So I made a post in the AoR forums to bounce around some ideas I had about a campaign and while that really helped with fine tuning ideas, I did end up with deciding that the first session would go something like this:

A group of just about to graduate Imperial Academy students are returning to their Academy after spending some time on placement on a Star Destroyer. However, as they enter atmosphere they are shot down and crash land a few days walk away from the main Academy complex, with the PCs being the sole survivors. Comming in, they recieve guidance from an instructor at the Academy, which is currently under attack from the Rebel Alliance (Endor having happened a few days previously). They have to walk back and as they arrive they find the Academy has been taken

I figured having a slow trek with a few rolls would be a good way of introducing player who potentially haven't used the system before get used to it and give people time to get into character and form inter-party relationships.

The thing is, besides some Survival checks and possibly a combat encounter with a small group of predators, I'm not really sure how I can make it last the full 3 hours of game time to allow it to finish with them slowly walking up to the burning Academy and being surrounded by Alliance personnel to be given an ultimatum to surrender or be arrested (if they surrender, they get to join the New Republic on a probationary level; if they refuse, well, daring prison break and an escape to join remenant Imperial forces).

Has anyone else run a session set entirely in a wilderness setting and if so, how did you do it?

Finding something along the way worth exploring?

Just about any skill could potentially be useful:

Discipline and Cool are easy to rationalize with the stresses of isolation.

Athletics and Coordination for all manner of physical obstacles.

Resilience for dealing with hunger/thirst/sleep deprivation and exposure to harmful environments (Survival helps you avoid them, but once exposed, it becomes Resilience).

Stealth if the goal is to avoid being noticed.

Perception and Vigilance for noticing things and avoiding ambushes.

Medicine for fixing broken people,and Mechanics for fixing broken gear (or Droids).

Any of the Combat skills for combat (obviously).

There could be more than just dangerous animals lurking in the wilderness. Other options are:

-Native hostile aliens

-Criminals

-Rebellion scouts

-Rogue droids

Honestly, these are my favourite types of sessions to host. Animals, from a solitary huge predator to swarms of insects, are a great challenge, as is the terrain and environment itself. I do a lot of camping, and can easily think up challenges for everybody...and, ****...HappyDaze beat me to most of it. Social skills could also be useful, getting help from the natives or other people Imperials wouldn't normally spend time with. And don't be stingy on the Fear checks, especially at night.

One comment about Athletics/Coordination: I make it one or the other for a particular challenge, unless the player can come up with a really good reason to use the alternate. The reason is it's often more interesting to play to weaknesses...watching that tough Brawny fighter struggling to cross a makeshift rope bridge can encourage the player to develop their PC in a broader way.

Natural Obstacles to overcome - rivers, sheer cliffs, animal stampede, pack predators that constantly stalk then attack the party to tire them out and pick off the weakest member, weather - where they need to find shelter and a remaining Threat on the roll means the cave contains a minion predator and a Despair means it's a Rival predator.... Not Predators with their chameleon suits and green glow in the dark blood and your commanding officer tells you to 'Get To The Chopper!',,, just generic animals. There's a F&D book that has a few animals in

Honestly, these are my favourite types of sessions to host. Animals, from a solitary huge predator to swarms of insects, are a great challenge, as is the terrain and environment itself. I do a lot of camping, and can easily think up challenges for everybody...and, ****...HappyDaze beat me to most of it. Social skills could also be useful, getting help from the natives or other people Imperials wouldn't normally spend time with. And don't be stingy on the Fear checks, especially at night.

One comment about Athletics/Coordination: I make it one or the other for a particular challenge, unless the player can come up with a really good reason to use the alternate. The reason is it's often more interesting to play to weaknesses...watching that tough Brawny fighter struggling to cross a makeshift rope bridge can encourage the player to develop their PC in a broader way.

Oooh, thanks for reminding me about the DofE hike I did a few months back -I actually ended up having a chat with some of the other GMs at the big group who did more fantasy stuff and they were really interested in the 20km/day whilst carrying no more than 1/3 your weight. I think I may have upset some of their players...

No, what particularly reminds me is a hill we reached in which we had to climb 200m over a 100m horizontal area besides a waterfall. That'll be a Coordination check to not fall off the narrow paths with setback if they haven't got the equivalent of walking poles, with a Fear check halfway up when someone decides to look down and realises if they fall they're doomed. And maybe a Resiliance check to not collapse from exhaustion halfway up (this might be coloured by the fact chronic illness made that the single worst day of the trek).

Have som morality engage the Group.

One sole NPC survivor from the crash sends out a distress call that the players pick up. When they find him/her the survivor is really hurt and cant walk on himself. To make it interesting the NPC could be an Imperial officer. Perhaps carrying sensitive intel that the Rebels really want. The officer however wont speak more then necessary about that he need to get to the Academy asap, no questions asked.

Players might choose to help him - but as the trip goes more and more dangerous with all the above ordeals they will have to constantly choose to keep carry the wounded person or abandon him to better their own odds.

At the end the rebels might ask questions that Points to that the officer is of extra interest to the Rebellion and thus players will have to choose if they will Point finger or stay loyal to the Empire and keep quite. If they abandoned him they might need to backtrack their own steps to find him again.

The exact nature of the intel should be something thast fits your own Campaign and makes the story progress to your future sessions.