Via popularmechanics.com:
When it comes right down to it, we still want to “play Star Wars.” Many of us grew up orchestrating huge, complex Star Wars adventures with our Kenner action figures. We swung wiffleball bats wildly, making the “whuam, whuam” lightsaber sound as we traipsed through our parents’ gardens. We debated endlessly about whether Luke Skywalker would ever “go evil.” So it should come as no surprise the new Star Wars Roleplaying Game by Fantasy Flight Games is pretty close to a dream come true. Like Dungeons and Dragons, but set in the Star Wars universe, this game’s just as geeky—and amazing—as it sounds.
From using the force to lift huge boulders, to force-choking some scruffy nerf-herder who gets in your way, this game hits on everything that’s awesome about the Star Wars world. Epic lightsaber duels, laser blasts shooting off all around you—if you can imagine it, and your group can play it. This is a roleplaying game that commands your attention, and is full of fanservice and nods to the die-hards.
Don’t know what a tabletop roleplaying game (or RPG) is? Quick primer: You and your friends sit around a table, and using paper, pencils, dice, maps, miniatures, and your imagination, sharing collaborative story. One player usually runs the game and comes up with the adventure, while each other player controls a single adventurer.
Since 2012, Fantasy Flight Games has been on a roll, creating insanely fun RPG’s set in the Star Wars universe. They first released Star Wars: Edge of the Empire, where you played as smugglers and scoundrels. They followed Edge up with Star Wars: Age of Rebellion, where you took on the role of rebels fighting against the empire. And now, currently shipping and heading to game stores across the country, they’re putting out Star Wars: Force and Destiny, where you take on the role of wannabe Jedi and Sith, and head out into the galaxy to use the force for good and evil.
Players of Force and Destiny have some choices to make when they build their characters. Are you a human? A Twi’lek? A Zabrak? Yes, this game digs deep into the Star Wars mythos, but it’s not so esoteric as to drive away newcomers and casual fans of the franchise. Once you’ve decided what type of creature you are, you then dig into what you do in this world. Maybe you’re a mystic, advising others on the wisest course of action, or maybe you’re a warrior, slashing through the galaxy with your lightsaber.
While some RPG’s encourage intense number crunching and data management, Force and Destiny is all about story. When you want to, say, jump over a chasm, you roll dice. If you get more positive results than negative results, you jump over the chasm, if you get more negative result, you don’t. But the story goes on! Maybe you’ve just snagged a root sticking out of the chasm, or maybe you fall and break an arm. The most important thing in this game, more important than your stats, your treasure, all that, is that the story continues. Which means with Force and Destiny, you can look forward to many, many more Jedi adventures.