Arms and Equipment Guide (Star Wars Roleplaying Game) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is probably the one book that players of SWRPG have been waiting for. At first glance the book seems to be a bit on the small side at only 96 pages, and in truth it is- however, the authors have managed to do a good job of cramming all kinds of fun stuff in here.
And now for a synopsis.
Chapter 1: Weapons starts off with a quick-and-easy system for customizing your character's personal weapons. No longer must a character be a Tech Specialist to build a unique weapon (although it's still true that only Tech Specialists can mastercraft). Now anyone can make certain modifications or personalizations, as long as you have a sufficient Craft skill. Examples include increased range, improved critical, reduced weight, and increased accuracy. It is also very thoughtful that most modifications are balanced with a tradeoff in some other aspect of the weapon.
There is also a small but useful section that describes the process of Concealing a weapon on your person.
The main body of this chapter describes over 50 different blaster weapons, which is more than the entire weapon list from the Core Rulebook. There are also a few Ion Guns, a handful of lethal Disruptors (think disintegrator guns), slugthrowers, dart pistols, flechette launchers, crossbows and magna casters, wrist weapons, a good-sized list of melee weapons, grenades and grenade launchers, flamethrowers, sonic weapons, and even a few species-specific weapons like the Squip Tensor Rifle and the deadly but fragile Verpine Shatter Gun. Whew!
Chapter 2: Armor also starts off with a description of how armor can be modified, just like Chapter 1. In total 17 pieces of armor and protective gear are described, from simple tracker vests and leather jerkins up to some very tasty (and very expensive) sets of power armor.
Chapter 3: Droids, as you might guess, has an extensive list of Droid types. There are a lot of droids here, almost 20 pages worth in fact, which was a bit of a surprise. The droids cover the entire spectrum from Mouse Droids and assassin droids to Astromechs and tutoring droids. There is also some additional info on playing Droid characters.
Chapter 4: Vehicles is pretty short but still manages to describe a good array of machinery, including speeders, swoops, aircars, and walkers. Like chapters 1 and 2, there are additional rules for customizing vehicles.
Chapter 5: Equipment describes dozens of pieces of miscellaneous gear. Examples include breathers, comlinks, sensors, and medical equipment. Nothing here stands out as overly powerful, but most of it seems to be useful for a character to have.
And there you have it. There's enough equipment and technology in here to keep players and GMs picking and choosing for quite some time. In that respect, the book certainly delivers. All the items seem to be well thought out and nothing appears to be game-breaking or overbalanced.
The interior of the book is in black and white, not color, but is nonetheless tastefully done and easy to look at. The buyer should be aware that only about half the items described have a picture, but I found this to be acceptable, especially where a group of items were closely alike.
I did have a few complaints. In some cases, the picture for a given weapon or Droid is not on the same page, but on a page several numbers away. This is just a tad annoying. While I like the rules for modifications, I was disappointed at the utter lack of blaster pistol attachments (0) and rifle attachments (a mere 2). There were no cybernetics, also a disappointment (although rumor is cybernetics will appear in a future book).
In addition, there is not an alphabetical index, which can cause a bit of delay in finding a specific item. Finally, I felt that the book should have been hardcover. I don't like softcovers since they are too easy to damage. I would have gladly payed the few extra bucks.
Overall, though, these were minor complaints. I was very pleased with the book and feel that it can add a great deal of depth to any campaign. The GM can now unleash a bunch of new equipment, and the players have enough options to keep them happy too.
In total I give this book an extremely strong 4 out of 5. Along with the Core Rulebook, it is definitely the other "must have."

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Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for having a good blaster at your side.The galaxy is a dangerous place, and even the most capable heroes need the right equipment to get the job done. Outfitting for a rescue mission on a frigid ice planet differs from gearing up for an assault on a crime lord's jungle world headquarters. But with the right connections, and enough credits, heroes can acquire all the weapons and tools needed to survive any situation.This sourcebook features:• An arsenal of weapons and armor, along with rules for customizing and personalizing them.• A wide variety of droids from across the galaxy, including the legendary R-Series astromech droids, binary load lifters, and the RA-7 "Death Star" droid.• An array of vehicles from landspeeders to military walkers.• Essential survival equipment, including breathers, comlinks, scanners, medpacs, and tools.To use this sourcebook, you also need the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Revised Core Rulebook.

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