Hi fellow GMs.

I'm running a sandboxy campaign right now and try to wing as much as I can on the spot during play sessions. One of the most difficulty things I think is how to determine the difficulty of certain tasks, so I'm just curious as to see what difficulty other GMs would have used in my place in a situation that came up last session.

My players just arrived at Nar Shaddaa and were almost broke, they wanted a lot of money fast so I dug up a copy of the "Breaking and Entering" mini-adventure from the "Scum and Villainy". However feeling it was a bit too railroady I gave them just the bare-bone information to begin with and let it roll from there.

Hijinx ensued and in the end my players decided that in order to break into the safe in the penthouse that they would fly above the penthouse, into the restricted airspace (I moved the location from Coruscant to a very small Imperial section of Nar Shaddaa), and drop down into the garden a communications jamming device, so that they could show up as repairmen to look for the communications problems.

I then decided that this part should have one player performing a Pilot check to fly above the penthouse, not too high to make the throw impossible nor too low for them to be violating the restricted airspace. Having no idea what difficulty this would be I made it an upgraded Hard check. The player then failed this test, but got sufficient enough of Advantages to say that the Imperials didn't detect him until after the other player got a chance to throw the jamming device.

So now this player is throwing a small, handheld device from a flying speeder into a small garden in a penthouse. I decided that this was a Hard Coordination check (not upgraded this time), with one setback die due to a bit erratic driving from the failed pilot check. This one failed spectacularly and the jamming device is now somewhere on the surface of Nar Shaddaa...

What difficulty would you guys make these two checks?

Cheers

Seems reasonable to me. A Hard difficulty is my default when the players want to do something out of the ordinary, but not insane.

I don't know that I would have even bothered for a Piloting check. If I was going to give one it might be Easy with one or two Setback for trying to "fly casual". A failed check here might be that he isn't very casual; He's the space equivelant of a windowless van sitting at a playground. Maybe a passing policeman slows down and is making to come back around and ask a few questions(upgrade the Coordination check). Also this might give you the chance to toss a Charm/Deception/Negotiation check at your driver.

For that Coordination check, is he just dropping it anywhere or aiming for a particular spot? If it's just dropping it basically anywhere then there's problably no need to roll. If it's somewhere particular, I'd suggest an Average check.

That's being pretty easy on the players, but I think it'd be more fun to let them get into the place. Then drop the heavy end of the hammer on them once they are inside.

That's being pretty easy on the players, but I think it'd be more fun to let them get into the place. Then drop the heavy end of the hammer on them once they are inside.

A very good point, I sometimes make it too hard to get where the real action is.

I don't know that I would have even bothered for a Piloting check. If I was going to give one it might be Easy with one or two Setback for trying to "fly casual". A failed check here might be that he isn't very casual; He's the space equivelant of a windowless van sitting at a playground. Maybe a passing policeman slows down and is making to come back around and ask a few questions(upgrade the Coordination check). Also this might give you the chance to toss a Charm/Deception/Negotiation check at your driver.

For that Coordination check, is he just dropping it anywhere or aiming for a particular spot? If it's just dropping it basically anywhere then there's problably no need to roll. If it's somewhere particular, I'd suggest an Average check.

It was a rather specific spot, as it was in a small enclosed garden, hitting the roof wouldn't work as they would need to actually find and retrieve the jamming device when leaving the scene of the crime. Thanks for the input.

That's being pretty easy on the players, but I think it'd be more fun to let them get into the place. Then drop the heavy end of the hammer on them once they are inside.

A very good point, I sometimes make it too hard to get where the real action is.

Yes I was thinking of this at the time, but I honestly expected them to succeed...

But you're both right, if them failing would hinder fun time, then it should either be no check or be an easy one. A failure at the worst moment might after all bring the most brilliant plot to a sudden halt if done incorrectly.

If prior planning took place, your Hard difficulties sound fine. For plans made and actions taken impromptu, I'd increase the difficulty by 1. But in either case, do make sure you still move the plot forward whether there is success or failure.

Also good to remember that Difficulty upgrades (Red dice) should only happen as a result of 1) skillful opposition, 2) a specific mechanical effect (e.g. a critical injury that causes your PC to upgrade difficulties), or 3) Destiny Points. If there's something complicating the issue for the PCs, that is what difficulty increases and setback dice are for.

But if it "really feels" like there should be a red die in the mix, that is the best time for the GM to spend a Destiny Point. This accomplishes two things: an increased challenge for the players, and a later leg-up that they can use to tip the balance in their favor.

They did indeed have prior planning, they wanted one day to get all the other things into place from the moment the plan was conceived (I messed things up slightly, I let a day be 24 hours, forgetting that Nar Shaddaa has 84 hour days, oh well).

I upgraded it by using a destiny point, the sorry fools rolled all dark side during setup of the session so I felt I needed to give them some light side points for future use. My plan for a despair was a more immediate and lethal response from the Imperial airspace surveillance.

Thanks for the input.

I'd say the difficulty for the first was fine. Second check should've been Ranged Light, since he's tossing it somewhere specific - consider it like a grenade. Coordination is more for keeping your balance or being able to twist or contort yourself. In terms of the difficulty itself, I probably would've kept it standard rules for throwing objects. Basing it on the range first, maybe allow further throwing range if they're more above the garden than level with it; then add 2 setback for the bad piloting; then if you wanted you can add setback or use a destiny point to upgrade to indicate that the jammer may be fragile and has the potential to break (unless they decide to pad it first).

It wan't really throwing though, it was dropping. They were flying above the garden, and the trick was to drop the device at the correct time so that it would fall into the garden (so in real life you would have to judge the distance down and the velocity of which you are traveling when letting go), which is why I chose Coordination.