I cut my teeth on d6 star wars. It is am amazing game. However, $150 for a free game is a bit much. However, having said that, the free stuff D6 fantasy, adventure and space aren't "star wars." For anyone interested in the free stuff go to drive thru rpg and search D6. you can download the PDF's for $0! It is one of the best additions to OGL. I would argue it is the best addition to OGL ever! I guess it isn't true OGL just public domain, but still, amazing game, amazing system and super fun!
But to answer you question, the game is very simple: assign your stats, select a few skills and you're set. No classes (in the traditional sense), no Level, no XP, no feats, no polyhedral dice, and no HP. The wild die mechanic is super fun. It allows for "exploding dice" as is common in L5R. Nothing beats exploding damage! I remember attacking a dark jedi (generally not advised) and rolled a 6 on my wild die damage. This allows you to roll another d6 and add that to your damage. Well the second roll came up as a 6 as well, thus I rolled a 3rd die!
The DJ's dmg resist roll didn't even come close to blocking my damage. The difference was 15 which brought him from fully healthy to mortally wounded and unconscious. That was it, the end of round 1. My partners and I bandaged up the DJ and hauled him back to our enclave for questioning
On the flip side, I was defending a cruiser from a group of pirates that had boarded the ship and despite my best lightsaber skills a roll of 1 on my wild die to deflect a blaster shot combined with a damage roll similar to the one I just described dropped me from healthy to mortally wounded in a single fight. I spent the next few game days in an under equipped medical bay dancing between life and death. Thankfully there was enough supplies on hand to keep me alive until we reached Sullust where I was able to get some time in a bacta tank.
The game is very fun, and very exciting. You really cant stand "toe to toe" with thugs like a high leveled C&C character just because you have loads of HP. Regardless of your characters skill level a single shot could drop you from hale to dead. It makes you think twice before drawing your blaster.
Now in regards to the free D6 stuff. I highly recommend downloading them. Before making everything free, the creators made a few changes to the system which clarified a lot of issues. For example single fire, semi-auto and full auto weapons. There is a mechanical difference (no pun intended) and that difference is not explained in star wars D6.
Passive, active, and full defense is introduced. This is a great addition to their game and despite the extra reading simplified the game a lot. I also recommend NOT using the melee combat rules explained in Star Wars D6 and instead use the rules explained in D6 open instead. It is easier and more streamlined. The melee combat rules in star wars aren't hard to grasp but they are different than the ranged combat rules and I never liked them. Especially when you use the rules from the other D6 material. It was a great change. Basically the rules in D6 open are the same 99.999% the same just with some updates that made the game even easier to learn and play.
Lastly, for those who cant live without HP (pun intended), they added rules for deriving HP values for your characters if you REALLY want them. Half the game's appeal (at least to me) is the lack of HP.
And to make a long story seem endless......have fun!
