Okay so I'm beginning my game soon. I was going to modify the beginner game to familiarize my players with the system appropriate to how they created their characters, backstory, etc.

They all created their characters, they decided they wanted to be a group of bounty hunters and that is why they are together (they aren't bounty hunter class, their characters are just "bounty hunters") it's a group of 5 players. They didn't want the millennium falcon, they thought it was too cliche, so I let them pick a ship. The "Boba Fett" ship was just too small for a group of 5 to have important roles in space combat. They went with the medium freighter, it sucks in combat and one off players is a pilot who is excited to play as a pilot, so I went ahead as GM and said their will be a cloakshape fighter on board. I don't mind doing so because it'll give him a chance to shine and I do want to have some space combat in my campaign as a GM.

So I was thinking, some of the roles are probably meant for NPC players such as "captain" and "loadmasters" but I though this could be valuable if I can create my own system to give the other players something to do. For instance I have a player who picked colonist politico, good at social things and I though well she can fill in as the captain, making skill checks to increase other players chances at success, the ship also has a pilot, copilot, engineer, and a gunner. It also says it has a loadmaster. So what else can I do to create a system for the captain, also anything for a loadmaster? It's a big ship and it makes gunning down tie fighters difficult as well as maneuvering, I like the idea of giving the pilot a fighter to be able to play as he wants, but what can I do with the other members of their large ship to make it seem like they contributing? They all liked the idea the of "captain" performing a leadership check to add boost die or reduce difficulty die.

Largely, the crew positions outlined in the stat blocks for each ship are mostly flavor. My players chose the Wayfarer and it's been a great base for them, but when space combat breaks out (rarely in my games), they are at a loss for what to do. The addition of the cloak-shape is a good idea.

Are you having trouble figuring out what others can do in space combat? It sounds like you are already familiar with table 7-7 in the Edge of the Empire Core Rule Book, but if you haven't looked at that, definitely check it out on page 237.

Personally, I like to encourage my players who aren't the pilot or gunner(s) to find ways of using their skills in space combat. you do want to exercise caution with this though. For example, allowing a person to use leadership to grant boost die may negate the use of Inspiring Rhetoric, so keep that in mind. Fortunately, Firing Discipline seems to be balanced in that regard.

It depends on the group. Load masters usually are in charge of the cargo, calculating weight and fuel and doing a does a dozen other things.

The question is what can your players do?

The comm/scan operator can be a very important role. Not only does he feed info to the flight crew, but he is also the one that rolls charm and deception in most cases, and is the guy that handles any electronic warfare and countermeasures. So that leaves plenty of room for scoundrels and slicers..

The flight engineer is pretty vital, repairing trauma and strain and doing other things that keep the craft flying. Moving shields around and other things as well.

Gunners can be anyone with the gunnery skill really. If they were in the wayfarer they can mount plenty of additional weapons for everyone.

Anything else you can think of. The system is intended to allow the players to get really creative with what they can do. The stuff in the book is merely suggestions, not hard requirements. If the players want to grab a power harpoon and board the enemy ship while EVA, go for it.

Well I'm kind of just confused by how the large ships are supposed to act in combat. They have a foreign arc on that specific ship to the front of the ship. Most of the pilot maneuvers are not applicable to the ship because it's silhouette is 5, so I'm by even really sure on how it would face a tie fighter, because the tie fighter has such a higher speed, does the pilot of the wayfarer have to use a maneuver to turn and face the ship it wishes to attack?

I didn't realize all the 7-7 was applicable to everyone, I thought the ship complement basically meant "you have one engineer or co pilot who can do these" and all the other players could do was repair or what not. That's just I had the idea of a "captain" adding boost dice. I mean maybe I'll still do the "captain" thing so they have a little more flavor, but they'll have that list of actions. Rather than be limited to whatever I made up.

If you want mechanical benefits for a captain you have to take a look at the Commodore spec in the Commander career in AoR. Those kinds of things are getting into the realm of capital ships.

I wouldn't create any harsh gameplay mechanic rules for what your characters can do during space encounters (aside from what EotE already has). EotE has an emphasis on improv. If you've given your players plenty of background on what the ship's components are or what the ship is capable of, you can just let them deal with the checks themselves. It's your player's responsibility to come up with an idea of how to use his politico talents during space flight, not yours. A loadmaster is in charge of cargo. He's certainly not going to recheck inventory during a space battle, but if an imperial customs officer comes aboard, he'll be the first to talk to the officer. Here's some more advice:

- Get or create a deckplan of the ship.

- Add technical detail, and choose whether or not you want to follow SW "Physics". Add in a reactor core that converts fuel from the fuel cells into power that feeds into the the power cell battery, which feeds power into other systems of the ship. I don't think the reactor core is mentioned in the EotE book, but it's mentioned in other star wars books. There are other subsystems like gravity control, crawl spaces, deflection projectors, that can be added to enhance the players' control over the ship. Be careful on how technical you get, because in Star Wars, you're going to have to let a lot of the "real life physics mumbo jumbo" slide in order for things to stay in place.

- Create a crisis and let the players deal with it. This could be reprogrammed droids running amok through the ship, or large scale space combat. If your players are incapable of coming up with ideas on how to incorporate their melee marauder into space battles, then you start coming up with your own suggestions, but I'm saying these improv things are handled on a case by case basis.

It depends on the group. Load masters usually are in charge of the cargo, calculating weight and fuel and doing a does a dozen other things.

On a bounty hunter's ship, the loadmaster is also likely to be a jailer, and possibly a medic if keeping the prisoners alive is important. Out group has an ex-slaver that works as a combination capture specialist/loadmaster. Of course, we keep out prisoners in large specimen containers (which maintain them in stasis) from Enter the Unknown, so we can use cargo space for holding prisoners in our E-9 Explorer (also from Enter the Unknown).

Well I'm kind of just confused by how the large ships are supposed to act in combat. They have a foreign arc on that specific ship to the front of the ship. Most of the pilot maneuvers are not applicable to the ship because it's silhouette is 5, so I'm by even really sure on how it would face a tie fighter, because the tie fighter has such a higher speed, does the pilot of the wayfarer have to use a maneuver to turn and face the ship it wishes to attack?

You may want to reevaluate what you want to do with the wayfarer. It's not the real heavy fighter option most bounty hunters choose. Perhaps going a different route might be more interesting. Mount an autoblaster, quadlaser, and heavy turbolaser to the side, an advanced targeting system, and an ecm suite, you'll have something akin to an AC-130. A gunship that can be used to circle overhead and lay waste to ground targets on a horrifying level...

If you want mechanical benefits for a captain you have to take a look at the Commodore spec in the Commander career in AoR. Those kinds of things are getting into the realm of capital ships.

Mercenary Soldier has Field Commander (and the Improved version of the same) which can be very useful in starship combat. With Presence 3+ (or 2+ with Improved) just about the entire group can get free out of turn maneuvers, which can be Aim, Assist, or possibly other thing (Supreme Inspiring Rhetoric can keep the group's Strain low and give Boost too).

You might consider just hand waving the crew capacity of the Firespray. Making sure the ship you give them will fit the style of the game they want to play is important, not that you are following every minute detail of the ship's specification.

It's a bit more potent than the stock starting ships, but consider giving them a YT-2400 on page 265. It's reminiscent of the Milennium Falcon, but different enough to not feel like another cookie cutter ship. Encourage them to save up their credits for a speed upgrade so they can eventually do some of the nicer maneuvers like Gain the Advantage.

Perhaps give the players a group obligation to the ship to make up for the slight upgrade compared to the Wayfarer, Firespray, or YT-1300.

In something like an 'arranged agreement' between gentlebeings it's probably a lot more unorthodox than a military vessel, but there are still places which would require a position for crewmembers that have to be filled for the smooth running of a ship. If I was to compare it to something like 18th century pirates, it might look something like this:

Captain

The most experienced spacer, owner of the ship or someone with leadership skills that has a mix of not being too aggressive and has the best interests of the crew invested into their activities. They would mostly have that leadership mostly during combat operations, but the remaining business is actually diplomatic in terms of what people want to do... including voting them out of the position if they're awful!

Quartermaster

The executive officer and 2IC, handles the management of the ship, division of profits, obtaining supplies and making sure the ordinary spacers are keeping the place clean, not inordinately inebriated all the time and other day to day duties.

Navigator

Very important position, held by someone with advanced Astrogation skills so they actually end up where they want to go. Astro-droids probably hold this by default, but would probably benefit by having some human oversight.

Steersman

The lead pilot, makes the ship go places in sub-light and hopefully doesn't crash it into things

Boatswain

The senior engineer on the ship responsible for the ships mechanical aspects, ordering droids and other damage control parties around for repairs. Probably has the final say on modifications with their professional assesment.

Doctor/Surgeon

Despite being 'luggage' by not being a professional spacer, they'd be welcome most anywhere on a vessel as people have a tendancy to get hurt on a fairly regular basis. They would be responsible also for medical supplies and making sure the crew get some kind of checkups to keep them fit for duties.

Master Gunner

Shooting stuff mostly, but also making sure there are provisions for the weapons systems and at a higher level, co-ordination between multiple gunners if the ship has them.

Master at Arms

Responsible for the weapons carried by crew, ships security and if need be, the brig and its contents.

Thats just a few I can think of off the top of my head, other organisations might resemble something like a bikie gang's structure or if there's a lot of ex-military types and actual naval structure. Plus of course on smaller crews, some people might be doubling up in certain duties.

ONe of my ideas was to have the players on a pirate ship. I used mainly a lot of the positions that merchant marine would have. it is a stark difference between licensed and unlicensed. But with 5 you really do not need to go much in depth

For 5 players on one ship you would be going to a medium transport

Captain/Pilot

Co-Pilot
Gunners per position

Engineer

optional (Or double duty):

Systems (Sensors, shields, computers)

Loadmaster

Cook

Medical

Good stuff and thank you for all the help, one thing I am still confused over though is that someone said you don't have to use a maneuver in order to target a ship, so what is the point of firing arcs then? I'm just not quite sure why there would be a firing arc, unless it's purely a narrative thing.

Thanks again for all the help. I've gotten a lot of good tips and info in here that will definitely help me an play players have a better session.

Good stuff and thank you for all the help, one thing I am still confused over though is that someone said you don't have to use a maneuver in order to target a ship, so what is the point of firing arcs then? I'm just not quite sure why there would be a firing arc, unless it's purely a narrative thing.

Welcome to Edge of the Empire, where stuff doesn't matter except when it totally does!

Seriously though, think it through narratively and it'll make more sense, the exact scenario will color the situation for you and you'll start to see how fire arc inhabit the space between story and mechanics.

• You are in a basic Dogfight with some TIE fighters. They are buzzing around within the close range band. You roll Gunnery to try and catch one of them in front of you as they fly all over the place. You make the check and fail... guess none of them got into a good position, they are slippery little jerks.

• You are being chased (using the chase mechanics) by some TIE fighters, so you can't really bring your forward guns to bear without doing something nutty like a Crazy Ivan (Opposed piloting checks)

• You are dueling it out with a Nebulon-B, he rolls an opposed check to put his Port side to you, but he can't use weapons from Starboard side to shoot at you.

• You have landed in a field when 5 airspeeders come darting over the horizon. The dorsal turret can engage them, but not the rear facing missile launcher...

• You have Gained the Advantage* on a Y-wing, who has also Gained the Advantage* on your friend Steve. The Y-wing's pilot shoots at Steve with the laser cannons, so the Y-wing's gunner can either shoot at you with the Ion Cannon turret, or at Steve with the Torpedo Launcher, but (probably) not at you with the torpedoes.

See, it makes more sense when you aren't trying to actually make sense of it. Narratively the fire arcs suggest actions that may need to be taken and help color the scene. Mechanically they control how many weapons you can bring to bear on how many targets in a single round.

*Note that Gaining the Advantage doesn't actually establish positioning exactly, just a state of...well, advantage. However as the use of that state plays out the positioning can generate color, but not change the state.

Good stuff and thank you for all the help, one thing I am still confused over though is that someone said you don't have to use a maneuver in order to target a ship, so what is the point of firing arcs then? I'm just not quite sure why there would be a firing arc, unless it's purely a narrative thing.

Thanks again for all the help. I've gotten a lot of good tips and info in here that will definitely help me an play players have a better session.

It's not necessarily purely narrative. If you're intent on running and all your weapons are forward firing you'd be out of luck at my table. Some weapons are on 360 degree turrets and firing arc is not an issue, but of course they will say all arcs.

Thanks again for clearing that up for me!

For my group I gave them the choice of a few different ships. They chose the Citadel class cruiser. It was a very good choice for a larger group.

Salcor