I am currently running adventures in TFA era for my young son, but have been leaving the major characters alone (Luke, Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren); I have been playing it a bit fast and loose with other some of the others, however. My goal is for the campaign to feel like it could be canon, and while keeping it fun for a six-year-old, refrain from creating too many glaring inconsistencies.

As the release of TLJ approaches, I am considering running some classic battles from previous movies, in the form of Resistance military history/ tactics training (the kid's an ace cadet, among other things). There is some precedent for realistic combat simulation included in Finn's backstory, introduced in the children's book Before the Awakening.

These sessions will mostly play out like any others, I'm thinking, with present-tense interludes at the beginning and end. Are there any special considerations I should take into account, while running adventures in this fashion? I am also open to advice, or suggestions, for applying these scenarios. Perhaps the advanced simulation tech is a First Order creation (which he acquired on his last mission, of course), and he could even be a TIE pilot for a session?

Well, you could go "new tech" or "old tech" with the justification for finding the training equipment. I don't know how mobile your story is, but if they are planet hopping, it would be stupidly easy to have them stumble across some old Clone Wars era training facility, complete with simulators and practice weaponry, etc. It might make for some interesting thoughts for your son, depending on how good he is at picking up subtle things of nuance, like the fact of a potential hero of the New Age, being trained by the very equipment that created the Empire that he is fighting against the remnants of. If not, it would still be a cool setting I think. Or you could have them come across some old rebel facility, same situation, just different side of the conflict, though if he is playing a kid roughly his age, the Clone facility might actually fit better, as they had a training program for the clones from youth to adult hood. So he could even find equipment to his size there to train with.

If you are using modern day stuff, if he has any connection with the Resistance, it could simply be a standard training location for their troops. Perhaps abandoned after everything went wonky after TFA.

Again, depending on how much "deep stuff" you want to toss into the game for your young son, it might be rewarding to clearly color the training sims (if you go the Clone/Empire route that is) with attacking things he wouldn't think to attack. Use ship images that he would recognize and automatically think "good guy". And then react to being told (by the training unit) to destroy them as ordered. Or perhaps use terms that would trigger him, if ship types don't. Like "ship full of farming supplies/farmers" or "refugees" etc. And see if he rebels against the instructions.

This might not be fun though, as it's just as likely your kid decides to happily follow instructions, and now you've suddenly trained him to be a Stormtrooper by accident You be the judge on if that would be a good route to take it. Of course, you could leave that level of depth out, and just have him train on undefined digital targets, simply to improve his skills, independent of any political sides.

Since though, you did say you wanted him to use Resistance training stuff, I would go with either the "officially being trained by the good guys" route, or have him uncover an abandoned facility of the Resistance, recently left behind due to new events of TFA, and have him start using it.

Thanks for the response!

I primarily intend to use the "simulation training" as a plot device, to give my son's character (from contemporary canon) the opportunity to participate in some of the iconic battles from the OT. The era and source should probably be from the late rebellion period, then (at least), in order to include the correct details. I suppose I could use older tech, and an instructor could input details for new scenarios? Even if it is bad-guy-tech, I think I will include the option to train on either side of the conflict (or both, in distinct sessions)!

We failed miserably in our attempt to binge-watch TCW cartoons, before they were recently removed from netflix (only managed to finish the first season)*, but are up to date with SWR. For the record, the PC is about Ezra's age from season one Rebels (14 years old)- that gives us both a frame of reference, and I can more reasonably suspend my own disbelief when he's going on missions.

It's funny, but his first character concept was a stormtrooper, and I had a backstory planned to engineer a defection... ultimately he designed a player more like Poe, and subsequently Rey, rolled into one.

*Clone Wars still available, despite previous notification that the series would be removed March 7th.

Ah, yeah I missed the bit about you specifically wanting it to be Rebellion/Resistance simulation tech.

As to advice about running it specifically. I would say try and stick to specific tasks for him. In general, wings of fighters would have a task in big fleet battles, and they would stick to that job unless something significant happened. "Gold Wing, protect that Cruiser from those fighters." "Green Wing, punch us a hole through that defensive battery." "Rogue Wing, the cap ships have cleared a path for our bombers, protect them from further attacks so they can get set up for their attack run." etc etc.

Give him some very specific tasks, and then describe the other events as background description between his turns. I would also, if he is troubled by not being able to help out with all the things that you describe, be sure to let him know he has comms with the fleet, and can report in things he notices. Like in RotJ, when...I think it was Wedge, is flying around, notices a concentration of Imperial fighters attacking a specific cap ship, and radios in "They're going for the medical frigate." He could, perhaps with a Perception roll from time to time, notice certain trends of the enemy deployments, and could radio that in, to provide "help" in the form of intelligence in the heat of battle.

That would be what I would recommend personally, and then let things adjust as needed based on the situation.