What are the absolutely necessary books for star wars saga edition

[Gamerlord]

So, the thought of a D&D star wars makes me giddy with glee, so I was thinking that a few months from now for my birthday I could ask for star wars saga edition, but I want to know what are the necessary books for the game?

For the record, I would probably play mostly games with the clones wars, time of the rebel alliance, and possibly episode 1 times as the settings.

[hamishspence]

Depends on if the party include Jedi, soldiers, pilots, droids, etc.

Starships of the Galaxy is good if you like ships, Scavenger's Guide to Droids is good for droids, Galaxy At War and the Clone Wars Campaign Guide for soldiers, Jedi Academy and possibly The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide for Jedi, and so on.

The Destiny Point system gets expanded on quite a bit in The Force Unleashed- and not just for Jedi.

The Rebellion campaign guide though, I'm not sure if it has enough helpful and interesting stuff.

[Gamerlord]

Depends on if the party include Jedi, soldiers, pilots, droids, etc.

YOU CAN BE A DROID?!

[hamishspence]

Sure- I think the main Saga Edition book has rules for them- but the Scavengers Guide expands them considerably.

[nekomata2]

Yes, the basic book has all the information necessary to doing it. Threats of the Galaxy has stats for Human Replica Droids, which are less confusing, but obviously, less droid-like.

[Person_Man]

Basically all you really need is the core rulebook. Everything else is icing on the cake.

[Lord Thurlvin]

Basically all you really need is the core rulebook. Everything else is icing on the cake.

Well, Threats of the Galaxy is nice if you don't want to hand-make almost every enemy the PCs fight.

[hamishspence]

And starships of the galaxy if it's ships you don't want to handmake every time.

That said, most of the books are handy but not necessary- though some expand considerably on the core rules.

[Gamerlord]

And starships of the galaxy if it's ships you don't want to handmake every time.

That said, most of the books are handy but not necessary- though some expand considerably on the core rules.

Starships of the galaxy is $100+ on amazon, pass on that book.

[hamishspence]

I got mine early on- has it become very expensive then?

Quite a few of the more recent books have ship stats, but not very many ships in each. The Force Unleashed has Victory I Star Destroyers, and TIE prototypes, and the Rebellion Campaign Guide has a wide range of variant TIE fighters.

[TheCountAlucard]

Aside from the core book, I made rather heavy use of Scum and Villainy during my first game. Then again, I was playing a crime lord, and the rest of the party didn't have spotless criminal records, either.

[Dienekes]

Bugger me blind, $100? Hell I got it for $35 at Barnes and Noble.

Anyway good books, I gotta say there's no big books like their are in DnD (like you need Monster Manuel, and Tomb of Battle, ect)

Really I'd suggest you think about what you want to play and/or your players and then get the book that corresponds best with their characters.

They're pretty obvious
Scum and Villain=Scoundrel
Jedi Academy= Jedi
you get the idea.

[hamishspence]

It has rules for customizing armour- good if you like a slightly Boba Fett-ish character.

And plenty of detail on the sort of things the Empire considers crimes, and rules for when the PCs end up on trial.

[The J Pizzel]

Crime and Villiany is a good book. KotoR Campaing Setting is really nice too for Mandalorian goodness, as well as lots of new stuff. The Clone Wars book also has lots of good soldier stuff.

Ah screw it, they're all good. The game is amazing. Just buy them all.

[Mando Knight]

Bugger me blind, $100? Hell I got it for $35 at Barnes and Noble.

Apparently they're out of print? Who the hell decided to jack up SotG and KotOR by that much?

[Gamerlord]

Another question: would you find the game closer to 3.5 or 4e?

[Seatbelt]

a lot of the mechanics used in Saga appear in 4th edition. IMO if ToB was used to test per encounter powers, Saga was used to test all the rest of the mechanics.

[KillianHawkeye]

I'd say it's a lot closer to 3.5. The class mechanics and multiclassing definitely are. Skill points have been replaced with a 1/2 your level mechanic like 4E has, as well as static defenses instead of 3E saving throws, but everything else is more 3E than 4E.

And yes, a lot of the early SAGA books have been out of print for some time and are now quite expensive to buy, sadly.

[Mando Knight]

Another question: would you find the game closer to 3.5 or 4e?

It's closer to 3.5, but it's closest to d20 Modern/Future with some 4e concepts thrown in.

[BooNL]

Well, Threats of the Galaxy is nice if you don't want to hand-make almost every enemy the PCs fight.

I saw a thread over at the Wizard's page at one time detailing all the errors and faults in Threats of the Galaxy. Wish I saved that page...
That book, while nice to have, is pretty bad. Almost every stat block has an error and you really get the feeling the writer was playing a different edition game...

That said, I haven't found any book 'must have'. There are no extra base classes and all the splat books do is expand on races, talents and advanced classes.
At least pick up the book about your favourite era and your favourite archetype. If I had to pick two I'd say KOTOR setting book and Jedi Academy.