HOW TO PLAY STAR WARS: EDGE OF THE EMPIRE 4: 10 out of 10, Would Play Again
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Show Notes In this final installment of the RPGBOT.Podcast How to Play Fantasy Flight Star Wars: Edge of the Empire series, the crew wraps things up with a deep dive into questions, answers, and overall system impressions after completing their multi-part Star Wars RPG actual play. After surviving pirate stations, clone cults, and barely escaping Imperial pursuit, the hosts analyze what worked, what didn’t, and what makes the Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars RPG system stand out compared to other tabletop RPGs. The discussion opens with discusson of the system’s signature narrative dice...
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HOW TO PLAY STAR WARS: EDGE OF THE EMPIRE 3: Pt 3 - "In a galaxy where everything is broken..."
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Show Notes In Part 3 of this Star Wars Edge of the Empire actual play, the RPGBOT crew finally delivers on the promise teased since Episode 1: full-on Star Wars space combat! And it is every bit as chaotic, cinematic, and barely-survivable as you’d hope. Picking up immediately after their explosive escape from the pirate station, the crew aboard the Malarkey finds themselves pursued by TIE fighters. What follows is a crash course in Fantasy Flight Games Star Wars starship combat mechanics, including initiative slots, range bands, shield management, and the ever-chaotic narrative dice system....
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UNDERWATER COMBAT (Remastered); Randall Sinks to the Bottom; Hilarity Ensues!
The RPGBOT.Podcast
The party stands heroically on the docks. The bard composes a sea shanty. The fighter sharpens his sword. The wizard prepares a speech about buoyancy physics he read on a forum at 3:00 AM. The rogue realizes sneak attack requires not drowning. The cleric discovers healing word does not cure lack of oxygen (or does it?). The DM Googles drowing rules mid-initiative because everyone forgot how breathing works. Welcome to underwater combat, where your character sheet becomes a flotation device and the real boss monster is physics. Show Notes In this episode the RPGBOT crew dives into underwater...
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HOW TO PLAY STAR WARS: EDGE OF THE EMPIRE 3: Pt 2 - We accidentally started a Robot Cult.
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Last time on RPGBOT.Podcast: we attempted a stealth infiltration of a pirate space station and immediately turned it into a full-blown crisis involving the Empire. This time? It gets worse. Show Notes In Part 2 of this Star Wars Edge of the Empire actual play, the RPGBOT crew continues their mission to infiltrate a hidden pirate station and hack its central maintenance terminal, but things escalate in the most RPGBOT way possible. After escaping the chaos of an iconic Star Wars-style cantina and evading Imperial forces, the crew descends into the station’s maintenance tunnels. What should...
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HOW TO PLAY STAR WARS: EDGE OF THE EMPIRE 3: Pt 1 - Hack the Terminal, They Said. It’ll Be Easy, They Said.
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Welcome back to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where we’re teaching you how to play the Star Wars tabletop RPG the best possible way: by immediately committing crimes in space. In this episode, Randall introduces a Wookie slicer with Force powers on the run from the law, while Ash debuts a former Imperial smuggler who solves problems the traditional way: shooting first and then leaving without askin questions. Tyler GMs a Star Wars RPG actual play session which quickly becomes a chaotic adventure featuring pirate stations, suspicious hookahs, questionable dice math, and a cantina band legally...
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THE ETHEREAL PLANE (Remastered): Exploring the Enigmatic Realm and What Lies Beyond
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Randall, Tyler, and Ash explore the Ethereal Plane: the ghostly plane of existence where your barbarian can’t punch anything, your wizard can’t read the signage, and your rogue is absolutely certain there’s loot “just on the other side” of a wall they can’t quite touch. Welcome to the Ethereal Plane, where (almost) everything is fog and spooky vibes. Show notes In this episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, the hosts dive into The Ethereal Plane, the enigmatic realm that sits alongside the Material like a paranormal overlay, perfect for interplanar travel, spooky...
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THE PLANE OF FIRE - The Worst Vacation in the Multiverse
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Welcome back to the RPGBOT.Podcast, where today’s travel brochure reads: “The Elemental Plane of Fire: Come for the lava rivers, stay because you physically cannot leave.” Congratulations. You’re about to plan a vacation to a place where the weather forecast is “burning with a chance of more burning.” Let’s talk about the Elemental Plane of Fire. Show Notes In this episode of the RPGBOT.Podcast, hosts Randall James, Tyler Kamstra, and Ash Ely explore the Elemental Plane of Fire in Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder, diving into the lore, cosmology, monsters, and adventure...
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HOW TO PLAY STAR WARS: EDGE OF THE EMPIRE 2: The Galaxy Needs Heroes… We Built These Instead
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Every RPG player knows the real game doesn’t start when the dice hit the table. No, the real adventure begins when some nerds open a rulebook, stare at a character sheet, and argue about whether a Wookiee hacker with a moral crusade for droid rights is mechanically viable. In this episode of the RPGBOT.Quickstart series, the crew tackles FFG Star Wars RPG character creation in Fantasy Flight’s Edge of the Empire. Randall decides the galaxy clearly needs a Force-sensitive Wookie slicer, Ash plans to become the smooth-talking Twi’lek pilot with questionable ethics, and Tyler guides them...
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2024 DnD 5e SORCERER Levels 5 - 20 (Remastered): Mastering Magic, Essential Spells for Characters
The RPGBOT.Podcast
The party had a plan. The Fighter would kick in the door. The Rogue would sneak behind the enemy. The Cleric would prepare a healing spell. And the Sorcerer? The Sorcerer would spend six minutes explaining why Fireball is technically the safest solution to every problem, including diplomacy, stealth, and emotional growth. Because Wizards study magic… Warlocks borrow magic… But a D&D 5e Sorcerer is what happens when magic studies you and decides you’re the group’s primary tactical error. Today on RPGBOT: Sorcerer Levels 5 - 20 optimization, where your spell list gets bigger,...
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HOW TO PLAY STAR WARS: EDGE OF THE EMPIRE 1: Every Roll Tells a Story
The RPGBOT.Podcast
Randall: “So this is a Star Wars RPG where we’re not Jedi, not heroes, and not important… we’re basically the guy who owes Jabba rent.” Tyler: “Correct. You’re the reason bounty hunters have a 401k.” Ash: “Finally! A system that understands my characters are emotionally complicated, morally questionable, and one hyperdrive failure away from eating space ramen.” -The RPGBOT.Podcast cast, probably Show Notes In this Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG How to Play, the RPGBOT crew dives into the core concepts and themes of Fantasy Flight’s narrative dice system, a tabletop RPG...
info_outlineLast episode we discovered the Pugilist can punch above its weight class.
This episode we discovered the Pugilist can punch above the entire encounter budget.
Today on RPGBOT:
- One character becomes a professional wrestler air-dropping enemies from low orbit
- One character summons eldritch tentacles to commit mathematically irresponsible violence
- One character crits often enough to make the Rogue question their life choices
Welcome back to our D&D 5e Pugilist build guide, where “balanced combat encounter” is more of a philosophical suggestion.
Show Notes
In Part 2 of the RPGBOT.Podcast deep dive into the Pugilist class in Dungeons & Dragons 5e, the hosts shift from theory into practice by building actual characters and analyzing low-level combat performance (levels 1–10 gameplay).
After previously discussing the core mechanics like Moxie points, exhaustion gameplay, and Haymaker damage, the episode explores how subclasses dramatically amplify the class’s effectiveness, especially during tier 1 and 2 where balance matters most.
Each host builds a different Pugilist archetype:
- A grappling-focused wrestler leveraging shove-prone and movement manipulation
- A spell-augmented “Hand of Dread” pugilist combining melee and warlock magic
- A critical-hit boxer maximizing burst damage and counterattacks
The discussion highlights a major mechanical theme: the Pugilist excels at advantage generation in D&D 5e combat. By knocking enemies prone, grappling, or using subclass features, the class reliably attacks with advantage, dramatically increasing DPR (damage per round).
Once Haymaker is added to the equation, damage spikes sharply. The hosts compare expected damage output to standard design math (“dude-stop damage”), demonstrating that even basic tactics can nearly reach or exceed a full party’s intended damage output — especially when combining Hex, advantage stacking, and bonus attacks.
The episode also examines character optimization choices such as species, feats, and ability scores. Strength and Constitution dominate builds, while backgrounds and feats further push survivability and burst damage. The result is a martial class that plays less like a traditional striker and more like a hybrid of barbarian durability, monk mobility, and rogue-style burst damage.
Ultimately, Part 2 reinforces the earlier conclusion: the Pugilist’s real power isn’t just numbers — it’s how its mechanics interact. The combination of resource refresh, exhaustion mitigation, grappling control, and burst damage allows players to reshape encounters in ways most classes simply cannot at early levels.
Key Takeaways
- D&D Pugilist subclasses drastically increase power at levels 1–5
- Grapple + shove prone creates reliable advantage in D&D combat
- Haymaker turns consistent hits into extreme burst damage
- Spellcasting options (like Hex) push DPR beyond normal martial scaling
- The class frequently approaches or exceeds expected 5e damage per round math
- Tier 1 encounters struggle against optimized Pugilist builds
- Strength + Constitution are the optimal Pugilist ability scores
- Moxie point recovery enables aggressive play every fight
- Exhaustion mechanics become a benefit instead of a drawback
- The class blends control, durability, and burst damage into one role
- Basic tactics alone can approach “dude-stop damage”
- Subclasses determine whether the Pugilist breaks balance… or demolishes it
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Meet the Hosts
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Tyler Kamstra – Master of mechanics, seeing the Pathfinder action economy like Neo in the Matrix.
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Randall James – Lore buff and technologist, always ready to debate which Lord of the Rings edition reigns supreme.
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Ash Ely – Resident cynic, chaos agent, and AI’s worst nightmare, bringing pure table-flipping RPG podcast energy.
Join the RPGBOT team where fantasy roleplaying meets real strategy, sarcasm, and community chaos.
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In-depth articles, guides, handbooks, reviews, news on Tabletop Role Playing at RPGBOT.net