First, let me start by saying I don't intend to put any spoilers in this post, but I make no promises about the posts that follow. If you have not played the Beyond the Rim adventure and think you might want to in the future, don't read this post.

Ok, that said. I GMed act I of Beyond the Rim with a group that was both new to me, and new to RPGs. While they are for the most part excited to come back and run Act II next week, I got the sense from them that Act I had too much "negotiation", "invesatigating", and general "talking" and not enough action. I've GMed plenty of West End Games and Wizards games to know that sometimes you need to adapt games to your groups prefered type of adventure.

So with that said, as it is written in Act II I believe there will be a lot more "action." I'm also going to supplement some of that action as it's written with other things that I think will setup future adventures.

Aside from the low number of action scenarios in Act I, the only thing that bothers me about Beyond the Rim is that I wish there had been a few more large maps. The map of the camp specifically in Act II is really small. I'll probably see if I can either enlarge it, or draw a larger one myself for my players.

What were other people's impressions of Beyond the Rim? Do you have any advice in terms of issues you encountered or tweaks you made?

Also, I apologize if this should have been under the "GM's" tab. If I could figure out how to move the post or delete it I would.

The maps are poorly done IMO in this adventure. In Hideous & Strongholds there is a lot of maps that you can adapt. In Death Star Technical Companion, the DS sections can be easily adapt as the maps for the ship in this adventure.

Spolier....

Also in the original adventure, Reom says to player that they should hang around the Wheel and get some info while waiting for the droid. This is very poorly written IMO as Reom, who lived for a long time on the Wheel, should know all these infos that player can buy or slice from the computer. As for the tweak, if you want to add some spice to 1st act, I propose that instead of slicing/cantina investigation for additional info about Sa Nalaor, the players are pointed by Reom toward some person (his father's friend) on a planet along the way to Cholganna, who can give them a lot of helpful info about the ships last days. Perhaps he is a treasure hunter, ex-Cofnederate, else. Upon arrival the group will find that person in some troubles and have to help him in order to get the useful information (sounds familiar?). A side small adventure with some action. Depending on their dealing with Rodians/ISB on the Wheel, the latter can also appear here. If successful, this guy gives them all/most of the info that player normally could buy/slice from the Wheel.

Have the survivors refer to the Empire as the Republic. They fled at the end of the Clone Wars, so it is very much cemented in their minds that the Republic is the Big Bad Government. It leads for some interesting hesitation from the players when the survivors are fighting back against the stormtroopers and yell "death to the Republic!"

I thought the maps were the only bad part of the book... All of them had huge problems but the galactic map and the map of the hangar bay took the cake.

Having said that, upon seeing the maps would not suffice, I decided I wasn't going to use any visual aids except for the encyclopedia to show pictures of races that are unknown to the players (not all of them are star wars buffs) and it was quite liberating and it didn't feel as if anything was missing at all....

Just from my run of the module, Episode I needs at least one "action" encounter in the middle somewhere. This is supposed to be a cinematic game, but there wasn't much cinema until the very end. One suggestion would be to thrown in an ISB encounter, since there's a good chance that the PCs won't even know the Bureau is after them unless they happen to notice the tracking device (even then, they won't necessarily know who put it there). It doesn't have to be combat necessarily, but maybe a speeder chase through the hangar decks with ISB personnel, something like that. Plus, it'll put them on edge waiting for the Empire to come after them later in the game. It's always good having the PCs looking over their shoulders

Everyone enjoyed Episode II, since there was plenty of action. Once piece of advice, however, would be to limit Athletics checks while exploring the various pieces of wreckage. My players had fun going through the first wreckage (engine, I think), since they messed up their Athletics rolls in hilarious ways (with the Wookie clinging onto a vine with one hand, while attempting to catch the astromech droid with the other as it went plummeting through the trees). Once they get the concept that the terrain is treacherous, however, the setback die will continue to remind them; additional Athletics checks for everything, after the first wreckage is explored, is anti-climactic and tedious.

Another encounter you can use to good effect is the cyber nexu in the main hull. Play up their stealthiness and have them ambush a lone PC, maybe getting him stuck behind a jammed door in a collapsed cabin to fend off all three for a round or two. Remember to show them the picture so they can be appropriately horrified. Then, once they kill a couple, have them chase down the last one through the dark corridors of the wreck.

My group hasn't finished Episode III yet, but one suggestion would be to carefully plan out what part the PC's will play during the Yiyar clan attack. That encounter can get away from you rather easily, since there's so much going on. Divide the action up into several encounters at the various spots to give the players a choice in their actions, knowing that some of the planned encounters will probably never be played. In my game, they helped Norta against the first skiff, which besides having Too Low and the minion group of thugs, also had the entire crew of the Nightflyer, including Yav (I kept letting them escape to be a constant thorn in the PC's side). After that, and after describing all the action that was going on around the entire compound, they followed a large group of Trandoshans to the Blockade Bandit where they met Reom and his mercenaries in the lift (I think I used Apprentice Hunter for the mercenaries). Then, all groups had a blow-out second battle, after which the attack ended with the remaining Yiyar goons leaving.

We couldn't finish Episode III during the last session, so in a few weeks, we'll start with fixing up the Bandit while the Empire is closing in. However, I did make some visuals to aid the players in getting everything done, as well as keeping them aware that the clock is ticking. I printed up a CR90 corvette with various blow-outs indicating where and what needs to be done in the various sections. As they complete a task, it can be checked off. I then printed another sheet that has "Imperial Attack Imminent!" with rows of check boxes representing minutes (more than what's needed so they don't know exactly how long they have). As they perform tasks, I'll be checking off the task on the first sheet, plus putting ticks in the minute boxes. As they pass a minute threshold, from the green section on page 88, I'll have Norta give them an update. I'm hoping this will keep the tension alive and keep them guessing as to how long they have before D-Day

Oh, and I recommend using the Imperial Informant hook, especially if you have a player that enjoys working covertly against the group. In our game, my nephew's astromech droid was captured by the ISB and had a special restraining bolt installed (with a kill chip if it was tampered with) that forced him to help screw over the rest of the group. Since the droid is the tech in the group, he basically had free reign to use Computers and Mechanics to help the Imperials without the rest of the group even knowing. They didn't even check to see if the tracking device had been removed (the droid left it in place and told them it was gone). It all came to a head during the Imperial arrival at the compound when the droid couldn't stall anymore and attacked the other PCs when they tried to escape with Cratala and her personnel. Everyone was shocked, especially when they realized that my nephew was in on it the entire time Plus, there were some tense moments after they captured him when they attempted to remove the restraining bolt without setting it off and giving the droid a memory wipe. I let my nephew roll the dice on that one, since his character's life depended on it. Luckily, they were able to remove it. Obviously, it was a Destiny Point moment

OK, I've babbled too much. Hope this was helpful.

Thanks for all the great comments folks. I'll be incorporating a lot of these suggestions as I run acts II and III.

Episode I needs at least one "action" encounter in the middle somewhere. This is supposed to be a cinematic game, but there wasn't much cinema until the very end.

I disagree... I liked the fact that it started off the way it did. Episode 1 can be played in one session, easily and was intended for new characters so it needed to have an introduction, an adventure hook, some investigation, a very cool encounter/chase scene and some mystery from the ISB that might be encountered all in the course of a 3 hour session... It offers players of all backgrounds and specialisations something to do. Cinematic does not mean combat action. Our politico shined in the interactions with Reom, our mechanics droid chased off the imperial droid that was about to place the tracker, our bounty hunter was great in the Yiyar Clan encounter, our pilot was awesome at the final starship scene and the scout (together with the politico) had a blast finding out all about the mission to come in their investigation.

And all of that in only 3,5hrs, I felt it was paced very well.

Part of my problem was that his was the 1st RPG session for many of them, and it took 5-6 hours.

I think the GM should keep the session flowing and make sure the players don't spend too much time on trivialities...

My group did do quite a bit during Episode I, including getting kicked out of a casino for cheating, gathering info at the kiosks, purchasing goods, yada yada. I even introed the bounty hunter at the cantina, who's target was the Ewok. The issue (and this is from my players) wasn't that there wasn't enough for them to do until they left the Wheel, it was that what they had to do was a bit dull They also managed to finish the first Yiyar encounter without attracting the attention of Wheel security, so they just took off without a hitch. The bounty hunter basically had nothing to do for three hours (which, I admit, is partially his fault since he went against my advice and is trying to min/max his combat abilities).

Episode I's pacing is labored, and by the time the droid is kidnapped, the players were really itching for some action. That's why I think some sort of exciting encounter involving the ISB, somewhere in the middle, would be a good idea. It would help introduce another villain that the players may not even be aware is after then, and give action-oriented characters something to do other than sit on their thumbs for 3 hours.

Contrast Episode I of BtR with Episode I of EfMS. Even though Mos Shuuta is a much simpler adventure, it's pacing was excellent, and there were at least 2, maybe 3, action encounters in it, as well as info gathering. Not a single complaint from anybody on that adventure.

On the topic of this, my group just completed Episode II. Episode I was, as some people are saying, pretty lsowly paced and kind of boring, so we wrapped that Episode up in one session. In contrast, Episode II took us three sessions because we were having so much fun with it.

We're going to start Episode II (the Raxus Prime bit) next week. My current concern is that it doesn't look like a ton of fun. It looks like it's mostly just a starship chase through a canyon, two ground battles, and then a space battle. The canyon run looks fun, and I think my players will enjoy the repairing of the Bandit in mid flight, but the Yiyar invasion followed by the Imperial invasion of Scrapheap point both look fairly underwhelming. Has anyone played this Episode? How's it handle?

On the topic of this, my group just completed Episode II. Episode I was, as some people are saying, pretty lsowly paced and kind of boring, so we wrapped that Episode up in one session. In contrast, Episode II took us three sessions because we were having so much fun with it.

We're going to start Episode II (the Raxus Prime bit) next week. My current concern is that it doesn't look like a ton of fun. It looks like it's mostly just a starship chase through a canyon, two ground battles, and then a space battle. The canyon run looks fun, and I think my players will enjoy the repairing of the Bandit in mid flight, but the Yiyar invasion followed by the Imperial invasion of Scrapheap point both look fairly underwhelming. Has anyone played this Episode? How's it handle?

I haven't run Act III yet, but it did say to have the PCs go out and look for spare parts they might use later to repair the ship. Maybe on one of these encounters they could deal with some Jawas for comic relief, or fight their way out of an Imp patrol that discovered their illegal salvage party, or perhaps they find something really "interesting" in the junk yards (a droid that is hundreds of years old, a military grade speeder bike, or a datapad with info that will lead them to their next mission.

On the topic of this, my group just completed Episode II. Episode I was, as some people are saying, pretty lsowly paced and kind of boring, so we wrapped that Episode up in one session. In contrast, Episode II took us three sessions because we were having so much fun with it.

We're going to start Episode II (the Raxus Prime bit) next week. My current concern is that it doesn't look like a ton of fun. It looks like it's mostly just a starship chase through a canyon, two ground battles, and then a space battle. The canyon run looks fun, and I think my players will enjoy the repairing of the Bandit in mid flight, but the Yiyar invasion followed by the Imperial invasion of Scrapheap point both look fairly underwhelming. Has anyone played this Episode? How's it handle?

I haven't run Act III yet, but it did say to have the PCs go out and look for spare parts they might use later to repair the ship. Maybe on one of these encounters they could deal with some Jawas for comic relief, or fight their way out of an Imp patrol that discovered their illegal salvage party, or perhaps they find something really "interesting" in the junk yards (a droid that is hundreds of years old, a military grade speeder bike, or a datapad with info that will lead them to their next mission.

My group did this as well. They actually bought the droid servo thingy off of a Jawa skiff and managed to evade a large group of probe droids (the Jawas diving for cover was a give-away for them). I didn't draw it out much beyond that since it would be a bit repetitious. From there, they went back to Scrap Heap Point with two of the items on Norta's list, and then we went into the Yiyar invasion.

Episode I took us one session, episode II two sessions, and it looks like episode III will take us two sessions as well (or more than likely, 1 1/2 sessions, since I don't think what we have left to do will take the entire next session).

Have the survivors refer to the Empire as the Republic. They fled at the end of the Clone Wars, so it is very much cemented in their minds that the Republic is the Big Bad Government. It leads for some interesting hesitation from the players when the survivors are fighting back against the stormtroopers and yell "death to the Republic!"

Do you have a force of survivors who are oblivious of the galaxy's happenings, or survivors who know this information by having interrogated and killed every other person who came searching for you?

I, myself, would prefer dead explorers. You could say that when the PC's search the planet, they find multiple torn down ships laying around several areas that could have once been prime landing spots. The fact that they are in the way is annoying, but the fact that they were landed perfectly normally and then dismantled? That's worth investigation.

Have the survivors refer to the Empire as the Republic. They fled at the end of the Clone Wars, so it is very much cemented in their minds that the Republic is the Big Bad Government. It leads for some interesting hesitation from the players when the survivors are fighting back against the stormtroopers and yell "death to the Republic!"

Hm... That one's tricky.

Do you have a force of survivors who are oblivious of the galaxy's happenings, or survivors who know this information by having interrogated and killed every other person who came searching for you?

I, myself, would prefer dead explorers. You could say that when the PC's search the planet, they find multiple torn down ships laying around several areas that could have once been prime landing spots. The fact that they are in the way is annoying, but the fact that they were landed perfectly normally and then dismantled? That's worth investigation.

The adventure implies that this is exactly what happened Harsol captured and killed pretty much everyone that discovered the compound. However, knowing something and experiencing it are two different things. Until the survivors escape the planet and experience the Empire first hand, I think they'd still be equating the new and old regimes. And if you think about it, there's not much difference between how the Separatists viewed the Republic, and what the Empire is currently like. They'd probably see the latter as the logical extension of the former.

FYI we ran about 40% of Act II this weekend and it went very smoothly.

I had 6 PCs plus myself, which is a few more than I'm used to, but it helps that we are all in our 30s and 40s now, so we are slightly less prone to teenage ADD distractions (though only slightly).

I'm looking forward to integrating some of the strategies you guys suggested as we press on.

I catch myself wanting more maps and such details until I remember I'm free to create the most fun I can imagine

On 4/17/2014 at 11:48 PM, OggDude said:

Just from my run of the module, Episode I needs at least one "action" encounter in the middle somewhere. This is supposed to be a cinematic game, but there wasn't much cinema until the very end. One suggestion would be to thrown in an ISB encounter, since there's a good chance that the PCs won't even know the Bureau is after them unless they happen to notice the tracking device (even then, they won't necessarily know who put it there). It doesn't have to be combat necessarily, but maybe a speeder chase through the hangar decks with ISB personnel, something like that. Plus, it'll put them on edge waiting for the Empire to come after them later in the game. It's always good having the PCs looking over their shoulders

Everyone enjoyed Episode II, since there was plenty of action. Once piece of advice, however, would be to limit Athletics checks while exploring the various pieces of wreckage. My players had fun going through the first wreckage (engine, I think), since they messed up their Athletics rolls in hilarious ways (with the Wookie clinging onto a vine with one hand, while attempting to catch the astromech droid with the other as it went plummeting through the trees). Once they get the concept that the terrain is treacherous, however, the setback die will continue to remind them; additional Athletics checks for everything, after the first wreckage is explored, is anti-climactic and tedious.

Another encounter you can use to good effect is the cyber nexu in the main hull. Play up their stealthiness and have them ambush a lone PC, maybe getting him stuck behind a jammed door in a collapsed cabin to fend off all three for a round or two. Remember to show them the picture so they can be appropriately horrified. Then, once they kill a couple, have them chase down the last one through the dark corridors of the wreck.

My group hasn't finished Episode III yet, but one suggestion would be to carefully plan out what part the PC's will play during the Yiyar clan attack. That encounter can get away from you rather easily, since there's so much going on. Divide the action up into several encounters at the various spots to give the players a choice in their actions, knowing that some of the planned encounters will probably never be played. In my game, they helped Norta against the first skiff, which besides having Too Low and the minion group of thugs, also had the entire crew of the Nightflyer, including Yav (I kept letting them escape to be a constant thorn in the PC's side). After that, and after describing all the action that was going on around the entire compound, they followed a large group of Trandoshans to the Blockade Bandit where they met Reom and his mercenaries in the lift (I think I used Apprentice Hunter for the mercenaries). Then, all groups had a blow-out second battle, after which the attack ended with the remaining Yiyar goons leaving.

We couldn't finish Episode III during the last session, so in a few weeks, we'll start with fixing up the Bandit while the Empire is closing in. However, I did make some visuals to aid the players in getting everything done, as well as keeping them aware that the clock is ticking. I printed up a CR90 corvette with various blow-outs indicating where and what needs to be done in the various sections. As they complete a task, it can be checked off. I then printed another sheet that has "Imperial Attack Imminent!" with rows of check boxes representing minutes (more than what's needed so they don't know exactly how long they have). As they perform tasks, I'll be checking off the task on the first sheet, plus putting ticks in the minute boxes. As they pass a minute threshold, from the green section on page 88, I'll have Norta give them an update. I'm hoping this will keep the tension alive and keep them guessing as to how long they have before D-Day

Oh, and I recommend using the Imperial Informant hook, especially if you have a player that enjoys working covertly against the group. In our game, my nephew's astromech droid was captured by the ISB and had a special restraining bolt installed (with a kill chip if it was tampered with) that forced him to help screw over the rest of the group. Since the droid is the tech in the group, he basically had free reign to use Computers and Mechanics to help the Imperials without the rest of the group even knowing. They didn't even check to see if the tracking device had been removed (the droid left it in place and told them it was gone). It all came to a head during the Imperial arrival at the compound when the droid couldn't stall anymore and attacked the other PCs when they tried to escape with Cratala and her personnel. Everyone was shocked, especially when they realized that my nephew was in on it the entire time Plus, there were some tense moments after they captured him when they attempted to remove the restraining bolt without setting it off and giving the droid a memory wipe. I let my nephew roll the dice on that one, since his character's life depended on it. Luckily, they were able to remove it. Obviously, it was a Destiny Point moment

OK, I've babbled too much. Hope this was helpful.

Good advice., any chance you have the map/sheet of the blockade bandit with the checkboxes avalible for use?