Star Wars Roleplaying Game vs Traveller
Compare Star Wars Roleplaying Game and Traveller side by side. See differences in complexity, dice, genre, cost, and more.
| Star Wars Roleplaying Game | Traveller | |
|---|---|---|
| Genre | Scifi | Scifi |
| Play Style | Career-Based, Narrative, Space Opera, Licensed IP, Faction Play, Combat-Heavy, Character Building | Sandbox, Simulation, Exploration, Deadly, Character Building, Faction Play |
| Core Mechanic | 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). | Roll 2d6 + skill + modifier ≥ 8 to succeed. Character generation is a mini-game. |
| Dice | Custom dice | 2d6 |
| Complexity | Medium | Medium |
| Accessibility | Low | Low |
| Runnability | High | High |
| License | All Rights Reserved | Traveller Fair Use Policy |
| Cost | $$$ | $$ |
| Publisher | Fantasy Flight Games | Mongoose Publishing |
| Year | 2013 | 2022 |
| Best For | 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. | Hard sci-fi sandbox campaigns with trading, exploration, and realistic space travel. |
| Highlights | 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 | Comprehensive sci-fi toolkit, lifepath character creation, detailed trade/travel systems |
| Considerations | 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 | Lifepath character creation can produce unplayable results, subsystem rules are spread across multiple supplements, steep buy-in if using official sourcebooks |