I have been talking about the content of AoR to my group, and they are all pretty excited about being able to play as a group of Rebel operatives. They want to use the new specializations, particularly spy/saboteur types. However, they have become quite attached to their current EotE characters, and I am looking for advice on how to convert them to the new specializations. They like the idea of having their current characters be recruited to join the Alliance.

I have a few ideas of my own, but I would love to hear from my fellow gamers. I have an adventure planned where a long-time contact of the group will reveal himself as a Rebel intelligence agent who wants the group to join the fight against the Empire. I have no doubts that they will join, based on their enthusiasm for the new content and their characters' relationship with the NPC. I then have a followup adventure planned in which the PCs, now a squad of Rebel operatives, will be put into a mission just after they had completed their training.

Here are some ways I have though about handling the specializations.

1. Let the PCs take a free specialization instead of being awarded with experience for the mission in which they join the Rebellion. They will also each take on a duty and either keep their obligations or ditch their obligations (haven't figured that out yet).

2. Have the players completely rewrite their characters using the new careers and duties, keeping only their names, species, and possibly their obligations. This would keep the characters' backgrounds the same, but would also them completely invest themselves in the AoR careers.

3. Give them the option of starting a completely new character, if they should feel so inclined.

If anyone has any advice on which of these sounds ideal, or if you have any amendments or ideas of your own, please feel free to share!

Thanks, and happy gaming!

How many specialisation have they taken so far?

Run an adventure where they're rewarded enough experience to purchase their chosen new AoR specialisation with those that require less xp being able to start buying skills or talents in their new career.

If they really want to retain their old characters that should work fine, might have to look at the differing ways they handle Duty and Obligation like do you halve their obligation to represent their new Duty or just have them start at 0 Duty and go from there?

Do you have the AoR Beginner box set?

Might be worth running an adventure that leads into the start of that game say they're the backup for the pre-gens in case a player character is incapacitated then they have a spare character to run perhaps even give them their first taste of AoR in the process?

I'd say how you want to advance the story would be the most appropriate avenue. Starting out in a sort of mercenary relationship makes the most sense. The can decide for themselves how patriotic they want to be as they progress. I think the pick a spec instead of xp is a good idea. If someone wants to just start fresh I would never tell them no. Ultimately your story you are trying to tell provides the most continuity.

Obligation and Duty can run side by side, so converting the characters sounds like a good approach. Maybe house rule that they can now take their obligation down to zero... I would still roll Obligation every game to see if somebody's past caught up with them, as well as rolling the Duty roll.

I would probably say run the story to recruit them, and award enough XP for them each to pick up a new AoR Specialization (remember that same name specializations cannot be duplicated), which will probably be AT LEAST 20 XP for the entire party (since they are all technically out of Career [except for the Universal Specializations], possibly more depending. Award everyone the same, and let those with left over XP up some skills.

After conversion, you could award them all some small amount of Duty, or leave it at 0 and have them work up; GM choice there.

Should be a fun conversion process, let us know how it goes.

Kevynn

How many specialisation have they taken so far?

They have not gone outside of their own specializations thus far, so it would not cost them that much to simply purchase a new specialization. Don't know how I didn't think of this. Giving them an Experience reward that can afford them a new specialization, and maybe a few bonus experience, is a good idea.

Do you have the AoR Beginner box set?

I do not have the Beginner Game, but I do like your suggestion on having the pre-gens as backup.

Starting out in a sort of mercenary relationship makes the most sense. The can decide for themselves how patriotic they want to be as they progress.

I like this idea. Having sort of a nebulous relationship with the Alliance can provide an interesting dynamic when the characters are communicating with hire-ups. It is sort of like when Han Solo is collecting his credits for returning Leia to the Rebel base. Luke wants him to stay and help out in the assault on the Death Star, but Han has other things on his mind.

Obligation and Duty can run side by side, so converting the characters sounds like a good approach. Maybe house rule that they can now take their obligation down to zero...

I like this idea as well. Their current Obligation is quite high (They have asked for many favors and made many enemies). Reducing their Obligation can be like the Alliance giving them a second chance at life. While they now have duties to fulfill, the Alliance provides them a sort of support system that they didn't have when they were just a bunch of crazy kooks running around the galaxy looking for trouble.

Thank you all for giving me these suggestions. If there are any more suggestions or bits of advice from other players, I am always open to reading them!

I would introduce the PCs to the alliance with a bang, not a whisper, kinda like in...uh, what's that movie? Oh yeah, Star Wars! It need not be quite so grandiose, but it should clearly illustrate why the rebellion against the empire is more than “just a job.” I would also tie it into one of the PC’s obligations to resolve it completely, and assign everyone a duty once the adventure was done. It’s fine to have both at the same time – more tools to work with, but being part of the alliance means they’ll have the backing necessary to get those monkey-lizards off their backs (political pull, twelve step programs, etc.) for good. Also, epic adventure is a good excuse to give 30xp, which is enough to buy spec #2 if out-of-career or recruit + a couple talents.

Personally, I'd have them keep their current skills, Careers, and Specializations. If you're a Smuggler who joins the Rebels, you don't magically become a Spy; you work for it. I'd say that they stay the same, but now a) work for the Rebels and b) can buy Rebel Soecializations.