2300 AD vs Star Wars Roleplaying Game
Compare 2300 AD and Star Wars Roleplaying Game side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, and more.
| 2300 AD | Star Wars Roleplaying Game | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi | Scifi |
| Tags | Career-Based, Skill-Based, Simulation, Combat-Heavy, Tactical, Crunchy, Ship-Based, Exploration, Random Tables, Strong GM Support | Career-Based, Narrative, Space Opera, Licensed IP, Faction Play, Combat-Heavy, Character Building |
| Core Mechanic | For a task, roll d10 and add modifiers from applicable skills and characteristics; meet a difficulty target from 2 for Simple to 18 for Impossible to succeed. A natural 1 fumbles, while failed checks use a separate roll to determine whether the character may retry or suffers a mishap. Hasty, hazardous, uncertain, and cooperative tasks modify time, failure risk, information, or group participation without changing the core check. | Assemble a pool of custom narrative dice: positive (Boost, Ability, Proficiency) from skills and equipment, negative (Setback, Difficulty, Challenge) from task difficulty. Roll and cancel opposing symbols on three independent axes (Success vs. Failure, Advantage vs. Threat, Triumph vs. Despair), so every check produces both an outcome and narrative texture. Each corebook adds its own character-pressure layer: Edge of the Empire tracks Obligation (debts and burdens that randomly trigger at session start), Age of Rebellion tracks Duty (Rebel mission focus that earns Contribution Rank toward Alliance promotions), and Force and Destiny tracks Morality (a 0–100 light-vs-dark scale that fuels a dedicated Force die powering abilities like Move, Sense, and Influence). |
| Dice | d10 | Custom dice |
| Complexity | High | Medium |
| Availability | Paid | Free quickstart |
| Runnability | 4 of 5 book tools | 5 of 5 book tools |
| License | All Rights Reserved | All Rights Reserved |
| Third-Party Publishing | Noncommercial only — Mongoose Publishing Fair Use Policy | Not yet researched |
| Summary only, not legal advice. Check current terms before publishing. | ||
| Publisher | GDW | Fantasy Flight Games |
| Year | 1988 | 2013 |
| Languages | English | English |
| Best For | Groups who want career-shaped crews exploring a politically divided interstellar frontier where starship operations and hard-science constraints drive missions. | Groups who want a narrative-rich Star Wars campaign where every roll generates story texture beyond pass/fail, and who can pick the corebook (or mix multiple) matching their preferred campaign focus: outer-rim scoundrels, Rebel operatives, or hunted Force users. |
| Highlights | Career terms turn pre-play service into skills and organizational ties, giving each crew member a practical history that feeds later missions. Space combat uses hex movement and signature-based detection, making maneuver and sensor discipline as important as weapon range. Linked world-generation and mapping procedures build planets down to regional terrain, giving exploration campaigns playable locations instead of setting prompts. | Three corebooks fully cross-compatible: Edge of the Empire (fringe criminals and scoundrels), Age of Rebellion (Rebel Alliance soldiers and pilots), and Force and Destiny (Force-sensitive characters) play at the same table with characters from any book, six careers per book each with three specialization talent trees, narrative dice produce three independent axes of result on every roll so success-with-complications and failure-with-silver-lining are common outcomes, detailed starship combat and ship-modification rules throughout all three books with Force and Destiny extending the system with lightsaber construction and Force power talent trees |
| Considerations | Character creation can end when a turning-point roll fails, leaving a concept in its current career before the player intended. Combat routes each hit through location and damage-type tables, adding several lookups to a fight. The future history assumes a World War III and French hegemony, so campaigns are tied to a specific 1980s vision of the 24th century. | Requires proprietary narrative dice or the Star Wars Dice app: standard polyhedral dice need conversion charts and slow play significantly, no free core rules available (Beginner Games exist for each corebook but require purchase), interpreting multi-symbol dice results adds a learning curve compared to standard d20-style resolution, most groups buy only the corebook matching their campaign focus rather than all three |