Hi, a fairly new GM, in fact, I had never actually played a RPG game until recently.
I'm struggling with making interesting encounters that don't involve combat. The non combat encounters don't seem to last very long, or aren't particularly interesting - even I feel like they are a bit of an after thought. What kinds of things have gone down well in your groups?
Thanks
Different things:
1.) Tempelraider: Group found an ancient Tempelruin, after a first inspection they decided to get infos on that thing: asking in a near village, looking through the historical data of the public information center, slicing into an emperial officers account who was highly interested in this stuff. gathering Tools for the expedition and finally going down into the ruins, solving the entrance riddle (a little bit like "Speak, friend, and you shall pass") down there having to handle all kinds of traps, and even more riddles, and in the end they found an old jedi library, and after they could dispel an illusion on the place, they also found out about a mysterios Force Artifact they got now there grip on, while having no idea how to use it.
2.) Errantboys: Sometimes smuggling is't everything... they had to diliver a package, they knew the adress a cantina "The dirty Can" ... but it wasn't found on any citymap. Took them a lot of questions on passants and when they found someone that was acting suspicions when he heard the name they had to follow him up... while playing hide and seek with him... when they finally arrived, they just went in and found themselves in the middle of a crimelord meeting... they decided to act as if they were also send by theire Boss (someone they killed of before
) took them some charm, deception and even leadership skillcheck to come out of it without any weapon drawn.
3.) Base building: Group found an old Meteorite base from the times of the last Sith-War. they decided to bring it online again, to keep it working they now try to repopulate it, mechanic checks to repair the old lifesystems, negotiations of the face to find some new energy conductors, finding a supplier for food and so on.
Now they are always looking for people they can recruit (mostly talking to NPCs they went on an Adventure with or for) and for new Gear they could use / install on the base to build it further up. (just a hangar, a medicbay, a controllroom and an engineroom aren't to comfortable for living with now 17 people
)
4.) Casino Encounter: (DON'T use this one too often!) think of some funny ways to display games or use the sabbacc and gambling rules of the books. let them encounter, the waitresses that try to lure money out of them, find interessting gamblers that seem to win too often, let them win some money (keep an eye on it or you´ll have them rich in minutes!) or a planet,... that has no real worth, or is occupied by critters that are very, very aggressiv, let them lose a lot of money (it can be funny if the captain loses the groups ship... and it could be a nice plot hook), let them meet drug dealer, or let them be poisende by drugs that were put in there drinks. let them play against a Wookie (and have someone remind them: "Let the Wookie WIN!") may be they´ll find a new job, or finding a mamsel in need of a hero to save her from casino slavery. and so on - just think of all the good OLD James Bond Movies.
Thanks a lot, I particularly like the Temple one
When setting up a Social conflict you can use Social Skill checks like attacks, dealing strain damage to the target equal to the characteristic plus success. In this way a combat style encounter can happen, but all the checks are social and the damage is actually like your discrediting your opponent or changing their opinion to something.
Look at the expanded Slicing rules in Special Modifications.
I use group checks at times where the PCs need to employ multiple Skills simultaneously, like getting through the ultra secure door requires 2 Computer checks, a Mechanics and Skulduggery check all combined and done at once. Gives it that Mission Impossible feel and requires everyone to be multi skilled.
I think the Diplomat and Colonist books offer some advice for running through non-combat encounters in a way that's interesting. I also remember some advice (from Order 66, I think?) about running a social encounter like combat, with Charm and Coercion checks targeting your opponent's strain threshold. Once somebody surpasses their strain threshold, they've lost the argument.
I haven't actually run it that way, but it's a cute idea.
Indeed there are advice in the Colonist book if I remember well.
Not all social encounter are needed to be meaningful. Let's say a player wants to find some items in the black market, you can do that without describing it in details.
On the other hand it's nice to have some longer interaction with NPC to bring the world alive. For this I find that it helps asking yourself, what is the race of the NPC, what are his motivations, what is he ready to do or not to do, what are his two or three main skills. It does not need to be long but it gives you the information needed to roleplay this NPC. Thinking about one trait of character helps also.
Let's say take the same example. You can decide that the players hear about a Dug or a Jawa dealing in shady business, Already they will approach the encounter differently based on the race.
May be the vendor is in need of some help instead of money. Or may be the vendor is working with an infochant and will try to get as much information as possible about the PC's business.
Does the vendor has a high negotiation skill or not?
Is he friendly? Cautious? Shady?
To me, this type of thing is about access. Put multiple challenges in the way that spread out the skills needed to succeed. Take the stereotypical "go to this club to make a contact" scenario.
There'll be a Deception or Stealth check to get in b/c you're not on the VIP list, then a Streetwise or Perception check to find the guy. Hopefully the PCs have their heads on straight and ask for a Knowledge check to see if they know anything about him before going over to him. Once at the table, only a Charm or Resilience check will endear you to him enough to make a deal (the latter by beating him in a drinking contest, though it could be Coordination if he wants to play beer pong). Then the Negotiation check for the deal itself. It could end there, but if you're feeling dramatic you could call for a Cool check as the contact collapses after getting a new drink (preferably right before spilling the info). Now the info can only be gained through a Medicine check to clear the poison or a Skulduggery and Computers check to steal his datapad and slice it. Meanwhile, a Vigilance check would be needed to see who messed with the drink and a Coordination (to weave through the crowd) or Coercion (to clear it) will allow someone to follow the poisoner before they make their escape.
In one scene you can jam more than a dozen different skills to be used. The better bit is that each PC will probably make 2-3 checks, which is the same number of checks as 2-3 rounds of combat so you can totally justify the above as a "major encounter." Finally, remember you can pad encounters by drawing on each PCs Motivation & Obligation to make sure everyone is active, even if what they're doing isn't directly related to the main plot.
Very basic plan: Pick any three skills and build an encounter around them. If pre-built NPCs in the book will work as the supporting cast for the scene, then so much the better.
The colonist book is excellent, but really it's just a matter of providing a motive for your NPCs. If they don't have a goal of their own then they and your social encounters will be pretty flat. Start with the basics, what does the NPC want? Peace, love, power, money? And what will they do to get it?
This is a helpful resource; http://theangrygm.com/help-my-players-are-talking-to-things/ yes the style is not to everyone's taste but there's very useful stuff in the article. I'd recommend reading all the "how to run a game articles". He focuses on D&D but much is applicable to any RPG
Many species have environmental conditions in which they thrive or suffer, so adding those elements to play makes certain species more than mere numbers.
Exploration with small but interesting rewards, plus specialization-conscious puzzles for getting in and getting out. You don't have to make "dungeons," per se. My group checked out a couple of stash houses pulled from a contact's files in a busy, Marrakesh-like port city. Each one had its own quirks, dangers and prizes, and each took a whole hour to finish.
Dungeon Dice are also a great way to randomly make a dungeon. These dice have specific map-like features on them, but a set allows for a lot of unique dungeons with really no advanced preparation. I got mine via their Kickstarter, or try here once they are back in stock:
