So, I am getting into RPGs for the very first time. I have no experience with anything (Star Wars or other wise). I feel like, after reading through the core rulebook I have a pretty good grasp of the rules, and I am going to attempt to GM for a group of people who have varying degrees of experience with RPGs.

Would anyone care to offer advice, tips, or important things to remember and incorporate or strive for as a first time GM? Any help offered would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'd recommend getting the beginner's box set of the setting you and your group like. It's how we leaned the system, and it was easy, good fun.

What also made it easier for us was we only used the core rulebook to start. No sourcebooks, no supplements, etc. Only a core rulebook to begin.

Logistically, it was a good idea to have a set of dice for everybody and a second copy of the core rulebook handy.

I'd recommend getting the beginner's box set of the setting you and your group like. It's how we leaned the system, and it was easy, good fun.

What also made it easier for us was we only used the core rulebook to start. No sourcebooks, no supplements, etc. Only a core rulebook to begin.

Logistically, it was a good idea to have a set of dice for everybody and a second copy of the core rulebook handy.

Requoting for emphasis. The beginners box games are wonderful for new GMs and new players alike. plus FREE DICE!

Other advice:

• Don't get married to the plot or NPCs. If the Big-Bad Evil Guy (BBEG) dies in the first session. Oh well, guess he was only the second in command to the bigger badder evil guy.
• If you can find the time, listen or watch other GMs at work. Even if they're not running Star Wars, just seeing how other GMs handle their players was a HUGE help. I recommend Critical Hit podcast or " Titansgrave " videos.
• Houserules are fine, just make sure you play through RAW (rules as written) a few times first before you understand the scope of the issue you are trying to fix.
• Every other roll should have a setback applied for some reason. This makes the "remove a setback due to x" talents much more enticing. The players will look so smug when they remove that from the pool.
• Session 0. The first session of a new campaign is the perfect time to make characters, build NPCs (as a group) and talk about what kind of stories you and your group will want to be telling. It's the best time to "Manage Expectations". The players and the GM should have a good idea on the kind of game they will all be running.
• Everyone should be having fun. Including the GM. If the players are having fun, but the GM is miserable, something needs to change.
• Be honest to your group when something isn't working. You'll be surprised how many issues on these boards could be solved by just talking to the players and reaching a compromise.

I'd recommend getting the beginner's box set of the setting you and your group like. It's how we leaned the system, and it was easy, good fun.

What also made it easier for us was we only used the core rulebook to start. No sourcebooks, no supplements, etc. Only a core rulebook to begin.

Logistically, it was a good idea to have a set of dice for everybody and a second copy of the core rulebook handy.

Requoting for emphasis. The beginners box games are wonderful for new GMs and new players alike. plus FREE DICE!

Re-requoting for re-emphasis...plus, there is a FREE PDF DOWNLOAD from the Support page that extends the beginner adventure probably triple or quadruple the length of the adventure in the box.

I'd recommend getting the beginner's box set of the setting you and your group like. It's how we leaned the system, and it was easy, good fun.

What also made it easier for us was we only used the core rulebook to start. No sourcebooks, no supplements, etc. Only a core rulebook to begin.

Logistically, it was a good idea to have a set of dice for everybody and a second copy of the core rulebook handy.

Requoting for emphasis. The beginners box games are wonderful for new GMs and new players alike. plus FREE DICE!

Re-requoting for re-emphasis...plus, there is a FREE PDF DOWNLOAD from the Support page that extends the beginner adventure probably triple or quadruple the length of the adventure in the box.

Re-re-requoting for emphases. Really, any of the three the Beginners Boxes could be considered the tutorial level. Yeah, it's a bit railroady, but when it's your first time in the GM seat, there is nothing wrong with that. Go ahead and let it (and the followup) hold your hand.

After that? Go get the other canned adventures. Use the adventure from the back of the core book, use the GM screen adventure - let those hold your hand while you learn the game mechanics.

Also, don't be afraid to make mistakes - and believe me, you will make mistakes. I've been playing for decades now and I still F up as a GM or have off nights. Just say "Hey guys, I screwed up. Lets back up a touch and do that over." or "Geeze, I had no idea that weapon would be so badassed. Can we dial it back some". There is no shame in saying "Hang on a second while I look for this in the rules".

Last? No battle plan ever survived contact with the enemy. When your players do something outside of the scope of what you had planned, don't be afraid to roll with it. Some of the most fun games I've ever had were where the Curtain Puller Encounter turned out to take over the entire evening's session.

Thanks everyone! I really appreciate this.

If we do run the beginner game campaign, how do you effectively adapt characters to fit that adventure? What should I be conscious of if that's the route we go?

Also, I've been looking at the different source books and adventures, and I've come *this* close to buying all of the at different points, but I always stop at the last minute. Is there one or two for a new group that are better for getting your feet under you? I know part of it depends on what the group wants to do, but which ones have been most helpful in general?

Thanks.

All the characters in the beginner box are pretty much straight out of chargen. There are a few small differences, such as the pregens only have one Knowledge skill, and the critical chart only has four ranks, but otherwise it's the same. You can easily run almost any group of fresh characters. However, I'd take a few pointers from the way the pregens are constructed: it's pretty clear they spent most of their starting XP on their stats, and only a bit on extra skills, so you'll probably have a better experience (with the beginner box at least) if you follow that pattern for now.

Personally I prefer the EotE beginner box to start with, but it depends what tone you want for your game. Also, I do think the AoR beginner box has the best PDF adventure extension.

Speaking only for myself, I prefer to run the Beginner Box games pretty much as-is, so that you can introduce players to important concepts of how the game works.

Later, you can get into generating new characters, based on your improved understanding of game mechanics.

EotE is usually one of the easiest entry points, since it gives you so many different possibilities of types of games to run.

AoR is great if you want to be Rebels officers fighting the Empire, and F&D is great if you want to be “Wannabe Jedi” or other types of Force Wizards.

To that end, AoR and F&D lend themselves to certain types of stories more easily, but it may be harder to work certain types of character concepts into those games. EotE is more free-form in both regards.

So, I would start with the Beginner Boxed set, and then move on to one of the core rule books (CRBs), unless you decide you want to try one of the other Beginner Boxed sets.

Decide what kind of story you want to tell, what kind of game you want to play.

That will give you clues as to which game system(s) or combinations thereof will be likely to work better for you.

I would suggest running 1 of the Beginner Boxes with the pre generated PC's provided. Say to your group this is intended to introduce the rules and after a couple of sessions this mini campaign will end and everyone will get to make their own PC. With this (nay any) system its so much easier to go through Character Creation once you have played a bit and have a handle on how all the game elements fit together. It will also get everyone in the mood nicely.

There are also 2 additional downloadable PC's on the respective product support pages to go with the 4 provided in each of the Boxes, so if your group is bigger than 5 people your covered.

So talk with your group about the particular Star Wars Theme you would like to begin in, then get that BB, and read the provided books yourself before sitting down to have some fun with the group.

If we do run the beginner game campaign, how do you effectively adapt characters to fit that adventure? What should I be conscious of if that's the route we go?

Here is what I would do. Play the Beginner Game as-is, with the pregen characters. Play the follow up game as-is, same characters. Then once you have your feet under you, have your players build all new characters, whatever they want. Then go to them "Okay, we can start over from scratch, have an introductory adventure . . . or we can retcon the Beginner Set Arc and say it was these guys and go from there."

Both options have their pluses and minuses. If they had a good time with the Set, then it was a pretty memorable launch with some loose ends just waiting to tie up. If they don't want to, that means that you get to tailor a game to their backstory and give them a good bonding experience for the characters.

Sector books! Go sector books! They have story nuggets, lots of great backstory, solid bad guys to work with and more locations are always good! Or wait until the players decide on what character archetype they're going with and get their Sourcbook (if it's out).

"'IT FEELS LIKE THE VERY FIRST TIME""

... Was that not what we were doing?

Thanks god someone else said it!

This thread needs more Stadium Rock

Even though we had played other RPG's, I made my group play through a beginner box to help us learn the dice system. It's vastly different than the games we had played in the past.