Just for other fellow GMs a few words about tJoY. First of all it is an EXCELLENT scenario - it offers a lot of options, doesn't rely on brute force and in short is very well written and enjoyable. There is a host of interesting NPCs, potential for further games and last but not least - the setting is perfect.

1)Time-frame. The whole scenario took us 5 games (averaging 5 hrs each). 1st - introduction, preliminary research of the auction members, shopping etc. 2nd - preparations continue and end with the race. 3rd - auction, slicing and the gem. 4,5th - dealing with the aftermath.

2)Power level - my group is about 600xp (a year of playing). So most major NPCs had to upgraded, usually by adding one proficiency die to key skills. I gave minions (especially Grayson's security) extra wounds, so they were tougher but their number stayed the same. Major changes in the racing teams - every racer had improved full throttle (otherwise the player pilot would win without any problems) and skills/attributes around 4. The cars had disabled main guns and used linked heavy repeater blasters instead. Otherwise one shot would destroy any racer. With new guns there was a strategy behind the extra armour/speed dilemma.

3)How it went? Time and keeping the track of time is crucial. I gave the players 3 days total until the race. This way they really had to choose what to do (I think Arend Shen would approve) and for example decided not to try to set up a false account of their own. Otherwise the heist preparations were an opportunity for some excellent gaming moments. For example they had an idea to kidnap and reprogram the droid working in the Gallery, so when the time was right it switched off the cameras in the museum. They raised the price to 260k, sliced the droid, convinced it to be quiet, got the gem - but not as quietly as they wanted and when facing Elaiza in a very star-warsy moment they decided to give her the gem in exchange for help in finding one PC's family.

They had no gem, no money and everyone was looking for them. Long story short, eventually they got out without any obligation, but without the gem or money. Shen survived, Grayson got arrested by Zekra Fol (thanks to the PCs), Aris is their friend (they saved her from Grayson), Lando let them go.

Well that's it! If you have any questions about the adventure, I'll be happy to help. Once again - it is an excellent scenario so if any authors are reading this - thank you! I'm waiting for more of your work.

That's great. Really good to read. I have it and want to run it, but I'm just starting out so it's something for further down the road. My biggest concern is why the PCs wouldn't just channel the money into their own account and you answered it - it takes TIME to set up a suitable fake account. That simply hadn't occurred to me and might make all the difference to how it plays out. It never seemed remotely plausible to me that most players would not expect a double-cross. Now I have a way of dealing with it even if they do!

Out of interest, did the PCs win the race or have to improvise a way into the party? And did they show any interest in Pos Podura and Shreya? It seemed to me that sub-plot was going to be ignored by most groups.

I've been a player in this game, and I really want to run it, but sadly, none of my players rolled social, slicer, or piloting type characters.

When I played in another group, we definitely made the fake account, we also won the race (barely) despite the stock weapons on the cloud cars. We also agreed to half the gem with the Jedi (our GM ruled that only half the gem was needed).

I had a lot of fun with this adventure.

Knasserll - of course they expected a doublecross from Arend, but decided that they will burn that bridge when they get to it. They hoped to coerce him out of their share etc... It wasn't impossible to set up that account, just very time consuming (involving a trip to another system) etc. I also offered them a chance to buy such an account for around 15k (negotiable), but greedy bas..ards they are,they decided not to do it.

They won the race, but barely - as they should. Actually the race was one of the most exciting parts of the adventure, everyone going with speed 5 to 7, having triumphs and despairs etc. I changed the guns to character-scale version so there was some shooting, especially during the 'clear skies' stages of the race, and it didn't end with fireballs - just with some damage and criticals that harmed the cars without completely disabling them, thus increasing the fun factor. I liked the race so much that I'm thinking about starting another thread here with ideas about other racing tracks. Just need time....

Pos Podura and Shreya - during the preliminary research they discovered that something was wrong with Pos and that he was irrelevant for the auction, so then they ignored him. During the auction they found out about the love, but exploited the other side of that triangle (Shreya and Mikkil).

I'm getting ready to run this adventure, and I'm glad to hear the race is so fun! I've read other GMs say, though, that their PCs skip the race and find other ways to get invited to the Gala. I hate to railroad my party, but darn it, I want them running that race. Maybe there could be some incentive other than an invite? How did you all encourage the PCs to race?

Also, I've read that some PCs go the other direction and enter two pilots in the race, which sounds great to me. Did that happen with you guys?

I Played This Adventure, And HATED IT! It Didn't Feel Epic. It Didn't Feel Amazing. I Can't Begin To Describe How Horrible It Was. The Scanero Itself. 2 Of I Our group Quit The Ffg Game. I Almost Did. One Of Us Has Stopped Playing Rpgs All Together. It Wasn't The Gms Fault. It Was The AdventureMy Character Surrendered Rather Then Play One That Had Anything To Do With This Book. I Cannot Say Enough To Stay Away.

I will take the opposite side of the fence to Miishelle. I played this adventure and thought it was the best pre-written module I've ever experienced. It had a fun premise, lots of non-combat encounters. Wonderful intrigue, and a fun little twist. And the race was HARD.

Though, in his (her?) defense, if you don't have the group makeup to want to do a mostly non-com adventure. Don't even bother.

Here's What I Can Say. If You Revel In The idea Of Stealing Money From A University, Denying The Galaxy Of A Priceless Work Of Art, While Destroying Others, All So You Can Run In A Race, You Will Enjoy It.

I Hated This Adventure Because Of This adventure

Here's What I Can Say. If You Revel In The idea Of Stealing Money From A University, Denying The Galaxy Of A Priceless Work Of Art, While Destroying Others, All So You Can Run In A Race, You Will Enjoy It.

I Hated This Adventure Because Of This adventure

While I own this adventure book, I haven't read it. So I have only played what our GM has presented before us.

With that said, if you were supposed to screw over the Uni, that was not the impression I was given.

As far as the other pieces of art. That's all in how your group handles it.

Maybe I am misinterpreting your OP, but you make it sound like the race is the center piece and that's far from the truth. In my experience, the auction is the center piece.

You Need To Raise The Auction, And The Univ Is One Of The People There.You Need To Be Okay With The Idea Of Stealing Their Money. I Wasn't.

If There's fight In The Museum, There Will Be Colleroteral Damage. Every Shot That Doesn't Hit You Hits Something Else.

Stealing The Gem Denies The Galaxy Its Beauty. Fighting For The Gem Destroys Other Works Of Art. Works That People Could Spend Their Lives On. Last Pieces Of Cultures gone, Forever Lost You're Supposed To Steal A Gem.

I Know Its Just A Game, But You're Supposed To Be Immersed In The Galaxy, And I Hated The Thought That Due To My Actions, I Robbed It Of Some Of Its Beauty And Wonder.

That Is Why 2 Of The Players Oh That Game No Longer Play These Games. Why One Of The Players No Longer Plays period

Hmm, sorry to hear you didn't like it, Miishelle. That certainly gives me pause. I had planned to advertise the game to people who are comfortable playing thieving characters. To me, it reads like a light-hearted heist in the spirit of "The Pink Panther" or "Ocean's Eleven". But I guess it could play out in a more sinister fashion.

Also, I'm planning to run it in play-by-forum mode. Is a noncombat module too slow for that medium?

Noncombat adventures also can be challenging for me. NPCs to be charmed/sneaked by can be as boring as locked doors -- either you can unlock it or not. I worry they won't be interesting. If the party fails to bribe someone, or fails to charm someone, what then? Combat has a series of interesting decisions; NPC interactions often don't.

I'm also concerned about plot holes and railroading. Winning a race to get into an auction seems a bit flimsy to me, and uncomfortably reminds me of The Phantom Menace (though I admit the pod race *was* fun). In Jewel of Yavin, if the team doesn't win the race, the book suggests you should essentially rewrite the rules and let the team into the auction anyway. I dunno; that approach might make the players think "well then why did we bother with that huge race scene?"

I think the race should have some consequence. Maybe it could be something less dire than failing to get into the auction, like less prize money. Maybe up-front the party should be told that the top 2 or 3 finishers get into the auction. Or maybe losing the race simply means the PCs simply don't get to the auction and instead spend that time prepping the heist.

I'm very interested in any further thoughts you guys have on these issues, or on the adventure more generally.

Well, that is what RPG's are all about; doing things you wouldn't normally do. Some heroic, some less so.

Remember there is a difference between players and characters. Most of the characters I have played in my life have done things that I would never do in real life.

You don't like stealing from the university? Great, there is a storyline right there. Are you going to give it back? Do all the PC's agree? What about that one PC's sick grandmother who needs the money for surgery? and so on.

I think this adventure is great, but it puts a lot of work on both players and GM. There are so many options and so much information to collect, that it can be confusing at times.

The GM really needs to know the system and the story.

My players have been equally intrigued and frustrated with this adventure, finding it so open and sandboxy, and thus having a hard time figuring out what to do. Often they wanted to solve everything right away in one roll, only to find they needed more time and hard work.

That Is Why 2 Of The Players Oh That Game No Longer Play These Games. Why One Of The Players No Longer Plays period

That seems a bit severe, and somewhat hysterical. I don't buy that it was the module itself, it had to be how the game was run. There really isn't anything in the module that would generate this kind of feeling. It sounds like the GM ran it in a way that offended several of you, and didn't take any of the player objections into account. None of what you're describing is a necessary part of the module itself, and it doesn't sound like any of you had any input on how things were handled. The whole thing can be run without pulling a blaster. If you get the jewel you can do whatever you want with it, including giving it to a university or museum. The story is entirely modifiable.

I have to say though...you *are* playing "Edge of the Empire", which is about all kinds of thievery and knavery. If you're a smuggler, you have to know what you're smuggling, and it might be art or rocket launchers or whatever. How you deal with it is what makes your character and makes the story.

As a GM I confront my players with difficult (or sometimes silly) choices all the time. Shoot/don't shoot? Steal/don't steal? Are you stealing from the bad guys or from a starving family? Better take the time to find out. Or not. All up to the players.

They once had a discussion about whether or not to drop one NPC down a rancor pit. If they did: trouble over, dead man tell no tales. Just that minor issue of their own morals. If they didn't, he was bound to return later on, making life hot for them.

The wonders of roleplaying!

Yes, I like the moral ambiguities in this story. If I want to make the University less sympathetic, I'll let slip that the grant is from the Empire, and that its ultimate purpose is to annihilate the remaining Jedi, by learning the secrets of their light crystals.

I've now read through the entire book, and I have a whole bunch of questions:

1. The book says it's designed for experienced characters, and it suggest scaling things down for newbs. I plan to run it with a new party (in Play-by-Forum mode). Should I give my characters some extra XP at creation, or just scale down encounters?

2. Along the same lines: How much money do you think the party should start with? Newb characters typically start with what, a few hundred credits tops? Should I give this team more?

3. Likewise, should the team have a ship or not?

4. The heist is cool, but do the PCs have enough interesting choices for getting inside the museum? I'm thinking of adding a sewer/toilet option. Also, maybe they could develop a more elegant way of disabling the electro-bars than just blasting them with ion; maybe a PC could build or buy something? I'd also think the Jewel should have an additional layer of security -- maybe a weight or pressure or light sensor on it. Indiana Jones had to bring a rock to counterbalance the thingie he steals at the start of his movie; our heroes should too!

5. Likewise, the book is a bit vague about how to get OUT of the museum, especially as it's likely alarms will be sounding. Any advice on this?

6. In general, the ending worries me -- what if the PCs are all incapacitated in the getaway? Or even, God forbid, blasting their way inside the museum? I suppose they're arrested, and they may try to escape, etc etc.

7. Finally, I'm not sure I quite understand how "place values" in the race work. Suppose we have two racers. In round one, A goes speed 2, B goes 1. A rolls two advantage for a Place +1, for a total Place Value of 3 (right?); B rolls two threat for -1, for a total Place of zero. In Round 2, both accelerate one, and neither rolls any threats or advantages, so no change in Place Value. A now has a total of 6 (Place Value from round 1 plus current speed of 3), or 7 (adding the Place Value of +1 from Round 1 again)? Does B now have 2 or 1?

I know that's too many questions, but if you guys could answer some of them, I'd be very grateful.

Eh, I have to take the other side of the fence from Miishelle - that was a great game, I love the planning and scheming for The Big Heist and it totally felt like an The Italian Job or Ocean's 11 style story. Lupin III would have been proud on how our caper went down.

If the campaign hadn't gotten shot out from under us, my character was about to go be a master criminal!

If There's fight In The Museum, There Will Be Colleroteral Damage. Every Shot That Doesn't Hit You Hits Something Else.

See, there's the thing - if you're shooting then your plan has already failed! Sneaky stealth and a subtle hand should have been the order of the day here.

Mind you, if you go in for that sort of thing. You could brazen it out and just storm the front door, abandoning all subtlety.

weDid This As A One Off side Quest With New Characters. Our GM Put In Our Main Characters As A Rival Group Stealing The Gem As We were. They Fired On Us When We Entered. He Also Used The Opportunity To Give Our Main Crew 40 Obligation. Tied It Into Framing Our Main Crew Into The Murder Of A Moff. I Would Be Lying If I Said That Didn't Leave A Bad Taste In My mouth

Why in the hell would someone throw characters under the bus like that, unless they were tired or running the game or looking to troll. That sounds more like your GM being a Nimitz-class douchecanoe than any failing with the game as written.

I might be running this in the future. I am still having trouble grasping the concept of how to run the auction. Really seems no point when it is obvious the hutt can easily outbid everyone, that as a GM i don't see much point of the players working on the other characters

Raised The Bids So They Can Steal More money

The Hutt will be unwilling to part with that many credits. The Jewel may not be worth it in his eyes and he will be very difficult to be convinced otherwise. The adventure may be written in such a way as to make it easier to get the others bid high rather than the Hutt.

I like the adventure as a base outline for a heist, but I felt that several of the details were set a little too tight (as in there didn't look like enough freedom for the players to adjust to their strengths). I also though that some parts - the race in particular - were absurd and felt artificially forced into the story in the hopes of making a driver/pilot shine even at the cost of putting the thieves under greater public scrutiny.

I share some of those worries, HappyDaze. Are there enough interesting decisions for the PCs in this adventure? Sometimes there's only one approach (slice the bank), and in other cases the choices don't seem as varied as they could be. I kinda wish there were more ways into the museum for the heist, and more interesting stealth/thieving options to get the jewel from its plinth.

Also, if I run this for a new group, how much money/XP should I give them?

The timeline is too short for really planning many alternatives, and the whole thing feels like the plan is being hand-fed to the group by their employer. This gives the feeling that the PCs are just the patsies of a more cunning criminal, which seems to be what the story is going for, but it reminds me too much of the the ever-present "Shadowrun Screw-over" plot twist for my liking.