Droids! Move it, Troopers! STAR WARS THE CLONE WARS CAMPAIGN GUIDE
Written: Jan 21 '09 (Updated Mar 29 '09)
Product Rating:
Pros: Slick, well designed, easy to use, and very informative. Sparks great Ideas.
Cons: A Bit Pricey ($39.95) and lacks an index.
The Bottom Line: This is a great game accessory for one of the best game systems out there. The Clone Wars is being heavily supported right now. Check this out.
talyseon's Full Review: Rodney Thompson, J. D. Wiker, Patrick Stutzman - T...
Star Wars Roleplaying Game: The Clone Wars Campaign Guide. Designed by Rodney Thompson Patrick Stutzman and J.D. Wiker
"The Shroud of the Dark Side has fallen. Begun, this Clone War has!" Master Yoda.
In the time between Episode II Attack of the Clones, and Episode III Rise of the Sith there was a great unchronicled event; the Clone Wars. The Separatists, led by the Sith Apprentice Darth Tyranus, known to the galaxy as Count Dooku, fallen Jedi, have been building a droid army of immense size. Combining the key forces of the Techno Union, the Muunilist Banking Clans, and the Hives Of Geonosis, a credible threat to the Republic unity has been formed.
Unknown to anyone, Chancellor Palpatine is the author of these events, designed to provoke a response; specifically to vote him unprecedented powers to deal with this threat. To respond to it, agents of the Sith commissioned a Clone Army from the Cloners of Kamino, based upon the template of the Bounty Hunter Jango Fett. Now, the Clones are ready, but in need of guidance, a job that falls to the very reluctant Jedi order. Protectors and keepers of the peace, they now find themselves recast as Generals. It is not a role they are comfortable with.
These troubled times have been chronicled in various media; the Comics of Dark Horse, numerous novels, and an Emmy Award winning series of Manga-ish three minute cartoons, collected in two DVD's Star Wars: The Clone Wars Volume One and Volume Two, and later, the CGI cartoon for Cartoon Network, which was launched with the theatrical release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It continues today, following the exploits of Anakin Skywalker, and his apprentice, Asoka. Now, Wizards of the Coast, makers of Dungeons and Dragons, have created a roleplaying game set in the Star Wars Universe. And this Campaign guide includes everything you need to set your characters down in these tumultuous times.
After the Introduction sets the time of the campaign, Chapter One jumps into the species, setting for the all the stats needed to play a Dugg, like Sebulba the pod racer, the long lived Gen' dai, the tough Ikotchi, the Kaleesh, the elegant Cloners of Kamino, the Kerkoidens, the Nautaloidians, like Master Kit Fisto, the Nelvaanians, the tribal creatures twisted by the Techno Union into cybernetic warriors in the Clone Wars Vol 2, and the Vurks.
Chapter Two discusses character options, adding new talents and talent trees for the core classes, like Guardian Strike for the Jedi Guardian tree, and the Double Agent talent for Nobles. New Skills expand your options with Long Ranged Spotter under Perception, and Place Others in Force Trance under Use the Force. New Feats include Experienced Medic and Droid Hunter along with Pall of the Dark Side, which is what allowed Palpatine to hide under the Jedi Master's noses for so long. It also covers the concept of followers, which could be considered to be characters as important as Chewbacca and R2-D2. Followers are NPC's who regard you as someone worthy of service, and stick with you through thick and thin.
Chapter Three covers Prestige classes, starting with new Talents for Prestige classes discussed elsewhere, like Renowned Pilot for the Ace Pilot Prestige Class, or Greater Focused Force Talisman, for the Force Adept Prestige class. New Prestige Classes are Droid Commander, Military Engineer, and Vanguard.
Chapter Four. The Force. Eight new Force Powers are detailed, including the Dark Side Rend, and Technometry (or droid mind reading). Shatterpoint looks particularly interesting. Force Talents, Techniques and Secrets are revealed, and other Force Using Traditions besides the Jedi and Sith, like the Bando Gora, a sort of Dark Side Criminal Cartel, the Believers, who are Sith without the Rule of Two, and a racial group of Force Sensitives called the Korunni.
Chapter Five includes Equipment and Droids. There are an interesting handful of new weapons and new armour and five ‘tools'. Eighteen droid types are detailed. Chapter Six covers new Starships. Seven bigger ships are discussed, only one the player friendly with map kind, the Barloz-class Medium Freighter. Six starfighters are detailed; some clone issue, some Separatist.
Chapter Seven discusses the Clone War Campaign, the rising Militarism, coupled with the dwindling power of the Jedi, and wide spread corruption, and how these can play into the campaign. It then details the mechanics of Large Scale Conflicts and using Characters in them, how to handle Mass Combat and the effects of various conditions (that create advantaged or disadvantaged units, such as superior weapons, or low morale) upon a unit. This chapter really addresses the nuts and bolts of running a "war" campaign.
Chapter Eight is a Galactic Gazetteer giving a quick outline of eighteen "conflicted" worlds. These are worlds where major battles took place, such as Utapau and Geonosis, or worlds that plaid a part in the conflict, such as Muunilist, home of the Banking Clans, and Kamino, birthplace of the Clone Army. Other important worlds of the galaxy have updates about current conditions on Bothawui, Kashyyyk, Ryloth and Tatooine. (You know those places your characters will insist on going sooner or later.)
Chapter Nine is devoted totally to the Jedi Order, detailing the various types of Jedi, and giving generic examples for use, detailed stats on such Luminaries as Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Aayla Secura and Quinlan Vos. It also details four Jedi Starfighters.
Chapter Ten covers The Republic. It includes the structure of the Republic, many detailed profiles of various sorts of Clone commandos, and influential figures such as Captain Argyus, First Speaker Mas Amedda, and Sly Moore. Six Combat Droids are covered, along with vehicles, AT-XT, Troop Transports, and the various vehicles of the Clone Army.
Chapter Eleven offers the flip side; the Confederacy. It details the Droid army, the Geonosian Warriors, and Trandosian Bounty Hunters. It details Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, and Durge, cybernetic soldier. Other Forces are detailed as well, telling which book and what page they can be found on, a great help for a GM. Sixteen droids of the Droid army are detailed, along with military vehicles and starships.
Chapter Twelve goes into detail on the Fringe factions, meaning Mercenary Companies, usually hired by the Separatists. Among the figures detailed are Boba Fett from Rise of the Sith, Nym, the Feeorian pirate, and a rather young Chewbacca (Scout6). There are also the two prerequisite beasts. One of them is the riding lizard Obi-Wan rode against General Grievous, the Dactillion.
Finally, there is an Appendix that serves as an index, listing all characters and creatures by Challenge Rating and Page number. Droids and Vehicles are listed in similar fashion. This is a huge improvement over earlier editions which did not even have an index. In many ways, this is more useful to a GM. Until they ask what page a talent is on....
That is my only complaint. I still want an index.
Overall, this is an excellent product. It is well designed, the art is excellent, and gives clear depictions of what you are dealing with. The system is clear, easy to understand, but also easy to customize, allowing even a party of Jedi to branch out and differentiate themselves from each other.
The Clone Wars is one of the most exciting periods of the Star Wars saga, partly because it was not addressed by George Lucas. This nebulous quality has made it a fun place for authors and games masters to build their own stories. Do you have to buy this book to play the game? No. Do I think it is worth the rather pricey $39.95? Yes. If you want to set an adventure in this era of the saga, they have done the heavy lifting for you. And reading the book will spark literally hundreds of ideas for a Games Master to run with.
So whether you are a merc company helping to free up commerce from the oppressive restrictions of the Old Republic, or you are a Jedi, on the run after Order 66, this campaign offers a whole galaxy of possibilities.
Bring your Star Wars Roleplaying Game campaign into the epic battles of the Clone Wars. This book includes new information for heroes on both sides of...More at Buy.com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.