I simply would not GM for that group. Friends or not, it does not sound worth the headache and the inevitable arguments. That altercation that happened before, I would expect that to happen again, and I wouldn't put myself in that position. Gaming is supposed to be fun, not a second job that occupies a lot of time and doesn't have an enjoyable payoff.

shes also voiced a dislike for guns (her current character in our current game wont use them), which can be abit of a crippler in SW really.

This is actually the easiest thing in your post to work around and possibly fix. Meleeists are extremely viable in Edge, even without lightsabers.

And if she was burned by Star Wars RP in the past, I would bet it was either WEG or d20, neither of which is near as narrative a game, which can be quite a bit more fun than a rules-heavy one.

I'm afraid I have no good advice, I just wouldn't argue. I'd tell him bluntly I'm having a sh*tty time and it's because of him and if it continued I just wouldn't play.

I would interrupt the tantrum throwing player mid tirade and tell him that I don't behave that way when he is running the game and would appreciate it if he would treat me with same respect I treat him when he is running.

For the player that doesn't like guns there is plenty to play in EotE that doesn't require the use of guns or any weapons. One of my players is playing a Colonist Politico that has no combat skills whatsoever other than his razor sharp tongue. There are numerous other possible examples like a Technician Slicer who is a stereotypical computer nerd and hides under a desk during combat or the Smuggler Thief who relies on stealth rather than violence, etc... The important thing is that you, as the GM, have to give those non-combat characters their time in the spotlight outside of combat. You have to include things for them to do and opportunities for them to use their talents and skills.

I did something similar to you. I wanted to start with Escape from Mos Shuuta, but I did not want to use the pre-gens.

If your players don't have their careers and specializations, then you are a bit crippled with background stories. You could still use the ones from the Beginner Box set (be sure to download the extra characters from the support page) and have 6 stories. You would just need to make sure to remove any references to the pre-gens names, species (the wookiee would be difficult to change), or gender.

If you want something easy, you can just say that all the players were on the same ship when they were captured by slavers. Then you can say they took advantage of an opportunity to escape before they had to fight in the gladiator pit and say their gear is what they were able to scavenge or take off their guards. That still gives them a chance to come up with their own background.

@Whafrog.

No offence taken, from my limited time on the forums, your input has always been valuable and insightful and I appreciate your comments and suggestions every time! I would love to see how you construct an adventure and overcome obstacles that have come up in your games.

I tend to feel I want every situation planed out, even though I know it is not possible, but I tend to hit brick walls when I come up against things I have not planned for. I find comfort not so much in railroading, but having a path that is mapped for what my players will do... which equally I know its folly, as they never will do what is expected or planned for.

This is a group who a SW game they ran before i joined the group (d20 I think), they went to Hoth, collected Ice, returned to Tatooine and sold it for a profit. Which is just the stupid kind of things they will try.

@PatientWolf

If I tried that, the same player would find some example of a time when I got cross at something (justifiably cross) and use that as a weapon to justify himself. For example: When he created my Neccesary Evil character for me (as I had no idea) he took my background concept, created a character that didnt fit it, and nerfed me for the first dozen sessions... when he agreed I could tweak my character, his advice (based on the very specifics I pointed out I wanted my character to do), he took away the skill that was core to my character.

Since I didnt know the system, I had no idea what was happening.. just that the 'fix' he put in place, broke my character even more.

The other bits for the new member of the group is aside... I believe she really does not like Star Wars, the guns thing I could work around.

@MrHotter

Its not a case of backgrounds, I dont mind what they come up with, its what they were doing for Teemo that I wanted to pin down... where they came from isnt important, so long as their backgrounds converge as a team working for Teemo... I feel it should be the GM (Me) who tells them what they were meant to be doing for Teemo, and how they messed up, that intros the adventure (As the opening scene is them running from his Thugs).

This is a group who a SW game they ran before i joined the group (d20 I think), they went to Hoth, collected Ice, returned to Tatooine and sold it for a profit. Which is just the stupid kind of things they will try.

The first thing that says is there is no overriding story arc, it's sandbox play (which is fine, and fun too). But whether sandbox or story arc, it's still an opportunity. Maybe they need to make money, in which case the sessions are still rife with possibilities. How do they load the ice, with pickaxes and wheelbarrows? If so then they have cold exposure to worry about, never mind Wampas. If they use droids or other machinery they're going to "have trouble adapting them to the cold"...never mind Wampas. If ice is suddenly the new hot commodity, some Hutt is going to want his cut. If they don't make a deal, he might have the PCs followed to find out their source, get a bigger freighter and flood the market. Maybe the moisture farmer's guild will be annoyed at the lower prices and demand import fees. Or maybe the water miners of the Tatooine Oort-cloud-equivalent can get ice cheaper from comets. And is an Imperial customs agent really going to believe that's all ice back there, or is he going to suspect there's a bag of spice under all those cubes? "We can't know for sure...prepare to thaw".

In short, rather than trying to stop player's crazy ideas, let 'em roll with it, and even let it pay off, after they've conquered suitable challenges. It's hard to dream up challenges on the spot, that's where "yes, but..." comes in handy as a delaying tactic until you have a handle on what you need to do.

"Yes, but...do you know where Hoth is?" (Outer Rim, Astrogation)

"Yes, but...do you know the price of water and whether you can make a profit?" (Outer Rim, Negotiation)

"Yes, but...what equipment do you need?" (Mechanics, Negotiation, Streetwise, Education)

etc.

Make them answer as much as possible, make their own lists of stuff, which gives you time to prepare better.

This is a group who a SW game they ran before i joined the group (d20 I think), they went to Hoth, collected Ice, returned to Tatooine and sold it for a profit. Which is just the stupid kind of things they will try.

Ooh! There's a lot you can do with something like that. Just think of every episode of The Simpsons where one of Homer's get-rich-quick-schemes doesn't get him rich and start making crazy stuff up—

(watches the notification pop up that 1 new reply was added... clicks "show"... realizes that whafrog has somehow NSA-wiretapped into his brain)

GET OUT OF MY BRAIN YOU!

Anyways... Yeah. Moisture Farmer Mafia. Give 'em pitchforks and overalls. Start stealing borrowing ideas from Futurama if they want to play that kind of game. It honestly sounds like a lot of fun!

Also, if they ever roll a Despair, you are required to have this scene happen: "My sugar is melting!!!"

@Wahfrog (and by extension Dave Sunstriker too)

Thank you for that.. it was a bad example, as I had a few ideas to stop them doing that particular thing anyway, but you have thrown in a few other ideas I would never have thought of.. the Moisture Farmers, the Hutts wanting a cut, etc (Not to mention that there is no demand for ice on Tatooine, someone will have secured the market on refrigeration already I am sure).

But these are the type of things I struggle to come up with on the spot... and probably still not after a week of thinking of them. Maybe its simply a case of needing practice.

All that aside, my original point stands.. what were they doing for Teemo that they messed up? (And why don't they have a ship already?)

All that aside, my original point stands.. what were they doing for Teemo that they messed up? (And why don't they have a ship already?)

Wouldn't that depend on the party makeup? And what races/careers/specializations they have?

I'm curious to know how you expect to be able to answer these questions without having even the most basic information regarding the characters.

In our case, I'm pretty sure that the GM did run "Escape from Mos Shuuta" for us, and we didn't use the pre-gen characters. But we were enough like the pre-gen characters that we could combine most of what was in that adventure book with our own backstories and still have things come out kinda-semi-sorta making sense.

I think we then went to "Long Arm of the Hutt", with basically the same amount of story/narrative overlap. But Teemo and his palace got blown up, and so now we're rapidly approaching the point where the GM is going to go off-book and we're going to be in his own unique world.

He's told me very little about what is coming, but what he has told me sounds MUCH better than what we've had so far, so I'm really looking forward to it!

I feel it should be the GM (Me) who tells them what they were meant to be doing for Teemo, and how they messed up, that intros the adventure (As the opening scene is them running from his Thugs).

I disagree. That kind of background is something the players should be doing. Just tell them that the characters they generate must be all know each other, all be working for Teemo, and collectively have done something to offend him. You get to veto anything that's unreasonable.

As for munchkin PCs, just use the standard chargen rules and they won't have enough XP around to have overpowered characters.

In a more general point, tell people that you'll be running a game with a particular vision of how the galaxy works. You'll appreciate their input, but if it clashes with your vision, you'll veto it. If that causes friction, you'll just stop running the game and do something else. After all, no gaming is better than bad gaming.

If they've asked you to GM, you are entirely within your right to sit them all down and explain what you GMing is going to look like, tell them up front what kind of game you want to run, and get them all to agree up front to trust you as the GM and not argue any rules points.

Agree on something like this up front: "I am the GM. I am trying to create a game that is fun for everyone at the table, so please go with the rulings I make in game. 1) If you don't like something, tell me after the game session and away from the table. I will do my best to make things fun for you. 2) If you think, or even KNOW, that I made a mistake on the rules, tell me after the game session and away from the table. I will try to learn the rules to the best of my ability, but allow me to make mistakes so that I can better run a fun game for everyone." (You can even set aside a "debrief time" after a session for players to say what went well or what they didn't enjoy because they felt it was wrong or confusing...but it's important to have a tough hide for this to happen!)

If you can get everyone to agree to this, then future arguments should be easily dealt with by simply reminding them of what they agreed to.

If you have a problem player, who continually disrupts the game/the group, here's some good strategies for him/her:

1. Set clear rules & boundaries at the beginning of each session ("I'm the GM, please let me run the game, I am here to make it fun for everyone").

2. If possible & appropriate, address the situation broadly in the group (don't single out the problem person)

3. Try to get the problem person on your side by giving him a specific job to do, or ask him if he could help you out in the next session by gently keeping another player in line. Examples of extra jobs the player could do are record-keeping, session recaps, rules look-ups between sessions or during breaks, running a group of NPCs during combat, collaborating with you out-of-game on future story arcs, or even trading off as GM every now and then.

4. Pull the problem person aside, outside of game time and away from other players , to discuss a persistent issue. Remind them of the agreement they made when you started the game, and ask them to honor it.

Try not to issue ultimatums to the group ("If you guys keep acting up, you'll have to find another GM!"). It's obvious that they all want to play and that you want to be the GM. So use that common desire to shape your time together and remind them all that you're just trying to run a game that's fun for everyone.