I would like to reflect on Jay Littles Words in the first Order66 pod-cast for EoE:
Paraphrasing: "The use of the dice should be intuitive" and "The resulting symbols on dice should reflect through the story why those dice were in the pool" and "while narrating I push the dice forward and try not to mention the word die or pool".
Reflecting on these thoughts my help new Gm's to move away from the surface of EoE which plays like a tactical strategy rpg board game and into deeper waters of EoE which plays like a fun choose your own adventure book.
So now you know my bias. There is nothing wrong with this system as a tactical rpg, that's fine, but this post is not for you. This post is for those who want to hide the puppet strings and not worry too much about charts and rules.
Before I begin I want to mention two alternative plays that work very well with EoE and all the SW RPGs by FFGs.
1 No GM. Instead everyone pitches the story like a "story round". Players become temp GMs at times to control NPCs. Great for Kids. (I believe this was Jay Littles idea also)
2 Solo play. Which is not only fun but a great way to play test or even write a book based on the play. Solo play is like seeing the movie and then reading the book. Yes you know the plot but your about to discover all the things you didn't know.
Now the meat of this post:
The rule book is a great tool for knowing the extreme of things and keeping balance and having definition for why things work the way they do. For instance I don't want to apply 10 difficulty dice to an extreme range shot or 1 difficulty die per 15ft. No someone already figured that out for me and wrote the rule book. So in no way is the rulebook not necessary.
On the other hand I like getting rid of the puppet strings and rule book interruptions. If I don't remember a rule I just use my "intuition". I know the dice are the core mechanic and I know whats going on in the story so I just go with it without breaking the narrative. I try as Jay says to push the dice out as the narrative is going. For instance:
....and Jerik (NPC Rival with 3 strain) Leans into the jet bike and hits the "punch it pre set" (pushing his Pl Pilot check pool forward) And he feels confident in his attempt to escape you and tightens his grip ready to bring the bike under control as soon as it lurches (DS destiny point used and dice upgrade). But the bike sits where he had parked it, below the sand outcroppings that liter this planet and there is not much room ahead of him to hit the "punch it" switch (set back die). {Players say:} Jerik is also stressed at his desperate and clumsy escape and though confident there is much on his mind (LS destiny point and Difficulty die upgrade). And not remembering where to pull the difficulty die from I simply use Jeriks strain rating (Intuitive).
Now in the example above there is a dice pool of lets say: 2 green ability die for the base agility pilot check. DS destiny upgrades it to 1gr 1 ye. The jet bike is a swoop which would normally get a +to handling but forgetting the rules for that and considering that the "punch it preset" thing-a-ma-jiggy is not the handling im thinking of, I leave out the + to handling. So 1 gr 1 ye in the pool. 1 setback do to sand pillars entrapping the bike. 3 diff die from strain upgraded to 2 diff 1 challenge because of a LS destiny point.
So 1ab 1pro 1sb 2diff 1ch rolled = 1ab(adv) 1pro(suc) 1sb(threat) 2diff(fail and threat) 1ch(blank). I cancel likes and then least to greatest. So the 1 ability die advantage is canceled by the 1 difficulty die threat. The 1 difficulty die fail cancels out the 1 proficiency die success. This leaves 1 setback die threat which with the total skill failure sends the bike into a sand pillar just as it lurches forward. It stalls as Jerik loses control and hits the pillar of sand. (And why the pillar? Because that was the reason the setback die was in the pool).
What's also fun about this game is that one needs not know how everything works in the Star Wars universe. Stalling jetbikes and punch it presets are just fine.
Some notes on GMing:
I like to:
Have player sheets in front of me.
Let players write things down as i talk ( its their memory) otherwise the must roll a check to "remember".
Let players keep notes of added stress/wounds and bonus die.
Have a on the spot pencil scribble of positions and ranges as soon as the narrative needs one.
When writing adventures keep it simple and allow for Pc's to have freedom. Don't try to write every possibility. Some simply Threat and Advantage possibilities in key scenes are enough.
Have some curtails ready for bringing PC's back to story.
Throw in clues like "You see something shimmer in the distance"
I like to throw in lots of clues for the PCs to "gather info" with skill checks.
I made player aid flash cards of each die and what they are used for story-wise by the rules.
I made flash cards of the general difficulty ranges.
The only sheets I use are a quick dice pool chart and some core rule notes.