As you may know if you're a loyal Shuttle Tydirium listener, along with the rest of theST crew and Biff, I'm putting together a narrative event package for Gencon 2017.

We're well into the process at this point, but I thought it would be worth asking what everyone would like to see from a good narrative event.

Right now, the things we are prioritizing are:

Thematic, well-balanced and playtested scenarios (my specialty). Each player will play 4 out of 8 total scenarios

Thematic list/roster building (Unique pilots and upgrades are unique across the event; e.g. there will only be one Soontir Fel in the entire Narrative event. We'll have a draft at the start of the event to distribute unique pilots. We'll also have a list of banned cards; some banned for thematic purposes (e.g. Darth Vader (this fight is a bit beneath him)), and some banned for balance purposes (e.g. TLT (because it is too powerful in the context of a generic-heavy environment))

Pilot progression/mortality rules - unique pilots don't come back if they die in a mission (they are replaced in your roster by generics). Generic pilots that survive several battles may level up into a unique pilot.

Killer prize support We're in touch with several game supply companies, and we've already lined up some really exciting prizes. More details as we get closer to Gencon, but it looks like we'll have some really great stuff.

How would you put together a narrative event? If you've played in narrative events, such as the one at the NOVA open, what did you like/dislike about them?

Bits of everything, but it has to focus on storyplay and missions.

A couple of thoughts, which you may well already have considered and made decisions about:

1) it sounds like you are planning an event with character progression, like HotAC - in which case, would it work out well if each player had one ship and used some of the progression rules from that, flying as a team? If you have 4 rounds, how many players will fit into your event? This could cut down on the amount of planning and scenario writing if all players played in all scenarios.

2) it also seems that you are planning to make squad building happen as part of the event, which is likely to eat up a lot of playing time. Why not pre-make the squads, and perhaps assign them to players at random? It allows balancing to happen, and is a lot quicker.

First, it has to work as a game. Remain balanced, fair scoring, difficult to cheese or exploit, not favoring a particular side or another. A good story that is a poor game is a bad experience; a good game that has a poor story can still be fun.

Next, it should tell a story; participants need to feel like they are part of an evolving epic.

Finally, player actions should matter. This shouldn't be a story on rails; the outcome of a player's game should affect subsequent games and the outcome of the event as a whole.

Finally, player actions should matter. This shouldn't be a story on rails; the outcome of a player's game should affect subsequent games and the outcome of the event as a whole.

This.

While I never played the game, I always thought that it was exceptionally cool in L5R that the house that won Worlds (or whatever) actually affected the next cycle's cards.

Sure, Heaver gets to design a card (or 3) for this game, but right now, that's just a drop in the meta-bucket.

Ooh, ooh! I have ideas!

Having run these events before at GenCon I've got a few ideas that do transfer to Xwing quite well.

Thematic battles, balanced and tested. -- Yes. Yes, yes, yes. This is a must. It doesn't necessarily need to be balanced for a death match, but balanced that both players have a chance to achieve their objectives.

Roster building... This is tricky as it involves you guys checking all the lists ahead of time and it may skew the balance of individual events. I mean, I love it, but this adds a major level of complexity. It can be done though so don't feel like it must be rejected.

Edit: a thought that could be fun and add a level of random... Players build a list of generic ships and the side has a list of uniques. The squad team delegate the unique pilots out to individual players and replace one generic with the ace...

Progression/Mortality - I'd likely skip the progression unless you have a good tested system that's easy to track. It may also start a steamroller if certain players get on a winning streak making major imbalances later. Mortality can cause similar issues here. It really comes down to what you have planned for the mission progression. We use mortality of named characters, but don't use too many during our narrative events. I feel this rapid succession of missions is likely to quick for reasonable narrative reasons for progression but mortality of named characters is always valid... That's me.

So for our narrative event we have a major central battle and several smaller battles that cause impact to the main event. The forces had pre-balanced lists of forces they could select and delegate for events to help them achieve results. Survivors could be brought In and used in future events, depending on the overall scenario and damage inflicted upon them.

The story is important. Everything needs to feel connected and important.

This sounds awesome, wish I was in a position to attend!

Finally, player actions should matter. This shouldn't be a story on rails; the outcome of a player's game should affect subsequent games and the outcome of the event as a whole.

The catch to this is that you don't want the game to be a forgone conclusion too early. Sometimes in narrative driven games, if one side gains a few key early victories, then the outcome of the entire campaign is foregone and people quickly lose interest. Player results and input should matter, but the outcome of the game should be in question until the final battle(s) are under way.

Indeed.

The way I would recommend doing it is not to have ongoing bonuses and penalties - because you don't want to penalise a player who has a bad game for the rest of the day - but to have a branching campaign story.

So you want, say, 6 missions:

Mission A

Mission B1 (if side1 won) and B2 (if side 2 won)

Mission C1 (if side 1 won again), Mission C2 (if side 1 lost B1 or won B2), Mission C3 (if side 2 won again)

That leaves you a "scale of victory" such that even the end game is worth fighting for.

You don't need excessively complex scenarios, and I'd recommend looking at the core set scenarios (either, they're mostly the same) for ideas, but reversing who is the "imperial player" depending on who's winning the campaign. "cover the evacuation" is a nice final mission for the (currently) losing side.

My favourite mini-campaigns were the ones put out by GW years ago, like the Circle of Blood or the Grudge of Drong.

Basically you had three or four scenarios, and victory in one would add a bonus in a later one. For instance winning the first game might give you a points advantage in the last game. Winning the second game might give you a special item or ability to use in the third game, and winning the third game might alter the conditions of the last game. An example being how or when your reserves might arrive.

My favourite mini-campaigns were the ones put out by GW years ago, like the Circle of Blood or the Grudge of Drong.

I liked those too, but I preferred the branching campaigns where the scenario changed (like the cypher vs the dark angels one).

The problem with 'get a bonus in the last game' campaigns is that if someone wins games 1, 2, and 3, game 4 - supposed to be the epic finale - feels a bit anticlimactic; since you have a 25% points advantage, your outflanking force turns up immediately, and your general is armed with the Rapier of Unfairness, the "big fight" feels a bit like a forgone conclusion.

Whereas if the scenario changes to a 'last stand' or 'evacuation' which is balanced as a standalone game , but one side feels like the underdog (i.e. you've got to run away because there's a full TIE squadron chasing you, but you only need to survive, not kill them, to win), it leads to all the games being more satisfying.

A couple of thoughts, which you may well already have considered and made decisions about:

1) it sounds like you are planning an event with character progression, like HotAC - in which case, would it work out well if each player had one ship and used some of the progression rules from that, flying as a team? If you have 4 rounds, how many players will fit into your event? This could cut down on the amount of planning and scenario writing if all players played in all scenarios.

2) it also seems that you are planning to make squad building happen as part of the event, which is likely to eat up a lot of playing time. Why not pre-make the squads, and perhaps assign them to players at random? It allows balancing to happen, and is a lot quicker.

Roster building... This is tricky as it involves you guys checking all the lists ahead of time and it may skew the balance of individual events. I mean, I love it, but this adds a major level of complexity. It can be done though so don't feel like it must be rejected.

Edit: a thought that could be fun and add a level of random... Players build a list of generic ships and the side has a list of uniques. The squad team delegate the unique pilots out to individual players and replace one generic with the ace...

Progression/Mortality - I'd likely skip the progression unless you have a good tested system that's easy to track. It may also start a steamroller if certain players get on a winning streak making major imbalances later. Mortality can cause similar issues here. It really comes down to what you have planned for the mission progression. We use mortality of named characters, but don't use too many during our narrative events. I feel this rapid succession of missions is likely to quick for reasonable narrative reasons for progression but mortality of named characters is always valid... That's me.

I can speak a little to this. Everyone will start with a roster of 200 pts. These will be all generics only. Before the first game, there will be a draft for a few of the named pilots (no OP pilots). You can only get a named pilot if you took a generic of that ship in your list. Once you get that named pilot, you are the only person in the entire campaign that can fly that pilot. If that pilot dies, that pilot is utterly dead for the rest of the campaign. If you have a generic that is flown in two missions and lives...you can upgrade your generic to a named one of that ship type with a few exceptions. None of the OP pilots allowed. No one who has died. No pilot that is picked by someone else. If this upgraded guy dies, no one can take that pilot anymore.

You have your roster of 200 pts. Each round there will be an attack and a defend mission for each side. You get assigned to one mission for that round. You then get to read the mission parameters and find out what your points are that you get for the mission. You can build out a list to fit the mission. If your generics die, you get generics back. You can't ever lose so many ships that you don't have enough points to fly a mission.

I'm seriously jealous that I can't attend! It sounds like a fantastic day/weekend of X Wing!

Right now one of the things I'm trying to work into the narrative structure is some sort of meaningful branching/decision points in the mission arc. We're a little constrained (but in a good way), because we anticipate having a large terrain piece that will be at the final top table and will be the prize for the top player. So all the missions have to lead back to that piece of terrain.

A planet, a mining Asteroid, drydock, Jedi or Sith storehouse?

Ooh, ooh! A scaled 1:270 planet sounds like a great prize. I don't think I can fit it in my car though and I'm sure the border guards would ask questions...

This may be my priority ticket this year. Yeah... So, eight months away and the list building basics are already known. I have a new hobby for a bit. The best thing about the ace draft system is people can't really build a force with the expectation that the ace will synergize. Dials will mean so much more.

Ooh, ooh! A scaled 1:270 planet sounds like a great prize. I don't think I can fit it in my car though and I'm sure the border guards would ask questions...

This may be my priority ticket this year. Yeah... So, eight months away and the list building basics are already known. I have a new hobby for a bit. The best thing about the ace draft system is people can't really build a force with the expectation that the ace will synergize. Dials will mean so much more.

I should also mention that TLT will almost certainly be banned for the event, since a TLT on a Y-wing is on a significantly higher power level than other generics.

Ooh, ooh! A scaled 1:270 planet sounds like a great prize. I don't think I can fit it in my car though and I'm sure the border guards would ask questions...

This may be my priority ticket this year. Yeah... So, eight months away and the list building basics are already known. I have a new hobby for a bit. The best thing about the ace draft system is people can't really build a force with the expectation that the ace will synergize. Dials will mean so much more.

I should also mention that TLT will almost certainly be banned for the event, since a TLT on a Y-wing is on a significantly higher power level than other generics.

What if TLT Y-wings had to take BTL-A4? It would leave open TLT HWKs.

Ooh, ooh! A scaled 1:270 planet sounds like a great prize. I don't think I can fit it in my car though and I'm sure the border guards would ask questions...

This may be my priority ticket this year. Yeah... So, eight months away and the list building basics are already known. I have a new hobby for a bit. The best thing about the ace draft system is people can't really build a force with the expectation that the ace will synergize. Dials will mean so much more.

I should also mention that TLT will almost certainly be banned for the event, since a TLT on a Y-wing is on a significantly higher power level than other generics.

What if TLT Y-wings had to take BTL-A4? It would leave open TLT HWKs.

That is a possibility. I'm leaning toward a total ban partly for simplicity's sake

Out of curiosity, and assuming you had an unlimited number of people interested, and who could make the event, how many people is this event being limited to?

If there is a number limit (and there would have to be), how will you determine who gets to play if the number of people interested exceed the limit that can play?

Out of curiosity, and assuming you had an unlimited number of people interested, and who could make the event, how many people is this event being limited to?

If there is a number limit (and there would have to be), how will you determine who gets to play if the number of people interested exceed the limit that can play?

We're applying for 40 player slots from gencon; 20 per team. I expect around 20-30 for the main narrative event, but that's very much a guess. As I understand it, people will buy need tickets for the event, and we wouldn't sell more than 40. The ticket cost is probably going to be the gencon standard price (I think $2 per event hour)+ a couple of bucks for us to beef up prize support as needed.

We will probably have a few players drop in or drop out during the event, so we'll probably have some way for people to join at the last minute, but that hasn't been decided on yet.

Out of curiosity, and assuming you had an unlimited number of people interested, and who could make the event, how many people is this event being limited to?

If there is a number limit (and there would have to be), how will you determine who gets to play if the number of people interested exceed the limit that can play?

We're applying for 40 player slots from gencon; 20 per team. I expect around 20-30 for the main narrative event, but that's very much a guess. As I understand it, people will buy need tickets for the event, and we wouldn't sell more than 40. The ticket cost is probably going to be the gencon standard price (I think $2 per event hour)+ a couple of bucks for us to beef up prize support as needed.

We will probably have a few players drop in or drop out during the event, so we'll probably have some way for people to join at the last minute, but that hasn't been decided on yet.

Thank you for the info !

Out of curiosity, and assuming you had an unlimited number of people interested, and who could make the event, how many people is this event being limited to?

If there is a number limit (and there would have to be), how will you determine who gets to play if the number of people interested exceed the limit that can play?

We're applying for 40 player slots from gencon; 20 per team. I expect around 20-30 for the main narrative event, but that's very much a guess. As I understand it, people will buy need tickets for the event, and we wouldn't sell more than 40. The ticket cost is probably going to be the gencon standard price (I think $2 per event hour)+ a couple of bucks for us to beef up prize support as needed.

We will probably have a few players drop in or drop out during the event, so we'll probably have some way for people to join at the last minute, but that hasn't been decided on yet.

Last minutes can easily be handled by standard generic tickets at GenCon if you stick with a figure that matches in with generic ticket costs. So, ten hours (my guesstimated length) would be ten generics plus maybe a generic extra to cover the prize cost. That'd be $22 on that guess, plus glorious exchange rates.

Sound about right?

Don't accept generics until right near time... Actual purchased tickets have priority, but late arrival is on them.

Out of curiosity, and assuming you had an unlimited number of people interested, and who could make the event, how many people is this event being limited to?

If there is a number limit (and there would have to be), how will you determine who gets to play if the number of people interested exceed the limit that can play?

We're applying for 40 player slots from gencon; 20 per team. I expect around 20-30 for the main narrative event, but that's very much a guess. As I understand it, people will buy need tickets for the event, and we wouldn't sell more than 40. The ticket cost is probably going to be the gencon standard price (I think $2 per event hour)+ a couple of bucks for us to beef up prize support as needed.

We will probably have a few players drop in or drop out during the event, so we'll probably have some way for people to join at the last minute, but that hasn't been decided on yet.

Last minutes can easily be handled by standard generic tickets at GenCon if you stick with a figure that matches in with generic ticket costs. So, ten hours (my guesstimated length) would be ten generics plus maybe a generic extra to cover the prize cost. That'd be $22 on that guess, plus glorious exchange rates.

Sound about right?

Don't accept generics until right near time... Actual purchased tickets have priority, but late arrival is on them.

Right; I should also mention that we are working with Biff Denzer, who has run Trench Run events at Gencon in the past. He's in charge of that kind of stuff and actually knows what's going on with Gencon itself. He has forgotten more than I know about running Gencon events in general.

I forgot that. I knew you guys had seasoned captain for this adventure.