I have to wonder what the purpose of the FFG article is? It seems out of place since it doesn't really accent any future book. It lists Force and Destiny as the subject book. Is it filler because they don't have much talk about for the RPG? It would have been nice if they gave us something new like what they think her stats are.

As I said in thread about the FFG article... for some reason, my past players have had a tendency to actively try to bring "badass" NPCs into the fold, to get them as involved as possible, even if they regretted it later... leaving me to walk a tightrope. Happened more than once.

The FFG article seems to swing back and forth without coming out and saying exactly what's up. At times it seems to be about Ahsoka or a character much like her built as an actual "knight level" PC ( and from what we've seen in both TCW and Rebels, you just plain CANNOT fit her into that shoebox ), and at times it seems to be very hypothetical or to be drifting into NPC territory.

I have to wonder what the purpose of the FFG article is? It seems out of place since it doesn't really accent any future book. It lists Force and Destiny as the subject book. Is it filler because they don't have much talk about for the RPG? It would have been nice if they gave us something new like what they think her stats are.

It's all over the place. It feels like a 'filler' thing they threw together as they either a) have no new news of the game or b) there's big news/changes coming which they can't talk about yet.

I'm still not sure if it's trying to say 'this is how you make a PC that's a bit like her, maybe, possibly' or just vacillating about statting her as an NPC.

It's all rather vague and I'm not sure what they are trying to get at. I don't think they're sure either.

I'm all for articles about the game that aren't selling us new books, but I'd like the articles to have a coherent point to them.

I'm not sure of the technical merit of the article but the reason for it is crystal clear to me. The House of the Mouse is directing its licensees to support and promote each other in anyway they can. It's taking advantage of all the content delivery options Disney has to reach across as many demographics lines as possible within their own hierarchy which is more or less marketing that costs you nothing.

Keep in mind, the article here wasn't recommending having Ahsoka (or Luke, Han, Leia, or any other canon character) PERSONALLY show up in your game, but having someone who SPIRITUALLY fulfils the same role(s) that she does for the party in Rebels.

They didn't say whether you should include the actual Ahsoka herself in your game or not, which I imagine is by design. "The Spirit of Ahsoka Tano" is about just that: introducing a character inspired by her who helps your party in similar ways.

Well that's basically just a Mentor NPC right? I mean if we're just going with the spirit of Ahsoka, as she's portrayed in Rebels, she's the Obi-Wan of their group. The elder Jedi, with plot hooks and sage advice, who is mostly off screen while the main characters do their thing. Seems like the rules already have a place for spiritual Ahsoka's. Just make her the Mentor, poof, done.

The article covers a number of roles and scenarios from a powerful NPC that can act as a mentor down to a standard PC. Ahsoka has served many roles through her time in the Star Wars media so far. I am looking forward to the upcoming novel to find out about one of the big gaps in her story personally.

Cannon (Legends and actual Cannon) characters can be fun in an campaing.

BUT as already state out before: You have to take care! Don´t let them be a big game changer!

E.G.

Up To now the following Characters had an small debut in our Campaing:

1. Lando Calrissian: Appeared as an final encounter in an Sabacc-Tournament where an PC got too greedy... the PC lost but when he heard that charmant black guy telling him: "My name is Calrissian, I´ll give you a chance to win back your loss... the next time we see." He could arrange with his loss because it is ok to lose to someone like him... he is a Legend at the sabacc-tables.

2. Han Solo & Chewbacca: appeared in one of the cantinas in "The Wheel" where a BH of Jabba found them, just the moment the PC´s tried to find out why it is so loud here. they decided to help the men and the wook by calming the situation down... to the extend of activating a Lightsaber... that was when heel broke loose. Han just provided some backing up fire while the Chewie had to run for the falcon to start the engines.

Later on Han helped on of the PC by providing an diversion so the PC could get into the security office without kill all the guards and save the PC that got cought on the run before.

3. Darth Vader: In the introduction of one of the PCs (a so called Sith-apprentice) the base of the mentor (a secret pupil to the deceased Count Dooku) of the PC on Korriban got attacked, since it was some kind of the Jedi Purge Vader had to be involved. while the PC could try to command the own troops and strengthen the defense and get those Turboslasers online to fend of the marching AT-ATs.

Well the hole scenario was planned that the PC could make only small chances to the outcome (like how many own troops survive, will they be able to flee with more than one rescue pod? Will the PC inherite the LS of his mentor, will the mentor be killed or just be cought and so on)

in the end scene of this PC could reunit with his mentor and three moments later Vader went into the chamber. The Mentor attacked vader and (after a really hard fear check) the PC got the chance to take the LS of his mentor after him losing to Vader... He knew he wouldn´t stand a chance but he attacked that black monster in front of him... and got force pushed by his still breathing mentor to the escape capsul to flee.

It was the best way to show the PC the power of a true Sith, while having that mentor out of the way (wasn´t choosen as starting benefit just foir story telling) And now hecan brag that he survied an clash with Vader (never telling the circumstances)

4. Asoka Thano - yep just her... one of my PC asked for her to be her "story-mentor" I agreed, but since we don´t know the out come of rebels yet (at least not here in germany. We just reached seasson 2 mid season on free Tv the other week) we decided that she would taught the PC during the Rebels era (5BBY) on ocassional visits on Shili the Togruta homeworld. and left of the last time 3 years BBY. Today her whereabouts are totally unknown. Only a rumor about Kuat is know (a place my PC will not went so fast!) but if she is still alive or not will be decided by cannon ^^

So these Cameo visits of VIPs are really only sitenotes to the players story... something they can brag about without thinking "I can´t do anything while he is here "(Except for the Vader part, but then IT was a run away scenario)

if they survive long enough and if they take part in things like the Battle of Hoth then they may see in the distance someone slicing open the stomache of an AT-AT with a lightblue Lightsaber or seeing a blond guy beeing trapped in an hangar with an AT-ST shouting to the comlink "Leebo start the Outrider we have to get out of here!" just so they see and feel that they are in the middst of all the things they know and are able to take part in this.

of course again always only in the extend of not chancing the canon!

other than those the PC always can get interessting news about other VIPs - Tyber Zahn, prince Xixor and Jabba got mentioned to them, as well as a short meeting with the presence of Exar Kun on Yavin IV.

And if they ever happen to fly the kessel route (BTW for myself it´s still a potatoe with nearly no athmosphere!) a despair could lead them to a very secretly hiden research station in between the Black holes with a very grumpy female Officer...)

So yes i like to bring in Well-Known-Characters to deepen the feeling but only if it can work out with Time, place, and won´t effect the canon and won´t render the PC to side kicks!

I'm not sure of the technical merit of the article but the reason for it is crystal clear to me. The House of the Mouse is directing its licensees to support and promote each other in anyway they can. It's taking advantage of all the content delivery options Disney has to reach across as many demographics lines as possible within their own hierarchy which is more or less marketing that costs you nothing.

You're probably right, 2P51, but I'd sooner have news of new books

I usually hate cannon characters in game. more than once our main SW GM would use them specifically to say "look at how much better than you I can be" thankfully he seems to have stopped that now.

However I do feel written into a campaign correctly they can work with the PCS for short periods. I ran an adventure that used Bail Organa to get them to from Dac Alderran and give them the info they needed about a lost Jedi temple. I made sure he was last seen on planet after giving them a ship that they made a daring escape from the Deathstar.

I plan for Leia to show up later as a counterpoint and quest giver to repay the ship and failure to convince Bail to leave.

I'm not sure of the technical merit of the article but the reason for it is crystal clear to me. The House of the Mouse is directing its licensees to support and promote each other in anyway they can. It's taking advantage of all the content delivery options Disney has to reach across as many demographics lines as possible within their own hierarchy which is more or less marketing that costs you nothing.

You're probably right, 2P51, but I'd sooner have news of new books

It will happen, patience. Think the glass is half full, maybe not the half some want, but it's halfway.

I would use non-jedi non-"superhero" characters from the rebel era that fit the "everyone is mortal" label. This system is made for more or less normal people characters that can be taken out in a hit and aren`t just huge sacks of meat points or super-power armor.

It will happen, patience. Think the glass is half full, maybe not the half some want, but it's halfway.

Oh, I know, I honestly don't think 'the sky is falling' - there are 'in the know' people like yourself who have hinted at things to come.

But having a seemingly random article like this one (especially one that doesn't really go anywhere as far as I can see) coupled with a lack of new announcements, will make people think 'so, what's going on?'

I only ever get my news from my game-shop guys, and they always maintain that FFG is notoriously tight-lipped. I understand why - they are sworn to secrecy having so many big IPs like GoT, Star Wars and Warhammer.

But it feels like the game is in a bit of an odd place right now. Is there going to be a new Core Book? 'Force Awakens' edition? 2nd edition? We can only guess, but it feels like something is happening behind the scenes.

Is there going to be a new Core Book? 'Force Awakens' edition? 2nd edition? We can only guess, but it feels like something is happening behind the scenes.

I hope there's not a new core book. I'd be fine if they did a re-release, just the core rules in its own book, with period or flavour books for each of EotE, AoR, F&D, and whatever else they want to come up with.

They just spent a lot of money reprinting all three CRBs that we already have. If they were Re-releasing a "2nd Edition" already, that would have been a big waste.

I personally think they're just working on new stuff, but don't have enough finished that they feel they can make an announcement. For whatever reason.

Given TFA made a couple billion $ in ticket sales, pretty sure there will be something at some point.

I am thinking it will be after they have all the career books out of the way, so maybe like next year.

My guess would just be a sourcebook for that.

I'm also confident the FFG elves are working furiously in the RPG tree as we speak/type.

I'm sure they are, and I'd be okay with 'era books' for different settings coming out. That way, anyone who didn't care about Force Awakens or the Old Republic or whatever could skip them and play in the default timeline.

And I'm sure that if this odd, puff-piece article had come out any other time before now, it wouldn't ruffle any feathers.

But something vague like this coming out now - with nothing being announced - will get some people scratching their heads and wondering what's up.

I've always praised FFGs slow but steady release schedule, as opposed to Paizo's monthly bucketload of power-creep and the Big Fat Zero we get for D&D 5th. But now the regular announcements haven't been coming, and two of the lines have nothing on the horizon.

I'm sure if they announced some stuff we'd all go back to talking about that.

Why does "showing up" mean direct intervention?

I think canon characters SHOULD show up in certain circumstances.

It would be eerily ominous if say Admiral Ackbar weren't there if say the fleet was massing for a counter-offensive.

Iconic characters are great to add gravity to a situation, stress the growing role of the party within the Rebellion, or even to interject purpose for a specific task or story arc. That doesn't imply, however, that the iconic characters are going to be fighting alongside the party as the sole reason the party interacts with them.

The Article is at least partly an ad for the current season of rebels.

I've taken Arkahn (AoR Beginner) for example, he has become an Admiral, and maybe down the line they will have to rescue someone from the movie cast.

Well seeing as my game is currently 5000 years before Ahsoka was alive....I have zero problem with not having her in my game.

What about a different descendant of Hellena Tano then? Wait, 5000 years? Ancestor of both then, I guess.

I've had big names show up, but they've pretty much been cameos. General Dodonna giving the PC rebels orders to do a mission. Seeing Vader walk by with Luke handcuffed on Endor's landing platform (start of a campaign in which the PCs chose to be ex-Imperial scoundrels after the fall of the Empire). An early Mara Jade fleeing in a starfighter after the PCs wiped out a pirate's outpost that she had been leading. Jabba hiring some bounty hunter PCs. The only time a big name rolled the dice was during a campaign that began years before Ep. 4. One of the PCs participated in a swoop race. Taking a clue from EU, I described one of the other racers as having blue pants with a red stripe down the leg. He didn't catch onto who he had raced until the match was well over and his opponent had already rode away. I can't recall now who actually won.

While I understand the logic some apply to not wanting or providing stats for "official" named characters, there's one thing about them having stats that I've found tremendously helpful at times: it provides a benchmark frame of reference should you need to give an example the players can relate to. For instance, being able to say, "About the same proficiency with the Force as Luke on Hoth." If you have those stats of Luke's available, that parallel can be drawn to the stats of a PC or NPC.

While I understand the logic some apply to not wanting or providing stats for "official" named characters, there's one thing about them having stats that I've found tremendously helpful at times: it provides a benchmark frame of reference should you need to give an example the players can relate to. For instance, being able to say, "About the same proficiency with the Force as Luke on Hoth." If you have those stats of Luke's available, that parallel can be drawn to the stats of a PC or NPC.

If done well, that can provide a nice scale for GMs to peg their NPCs against.

If done poorly, it just makes things frustrating. As much as I liked WEG d6, they really had a tendency to make every major movie or comic book NPC into something of a demigod compared to the stats for a starting PC...

Meh, the PCs are the stars of the show so what they do can change history in my games.

If they do something that puts them next/in front of a movie character than that just happens. Like sitting in a conference room on Coruscount negotiating for an official contract with the Empire to build a supply depot for the Imperial Navy above their planet (sub-contracts for supplying the necessary food from their planet were attached) and Bail Organa was one of the Senators discussing the deal. Pacifist as he was (and supporting the Alliance) he was against further military installations so far out in the Middle Rim (nearly Outer Rim).

I give no one plot armour, neither the PCs nor any NPC.

Do i boost an NPC to make sure he is a big bad worthy of the whole groups attention? Yes. But no one is invincible.

While I understand the logic some apply to not wanting or providing stats for "official" named characters, there's one thing about them having stats that I've found tremendously helpful at times: it provides a benchmark frame of reference should you need to give an example the players can relate to. For instance, being able to say, "About the same proficiency with the Force as Luke on Hoth." If you have those stats of Luke's available, that parallel can be drawn to the stats of a PC or NPC.

If done well, that can provide a nice scale for GMs to peg their NPCs against.

If done poorly, it just makes things frustrating. As much as I liked WEG d6, they really had a tendency to make every major movie or comic book NPC into something of a demigod compared to the stats for a starting PC...

True enough, as far as it goes. But then, those characters weren't starting-level, so I wouldn't expect their stats to look like starting level PC's. Heck...by the time our old WEG campaign drifted apart (just life getting in the way), our PC's appeared to be demigods compared to where we started. ;-)

Which leads to something I've been known to do for groups I GM during character creation: players have to come up with some sort of backstory for their characters, even if it's bare bones. Based on what they come up with, I may toss (going with the FFG system) additional rank(s) in pertinent skill(s) (of my choosing), maybe a free box or two on their specialization tree (again, of my choosing), or just some additional XP to spend during creation (amount varies, depending on the effort put into the background). It's meant to represent the idea that these are not individuals who just appeared in the galaxy, all equally wet behind the ears; some of them have some history to them.

I'm fortunate enough to have players who don't abuse this generosity and just write up a background to try maxing themselves out (of course, I'd reject such a background, anyway).

While I understand the logic some apply to not wanting or providing stats for "official" named characters, there's one thing about them having stats that I've found tremendously helpful at times: it provides a benchmark frame of reference should you need to give an example the players can relate to. For instance, being able to say, "About the same proficiency with the Force as Luke on Hoth." If you have those stats of Luke's available, that parallel can be drawn to the stats of a PC or NPC.

If done well, that can provide a nice scale for GMs to peg their NPCs against.

If done poorly, it just makes things frustrating. As much as I liked WEG d6, they really had a tendency to make every major movie or comic book NPC into something of a demigod compared to the stats for a starting PC...

True enough, as far as it goes. But then, those characters weren't starting-level, so I wouldn't expect their stats to look like starting level PC's. Heck...by the time our old WEG campaign drifted apart (just life getting in the way), our PC's appeared to be demigods compared to where we started. ;-)

Which leads to something I've been known to do for groups I GM during character creation: players have to come up with some sort of backstory for their characters, even if it's bare bones. Based on what they come up with, I may toss (going with the FFG system) additional rank(s) in pertinent skill(s) (of my choosing), maybe a free box or two on their specialization tree (again, of my choosing), or just some additional XP to spend during creation (amount varies, depending on the effort put into the background). It's meant to represent the idea that these are not individuals who just appeared in the galaxy, all equally wet behind the ears; some of them have some history to them.

I'm fortunate enough to have players who don't abuse this generosity and just write up a background to try maxing themselves out (of course, I'd reject such a background, anyway).

While I'm the first to say that what works in media of "pure fiction" doesn't always work in an RPG, I do have to wonder... if Leia and Luke and Han and Chewie are the protagonists of a "Star Wars adventure", and an RPG campaign is supposed to be about the protagonists of a different "Star Wars adventure"... why the vast gulf in capability compared to the general scale of the world between the movie characters, and the RPG player characters? Even Little Annie appeared more capable than, for example, a default WEG starting player character.

While I'm the first to say that what works in media of "pure fiction" doesn't always work in an RPG, I do have to wonder... if Leia and Luke and Han and Chewie are the protagonists of a "Star Wars adventure", and an RPG campaign is supposed to be about the protagonists of a different "Star Wars adventure"... why the vast gulf in capability compared to the general scale of the world between the movie characters, and the RPG player characters? Even Little Annie appeared more capable than, for example, a default WEG starting player character.

Maybe Lucas is just a bad GM, like Ed Greenwood and Gary Gygax, who gave their own PCs (Elminster and Mordenkainan) all kinds of fancy powers that other PCs couldn't get

To be fair to him, the characters in the original movies were pretty human. They get captured, have to run away, make mistakes and even suffer losses. And Han and Chewbacca seem to have been around a while, even then, and aren't really starting PCs. We see Luke grow in power over the movies - the guy in RotJ who solos Jabba's Palace isn't the same one who gets owned by a mere Wampa and can't even lift a puny X-Wing in ESB. Luke seems to grow like a PC, as is appropriate for a 'Hero's Journey' story. All the crazy, over-the-top Mary Sue stuff came afterwards, as everything that followed had to be 'bigger and better'.

That said, starting character are a bit weak in this game... on the basis that they can grow pretty quickly, with XP being given per session. But there's nothing wrong with giving them more starting XP if you want to simulate a Han Solo character who's been around a while. I definitely wanted my PCs to be the heroes of the setting - but still have room to grow, so I started them with 300 XP (on the basis they would never be allowed to multiclass or gain Force abilities if they didn't buy them now). The AoR group got another XP allocation purely for the Recruit tree to simulate their experience fighting for the Alliance. F&D suggests 150 XP, but that doesn't go very far when you take Force powers into consideration!

I think its up to each GM. There's value in being the new recruit, fresh off the banana boat, who starts with a slugthrower rifle and a can-do spirit, and becomes heroic. And there's equally nothing wrong skipping the whole 'fighting rats in the sewers' part and playing veterans or experienced types with a bit of experience under their belts... providing the experienced group gets tougher challenges right from the off. Quite a few of the published adventures describe how to scale them for tougher characters.