Since June, my son and his three friends are learning Force and Destiny. I am their GM, and have all (and only) Force and Destiny titles available to reference. Aside from my son, this is their first RPG, although they display strong familiar with Star Wars media.

Over the past month, we committed to playing once a week for about two hours. I made pre-generated characters, and the Adversary decks helped populate a small Outer Rim marketplace for episodic encounters. In this way, new players learned basic rules and the narrative dice system. Additionally, we re-purpose and re-build LEGO SW minifigures as tabletop miniatures to keep a visual focus.

Our group asked me to make new pre-generated characters for them to reflect their personal choices of game play. They have three basic requests; will you please guide me to some choices? We will use the 4th of July holiday week to break from the game and meet again with the new characters.

NOTE: One player bought Keeping the Peace and Core Rules with the intent to build their own Lannik Armorer for play (and future uses).

#1: Careers and Species matter. When my NPC Ithorian Diplomat bellowed against would-be thieves (since everyone rolled poorly to save him directly), Savage Spirits got passed around the table. Players agree: even at the cost of otherwise-balanced dice pools, build characters whose iconic A) species can 'cannonball' at least one dice pool, while their B) career 'cannonballs' another dice pool; these pools can overlap.

An example of this was when the Armorer showed how his Intellect and Armorer Talent Tree gave him lots of dice with options to remove two setback dice on Mechanics, and how he sees Indomitable will work for his defensive-minded character.

Species cannot overlap (See #3, below), but careers can.

#2: They want lightsabers. Even if they are not exceptionally skilled at it, they agree its worth whatever sacrifice to be skilled with a lightsaber to maintain thematic focus. Read "skilled with a lightsaber" with an open mind. The Lannik Armorer sees this phrase as using Hard Points to turn his lightsaber hilt and armor into Swiss Army knife utilities. I suppose this choice prompts Knight Level characters at creation.

#3: They want their own Miniature. This is my responsibility, but I am asking to re-consider species options of Aleena, Bardottan, and Quermian - ONLY because of the time needed to retro-fit or sculpt these minifigures (or, suggestions of brick matches for a reasonable investment

I will have less than two weeks to create these three characters, but I expect I can complete them. Will you please guide me in some general directions and premises, based on my gaming needs? Thanks in advance. I hope to publish pictures of our gaming table sometime in the future.

My personal thoughts on the matter are that they should have a hand in making their own character, if not the entire decision making process. They will feel a more personal bond with the characters they create themselves, which makes them care more when there are threats and dangers lurking around corners.

As far as the numbers go:

1. Try out Oggdude's Character Generator. It's a great resource for building, maintaining and upgrading characters.

2. Knight Level play or wait until they reach 150 earned xp (which is what you start with at Knight Level play). It won't actually take all that long to get to that point; they can start with training sabers until then. It's all the more personal and fun when you get to send them on a quest to find their Kyber crystal than just them having it from the start.

3. Skip the miniatures. This system is intentionally more vague about distances and such in combat situations than something like D&D or Pathfinder. Maps are useful to help people get a sense of the area but miniatures are not really useful in this system.

Agree with GG. Why not have them make their own PCs? It should help their understanding and familiarity with the system and rules.

RE: 1. If they want "cannonball" characters then that's fine, you can certainly play that way. Its less fun to GM that way (you can't really throw them as diverse of challenges), IMO. If you're a hammer, everything looks like a nail and all that. But if that's what the table likes then more power to you.

RE: 2. Knight Level play isn't necessary, again unless that's what you really want. Have them start with the Holocron option, with its bonus Skill being Lightsaber. Or do the mentor thing and just give them 1 rank in Lightsaber and trainers for free.

RE: 3. If they enjoy the minis, that's great, but don't allow them to restrict game play. Use them for a visualization; great. Use them to determine range, or if you can see X, or as any limit to story-telling; boo.

For a shorter lived campaign, with kids who like to do big things during play, I would suggest everyone has 1 characteristic of 4 at the start. I would be asking the players which of the 6 characteristics interests them most, obviously Intelect for the Armourer.

Next I would suggest 4 different focuses but all with an ability in combat (even a high brawn/agility without actual skill ranks is enough). So I'm thinking along the lines of: A Face, a Tech, a Force User, a Sneak and a Pilot. Now obviously that's 5! But some could be combined:

Perhaps a Sage with high Presence and Willpower is the Face and Force User, give them Move for combat, and Influence for social.

A Pathfinder or Hunter with high Agility and Cunning can make for some fine pilots but also good in the wilderness and both can shoot, both can Sneak as well

The Armourer is your Tech and Lightsaber user, by default he is your knowledge guy too, give him high Intelect and Brawn

So you have 1 more free slot, possibly a Shadow, or a dedicated combat specialisation, up to you. This will depend on how you see the game evolving and the kinds of encounters you may run.

Thanks, everyone, for input!

#1: Other players will be traveling and away from (my) books for the holiday. Loaning a book will hinder my ability to get information to everyone. Two players who have books will be making their own characters, including the Lannik Armorer and my son's choice. Pre-generation is merely a matter of using time wisely to fit the summer schedules, and following their intended hopes for game play.

#2: Regarding Knight Level play, it seems like a good way to introduce the kids to greater story success by increasing dice pools. Given the advice above, I may skip Knight Level rules and use the lightsaber as an early reward with unexpected dangers as a result.

#3: Having miniatures helps facilitate play for these teens. They are something with which they are already familiar, and aside from restricting three races, is not meant to deter their game actions. It has helped players on several occasions to know where other players and NPCs were located. It also helps with naming conventions, as in "So, Ithorians look like THAT, huh" that lasts longer than a shared picture as reference. Again, visual aids help these teens during an otherwise lazy summer.

Regarding 'cannonball' rolls, the players felt that they should shine in doing at least one good thing. They hope for greater success at doing something useful and helpful to their group. They cite the movies as examples: Han flies spaceships very well. Luke uses a lightsaber very well. Both are needed members of their group, and both could do the fill the other's shoes, but only briefly or in desperation. Does this add clarification about how these teenagers see their party?

Again, this is a game meant to fill time sharing a hobby over the summer with my son and his friends. With one player buying the Core Rules and one Career book, I'm hopeful that we sparked interest in a hobby that lasts beyond our time together. If we continue past the summer with this group, I may have an apprentice GM!

For a shorter lived campaign, with kids who like to do big things during play, I would suggest everyone has 1 characteristic of 4 at the start. I would be asking the players which of the 6 characteristics interests them most, obviously Intelect for the Armourer.

Next I would suggest 4 different focuses but all with an ability in combat (even a high brawn/agility without actual skill ranks is enough). So I'm thinking along the lines of: A Face, a Tech, a Force User, a Sneak and a Pilot. Now obviously that's 5! But some could be combined:

Perhaps a Sage with high Presence and Willpower is the Face and Force User, give them Move for combat, and Influence for social.

A Pathfinder or Hunter with high Agility and Cunning can make for some fine pilots but also good in the wilderness and both can shoot, both can Sneak as well

The Armourer is your Tech and Lightsaber user, by default he is your knowledge guy too, give him high Intelect and Brawn

So you have 1 more free slot, possibly a Shadow, or a dedicated combat specialisation, up to you. This will depend on how you see the game evolving and the kinds of encounters you may run.

Thank you! This is the kind of feedback for which I was looking. I just needed a push in the right direction. My default was the traditional troupe of 'Fighter + Thief + Magic-user + Cleric,' but I believe how Star Wars is more robust than those limiting options. Perhaps the world of MMRPGS also influences their decision, as those roles are common in cooperative video games, too. I needed some direction in thinking what a SW Force-using 'fighter' is, compared to a Force-using 'Cleric,' etc.

There are a number of places (Paizo.com & Miniature Market spring to mind) that sell old WotC Star Wars minis. Selections are somewhat limited and rare or limited-edition minis can be quite expensive, but you can pick up a lot of minis for $1-3 US. If you're willing to accept a little flexibility (i.e., a race may not be kitted out exactly as you want) you can do pretty well in terms of populating the party and major NPCs & villains.

Richardbuxton gave some great advice above. If these teens play MMORPGs, or are at least familiar with them, the couching your party in that terms will make their role expectations seem familiar and comfortable.

Out of curiosity, are you using Morality and, if so, how are you handling it with teenagers?

Out of curiosity, are you using Morality and, if so, how are you handling it with teenagers?

The are all Darksiders...

Out of curiosity, are you using Morality and, if so, how are you handling it with teenagers?

The are all Darksiders...

Well, duh...they're teenagers.

Thanks for the insightful feedback and questions!

RE: Miniatures. Since the players have brief knowledge of different species seen in movies, using brick minifigures to represent different encounters helps reinforce who is who. My kids already enjoy these brick toys, so building miniatures means a simple raid of the toy box. Whenever possible, I equip the minifigures with armor and close-enough weapons and other handheld equipment. Additionally, I try to serve visual prompts that may guide their encounter; a Gand holding a scanner is an obvious nod to compensate for the party's low Computer scores, etc. Players react well to these prompts, as evidenced by saying, "We need to talk to the Gand merchant. He may have shipping receipts in his datapad, or at least know the shipping schedule of docked ships." While they learn new system mechanics, including species names, having these easily-accessible references work well. During inevitable downtimes or typical teenage distractions, some players fiddle with the miniatures, which is far better for game continuity than constantly checking cell phones. Your mileage may vary. I just wanted you to know how and why I use these things.

RE: Morality. Before actual play, I introduced the system as a clear opportunity to be heroes, not morality-ambiguous, self-interested characters. While this is Force and Destiny, but I used other blockbuster movies from the comic book genre to illustrate how certain named-title characters would have hints of the Dark Side because of their behaviors. Additionally, I used bolder and larger fonts to capture their ambitions and goals. Other players like to tattle, so a character who flirts with Dark Side behaviors is more likely to hear infighting from within their own group before I say (or do) anything about it.

Again, thanks, everyone. This is really helping and I'm happy to share!

Thanks for input, everyone. We completed our first adventure today! We had:

Gran Armorer/Entrepreneur who profits from selling his modified wares;

Ithorian Pathfinder with an albek bonded animal, and skilled with Force healing;

Iktochi Starfighter Ace, who was excited by the recent Sentinel announcement for pod racing;

Human Doctor who was a mad skill monkey; and

Chevin Shadow, who never really got the opportunity to shine before heading to football practice.

We used the Refugee Relief Movement campaign ideas from Far Horizons.

Again, I cannot underscore how valuable Adversary decks are for quick encounters. It helps answer who else is a part of the settlement. I chose Krant as the planet, almost immediately following 0 ABY. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves, and we resume next week. Again, thanks for help from the community!