) in their game despite the variety of official versions available. Didn't know of these smaller "editions" before today.

The game I'm palyer in use 2E R&E as our rulebook, but uses the more "common" initiative where everyone takes all their actions before the next person in initiative, and some other minor stuff.

If I ran a game at some point, I'd likely run 2E R&E(most familiar with), and use some minor house rules or adjustments I've thought of over the last year.

My houserule thoughts:
* restatting the ROF for weapons
* rethinking suppressive fire/burst fire
* streamlining combat to allowing everyone making 2 actions first, and only if someone uses a third action it goes through the same order again

[KageRyu]

[Whill]

[KageRyu]

Thank you much. I will look them over and see if their are things I like/wish to incorporate into my rules.
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra

[Whill]

I saw someone ask a question on Facebook about which edition a specific book was published for (presumably one he didn't own). Some answered correctly as "2e" but someone answered "R&E". The book came out in between Blue Vader and R&E and has rules that overlap both. I don't know which of those two core books it is closer to because I haven't really looked at that, but I'm guessing Blue Vader because it was still a couple years before R&E. But my knee-jerk reaction to seeing R&E as an answer to the question was that R&E is not an edition, and that made me really think about what defines an edition.

I more consciously realized that what makes a different edition is whether stat blocks can be used as-is or not. Any first edition product can be used with any of the three "core" variations interchangeably with no fuss. The same can be said of Blue Vader and R&E for any second edition products. The IAG and D6 Space are each their own edition because they use different skills and other stats. Out of the seven poll option, there are only four editions. Conversion is fairly easy between all of them, but products made under different cores of the same editions don't need conversion.

This may all seem obvious to a lot of you, but I had often considered what "edition" my personal game system is. It's rules are influenced by all 7 edition variations, but it is primarily based on R&E. However, since it has some different stats to all of the variations, it is definitely a different edition. I consider it to be an alternate third edition of the game. In my head I call it "Star Wars D6", but since that term is used as a general RPG category which includes three official WEG editions and most of our personal games, you can think of it as "Whill's Star Wars D6: A Third Edition (beta)". Or something like that.
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