We're thinking of starting a league where everyone starts with generic pilots and then those pilots level up to higher skill generics and named pilots after a set number of kills/objectives completed etc, for some added RPG flair.

Is this an idea you might get behind? As far as table top games go, this one is pretty relaxed, and I' afraid the idea won't hold s groups interest for an extended period of time.

Problem would be Deaths and Pilot Hunting. You'll also probably need to break the •Unique rule. Although depending on the upgrade tech tree and how easy or difficult getting those 'named' pilots deaths might not be as problematic as i am imagining it to be.

The idea is fine on it's own but the devil is in the details.

How does one get pilot XP? Does it translate to upgrades as well?

Assuming individual pilots get XP based on missions they complete, how do you deal with the disparity between forces?

If it's based on games participated in, then you're just playing escalation, which is fine.

What happens when a pilot is removed from the board? Are they dead? Chance of dying? Based on the criticals? Over damage?

I don't want to discourage you, because I think the format could be really fun, I just wonder if you've got past the 'spitballing' stage in your mind and thought a bit about *how* it would work.

You could make a 'kill' an eject. Roll a dice for each pilot that ejects and on a crit they are dead, hit they are out for a couple of rounds or something, make an injury chart you can roll a d6 (or more depending on how big the chart is) to see the effect (could be lose 1 point of pilot skill, lose special ability etc)

XP for kills, lose XP for time out of action due to injury

I sort of assumed having your pilot killed was akin to star fox, they retreat, get patched up, come back fine later.

you're right, I have some work to do to.

Granting XP for kills/wins favors better players. Worse players will fall behind and stay behind. and never have a legitimate chance to catch up.

The skill level of my area is pretty flat. Plenty of players, and everything is pretty even.

And it's only XP for the individual pilot that made the kill, captured the flag, etc. That slows the progress down a little, so you don't end up with Luke wedge and Wes after three games. Yeah, you might get wedge, but you're also running red squadron beside him. And once you claim a named pilot, that's the end of your tree. Garven can't become luke.

I use a system loosely based on the old battletech game. Everyone starts with 20 points available. Any kills you make are worth 1 point, surviving a sortie is 1 point and death is -5 points. I also have rules for 'experimental tech' that allows for use of upgrades on ships that can't natively take them. So far I've only used this in scenario play with friends (basically everyone vs. me in kind of a GM role) but everyone has had a blast and after 5 games or so people get really attached to their 'generic' pilot. Add in some light RPG type stuff to set the stage of the battle, and voila! a new fun way to play with spaceships. I'm close to hatching an idea that sees a series of scenarios culminate in a trench run. Kind of like being one of the 30 that fought at Yavin. If I get it right it'll be fried gold.

Directly re: the OP, I would love to be in a league that was more than just 100 point DM's. And for what its worth, there are quite a few x-wingers in my area that feel the same.

I'm a relatively vocal member of the group the OP is referencing. Everyone who came out for our weekly game night yesterday discussed the campaign concept at length. I think I actually talked about this for longer than I played. We haven't solidified anything yet, but I was surprised and extremely pleased to see such a positive response to the idea.

One player in particular seemed to have a solid start on an experience point and upgrade system, so I asked him to run with it and get some rules down on paper. Then I'm going to take a bit of an analytical look at what he comes back with (I have lots of experience with players trying to break systems from my D&D days), make some recommendations, and put it up to the group for feedback before implementing it.

Some of the things we discussed last night included:

• All games will be multiplayer, no 1v1's (at least until we have gotten pretty far into this, and even then they'll be preferred)
• Experience points translate into reserve ship points at a yet-to-be-determined ratio.
• Experience points acquired from mission objectives, kills, and assists.
• A "ship hangar" concept, in which you can chose to either sell back an existing ship for partial cost, or hold on to them for later missions.
• A default ship - Even if your last ship is destroyed, you can always have a new basic TIE Fighter or Z-95 for free, and upgrade it with experience you would have gained from the previous mission.
• Variable point costs for upgrades (costs more to put a stealth device on an existing ship than it does to have one included on a newly purchased ship).
• No named pilots - You're making your own name here.
• Pilot Skill upgrades available for an escalating XP cost.
• Critical hits must be repaired between missions (could be a time based or expense based mechanic)
• Eject / Salvage rolls - Something akin to 3 defense dice, 1/3rd of ship cost recovered per evade rolled, perhaps focus results convert if your faction wins the battle (roll after the battle ends).
• Heavy focus on scenario play, which means potentially modified play mechanics - For instance, an attack on a space station in a nebula, where long range scanning is difficult. Until someone moves within Range 2 of a given ship or its' owner chooses to break formation and identify themselves, ships are represented as unidentified movement bases (but marked to prevent shenanigans) moved by a designated team captain. Can you guess which ships are the main assault force, and which are decoys? Did the enemy bring their fighter aces in escort of a small bomber contingent, or a swarm of ships all bringing a small amount of ordinance for a hit and run assault on the station?

Once we get the rules a bit more solidified, we'll definitely post them up somewhere to share.

One of the ideas I've had was to start a series where my opponent and I pick a faction and build a squad up using whatever we want. However, on each subsequent battle, any unique pilot that had died in a previous match would no longer be available. For instance, if I lost Whisper in match one, I wouldn't be able to use her in match two, three, etc. If Dark Curse made it out of match one, I could use him in match two, three, etc. At least until he died as well. Generics can be played as needed, so adding academy ties or whatever is fine - if they die there's no lasting penalty.

Makes it more interesting to say the least. It means that unique pilots have to be played/protected differently. It also means that once 'fat han' dies, or 'howlrunner' or whomever, you can't just build another version, that pilot can't be used anymore.

Jacob

So Rookie Pilot, after a few missions could become Wes Janson?

Good job pilot, you've done well enough to earn a name.

One of the ideas I've had was to start a series where my opponent and I pick a faction and build a squad up using whatever we want. However, on each subsequent battle, any unique pilot that had died in a previous match would no longer be available. For instance, if I lost Whisper in match one, I wouldn't be able to use her in match two, three, etc. If Dark Curse made it out of match one, I could use him in match two, three, etc. At least until he died as well. Generics can be played as needed, so adding academy ties or whatever is fine - if they die there's no lasting penalty.

Makes it more interesting to say the least. It means that unique pilots have to be played/protected differently. It also means that once 'fat han' dies, or 'howlrunner' or whomever, you can't just build another version, that pilot can't be used anymore.

Jacob

That could be interesting. Each player picks a side and as league matches progress, his lot of available unique pilots slowly shrinks. You could make it a "6 match" season or something and make it so that each player is forced to field at least one unique pilot per battle (to force diversity).

One of the ideas I've had was to start a series where my opponent and I pick a faction and build a squad up using whatever we want. However, on each subsequent battle, any unique pilot that had died in a previous match would no longer be available. For instance, if I lost Whisper in match one, I wouldn't be able to use her in match two, three, etc. If Dark Curse made it out of match one, I could use him in match two, three, etc. At least until he died as well. Generics can be played as needed, so adding academy ties or whatever is fine - if they die there's no lasting penalty.

Makes it more interesting to say the least. It means that unique pilots have to be played/protected differently. It also means that once 'fat han' dies, or 'howlrunner' or whomever, you can't just build another version, that pilot can't be used anymore.

Jacob

That could be interesting. Each player picks a side and as league matches progress, his lot of available unique pilots slowly shrinks. You could make it a "6 match" season or something and make it so that each player is forced to field at least one unique pilot per battle (to force diversity).

Consider it a collision of parallel universes or something. Multiple copies of the same Rebel pilot might all show up on different sides of battle, but if yours dies, you lose them forever.