Hi all

I've been reading some articles over on TheAlexandrian.net, and I'm intrigued to try running a more open table. There's some really good tips over there about how to make that work for RPGs in general, and I think I have an idea* that would work to have different characters coming and going each week, but I'd be interested to know if a) anyone had run an open table in this system before, and b) what thoughts/tips/tricks do people have for running such a table specifically in this system.

For example, it occurs to me that the Obligation rules might be interesting, especially if there are 10+ characters overall (with a subset of those each session). Plus if you don't know who's going to be at the next session you also can't pre-roll Obligation, which is what I usually do. Same goes for Duty. What else? Are there other potential pitfalls in this system for this kind of game?

Thanks in advance.

*My idea takes place on Coruscant, a few hundred years before the movies. Amid increasing turmoil, an experimental new intelligence, counter-terrorism and law enforcement task force is put together, drawing from the ranks of local police, sector rangers, the Jedi, and even the criminal underworld. This gives me the scope to do very much "adventure of the week", while also potentially tying these adventures into larger stories (I'm thinking that there might be a sort of Moriarty-like criminal mastermind, who is probably also a Sith, pulling all the strings).

Very cool idea!

About Obligation, you may find it more flexible to roll Obligation at the end of the session, that way if someone's Obligation is triggered you can plan ahead for it and spring it the next time they show up for the game.

For Obligation/Duty, perhaps have some pre-made general "modular encounters" centered around the various Obligations, that could then be inserted into an adventure.

1 hour ago, whafrog said:

Very cool idea!

About Obligation, you may find it more flexible to roll Obligation at the end of the session, that way if someone's Obligation is triggered you can plan ahead for it and spring it the next time they show up for the game.

Thanks. I do prefer to roll at the end of a session, but that's an interesting idea about then waiting until that player is next back at the table before triggering it. The only thing with that is a) a bit more book-keeping and b) you could end up with 2 (or more!) players having their obligation on the same adventure. Which would be a bit insane.

1 hour ago, Nytwyng said:

For Obligation/Duty, perhaps have some pre-made general "modular encounters" centered around the various Obligations, that could then be inserted into an adventure.

Modular encounters are definitely a good idea - going to be using a LOT of those. (And if anyone has any tips on designing a good modular encounter, I'd be very interested to hear them!).

To make the episodic thing work well, you need to make sure you hit the climax of the adventure in every session. That means you really need to craft / tool the modules to fit however long your sessions tend to run. Practically speaking, that puts you at 3-5 encounters per 6 hour block, backloaded for the exciting conclusion. That means ,unless the plot dictates, you gotta stick to the meat and be skipping side encounters, those pesky astrogation failures, etc.

15 minutes ago, Aurin said:

To make the episodic thing work well, you need to make sure you hit the climax of the adventure in every session. That means you really need to craft / tool the modules to fit however long your sessions tend to run. Practically speaking, that puts you at 3-5 encounters per 6 hour block, backloaded for the exciting conclusion. That means ,unless the plot dictates, you gotta stick to the meat and be skipping side encounters, those pesky astrogation failures, etc.

This makes a lot of sense - and to be honest, I would try to keep things planet-side as much as possible (I'd warn players they should probably stay away from Astrogation-oriented specs like Navigator, Fringer, etc. if they want a chance to really shine).

What about time-pressure adventures? I've never run one in this way, but having a ticking clock (could be a literal ticking clock e.g. there's a bomb somewhere that's going to go off unless the PCs find it and diffuse it) that the PCs have to stick to could be fun, maybe. And that way you're guaranteed to be done by the end of the session. Obviously the number of encounters would still need to be calculated to give them a chance of success.

This is a great idea. Finally I will be able to use my super spy type character in a world in chaos. Also I have ran some time pressured adventures. Get the bad guy before he leaves the city, assassinate the target before a speech, find the hidden codes to a secret droid factory hidden deep underground in the middle of Geonosis. So go nuts, nothing makes the PCs stop shopping for that perfect gun like a deadline and as the GM you have the right to give it to them.