What's the best intro to SW RPG?

I need some help. I'm a 35 year old male who has played Dungeons & Dragons for about 10-15 years...(I was obsessed for awhile, but gave it up about 5-6 years ago).

I absolutely loved Knights of the Old Republic I & II for the old Xbox and The Force Unleashed on my PS3 got me interested again. Where do I get started on paper based role play? I checked out some of the campaign guides (Knights of Old Republic and Force Unleashed), but it seemed a little dense.

I'm in southern California. Any suggestions?

Regards,

Necro.

 

first, check your local fanForce forum.
Check gaming shops, libraries, colleges, universities, and community colleges. Yeah, it can be kinda creepy being 10+ years older than the other people playing, but that can be a great advantage too.
Who knows, maybe even someone here will see your post and PM you...

As for the density of the material, well... Consider how much there is of D&D... 4 and a half editions, huge volumes of comics, books, novels, source books, adventures... yeah, there's a lot to cover there. How you go about learning is pretty much the same. Start small, work with someone else who knows the rules if you can, and work your way in, learning as you go.
There are 2 major rule sets for SW RPGs. The older set (1st & 2nd ed) by West End Games (WEG) is also called D6 because all you roll are various 6-siders. The newer rules (3rd & Saga ed) with all the prequel info included is published by Wizards of the Coast using their D20 system, and uses all the dice you already know from D&D. Both sets of rules have their proponenets, and I won't go into the game mechanics arguments here. The one plus I will mention is that you should be able to get a lot of the WEG books for really cheap on eBay--certainly the core books that you need to get started. On the other hand, WotC will be readilly available in brand new condition at your locan hobby store.

 

They arent that dense, those are campaign guides so its mostly background info, optional rules for the era, and ready to use stats

Best way to learn is get the core rulebook, read it, and just start playing

 

Since this is an intro thread, I hope nobody would object to me keeping along with those lines and asking what exactly is needed to start? the core rulebook (Amazon link to make sure I've got the right one ) Would any dice other than D20, D10, D8 and D6 be needed?

 

I'm not sure, but I think one of the classes might use the d12 as hit dice, but u should get one if u buy em as a set at your local gaming store.

Other than that I can't think of anything. Photocopying the character sheet at the back of the core rulebook for your players, and lots of pencils, and some scrap paper never hurt.

The core rulebook should be all you need to start out. The other stuff is just to expand on existing rules, provide more ready-made stats and background "fluff". They're great aids but shouldn't be needed.