Mouthymerc, Now that is a better way of saying what I was trying to say, I went about it way wrong.
No you didn't. Lots of good ideas here from many people. Just thought I would consolidate them in case they were getting lost in all the posts. Probably could still be fine-tuned, but I think I hit the high notes.
Agreed. Your suggestions have been most welcomed
One thing that I might do is run a couple of EotE mods with starting characters to give me and the players a feel for the game. Then I can go and run a "knight level" game with at least some knowledge of the rules behind me
Agreed. Your suggestions have been most welcomed
One thing that I might do is run a couple of EotE mods with starting characters to give me and the players a feel for the game. Then I can go and run a "knight level" game with at least some knowledge of the rules behind me
Not a bad idea. You could do that and give out XP in bigger chunks. Run two adventures, give 50 XP after the first and 100 Xp after the second. The only thing is the equipment. Mind you the second adventure could be one that gives them their starting equipment by the end of it. Could be the result of the adventure or the focus (somebody stole it).
Or with my group, somebody has something we want to steal. Which really makes me wonder why somebody's playing a diplomat with this bunch....
I totally agree with mouthymerc's advices.
Rereading the beta book Morality has no fixed amount depending on group size as it's not designed to affect the entire group, but i would advise letting your padawan use it to get a different bonus from the one obtained with Obligation (ie no +10 xp with obligation and +10 xp with morality, but yes +10 xp and 70 morality for exeample)
The point about the basic lightsaber is very valid, the eote one is fully tricked out , but the basic one is ok. Here are the stats just in case:
skill:Lightsaber
Damage: 6
Crit: 2
range: engaged
HP: 5
Enc: 1
Special: Breach 1, Sunder
Since you're not sure how many other players you're gonna have, but you think there will be at least a smuggler, my suggestion is to give him the ship as group resource and offer it already equipped with 10k creds worth of attachments so the smuggler is already on par with the other two players. Here is my proprosal for the ship:
YT-1300 with smuggling compartment, reinforced shield generator, and high output ion turbine. It totals at 10300 credits, a bit more than the recommeneded amount but not too much in my opinon (alternatively exchange the ion turbin for a advaced targeting array to lower the total price at 9000 credits).
Edited by LaregI thought the basic lightsaber had Breach 1 and Sunder special qualities as well?
it does
It is in Oggdudes character generator. which I highly recommend using. It will help a lot with such things.
I downloaded that as soon as I decided I was going to run the games. It's fantastic
For the record i think Moonswing is the GM, so he has the last word on his players.
Also from what i read around eote isn't that nerfed for combat, i never read anybody complaining about it being too easy on the combat and too hard on the social interaction. Besides Moonswing group starts with 150 xp so it's facing rivals and nemesis or big groups of minions, all well armed i guess. And the group sin't toall combat orientated, there is a smuggler and maybe a mechanic and a spy, so it's pretty balanced.
On the other hand the post Order 66 galaxy can be similar to the Age one, with separatist holdouts, and continuing military actions, but their group also blends in the fringe as they are wanted criminals too.
Your post shamrok is certainly interesting and useful, and you have a nice twist on the clone thing. Good job!
EtoE isn't too easy with combat, I wasn't trying to insinuate that, actually the opposite, because of the lack of gear it's too deadly with combat. It's when you're a geared out soldier that EtoE becomes too easy with combat. If it came off otherwise, I apologize.
I did indeed read the initial post wrong though, I thought he was doing a group of clone commandos with a padawan. I thought it was a great idea, and excellent way to set the party into motion already having a history together. I figured the mechanic was a clone that specialized, and the other classes were too. Kinda like how in the real army every one is a soldier, and the tank mechanic just gets trained in that as well, but is still a soldier. It does change some of the post because I was like "if your whole team is loaded for broke, then go in the book that is made for that". As it stands, I will try and clear up some of the confusion you had.
In my experiences with the game for the last 2 years... soldiers/clones tend to be very good at what they do. Lets take the 2 combat classes from EtoE and add them to soldier (hired guns and to a lesser extent bounty hunters), as really it is just a title.
Most of those players (and NPCs) concentrated build points into Brawn, and Agility, and rightly so... it is what makes them good at what they do. They usually have average willpower and presence (though some cases will have a small kick to either of those). No combat type is really specializing in either of those stats though.
The discipline skill is a career for hired guns, but not for soldiers or bounty hunters. In either case, it's a rare occasion where a player (or NPC) has invested too heavily into it while early in their careers. They usually opt for the more combat centric skills and talents chasing the dedication talent with the first 200 xp or so..
Cool (the social equivalent of vigilance), isn't found as career skills for most of the combat centered classes either, again with the expected outcome on builds, of it not being there, and if it is, it's minor. This is initiative in social situations, and not likely to be taken over physical initiative of vigilance. This is basic soldier common sense, stop what's gonna kill you. In other words it's not a fault, indeed likely the very reason said soldier is still alive.
Dicapline and cool are your primary defenses against social attacks (so to speak). Fear, deception, coercion, and leadership are opposed by discipline. Cool resists charm. If the gun-bunny doesn't have any points in discipline (not uncommon given the limited numbers of points to go around in the first place) they get to roll one green to oppose them. Even if they had a point in it, their willpower (which isn't all that great either), gives a few, like 3, dice to work with.
If they are dealing with a crime lord (just an example, but socially powerful characters abound in EtoE), he is kinda like a politico (or leader), their deception, coercion, leadership, and charm skills tend to be their forte. They are rolling dice in these skills, like the soldier rolls to shoot. Debuffs are almost unopposed by combat heavy classes. At least until they start getting hit with it, and see the weakness, then they start shoring it up at the next opportunity, but it's expensive and again comes at the price of your next solider talent taking longer to get to.
That's what I'm talking about when I say they get wiped in social situations. A descent politico will have them jumping in front of bullets like secret service agents, for free, and thinking it was their idea, all the while rolling every action with 3 blacks from debuffs.
For a decent look at EtoE, look at the cantina in Episode 4, or Jabba's Palace in 6. It's not perfect, but it's a good representation to a smaller scale. How many of the patrons of either place were in decent armor? If you want to count boba fett (who just happened to be there, you have 1, but normally he isn't there). How many guns bigger then a pistol did you see? What was the reaction of the cantina when the stormies showed up? For goodness sake, jabba's primary guards (gamorreans) are essentially in leather thongs, with an axe. Bringing an knife to a gun battle.
In general, in EtoE, combat can, and should be avoided. Good armor is almost always illegal, and will be confiscated by most port authorities. So, no real defense. How about offense- out of 18 career specializations, less then half... 7 get the ability to learn to shoot (without multi-classing or paying the expense of out of career skills). If you're not avoiding combat, you're doing something very wrong.
That said, you don't get any experience for killing anything... you get experience for completing the missions. The less expenses you have to cover, the more you actually make. This includes health. Don't want to pay for a hospital, don't get shot.
Now compare that with AoR.... diplomats and spys are the only classes that don't get weapon skills (6 of 18 character options), and they have the "free"recruit tree to change that.. As the people are in the military, the armor is not questioned. It's still illegal if you've gone AWOL, but they have no reason to "look for it" and it doesn't stand out. In Edge you're in the outer rim either where nobody is wearing much armor at all much less heavy armor. You'd stand out, and thus give someone a reason to look.
So in light of there only being one combat heavy soldier type, and a light saber. I just issue a word of caution. Most of the bad guys in EtoE carry pistols. Most pistols don't do enough damage to get past the soak of good armor, and even the ones that do need to make some incredible rolls to accomplish it. You may unwittingly create a juggernaut. In addition, most people carry pistols because most of the big guns are outlawed as well. Just because it's tattooine doesn't mean it's no holds barred. You don't see anyone running around with military grade equipment in the movies. Sure the stuff exists, and likely hutts have access to it, but I would consider it the exception rather then the rule. They pull that stuff out when they know the combat is going to need it, otherwise they mostly use intimidation and threats to keep the peace. Backwater planets still have port authorities and troopers to deal with unruly persons, and they would be sure to investigate a geared out clone walking the streets of Mos Es.
Also, light-sabers are highly illegal and as you're setting is so close to the collapse of the republic, the population is highly sensitive to jedis. People, the general populace, are on the hunt for jedis, as the news reports nothing but how they caused the collapse of the galactic senate, killed babies, basically everything the empire did, it blamed on the jedi. There is no counter argument to this, as they are all dead. People on the outer rims are dirt poor and the rewards for information leading to a jedi are very high. I would be extra careful where I flashed that thing around (or used jedi tricks), and make sure there are no witnesses. In one of my groups, the bounty hunter, and the rest of the party, captured the player character force user, for the 100K reward so they could buy a ship.
You are going to run into some situations, especially if you allow the power armor, where the enemy you need for the soldier, is going to far surpass the rest of your crew. They are shooting to get past a soak, and if you don't have said soak, those points become all damage. The mechanic, et al, have to be careful when it comes to this.
I try to think of things in real life terms... it helps to develop the mood of the setting... You may want to consider starting out as normal characters do, as a big point of EtoE is coming from nothing... The desperation of the ghetto, the nothing to lose by getting in bed with a hutt, type of thinking. Often these are good people (doctors, etc..) that are just in a very bad situation. Think of it like some of those hotly contested areas of Africa in terms of mood and lifestyle(s), the ones were the tension is always there, where they try to genocide each other about every other year. Not so much the genocide itself, but the oppression of it. less wild wild west, but certainly an element of it. Making one's way out of the toilet while keeping one's moral integrity is a big theme. That won't be hard to replicate if you're coming from nothing, but it may be if you're starting out too advanced. This desperation is why all the social bad guys exist, think of them like used car salesmen offering you hope.
Will you be using the obligation system? as that sale of hope is some of the initial path towards the obligations. If that doesn't work out because your toons are too well off for it, you may run into problems getting them into it. Maybe just look at it in a purely historical way for indebtedness. Obligation is a great tool for advancement of the story, don' t brush it aside without a plan.
My golden rule: it's easier to give then to take away. If you don't think a character is strong enough, beef em up... but if a character is too strong, they tend to rebel against the idea of it,
Edited by ShamrockGood points and a nice read Shamrock. I do appreciate your thoughts.
Its for your thoughts regarding the galaxy's take on the Jedi at that time, which should for the most part, keep the Jedi in check. Sure you can use a lightsaber as much as you want, but don't complain when Vader or at the least one the Emperor's Inquisitors to come running (I'm guessing there will be a few of them 2 years after the Purge).
The issue is the armour, and is going to depend highly on what everyone else takes.
Don't flame me for this, but a party of "tanks" won't get much done, while a nice mix of character types will.
I like the idea someone else mentioned that the armour is old and run down because it won't necessary be able to be managed by the Clone himself (that what those grunts in TechSpec do, or perhaps one of his own team who is no longer with maintain he squad's armoury). That seems more fitting, and does mean I'll probably have to give them 500cr more per character to get the "basics".
I'll be chatting with people this weekend, so I should have a better idea of what people want to play.
As for the party of Clones and one Padawan, I really like that idea too, but I think that has AoR written ALL over it
the Morality mechanic also keeps the jedi in line as well.
Shamrock, i understand perfectly what you say about the social encounters being dangerous for a combat specced charcter, thanks for the detailed axplanation, it's probably something that new players need to know.
However i think your view of the galaxy attitude towards the Jedi is exaggerated. While it's true that the empire is gonna blame everything on them, the Jedi also have a reputation for fairness and justice that spans thousands of years, and until order 66 have been the heroes that led the army to save the republic from separatists. That reputation is hard to destroy, and two years after the war there are still people who remembers the jedi as they really were, there are still stories about the jedi helping the people, and sure as hell there are people not buying in the propaganda (which by the way it's a bit too exaggerated if you think of it one day they are saviors the next day they are traitors....very fishy). in short there are many ways around that issue....not to count that if the jedi help someone showing herself as a jedi, they will be less interested in turning them over to the empire. It's not "ancient weapons and hokey religions" yet.
Besides look at the cantina reaction to Obi-Wan's lightsaber stunt: everybody went quickly back to their business, as the patrons were smart enough to know when not to bother someone.
As far as the commando being a juggernaut, there are many ways to deal with a high soak charcter without wiping out the less resilient players (there's even a thread about that in this board), so i wouldn't be worried. The big guys will naturally concentrate on the Commando as he's the biggest threat anyway. And the padawan can be quite a challenge if she gets enough reflect and parry talents to take the pressure off the Commando, or at aleast make the bad guys split their attention.
As an aside, i am appalled that you let your players screw over other party members for money, imo that goes against the most basic rules of the party "we are firends and we are in this together". I hope you still have that player in your group cause if it was me i'd have left the very moment it happened.
And also i think it's a bit too patronizing to tell somone else that he should scrap his campaign idea and play starting charcters beacuse for you it's more appropriate. A starting character in that type of campaign, with that background (clone wars veterans) is utterly stupid and unplayable. Besides the rule mandate more xp if you hand out the real lightsaber to a charcter, not much choice about that.
Moonswing, i take for granted that an inquisitor should show up and be the group personal nemesis...it's a given with Knight level play. And all the enemies should be big groups of minons and rivals, maybe even with adversary 1 talents if needed.
As for the armor the old and worn is already included in the proposals we have given you (it's not vacuum sealed anymore for example) and the rifle is a powerful but standard rifle, no sniper and grenade launcher attachments available anymore. So don't feel afraid of giving those armor and weapons out, if you give 5000 creds to the player you may end up with a more unbalanced character in the end, because the player doesn't know what to buy with all that money. And if he loves the Clone Commado he will want to replicate their gear anyway.
Good luck with your players!
As for the party of clones and a padawan.....you can run it during the clone wars using Age rules. Just substitue empire with separatist in the duty table.
Or have the clones and the padawan get frozen in carbonite or in stasis for 20 years (a stretch but also an easy way to cover the time, i'm very fond of the carbonite or stasis chambers potential in these things).
*flashes back to Luke discovering a clone trooper and setting him loose on the Empire*Good ideas, but not what he's doing. I will gladly steal that idea, however.
And found out why they wanted to play the diplomat. Abusing the party for Boost dice.
"You know, if you just join us and free the slaves, I can get them out of here."
The more I look at it though, the more I think that letting him have a Clone Commando is a bad idea. By way of example, it would appear that a true Clone Commando was at least 12th level in the old SAGA rules. This is not how I would start a campaign. Unfortunately it also means that I'm going to have to let the player know its not going to be possible to play that sort of character in the short term (and I was so looking for ways of saying "Yes"). I think the best I will be able to manage is a Clone Sergeant who has aspirations of becoming a Clone Commando.
You can still do it. Consider his being one of the last soldiers to go through ARC training. Then he was placed on an isolated planet (for any number of reasons, but to maintain a tower is an idea). Due to the location/range of said tower, said clone never received Order 66. The chip is still there, but the order isn't being broadcast any longer, and may not even exist anymore.
Have him build his commando, and basically it's a shiny (fresh out of boot camp), but he has the training, has put it to use over the last few years, and is definitely someone that can grow with a ton of potential. . His gear would be sub-par in that it hasn't been upgraded for the last few years, and has been exposed to the elements. He is found and in the group now. As his loyalty is still to the jedi, he and the padawan should get along nicely, and he should oppose the empire. It's a luxury, given that he is kind of an outside observer in the events, but with some insider knowledge.
You're not saying "no", you're saying "yes", followed by "lets build this".
On another point, I am a little confused regarding Shamrock 's suggestion to use AoR instead of EotE. First question - Is there a difference other than Duty versus Obligation? I was going to use a mix of all of them (F&D included) in my campaign because I also like the idea of Morality from F&D. I thought it was all the same system?
I truly apologize, I've edited the first post (this refers to), but I completely read the initial post incorrectly. I thought you were trying to bring a squad of commandos, with a padawan, into Edge. If you read it like that, the post makes sense. Playing a geared out squad on the run from the empire, trying to protect their padawan (boss), is a campaign I've considered rather heavily. They would be in Edge territory because you wouldn't want to stay core, it'd be asking for problems.
Anyway, I find the obligation works great with Edge, just as a setting and theme. I'd put any force user on the morality scale, it's personal to said player, and because it manages sith intentions.
The commando, it depends on how you go with it. If he is actively part of the military and can get supplied by such, then duty would work. If he is "on the run", then duty isn't going to hold much for him because there is no chain of command to see that it works. As he is with a padawan, it is a choice that has to be made early, because said padawan is wanted dead, immediately. If he is getting supplied by the hutts, well the hutts don't work on a duty scale because they prefer "favors". So you can blend them however it works for you, those are just suggestions for getting the most out of them.
Don't flame me for this, but a party of "tanks" won't get much done, while a nice mix of character types will.
See, and that is what I was saying about AoR, because in Age, a party of tanks can complete the objectives. So it really depends on the theme you want for your campaign. In Age the objective is to take out the empire. That is accomplished through violence, one way or another. There isn't much "make them feel bad and go home" going on.
In Edge, your objective is rarely "take out X", it is usually steal something, or smuggle something, etc. You, as GM, place obstacles like an empire frigate, in the way to make it more then a cake walk. The party's mission is the smuggle, how it gets done doesn't matter. The hutt only cares about the cargo getting to where he needs it. His pay doesn't change because of the challenges you faced.
It comes down to what kind of campaign you wish to run.
That is a post I made in another thread, towards the bottom are some ideas I had in relation to the Edge, you may like to take a look at them. it helps set the environment for edge. An exert...
"For instance: your mission could be access this computer. There is a squad of stormtroopers guarding the door. Your party could disguise themselves and get past them. They could talk their way past them. They could stealth their way past, they could distract the storm troopers and get past them. Or they could open fire and shoot their way past. The experience they gain is for getting on the computer. The stormtroopers don't factor into it at all."
This is where your other characters come into play, and are given a chance to shine.
What I like to tell my gun-bunnies in Edge is... you're there as backup. They rest of the party is going to do everything in their power to put you out of a job. You're there in the event that they fail, for instance the disguise doesn't work (and the stormtroopers open fire). For the most part my combat players got fully on board with this. They started picking up skills that help the rest of the part to accomplish these things. Of my 2 main groups, I have one that hasn't been in combat is 2 months, and they have a "____ days since last injury". They pride themselves on it. Its been a lot of fun to GM, shockingly. When I make plans for the adventure, I try to figure out what they are going to do to avoid this combat. It has made better role-players out of the entire group.
If your gun-bunny is on board with this type of thinking, steal my idea and enjoy it. I only ask that you, and your flock, entertain me with stories of your exploits.
Lol. That's the direction I think it will go. And fear not, there will be stories a plenty.
I like Shamrock idea of the commando not receiving Order 66 beacuse he and his squad were out of range (or maybe disturbed by space phenomena), that avoids the problem of the drug unles your player wants it to create an irrevesible addiction obligation.
While the ARC idea is nice, i think it works perfectly well with a squad of clone commandos, so your player can keep the katarn battle armor.
Edited by LaregPersonally i totally disagree with the idea that Age is only about violence and fighting. That's an easy cop out in designing adventures. If your group is working ofr Alliance Intelligence spec ops, yo ucan get a whole variety of missions, from assults to stealing, to infiltration.
For exemple i think that JoY's starting mission can be easily modified and run in an Age setting very satisfactorily.
(i.e. you're there to steal the money for the Alliance, and you're double crossing the guy who hires you).
Also the hack into a computer m,ission that shamrok gives as an example can be easily fit into an Age campaign. Age is more flexible than most think.
Edited by LaregPersonally i totally disagree with the idea that Age is only about violence and fighting. That's an easy cop out in designing adventures. If your group is working ofr Alliance Intelligence spec ops, yo ucan get a whole variety of missions, from assults to stealing, to infiltration.
For exemple i think that JoY's starting mission can be easily modified and run in an Age setting very satisfactorily.
(i.e. you're there to steal the money for the Alliance, and you're double crossing the guy who hires you).
Also the hack into a computer m,ission that shamrok gives as an example can be easily fit into an Age campaign. Age is more flexible than most think.
Don't shoot the messenger. I'm just interpreting the data. There is a reason every class has combat skills. Sure if you can go about it another way, by all means do so. However the situation isn't always in your control. ...
"but many bothans died to bring you this info"...
When I'm speaking of a setting, I'm taking everything into account. In Edge its the oppression, the ghetto, and everything else. In Age, its the empire. Setting wise Age has to take the Empire into account as well, as the system is about the war. If you're not directly involved in the war, you're actions are assisting someone who is. The empire isn't known for finding alternate solutions to rebel problems. If you have a bad disguise roll, they open fire.
That being said, if you're able to maintain a support career, like spy, and effectively stay out of combat, by all means, my hats off to you. That works well in solo campaigns. In parties where you have combative types, and light swords, and people looking to directly oppose the empire, the ability not to act is often taken out of your hands. You're still not getting XP for killing things, so logic would suggest taking the safest path...
Edited by Shamrock
However i think your view of the galaxy attitude towards the Jedi is exaggerated. While it's true that the empire is gonna blame everything on them, the Jedi also have a reputation for fairness and justice that spans thousands of years, and until order 66 have been the heroes that led the army to save the republic from separatists. That reputation is hard to destroy, and two years after the war there are still people who remembers the jedi as they really were, there are still stories about the jedi helping the people, and sure as hell there are people not buying in the propaganda (which by the way it's a bit too exaggerated if you think of it one day they are saviors the next day they are traitors....very fishy). in short there are many ways around that issue....not to count that if the jedi help someone showing herself as a jedi, they will be less interested in turning them over to the empire. It's not "ancient weapons and hokey religions" yet.
Your logic holds true for the people that actually knew a jedi, personally, but most of them have "vanished" as well. Jedi have not been prevalent in society for years, even without the war, most of them lived secluded lives in the temple(s). So over the course of the last decade, they haven't been out amongst the masses doing the whole Jesus thing (outta sight, outta mind). That's not to say that they were not still seen as heroes but that complex took a rather serious hit....
As a general population, the core worlds turned on the jedi rather quickly. When order 66 went down, in the Traviss books (mentioned in this thread already), the general public was out in the streets beating and killing the jedi as well. I envisioned the city in BlackHawk Down while reading it.
The Emperor was thorough with his plans for the jedi downfall, and like a boyscout he was prepared; don't take his word for it here are the videos and pictures to prove it...
1) The galactic banks bottoming out (from 6th season of the clone wars)- The video showed padme and anakin (a jedi/ the public doesn't know he is Vader) in the bank vault "stealing" the money. In addition the Munn was one of Palp's lackeys so guess what it got reported as?... It's also attributed to this robbery, the current economics of the galaxy.. thus who made the poor poorer? Who caused the star wars equivalent of the great depression? This gives everyone a stake in itl
2) Anakin's murdering of the kids in the jedi temple. The pictures showing the kid's butchered, dead and dismembered bodies all cut with light sabers.
3) The fall of the Republic (senate). The public video, as it occurred in the movies, Padme suggested it with the support of the Jedi council
4) The clone army was initiated and commissioned by Sifo Dyas (known jedi council member), not Jango Fett.
5) The whole inception, and ultimate war with trade federation... the war that has cost how many lives, how many loved ones of every single person in the galaxy... Was done by Dooku, and made to appear as The Jedi council's deal, who set it up as a distraction to their plans to throw the senate/republic.
The public had its ignorance turned against it. We outside observers know the truth... but they have no such luck.
Friends of Obi-wan (or any jedi) would know that these actions were beyond them, but the Jedi didn't have any friends outside of the temple.
It was all too easy for The Emperor to swing public opinion, as he had been laying the ground work for it for 50+ years. He made the jedi too busy to interact with the public, he placed the jedi in charge of the clones, he edited situations to get video of exactly what he wanted the public to see.
Then he swooped in at the last minute and saved everyone.
The public wont fall for that, the jedi were just too large a presence- Look at real life, how quickly the public turns on someone when perceived trust has been breached. Lance Armstrong- nevermind all that he did for the battle against cancer, never mind that every other person on the tour was doping, never mind that all he did was lie to the public, never having hurt a single person other then himself.... That cat got kicked out of his own charity. He didn't kill kids, he was just an athlete that got caught cheating now "live strong" is bad karma. Imagine if the pope got busted for banging wee lads? God knows the church has lost a ton of believers just for covering it up when the priests were known sex offenders.
Will the poor turn on the force user? I can't say that for sure, but I know when you're living on a barely stomach-able meal a day, in a crappy situation, and have starving kids, etc... the 400K reward for turning in someone you don't know, and that you largely view as responsible for all the above, is a very tempting offer. I would do it in a heartbeat.
What happened when Obi-wan flashed the light show in the Cantina.... about a minute later you see long snoot collecting his reward from the sand troopers for "information leading to the capture/death of a jedi.
As an aside, i am appalled that you let your players screw over other party members for money, imo that goes against the most basic rules of the party "we are firends and we are in this together". I hope you still have that player in your group cause if it was me i'd have left the very moment it happened.
It's scum and villainy. The characters are not nice to each other unless you have a back story, or developed history through weeks/months of playing together. They didn't have their ship yet, so they were a relatively new party, and had no vestment in each other. It was like the 3rd or 4th game session. I'm a huge fan of "role" playing. I don't expect the wookie and trando to get along, in fact I would dock against it if they had just met and had no rapport with each other. Play your character: what they think, how they act, etc... and I'll never fault you for it as a GM. You may die in the process, but I'll do what I can to mitigate any penalties from it.
Besides, who am I to tell a bounty hunter not to bounty hunt? Especially if the rest of the group is on board for it. I ask if "you're sure", and if so, it goes down how it goes down.
Besides that, with force users being hunted the way they are, it brings heat on the rest of the party too. The empire kills/tortures known associates as well. They didn't ask for that caveat to be added to their characters, and they conducted themselves in no behavior that would warrant it. . Had the players been asked at character creation if they wanted to deal with a force user, they would have said no. - I can't force the 40 thieves to take in the knight of the round table, that may not be in the spirit of "teammates" and modern roll playing, but it is what their characters would do.
The force user was wreck-less and was going to bring inquisitors around, no doubt about it. I would have offed him too.
In home games, I don't play "the get along gang" for the sake of party cohesion. In demos, and public tests, I do wave the character interactions due to time consumption and not wanting to scare away a potential new player that wont "get it", yet.
That player is still in the group, made a big game hunter "scout", and is still force sensitive though he is more responsible with it. The party was cool with it this time, when they found out about it, because they had history, and he wasn't flashing it around like a new hair cut. Two years in, and said bounty hunter is the only character that is still going strong from the original characters in the party. All the others have died or moved on to greener pastures. One of them was because of a rift in the party, he wasn't getting along with another character, at all (the same bounty hunter in fact). The players got along fine, but the characters were at each other's throats constantly, and it was escalating. His character (rodian tech) opted to take a desk job, and he brought in a new toon (mon cal droid mechanic). The other 7 have died along the way, somehow or other.
SAnd also i think it's a bit too patronizing to tell somone else that he should scrap his campaign idea and play starting charcters beacuse for you it's more appropriate. A starting character in that type of campaign, with that background (clone wars veterans) is utterly stupid and unplayable. Besides the rule mandate more xp if you hand out the real lightsaber to a charcter, not much choice about that.
I hope that's not how it is coming off. I've said numerous times, play/run how you're happy. Here are some other things to consider, that I use to really bring the setting to life.... If you don't like em, don't use em.
I have no idea what the guy has going for him currently, if it's his first game, etc.. If it is someone's first game, I always encourage them to play RaW (rules as written) for a few sessions, just to get a feel for how it is supposed to work. Call it a test run. Then they can scrap it and start again making the changes based on an informed position. If it isn't their first dance, then it's information that can be used (or not) to flesh out the world(s).
It tends to help everyone, players, GMs, etc.. to have a start point that is supported in the book(s), that way if you have questions, the material applies to you. People new to the game don't realize that equipment is fluid, and starting stuff comes and goes constantly. It isn't until the PCs get attached to a gun and start modifying it, that they make an effort to keep it around. Otherwise, they just vape a new one, out of thin air by flipping a destiny point and making it so.
Obligation is a voluntary ordeal. the characters still have to agree to it. Characters that are doing well for themselves are unlikely to take on the debt, just to have it. That's why I am asking direct questions to his responses. I'm gaining a bit more knowledge of what he is going for, and I see bumps that could come up. His having a plan for those bumps ahead of time, may make them go away entirely.
I've been running Edge for 2+ years, I have two full time groups (13 players) going, and I do demos/public play tests. I also have a age of rebellion crew that just started. I'm not bragging about any of that, I'm just giving a base for the following... I troll these boards constantly, to see how other people do it. I look for posts where people give recommendations or spell out their settings, as I constantly lift from them. I even asked here for the dudes to share their exploits. Apes together strong!
Anyway, I hope this clarified some things with you, wasn't my intention to leave you with a bad taste, just to bounce things back and forth and see what we can all come up with.
Shamrock, i haven't read the traviss books so i don't know what happened ofter order 66, but i can imagine stuff would have been doctored to make the jedi look bad. I still have problemes beleive that people would buy that all the jedi who the day before were the heroes that led the GAR dfending the republic the next day are traitors to be lynched in the streets. it's not like after the Abu Grahib Prison scandal the american people were asking to dismatle the US Army and lynching officers in the street. But ultimately it's George Lucas' show and he has lots of problems with being realistic so i chalk the problems up to his simple mentality and plot necessity.
Also while i believe that there was a bounty on jedi back then, by episode 4 it certainly does not exists, or it's much lower than 35k credits: otherwise Han Solo whould have sold Luke and Ben out in a second, since he was in desperate need of cash and his "i'm in for the money" mentality.
As for Age missions i agree about them being much more combat centered than Edge, but i don't see it as the only option: sure you'll be assaulting bases, and defending against imperial attacks much more often (Arda 1 is ana example) but there are also infiltration missions available (the Perlemian Haul mission) .So i think you can easily use a group of mixed abilites in it successfully, you don't need a fully combat centered characters to pull it off. In the end it's up to the players will how the campaign develops, but given Moonswing information i see that compaing ending up in the Rebellion.
Or maybe i am trying to imagine ways to adapt current Edge adventures to Age setting beacuse there are many more of them available.
I find your group continued avoidal of combat very interesting and very good for rp,as many people who roll the combat classes would find it hard to resist to turns each encounter into a shootout, but what happens when a group of bounty hunters and/or thugs go after them? I don 't see them baieng able to always avoid combat even in a edge setting.
I put Palaptine in the same level of influence as the Leaders in the novel 1984. If you haven't read it - please do.
Unfortunately, for the most part, people are sheep, and its not until things get REALLY bad do they even contemplate retaliation or revolution. I agree that all that evidence (although doctored) would have easily persuaded the masses. If you have enough media clout, you can pretty much change public opinion at a whim.
Well Palps, was pretty popular and he was doing a good job in the public eye, but was attacked by Mace Windu a Jedi. How does that look to the public. Also Pademe was manipulated by him a bit along with others. He could have manipulated entire public in the same way. Look at Hitler.
Although I do agree with the thoughts above, everyone has their own opinion, and may be there is a planet out there that didn't agree with Palps.