Introduction

The Dungeons and Dragons roleplaying game is about storytelling in worlds of swords and sorcery. It shares elements with childhood games of make-believe. Like those games, D&D is driven by imagination. It's about picturing the towering castle beneath the stormy night sky and imagining how a fantasy adventurer might react to the challenges that scene presents.

This overhaul is designed as a Star Wars reskinning of the core Dungeons and Dragons experience. The rules are generally the same, and so an experienced player of 5th Edition should have no trouble jumping right in to a Star Wars themed campaign. For the less experienced player, this Introduction will cover the basics of the 5th Edition of Dungeons and Dragons, appropriately reskinned for the setting.

Game Master (GM): After traveling the streets of Nar Shaddaa, you find yourself at the entrance to the Black Sun compound. Security cameras scan the surrounding area, and a cadre of bored-looking guardsmen wait impatiently by the door. Two twi'lek urchins plead for handouts from the Black Sun mercenaries, only to be yelled at and pushed away. A shimmering barrier covers the entrance to the compound, with a manned security console on its left side.

Rickey (playing Vinto): I want to talk my way into the compound. I approach the guards.

Drew (playing Dash): I want to throw a grenade and then shoot them all.

Eric (playing Kodo): ...

Unlike a game of make-believe, D&D gives structure to the stories, a way of determining the consequences of the adventurers' action. Players roll dice to resolve whether their attacks hit or miss or whether their

Game Master (GM): OK, one at a time. Rickey, you're approaching the guardsmen?

Rickey: Yeah. Do they seem to be doing anything?

GM: Make a Wisdom check.

Rickey: Does my Perception skill apply?

GM: Sure!

Rickey (rolling a d20): Ugh. Seven.

GM: You can see a couple of them crouching over the ground but you can't make out what they're doing. And Drew, Dash is prepping a grenade?

Drew: Yup!

GM: Okay. Eric, what's Kodo doing?

Eric: ...

adventurers can scale a cliff, roll away from the strike of a Force-wielder's shock, or pull off some other dangerous task. Anything is possible, but the dice make some outcomes more probable than others.

In the Star Wars Dungeons and Dragons game, each player creates an adventurer (also called a character) and teams up with other adventurers (played by friends). Working together, the group might explore a planet-encompassing city like Coruscant, the wilds of Kashyyyk, or the war-torn expanse of Oricon. The adventurers can solve puzzles, talk with other characters, battle the legendary Jedi or Sith, and discover special modified items and other treasure.

One player, however, takes on the role of the Game Master (GM), the game's lead storyteller and referee. The GM creates adventures for the characters, who navigate its hazards and decide which paths to explore. The GM might describe the entrance to a Black Sun compound, and the players decide what they want their adventurers to do. Will they charge in, guns blazing? Convince the guardsmen they belong there? Or use other means to find an entrance?

Then the GM determines the results of the adventurers' actions and narrates what they experience. Because the GM can improvise to react to anything the players attempt, D&D is infinitely flexible, and each adventure can be exciting and unexpected.

The game has no real end; when one story or quest wraps up, another one can begin, creating an ongoing story called a campaign. Many people who play the game keep their campaigns going for months or years, meeting with their friends every week or so to pick up the story where they left off. The adventurers grow in might as the campaign continues. Each force defeated, each adventure completed, and each relic recovered not only adds to the continuing story, but also earns the adventurers new capabilities. This increase in power is reflected by an adventurer's level.

There's no winning and losing in any Dungeons and Dragons game—at least, not the way those terms are usually understood. Together, the GM and the players create an exciting story of bold adventurers who confront deadly perils. Sometimes an adventurer might come to a grisly end, torn apart by ferocious monsters or done in by a nefarious villain. Even so, the other adventurers can beseech a powerful Jedi to revive their fallen comrade, or the player might choose to create a new character to carry on. The group might fail to complete an adventure successfully, but if everyone had a good time and created a memorable story, they all win.