Friends,

My kids gaming group (about five 10- and 11-year-olds) is starting Force & Destiny this weekend. We'll be rolling up characters for this first session. The kids played Numenera all last year, so are generally familiar with RPGs. They chose F&D so they could use force powers (can't blame 'em). But, I'm concerned about the emphasis on morality and moral choices.

• Any tips for running a gentler campaign?
• Have you played F&D without the Morality/Fear component?
• Is it feasible to swap morality for duty (EoE) or obligation (AoR)?

-- Concerned and Curious Dad/GM

I have played in two F&D games in which the Morality system was, not removed but, just completely neglected. It doesn't effect the system, but it does absolutely effect the theme. Star Wars in media is obviously all about the struggle between Light v. Dark, "good" v. evil.

Remove the Morality system and you remove the mechanics that may keep your game from devolving into a shoot-out for any given conflict. Maybe thats fine with you.

But IME it's very easy to use the Morality mechanic without getting into "heavy" Morality. Make it about easy and hard paths/approaches to problem.

Focus on Fear - PCs experiencing it and causing it, both are Conflict. First time that young Force Sensitive has ever been shot? That's a Hard Fear check. First time they've seen an Inquisitor? Hard Fear check. Facing a pack of crumple horned snorecacks? Fear check.

Stealing. The young Force Sensitives need something from a third party to achieve their goal against the Empire. There's a easy path where they can sneak in an steal it, but that party needs it too. Conflict. And a harder path where they have to convince them to hand it over in exchange for something, some benefit handed to that 3rd party when they achieve their goal (not just a "go do this task for the sake of this task" weave it into the meaningful part of the story, have it change the narrative, give it purpose.

Dont always have the Empire be the "opposition". Maybe it's just security folks doing there job at this plant, and so it should cause Conflict if they're attacking them left and right. Especially if you can get them to attack first, by say, just raising an alarm, or again present an "easy button" held by a NPC (key, datapad, whatever that makes achieving their goal easy).

Look for moments of RP w/ high/real emotionsexhibited from the players and/or PCs. Conflict.

You can certainly remove it, but just actually using it isn't as hard as it looks.

I'd say for ideas for a "gentler" campaign, look at Disney XD network's Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures. And, take note that even there, with a whimsical show geared towards younger viewers, there's still something of a morality component. For example, should Rowan give up searching for the pieces to the Kyber Saber, letting Narre and the Emperor have it? That would keep his family safe in the short run, but what damage could be done to them and the entire galaxy?

Personally, I'd say 10/11 is a great age to start getting them thinking about such things, and a wonderful fantasy setting that they're invested in is a great way to do it without being too heavy-handed.

Thank @Nytwyng and @emsquared! These are great responses. Very helpful!

Others: Still looking for more tips -- scenario ideas are especially great -- on using the morality rules with pre-teens.

As I was thinking about what you said, I realized that after a year of playing a different RPG, I have a good handle on how these kids work in the game setting. We have a Diplomat, a Tank, a Peacekeeper, and an Observer. For example, my diplomat is great at devising compromise solutions that keep everyone happy. (She has three sisters in real life, so I suspect this is a survival skill.) My son is the peacekeeper, a chip off the old block, who makes sure everyone in the party gets along.

Do you think I should get them to create characters that play to their strengths? Or perhaps get them to create characters that get them out of their comfort zone a bit? (I may mix it up, but I'm curious what others have done.)

As to having your kids mix it up with characters, that is generally a good idea. Get them thinking outside the box early but encouraging them to branch out with their character choices. It will be good skill development, and also will help this game stand out from their previous game by simply changing who is playing what archetype.

That said, you can also allow the players to play towards their strengths. There's nothing inherently wrong with this, and it can help to increase player buy-in for when you need it

Regarding Morality: if one of your kids wants to play a non-Force sensitive, then yeah I'd suggest using Duty/Obligation (depending on PC affiliation & flavor of your game) for that PC. Otherwise, if you're playing a F&D game, keep Morality/Conflict front and center and always try and give then moral choices to make in the story. For example:

- Tasha needs to get past a couple guards at a checkpoint. She could easily dispatch them both by using Move to hurl them off the cliff with one action, or she could try and bluff her way past without first restoring to violence.

- Jax is trying hard to convince a stubborn NPC shopkeeper to give the group a discount on the item they need. He could either make the appropriate Negotiation check & use the Influence power to subtly reinforce it, or he could simply dominate the shopkeeper's mind to make him think it's a good idea to just hand over the item at no charge. He's better at Discipline...and the group is short on money...

-Tasked with extracting information from a prisoner, Zenji has two choices. She could try and use nice words or creative reasoning, or she could use some intel she just got to threaten a family member, and reduce the difficulty of the check accordingly.

-Davin really needs extra supplies on this arduous trek through the rocky hills. Lo and behold, there is a small supply depot on the trail for hikers and rangers to use. Davin could greedily loot the entire cache and get some phat loot, or he could use the cache as intended and just take what he needs. (That one's pretty much straight out of the FaD core rulebook adventure)

-The group needs a speeder, and they need it now! Do they steal one sitting on the side of the street, knowing that they probably won't be returning it, or do they try and convince the owner to let them use it for the greater good? The latter would take longer, and the clock is ticking down...

-The crew is walking through a rougher part of town to curry the favor of local crime boss, when they see one of the boss' favorite henchmen abusing someone in some way (age-appropriate situation, of course) Do they stop the abuse, and possibly damage their relations with the organization? Or do they ignore it and carry on with their mission?

-Lem is undercover, and to maintain his cover he needs to do something morally reprehensible (again, age-appropriate). Does he take the high road and blow his cover?

And don't forget to use the PCs' Weaknesses to create situations. Give the players extra XP for playing to their Weakness even as you dole out the Conflict, or do things like temporarily decreasing their strain threshold if they choose to not give in to the weakness, reflecting the taxing effort of staying true to their ideals.

I don't understand why a game that emphasizes morality is a problem for children. The moral underpinnings of this system don't teach anything questionable. They essentially say "Don't harm people who aren't an immediate threat, always attempt a peaceful solution, don't enrich or gratify yourself at the expense of others", that shouldn't be a problem for people who aren't trying to raise violent ideologues.

1 hour ago, Aetrion said:

The moral underpinnings of this system don't teach anything questionable.

Agreed, and I appreciate your highlighting this. Because of the canon, I worried that morality would break down to life-or-death situations. The kids interpret the light side/dark side of the Force as a simple good and evil split. The advice posted to this thread has been great -- opportunities to help them see the nuance and challenge between easy solutions and hard solutions. Whereas other games we've played don't have structured rules around morality, I'm curious to see how the kids respond when there is more structure around it. (I'm pretty sure one of them will do everything possible to cultivate the dark side in their character, and I'm hopeful the game gives me a way to help him realize the consequences of their choices.)