Well, I just got my copy and tore through it that day. I am both pleased and saddened by it.

What I liked:

• New skills, feats, prestige classes and equipment. I don't want to go into great detail about these things, because you really ought to have your own copy, but I will say a little about each.
• Skills and Feats: The Dark Side repertoire has been expanded, and I like the new options. Some (if not all, I'd have to check) of these are updates from the old WEG system, but I like the way they work. My current favorites are probably Drain Knowledge (just what it sounds like) and Drain Force (literally letting you steal Force Points - not quite as good as the old Feed on Dark Side skill from WEG, but still nice).
  Oh, and Alchemy - it really opens up options for customizing all sorts of bad guys for a SW campaign. It isn't quite the same as D&D Alchemy. It has a real Sith spin that I think works quite well.
  Caveat: The skill Illusion is nasty. According to the sidebar on p.16, even if you successfully disbelieve it you can't see through it. This opens the skill up to many uses that the writers, I suspect, did not consider. Personally, I need to take some time and decide whether or not I feel that it is appropriate to the universe to have Illusion function this way. Make Darth Maul look like a kitten and even if you know it isn't a kitten you can't tell it's Darth Maul? I don't know. . . .
• Prestige classes: There are several of these, some of which remind me of my own development, the Harvesters. Anyway, the variety and approach taken to developing these prestige classes creates openings for more excuses to use Dark Siders in the game, which can be important if you have a lot of Jedi running around (why do I hear my players uttering epithets of concern as I type this?).
• Equipment: Not as much as I'd like, but some good options. The Dark Side armor is especially nice. Also, the approach they've taken opens the door for further experimentation along these lines (which also ties neatly back into alchemy).

What I didn't like:

• Old news: It annoys me that some information was needlessly reprinted from the main rulebook. Since the main rulebook is a requirement to be able to use this supplement, such reprinting should not happen. Still, there was not too much, and it doesn't annoy me as much as. . . .
• Noise: There was a lot of noise in this book. Some of it is data that is needlessly reprinted three or more times in the course of the book. Some of it is deliberately taking over a page to say something that could be said in a paragraph (such as the Dark Side and Tainted "templates" which are just spacious ways of listing the two or three "changes" that come with accumulating Dark Side Points. I honestly think that the writers were stretching to fill the required number of pages, which sucks. In my opinion, this book could have been half as long and cost half to two-thirds as much.
• Stupid ideas: The cost of the Dark Side? Well, according to the book, a character with a "Dark Side template" (somebody with as may DSPs as points of Wis) loses an attribute point from a physical stat with the gaining of each level. And yet, the write-ups at the back don't seem to reflect this. There are some very evil people with some very high physical stats. Hell, the characters from the movies don't seem to reflect it. Sure the Emperor may have been feeble, but that is purely speculation based on appearance. We don't really know. Vader's physical problems came from either being cut up by Kenobi, dropped in a volcano or both, depending on your source. Darth Maul sure didn't have any physical problems. It's a stupid idea and I'm not going to use it. If the Dark Side is to have a price I'll have to come up with my own. Probably something related to physical appearance. I don't know yet.
• Evil for Dummies: This was supposed to be the definitive look at the Dark Side, but they don't really analyze the descent into the Dark Side. All of their examples are clear cut and most of them don't strike me as anything a PC would do outside of a stereotype munchkin player. Where is the subtlety? They don't discuss the psychology of the viewpoints involved in any depth. They don't talk about how to explain the changing viewpoint to the player (I've been told I don't need that, but whether or not I do, damn it, it should be there).

So, should you buy it? It's up to you. Honestly, it's worth it to me for the things that I like and for the direction I will take them. If you're looking for a real look at the Dark Side, this ain't it. But if you want a cool Dark Side toy book, this is pretty good.

I have to say, though, that this is about it for me. If they put out a book like this for the Light Side I'll probably buy it for the toys, but I don't think I will buy another WOTC Star Wars RPG book. It's just shoddy work. I don't like to support shoddy work.

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