After a couple months of collecting rulebooks, fleshing out an adventure, hanging out here at the forum and familiarizing myself as best I could with the rules... tomorrow we I launch our group's Star Wars campaign.

Any words of wisdom? Recommendations? Warnings? Last minute house rule musts?

Don't spend table time flipping through the book rule checking. Play, jot down questions, make rulings, and look it up later.

Just let the game go and go with the flow. Focus on having fun first and rules second.

Thanks guys, I actually needed exactly that. Im fretting a bit on the rules. Im an old hand at GameMastering and can weave a story and run players comfortably but a new system is always stressful.

Questions invariably will come up. We find issues and potential loopholes and I play it quite a bit, Just don't waste the table time figuring it out. Have that legal pad and pen handy and just make a list.

PS

Make that clear to your PCs also that you won't be stopping to look up minutiae, make the rulings and then drive on.

Try and give setbacks whenever reasonable.

I'll second the setbacks. The easiest way to start doing this is if your about to set a task difficulty of Hard (3 Purple) as an example then change it to Average with 2 Setback (2 Purple & 2 Black).

Have interesting environments; In Star Wars space is full of stuff, It rains, its hot, there is dark/smoke/steam, there are high winds.

Open your FaD core book (if you have 1) to page 214/215. think about how epic that image is and how in your galaxy cool things like that could happen.

This is a narrative game, not a combat simulator, make sure your group get into narrating the results after a dice roll, get into describing the three different axis of a roll.

Its a game, have fun

I like knowing I made a difference. My GM will tell us that he expected things to go one way but we made them go another. Sometimes we're brilliant and things go well. Sometimes the GM is a meany pants and they don't. It's always his fault when they don't! But it's fun to feel like I'm not just guessing what we should be doing and that the story is actually developing around us.

Oh! And with that in mind, let your players fool you! If you're so surprised by their choices that you stray beyond comfortably winging it, tell them! Let them gloat while you take a few minutes to adjust things. Everyone can use a snack break or bathroom visit or even chat like friends for a bit and the game will probably run better for it.

Disclaimer: I have never gm'd. I have planned to but have not yet had the chance. My advice comes from a player's perspective. I think we loved it when our GM admitted we threw him for a loop.

Reference sheets!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9077657/SW-EotE-Reference-Sheets.pdf

More reference sheets!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/9077657/SW-EotE-Combat-Reference.pdf

Unfortunately, those sheets haven’t been updated with more recent rules, like the “Capital Ship Actions” from AoR, which are available only to ships that are of Silhouette 5 or higher.

They don’t look like they’ve got the Squad or Squadron rules, either.

These are good basic sheets, but I’m sure there’s more that are also missing.

There was a document called The list from d20radio, I have it printed out on my desk, let me type it up for you (with my commentary in brackets)

"The list" A quick Checklist for solid encounter Design in the Edge of the Empire RPG

KEEP IT LONG

Make sure your encounter area has room enough for 2characters to be a Long Range Band from each other.

(situational, don't get hung up on this, but it makes for interesting, longer fights)

VERSATILE SUCCESS

Devise a way to complete the encounter without resorting to combat.

(Yes! Sometimes combat is unavoidable, but a lot of the times it is)

COVER

Crates, statues, machinery - be creative! Put cover all over, next to walls and in open areas.

(This can also come from your players. We once had a scene on a scrap yard and a player proposed to jump into the next bathtub. Since it was fun, and is rulewise the same as cover, no problem! encourage things like this)

ELEVATION

Go for cinematic - but make sure it's accessible.

(Star Wars is foremost an EPIC. Not everything needs to be mega-awesome, but some things do)

CREATIVE TERRAIN

Spilled Supplies, oil slicks, standing water, toxic sludge, fire, distorted gravity - make it memorable!

(YES! There also was a .pdf called Environmental Set Pieces on this forum that has help me lots if you need to improvise)

SKILLFUL ACTION

Ensure combat skills aren't the only skills that can be used in combat. Leverage your set pieces.

(Everybody needs something to do, even the Face in a Brawl)

TRIUMPHANT DESPAIR

Plan out possible Triumph and Despair results ahead of time, using unique qualities of the encounter area.

(This is also encouraged to come from players, but have a few options available)

Also, remember (as said multiple times in the post above) there is a lot of room for players to decide what happens. Make sure everybody is familiar with the "magnitude" of 1, 2 or 3 advantages in thi system and then encourage them to tell their part of the story.

Don't sweat the details. You and your players are going to make mistakes. Roll (no pun intended) with them and move on.

Don't fret about the rules. Make a call, write it down,and come back to it after the session is over. If a call would have drastically changed the game shrug it off accept that you'll be better prepared next time.

Don't forget the setbacks. There are so many talents that allow the PC's to shine that remove setbacks rather than giving bonuses. If you are stingy with the setbacks your players may look at those talents as a waste.

Don't forget the environment. Star Wars is such a colorful story that leaving the discriptions out does an injustice to the game. And yes, dark and gloomy is just as colorful. ☺

Don't forget the story. It's too easy to simply roll and say that you succeed or fail. In FFG'S Star Wars every roll of the dice should have some story behind it.

Don't let your players forget the story. For many players being able to narrate their own successes and triumphs can be a big shock. Encourage them to do it. Many DM'S can have a hard time letting go of the authority of the story so you have to ensure that the players understand that they have a lot of input too in this system.

Have some ideas of what advantages, triumphs and threats, despair could do in your encounters.

And encourage your players to think about how they can a apply the advantages and triumphs, this can help them to join in the narrative side of the game.

Don't get too hung up on combat; I've found like the films it can be quite swift and brutal.

It's not D&D your players aren't 100% defined by you class; encourage your players to see their specialisation more as a guideline.

Unfortunately, those sheets haven’t been updated with more recent rules, like the “Capital Ship Actions” from AoR, which are available only to ships that are of Silhouette 5 or higher.

They don’t look like they’ve got the Squad or Squadron rules, either.

These are good basic sheets, but I’m sure there’s more that are also missing.

So you got better ones? Then help out the OP by posting them rather than getting down on the ones I offered.

The players will make a decision you didn't plan for...PERIOD.

If they're from a D&D shoot & loot background EXPLAIN that EDGE isn't like this... encourage them to leave bodies in their wake untouched as they don't have time (think Docking Bay 94 exit), escape from the Death Star etc.

Explain that combat is not simply hit or miss.... use the boarding at the start of Ep 4 as an example, firing, hard cover (bulkheads and corridors, C3-PO & R2 in the way), reduced vision - laser blast smoke, A round of combat is EVERYONE firing at the same time and that Initiative is just a way of running the chaos of SW combat. Better still watch ep 4-6 with a stopwatch and time how long each combat encounter lasts

This is useful: https://app.box.com/s/o4jl4sb3na0d0bpukp88

So you got better ones? Then help out the OP by posting them rather than getting down on the ones I offered.

GM Hooly has also done some sheets along these lines, and I think they’re a lot better organized and presented. However, they also haven’t been updated with regards to the newer actions, etc….

So, no — I don’t have anything better/newer to present. I just wanted to warn folks that the ones you referenced haven’t been updated in years.

This is useful: https://app.box.com/s/o4jl4sb3na0d0bpukp88

That’s good. There’s also a whole boatload of good stuff at https://kainrath.wordpress.com/

Of course, I think all this stuff is linked from the “Compiled Resources List” at https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/85616-compiled-resources-list/

I would just suggest to be willing as a gamemaster to cede some narrative control to the players. That can be hard to do if you are used to playing a top down game such as how D&D is usually played.

Let them change things with their ideas. Don't be married to one particular plotline, outcome, or motivation. Listen to what the players offer and incorporate it. You can always pretend you planned it to go that way anyway...

I would just suggest to be willing as a gamemaster to cede some narrative control to the players. That can be hard to do if you are used to playing a top down game such as how D&D is usually played.

Let them change things with their ideas. Don't be married to one particular plotline, outcome, or motivation. Listen to what the players offer and incorporate it. You can always pretend you planned it to go that way anyway...

This is important.

Let's say you planned an NPC in a cantina to give them info. But then they never even go to the planet! Just be prepared to slot that NPC into the story wherever they fit, perhaps in line at a customs checkpoint, or a street vendor.

Same goes for MacGuffins, you may have thought it was a formula for some new drug, now it's plans for a starship or secret back door negotiations

Wow, a couple of you just threw some huge curve balls.

Our first session went great by the way and I appreciate all the good advice but I have to respond to a few comments I just read.

"But then they never go to the planet!"

"you may have thought it was a formula for some new drug, now it's plans for a starship"

"Don't be married to one particular plotline, outcome, or motivation"

These suggestions fly in the very face of running a rpg adventure. It makes me wonder just what kind of gaming some of you guys are doing?

Surely you don't let the players pick a planet at random and just make the place up on the fly?

You would let a carefully detailed and fleshed out mission completely derail through some wild decisions on the part of the players?

Of course you have to be married to your plotline, I mean, its The Root of the Games Story for heaven's sake. Its the plot around which you have spent hours fleshing out environments, characters, backgrounds, descriptions, possible NPC responses and engagements, encounters etc.

Sure, any GM worth his salt allows his players some leeway in how they navigate around this central plot but getting off course too far ends the session by necessity and sends the GM off to plan a bit in this new direction his players have chosen.

Are any of you seriously telling me you just set down and play with a universe as huge and established as StarWars and just craft your games on the spot? Sorry but Im not sure Ill believe you if you do.

It's part of why I like the modular encounters. I make up a ton of my own one session ones as well. If they don't take some bait and go off on a tangent, I have something prepped for that tangent. I've got my smuggling, robbery, bounty type generic encounters ready to go.

It's easy enough to get PCs in the right direction, just have them hired by NPC X to carry out Mission Y on Planet Z. You have to loosen up and let them decide the particulars, but I do think you need to nudge in a direction you like to a certain degree.

Wow, a couple of you just threw some huge curve balls.

Our first session went great by the way and I appreciate all the good advice but I have to respond to a few comments I just read.

"But then they never go to the planet!"

"you may have thought it was a formula for some new drug, now it's plans for a starship"

"Don't be married to one particular plotline, outcome, or motivation"

These suggestions fly in the very face of running a rpg adventure. It makes me wonder just what kind of gaming some of you guys are doing?

Surely you don't let the players pick a planet at random and just make the place up on the fly?

You would let a carefully detailed and fleshed out mission completely derail through some wild decisions on the part of the players?

Of course you have to be married to your plotline, I mean, its The Root of the Games Story for heaven's sake. Its the plot around which you have spent hours fleshing out environments, characters, backgrounds, descriptions, possible NPC responses and engagements, encounters etc.

Sure, any GM worth his salt allows his players some leeway in how they navigate around this central plot but getting off course too far ends the session by necessity and sends the GM off to plan a bit in this new direction his players have chosen.

Are any of you seriously telling me you just set down and play with a universe as huge and established as StarWars and just craft your games on the spot? Sorry but Im not sure Ill believe you if you do.

With 32 years of pen and paper playing and GMing experience, I can tell you one rule that is completely true. No adventure survives contact with the players intact. Players will do things that will derail your carefully constructed plotline and adventure. This is especially true if the players do not like being railroaded or forced onto one particular path since that is GM fiat. It is better to give them the agency to explore the universe as it interests them. They have just as much stake in the game as you do.

The advice given to you is solid advice. Never be married to your plotline if the players don't bite and be willing to alter the adventure as it suits the players. You'll be surprised at what you can come up with on the fly. In the early days of running games, I had written out adventures and wanted things to go in one certain direction, but my players showed me a better way. That way is to adjust things on the fly and what comes out of your mind is usually more memorable than what you had originally planned. Be flexible in your planning and adjust the adventure to suit the agency of the players. No one likes to be railroaded down a predetermined path in a role playing game. If they did then they would be reading novels for enjoyment. The role of the GM is a lot like that of a director when it comes to actual play combined with the natural improvisation from the players. Think like a director of an improv film and let it go. This is why I said to you to go with the flow and let things go.

Don't get me wrong, Ive heard of this type of Freeform Gming before, I even sort of posted about it in another thread entitled "off the cuff" but the notion still stands in the face of my understanding of how RPGs work.

I too have 30 years experience, primarily as GM, and have always kept my players happy. How I avoided the 'railroading' thing however was a mixture of allowing a bit of freedom in the nuances of a adventure without anything truly threatening the core plot and presenting adventures that were interesting enough my players didn't feel like they had to go off on wild tangents.

If my players, for example, were headed to a particular world for a particular purpose I would have their destination detailed fully, and then perhaps some general notes on other settlements, features of interest, NPCs etc. just in case they deviated a bit. But.. if they suddenly decided while in orbit to change their plan and jump out to another planet they had never visited before (and therefore I hadn't detailed) the session would have been over. No way Im going to pull an entire world out of my backside, not and feel confident it would be as well established, colorful and rich as the environments I create when given some time.

Im a pretty creative guy and as said, have quite a bit of experience but with a universe as full and in depth as StarWars each session requires quite a bit of research to make sure your creations are true to cannon and if completely new, fit in with the established genre. Not to mention, there isn't a spot on in the universe already detailed sufficiently to allow a session to be played without at least a little fleshing out by the GM. RPG are just so damned intimate when it comes to interaction between the PCs and the universe around them. Every session is an exercise in creating reality.