I don't think any other aspect of F&D has undergone more scrutiny or been subject to such debate. I haven't yet had the pleasure of having a duel take place in a game yet, but I did run some tests with two Knight-level characters against an Inquisitor, which were fun.

So tell me, how have your duels gone in game thus far? How did you set up the drama? Who was dueling? How did it play out? Was fun had?

Haven't done a duel in F&D, but in my EotE I had an impromptu one. When the PCs returned to Teemo the Hutts palace to exact revenge. Their Scholar force sensitive Gand came across Thweek, the Kubaz, that had tormented the Gand in their preludes, he was also a non combatant, the equivalent of Teemo's accountant.

Facing off in a side room while the rest of the party had the big fight w Teemo and his thugs.. Thweek grabbed a vibroax that was lying next to a dead gamorean. The Gand did the same. Neither had more then a single skill in melee.. and neither had a very big brawn. It was a bloody and drawn out battle, the other players seemed more engaged w the Duel of the Nerds, then their epic final showdown in Teemos palace.

Finally having battered the Gand down, the evil Thweek knocked its vibroax off the side of the building and gloated while preparing to deliver the final blow. Then the Gand pulled its holdout pistol and dropped Thweek to 1 wound and critted, causing him to lose the use of his arm. Effectively disarming him.

The epilogue is Thweek talked his way out of the party murdering him and acted as their go between to Jabba, till he betrayed them and got them hunted by Jabba. Till he betrayed Jabba, and the PCs got to hunt him. He was never found.

In my F&D game, my plan is that, whenever the player of the Gands new PC is taken out of action, to let him play the Gand (1 year worth of exp in the character) for one last adventure and then the devious Thweek will make a final appearance and it can get settled once and for all.

How has this thread not taken off? I demand epic stories!

You want epic encounters? Fine. A few weeks ago my players faced off against two inquisitors.

The three of PCs were quite advanced jedi, with about 300 xp each. One eschews traditional light sabers for big guns and diplomacy(Kham), one uses Shien style(Allie), and is the melee and stealth expert of the group, and the third practices Niman, but mostly binds foes for non-lethal conflict resolution (Goose). They were members of a deep space expedition, one that left before and didn't return until after the Order 66 was enacted.

Their captain was desperate to spare the lives of her (mostly non-military) crew, and secretly bartered with the Empire. If they would give a full pardon to the 200 other crew members, she would set up an ambush for the jedi on board.

The inquisitors were Arha, an older woman that hunts jedi to find her taken daughter, and Bralek, a zabraki loose cannon that only cares about his partner. Ahra wields a double bladed saber akin to the inquisitors from Rebels, and wears light cortosis armor. Bralek channels the force through his body to punch and move at superhuman levels (force rating 4, Move and every Enhance upgrade.)

They had the captain go 'missing' in the steam vents of a space elevator station the crew was taking refuge on, and lured the jedi to a walk way over a serious drop, but with lots of smoldering pipes and platforms.

I turned on some classic star wars music for the background, and Arha announced herself, cutting off the route out of the facility. Bralek, from cover of steam and shadows, began picking up heavy machinery and throwing it, but had little success. Kham frantically started to set up his gun, Allie engaged Arha in melee, and Goose chose to use Bind on Bralek, who seemed to be the more dangerous.

The fighting continued for several rounds. All five characters were almost out of strain, and several were wounded by the end. Highlights included Allie being thrown from the walkway but catching herself on a crumbling grate, and Kham finally getting a shot off when a new ally threw him a more practical gun, but the best part was undoubtedly the climax. Arha was defeated, and Bralek finally out of strain to fight through the Bind. Goose stood over the inquisitor, about to deal a killing blow, when I interrupted with a flashback of a vision. A vision in which she, as a baby, was taken from the arms of this woman.

In classic Star Wars style, Goose realized that Arha was her own mother, and couldn't bring herself to do it.

Bralek was desprate to save his partner, and threatened to have their ship and the entire station destroyed if Arha was harmed. Kham realized this and brokered a simple deal; she lives if we can leave. He agreed, but mocked them as they left, saying that their ship was dripping with fear, and that sooner or later another crew member would betray them.

The captain was left behind, but they managed one last talk over a comlink. She tried to say she wasn't sorry, that she did what needed to be done, but couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. As the ship left for deep space, Goose and Kham resolved to rebuild the Jedi order, but without denying the importance of human emotions, and so the search for a new home began in earnest.

We loved the way that session ended.

I observed that duel in the romantic and thematic sense have little place in a common F&D game. Most character will have a lightsaber, but most will also think that it isn't tactically right to face one on one. EotE would fit more, with only one lightsaber user facing the big bad in a duel... and also, it would feel to my players (and others I GM SWFFG to them) like "GM cheating", to force such a duel. However, I know good enough roleplayer when facing such situation that will accept that the GM is trying to tailor an epic scene and story, then they will relent to a duel (or the rest of the party will allow it).

On topic, my EotE group faced an inquisitor during the Glare Peak adventure (instead of Vader), and our jedi padawan faced him on the landing pad. He lost an arm until the party intervened and the inquisitor retreated ("this was only a setback!" *smoke bomb escape*). It was quite epic, as the party handled stromtrooper swarms from landing crafts, rebel agents backing them from barricades, and occasional fear checks induced from inquisition assassins popping in and out of stealth using cloaking devices, which pinned some of them down for a round or two.
The duel itself was very quick, after a few blows to each side, the bif bad just gloated and regaled the wounded padawan on his weakness and how he will be tortured for intel in the darkest of dungeons...

mmmhhh maybe i miss something...

with "duel" did you mean a face-to-face confrontation like Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader in Ep III, Ep IV or Darth Vader vs Luke in Ep V, Ep VI?

there are some special rules, or just the same rules?

mmmhhh maybe i miss something...

with "duel" did you mean a face-to-face confrontation like Obi-Wan vs Darth Vader in Ep III, Ep IV or Darth Vader vs Luke in Ep V, Ep VI?

there are some special rules, or just the same rules?

Indeed, a very important scene for the genre, derived from westerns (the showdown at high noon) and swashbuckling adventures.

There are no special rules, just combat. Although the Guardian career book will feature a Signature Ability that forces a duel, which is nice. I indented to allow it be taken at the end of all lightsaber style talent trees (as I did with other Signature Abilities in my campaign, allowing them to be taken by other careers).