Narrate that Saber Fight!

By Desslok, in Star Wars: Force and Destiny RPG

That saber fight thread, plus my old breakdown of the fight on Bespin got me thinking - I wonder how the other fights in the movies work out? I wonder how those "games" would play out too? And so I thought I'd apply some brainpower on how the mechanics would work.

For the sake of completeness, here's the post that started it all off:

Round 1) Initial engagement, back and forth - Vader rolls enough advantage to force Luke down the stairs and used his maneuver to jump down himself. Vader also got a triumph, allowing him to disarm Luke. Luke gets enough threat to blindly step backwards and fall into the carbon freezing chamber.

Round 2) Luke, who was lucky and got the first initiative slot, jumps out of the pit and uses his maneuver to retrieve his saber (Yeah, Move should be an action, but since all he's doing is picking it up with his mind, the GM says "Yeah, that's a cool, cinematic moment. Go for it"). Vader attacks, gets a despair and a face full of steam and a shove off the platform for his trouble.

Round 3) Vader gives up the saber attacks, uses move to bombard Luke and gets a triumph to blow out the window. Luke generally fails his attack, but flips a destiny point to manipulate the environment - "So I get blown out the window - but there's a catwalk below that I can just barely land on!"- The GM doesn't want to end the campaign, so he goes with it.

Round 4) More back and forth, with Luke running low on strain and nearing his wound threshold. Luke gets a crit, but rolls low (something in the teens) and only wings Vader. Vader also gets a crit but rolls much, much higher and removes a limb, ending the fight.

Qui-Gon and Obiwan vs Maul:

Round 1) After a massive coercion roll, scaring off the NPCs, Maul, Kenobi and Qui-gon start throwing some blows back and forth. Qui-gon gets enough threat that Maul knocks him ass over teakettle. Kenobi plays it safe with some nice basic attacks and rolls mediocre - no advantages, no threat, nothing but some basic success. Maul, realizing that his class needs a better environment to jump around in than a big flat floor of a hanger does a quick Move to open the door with a droid torso, one maneuver to retreat into the hanger and one to Cool-Ass Jump to a catwalk.

Round 2) Flanking Maul on the catwalk (giving them both blues, because they've surrounded him - why not?) Kenobi gets a despair AND a triumph, knocking his skinny ass off the catwalk but the player says "I'm two levels down, but there was a ledge and I managed to grab on. Oh, and my saber didn't fall into the yawning abyss". Qui-gon got enough advantage to do the same, but maul only falls one level (Qui-Gon's player didn't get a triumph after all, so the party is 'split') and uses his maneuver to jump down. Maul's first maneuver is getting back to his feet, one more attack and a second maneuver to start backing towards them cool laser gate thingies.

Round 3) Kenobi's entire turn is pretty much getting back on his feet, grabbing his saber and one mighty force leap, plus a maneuver to run to the fight. Qui-gon goes for another basic attack with no real outstanding pluses or minuses, as does Maul - but Maul gets a triumph, allowing the GM to go "Well, you would have been able to run all the way to the fight, but a force field thingie springs up in your path, separating you from your mentor".

Round 4) The fields come down and Maul and Qui-gon resume the fight, and it's Jinn that gets the despair. "Oh look," the GM goes, "Your padawan can only use one of his maneuvers this time instead of the two he needs to get to the fight because the red fields come back on seconds later." This is kind of a Richard move on the GM's part, keeping a player out of the fight and sidelined like this. Maul also gets a crit on Qui-gon, and rolls really, really well. It doesn't hurt that he's modded his saber for extra critical badassness. Qui-gon goes down.

Round 5) Super pissed at being kept away from the action by the GM, Kenobi comes flying out of the gate (getting some conflict along the way). He gets a triumph, allowing him to disarm Maul (or at least cut his saber in half) and some extra advantage to knock Maul off his feet. Maul's attack also lands him two triumphs, allowing him to knock Kenobi into the Yawning Abyss and disarm him in the worst way, by kicking his dropped saber in too. Kenobi flips a Point, saying "Hey, aren't there some protrusions around the edge of the Yawning Abyss I can grab onto?"

Round 6) Kenobi leads off the round with one maneuver to jump out of the Yawning Abyss and his second maneuver to grab Qui-Gon's saber (which should have been an action, using the force like that - but it's the end of the game and it's a cool move. The GM says go ahead) and one last saber blow, netting him a well rolled crit and the win.

Edited by Desslok

Anakin and Obiwan vs Dooku, round one!

Round 1) Kenobi and Anakin run into meet Dooku and Anakin goes to attack - but Dooku rolled really well on the initiative and gets to go first, zapping him with his lightning. He gets a crit, but rolls pretty wussie (a 34) and Anakin is staggered until his next turn. Dooku's second blast of lightning that Kenobi blocks should be a second attack, but you cant do that - so why don't we call just that narrative posturing. Kenobi wasn't really bothered by the attack and Dooku wasn't really trying - so it was the Nemesis just showing off how badass he was.

Kenobi attacks Dooku, but with no advantage or despairs.

Round 2) Dooku rolls well and gets a crit - and gets an Overpowered result. Two blows, arm and leg with the same dice pool. Anakin, recovered from his staggered, jumps in the way of the two, spends his maneuver picking up a second saber (by way of Kenobi) and attacks. Unfortunately he gets a despair, allowing Dooku to cut his new saber in half. He spends some advantage cutting the power cable, turning out the lights.

Round 3) Because it's all dark and sparky, everyone gets a black die to their attacks. Anakin rolls average, getting no advantage or despair, while Dooku gets another crit. Arm gone and Anakin is out of the fight. (Kenobi's player, meanwhile is really getting annoyed at being sidelined like this.)

Round 4) Yoda shows up and the two throw barbs back and forth while throwing debris back and forth. Dooku's lightning attack could be another round, but since it was as useful as it was the first time, I might call it Narrative License again.

Round 5) Yoda leads off the attack with a pretty average roll, inflicting some strain and wounds. Dooku, realizing that he's running dangerously close to his wound threshold, spends the advantage from his attack to execute his "Get the hell away" tactic, knocking over that really big (yet slowly falling) pillar forcing Yoda to spend next round saving his friends while the bad guy gets away.

Edited by Desslok

Anakin and Obiwan vs Dooku, round two!

Round 1) Dooku leads off the attack, getting enough advantage to knock Kenobi off his feet. One maneuver to back up the stairs, giving Anakin a black on his attack roll. Kenobi spends a maneuver getting up, and the remainder of his round dealing with the Mooks in the room, but rolls a despair, allowing the GM to knock him across the room and drop a bridge on him.

(Kenobi's player, by the way, is getting annoyed being sidelined for a THIRD time.)

Round 2) With Kenobi out of the fight, Anakin attacks with enough advantage to knock Dooku off the balcony. Dooku tries a different tactic this time, using his Scathing Tirade to hit Anakin in the strain and give him a black to his rolls.

Round 3) Unfortunately for Dooku, the black did no good whatsoever when Anakin gets a crit, rolls well and disarms the Count. The Count is down for the count.

After that evenings session, Kenobi vents his frustration at being marginalized, and the GM promises something cool for him alone next time they meet. . . .

Edited by Desslok

Now THIS is what I've been waiting for! Taking scenes from the movies and applying the system is awesome. Great job Desslok!

Heh. Still got Kenobi vs. Grievous, Anakin vs. Kenobi, Yoda vs. Sidious (epic amounts of dice being thrown around), and then Sidious and Vader(Anakin) vs. Luke (2nd Death Star). With Vader having a morality score...of 29, I guess. And generating a ton of reverse conflict (redemption?) 'Special rules for this fight, Luke. Courtesy of Sidious over there, you have 3 Dark Side Pips you can use any time you want, for any reason. And they refresh every action and maneuver you take. No, really. Sidious wants you to have them. He really, really wants you to have them. Such a nice guy, that Sidious.

Edited by Angelalex242

These guys are kind of fun, so I'll bang out one or two more tonight when I get home from work.

I request Luke vs the training drone. Epic.

Poor kid, no skill in his Saber skill and no Destiny Points to flip to get a yellow versus a skilled drone who keeps getting advantage. No wonder he was getting pissed. :)

While not a duel, I request the Sarlaac fracas, feat. Luke, Lando, Han, Boba, Leia, Jabba, minions, et al.

Poor kid, no skill in his Saber skill and no Destiny Points to flip to get a yellow versus a skilled drone who keeps getting advantage. No wonder he was getting pissed. :)

Wait... ;)

Edited by Alderaan Crumbs

While not a duel, I request the Sarlaac fracas, feat. Luke, Lando, Han, Boba, Leia, Jabba, minions, et al.

Oooh, I hadnt thought about doing something that large scale. Sure, I'll take a crack at it, and see how the scene works and post the results.

Man, this better not turn into a "Narrate the whole **** saga!" thread. :)

Edited by Desslok

It's unfair to expect you to do it all, even as good as you are, so might we give off-the-top-of-our-head snippets? For example, despite a bunch of setback dice and perhaps some challenge dice, Han manages at least one Triumph while flaily blindly, probably after flipping a Destiny token. I might've given him a boost or two because, well, Fett did sell the Solo-sicle to Star Wars Marlon Brando and angry determination manifests in little, blue cubes. Chewie might've granted a boost as well. Then, Fett gets a Despair (or ten) while trying to play the Rocketeer, fails, and falls into a hole.

Edited by Alderaan Crumbs

Man, this better not turn into a "Narrate the whole **** saga!" thread. :)

I'd be fine if you just did Clone Wars season 1-3.

Wait...the other Clone Wars series, but just the Mace Windu episode. "Triumph...triumph...blah, blah...triumph...!"

With Vader having a morality score...of 29, I guess. And generating a ton of reverse conflict (redemption?) 'Special rules for this fight, Luke. Courtesy of Sidious over there, you have 3 Dark Side Pips you can use any time you want, for any reason. And they refresh every action and maneuver you take. No, really. Sidious wants you to have them. He really, really wants you to have them. Such a nice guy, that Sidious.

You know, if I were GMing in this instance, I would override the morality game mechanics. Even though Vader is well below the Dark Side Threshold, being the climax of the entire campaign and a huge character development point, with good enough roll-playing on the part of Anakin's player, I'd arbitrarily elevate him from that status. I wouldn't make him a paragon or anything, but I'd certainly turn him from the dark - put him at 30-ish?

Same thing with Farmboy - technically, Luke's player would roll for the conflict he gained during that session after the end of play. But if he had decided to turn right then and there, striking his father down, I wouldn't wait until the end for the "Okay, roll against the 78 Conflict you just gained to see if you go up or down" mechanic to come around. Boom, Skywalker falls straight away.

GM Fiat and drama trumps game mechanics any day of the week.

It's unfair to expect you to do it all, even as good as you are, so might we give off-the-top-of-our-head snippets? For example, despite a bunch of setback dice and perhaps some challenge dice, Han manages at least one Triumph while flaily blindly, probably after flipping a Destiny token. I might've given him a boost or two because, well, Fett did sell the Solo-sicle to Star Wars Marlon Brando and angry determination manifests in little, blue cubes. Chewie might've granted a boost as well. Then, Fett gets a Despair (or ten) while trying to play the Rocketeer, fails, and falls into a hole.

No, please - if someone else wants to jump in and narrate out a scene, please go right ahead! Heck, it doesn't even have to be Star Wars if they want - I was just pondering "So I wonder how the Truck Chase from Raiders would play out in the EotE system. . . ."

Edited by Desslok

You know, I love this system so much and would love to see it used in say...WH40K* or Mutant Chronicles (of course, Jay Little did spearhead the 2D20 System, so I'm eager to try it). At the risk of derailing (apologies if it does so) I've seen too much hate born from ignorance over the system. It does a lot of things very well (look how much fun we're having in this thread. Thank you, Desslok), IMO, and even though it's a pretty expensive buy-in (I have eight sets: three from the Beginner Games, plus five more. It's an addiction) I feel it's worth it. I love how everyone is involved in every roll and how the group can easily jump in on the narration. It does all of that with ease and doesn't remove fun crunch. If you don't want to or can't think of a way to use a symbol the game doesn't fall apart, which keeps it flowing and is a boon to me. I just freaking love it! :)

*I know WH40K is "supposed" to be poo-covered-poo levels of grimdark, but I think the current system is a tad too grimdark, and the Star Wars system would be awesome for it.

Now, how many Triumphs let you trip an AT-ST with logs?

You know, I love this system so much and would love to see it used in say...WH40K* or Mutant Chronicles (of course, Jay Little did spearhead the 2D20 System, so I'm eager to try it). At the risk of derailing (apologies if it does so) I've seen too much hate born from ignorance over the system. It does a lot of things very well (look how much fun we're having in this thread. Thank you, Desslok), IMO, and even though it's a pretty expensive buy-in (I have eight sets: three from the Beginner Games, plus five more. It's an addiction) I feel it's worth it. I love how everyone is involved in every roll and how the group can easily jump in on the narration. It does all of that with ease and doesn't remove fun crunch. If you don't want to or can't think of a way to use a symbol the game doesn't fall apart, which keeps it flowing and is a boon to me. I just freaking love it! :)

*I know WH40K is "supposed" to be poo-covered-poo levels of grimdark, but I think the current system is a tad too grimdark, and the Star Wars system would be awesome for it.

Now, how many Triumphs let you trip an AT-ST with logs?

This system could easily be adapted to the 40K setting with a tweak to the number of threats and despairs on the grumpy dice. More threats and despairs would lead to a higher difficulty and prompt more chances for you to grimdark/FUBAR things up for the PCs.

Man, this better not turn into a "Narrate the whole **** saga!" thread. :)

I'd be fine if you just did Clone Wars season 1-3.

Wait...the other Clone Wars series, but just the Mace Windu episode. "Triumph...triumph...blah, blah...triumph...!"

Emperor vs. Maul & Savage Opress

Oooo and Maul (Force user) vs. Pre Vizla (non Force user)

In the interest of full disclosure I have to admit that I will pretty much agree with anything Desslok posts because his handle is Desslok.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7bCr6sMLDvM

If this has been said or done before, please consider it a reminder.

Okay, kids - just one fight for tonight. I have to run off to a book signing with local-boy-makes-good Daniel Bryan here in a little bit!

Obiwan vs Grievous

Round 1) After sneaking into Grievous' hideaway base, Kenobi jumps down from the rafters into the middle of the Separatist mooks, and promptly dispatches them all with a clever use of Move. Woe be the fate of the Minion! Grievous spends his round posturing and intimidating his foe with his glowing pinwheels of death, getting Kenobi a black die next turn.

Round 2) Kenobi attacks and rolls really, really well. He has enough triumphs to disarm Grievous twice and enough advantage to distract Grievous with the well timed republic reinforcements AND knock him off his feet. Grievous responds by using both maneuvers to get the hell away and piloting his Monocycle out of the battle.

It probably should be another round here, while Kenobi gets his mount and saddles up, but the GM wants to keep the action moving - so he gives him a freebie mount up and ride off. The GM will adjust things by giving Grievous a good lead and a tactical advantage next turn.

Round 3) Kenobi makes his Green Animal Piloting roll enough to catch up to Grievous, but gets a despair, dropping his saber. Grievous attacks, but also gets a despair, allowing Kenobi to disarm him of his Purple Glowing Stick!

Round 4) Kenobi whacks Grevious a couple of times with the Purple Stick and then spends a maneuver jumping to the Monocycle. Grievous, out of weapons, just goes for the brawl attack while trying to pilot (unsuccessfully, since they crash on the landing pad seconds later).

Round 5) Kenobi spends a maneuver grabbing the Purple Stick and whacks Grievous again. Grievous goes with the brawling attack, getting enough threat so Kenobi can rip open his chestplate juuuuuust a little bit, but also getting a triumph to knock Kenobi over the Yawning Abyss.

Round 6) Kenobi spends a maneuver picking up the gun and flips a destiny point. "So when I ripped open his chest piece last round? That exposed his naked, beating heart! I shoot that!" and not only rolls well, but gets a crit to really blow up Grievous good!

Edited by Desslok

Palpatine vs Windu and some Mooks

Round 1) Windu and Friends bust into the Chancellor's office, demanding surrender. Palpatine goes "Not in MY house", spends a maneuver pulling his saber, another maneuver leaping over the table and attacks the minion Jedi. Wait, you cry, Jedi Masters as Minions? Absolutely. All they are here are window dressing, slight impediments between the two titans that are about to clash. The story is all about Windu, so yes, he brought minions to a nemesis fight.

Windu, meanwhile, gets some good hits in and spends his maneuver backing out of the office and into the antechamber where he has room to move.

Round 2) Mace spends his maneuver backing up, and blows out the bay window with some advantage left over from the attack. Palpatine attacks, and gets a good roll - but a despair, stumbling over his footing and losing his saber. Anakin, in the last PC slot, uses both maneuvers to run up from the landing pad and into the chamber.

Round 3) Palpatine and Windu spend a moment rolling an opposed Charm check. Why charm? Both sides are trying to convince a third party that they should side with one or the other (although an argument could be made for Palpatine rolling against Deception). Either way, whatever it is, Palpatine has Windu beat. He goes for a Force Lightning attack, but not for damage, but to keep Windu distracted and play Anakin like a fiddle.

Windu goes for the kill shot, but Anakin seizes the next PC slot and pulls a face/heel turn. Since Windu totally wasn't expecting this, the GM upgrades Anakin's attack one more yellow. He totally crits and does enough damage to drop Windu (narrated that Palpatine force zapped him out the window, because he's a badass.)

Game set and match for the Dark Side.

Edited by Desslok

...Compared to Sidious, **** near everyone's a minion. The only exceptions are Mace, Yoda, and EU/Legends Luke.

Okay, kids - last one for the evening!

Palpatine vs Yoda

Round 1) Yoda strolls into Palpatine's senate office bold as brass. They posture back and forth, and Palpatine hits him with a round of Force Ligtning. Yoda then suckers in Palpatine by playing possom and gives him a mighty Move shove, knocking him ass over teakettle.

Round 2) Yoda spends one maneuver blocking Palpatine from the exit and a second pulling his saber, then goes for the attack. Along the way, he rolls enough threat to accidentally step on the "Podium Go Up" button on the control panel, raising the entire dias up into the senate chamber. Palpatine counterattacks, but gets a mostly null result - no advantages or despairs and the like.

In between round 2 and 3, the cat jumps up on the table and scatters the miniatures on the map. Yoda's player remembers where he was, but Palpatine doesn't, and puts his mini on one of the Senate floating pods.

(Go watch the sequence. Ever notice that Palpatine just simply teleports from the Dias to the senate pods? After they come back from Anakin and Obiwan fighting, he's already there, no leaping or jumping or anything.)

Round 3) Realizing that he needs to try something new, Palpatine uses Move to start chucking Floating Senate Pods around. Yoda is mostly a nimble little minx, but eventually uses his own Move to stop a falling pod and send it back. His maneuver is to jump up to where Palpatine dodged to.

Round 4) Palpatine goes to his Force Lightning well again, while Yoda goes for the Protect. Yoda, realizing that his wound threshold is getting close, flips a destiny point and asks "can I use my Protect that's been supercharged by the lightning to cause a pulse, knocking both of us off the platform and distracting Palpatine?" The GM doesn't want to kill Yoda and goes sure.

After dropping to the floor, Yoda uses the distraction and the cover of the debris to slip away, ending the fight.

Edited by Desslok

In between round 2 and 3, the cat jumps up on the table and scatters the miniatures on the map. Yoda's player remembers where he was, but Palpatine doesn't, and puts his mini on one of the Senate floating pods.

You made my day :D

Gotta hand it to GM Lucas for having such a diverse group of gamers. Not too many games where you've got PCs playing Sith and other PCs playing Jedi.