Star Wars is amazing for getting people hitting the ground running. They've already spent decades world-building for you, and even if you haven't absorbed a ton of it, all it takes for a good baseline is growing up in a western country sometime in the last three decades.
The flip side to this is a lot of people are going to want to reenact the movies which is, uh, not my bag. @Jdarksun did a really great job of threading the needle on this not being too much of a thing for us while simultaneously feeling like we were involved in the "big story".
Star Wars is amazing for getting people hitting the ground running. They've already spent decades world-building for you, and even if you haven't absorbed a ton of it, all it takes for a good baseline is growing up in a western country sometime in the last three decades.
The flip side to this is a lot of people are going to want to reenact the movies which is, uh, not my bag. @Jdarksun did a really great job of threading the needle on this not being too much of a thing for us while simultaneously feeling like we were involved in the "big story".
That can happen. Bizarro New Hope is fun once or so, but it doesn't take long to get stale. Nevermind that any given movie is, like, two sessions at most.
The setting's metaplot, to put it in RPG terms, is so well known that riffing on it in interesting ways is pretty easy for a GM with any kind of ambition. The danger lies in tying yourself too tightly to some kind of canon, rather than just embracing the space-opera-ness and rolling with whatever happens.
The Star Wars galaxy is a big place, so it should be really easy to set your game far enough away from where the movies take place that you can run stuff parallel without them interfering with each other.
I mean, unless your players insist on meddling in the film plots. Which I guess you should work out ahead of time?
I once thermal detonatored Jabba the Hutt into a coma. Because my GM had decided that he couldn't die, but didn't tell us that ahead of time and I, being the weirdo I am, decided upon hearing a familiar name that I would stop at nothing to mess with the canon continuity.
So, I guess don't do that. Any of that. Either side.
Just accept that you're playing in ZZZ-canon and act accordingly.
Edit: This was the same GM, by the way, who has a VHS of the Christmas Special and watches it at least once a year. Often as part of game night. I really, truly love the guy, but he's a little nuts.
Edit 2: That game ran for like 6 years. At one point, I also crash-landed the Millenium Falcon (which I had just stolen) on an unnamed desert planet. Which I guess kind of works now in A-canon. Who knew.
It could be worse. Way back in the WEG days, the band of rebels I was a part of was raiding an Imperial encampment in a lost Jedi tomb, and who shows up but Darth Vader. We make a run for it in an awesome chase scene and get to our ship, which I am the pilot of.
We were suppose to run like the Falcon did in Empire Strikes Back. I turned the ship around and rammed Darth Vader.
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webguy20I spend too much time on the InternetRegistered Userregular
Did Vader pluck you from the air and crush you like a soda can?
So Star Wars group so far (when it happens) is a Commando, a Sharp Shooter, an Ambassador and a Saboteur droid (though that tree honestly doesn't seem to fit what people expect it to be, so might steer him into mechanic).
So diplomatic mission and her guards works as a campaign starter probably.
Brawn: How beefy/tough your character is, characters with high brawn are swash bucklers, hired muscle and squad leaders
Athletics: Catch all for physical activity. Climbing, swimming, running and forcing doors open all check this.
Impose: A mixture of what comes under command and intimidate in other games. To clock the name just think of a sentence like 'Anderson imposed himself on the captain till he broke'. Can be used to get people to obey you for either duty or physical fear.
Brawl: Melee, whether with your fists or with a blade.
Resilience: Mostly a reactionary check used to shrug off adverse effects, ignore your wounds for a bit, deal with being in a sweltering engine room, go without food without downsides
Then two more? Maybe split melee and brawl into two separate things.
Finesse: Eyesight, reactions and fine motor skills, characters with high finesse are soldiers, thieves and fighter pilots
Firearms: Catch all for standard guns/ranged weapons
Subterfuge: Sneaking, sleight of hand and so on.
Pilot: Driving small boats, flying planes and driving what few vehicles are about
Gunnery: Firing vehicle mounted weapons
Which leaves two more, maybe split firearms and throwables (knives, grenades, etc.)
Intelligence: How smart your character is when they can dedicate time to learning, characters with high intelligence are lawyers, technicians and military aides
Knowledge (Education): Know local laws and science in a theoretical manner, be able to research faster.
Knowledge (Culture): Languages and history.
Tactics: Bigger hand of cards in combat, also used when planning military stuff or co-ordinating troops
Computing: Hack the planet, duh
Medicine: Help people not be sick/full of bullets/dead
Engineering: Repair your ship/AI friend. Sabotage mechanical things and so on.
I think the knowledge ones could do with being re-jiggered for more of a cyberpunk/ship based angle. Especially the culture one.
Wits: How quick your characters mind is. High wits characters are captains, scoundrels and slick talkers.
Streetsmarts: Keep your head down, know a shady guy, get access to the black markets and so on
Captain: Command large, crewed ships and planes.
Conversation: Lame name that should be changed, convince people of things and so on.
Perception: Lame name that should be changed, exactly what perception is in most games.
Wealth: Characters pocket change, can be used to reduce expenses for the group, barter and bribe.
Composure: Don't freak out, prevents being pinned in combat, basically resilience but for mental effects.
So I guess fishing for general suggestions. The setting over view is a drowned planet earth where most land is swallowed by the sea and corporations are the dominant powers with their own fleets and giant floating cities.
EDIT: Also the idea is that you can pick up 'quirks' for skills that describe things like specialties and stuff within them. So the skills are deliberately vague (IE, for firearms you could pick up the quirk: Sharp shooter which makes any shots at range get a bonus, think of quirks as little tags you add on to describe how your character uses the skill).
@ArcanisTheImpotent I created a 4 page quick reference guide for my group when I started running L5R for them. If you want, I can toss it up on google drive and send a link your way. You might find it useful.
i am going to take a stab at running Legend of the Five Rings this weekend amidst much sake and soju
lord save me from myself
L5R is awesome! Hope it works out well for you. If you're worried about the the formal social interaction stuff (courts), then a good way to go is have the PCs be all bushi or shugenja and have them be Imperial Magistrates, upholding the Emperor's law against bandits and other threats. There is still potential for courtly intrigue, but it can be put in later as the PCs are more comfortable with the system. Also having the PCs as magistrates gives the group a unifying goal, so even though their characters are of different clans they are far more willing to work together.
for those wondering, i'm not worried about the scope of the campaign; i've actually been cooking an idea up for awhile, in contrast to my usual mode of "here's a loose situation, go go gadget improv"
it features peasant revolts, scandals, and other such chicanery involving a small offshoot family under the Crane aegis
i am going to take a stab at running Legend of the Five Rings this weekend amidst much sake and soju
lord save me from myself
4E? Dear Kami those books are gorgeous. I think I've got all but the Book of Earth now.
It would be my RPG white whale if I weren't so intimidated by it.
i actually don't find L5R intimidating; the system is not hard to grok. the challenge is in the roleplaying approach; you really have to make sure everyone understands that society is very much collectivist and the needs of the many outweigh the one every single time
when that clicks with players, you start to see some pretty magical RP--totally selfless PCs are a sight to behold
i am going to take a stab at running Legend of the Five Rings this weekend amidst much sake and soju
lord save me from myself
4E? Dear Kami those books are gorgeous. I think I've got all but the Book of Earth now.
It would be my RPG white whale if I weren't so intimidated by it.
i actually don't find L5R intimidating; the system is not hard to grok. the challenge is in the roleplaying approach; you really have to make sure everyone understands that society is very much collectivist and the needs of the many outweigh the one every single time
when that clicks with players, you start to see some pretty magical RP--totally selfless PCs are a sight to behold
I'm not sure this is true. The trick is to APPEAR to be collectivist without revealing your own ambitions. Your goal is to bring honor and glory to yourself and your clan without damaging their your reputations through naked ambition. Likewise if you are not gaining honor for your clan, they will cease to send you to the Winter Court. If you are not earning glory in battle, they will cease to give you military rank and give you the shit positions. Face is one of the most important concepts in L5R's interpretation of Bushido. For example, honesty is very important in L5R's society. However, the truth is less important. It's less important to tell the truth than it is to appear sincere. Likewise it's less important to win a battle than it is to appear victorious. This is Face.
That may just be the Scorpion player in me projecting on to the other clans, though.
L5R is a lot of baggage to step into, especially for people who have played things like D&D and Star Wars to this point. Even more than the mechanics, the mindset is one that seems like it's pretty difficult to prep people who are unfamiliar with it for, without seriously straight-jacketing players.
You are the only holding the handmirror. And yet you dare not look upon that mirror straight on. You fear the true visage reflected on its surface. /Scorpion
God I miss that setting. I should really get the books from the newest edition. I'm also very excited for the re-release of the CCG as an LCG by FFG this year.
(as an aside i re-read @Solar 's game that tried to get going and i miss our combo @Mikey CTS )
It's too bad that never properly got rolling. I really wanted to see where we would have taken. Probably tragedy and death cause that's how romance always works out in samurai stories.
Nah, Scorpion don't usually fuck with the Crab cause they're too busy dying on the Wall to present a threat to the Empire. All those other clans are on notice.
Truthfully the Shadowlands was one conceit about the setting that always bugged me. It seems impossible for the Empire to stand with such a impossible threat on its border.
Crab "handmirrors" are actually three foot wide cauldrons made of pure jade and filled with water from the mountains that contains kami who detect Shadowlands taint in any whose reflection falls across them.
L5R is one of those games I love reading about, but I just don't if I'd have the patience to run. Maybe play since I can be a little political rat if I put my mind to it.
"Go down, kick ass, and set yourselves up as gods, that's our Prime Directive!"
Fart Blossom
Range: 120 foot (36 m) area.
Duration: Two minutes per level of experience.
Saving Throw: None.
P.P.E.: Two
Basically the same spell as Cloud of Smoke (Rifts® RPG,
page 168; Rifts® Ultimate Ed., page 198), except that the
smoke cloud seems to billow forth from the character's ... urn .
derriere ... behind, and has a bit of a burnt smell to it.
Edit: Ok, this one is kind of amazing.
Play It Again, Sam
Range: Up to 50 feet (15.2 m) away.
Duration: One song per every other level of experience; typically
one song is between 2 to 5 minutes, but some are longer.
Saving Throw: None.
P.P.E.: Twenty-five
At the caster's request, a band will appear to playa song chosen
by the caster. This band is usually a small group of 3 to 8 individuals
(1 D6+2 members) that will play the requested song.
The song is limited to the mage 's knowledge, they will not play
a song which the caster does not know or has never heard of.
The band wiII appear anywhere, coming from around a corner,
an alleyway, come out of a nearby building, out of the top of a
garbage bin, coming out of a taxi or bus, or even in a puff of
smoke. They appear anywhere. The band will also follow the
caster and stay at a distance limited by the spell (up to 50
feetll5.2 m away). The band members will be of any appearance
chosen by the caster (you could have a group of Elvises
performing). All band members are a magical incarnation, making
them invulnerable to psionic attacks, strong versus spells
(take half damage only), and they will seem to be protected by a
force field surrounding them (75 S.D.C. or 50 M.D.C.). Once
the field is down and the band members are hit (each member
having 6 S.D.C.), they will disappear. The group won't leave
until they've played all the requested songs. You just can't get
rid of them! They will play one song for every other level of the
caster, 1 song at level one. 2 songs at level three, 3 songs at
level five, etc. Ludicrous Mages love this spell when they're
performing or at a karaoke bar
So right now I've got that GMing bug bad. Not sure if I want to try to run a 13th Age game here as a pbp or try to do a Roll20 game (since my connection is historically monstrous). I am going to be doing my pirate 13th Age game I ran here for my brother and a few friends on the 12th of the month, so I'm happy that I've decided to pull the trigger on that since I've been teasing it for months now.
Oh, and out of boredom, I made a thing for one of my 13th Age game ideas...
So, if there was an Android RPG, what do you think the example adventure in the back of the book would be and which runners would be the pre-gens?
Personal fantasy choice: robbing the Midway station grid after a disgruntled ex security chief coughs up weaknesses, wanting to show up the freshly instated Argus security watch.
Pre-gens would be Reina Roja as your beefy fighter with a gun, Andromeda as the face of the group, Kate as the technical/skill monkey and Gabe as your scummy thief man.
Posts
The flip side to this is a lot of people are going to want to reenact the movies which is, uh, not my bag. @Jdarksun did a really great job of threading the needle on this not being too much of a thing for us while simultaneously feeling like we were involved in the "big story".
That can happen. Bizarro New Hope is fun once or so, but it doesn't take long to get stale. Nevermind that any given movie is, like, two sessions at most.
The setting's metaplot, to put it in RPG terms, is so well known that riffing on it in interesting ways is pretty easy for a GM with any kind of ambition. The danger lies in tying yourself too tightly to some kind of canon, rather than just embracing the space-opera-ness and rolling with whatever happens.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
I mean, unless your players insist on meddling in the film plots. Which I guess you should work out ahead of time?
So, I guess don't do that. Any of that. Either side.
Just accept that you're playing in ZZZ-canon and act accordingly.
Edit: This was the same GM, by the way, who has a VHS of the Christmas Special and watches it at least once a year. Often as part of game night. I really, truly love the guy, but he's a little nuts.
Edit 2: That game ran for like 6 years. At one point, I also crash-landed the Millenium Falcon (which I had just stolen) on an unnamed desert planet. Which I guess kind of works now in A-canon. Who knew.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
We were suppose to run like the Falcon did in Empire Strikes Back. I turned the ship around and rammed Darth Vader.
Origin ID: Discgolfer27
Untappd ID: Discgolfer1981
So diplomatic mission and her guards works as a campaign starter probably.
He couldn't. His Turn, he walked into the shuttle bay behind his stormtrooper escorts ala ESB. My turn, I slammed forward the throttle and rammed him.
Any bits you can share now in terms of setting?
Chicago Megagame group
Watch me struggle to learn streaming! Point and laugh!
Brawn: How beefy/tough your character is, characters with high brawn are swash bucklers, hired muscle and squad leaders
Athletics: Catch all for physical activity. Climbing, swimming, running and forcing doors open all check this.
Impose: A mixture of what comes under command and intimidate in other games. To clock the name just think of a sentence like 'Anderson imposed himself on the captain till he broke'. Can be used to get people to obey you for either duty or physical fear.
Brawl: Melee, whether with your fists or with a blade.
Resilience: Mostly a reactionary check used to shrug off adverse effects, ignore your wounds for a bit, deal with being in a sweltering engine room, go without food without downsides
Then two more? Maybe split melee and brawl into two separate things.
Finesse: Eyesight, reactions and fine motor skills, characters with high finesse are soldiers, thieves and fighter pilots
Firearms: Catch all for standard guns/ranged weapons
Subterfuge: Sneaking, sleight of hand and so on.
Pilot: Driving small boats, flying planes and driving what few vehicles are about
Gunnery: Firing vehicle mounted weapons
Which leaves two more, maybe split firearms and throwables (knives, grenades, etc.)
Intelligence: How smart your character is when they can dedicate time to learning, characters with high intelligence are lawyers, technicians and military aides
Knowledge (Education): Know local laws and science in a theoretical manner, be able to research faster.
Knowledge (Culture): Languages and history.
Tactics: Bigger hand of cards in combat, also used when planning military stuff or co-ordinating troops
Computing: Hack the planet, duh
Medicine: Help people not be sick/full of bullets/dead
Engineering: Repair your ship/AI friend. Sabotage mechanical things and so on.
I think the knowledge ones could do with being re-jiggered for more of a cyberpunk/ship based angle. Especially the culture one.
Wits: How quick your characters mind is. High wits characters are captains, scoundrels and slick talkers.
Streetsmarts: Keep your head down, know a shady guy, get access to the black markets and so on
Captain: Command large, crewed ships and planes.
Conversation: Lame name that should be changed, convince people of things and so on.
Perception: Lame name that should be changed, exactly what perception is in most games.
Wealth: Characters pocket change, can be used to reduce expenses for the group, barter and bribe.
Composure: Don't freak out, prevents being pinned in combat, basically resilience but for mental effects.
So I guess fishing for general suggestions. The setting over view is a drowned planet earth where most land is swallowed by the sea and corporations are the dominant powers with their own fleets and giant floating cities.
EDIT: Also the idea is that you can pick up 'quirks' for skills that describe things like specialties and stuff within them. So the skills are deliberately vague (IE, for firearms you could pick up the quirk: Sharp shooter which makes any shots at range get a bonus, think of quirks as little tags you add on to describe how your character uses the skill).
lord save me from myself
sake and soju
thank you though! if we manage to roll any dice at all that will be the true Christmas miracle
Fighting Style: Slasher (Claws)
Sample Fighter: Armor 2, Body 4, Weapon 2
Fighting Style: Long Arm (Spear/Polearm)
Fighter uses Thrust. d6 Offense, d4 Defense.
Skeleton uses Crosscut Slash. d8 Offense, d6 Defense.
Geth, roll 1d6+2 Fighter Thrust Offense+Weapon
Geth Roll 1d4+2 Fighter Thrust Defense+Armor
Geth, roll 1d8+3 Skeleton Crosscut Slash Offense+Weapon
Geth, roll 1d6 Skeleton Crosscut Slash Defense
Fighter dice explode on offense, so he bumps up to a d8 to see if he gets a higher number.
Geth, roll 1d8+2 Fighter Thrust Offense
L5R is awesome! Hope it works out well for you. If you're worried about the the formal social interaction stuff (courts), then a good way to go is have the PCs be all bushi or shugenja and have them be Imperial Magistrates, upholding the Emperor's law against bandits and other threats. There is still potential for courtly intrigue, but it can be put in later as the PCs are more comfortable with the system. Also having the PCs as magistrates gives the group a unifying goal, so even though their characters are of different clans they are far more willing to work together.
4E? Dear Kami those books are gorgeous. I think I've got all but the Book of Earth now.
It would be my RPG white whale if I weren't so intimidated by it.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
it features peasant revolts, scandals, and other such chicanery involving a small offshoot family under the Crane aegis
i actually don't find L5R intimidating; the system is not hard to grok. the challenge is in the roleplaying approach; you really have to make sure everyone understands that society is very much collectivist and the needs of the many outweigh the one every single time
when that clicks with players, you start to see some pretty magical RP--totally selfless PCs are a sight to behold
I'm not sure this is true. The trick is to APPEAR to be collectivist without revealing your own ambitions. Your goal is to bring honor and glory to yourself and your clan without damaging their your reputations through naked ambition. Likewise if you are not gaining honor for your clan, they will cease to send you to the Winter Court. If you are not earning glory in battle, they will cease to give you military rank and give you the shit positions. Face is one of the most important concepts in L5R's interpretation of Bushido. For example, honesty is very important in L5R's society. However, the truth is less important. It's less important to tell the truth than it is to appear sincere. Likewise it's less important to win a battle than it is to appear victorious. This is Face.
That may just be the Scorpion player in me projecting on to the other clans, though.
We are simply a handmirror held. The dark reflection the other clans deny but cannot escape. 8-)
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
God I miss that setting. I should really get the books from the newest edition. I'm also very excited for the re-release of the CCG as an LCG by FFG this year.
It's too bad that never properly got rolling. I really wanted to see where we would have taken. Probably tragedy and death cause that's how romance always works out in samurai stories.
Truthfully the Shadowlands was one conceit about the setting that always bugged me. It seems impossible for the Empire to stand with such a impossible threat on its border.
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
someone should start a game...
Critical Failures - Havenhold Campaign • August St. Cloud (Human Ranger)
Now I can make that important decision to buy Kingdom Death Monster or not.
Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
Make your friends bid on who gets to play it with you, that should help with the cost.
Range: 120 foot (36 m) area.
Duration: Two minutes per level of experience.
Saving Throw: None.
P.P.E.: Two
Basically the same spell as Cloud of Smoke (Rifts® RPG,
page 168; Rifts® Ultimate Ed., page 198), except that the
smoke cloud seems to billow forth from the character's ... urn .
derriere ... behind, and has a bit of a burnt smell to it.
Edit: Ok, this one is kind of amazing.
Play It Again, Sam
Range: Up to 50 feet (15.2 m) away.
Duration: One song per every other level of experience; typically
one song is between 2 to 5 minutes, but some are longer.
Saving Throw: None.
P.P.E.: Twenty-five
At the caster's request, a band will appear to playa song chosen
by the caster. This band is usually a small group of 3 to 8 individuals
(1 D6+2 members) that will play the requested song.
The song is limited to the mage 's knowledge, they will not play
a song which the caster does not know or has never heard of.
The band wiII appear anywhere, coming from around a corner,
an alleyway, come out of a nearby building, out of the top of a
garbage bin, coming out of a taxi or bus, or even in a puff of
smoke. They appear anywhere. The band will also follow the
caster and stay at a distance limited by the spell (up to 50
feetll5.2 m away). The band members will be of any appearance
chosen by the caster (you could have a group of Elvises
performing). All band members are a magical incarnation, making
them invulnerable to psionic attacks, strong versus spells
(take half damage only), and they will seem to be protected by a
force field surrounding them (75 S.D.C. or 50 M.D.C.). Once
the field is down and the band members are hit (each member
having 6 S.D.C.), they will disappear. The group won't leave
until they've played all the requested songs. You just can't get
rid of them! They will play one song for every other level of the
caster, 1 song at level one. 2 songs at level three, 3 songs at
level five, etc. Ludicrous Mages love this spell when they're
performing or at a karaoke bar
They tried to bury us. They didn't know that we were seeds. 2018 Midterms. Get your shit together.
So right now I've got that GMing bug bad. Not sure if I want to try to run a 13th Age game here as a pbp or try to do a Roll20 game (since my connection is historically monstrous). I am going to be doing my pirate 13th Age game I ran here for my brother and a few friends on the 12th of the month, so I'm happy that I've decided to pull the trigger on that since I've been teasing it for months now.
Oh, and out of boredom, I made a thing for one of my 13th Age game ideas...
Personal fantasy choice: robbing the Midway station grid after a disgruntled ex security chief coughs up weaknesses, wanting to show up the freshly instated Argus security watch.
Pre-gens would be Reina Roja as your beefy fighter with a gun, Andromeda as the face of the group, Kate as the technical/skill monkey and Gabe as your scummy thief man.