Hero's Guide: Star Wars Roleplaying Game [Hardcover]

First off, the Hero's Guide follows in the high-quality style of other recent products such as the Ultimate Alien Anthology and Coruscant And The Core Worlds. Like its cousins this book is full-color and hardcover. One immediately notices the large amount of original artwork and still photos. The main index is organized alphabetically by topic, which makes finding most things mercifully simple. This book is well presented, easy on the eyes, and fun to read, but of course that's not why it deserves a spot on your bookshelf.

This book is simply filled to the brim with a vast array of new game rules and character options.

The main standouts are the chapters on Feats and Prestige Classes. In terms of Feats, over 120 new feats are offered, including feats for six distinct martial arts disciplines as well as feats depicting the seven forms of lightsaber combat. There is also a wide selection of faction-related feats. With such a wide selection even the pickiest player should be able to find something that fits his or her character.

Players will also like the selection of nearly 30 new prestige classes. Many of them are tied to specific factions, and some are definitely harder to qualify for than others, but they represent such a wealth of progression options that just about anybody should be satisfied. The full list includes: Chief Engineer, Infiltrator, Loyal Protector, Martial Arts Master, Master Duelist, Outlaw Slicer, Priest, Sharpshooter, Treasure Hunter, Antarian Ranger, Black Sun Enforcer, Black Sun Vigo, Master Spy, CorSec Officer, Corporate Troubleshooter, ISB Special Agent, Crime Broker, Mistryl Shadow Guard, Lord of the Expanse, Rebel Organizer, Sienar Engineer, Baran Do Sage, Matukai Adept, Zeison Sha Warrior, Espionage Droid, and Berzerker Droid.

Noticeably absent are the Jensaarai Warrior and the Dathomiri Witch, but at least the Jensaarai has an official entry in Dungeon Magazine 98 (Polyhedron 157).

The Hero's Guide also showcases the concept of character archetypes. Basically, an archetype is a multiclass character that replaces certain class features with ones that better fit a desired character concept. This sets a welcome precedent: if it doesn't fit, change it!

Also introduced is the concept of Sympathy. Sympathy is similar to and works in conjunction with Reputation, but it only applies when dealing with members of a faction with which you have Sympathy. Unlike Reputation, however, Sympathy can go up or down based on a character's actions.

In addition to all this there is a chapter devoted to character creation, another that discusses new uses for existing skills, a selection of new equipment (including the long-awaited rules for cybernetics), a chapter on new combat moves, a chapter that discusses the Force, and finally a chapter devoted to Droids.

After having read through it several times, I simply can't find a bad thing to say about this book. It may very well be the best SWRPG sourcebook published so far. Hats off to the authors and the entire team who put it together.

And if you still aren't satisfied, the Star Wars RPG section of the Wizards of the Coast website has a web enhancement for the Hero's Guide that includes even more archetypes and prestige classes.