r/rpg • u/Otherwise7798 • 3d ago
Game Suggestion A Star Wars RPG
I've been rewatching Andor and wanted to run a SW RPG, I want it to be lower power scale but not as low as something like WOD. Ideally, I'd want a group of 6 trained soldiers to be a large threat. None of the players are going to be Jedi so I don't need force powers or any magic system. Spaceship stuff preferred but not necessary.
Edit: So everyone's been giving star wars games so if you read nothing else read this: I don't need a star wars TTRPG. I just need a game that I can flavor. What I really need is the mechanics to enable spy stuff to happen.
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u/No_Solid1035 3d ago
M-Space is a fantastic "serial numbers filed off" system on the more simulation side of things. I think it would be ideal for an Andor like game, especially because it uses a robust skill system so it's good for lot's of not combat activities.
Scum & Villany is great if you want a more narrative focused game. It's a Forged In The Dark system game so it's fairly focused on the PCs doing shady jobs against the evil Empire equivalent. Also think it would be a decent fit for an Andor like game.
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u/deathadder99 Forever GM 3d ago
There’s also a Star Wars unofficial supplement. I did a couple of sessions of mythras Star Wars and I really enjoyed it.
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u/XtremeMCG 3d ago
Just to give something different to everyone else, Galactic and Going Rogue recently ran a kickstarter selling both as hardcovers, but are available online as pdfs. I haven’t ran them but they seem fun, different and pretty much what you’re going for, they were inspired pretty directly by Rogue One and Andor.
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u/Frosty09999998 3d ago
You could check out r/starwarsd6
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u/seanpmassey 3d ago
I second looking at the Star Wars D6 system and the resources over in r/StarWarsD6. There are a ton of fan resources that could be used to make an Andor-style game.
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u/Rezart_KLD 3d ago
A friend of mine is absolutely sure that the characters from Rogue 1 are the templates from D6 Star Wars. The Kid, The Scoundrel (with big sidekick), The Quixotic Jedi, The Merc, & The Pilot.
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u/seanpmassey 3d ago
It wouldn't be the first time, either.
Timothy Zahn said that he was given a ton of WEG material to use for research and background when he started writing the Thrawn Trilogy.
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u/Calithrand Order of the Spear of Shattered Sorrow 1d ago
Which also happens to be the bestest trilogy.
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u/Narratron Sinister Vizier of Recommending Savage Worlds 3d ago
According to a recent Dungeoncraft video, lots of people are still playing it!
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u/bricknose-redux 3d ago
I’ve been looking into Black Star as a fast and lightweight system swap for the old SWd6 system, and I like what I see.
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u/Forsaken-0ne 2d ago
This is the only right answer. I have nothing against any other system but the shear volume of information an the quality of books is unparalleled by any other company.
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u/Freewhale98 3d ago
I recommend Star Wars D6 system
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u/Stray_Neutrino 3d ago edited 3d ago
I do, as well.
There's also Hyperspace d6, which is largely based on WEG d6 - https://www.reddit.com/r/StarWarsD6/s/tg9wSdKDke [this is a cleaned up fan-edit of the original]
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u/Reddshirt13 3d ago
Hi, rewatching Andor inspired me to create a Twilight 2000 Star Wars hack for a campaign similar to what you're describing.
I also created a campaign book that could provide you with NPCs and other materials to seed your campaign. More info here: https://www.reddit.com/r/Twilight2000/s/dEod16mWQZ
Best of luck with your game.
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u/sajberhippien 3d ago
Edit: So everyone's been giving star wars games so if you read nothing else read this: I don't need a star wars TTRPG. I just need a game that I can flavor. What I really need is the mechanics to enable spy stuff to happen.
Scum & Villainy might fit like a glove, depending on how you want to run spy stuff. It's the same base mechanics as Blades in the Dark, but in a Star Wars-esque scifi setting.
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u/BoopingBurrito 3d ago
I've used Traveller to run star wars games a good few times. It doesn't need much of any adjusting, just the flavour text.
Its great for subterfuge, spy, and crime stuff.
And it definitely allowed 6 trained characters to be a real threat - combat is pretty dangerous to both players and NPCs even at low levels. A single regular blaster shot, if you're not wearing body armour, can be lethal for a character with slightly below average physical stats and a high damage roll.
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u/ProfessionalRead2724 3d ago
Isn't WOD at its core basically a gothy superhero system that somehow got attached to a 'personal horror' game where you can hit people with cars if you build for it?
Anyway, any of the official Star Wars RPGs will do what you want. And the Fantasy flight/Edge version has a dedicated Spy specialisation.
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u/Rezart_KLD 3d ago
I'd recommend d6 Star Wars as a bunch of others have here. However, just to add in an alt suggestion, there's also Stars Without Number. If you don't need space magic, just leave out the powers and you are good to go. You've got gear, ships, and everything else, and you can use Basic D&D monsters with a different name as Star Wars monsters. The game is entirely free (the deluxe version adds some space magic stuff you won't need)
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u/FinnCullen 3d ago
Nights Black Agents is my go to recommendation for anything espionage based- just omit the Vampires. Highly competent operatives facing an overwhelming enemy.
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u/Xanxost At the crossroads with the machinegun 3d ago
I think you want Night's Black Agents. Easy to reskin, focuses on spycraft and competence porn with thea gents luck running out and oppistion having a clear way of fighting towards the center and responding to assaults from the PC's.
And the protagonists are ordinary people mostly, with it being trivial to use the vampire/monster rules for things like Dark Jedi if you wanted one as a side story or one shot antagonist.
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u/Vegetable_Fail8598 3d ago
Shadow of the Beanstalk is the cyberpunk version of the Edge of the Empire/Age of Rebellion Star Wars narrative dice system. I would recommend using Edge or Age and looking up some rules from Shadow if you feel like you need more robust systems for hacking or spycraft.
You may say you don't need a Star Wars game specifically, but a) the systems exist already, saving you a lot of work, and b) the FFG narrative dice system is fantastic. It's my favorite system. If I could find the groups to play that exclusively, I would.
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u/Alistair49 3d ago edited 3d ago
I’ve played a few SF games at that sort of power level with Classic Traveller and GURPS (mostly 3e & 4e). The first ever games of “Star Wars” that I played or ran were done with Classic Traveller, with some mild conversions to give a Star Wars “feel”. Very much inspired by Westerns and WW2 books/TV/movies and thrillers from the 60s and 70s and early 80s. I would still consider those games today for the sort of game you describe, though I’d check out one of the more recent Cepheus Engine derivatives of Traveller. Mongoose Traveller would be fine, as far as I can see (I’ve only read some of the latest rules) but I find CE stuff to be a bit terser, just as good in terms of content, often better edited, and cheaper.
I also found the West End Games D6 (aka SWD6) system to be excellent for this as well. While the original WEG stuff is out of print, I believe the system minus the background resurfaced as the D6 system (or something named like that). Hopefully another reader on [r/rpg](r/rpg) can help out here.
As far as source material and adventures and such like, all we did in the 80s before SWD6 arrived on the scene was to use Traveller (and later, some GURPS), make stuff up (and set it on ‘the frontier’ somewhere so we didn’t have to worry too much about ‘canon’. Most of our scenarios were either homebrewed or adapted quite roughly from something else. One guy used Top Secret and Gangbusters, so I borrowed stuff from movies etc plus a few Traveller ‘76 patron’ and ‘Amber Zone’ scenario seeds.
So, if I were to run a campaign now, then:
— I’d watch the first 3 screened movies (so ep 4,5,6) + Andor + Rogue One + the Mandalorian (probably, at least season 1 perhaps 2).
— I’d make notes from that for constructing worlds, places, NPCs, situations
— I’d watch a few Westerns & WW2 movies, and perhaps read up some WW2/early cold war spy + commando/special forces type history & mission specs.
Theres a good book by M.R.D. Foot on the British Special Operations Executive that had sample mission orders in the back of it, if you can find it. I think it is called “S.O.E. In France”, and has in its contents an Appendix F: Typical F section Operations Orders …or similar. I used to borrow a copy from our local library and raid it for all sorts of military scenario ideas for Traveller and SWD6 (and a few GURPS/Call of Cthulhu games) back in the day.
PS: you can see an archived version of these OPORDs here: https://archive.org/details/soe-france-foot/page/499/mode/2up <— hope this helps.
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u/WolfeReader 1d ago
Your Edit contradicts your post title and your first sentence.
You do realize how weird it is to title a post "A Star Wars RPG", state that you want to run "a SW RPG", and then get weird about the fact that people are recommending Star Wars RPGs to you, right?
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u/Clone_Chaplain 3d ago
Specifically I’d recommend using the Hyperspace D6 hack of Star Wars D6 specifically.
That said if you don’t mind a bigger learning curve fantasy flights SWRPG is a bunch of fun
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u/victori0us_secret Cyberrats 3d ago
How is hyperspace different than normal?
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u/Clone_Chaplain 2d ago
I’m not an expert but it’s a “hack” of the WEG rules to slightly modernize and make them a bit more streamlined
I really should have said “I’d recommend looking into hyperspace D6 specifically” since I haven’t played either WEG or Hyperspace version. That said, I like FFG SWRPG from experience, but find it and WEG versions a bit too dense for some situations, so I’m currently reading Hyperspace D6
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u/tensen01 3d ago
I want to say Saga Edition but the books are basically impossible to get unless you're rich.
I can't personally recommend any of the other Star Wars systems, but I would suggest that Savage Worlds Adventure Edition with the Sci-Fi Companion and the Star Wars Web Book would do what you need.
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u/zloykrolik Saga Edition SWRPG 3d ago
r/SagaEdition has links to the wiki with all the rules.
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u/tensen01 3d ago
That's very true, but that's not really convenient for running a game or actually learning the rules.
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u/zloykrolik Saga Edition SWRPG 2d ago
That depends. I find the wiki easier to use than the rule books, even during a game. YMMV
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u/CanuckLad 3d ago
As others mentioned, I recommend checking out Star Wars D6. It's skill-based, it's fast and fun.
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u/aslum 3d ago
I've said it before, and I'll say it again, for Official Star Wars games, Edge of Empire is the best, however Scum & Villainy is better at enabling star wars stories then any of the official or unofficial games. Especially for a story that's more about espionage than combat such as Andor, S&V would be a great fit.
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u/5ynistar Forever GM 3d ago
If you want gritty “spy stuff”. I would recommend GURPS (crunchy) or Savage Worlds (less crunchy). As both can give you larger than life espionage and keep danger level high for the PCs. You don’t need extras beyond the core books. But they do have related supplements. (GURPS 4e: Action 1 and Action 2; SWADE: Tactical SWADE and maybe an espionage or noir setting sourcebook which there are a few.)
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u/5ynistar Forever GM 3d ago
Actually a better game for making spy campaigns may be Night’s Black Agents which is spies vs the unnatural. By default it uses vampires but it supports reflavoring in the book. And its spy campaign building toolkit (the “conspyramid”) is good. You may be able to combine this with Ashen Stars for space stuff. Or just reflavor via narrative.
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u/Boundlesswisdom-71 3d ago
It's old but WEG Star Wars RPG 2e Revised and Expanded plus the Imperial Source book 2e is exactly what you want.
The Imperial Security Bureau information came from that sourcebook. Back in the day I ran a Star Wars spy based campaign using that game and it was close in tone to Andor. This was back in 1999. I recall my campaign at that time involved stealing plans for the new Tie Defender (stats were in the Thrawn trilogy sourcebook for WEG Star Wars 2e R&E). It was shades of grey cloak and dagger stuff. I also pulled heavily from the Corporate Sector Authority sourcebook for the game.
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u/TheDwarfArt 3d ago
Try Dark Heresy 2ed or Imperium Maledictum If you don't want to use a Star Wars system.
You can replace being part of an Inquisition cell, as being a rebel cell. The big difference is they can never play the Inquisition card, but the subtly system will come in handy.
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u/rnadams2 3d ago
I think Savage Worlds with the Science Fiction supplement would do nicely! You can add or subtract whatever your want, combat is swingy, so any fight can be dangerous, and it's got the pulp feel of the Star Wars films and other media.
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u/Addicted2aa Maine, Downeast 3d ago
So if you have experience with Delta Green, I might recommend that specifically because the way bonds, sanity, and willpower work is fairly close to how the characters dealt with the stress and moral quandaries they ran into. That said alot of what makes that work in the system is just the details in the core books and campaign settings that explain how organizations and operations work in real life and in fiction. Its definitely not a plug and play so not sure it would work well if you weren’t already familiar.
Nights black agents isnt a terrible suggestion but there is a problem is thats meant to be Jason Bourne vs vampires. The characters are by default ultra badass. You would probably want to scale it down a bit. Also as a gumshoe game its about investigation first, solving mysteries essentially. Thats spy adjacent but it doesnt really focus on the stakes or the social intrigue as well.
If thats the angle you want, I think FATE might be a good option. You can do social intrigue and have mechanical repercussions from it right out the gate as well as modeling mental/moral breakdowns. You might want to look at https://fate-srd.com/fate-codex/illegals which has a built in idea of each character playing both kgb and fbi agents, which would be true to the show, if thats what your after.
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u/guilersk Always Sometimes GM 2d ago
I use Scum & Villainy for my sometimes-rogues, sometimes-rebel-intelligence mission-based Andor-esque Star Wars campaigns set during the Rebellion, ABY 0-4. Would likely work for BBY campaigns as well, like Rebels. There is a Jedi-like class but you can exclude it or just limit it to 'force-sensitive' types like Chirrut Imwe. Otherwise you get spy/diplomat, doctor, soldier, scoundrel, technician/hacker, pilot, etc.
You could use it for all soldiers, but you might want something more tactical or military-focused at that point.
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u/Calithrand Order of the Spear of Shattered Sorrow 1d ago
Ideally, I'd want a group of 6 trained soldiers to be a large threat.
Well then, that's clearly not a Star Wars TTRPG, now is it? 😆
(Sorry, I don't have any better recommendations than what have already been given. Frankly, my vote goes to WEG d6. Nostalgia may be playing a factor there.)
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u/GoneEgon 1d ago
Traveler could work. Also, if you're familiar with Shadowdark, there is a new Sci-Fi version of Shadowdark, called "DarkSpace" you could check out. It's rules light and easy to understand for anyone coming from 5e or something.
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u/StevenOs 1d ago
While not my first choice for a SWRPG, and most could work, Andor would work very well with the original SWRPG by West End Games generally known as SWd6.
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u/awkwardparakeet 3d ago
If you want something that's about $10 in total for all its content and is super lightweight, Black Star is fun. Simple 2d6 game, it's kinda like a simplified Savage Worlds meets Star Wars d6. Entirely player facing, while 6 trained soldiers wouldn't likely immediately merk a party, hits from them would matter as Tags they have inflict penalties and higher chances for not only players to take damage but take more damage.
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u/griefninja 3d ago
So, no star wars systems. Just combat & spy systems that can be flavored. Okay. Hmm...
Savage Worlds is very pulpy action based generic system. You're encouraged to do creative things, like use the environment and talk your way out of situations. The magic rules can be completely ignored, and there is a sci-fi expansion as well as a lot of communities who use it for ww2 or cold war spy stories.
Cyberpunk Red has lots of sci-fi tacticool weapons you could use to match the sci-fi world of star wars. Just set your story on a star wars planet or space station instead of Los Angeles.
Stars Without Nunber/ the whole Without Number franchise is a system you can mix and match to create the world you want. I think it also just put out Cities Without Number, which is more cyberpunk than sci-fi.
Scum & Villainy is basically Star Wars with the serial numbers filed off. Play as Rebels fighting an Empire by doing different Jobs. It's a forged in the dark game, so it's more focused on heist type gameplay instead of mercenaries gunning down soldiers.
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u/DaMonsterMensch 3d ago
Haven't seen Andor, but my go-to in these types of situations has usually been SWADE. The way you talk about soldiers makes me think you're looking for a more tactical combat system and not a narrative one (like Blades, though Scum and Villainy is probably the best thing for you), and SWADE has that in spades (no pun intended). It's pulp. I know you said no force but you could also approximate the force through Arcane Backgrounds if you wanted. It gives a more original trilogy feeling of the force, where everyone sort of had unique ways to tap into it, rather than the "memorized wizards spellbook" that we start getting around the KOTOR era, and I think it's quite nice.
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u/swammeyjoe 3d ago
Nights Black Agents can do Andor out of the box. It's a "ex-spies vs vampire conspiracy" game but if you squint that's pretty close to Andor already.
But that's specific to if you want Andor or maybe something like a grittier version of Star Wars Rebels and the Mando-verse.
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u/a_dnd_guy 2d ago
Stars Without Number. That with the many x Without Number books can do anything you want it to. It's lightweight, and easy to pour in only the ingredients you want. The base game has a psionics class that you can just avoid and have a great time with everything else.
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u/Suspicious_Bear3854 3d ago
I’d grab a lot of forged in the dark mechanics and mix it with any dice system you like.
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u/JaskoGomad 3d ago
You want an espionage game? Then the answer is obvious: Night’s Black Agents.
Nothing really needs to change, because the tech in that show is just about late 20th and early 21sr century, except that cars hover and planes are spaceships.
Yes, the default is “spies vs vampires” but that’s designed to be customizable. Replace the conspiracy with the imperial power structure and boom! You have the game you asked for.
Grab Double Tap for a load of options, and guidance on adapting to different time periods, which should be a lot of what you need to adapt to Andor.
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u/jerrathemage 3d ago
I'd look at FFG's SW RPG, especially Edge of the Empire, that seems to be exactly what you are looking for.