The Dark Side Sourcebook (Star Wars Roleplaying Game)

That being said, I liked this book back then, and I still like it now. The DSSB really set the stage for the high-quality, full-color, hardcover books that would later become the standard.

I really enjoyed the sections on Dark Side Spirits and Possession, but I think my favorite part was the large selection of Dark Side characters. There is also a wide range of new Dark Side force skills, new feats, mutated beasts, killer droids, and deadly weapons... and not to mention the comprehensive history of the Sith tradition itself, starting from its break with the Jedi Order over 25,000 years prior to the events of the movies.

In short, this is still a solid book, and if you're an evil player, or simply an evil GM, this one is for you.


Generally great, but some embarrassing flaws   February 2, 2003
 2 out of 7 found this review helpful

The Dark Side Sourcebook is largely for a gamemaster who wants to produce serious villains, or for someone who wants to run a Dark Side campaign. It contains all the tools necessary for either of these tasks, including a load of very powerful prestige classes (including the mighty Sith Lord) and jaw-dropping items (including the Sith Talisman and Orbalisk Armor). There is also included the requisite gallery of known baddies, and some monsters that will pose an extreme challenge for even the most powerful heroes.

There are only a few problems with this book. Let's start with the most obvious one: the lack of a sourcebook for the ancient eras where Dark Jedi ran rampant. Most of the prestige classes, items, ships, and individuals mentioned in this book are exclusively available in that time period, so this absence is significant. This can be addressed soon, however, and is not one of the 'embarrassing flaws' I mentioned. The charts for the prestige classes have odd discrepancies in convention that seem to be a halfway point between the original and revised core rulebooks. For example, reputation is either noted as ever-increasing or a series of +1 and +0s, and lightsaber damage is listed as +1d8 +1d8 +1d8 ... +2d8 rather than 'increase lightsaber damage.'

Some other gamemasters might have noticed another interesting problem. The Sith Lord prestige class has 10 levels, but it is impossible to become a 10th level Sith Lord (I'm assuming a 'non-epic' campaign here). The reason for this being that the class requires a reputation of 10, and it is impossible to get that in 10 levels. A more obvious problem is with the Emperor's Hand prestige class, since there can only be one Emperor's Hand. This rather limits the potential of the class, does it not?

Of course, the gamemaster is by no means held to obey the whims of this sourcebook. I simply threw out what I thought was unreasonable and went on with the game. Though I generally found the book to be a worthwhile investment of time and money, it could have been far more satisfying with a bit of improvement in the range of options available. This especially applies to campaigns run in the Rebellion Era which, let's face it, is the only really FUN era to run in!


Putting some light on the Darkside   July 30, 2002
 7 out of 7 found this review helpful

This book, in short, is a must have item for any Game Master. It is loaded with information from the Sith era on up and backed by excellent art and photos. Information only hinted at in the Core rule book is fully explained and new feats and skills aplenty. Further it is not limited to the Sith- Emperor's Hand,and Imperial Guard, to name a couple are detailed. Further a galaxys' worth of NPC's and complete revised stats on your favorite Darksiders from the movies. Nothing is left untouched. The icing on the cake are numerous helpful GM tips on running a Darkside campaign. In close, I would even recommend this book to non-players who are fans of Star Wars, due to the volume of information, photos, and all around great reading.