Okay, that is a misleading title, but it's almost true!

We had a session tonight in which I provided the PCs with a variety of possible motivations to rescue a Twi'lek from a slave auction. There was a moral AND a potential financial reward involved if they did.

Many parties would have charged right in and said "OK we'll go slaughter everybody at the auction and rescue the slave."

But our party are not a super-combat-heavy group, they are mainly explorers. Their characters debated what to do about it, in-character, for a great session of roleplay in which we didn't have a single combat encounter!

The players eventually did decide to rescue the girl, but they've now worked out a very careful strategy about how to do it. They're not veteran fighters--they want to do it without getting shot, if possible.

I'm just very proud of my players right now!

Did they buy her?

Yep, EotE gives us all these tools of mass destruction, but games run entirely fine without them. In my current game, we've only killed 12 rats, but we're still having loads of fun.

Did they buy her?

Nope, they've got about 200 credits to their name, and they're desperately trying to sell the relics recovered from their previous adventure and fix the hull damage to their ship!

I can say I know that pain and that pride, because my group has been doing the same.

My first adventure hook for EotE involved breaking into a local governor's manor and getting some blackmail on him (he had certain. . .relationships, shall we say, with non-humans), with optional hooks of "reacquiring" things that were stolen or taken in underhanded ways. I had expected my group to sneak in and fight thier way out.

Instead, they had everything mapped out and they RPed it to a T; they walked in and out without any shots being fired!

The group had a short combat in Adventure Hook 2 with a few of Zann's Defilers, but they sidestepped two other combat scenes: one against two salvagers, whom they just sealed within the crashed ship, and against an entire outpost of Zann Consortium via disguises and good ideas. We've had ONE ship combat, which was a chase through an Asteroid Field. . .and the party was untouched.

They ended that adventure hook by not returning the girl they rescued (a slave girl that was a Hutt's "Gem"), but by returning the tracking beacon on her and saying they found it on some moon. . .through a third party so they wouldn't be killed, of course!

The most recent game was the most combat heavy, but only had two combat scenes. One against four Battle Droids on guard in their "office" (they sidestepped the others leading to that point thanks to the Politico inciting a small riot outside to draw their attention), and one ambush to get the target and his droids.

There was one other "fight scene," but that consisted of a player running up to a vehicle that had a droid driver, opening the door and blasting it with an ion gun. Hilarity ensued.

So yes, I can understand the pain of not seeing combat going as planned, but there is a great deal of pride when players use their non-combat skills to thier benefit.

And as a note, my group consists of: Doctor/Marauder, Outlaw Tech/Mechanic, Politico/Assassin, Pilot/Mercenary Soldier, and Bodyguard/Recruit. There may be some rehash now that we've gotten a few new books and we've seen some betas, but still, not horribly combat oriented.

And as a note, my group consists of: Doctor/Marauder, Outlaw Tech/Mechanic, Politico/Assassin, Pilot/Mercenary Soldier, and Bodyguard/Recruit. There may be some rehash now that we've gotten a few new books and we've seen some betas, but still, not horribly combat oriented.

That seems like a very combat oriented group, to me. Which makes it all the cooler that they look for creative solutions, instead.

And as a note, my group consists of: Doctor/Marauder, Outlaw Tech/Mechanic, Politico/Assassin, Pilot/Mercenary Soldier, and Bodyguard/Recruit. There may be some rehash now that we've gotten a few new books and we've seen some betas, but still, not horribly combat oriented.

That seems like a very combat oriented group, to me. Which makes it all the cooler that they look for creative solutions, instead.

They don't have that many combat skills, honestly. I gave them all a free second specialization at character creation, and they've only snagged about 40 XP so far (getting another 60 as that last string of sessions was that last adventure hook). I think the best is rolling 2Y1G, and Armor has been on the light side since they are always in public.

Still, it's fun to see them think :-D

It's always good when players begin thinking, finding alternatives to combat and avoiding the decidedly deadly risks that come with it; doing so also serves to make unavoidable conflict even more exciting, because the fact that it's fatal and should be avoided has been reinforced.

Unfortunately, not all players are so keen to avoid gunfights...

(Meant to quote Shakespearian_Soldier)

Oskara = guilty

Pash = guiltier

CC-2N8 = guiltiest

Manny = ...not so much

In my games, my players are always trying to find the non-combat solutions. In the game where I am the player, I try and navigate the group in the combat solution. Partly because I love combat in this game, and partly because I'm the doctor in the group so people getting hurt is where I shine. At least until I get dedication and can raise my presence some.

In my games, my players are always trying to find the non-combat solutions. In the game where I am the player, I try and navigate the group in the combat solution. Partly because I love combat in this game, and partly because I'm the doctor in the group so people getting hurt is where I shine. At least until I get dedication and can raise my presence some.

If you're also charging them for medical supplies you officially become my devious bastard of the week.

In my games, my players are always trying to find the non-combat solutions. In the game where I am the player, I try and navigate the group in the combat solution. Partly because I love combat in this game, and partly because I'm the doctor in the group so people getting hurt is where I shine. At least until I get dedication and can raise my presence some.

If you're also charging them for medical supplies you officially become my devious bastard of the week.

Now there's a thought. Since all medical supplies come out of our pooled credits, I suppose in some way I am charging them.

Now there's a thought. Since all medical supplies come out of our pooled credits, I suppose in some way I am charging them.

I tend to get lumbered with the job of keeping track of how much our group spends on kit for a job and bribes paid and other business expenses. Pash's player always jokes that were Pash motivated enough to take the job off of Oskara he'd be skimming off the top...

Did they buy her?

Nope, they've got about 200 credits to their name, and they're desperately trying to sell the relics recovered from their previous adventure and fix the hull damage to their ship!

Did they threaten someone else to buy her or else?...............

Its always a good feeling when your players are able to accomplish a goal without murdering everything in sight.

I've been lucky enough to go several sessions without any group-combat. Our Marauder tends to Streetwise his way into an underground boxing match, but the rest of the party is typically just watching/shopping/carousing while he does so. Or betting on the outcome. I tend not to count his fights as 'combat encounters' since he's considered a 'prize fighter' in the Outer Rim now, and its not his direct solution to problems. And he's actually used his status of kicking asses around the galaxy to deter fighting.

Did they buy her?

As a player I'm a charge in kind of guy. Got shot? Boo hoo, duck faster next time.

The bigger concern is whether the players actually try to solve a problem or simply give up. It was kind of touch and go before my players broke into the Jedi Temple. My players are the give up kind if they have to think too hard.

Did they buy her?

Nope, they've got about 200 credits to their name, and they're desperately trying to sell the relics recovered from their previous adventure and fix the hull damage to their ship!

Did they threaten someone else to buy her or else?...............

They considered getting somebody else to buy the Twi'lek and trying to take a commission. The Twi'lek on sale had a datachip with valuable information that could be used against the slaver.

Their Bothan contact pointed out that once you've told somebody about the datachip, why would they need to pay you?

So they eventually circled back around to trying to acquire the datachip without spending any money. Hopefully sneakily and without too much violence.

We'll see how it goes!

As a player I'm a charge in kind of guy. Got shot? Boo hoo, duck faster next time.

The bigger concern is whether the players actually try to solve a problem or simply give up. It was kind of touch and go before my players broke into the Jedi Temple. My players are the give up kind if they have to think too hard.

Our group can have a tendency for the PLAYERS to over-analyze situations, but I was very pleased in this case that each player was really arguing their CHARACTER's point of view.

I think it helped them to flesh out their characters and start building the relationships they have with each other.