The New Jedi Order Sourcebook (Star Wars Roleplaying Game) Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)If you are planning on running a SWRPG campaign set in the New Jedi Order era, this sourcebook is the one accessory you must have. Chapter One starts off with a broad overview of the galactic situation just prior to the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, and then goes right into a detailed description of the YV and their culture, along with a new-and-improved list of YV equipment. Chapters Two through Seven each detail a specific novel, starting with Vector Prime and ending with Star By Star. Chapter Eight contains an epilogue and hints at some possible future events. At appropriate points throughout the books there are character profiles, new ships, new vehicles and animals, and even a handful of new weapons. I found the character profiles to be especially useful, particularly those of famous people like Corran Horn and Kyp Durron. In addition, the characters from the core rulebook have "leveled up" to show their increased experience. Very helpful. And no, the majority of the NPCs *do not* die.
Like all of Wizard's Star Wars products, the book itself is full color throughout. The artwork is high-quality and has a dark and stylistic touch. Some people won't like that, claiming that it isn't "Star Wars," but I say that it is appropriate for the NJO universe.
I stopped reading the Star Wars novels a long time ago because there are too darn many to keep track of. As a GM myself, and as a NJO newbie, the main thing I liked about the NJO sourcebook is that it neatly compressed all the major events from these six novels into one book. The writing is clear, concise, and most importantly I found it fun to read. I immediately felt that I had enough information to begin building a NJO campaign. The book has a lot of adventure ideas and even a few rough adventure outlines which any GM worth his salt can integrate into his campaign.
Is the book perfect? Certainly not. My biggest gripe is the lack of an alphabetical index. This would nearly cripple the book if its other qualities hadn't been so good. Fortunately, there is a chapter summary at the beginning of the book, which partially alleviates the lack of an index. Chances are you're still going to have to go searching for those obscure entries though. The other issue is that since this book was released just prior to the release of the Revised Core Rulebook, you may need to do some tinkering to integrate the two. However, that is ultimately a minor issue in my opinion.
Overall, I give this book a very strong 4 out of 5 because of the lack of an index.
As a side note, the prior claim that a GM would be better served by spending 10 minutes reading the backs of the novels seems to be quite ill-advised, if not impossible. If you are a GM wanting to run a NJO campaign, GET THIS BOOK. And may it help you as much as it helped me.
EDIT: My gaming group, which meets twice a month, is now 8 sessions into our NJO campaign. As GM, I can honestly say that in that time, the NJO sourcebook has continued to be an invaluable resource. After much consideration, I have decided to raise the book's rating to a 5. This is both for the book's continuing usefulness and because I feel that the previous poster's rating of 1 flies in the face of reason.

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There's a time to run and a time to stand....The Yuuzhan Vong have shattered the New Republic's promise of peace throughout the galaxy. System by system, they bring death and enslavement to all they encounter. Even the Jedi have failed to slow the merciless advance of this dark tide. As this terrible threat from beyond the galaxy's edge pushes closer to Coruscant, the need for great heroes grows ever more dire.This sourcebook features:• New prestige classes, feats, species, ships, and starship combat tactics• New archetypes with statistics for play at low, medium, and high levels• Rules for the Yuuzhan Vong, including their soldiers and priests, ships, weapons, and equipment• Action-packed adventure seeds designed for mid- to high-level characters• Game statistics for characters from The New Jedi Order novels, including Vector Prime, Onslaught, Ruin, Hero's Trial, Jedi Eclipse, Balance Point, Conquest, Rebirth, and Star by StarTo use this sourcebook, you also need the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Revised Core Rulebook.

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