I've just been introduced to D&D whilst at Sea. Its good fun and releives the boredom/nerd cravings.

I love all things star wars and play x-wing and Armada. Wife and Best mate also plays x-wing.

I picked up the AOR beginner pack on the cheap, and would like to host a session during a get together for my birthday (we usually do this with boardgames)

I plan on studying up and running the game as GM, having never done it before.

What advice can you provide to make this a fun night for all.

Can I sit everyone down, let them pick a Character and we are off, explaining the rules as we go? what sort of tutorial is required first, I am wanting to keep their attention

You're using the actual beginner box? You don't actually need any tutorial, then! The game is structured to introduce the rules to your players as you go, adding them in gradually as you continue on your path to claiming Whisper Base. In my opinion, it does a pretty good job of it, so long as your players are capable of re-adjusting. If they aren't a fan of working towards the full game, you can alter one or two things - for example, introduce the Destiny Point mechanic right off the bat. If I remember, there might also be a few other rules to introduce earlier if that's the route you're going. Even so, I wouldn't change much!

Keeping their attention shouldn't be too hard. Just make sure you read the whole book, and especially keep in mind the "extra" areas of the base and how it might affect the narrative. More so than the other beginner games, players are likely to want to explore the whole map. The narrative progresses pretty well, in my opinion, and the players are rarely left without a task in this relatively break-neck adventure.

My advice as a GM?

- Don't break your back (or you brain) trying to be precise with the range bands. If you have no idea, come up with a quick working plan for the measurements and poll your players if that sounds reasonable. As long as everyone agrees, it doesn't have to be "right", and you'll get a better feel for how abstract everything is as you go.

- As usual with RPGs, try your best for "yes" and "yes, but..." answers. Especially in a system as abstract and narrative as this, flat out "no's" should be reserved for seriously bad suggestions, and should be justified to the players. That said, there's nothing wrong with "yes, but the check will be Daunting with two Setback die...". When I ran this box set, I had two players - one picked the Mechanic, one the Diplomat. Combat was a mess, and there's at least a few times you're forced into it. But they decided to

. Also, the Diplomat used the disguise kit and a very hard roll to make the Mon Cal not look like a Mon Cal in an Imperial Soldier's helmet.

- It's your job to have a handle on what the Advantage and Threat do. Depending on your players, you might have to give out a lot of help with Advantage - and especially awaken them to the idea of the narrative value of the symbols! So, you know, keep a cheat sheet.

- Something I always forget: combat timing is also a bit abstract. One attack roll isn't necessarily one attack, like in DnD. So if your lucky blaster shot kills two minions in one hit, or does something else improbable for one shot, remember that it could be more. The system's power lies in your narration, and the freedom it gives you to make a fun and exciting story that makes sense mechanically and in story.

Also... I hate to say it, but you'll really probably need to do something for the vehicle scenes in the last encounter. The vehicle rules in this system are weird enough, and I personally feel they do a bad job of presenting them - especially to new players - in the box. How you fix it is kind of up to taste, but I didn't and I regret it. Best case is "fudge it" and make sure the players have fun. I'm sure someone who's put more thought into it could give a good bit of advice!

Anyway, that's my stream of consciousness on the matter.

The Beginner box set is a fine introduction set by itself. Grab it, run it, and see how well they take to the game. If it does grab their attention adding the core rulebook, and GM kit can get you by well enough with more in depth characters, and the rules required to dive into the system.

When you do pick up the box set there is a link path to two additional starter characters ( tokens provided in the beginner box ) as well as an additional adventure to run as a follow up to the box set play.

Good luck, welcome, and Happy Birthday.

When you do pick up the box set there is a link path to two additional starter characters ( tokens provided in the beginner box ) as well as an additional adventure to run as a follow up to the box set play.

Link here. Check the "Player Resources" group.

what sort of tutorial is required first,

The game itself is the tutorial. They're generally not a very compelling story (and a little bit railroad-y), but they are fantastic at holding your hand and laying out the concepts needed to play the game one step at a time.

While the beginners boxes are indeed a little basic (in order to teach the rules) my feeling is that the AOR one is the best of the three. Given that it is a 'military' mission, it feels better than the EoE and F&D sets. I hope you enjoy, and Happy birthday.

Rule #1 Everyone should have fun. Determine what they want to get out of the game and adapt to those desires as best you can.

Thanks for the responses guys,

I am really looking forward to this now that I just watched the Rogue One trailer, it is as if the movie is written to promote AOR.

If down the track my group enjoy AOR, are the other beginner sets value for money for the resources they provide (dice, tokens, maps) etc

Thanks for the responses guys,

I am really looking forward to this now that I just watched the Rogue One trailer, it is as if the movie is written to promote AOR.

If down the track my group enjoy AOR, are the other beginner sets value for money for the resources they provide (dice, tokens, maps) etc

I feel they are, yes.

A dice pack is $15.00 US, so $14.00 more gives you 4 sample characters, map,set of tokens to be NPC baddies, monsters, allies, etc. and an adventure. It is also possible to run cross game set characters. So the EotE character joins the Rebellion. Or your Ace pilot becomes force sensitive, etc..

I picked up all three beginner boxes for the contents, and because when you have a table of 5-6 players one set of dice can be lacking.

I would say yes. I find that three sets of dice is just about optimal for playing. Plus the games can be used with more advanced characters, with just a little bit of work. So yeah, buy all the things.

The tokens are nice to have, if you use those sorts of things. I play on Roll20, so I scanned the tokens in order to give my players something nice to look at. The game is abstract enough that you don't need them. The maps are really gorgeous. If you ever plan on giving your players a YT-1300, the EotE box set has a nice interior map of one. Of course, those are just as easy to get online, and evidently that ship had at least two deckplans.

For me, though, I liked reading them because the combined tutorials and story ideas gave me a bit of footing when starting to GM the system. Seeing how EotE and AoR box sets differ (they're almost identical mechanically - almost) gave me some good perspective on running things. The FaD set is pretty useful for running an all-Force user game, and is different enough mechanically from the other two that it's worth picking up. The stories aren't exactly compelling, like Desslok mentioned, but they have the thematic essence of each game down pretty well, so the box sets and their free extension PDFs give really good style advice. They're fun. So... maybe get them?

So I think I have everything in place for 3 weeks from now.

My wife is even letting me use her laptop for music, sound effects (thankyou starwars.com soundboard) and a opening text title crawl (ditto). I also have Armada, X-Wing and Rebellion miniatures. How have GMs managed these resources to best effect.

I'd have to say the IA miniatures seem like they would be a great fit in this category if you have access to any of them. Between the Core and expansions you basically have 80% of the races covered.. including Wampa's!!!

Ok, so the big night came,

And it was a blast!

I had 3 PCs, the duros, the diplomat and the dog (Arkhann)

We stormed through the game, with twists and turns and the PCs tryinv their best to derail the on rails story.

The Diplomat should be tried for war crimes on 3 separate occasions, and couldn't charm a freed droid to be free

The Bothan failed to hit a single thing with his blaster, but made up for it with ridiculous grenade skills, including fusing two stormtroopers together with an AP grenade (also a warcrime)

Finally, Deadeye McGee the Duros (my Wife) was deadly with a rifle and and quick with the computers, to the point where she reactivated the combat protocols on TOOR the droid to act as gunner in the AT-ST chase

Great fun, great game, we all can't wait to play the follow up adventure.

Glad to hear your night was a success, Funk Fu! May you have more.

Ok, so the big night came,

And it was a blast!

I had 3 PCs, the duros, the diplomat and the dog (Arkhann)

We stormed through the game, with twists and turns and the PCs tryinv their best to derail the on rails story.

The Diplomat should be tried for war crimes on 3 separate occasions, and couldn't charm a freed droid to be free

The Bothan failed to hit a single thing with his blaster, but made up for it with ridiculous grenade skills, including fusing two stormtroopers together with an AP grenade (also a warcrime)

Finally, Deadeye McGee the Duros (my Wife) was deadly with a rifle and and quick with the computers, to the point where she reactivated the combat protocols on TOOR the droid to act as gunner in the AT-ST chase

Great fun, great game, we all can't wait to play the follow up adventure.

If you can, go track down one of the first episodes of the Order 66 Podcast, for the FFG edition. They have a long talk with Sam Whitwer (voice of Darth Maul and Starkiller from Force Unleashed), and his time playing the beginner's box with his friends. They had, one of the craziest, and most awesome stories I've heard. It's hilarious. I forget which episode, but if it's not the very first one, it's really **** close to being the first. I find that story to be a great example of what you can do with the system with creative players, and a "who cares, let's have fun" mentality.

I have been listening to said podcast as I commute to work and at the gym. It has given me a lot of help training to GM. I love it

My mantra is always story comes before rules

I have been listening to said podcast as I commute to work and at the gym. It has given me a lot of help training to GM. I love it

My mantra is always story comes before rules

Good, that means you are enjoying Skill Monkey, one of the best bits to listen to as someone new to the system.

Story > Rules is something I can agree with. A link to the Order 66 podcast archive Kung Fu mentioned for those interested.

http://feeds2.feedburner.com/order66

Yeah, rules are there to be tools to help tell the story, not to restrain it. Within reason of course. Like they say on the O66 Podcast, "Sure, it's a Yes/And system, but you've got to draw the line somewhere"

Yeah, rules are there to be tools to help tell the story, not to restrain it. Within reason of course. Like they say on the O66 Podcast, "Sure, it's a Yes/And system, but you've got to draw the line somewhere"

I agree. Never let your players use you for a doormat.

Yeah, rules are there to be tools to help tell the story, not to restrain it. Within reason of course. Like they say on the O66 Podcast, "Sure, it's a Yes/And system, but you've got to draw the line somewhere"

I agree. Never let your players use you for a doormat.

That's why I am a fan of "Yes, however..."

We have our second session for the Perlemian Haul next week, and I am introducing a new PC, built from EotE, but I will give h8m duty instead of obligation

Yeah, rules are there to be tools to help tell the story, not to restrain it. Within reason of course. Like they say on the O66 Podcast, "Sure, it's a Yes/And system, but you've got to draw the line somewhere"

I agree. Never let your players use you for a doormat.

That's why I am a fan of "Yes, however..."

We have our second session for the Perlemian Haul next week, and I am introducing a new PC, built from EotE, but I will give h8m duty instead of obligation

That's fine. Personally I have no issue if a character wants to take that mechanic from a different book, despite their career. I can easily see a Thief being part of the Alliance, or a Doctor, despite being published in the EotE book. Though personally I'm of the opinion that every character should probably have at least a 5 point Obligation. Not necessarily for resource purposes at character generation, but simply because "everyone has problems and baggage". So for me, even if the guy has Duty, and he uses that to get +10xp or some credits, I'd give him Obligation anyway, just as flavor text/background fodder. They're just so deliciously useful for plot hooks.

"Though personally I'm of the opinion that every character should probably have at least a 5 point Obligation. Not necessarily for resource purposes at character generation, but simply because "everyone has problems and baggage". So for me, even if the guy has Duty, and he uses that to get +10xp or some credits, I'd give him Obligation anyway, just as flavor text/background fodder. They're just so deliciously useful for plot hooks. :D"

Three of my players wanted to test new character types and I wanted to test obligation/duty types. So this short-term campaign has these characters running around with 25 each. They have not had a session yet without bad things happening because of their 'baggage'.

It would certainly feel odd to have a character without some kind of duty or obligation because even droids have quirks that make them unique. I am also down with the mixing and matching part Kung Fu.

"Though personally I'm of the opinion that every character should probably have at least a 5 point Obligation. Not necessarily for resource purposes at character generation, but simply because "everyone has problems and baggage". So for me, even if the guy has Duty, and he uses that to get +10xp or some credits, I'd give him Obligation anyway, just as flavor text/background fodder. They're just so deliciously useful for plot hooks. :D"

Three of my players wanted to test new character types and I wanted to test obligation/duty types. So this short-term campaign has these characters running around with 25 each. They have not had a session yet without bad things happening because of their 'baggage'.

It would certainly feel odd to have a character without some kind of duty or obligation because even droids have quirks that make them unique. I am also down with the mixing and matching part Kung Fu.

Yeah, it depends on the type of game you are going for though. If you have a very specific storyline in mind, having tons of Obligation can drag down the story momentum for the GM, which isn't fair to them. If you are doing more of a sandbox kind of idea, where the direction of the game is mostly predicated by the players, then sure, load them up with Obligation and Duty to their eyeballs, and have fun with the constant flow of supporting characters showing up over and over to move the plot. Kind of reminds me of shows like Star Trek TNG or DS9, where the docking portal opens, and a very specific guest star shows up, and you're like "Oh crap, this is going to be an Odo/Quark episode if that guy's here!" Which was always a fun thing to have happen.