Use this thread to note your experiences with running this adventure. Any changes, modifications, what worked and what didnt worked.

The adventure looks like alot of fun from what i have read so far! I dont think im going to have Lando make an appearance when i run it though...dont trust my players. Lol

I found it interesting that it mentioned Agility is used for the lightsaber skill...

Yeah, I saw that as well. Could be a preview for what we'll see in Force & Destiny.

Does make me curious as to how the Lightsaber skill will be handled; it almost seems like Brawn will be the default as opposed to being able to choose between Brawn or Agility as EotE noted for the custom skill. Not sure I'm keen on the notion of paying what amounts to a "talent tax" to be able to use Agility, but if it's a row 1 talent, that's not a big deal.

I almost wonder if Lightsaber by default might not even have a governing Characteristic, and that a PC has to purchase a talent to connect the skill to a Characteristic. Could see talents to link the skill to Cunning (Makashi), Brawn (Djem So), Presence (Niman?), or maybe even Willpower (Soresu or Shii-Cho?). Intellect is a bit of an odd duck for being linked to a combat skill, but FFG's shown they're willing to do some odd things in comparison to what the customer base expects when it comes to written material.

I found it interesting that it mentioned Agility is used for the lightsaber skill...

I feel that is completely appropriate. The blade itself has no mass, and Brawn does not add to damage, so it stands to reason it's more like precisely drawing on someone with a marker than swinging an axe.

I found it interesting that it mentioned Agility is used for the lightsaber skill...

I feel that is completely appropriate. The blade itself has no mass, and Brawn does not add to damage, so it stands to reason it's more like precisely drawing on someone with a marker than swinging an axe.

We have other hand-to-hand weapons that use Brawn despite not behaving like typical fists/swords/clubs. Consider the Beamdrill from Sons of Fortune (it uses Melee). Here being strong (high Brawn) lets you... hit them better with a laser. Doesn't sound too different from a lightsaber in that regard.

Not sure I'm keen on the notion of paying what amounts to a "talent tax" to be able to use Agility, but if it's a row 1 talent, that's not a big deal.

I wouldn't mind at all. At least it's not like D20 where you have to agonize over whether to spend a precious Feat, knowing you only have a limited supply of them for the life of your character.

Not sure I'm keen on the notion of paying what amounts to a "talent tax" to be able to use Agility, but if it's a row 1 talent, that's not a big deal.

I wouldn't mind at all. At least it's not like D20 where you have to agonize over whether to spend a precious Feat, knowing you only have a limited supply of them for the life of your character.

True.

I admit, I wish they'd included stats for making Lutrillian and Ugnaught characters. Otherwise, the Bespin gazeteer is actually pretty informative for the rather short length. I really "get" Cloud City, with there still being plenty of room to improvise new material.

Also, I kind of want my PCs to somehow come up with a crazy scheme that involves tricking the Sky Guard into moving the city during their heist.

I found it interesting that it mentioned Agility is used for the lightsaber skill...

I could be mistaken, but I think I remember something about when a character learns the Lightsaber skill he can pick either Brawn or Agility to be the base characteristic for it. The choice cannot be changed later. I don't know where I got that from, it could have been a podcast with one of the developers or something, but I'm pretty sure I heard or read it somewhere.

On the plus side I can see how that encourages players who combat-focus their characters in different ways (quick-on-the-draw Rodian versus slow but strong Trandoshan) to be on somewhat equal footing for using a lightsaber, playing to their strengths.

On the negative side that makes it even more of a special snowflake skill.

I found it interesting that it mentioned Agility is used for the lightsaber skill...

I could be mistaken, but I think I remember something about when a character learns the Lightsaber skill he can pick either Brawn or Agility to be the base characteristic for it. The choice cannot be changed later. I don't know where I got that from, it could have been a podcast with one of the developers or something, but I'm pretty sure I heard or read it somewhere.

I expanded on that a bit when making a more formal write-up for my Ways of the Force fan supplement, opting to make it so that when a PC takes their first rank, the choice of which Characteristic used is hard-wired going forward.

On the plus side I can see how that encourages players who combat-focus their characters in different ways (quick-on-the-draw Rodian versus slow but strong Trandoshan) to be on somewhat equal footing for using a lightsaber, playing to their strengths.

On the negative side that makes it even more of a special snowflake skill.

Just finished reading it cover to cover. Fair warning... Spoilers be ahead

Has a great introduction, and it allows the game maters to really understand Bespin and the Cloud city to use it in an adventure, outside of "Jewel of Yavin". Really wish they did this for "The wheel" in Beyond the rim.

It would be really important for the GM to plan the events of the Race, slicing, and heist before hand, and stress to the players the importance of planning

THo i really wish the Race had more then Pilot/Co-pilot cloud cars, and instead allowed more variety of air-speeders. Most people would be more familiar to the Pod Racers, and want something similar. too bad there wasn't a part that took it through the CLoud City itself that would allow more maneuvering instead of just raw speed.

The Gala and auction has a lot of Red herrings. It boils down to working Mikkir and Shreya against eachother. Since Podura and Elaiza dont have the assets, and Kaltho would be difficult or have negative effects on any attempts. This could really frustrate the players if they don't do Role-playing. I almost want to add some other Characters to make it a little more intersting

Also i didn't quite understand the Sidebar on page 68 on the last paragraph that says "The bidders also increase their bid value by its starting amount after each round". I think it means that without players intervention the bidding characters just increase their bid value by their starting bid value

I would have to pretty much point blank to tell the characters the only way to even possibly slice into the bank is to steal a banking droid, and place a restraining bolt on it. or kidnapping a teller.

Lastly in the Heist, there is very little chance of a clean getaway, and the chances of a clean getaway are very small.. Short of going to Lando returning the droid and begging him to not press charges

THo i really wish the Race had more then Pilot/Co-pilot cloud cars, and instead allowed more variety of air-speeders. Most people would be more familiar to the Pod Racers, and want something similar. too bad there wasn't a part that took it through the CLoud City itself that would allow more maneuvering instead of just raw speed.

The Grand Prix is essentially a showcase for the city and Bespin Motors would be ALL over that. I suppose it would be pretty easy to cheat it and say racers can bring any air-speeder they want - but that's like having a real-life race where everyone can use different kind of cars.

I fully intend to add in a notation that there are 11 or so teams in the race already - the NPC's teams listed are just the "odds-on favourites" to win this year.

As for racing through Cloud City - that would be like racing through a starship. You risk damaging some vital infrastructure in a collision. You could have another leg of the Grand Prix have further obsticles if you'd like to throw some in - some artificial ones are notably missing from the existing race, actually.

The Gala and auction has a lot of Red herrings. It boils down to working Mikkir and Shreya against eachother. Since Podura and Elaiza dont have the assets, and Kaltho would be difficult or have negative effects on any attempts. This could really frustrate the players if they don't do Role-playing. I almost want to add some other Characters to make it a little more intersting

There are several paths to a big payoff in the auction.

You *can* influence Kaltho - it's just hard to do it directly. Kudos to any group who manages to pull it off. That said, you can manipulate him indirectly, too, because he's in it to win it and SUPER wealthy. So long as they're convincing someone to keep increasing the bid, there's a good chance Kaltho sticks with it. Unless Vorse, Pos, Mil or Shreya make some stupendously high bid, Kaltho is very likely to outbid them anyway - you can get his money without ever working him yourself.

Vorse is actually a fairly easy mark if you flatter him and get him drunk. Just don't get him too drunk or he'll get himself kicked out. If the group can get him *juuuust* drunk enough, and are working with Aris who can play him from the other side, Vorse could easily just go "screw it," make a trump bid to please his wife, and walk out the winner. Aris would be especially pleased with the group if they helped her screw her husband, too - so bonus points with her.

Mil and Shreya are another easy path to victory if you can fan the flames of their jealousy. The problem is they don't cap out as high as Kaltho or Vorse. Mil will only bid enough to keep Shreya out of the running - and Shreya is on a budget, and will hesitate to blow all her department's money on the Jewel, just to beat Mil.

"Zekra" is interesting, because she WILL drive up the bidding, and will happily help the characters do so. Heck, she can even work Kaltho on the side. It's in her best interest to keep the auction running hot. However she WON'T make the final bid - she'll drop out once she sees the other bidders starting to waver.

The only two real red herrings are Elaiza and Pos. Moreso Pos because the players could very easily work him into making an insane, suicidal bid he can't possibly pay off - which will bite the characters in the ass when they slice the bank to find out he's basically got no money.

I would have to pretty much point blank to tell the characters the only way to even possibly slice into the bank is to steal a banking droid, and place a restraining bolt on it. or kidnapping a teller.

This is part of the preparation though. Even cursory inquiries about the bank's security should give the players this information. If they go in blind without any prep for the slicing job, they DESERVE whatever happens to them.

Lastly in the Heist, there is very little chance of a clean getaway, and the chances of a clean getaway are very small.. Short of going to Lando returning the droid and begging him to not press charges

Well, the players WILL raise the alarm at some point - even if they expertly slice the bank and steal the jewel from under Greyson's nose. At the latest, by the change of the guard/museum opening (depending on how late they go in) the missing jewel will be noted, and that will draw in Greyson's people, the Wing Guard... and possibly thugs of Vorse's or Kaltho's depending on just who was ripped off. The bank will also note the hacking attempt at the latest by morning when the funds are supposed to have been transfered by - assuming Lobot doesn't note the attempt earlier than that.

But that could all be planned for.

The real problem is Arend's betrayal. He double-crosses the group and it's his people who are right on their tail. A REALLY good group could keep security off their butts for potentially hours - but Shen's people are right there waiting to betray them. And if the group didn't betray Arend in turn, he's at least got the money from the slice job - meaning he may be willing to sell them out to everyone else if it looks like they're coming after him or going to the authorities.

So yeah, the group is pretty much screwed.

I actually like the hint that the Jewel itself basically the Star Wars Hope Diamond. Damned thing is nothing but trouble. That trouble nails Greyson (the ISB nails him pretty much the instant he leaves Bespin, no matter how things go down), the buyer (who gets ripped off), and then the trouble lands right in the characters' laps the second they pinch it. I love it.

My group finished The Jewel of Yavin last week. They managed to escape with:

the money (great auction play and a couple of triumphs on the slice got them 245k minus a big payout to Aris as Arend was betrayed and cut out of the deal)

the gem (and Elaiza, as one of the PCs is a Force Adept and they role-played the encounter with her extremely well)

their original ship (Wayfarer class) and the race cloudcar in its cargo bay

It might seem like I either was too easy on them or they got extremely lucky. It was primarily luck and the rest was clever play. They worked most of the levers in the auction-Vorse was a drunken mess and a soap-opera-worthy love triangle was created with Pos/Shreya/Mil. The love triangle was the best-and I had to actually role Pos vs. Mil as the party convinced the timid Twilek to go fight for his woman when Mil insulted Shreya.

Their plan to steal the gem was blowing a hole through the wall from the Hungry Beldon. They got a triumph on the successful roll to place the charge so they placed it in the gem display room. They blew the wall, and the Force Adept force moved the gem into her hands...

Overall I was happy with the Adventure as written but the Race and Auction mechanics took a while for me to get my head around them. I think it's a great idea to pre-roll for some of the Grand Prix and keep a table handy (made from graph paper or whatever.) It was hard for me, initially, to get the party to think about planning a heist. Most of the group aren't fans of stuff like Leverage (tv) or the Oceans movies like I am so I had to be patient.

We ended the final session with them leaving Bespin, about to jump into hyperspace. I now have a group of extremely wealthy players who think the galaxy is their oyster and they can now write shopping lists and plan their own adventures (at least that's what the email exchanges have been about.)

Has anyone had to deal with newly-rich PCs and what did you do to knock them down to reality? They have Shen, Grayson, Kaltho (winning bidder), and the ISB pissed at them, so it shouldn't be hard to get them into trouble, I hope.

Are the experience awards for the group or for the person who completed that particular objective?