This book covers the era well before the classic Star Wars that we see in the movies. It starts out with a fairly extensive background description, telling of the history of the Jedi and the Old Republic (then known as the Galactic Republic). After the history section comes a run-down, background and stats for a whole mess of Jedi characters. This section is very good at giving you an idea of what a bunch of different Jedi are like.
After the section detailing the Jedi comes a section on Jedi Powers. If you decide to get this book for only one reason, get it for the Force Section! There’s a whopping 20 some odd pages of Force Powers. It encompasses nearly ALL of the Force Powers listed in all of the other books. This section alone is worth the cost of the book! In many ways, this book was the “Jedi” book that the Jedi Academy book should have been.
After the Force section comes a special treat, packaged in two sections. First is a section on the Sith, covering the various dark Jedi and Sith Masters. This is an interesting section as it describes these characters quite well. Next comes a section on Sith Powers. While there is only a scant two pages of powers, there is about 10 pages talking about Sith artifacts and various teachings. Gamemasters wanting to add the flavor of Sith into their games should get this book to thoroughly absorb this section.
Next in line comes a decent section on various races and characters. It gives a good overview of the various characters that would be encountered in this time period. There are also a few races, four to be exact, that stats are given for. Directly after the races comes a section on the odd creatures in this era. There aren’t a large amount of creatures, but they are interesting and can be used in games.
Starships comes afterwards, and while there are some, there isn’t a vast amount. Again, this book is more for the Jedi than for the equipment. Various equipment pieces are shown in this book, about 7 pages worth, and it sort of gives you a feel for the lower technology levels. Most of these items, however, are just lower tech versions of the items in the main book. Deeper into the book comes a section detailing several planets and locations. If you read the comics, this section will mean a lot more to you than to someone who hasn’t. While these places can be used in adventures and campaigns, they work best if used in the same era, rather than using them in the classic era.
Second the last comes a section on running campaigns in the Tales of the Jedi era. While this section might be helpful, as it has hyperspace charts, states of the galaxy, and so on, I’ve never read through it, so I can’t speak for it. In all, it’s about 10 pages worth of information that could prove helpful. Since West End Games spent so much effort on this book, I’d have to assume the section is decent. Following up right behind is a solo adventure in the Jedi era. If you’ve never played one of these (sort of like a “Choose your own adventure…with a twist”) you really should try it. They’re fun to pass the time when you’re in the mood to game and no one wants to. Additionally, it may spark your interest into creating an adventure of your own (it has for me).
Last on the list are the templates. There are a fair number of them in this book, offering a variety (albeit slanted towards the Jedi) to choose from. There are seven templates, including the impressive “battle master” a wielder of two lightsabers. Overall, a good addition to the template collection.
So that basically sums it up. In all, a good book…but in specific, an outstanding Jedi book.
My rating:
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