We've only had three sessions so far, but my group has been really into the game and doing crazy stuff. I think we all really appreciate that there is more freedom with what you can do as far as actions go -- admittedly, I sort of bend the rules a little when they want to do something cool, but I consider that my prerogative as GM. After all, the most important thing, and the thing I want most, is for them to have fun. So if my Wookiee Maurader is struggling to gain control of a swoop bike while a Scout Trooper is coming up on him on a different one, I'm more than willing to let him use his advantage or the Trooper's threat to guide the action -- instead of the Trooper's bad piloting roll making him fall back, I allow the Wookiee's better piloting roll to slam their swoops together so the blaster barrels lock, ala Return of the Jedi, which then allows him on his next turn to basically try to shove the Trooper off the bike.Or if he's coming up on a different Trooper and wants to jump from his bike to the other, I'll throw in an extra skill check that won't cost him any strain or anything, just because it sounds like it could be really freaking cool if he pulls it off.

One of the best things, though -- I'm writing this all as a homebrew, though occasionally borrowing story elements from some of the pre-written stuff -- the player who is running a Bothan Spy has been brainstorming with me outside of the group on what to do with her character and she's ultimately going to be a Triple Agent. Originally she was a spy working under Tarkin who was sent to join the Rebellion and report on their actions -- except in the end we're going to find out she was actually discovered by Vader and brought to the Emperor and is functioning as one of the Emperor's Hands. At the end of the campaign, we're going to do the reveal and she's going to turn on the other PCs when they come across their main villain now, and once we start a new campaign with the same characters she may crop up as a Nemesis.

I just... I've had a lot of fun writing this and playing with my team and it's gotten easier to wing it and not just follow the exact stuff I have written down. And they've been more than willing to follow my guidance, though new and more interesting side stories are starting to crop up, too. This is my first time GMing and I have never had more fun in my life. Sorry for gushing, but I'm really proud of my game.

That's fantastic!

It's great to hear you're homebrewing story and improvising based on the players, to me that is the most fun part of games like this!

I think it's made it feel like a more authentic Star Wars experience. The pre-made adventures do okay, I think, but having to write it myself makes me dig deeper into the canon and figure out what I want to do and where we want to go -- and I think my players enjoy hearing names they recognize. And throwing stuff at them that makes them feel special. The Wookiee I mentioned above now has a bounty on his head that is being offered by the Emperor himself.

Homebrew is the best.

My old GM had an aversion for printed adventures that was almost an allergy.

I like printed adventures for certain things. They can sometimes be great for conventions. They're also great for sparking ideas. And quite frankly, they're good for certain gamemasters who like that kind of thing. I'd say most gamemasters are inherently creative though and want to do their own thing.

Congrats on your great gaming session! Sounds like you and your players are having a lot of fun.

Yeah, we absolutely are. One of the guys is usually the one who DMs, in fact is DMing our DnD game, and I almost asked him to GM this game... but I wanted to try my hand at it and I'm really glad I did. I'm sort of kind of railroading them a little, but that was by design so we could all start to get used to the mechanics of the game. Once we've completed the first campaign I'm going to open up the galaxy to them and we'll end up doing more character focused stuff, I think.

I like to have a certain amount of it tailored a bunch of the stuff to the players to keep it fun for everyone, and i guess release their potential as PCs lol.
But i need some written stuff to close some gaps and give me more time to make up the long term stories/goals.
I still havent GM'd my own game ,only filled in for a another GMs session.
I hope to have luck like you when I start my game.