I am really excited to be getting my beginner box and core rulebook this week. I have been devouring lots of EoE related information and I can't wait to get started with all of it. (I even had the Long Arm of the Hutt scenario printed and sprial-bound )

I saw a great thread about tweaks to the Long Arm scenario which gave me lots of good ideas. Everyone in my group has good rpg experience and I of course want them to have the most fun and best experience learning the new system. So if anyone has ideas on punching up the Escape from Mos Shutta scenario I'd love to hear them. In particular I have heard the TIE encounter is kind of basic (which I understand, I mean this is the intro game) but I'm sure the players would be able to handle a bit of extra complexity if it means a more exciting fight.

One thought I had was to have extra gamorreans guarding the landing bay at the end. I mean, these guys are obviously trying to get offworld and that's the only ship available so Teemo would have sent thugs to watch the landing bay, right? I was also planning on tangentially introducing Thweek the kubaz spy as foreshadowing for the Long Arm scenario.

If you feel confident doing it, I'd definitely recommend adding a bit of flavor to the space encounter at the end.

To be honest, our group had a great time with Escape from Mos Schuuta as written and I didn't feel the need to punch it up at all. I added a few wrinkles to Long Arm of the Hutt but the only thing I would have changed in "Escape" was the space encounter.

Yeah the beginner box is decent, if a little hand-holdy/rail roady at times. I'm kind of the opinion to go ahead and use the space encounter more or less as is, as a teaching tool. Just use the "one roll resolution" mechanic to wrap it up once it's clear the players have the concept down. There are better space encounters down the road.

All you have to do to 'ramp' it up is take the railroad bits out. Don't have the bar tender tell them the ship needs an HMRI. Don't let them know it has docking clamps that need removed.

Not only will it make things 'interesting' for them, but for you as well. Heck, they may end up in a jail cell and never get out of Mos Shutta.

Seriously though, I would just run it as is. That way you can get the core mechanics down. That is, after all, the intent of it. After that...

When I ran the Beginner's Box, I had my players roll up their own characters. We've been a consistent roleplaying group for about six years now, and we've never liked playing pregenerated characters. Plus, the only options after starting the BB with pregen characters is either starting anew at the next session or continuing play with the pregen characters, and neither of those options are appealing.

We had a session beforehand just for character creation. Running the BB with custom characters went really well, and now Trex and Teemo are recurring villains and a huge part of my PC's background. I'd recommend that method.

Yeah the beginner box is decent, if a little hand-holdy/rail roady at times. I'm kind of the opinion to go ahead and use the space encounter more or less as is, as a teaching tool. Just use the "one roll resolution" mechanic to wrap it up once it's clear the players have the concept down. There are better space encounters down the road.

It felt quite "Tutorial Mode", yeah. But fun and (for my group at least) necessary.

I sat my players down before playing and told them that, "This is a tutorial, I chose who you play and it will be very much a railroaded experience. Three of you have never played an RPG before and might think this is how playing an RPG works, it isn't. Usually it allows for a lot more freedom as the other two players can attest to. We are playing this session to see how the system works. This will not reflect the games we will play in the future but consider it like a tutorial in a video game."

And... We had a blast! We really learned how to play the game together and loved it!

Just played "Escape from Mos Shutta" a couple nights ago, and even with the minor tweaks the GM made, it still felt railroady, and I've run the adventure twice for two different groups. Granted, that's good for a group of players and/or GM that's just getting their feet wet with the system. And I suspect the Age of Rebellion Beginner Box adventure will do much the same of holding the hands of both players and GM.

As for "punching it up", the only suggestion I can really make is to have the PCs put more effort into finding a ride out of Mos Shutta, with the bartender simply telling them to get out of his cantina and maybe warning them that if Teemo's gunning for them, they're best bet is to get off the planet. At that point, let them try various skill checks to find out what the can about their options.

Alternatively, instead of having the group steal Trax's ship, you could have them go after the recently arrived Imperial shuttle instead. You don't have to worry about any sort of repairs that way, but there'd be a number of clues for "Long Arm of the Hutt" that the PCs wouldn't have since that adventure operates on the assumption the PCs made off with the Krayt Fang.

I highly suggest adding a droid or two to the fight with trex, he simply gets focused down. Especially if you are using the pregenerated characters, for gods sake give him adversary one or something. The pregen characters are all highly combat capable and trex isnt exactly a combat monster or anything. Unless the group got roughed up by enemies on the way to the ship you should make it a good boss fight.

I've now run the Beginner game 3 times. The first two, it was with 2 PCs, the third time was with SEVEN! The first time, the tech guy rolled a triumph in freeing the docking clamps, hoping to also send a message to Trex to go meet with Teemo. They rolled triumph, and never actually met Trex. The second time, a tech and the wookie got on board, and the wookie managed to throw Trex out the hatch while the tech launched the ship and turned it sideways for him to fall out the open hatch.

The third time, he went down after 3 shots before his initiative slot. One of the guys took a crit from a droid, but that was it.

The group of 7 will continue as a big group (teen boys + 1 Dad), while my smaller group (including my wife and close friends) will continue with the storyline of Trex having been lured away from the ship. In both cases, Trex is still alive, but in varying forms. Needless to say, he'll want his ship back. For the larger group, I'm going to have to punch it up quite a bit, while the smaller group I still have to be more careful with.

I felt the last combat of the BB needed some terrain, so added bombed out derelict hulks and debris fields in low orbit to weave through. Much more interesting.

Yeah that sounds pretty good. I'd say at least one piece of terrain just to get used to the rules for stellar phenomena and to spice it up. Maybe some sort of bulk freighter on approach thats between the pcs and their quickest hyperspace vector? Ive run the BB 3 times now and the space fight seems flat everytime.