Join the STAR WARS (R): Force and Destiny (TM) Beta

“My ally is the Force. And a powerful ally it is. Life creates it, makes it grow. Its energy surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we… not this crude matter.”
    –Yoda

Fulfill your destiny as one of the galaxy’s few remaining Force users! You’ll soon have your chance to join the beta test for the Star Wars®: Force and Destiny™ Roleplaying Game.

The third of three epic, cross-compatible Star Wars roleplaying systems, Force and Destiny will soon be made available for beta testing through our webstore and participating retailers.

Inherit the Legacy of the Jedi Knights

To encapsulate the operatic grandeur of the Star Wars universe, the Star Wars Roleplaying Game is related across three epic, cross-compatible roleplaying systems. Each system offers a unique approach to the Star Wars universe, each Core Rulebook contains all the information you need to run a full campaign, and all three systems share the same core mechanics, meaning you can easily use materials from all three systems within a single campaign.

The first of these installments, Star Wars®: Edge of the Empire™, focuses on the adventures and struggles of those smugglers, scoundrels, colonists, and other characters who live on the fringes of the galaxy, just at the edge of the Empire’s influence.

Adventures in the second installment, Star Wars®: Age of Rebellion™, thrust players into the midst of the ongoing Galactic Civil War. As they try to help the rag-tag Rebel Alliance to overthrow the tyrannical Galactic Empire, the heroes may gather intel, rally new recruits, launch surgical strikes, or engage in deadly dogfights.

Force and Destiny is the game’s third standalone installment, and allows players to follow in the footsteps of those nigh-mythical guardians of peace and justice—the Jedi Knights. Your characters possess the rare and dangerous ability to touch and use the Force, the energy field that binds and surrounds every living thing. It is up to them whether they use this power to try and fight the forces of injustice and oppression, or if they give into the darkness and temptation within and become agents of evil.

Fulfill Your Destiny

Lead Developer Sam Stewart offers further insight into the nature of the Force and Destiny roleplaying experience, and a couple of the mechanics that give it shape:

“Force and Destiny shares the same ruleset as Age of Rebellion and Edge of the Empire, allowing the three games to be played separately or in concert. Each of the three games are unique, however, thanks to the stories they tell and certain game mechanics that enhance the telling. The Morality mechanic is one of these, and central to the Force and Destiny experience.

“Morality is the counterpart to Duty from Age of Rebellion and Obligation from Edge of the Empire. Even so, where Duty and Obligation represent external commitments and relationships, Morality represents a character’s internal struggles. As such, each character keeps track of his own Morality, although it can also affect a character’s relationships with his friends and enemies.

“Our goal was to create a game mechanic that represents the spiritual battles between good and evil that we see throughout the Star Wars movies. We watch Luke Skywalker struggle with making the right decision, and we see the consequences – both good and bad – of his actions. We also had to relate our game mechanic to the Force, and the balance between light and darkness.

“A character’s Morality runs along a track that stretches between one and 100. Higher values represent characters who are more virtuous “paragons” of the Force. Lower values represent characters who may be in danger of falling to the dark side of the Force, or even those who have already embraced evil and joined the darkness. However, a character’s Morality is always in motion. Good characters can fall and become evil, and even the vilest Dark Lord of the Sith may find a chance for final redemption.

“We represent this motion using the second part of the Morality mechanic: Conflict. Conflict is what PCs earn during the course of a game session for performing ‘bad’ deeds. They can earn Conflict by using the dark side of the Force to manifest Force powers. They may also earn Conflict by failing fear checks; after all, fear leads to anger, and anger leads to hate. Of course, a PC who does something truly evil, such as murdering innocents, is guaranteed to earn a lot of Conflict!

“At the end of each session, each character’s total Conflict is combined with a random modifier. The more Conflict a PC has, the more likely his Morality decreases. The less he has, the more likely that his good deeds may outweigh his bad, and that his Morality will stay the same, or even increase. This was done deliberately, because we wanted to ensure that taking a little Conflict was seen as a reasonable risk by players. Why not use the dark side just once to manifest a crucial Force power, or steal a small item to further the story? Surely, a couple Conflict won’t hurt.

“In this way, we’ve turned Morality into a narrative mechanic that rewards players who make principled decisions over the long term, while tempting them with selfish choices in the short term. The very real ramifications of one’s moral choices are key to the experience of playing Force users, and they’re something I think players will find very compelling.”

Ready, Are You?

The Jedi are all but extinct. Their legacy is maintained only by a wise master and a young farm boy turned Rebel hero. Is it your destiny to help rebuild the Jedi order?

The Star Wars: Force and Destiny beta is a limited edition, 256-page softcover rulebook, and it includes all the information players and GMs need to begin epic campaigns, full of personal conflicts and Force powers, all set within the Star Wars galaxy and drawing upon one of its most resonant themes.

However, it is important to note that some of the elements in this beta are not representative of the final product. Much of the art and background material has been removed to provide a more concise playtesting experience, and some contents may change between the beta and the final product.

Keep your eyes peeled for more information about the Force and Destiny beta. Otherwise, as you wait for your chance to get involved, you can learn more about the game from its description page.

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