Hey fellow GMs.

I am having a problem with a Bounty Hunter Gadgeteer currently in my game. He is an ex-clone trooper who abandoned the Empire after refusal to take part in Order 66. He became a Bounty Hunter in the guild and proceeded to take Bounties, he was fruitful and even gained a partner. However a job went wrong and the partner was killed because an ambush was waiting for them. Someone had leaked info to the target.

His Obligation is an Oath to track down who leaked info to the target. His motivation is Support the Empire.

Mostly he is very silent in sessions, being someone who really likes combat but detests (or is reluctant to) roleplay.

We are currently doing the Jewel of Yavin, however there is not really a lot of combat stuff to do until the very end and I am finding it hard how to integrate him in such a way that he is useful or feels like he got 'his moment'.

I am also finding it hard to engage his Obligation and Motivation. My intention is to eventually reveal it is the Empire who want him killed because a rogue clone could be a danger in hopes that the Motivation will change so that the group can throw in with the Rebellion.

I am an inexperienced GM (only been GMing for 7 months, period. This is my first RPG) and could do with any advice people have to offer.

Hmm. He could overhear a cantina conversation where someone is talking to someone else about this sweet ambush they heard about, which netted a bunch of credits for the team working for a local Moff.

Or he could overhear a conversation between some Stormtroopers talking about being sent on yet another "Snipe Hunt", to find deserters and capture or kill them, when everyone knows that troopers never desert their post or the Empire.

Or maybe he gets a bounty to perform that turns out to put him into the exact opposite situation, where he’s supposed to ambush some deserter who’s been trying to become a bounty hunter.

Or maybe he gets word from a friend of his that the same people who set up the ambush are now coming after him, and to meet said friend at a secure location somewhere. But maybe the "friend" is part of the ruse to flush him out?

Or maybe the partner was the one responsible for setting up the ambush, and faked their death to make things look good? Now they come back and pretend that they somehow managed to trick the ambushers and then escaped from some place not-quite-as-bad as the spice mines of Kessel. But again, what if that ex-partner is just trying to set up another ambush?

Or maybe they see someone on the streets of Cloud City that looks just exactly like their ex-partner, and who knows where that might go?

Maybe they get a contract to take out a local minor Imperial target? Maybe they get captured in the attempt, only to discover that it was a setup? Maybe it’s the Rebels who break him out and save his life from this double-cross?

I can think of a number of different ways to bring this together.

I love the Jewel exactly because it is so light on combat. Even at the end it is not necessary and PCs can talk(lie) things through (at least they could in my game). If your player is good ONLY at combat - he's going to have to wait until the last chapter, where you can have shootouts with the Guard, Arend's goons and/or Grayson's men. Random shootouts earlier may draw too much attention and ruin the job.

Still, if the PC can sneak he may want to stalk an auctioneer, or one of security bosses, or stalk the ATM droid. Break into a governmental building to get the access code samples. If you still want spice things up with combat, there are still some options,but I'd keep the scenario combat-light.

1) Add 2 security droids to the ATM droid. They have to be dealt with before kidnapping the banking droid.

2) While the PC is guarding the hangar with their speeder, a rival team sends a couple of saboteurs.

3)A mini sub-plot of bounty hunting - the PC spots a fugitive with a small bounty.

4) Or just let him pay the price of ultra specialisation and tell him to wait until after the heist...

His Obligation can be also used - for example Kaltho may know the identity of the traitor and is willing to share - only if he wins the auction.

Well, hope you'll find my suggestions helpful.

First off if he refused to participate in Order 66 how comes he supports the Empire that ordered it?

Does he suffer from the same aging effect suggested in the series or are you ruling that was either cured or never happened?

And the brain chip from the Lost Season for Clone Wars, I assume you ignored that entirely?

Did he undergo plastic surgery to change his face and identity to avoid being pursued wherever he is?

What if whoever is behind this is more against clones and being one has earned their attention and this character is unknowingly in the employ of just such a person whose missions may be largely legitimate ones but that doesn't stop them or their allies trying to eliminate this troublesome character...

Have this vision where this character is ambushed and dons the armour of one of his attackers' after discovering one or more are also clones and uses it to infiltrate the group he thinks killed his partner and then discovers it was an ISB Agent who was actually after his partner but is covering up the deed to make it look like the clone was the actual target to ruin a rebel plot to gain sympathy in Cloud City or wherever they're currently located...

It does sound like Support the Empire is a conflict of his backstory, Overthrow the Empire might be more appropriate.

I agree that trying to find areas to appeal to his character are good but it can be really hard if the player isn't "getting in to it". Sometimes it takes a little while for the player to really get a feel for their role, obligation and motivation. If you haven't already, try feeding him a bread-crumb trail of clues that tie directly and obviously with his character and see if that perks him up more. If you can get a reaction out of him then you can pursue his interaction a little more.

In the non-combat scenes you can still make references to him so that everyone knows he is present. It may at least remind the players that he is in the room and give him an opportunity to express himself.

There are plenty of in-game ways to involve the character. But you also want to deal with the player/GM game dynamic. Very often, GMs (myself included) take on full responsibility for including and involving all of the characters. Edge of the Empire gives players a lot of empowerment in driving the story. You might have a player who is more interested in wargaming than role-playing, but maybe he is also just not interested, and then, he'll have to be patient until combat arises.

Now, for getting him into the role-playing, there are ways around the limitation of "I'm a fighter, not a talker." I've run games that involved a lot of talking, and to avoid making it all about the "face" of the party doing all the talking, I created (or modified) NPCs with biases that affected the difficulty. A particular informant was suspicious of "smooth talkers" and the politco could not get an answer from him. But when the team's smuggler talked with him "pilot to pilot" I set the difficulty lower than an opposed check.

While I haven't read the Jewel, I think the fish out of water concept would make it an interesting RPG experience, as long as you can make sure he has to do some of the "easier" social interactions because his more social buddies are otherwise occupied. Just like a non-combat character can make for the most interesting story from combat by succeeding at a task others thought he could not do, but in reverse.

I think there was an episode of Skill Monkey that dealt with combat skills being used in non-combat situations...that might be one way to look at it.

I think there was an episode of Skill Monkey that dealt with combat skills being used in non-combat situations...that might be one way to look at it.

That was an amazing Skill Monkey episode and I have used a few aspects of that as a player and a GM.