Anyone have the inside dope?

As far as I can tell, no official word has been made regarding publishing the Rebellion Day adventure to the grand public.

About the only time we'll find out is when FFG makes an official announcement that it's available for download. It might take a while even if they do, much as it took a while for the Free RPG Day adventure Shadow of a Black Sun to be made available as a PDF download.

I've been assuming they're holding it back for whatever they deem is a suitable amount of time. It was advertised as an in-store event so I don't think they want to undermine that by bringing it out too soon.

That said, gimme, gimme! It sounds like a lot of fun and I'd grab it in a flash if they put it up. You'd think they would eventually, it's a finished adventure just sat there, why not use it? Unless it gets bundled into something else or used as part of another promo I suppose.

Why not?

Seriously there is no reason why they should keep it unavailable, except when they feel like it.

The adventure is basically trying to free a prisoner who is stuck in a detention center, and how you get in.

Why not?

Seriously there is no reason why they should keep it unavailable, except when they feel like it.

Could be licensing reasons that heavily limit digital content, since we know that is a thing already. It's impossible to say why from the outside.

Shadows of/Under a Black Sun took a chunk of time until it got thrown online (3 months?). I'd imagine that whatever the reason for the time delay (maybe making sure the digital version doesn't conflict with the licensing agreements by making whatever changes they have to?), they're working on it to get it out digitally whenever thy can.

I am not saying this is the reason, but it wouldn't surprise me;

All previous online versions of products have been free accessories to existing products or developed explicitly as a free product. Glare Peak was a product that stores had to pay to get. I could see that distinction blocking, or at least holding the process up.

I have no particular insight into the FFG/LA agreement, but it is just a shot in the dark that I am hopefully wrong about.

I ran the Rebellion Day adventure so I do have Rescue at Glare Peak. It's good, and yes, it's a good few examples of how to handle a rescue scenario, which may or may not include breaking into a detention center. It also provides a good example of how a major character (Darth Vader) is handled in the game.

That Vader scenario sounds interesting for a one shot, but i could see it annoying the hell out of my players. I also feel that if something is in the scenario and the PC's come up with a good enough plan, they should have at least a chance (albeit very very difficult) to do something. It rarely completely wrecks things, and can lead to some great situations.

Saying that, I don't really plan on diverging into an alt-universe just yet, so I'm not even going to introduce any of the major players. The galaxy is big enough that they don't need to run into Han or Fett.

It would get silly if you did it every adventure "Quick, once again we have to get out of here before Vader arrives!" but I felt like it gave a great sense of impending threat to the game.

I don't like the idea of Vader getting in range being an auto-lose for the players.

Should Darth Vader be one of the toughest opponents, probably the toughest opponent a party ever faces? Absolutely.

Should Vader be utterly unbeatable so the party's only choice is to flee because fighting would be suicide? Not at all.

Last I recall Han, Leia and Chewbacca was pretty much at the mercy of Vader...if it were an advanced level F&D game...I would agree with you...but it's darth vader vs a team of blaster toting rebels. Plus there is the awkward end when your group do take down vader and some smart player decides to give you a wedgie by saying "I level my blaster at his head, take off his helmet and shoot him in the head." Well done you have just completely broken canon and have proceeded to make me one very angry and annoyed GM...there's now going to be a fleet up in space ready to vape you, your hyperdrive and com was sabotaged beyond repair and your weapons are jammed...oh and the 10 squadrons of TIE Defenders are launching...guess this campaign is ending today...

My group and our GM's have a much different attitude. If we kill Vader with just continue the story without Vader, a huge, and I mean astronomical Imperial bounty on the party's heads, and the Alliance willing to give us pretty much anything we ask for Last time we were a privateer crew whose frigate was docked at the Alliance shipyard Vader hit in Shadows of the Empire and one of our fighter pilot PCts scored two crits on Vader's fighter during a triple attack action. We asked for an MC80 complete with crew and fighter compliment and got it. We then used the frigate to hit small convoys and after a while Imperial task forces watching convoys we were planning to hit would ambush the frigate only to be ambushed by the MC80. The Alliance navy loved us for the ships we brought in that way.

Of course we've done it the other way as well. We once semi-lost Endor for the Alliance. We were on the ground team and the dice hated us that day. Vader and Palpatine still died but the Alliance fleet was crushed, reduced to a handful of ships mostly frigates, and corvettes and a few fighter squadrons, with both Home One and Independence destroyed thus killing Ackbar and Mon Mothma plus all of the MCs except Lando died and the Death Star II was still intact. We ended up having to help Garm bel Iblis reform the Alliance and eventually got sent to sabotage the Death Star II as it closed in on Mon Calamari.

Anakin is dead in my game, but I'd absolutely allow them to kill Vader if he turned up. The AOR team is a top end special forces team, pretty much the toughest soldiers the Alliance has. I'd expect them to take casualties, but I'd expect them to win if it was Vader against the six of them. 6 attacks a round will take it's toll on any NPC, no matter how tough. Of course, any NPC smart enough to survive wouldn't attack with 6 on 1 odds, ideally he'd have help.

To be honest, I'd expect our Soldier Emergent to stand a pretty good chance against him one on one. If he didn't have a Breach lightsaber, it would likely be pretty even.

But any villain worth his salt wouldn't be alone in the first place. Our Galactic Empire plays to its strengths - vast numbers of ships and disposable troops.

I'd like to see this released as it sounds ripe for some minor alterations...

Just as things seem bleak an Assault Shuttle lands down in front of them, its landing platform opens revealing a man in black laminate armour.

"Move it before those idiots realise this ship isn't being used by Imperial personnel!" the figure hisses at them as they rush in.

Door slams shut and the figure turns and hollers towards the front of the shuttle, "Markus step on it, Vader can only delay for so long!"

What is it with me and people clad in black laminate armour?

I've been tinkering with the idea that Vader is actually playing both sides in an attempt to prevent another Tarkin getting control of the next Death Star.

Still evil but what if someone forsaw the events at the end of ROTJ and realised Vader was their best chance to eliminate Palpatine once and for all?

Still I agree about the automatic fail if they confront Vader but that's what the 501st are for!

I love the idea of Vader being used in this manor. It allows for the continued mystique of a BBEG. There will always be groups of players out there who want to run roughshod across the universe wrecking shop and changing history, and there are GMs out there who want to allow thier players that sort of freedom. That playstyle aside I find this a very inventive use of a Major plot charecter without ruining any story timelines. It also fits well with the feel of the Empire. Does anyone doubt, if Luke had failed with his shot the Death Star would have vaporized the Rebellion? These ideas add dramatic tension to exciting situations.

Last I recall Han, Leia and Chewbacca was pretty much at the mercy of Vader...if it were an advanced level F&D game...I would agree with you...but it's darth vader vs a team of blaster toting rebels. Plus there is the awkward end when your group do take down vader and some smart player decides to give you a wedgie by saying "I level my blaster at his head, take off his helmet and shoot him in the head." Well done you have just completely broken canon and have proceeded to make me one very angry and annoyed GM...there's now going to be a fleet up in space ready to vape you, your hyperdrive and com was sabotaged beyond repair and your weapons are jammed...oh and the 10 squadrons of TIE Defenders are launching...guess this campaign is ending today...

In a game, canon is only what a GM wants it to be. Why play a game if it can't step on the toes of canon? To me, that sounds boring. The group of players are the heroes of their story, not Luke or Han. If you're afraid of "breaking canon", you're better off just sticking to watching the movies and not playing a game where you might have to do something that interrupts something laid down by Lucas. If you introduce canon situations into your game, expect the players TRY to break canon. And expect them to be mad if you don't let them just because it's canon.

Back in d6, I played a pirate that happened to find Leia aboard a ship. I tried to shoot her from behind but the GM said "if it was anyone else aboard the ship, I'd let you shoot. But you can't shoot her." He could have at least made up an explanation why I couldn't. But he didn't. 20 years later, that's what I remember about that game. Not anything else about that campaign. Just that the GM screwed me. If he didn't want Leia shot, she probably shouldn't have been aboard that ship.

Anyway, that's just my 2 cents about the breaking of canon. Have fun with that game. Don't let canon slow you down!!

I've run several Star Wars campaigns using several different game systems while not breaking canon, and my players have come back for more so I don't think it was boring. We all had fun and I'm glad we didn't, "just stick to watching the movies".

Some of us don't give a hoot about canon. That's fine. But, some of us do, and that should be fine too. Just because we don't like to upset canon and have our campaign veer off into something other then Star Wars, with all of the headaches involved, doesn't mean it is automatically a bad or boring thing to do to our players. You just have to do it right, having your players always on the edge of what happens in the movies, but never too much involved that you end up in one of those oh crap moments.

I could argue that getting the players involved in the canon events is boring. We know the basics of that story already even if we can change the ending. Better to participate in some NEW battle or mission, getting to also determine the ending, but with many more chances of mysteries and surprises along the way.

If you introduce canon situations into your game, expect the players TRY to break canon. And expect them to be mad if you don't let them just because it's canon.

That's the crux of it, and I agree: IF the GM introduces canon, they should have to live with the results.

I could argue that getting the players involved in the canon events is boring.

Not just boring, a serious ******* yawn-fest. Which is the main reason why I won't be introducing canon events in my games.

If (gods forbid!!!) I ever wanted to stick to canon, I'd do what KotOR did in reverse: I'd set it in the future.

So all these events (Luke, Vader, etc) all happened, a hundred years ago, it's history now so it can't be changed, everyone involved is long dead, this is a completely new era in which the PCs are the heroes.

I did think long and hard about that setting. As it was, I wanted to make some fundamental changes so just reworked the canon.

Yeah I was on a pair of MUSHes (A sort of online Text RPG) in A Star Wars setting that did that. The first was an AU of the rise of the Empire that ended with the Empire being established in 39 BBY and the sequel started in either 161 ABY, 200 or 204 ABY. (I can't recall if it started 200 years after the events of the first one, 200 years after Yavin, or 200 years after Endor.)

Really hope this can be released soon. I couldn't make it to my FLGS to play or run it.

Seriously, it'd make an awesome Christmas present... :-)

Or a great Happy New Year gift...