Force and Destiny (P)Review

After having a chance to browse the new book, I wrote up a summary of what one can expect from it.

-Nate

Force and Destiny (P)Review

Presented here is an overview of what one can expect from the new Force and Destiny core rulebook.

Pages 1-2: Inside title pages

Page 3: Opening crawl

Page 4: Credits

Page 5: Table of contents

Introduction (pages 6-13)

This chapter provides some introductory fiction, an example of play, an overview of the game's style and focus.

Chapter 1 (pages 14-39): Playing the Game

This is pretty familiar fare, consistent with material from the previous two core rulebooks.

Chapter 2 (pages 40-109): Character Creation

While the layout of this chapter is standard, it presents numerous new possibilities for players.

• Morality, of course, is the new mechanic akin to Obligation and Duty.
• The species for this game are Cerean, Human, Kel Dor, Mirialan, Nautolan, Togruta, Twi'lek and Zabrak.
• There are six new careers, each with its own specializations—Consular (Healer, Niman Disciple and Sage); Guardian (Peacekeeper, Protector and Soresu Defender); Mystic (Advisor, Makashi Duelist and Seer); Seeker (Ataru Striker, Hunter and Pathfinder); Sentinel (Artisan, Shadow and Shien Expert); Warrior (Aggressor, Shii-Cho Knight and Starfighter Ace).
• New motivations specific to Force-users
• Suggestions for group resources, including a starship, along with a Jedi holocron or mentor

Chapter 3 (pages 110-133): Skills

This is pretty familiar stuff, too.

Chapter 4 (pages 134-153): Talents

This chapter breaks down the talents for the new careers and specializations. There seems to be a lot of new material, given the Force-centered nature of those character options.

Chapter 5 (pages 154-201): Gear and Equipment

While much of this is similar to what one can find in the other core rulebooks, there are some notable exceptions.

• For one thing, there's new material involving different kinds of lightsabers, various cortosis items, types of robes, etc.
• There's information about holocrons and ancient talismans, too.
• Lightsaber modifications are added to the list of those for other weapons, including different types of crystals.

Chapter 6 (pages 202-227): Conflict and Combat

This is pretty familiar stuff.

Chapter 7 (pages 228-271): Starships and Vehicles

The mechanics in this chapter are much the same as those in previous core rulebooks, but the different types of vehicles detailed provide some variety.

• Airspeeders: Civilian model, Talon 1 cloud car
• Landspeeders: Passenger model, A-A3 light speeder truck, 85-XS Odyssey heavy speeder bike
• Wheeled and tracked vehicles: Gallis-Tech 48 roller, groundcar
• Walkers: AT-HCT
• Starfighters: Y-Wing, Delta-6, Delta-7, Delta-12, Lambda shuttle, Pathfinder scout ship, X-Wing, TIE/LN
• Freighters and transports: G9 Rigger, HWK-290, HT-2200, Simiyiar light freighter, ZH-25 Questor
• Capital ships: ADZ-class destroyer, CR90 corvette, IR-3F light frigate, Victory-class star destroyer

Chapter 8 (pages 272-305): The Force

This chapter provides, not surprisingly, a lot of new material.

• There's a lengthy overview of using the Force in play.
• Eleven new Force power trees: Battle Meditation, Bind, Enhance, Foresee, Heal/Harm, Influence, Misdirect, Move, Protect/Unleash, Seek and Sense.

Chapter 9 (pages 306-339): The Game Master

The material in this chapter resembles that from other core rulebooks, except that it is tailored to adventures and campaigns involving Force-users.

Chapter 10 (pages 340-375): The Galaxy

This chapter provides an overview of the Star Wars galaxy, as expected, along with new planetary profiles: Cerea, Coruscant, Dagobah, Dorin, Ilum, Moraband (Korriban), Ossus, Weik.

Chapter 11 (pages 376-397): The Jedi and the Sith

There's a comprehensive account of these two organizations' histories, along with overviews of other Force-using sects and their lost artifacts.

Chapter 12 (pages 398-421): Adversaries

The NPCs detailed in this section include some interesting new ones, including the Imperial assassin, the IG-100 Magnaguard, different types of Force-users, and new creatures: acklay, jackobeast, jubba bird, kaaten, kouhun, maalraa, tusk cat, vornskr and ysalamir. There's also a section specific to the Inquisitorius.

Chapter 13 (pages 422-440): Lessons from the Past scenario

I didn't read this one, because I intend to play it at some point.

Pages 441-444: Index

Pages 445-8: Character sheet, ship sheet and base of operations sheet

All in all, this book provides lots of new material for using the Force in Star Wars adventures. Most notably, I think it would be invaluable for running adventures and campaigns set in time periods other than the Rebellion Era.