Rebellion Era Sourcebook (Star Wars Roleplaying Game)

Each section is laid out under the time period it covers- A New Hope outlines how the Empire came into being and the New Order, the beginnings of the Rebellion by Mon Mothma, Bail Organa and Garm Bel-Iblis. It briefly covers the anti-alien sentiment held by the Empire, the Death Star (no stats, however, but if they are needed, it can be generated). It also has stats for all the major character, (and some minor ones like Tarkin and Lemelisk- the man who designed the Death Star). It does quite a good job in explaining events, concepts, and has loads of additional data, Game Master hints and ideas, plus flowing through the book along side the general data are mini adventures for players.

The Dark Time section covers events from the Battle of Yavin up to the Empire Strikes Back, detailing Imperial intelligence, propaganda, supply fleets, Alliance bases, bounty hunters, the Corporate Sector, Kessel, and the Prophets of the Dark Side. The Empire Strikes Back is mostly character data, with key events described, but also includes probe droids, AT-ATs, Imperial and Alliance forces of the time, Vader's fleet, but no stats for the Super Star Destroyer. More bounty hunters, Dagobah, and the Dark Trooper project from the first Dark Forces PC game- sadly, almost no mention of Kyle Katarn or Jan Ors.

Shadows of the Empire (a book I have yet to read) covers the period immediately after The Empire Strikes Back, the creation of Rogue Squadron, Bothans and their SpyNet, Coruscant, Prince Xizor and the Black Sun syndicate, however no mention is made of Dash Render or his Outrider. I suspect Wizards might be planning a separate, more detailed Shadows of the Empire book. Finally, the last section is of course Return of the Jedi and they wasted nearly five pages on Ewoks! When will people learn that no one likes the furry little buggers? It ends leading into final main character updates and the New Republic Era and the Ssi-Ruu.

A solid piece of work in full color. Lots of stills from the movies, and some top notch art as well, including a great picture of Xizor. Once again, however, the book fails to provide anything but mediocre low-detail and very small maps. A minor gripe, but one that I hope Wizard's addresses soon. Beyond that, this is great book. Granted, most people who have played the game under the West End rules and have read some of the novels, would know most of the information, but it's all here in one volume- very neatly laid out, clean, clear and to the point. I suspect that Wizards will produce sourcebooks for both the Rebel Alliance and the Empire, until then, there is this book, and a good book it is.


Odd set-up detracts from otherwise great book   October 23, 2001
 3 out of 6 found this review helpful

Now, maybe you like having a sidebar at the bottom of almost every page that doesn't directly relate to that page. Some of the time I didn't mind it so much.
But when some of the sidebars go on for several pages, it's quite annoying. WotC may have been better off grouping these lengthy sidebars onto their own pages for easier reading. Such as the case with some of the adventure hooks that span four, five or more pages.
Other than that, this is a great sourcebook. You get coverage of all 3 movies, including charcters, ships, planets and a little beyond. The Ssi-ruk from Truce at Bakura and many of the characters from Shadows of the Empire.
Of course, not much new info is presented on the more well-known characters, but there's been so much written about them, it wasn't really expected. As usual, the place where books like this shine is the amount of info they provide on the backrgound players of the Star Wars galaxy.