My review: 7 out of 5 stars
going rogue 2e is incredible. Could not recommend it enough. This game absolutely nails the feel of the source material. No, it's better than that. going rogue is how Star Wars feels in our imaginations.
It's my first Belonging Outside Belonging game, and I was hesitant. I've had trouble with GM-less games before, like Fiasco and The Quiet Year, where I felt adrift in the open-endedness and infinite possibility.
But going rogue has just enough structure that I never feel lost. Any time we're unsure how to resolve a situation that would call for a dice roll in another RPG, it's easy to find a playbook, NPC, or pillar move to guide the way. If we're still not sure what to do, I can look to my character's principles, or a pillar's desires. There's always a bevy of exciting tools at my fingertips to light the way forward. Like, I can't emphasize enough how much fun it is to interrupt a scene by grabbing the Mandate and slyly proclaiming that you're going to "foreshadow a larger threat" or "put someone in immediate danger."
Up till now, I've been obsessed with Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) RPGs. I love their emphasis on collaborative worldbuilding, low-prep GMing, "play to find out," and failed dice rolls that always make the story more interesting, not less. But even with all these innovations, GMing a PbtA game is still a lot of pressure and responsibility. You're the ultimate keeper of the story. The final say on pretty much everything.
going rogue lets me have all the joy of GMing with none of the pressure. Because everyone shares the responsibility, it doesn't feel like a responsbility at all; it's just pure fun. You get to have as much or as little say over the story as you want, while also starring in it as a main character. It's the best of both worlds, and I can't get enough.
I have never been this excited for a weekly RPG group before. Hats off to riley and jess. You've truly outdone yourselves.