Fantasy Flight Games (FFG) did something weird in 2012. They looked at the most successful tabletop roleplaying game in history—Dungeons & Dragons—and decided to ignore almost everything that makes it work. Instead of a d20, they gave us "funky" dice with weird symbols. Instead of clear success and failure, they gave us a narrative mess that somehow makes more sense than a math book. Honestly, the FFG Star Wars RPG shouldn't have worked. It’s complex, the books are heavy, and you have to buy proprietary dice that look like they fell out of a cereal box.
Yet, here we are over a decade later. Even after the license moved to Edge Studio, the community is obsessed. Why? Because this game understands that Star Wars isn't about stats. It’s about cinematic chaos.
The Narrative Dice System: It’s Not Just Math
Most games are binary. You roll, you hit, or you miss. In the FFG Star Wars RPG, you can succeed at a task but absolutely ruin your life in the process. Or you can fail miserably but find a "despair" that turns into a lucky break. It’s all handled through those custom dice: Ability, Proficiency, Boost, Difficulty, Setback, Challenge, and Force dice.
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Think about the scene in A New Hope where Han Solo chases Stormtroopers down a hallway. He succeeds on his Intimidation check (Successes), but he rolls enough "Threat" that he rounds the corner right into a dead end filled with a full battalion. That is the system in a nutshell. It forces the Game Master (GM) and the players to tell a story together rather than just checking boxes on a character sheet. It’s messy. It’s loud. It’s Star Wars.
I’ve seen players roll a "Triumph" on a failed shot. They missed the stormtrooper, but the stray bolt hit the door control, locking the reinforcements outside. You don't get that from a standard d20 system. You just get "You miss. Next turn."
Three Games, One Galaxy
FFG didn't just release one core rulebook. They released three. Some people hate this because it feels like a cash grab, but it actually serves a specific purpose for group dynamics.
Edge of the Empire is for the scum and villainy. If you want to play a smuggler owing credits to a Hutt, this is your jam. It focuses on "Obligation." You aren't just a hero; you're a person with problems. Maybe you have a bounty on your head, or maybe you're a spice addict. Every session, the GM rolls to see if your past catches up with you.
Age of Rebellion pivots to the galactic civil war. Instead of Obligation, you have "Duty." You're a soldier, a spy, or a diplomat. Your goal isn't just to survive; it’s to climb the ranks of the Alliance. It feels like Rogue One.
Force and Destiny handles the Jedi—or what’s left of them. It uses "Morality." Every time you use the Force, you risk slipping toward the Dark Side. It’s the most complex of the three because the Force powers are basically their own mini-games within the system.
You can mix them. You can have a Jedi, a Bounty Hunter, and a Rebel Commander in the same party. It’s a bit of a balancing act for the GM, but it works because the core mechanics are identical across all three lines.
Why People Get Frustrated with FFG Star Wars
Let's be real: those dice are a barrier to entry. If you don't want to spend $15 on a physical set or $5 on an app, you’re stuck using conversion tables that slow the game to a crawl. Nobody wants to look at a chart to realize a "4" on a d8 actually means a "Success and a Advantage."
Then there’s the talent tree system. Each specialization has a literal tree of talents. If you want a specific high-tier ability, you have to buy your way down the branches using Experience Points (XP). It feels very "video-gamey." For some, it’s a blast to optimize a build. For others, it feels restrictive compared to the free-form nature of something like Powered by the Apocalypse or even the old D6 Star Wars system from West End Games.
The Weird Legend of the GeneSys System
When FFG realized they had a hit with the narrative dice, they stripped the Star Wars branding off and called it Genesys. It’s the same engine but generic. If you’ve played Genesys, you know the FFG Star Wars RPG is actually the "beta" version of that more refined system. Star Wars has some clunky bits—like how lightsabers are so powerful they basically break the game if you aren't careful—that Genesys eventually smoothed out. But honestly? The clunkiness fits Star Wars. It’s a "used universe," after all.
Everything feels a bit duct-taped together.
Managing the Force Without Breaking the Game
The biggest mistake new GMs make in the FFG Star Wars RPG is letting players start as fully realized Jedi. You can't. Not really. In Force and Destiny, you start as a "Force Sensitive." You might be able to nudge a pebble or sense a bad vibe, but you aren't flipping over TIE Fighters in your first session.
The Force is fueled by the "Force Die." It has white circles (Light Side) and black circles (Dark Side). Here’s the kicker: there are more Dark Side pips on the die than Light Side. It is literally easier to use the Dark Side. If you want to use a Dark Side result, you have to spend a Destiny Point and take "Strain" (mental fatigue). It’s a mechanical representation of the temptation of power. It’s brilliant. It makes the player choose: do I fail now, or do I take the easy path and hurt my soul?
Actionable Steps for Your First Session
If you’re looking to jump in, don’t buy all three core books. That’s a $180 mistake.
- Grab a Beginner Game box. The Edge of the Empire Beginner Game is widely considered one of the best introductory products in tabletop history. It teaches you the dice symbols one by one as you play through a scripted adventure. It even comes with a set of the dice.
- Download a dice app. Physical dice are great, but they are often out of stock or overpriced on the secondary market. The official app (if you can find it) or community-made web rollers like RPGSessions are lifesavers.
- Ignore the Range Bands at first. This isn't a grid-based game. Don't use a ruler. "Short," "Medium," and "Long" range are vibes, not inches. If it feels like you can hit them with a blaster, you probably can.
- Use Destiny Points constantly. The Destiny pool is a shared resource between the GM and the players. If the players use a Light Side point to upgrade a roll, it flips to a Dark Side point for the GM to use later. If you don't flip them, the narrative stays stagnant. Keep the "Force" moving back and forth.
- Focus on the "Advantage" spend. The most fun part of the game isn't hitting the target; it's spending your "Advantage" points to do cool stuff. Recover strain, give a teammate a bonus, or notice a structural weakness in the room.
The FFG Star Wars RPG isn't about winning a combat encounter. It's about how much of a mess you can make while trying to be a hero. It’s about the "Yes, but..." and the "No, and..." of a galaxy far, far away. Grab some dice, find a group, and stop worrying about the math. The story will tell itself.