You know, the more I think about it, the more I see these parents as a Jack Chick tract come to life:

Wow, that brings back memories. I had no fewer than three copies of this very publication slipped through my locker vent throughout my middle and high school years.

Oh no . It's because of fear of things like that that stopped me from coming out until so late in life. All my thoughts to the poor girl...

And your son, of course, for having to witness it.

From the Edge CRB, Spec Mods, and Far Horizons (and Stay on Target now, I guess, but don't want to have to juggle Duty vs Obligation), any suggestions? I'll likely present the players with pre-generated characters, and discuss how these were built after they get more experience points, and allow small rebuilds if wanted.

Just FYI, nothing forces you to take on Duty if you borrow material from Age of Rebellion books. Duty is a system useful for a campaign based on AoR. But if you just want to do Obligation, just do Obligation. The species and careers from AoR work fine with it. Also remember that the descriptions and other "fluff" about careers and specializations are just guidelines to help build a character around them. They aren't mandatory. All that really matters is the career skills and talent trees that come with them.

3) Send the girl and my son and me some mental well wishes.

Absolutely!

Is is known whether or not the attacker is being disciplined (if not arrested ; which he should be)?

1) Is there a spiffy template I can download to cut and paste ugnaught species stuff from the USM, like was done with the Jawa pdf? My google-fu is lacking today, so a link or message with link is appreciated. Having a hand-held source to consult is far easier and doesn't need invoke OggDude's character generator any more than needed for these new players who already have a tons of directions into which they could go.

I made the one for Jawas... I will try to find the time to make one for Ugnaughts ASAP.

That's horrible.

2) A droid, a jawa, an ugnaught and a chadra-fan are the go-to species. Add droid tech and gadgeteer. Can someone make some suggestions on other specializations to round out the party, please? Add general direction (like, bump the droid's AG to 4, or chandra-fan's INT to 5, etc etc)?

Northern Mustafarians make great Cybertechs or Droid Techs, and the Cybertech (all from Special Modifications) makes for a pretty good doctor/healer as well as a techie

Alright, here you go: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58496840/Ugnaught.pdf

Give it a minute or so to upload. I apologize if it is not as polished as the Jawa one, I didn't quite find the graphics I'd like, but I hope it works...

Alright, here you go: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58496840/Ugnaught.pdf

Give it a minute or so to upload. I apologize if it is not as polished as the Jawa one, I didn't quite find the graphics I'd like, but I hope it works...

WOW! Thanks for the fast turn-around time! #feelinghumbled

The graphics are what they are- they're ugnaughts, after all, so it's not like there might be a zillion FFG-style images, anyway! I just needed something that looks "official" enough to get players a reference without the computer fired up. Thank you so very much!

That's horrible.

2) A droid, a jawa, an ugnaught and a chadra-fan are the go-to species. Add droid tech and gadgeteer. Can someone make some suggestions on other specializations to round out the party, please? Add general direction (like, bump the droid's AG to 4, or chandra-fan's INT to 5, etc etc)?

Northern Mustafarians make great Cybertechs or Droid Techs, and the Cybertech (all from Special Modifications) makes for a pretty good doctor/healer as well as a techie

Yeah, Eye for Detail is pretty nice for them! Thanks for the feedback! As we go for the droids, a healer/repairer is exactly what we'll need, too!

The N Mustafarian is quite likely to be played with as a Rastafarian until this distinction is made.

Alright, here you go: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/58496840/Ugnaught.pdf

Give it a minute or so to upload. I apologize if it is not as polished as the Jawa one, I didn't quite find the graphics I'd like, but I hope it works...

WOW! Thanks for the fast turn-around time! #feelinghumbled

The graphics are what they are- they're ugnaughts, after all, so it's not like there might be a zillion FFG-style images, anyway! I just needed something that looks "official" enough to get players a reference without the computer fired up. Thank you so very much!

You are more than welcome. I love what you are doing for the kids - and I hope that it will be fun for YOU as well!

3) Send the girl and my son and me some mental well wishes.

Absolutely!

Is is known whether or not the attacker is being disciplined (if not arrested ; which he should be)?

I'm not immediately aware of what will happen to the choker. I do know that we got two phone calls from upper-echelon school administrators asking for my son's statement about what he saw, etc.

I'm happy that my son seems to be taking things in stride better than I might be. I feel really bad for the girl. I want to feel bad for the choker, but that compassion is far below what I'd like for my life. Nothing like this has happened to the girl in school (that I know of, or that my son knows of. I mean, choking someone from behind isn't an everyday occurrence at his school).

He said to me, and held my shaking hand- calm down, mom. Is this how you'd react if something like this happened to me?

As an advocate for my son, I've tackled ignorant teachers, know-it-all therapists, and well-meaning staff who have THE answer to every problem. I'm currently trying how to have a "violence" conversation with two adults I've know for a long time. The weight of all this violence talk wears on my nerves.

Let me publicly thank everyone who is reading and replying to this thread. What a journey we've had in just a couple of weeks! I;m not a social butterfly and prefer to hide behind my screen without a login. However, the wealth of support and genuine offers of friendship and kindness mean so much to me.

Yes, I have my partner who will be home later tonight from out of town business. Yes, I have my mother. Yes, I have my best friend who moved out of town earlier this year but who is a Skype call away.

I am thankful that I also have this community. You've provided much needed distractions, advice, and compassion during a difficult series of days. I'm sorry I'm not Wonder Woman, amd may need a day or two to rebound and collect my thoughts. Still, I think you folks accept me, my son, and even a girl you don't even know for who we are, or at least, who we try to be our better selves.

So...Jawa and Ugnaught are drawn from the Unofficial Species Menagerie. Droid is in the CRB. The last player will want a Chadra-Fan to justify the purchase and after the headaches that book momentarily (almost literally) absorbed.

I wonder if one of the quieter guys might encounter “Suns of Fortune” and the Drall. Another small furry race that starts out with a very high Intellect, and that’s from the same sector that contains Corellia.

And after RotJ, Han and Leia had Drall teachers for their children, at least according to one of the books in the EU.

Oh no . It's because of fear of things like that that stopped me from coming out until so late in life. All my thoughts to the poor girl...

And your son, of course, for having to witness it.

I'm sad that fear kept you quiet. We haven't really 'met' much here, but you have quite the talent for number crunching, and a playful voice (well, outside of this mess of a thread topic)! Thanks for sharing something very personal, Absol197, and your compassion.

I am thankful that I also have this community. You've provided much needed distractions, advice, and compassion during a difficult series of days. I'm sorry I'm not Wonder Woman, amd may need a day or two to rebound and collect my thoughts. Still, I think you folks accept me, my son, and even a girl you don't even know for who we are, or at least, who we try to be our better selves.

You seem like a really good mom and you're a Star Wars fan so of course you're really welcome here.

I feel bad for that poor girl, I'm glad your son is taking it well. I have two kids myself and I can relate to worrying about how they'd handle adversity. My daughters are stronger than I think sometimes.

My name is Phoenix, but please, call me Phee . My fear was (mostly) unwarranted, because I live in an awesome state and have an awesome family, but still. It can be scary sometimes, when you can see very real evidence that people hate you so much without even knowing you, and not everyone is as lucky as I am.

So yeah, my spirit is with her tonight...

Hey hun.

Being a non parent let alone one with the struggles you have I have stayed away from commenting so far. I do need to add a note of caution here though from someone who did not have the best parental relationship.

Angry Vader> angry parents. This to me is a fine and worrying balancing act. If this was me when I was that age Angry Vader Would become a

metaphor for Angry Parents very easily and that is a can of worms you may wish to avoid.

as for the rest sounds great, seriously all that you are doing is kinda inspiring. I hope it goes well for you and the group.

my feelings go out to yourself, your son and the girl, even to the attacker. I hope he realises what he has done and is remorseful.

My name is Phoenix, but please, call me Phee . My fear was (mostly) unwarranted, because I live in an awesome state and have an awesome family, but still. It can be scary sometimes, when you can see very real evidence that people hate you so much without even knowing you.

So yeah, my spirit is with her tonight...

I appreciate your honesty and caring. Reading over my shoulder, my son hopes your 1000th post will be to this topic. He also really wants me to say

I can type for myself. Im (EDIT: StarWarsMom's son). I think you are brave Phee. If I see my friend tomorrow I will tell her I talked with someone as brave as she is. I dont know if she will be in school because of what happened. Ill still tell her when I see her tho okay?

So, there's my boy!

Hey hun.

Being a non parent let alone one with the struggles you have I have stayed away from commenting so far. I do need to add a note of caution here though from someone who did not have the best parental relationship.

Angry Vader> angry parents. This to me is a fine and worrying balancing act. If this was me when I was that age Angry Vader Would become a
metaphor for Angry Parents very easily and that is a can of worms you may wish to avoid.

as for the rest sounds great, seriously all that you are doing is kinda inspiring. I hope it goes well for you and the group.

my feelings go out to yourself, your son and the girl, even to the attacker. I hope he realises what he has done and is remorseful.

Thanks for commenting. We all get through life with help from others, and I appreciate your candor and sympathy for everyone involved.

I hoped that by having Vader issue the no violence warning, because of the safety of his kids and droids (let's pretend he cares at least a little for GoldenRod), it may be easier to swallow with Vader's rationale than just parents saying "Nope," regardless of their real reasons. Players will be less inclined to anger Vader, fearing his in game revenge, but maybe more inclined to rebel against parental warnings of no violence. Vader's anger might be easier to explain than a religious reason for our game.

http://i.stack.imgur.com/FqK3E.png

Vader stops Fett from trying to fire off a shot when his kid and droid are around! Why mess with him?!

My wife and I don’t have kids, either. So, I doubt there’s anything useful in that space that I can offer.

I do kinda recall what I was like at that age towards girls, and to be honest, I wasn’t nice to them. I never choked anyone, but there were more than a few times when I “accidentally” brushed up against them in the hallway. And I got into fights with other guys, not uncommonly because I had “brushed up” against their girlfriend.

I would like to think that I have become a better person as I have grown up, but I didn’t get here all by myself. Official school counselors helped, as did finding other outlets for my energy — like wargaming and RPGs.

I know you’re going to be going through a tough time in this process, but it sounds to me like you’ve got a good kid, he has some friends who might be distractible but otherwise are presumably overall good guys, and you’re smart and you’re asking what seem to me to be all the right questions — of yourself, the kids, other parents, etc….

Since I can’t offer any useful advice regarding kids and parents and dealing with those kinds of things, I will try to restrict any advice or assistance I can offer to the realm of gaming and gaming-related topics.

But I will probably tend to be quiet when it comes to the interpersonal issues that I can’t really help with. That doesn’t mean I don’t support you or want to help in any way that I can, it just means that I have to recognize my own limits in terms of what kind of advice and assistance I can offer that are actually likely to be helpful.

I would like to end this post with something like “You go, Girl!”, but the problem is that you’re not a girl. I might be old enough to be your dad, but you’re still not a girl, and more importantly you’re not my daughter.

However, “You go, Mom!” just doesn’t sound right. In so many ways.

So, I guess I have to close with a question — what kind of phrase would you like to see used in this regard?

So, with Resilience Advantage by Ugnaughts, would they do well as Cyberneticists? Bump Intellect to something higher, too.

My wife and I don’t have kids, either. So, I doubt there’s anything useful in that space that I can offer.

I do kinda recall what I was like at that age towards girls, and to be honest, I wasn’t nice to them. I never choked anyone, but there were more than a few times when I “accidentally” brushed up against them in the hallway. And I got into fights with other guys, not uncommonly because I had “brushed up” against their girlfriend.

I would like to think that I have become a better person as I have grown up, but I didn’t get here all by myself. Official school counselors helped, as did finding other outlets for my energy — like wargaming and RPGs.

I know you’re going to be going through a tough time in this process, but it sounds to me like you’ve got a good kid, he has some friends who might be distractible but otherwise are presumably overall good guys, and you’re smart and you’re asking what seem to me to be all the right questions — of yourself, the kids, other parents, etc….

Since I can’t offer any useful advice regarding kids and parents and dealing with those kinds of things, I will try to restrict any advice or assistance I can offer to the realm of gaming and gaming-related topics.

But I will probably tend to be quiet when it comes to the interpersonal issues that I can’t really help with. That doesn’t mean I don’t support you or want to help in any way that I can, it just means that I have to recognize my own limits in terms of what kind of advice and assistance I can offer that are actually likely to be helpful.

I would like to end this post with something like “You go, Girl!”, but the problem is that you’re not a girl. I might be old enough to be your dad, but you’re still not a girl, and more importantly you’re not my daughter.

However, “You go, Mom!” just doesn’t sound right. In so many ways.

So, I guess I have to close with a question — what kind of phrase would you like to see used in this regard?

I don't know, Brad. How do you boil down the National Anthem to a note, or the night sky to a single star? You needn't have a catch phrase, because your genuine interest shown through more real than any hipster's 140 text character limit could. You admit when you've reached your limit, but still chimed in in solidarity. This is valuable - even more valuable than a quick quotable.

I appreciate your honesty and caring. Reading over my shoulder, my son hopes your 1000th post will be to this topic. He also really wants me to say

I can type for myself. Im (EDIT: StarWarsMom's son). I think you are brave Phee. If I see my friend tomorrow I will tell her I talked with someone as brave as she is. I dont know if she will be in school because of what happened. Ill still tell her when I see her tho okay?

NEVER!!!1! You can't control me! My 1,000th post will be in the place I want it to be, not in...

Wait...

...DANGIT >_< !!!

I wish that I had some good advice to give; but in addition to not having any children, I haven't run anything even remotely resembling a 'family friendly' campaign in so long that I don't even think I'd know how to anymore.

Nevertheless, my thoughts are with you and all involved and I will continue to regularly check this thread.

Does this make me a bad mom or person?

Absolutely not. You're a level headed newbie GM who seems to have a handle on the hobby.

You know, the more I think about it, the more I see these parents as a Jack Chick tract come to life:

(Or this is the reality and I've been playing in the wrong groups all these years. Why have I not gotten the REAL Dark Spells by now!)

Wait... that was supposed to be serious? I thought it was a tongue in cheek farce/joke.

Oh no, when they were originally made, the creator was 100% serious. It only SEEMS like he had to be poking fun now, because of how ridiculous it is.

EDIT: Oh, and notice: one of the players is named "Marcie" !