Table Top RPG noob desperate for character advice

By Mychal'el, in Star Wars: Force and Destiny RPG

13 hours ago, P-Dub663 said:

LOL, you're certainly excited to play, aren't you? I had the same problem when I first started because I LOVE Star Wars so much. My first character was basically Han Solo and it went on from there.

Take your time, breathe, and enjoy reading the rule books. Just sit down and make a bunch of characters. OggDude's character generator app is awesome for quickly constructing new characters. Eventually, you'll figure out what you want to play. Another thing would be to join multiple groups. Either IRL or PBP. Then you can play your warrior, mechanic and social characters without having to make compromises.

I tried to get OggDude's character generator app but I only have Android & Apple products. Apparently there's no work around unless I learn to code. Sigh.

The reason why I came to this forum is because I wanted to learn from you guys so I wouldn't have to read the rule books. Between my wife, two month old baby, volunteer ministry work, construction business, and studying for my continued education, I probably don't have enough time to actually play this game. . ..Maybe a couple hour long sessions every six months. But that might be too generous.

A lso, I'm coming to the realization that table top RPGs demand way more time & energy than the single player RPG video games I grew up with (which I no longer have time for). And this game just might not be geared for a casual free-to-play mobile gamer like me.

Thanks for your time guys. Really great replies, especially Ghostofman, excellent.

Edited by Mychal'el

You can always run it using one of the Windows emulator programs. Also if I'd suggest joining a play by post, much less demanding on your schedule.

Yep. The Shard nailed it. There are a number of PbP games being hosted here and looking for players, including one I'm trying to get going.

4 hours ago, TheShard said:

You can always run it using one of the Windows emulator programs. Also if I'd suggest joining a play by post, much less demanding on your schedule.

I'm not having too much success with emulators. They just don't want to get that dang .exe running. Maybe I'm a noob at that too

1 hour ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Yep. The Shard nailed it. There are a number of PbP games being hosted here and looking for players, including one I'm trying to get going.

Send me a link

29 minutes ago, Mychal'el said:

I'm not having too much success with emulators. They just don't want to get that dang .exe running. Maybe I'm a noob at that too

Send me a link

Here ya go

5 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Yep. The Shard nailed it. There are a number of PbP games being hosted here and looking for players, including one I'm trying to get going.

2 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

So I'll definitely need help with chargen for your game:

My namesake character is about a year younger than Luke & Leia

Test tube baby created on Kamino for the top secret Imperial Saber Guard program

Force Sensitive Human DNA (Anakin???) + Diathim DNA = Character

Saber Guard training until escape about 12 yrs old

Hobo life for about a year

Adopted by aging Mandalorian warriors turned farmers around 13 yrs old

Parents killed by Empire because gangsters sold them out at 19 yrs old

Becomes a bounty hunter so he can sabotage the empire & criminal organizations from the inside

During TFA I imagine him to look like a older white haired Qui-Gon Jinn wearing platinum & white Mandalorian armor and wielding two white Lightsabers

Edited by Mychal'el

52 years old during The Force Awakens

Edited by Mychal'el
Duplicate Picture
22 hours ago, Mychal'el said:

So I'll definitely need help with chargen for your game:

My namesake character is about a year younger than Luke & Leia

Test tube baby created on Kamino for the top secret Imperial Saber Guard program

Force Sensitive Human DNA (Anakin???) + Diathim DNA = Character

Saber Guard training until escape about 12 yrs old

Hobo life for about a year

Adopted by aging Mandalorian warriors turned farmers around 13 yrs old

Parents killed by Empire because gangsters sold them out at 19 yrs old

Becomes a bounty hunter so he can sabotage the empire & criminal organizations from the inside

During TFA I imagine him to look like a older white haired Qui-Gon Jinn wearing platinum & white Mandalorian armor and wielding two white Lightsabers

7 hours ago, Mychal'el said:

tfu2kota119.png

52 years old during The Force Awakens

You should post this info over in the Jedi Quest OOC thread. OVerall, it's an interesting concept. Have you actually played this character in other systems? Not too keen on the whole "test tube genetically engineered combination human/diathim bit though. It's a bit too "Gary Stu".

12 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

You should post this info over in the Jedi Quest OOC thread. OVerall, it's an interesting concept. Have you actually played this character in other systems? Not too keen on the whole "test tube genetically engineered combination human/diathim bit though. It's a bit too "Gary Stu".

The Force Unleashed & Smallville were my inspirations for the original concept so his name might as well have been Gary Stuperman! Lol, He's come along way since. And I haven't played any RPGs other than video games. I just like the idea of role playing, not roll playing. Math bores me to tears!

In my narrative Vader secretly longed to replace the unborn child that he thought he killed along with Padmé. He of course would be the donor father, and out of a twisted since of romantic sentiment he selected a donor mother from the closest thing to Padmé that he could find, an "angel" from the Moons of Iego. If the resulting child had any special abilities resulting from it's hybrid heritage it would be an added bonus, and no doubt it would been the excuse he would have used to get the project started in the first place.

So Vader had the Kaminoans cook him up this science experiment under the guise of a secret weapons program, with the full intention of raising this child as a secret apprentice to help him destroy Palpatine and take his place. All was going as planned until, unfortunately for Vader, there was an accidental explosion on Kamino that disintegrated the child and the project data. So Vader angrily scrapped the project because it would have drawn too much attention from the Emperor if he would have tried to revitalize it.

But the child actually survived and he took advantage of the opportunity to escape by sneaking his way on to a a supply ship. For the next year he hopped from ship to ship just to make sure he wasn't being fallowed.

Edited by Mychal'el

Yeah, that's the issue. It's seriously in the realm of Mary Sue/Garry Stu, and doesn't really fit. Not only that, but the rules system doesn't really support such "chimeras". My suggestion is simply make him a Youngling survivor of Order 66 who was taken in by a clan of Mandalorians, either going base human or Mandalorian Human as your species choice. If you need help actually rolling up the character just ask. You will need to post it to SWSheets.com.

12 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Yeah, that's the issue. It's seriously in the realm of Mary Sue/Garry Stu, and doesn't really fit. Not only that, but the rules system doesn't really support such "chimeras". My suggestion is simply make him a Youngling survivor of Order 66 who was taken in by a clan of Mandalorians, either going base human or Mandalorian Human as your species choice. If you need help actually rolling up the character just ask. You will need to post it to SWSheets.com.

I was planning on going Mandalorian Human for the rules system anyway. Maybe I should start character creation when he gets adopted by Mandalorians at 12 years old. How many campaigns should I go through to reflect 40 years worth of XP?

For me the hybrid background is just flavor text for me as the character creator. The character doesn't know about his hybrid origin. And the only initial effect of the Diathim DNA would be platinum hair, & eyes. Anything else would just be force powers that I purchase, but as the character creator I will secretly know that his powers are really just the characters natural abilities manifesting as the he matures.

But if knowing the true origin of my character bothers anyone I can just keep my ideas to myself and just start off as some random white-haired/silver-eyed Jake Lloyd type character who escaped from Kamino and was adopted by Mandalorians in 7 BBY.

No offense to the order 66 youngling origin idea but I'm just not feeling it. Im really attached to the idea of a ex-Sith youth becoming a Mandalorian vigilante for justice.

Edited by Mychal'el

If you've seen Star Wars Rebels , remember the Inquisitors were stealing Force sensitive infants from their families, even as late as the Battle of Yavin.

2 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

If you've seen Star Wars Rebels , remember the Inquisitors were stealing Force sensitive infants from their families, even as late as the Battle of Yavin.

You shouldn't be arguing against a potential player's character concept... yes I know you're actually arguing for WHAT YOU THINK WORKS BEST FOR HIS CHARACTER, but that's equivalent to rejecting/denegrating his concept for his own character, you don't get to pick other people's characters for them.

5 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

You shouldn't be arguing against a potential player's character concept... yes I know you're actually arguing for WHAT YOU THINK WORKS BEST FOR HIS CHARACTER, but that's equivalent to rejecting/denegrating his concept for his own character, you don't get to pick other people's characters for them.

Obviously I agree but I don't want to create a Munchkin status Gary Stu Character either. I don't want people to think it's lame. I do want feedback but within reason. Thanks for looking out.

Edited by Mychal'el
On 6/3/2017 at 7:15 PM, Mychal'el said:

I've never played a table top RPG before. I am in need guidance.

1 - Welcome to the madhouse.... you'll fit right in!

2 - I still scratch my head sometimes after 20+ years rpg experience... I'm looking at you FFGSW roleplaying dice :blink:

17 hours ago, Mychal'el said:

Obviously I agree but I don't want to create a Munchkin status Gary Stu Character either. I don't want people to think it's lame. I do want feedback but within reason. Thanks for looking out.

I think your concept is fine as is, if you want cross species DNA as flavor text (no mechanical benefit) that would be fine in any game I ran, and if you wanted the appearance of one species with the stats of another, for the most part i'd allow it (e.g. putting game mechanical claws on a human with visually normal fingers pushes the bounds of credibility but I might allow it for a martial artist type character)

3 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

I think your concept is fine as is, if you want cross species DNA as flavor text (no mechanical benefit) that would be fine in any game I ran, and if you wanted the appearance of one species with the stats of another, for the most part i'd allow it (e.g. putting game mechanical claws on a human with visually normal fingers pushes the bounds of credibility but I might allow it for a martial artist type character)

This is VERY interesting,

So could I play a "Mandalorian Human" with some other species stats & unique ability to reflect my character's Diathim/ Human hybrid heritage?

Besides OggDude's app which I can't run on Android, where can I find all official species stats & unique abilities?

Edited by Mychal'el

http://swrpg.viluppo.net/character/species/2435/

25 minutes ago, Mychal'el said:

This is VERY interesting,

So could I play a "Mandalorian Human" with some other species stats & unique ability to reflect my character's Diathim/ Human hybrid heritage?

Besides OggDude's app which I can't run on Android, where can I find all official species stats & unique abilities?

Judging from past posts, there are a lot of GMs on these boards that would allow it, I'm one of them, there are also "grognards" on these boards like Tramp whom I'm pretty sure wouldn't allow it (that is, if tramp were inclined to GM FFG star wars, he's not, BTW Tramp and I go WAAAAYYYYY back, we used to game in person together... but the last time was... 2005 I think, we now live 1000s of miles apart). Note that not everyone who wouldn't allow it is a "grognard" but "grognards" are much more likely to not allow it. And trust me Tramp is most definitely a "grognard." (the term "grognard" refers to someone who is very set in their ways, rigid in their thinking, not adaptable/flexible, they tend to be more literal, and rules oriented rather than principle oriented, maybe even a little obsessive compulsive)

this should get you a mostly up to date list of playable species http://swrpg.viluppo.net/character/species/ , which will help you target your google searches at species, or if you could give me a description of the kinds of stuff you'd like I cut put together a short list for you.

but generally speaking my first thoughts are you should look at Pantorans (they're in endless vigil), green nikto (lords of nal hutta), Sakiyan (lords of nal hutta), klatooinians (dangerous covenants), Mirialan (FaD core rulebook), and transdoshans (eote core rulebook), if you were going to try to pull this off without your character having a force rating, I'd recommend a Kyuzo (sp?) but if you have a force rating steer clear of Kyuzo (forged in battle)

13 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

http://swrpg.viluppo.net/character/species/2435/

Judging from past posts, there are a lot of GMs on these boards that would allow it, I'm one of them, there are also "grognards" on these boards like Tramp whom I'm pretty sure wouldn't allow it (that is, if tramp were inclined to GM FFG star wars, he's not, BTW Tramp and I go WAAAAYYYYY back, we used to game in person together... but the last time was... 2005 I think, we now live 1000s of miles apart). Note that not everyone who wouldn't allow it is a "grognard" but "grognards" are much more likely to not allow it. And trust me Tramp is most definitely a "grognard." (the term "grognard" refers to someone who is very set in their ways, rigid in their thinking, not adaptable/flexible, they tend to be more literal, and rules oriented rather than principle oriented, maybe even a little obsessive compulsive)

Lol, some people feel anxious without their rules, it makes them feel secure. I'm all about trying to be balanced and I believe principles transcend rules.

"Grognard" is a funny word though, Ive never heard it before. My wife tells me, "your Asperger's is showing" whenever I start Grognarding. She's teasing me of course. Apparently my wife didn't realize it until after we got married so if I am on the spectrum it must not be too obvious.

I've never been diagnosed, but sometimes I do find some people on the high-functioning side of the spectrum more relatable than base humans. Lol

Edited by Mychal'el
12 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

this should get you a mostly up to date list of playable species http://swrpg.viluppo.net/character/species/ , which will help you target your google searches at species, or if you could give me a description of the kinds of stuff you'd like I cut put together a short list for you.

but generally speaking my first thoughts are you should look at Pantorans (they're in endless vigil), green nikto (lords of nal hutta), Sakiyan (lords of nal hutta), klatooinians (dangerous covenants), Mirialan (FaD core rulebook), and transdoshans (eote core rulebook), if you were going to try to pull this off without your character having a force rating, I'd recommend a Kyuzo (sp?) but if you have a force rating steer clear of Kyuzo (forged in battle)

I was Looking at the Character Abilities.

If Diathim was used as an in-game race it definitely should be NPC only. They would have way too many advantages as a PC, plus in-universe they are supposed to be so rare that they are believed to be legend.

Possible Diathim Abilities :

  • Vacuum Dweller : Can survive in vacuum without penalty, and can move in a vacuum environment. - A-BGR:47

  • Force Mimic : At the GM's discretion, the ([SPECIES]) may make and opposed Charm or Deception versus Vigilance check as an action to pretend to be a friend, companion, loved one, or of the same species as its target. - F-CRB:416

  • Force Power Battle Meditation : Telepathically guide allies. - F-CRB:284

  • Telepathy : ([SPECIES]) can communicate with other beings at short range using a simple form of telepathy. This communication is akin to broadcast, and anyone within short range "hears" the ([SPECIES]) speech. ([SPECIES]) can only "whisper" privately to beings they are engaged with. - SoR:99

  • Photonic Burst : Once per encounter as an action, [SPECIES] can unleash a pulse of light from its body; all targets within short range are disoriented for two turns . - LoNH:60

  • Airborne : [SPECIES] can exist in an atmosphere without ever needing to land on solid ground. - JoY:51

  • Flyer : [PLURAL_SELF] can fly. - A-BGR:47

My Character is a Diathim-Human Hybrid so he might have a less impressive form of these Abilities like:

  • Glider : [SPECIES] can suffer 2 strain to count as a flyer for the remainder of the turn. - SoT:89

Alternatively: I could try to buy Force Powers & Equipment that emulates the effects of these abilities and just give flavor text that describes them as emerging genetic traits.

Edited by Mychal'el
16 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

http://swrpg.viluppo.net/character/species/2435/

Judging from past posts, there are a lot of GMs on these boards that would allow it, I'm one of them, there are also "grognards" on these boards like Tramp whom I'm pretty sure wouldn't allow it (that is, if tramp were inclined to GM FFG star wars, he's not, BTW Tramp and I go WAAAAYYYYY back, we used to game in person together... but the last time was... 2005 I think, we now live 1000s of miles apart). Note that not everyone who wouldn't allow it is a "grognard" but "grognards" are much more likely to not allow it. And trust me Tramp is most definitely a "grognard." (the term "grognard" refers to someone who is very set in their ways, rigid in their thinking, not adaptable/flexible, they tend to be more literal, and rules oriented rather than principle oriented, maybe even a little obsessive compulsive)

this should get you a mostly up to date list of playable species http://swrpg.viluppo.net/character/species/ , which will help you target your google searches at species, or if you could give me a description of the kinds of stuff you'd like I cut put together a short list for you.

but generally speaking my first thoughts are you should look at Pantorans (they're in endless vigil), green nikto (lords of nal hutta), Sakiyan (lords of nal hutta), klatooinians (dangerous covenants), Mirialan (FaD core rulebook), and transdoshans (eote core rulebook), if you were going to try to pull this off without your character having a force rating, I'd recommend a Kyuzo (sp?) but if you have a force rating steer clear of Kyuzo (forged in battle)

Grognard? :blink:

Anywhat, while I don't have any intention of GMing full time, the campaign I'm trying to organize will require everyone (myself included) to take turns GMing. And one of the rules specificed at the beginning of the thread was that species chosen has to come from either any of the official core and source books or the USM only . That means no hybrids .

22 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

I think your concept is fine as is, if you want cross species DNA as flavor text (no mechanical benefit) that would be fine in any game I ran,

13 hours ago, Mychal'el said:

Alternatively: I could try to buy Force Powers & Equipment that emulates the effects of these abilities and just give flavor text that describes them as emerging genetic traits.

On 6/18/2017 at 4:18 PM, Mychal'el said:

But if knowing the true origin of my character bothers anyone I can just keep my ideas to myself and just start off as some random white-haired/silver-eyed Jake Lloyd type character who escaped from Kamino and was adopted by Mandalorians in 7 BBY.

1 hour ago, Tramp Graphics said:

And one of the rules specificed at the beginning of the thread was that species chosen has to come from either any of the official core and source books or the USM only . That means no hybrids .

Would this be acceptable for your game?

16 minutes ago, Mychal'el said:

Would this be acceptable for your game?

Being a clone isn't a problem, being a Vader clone or a genetic chimera is.

4 hours ago, Mychal'el said:

Would this be acceptable for your game?

3 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Being a clone isn't a problem, being a Vader clone or a genetic chimera is.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your grognard :D

6 hours ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Grognard? :blink:

Anywhat, while I don't have any intention of GMing full time, the campaign I'm trying to organize will require everyone (myself included) to take turns GMing. And one of the rules specificed at the beginning of the thread was that species chosen has to come from either any of the official core and source books or the USM only . That means no hybrids .

Yeah you heard me, you're a grognard, :P and in case you're wondering what that means

23 hours ago, EliasWindrider said:

the term "grognard" refers to someone who is very set in their ways, rigid in their thinking, not adaptable/flexible, they tend to be more literal, and rules oriented rather than principle oriented, maybe even a little obsessive compulsive

Are you honestly doubting whether ANY part of that definition DOESN'T accurately describe you?

Don't worry buddy, I've known you were a grognard for over a decade and I still accept you for who you are and it's not going to stop me from sending you birthday/Christmas gifts.

9 minutes ago, EliasWindrider said:

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you your grognard :D

Yeah you heard me, you're a grognard, :P and in case you're wondering what that means

Are you honestly doubting whether ANY part of that definition DOESN'T accurately describe you?

Don't worry buddy, I've known you were a grognard for over a decade and I still accept you for who you are and it's not going to stop me from sending you birthday/Christmas gifts.

Well, "grognard" or not, those are the standards that were set right at the very beginning. All characters have to be of a species from the books or USM. Making a character based on yourself is one thing. A Mary Sue/Gary Stu is another and something to be avoided; especially when the game system doesn't support such chimeras, and the canon (which this campaign will be set in) specifically doesn't support Vader cloning himself in any form, given his deep self loathing. That's why I say that being just a normal clone, or a Force sensitive kidnapped as an infant is fine, but not a genetically engineered chimeric Darth Vader clone. That's as Gary Stu as you can get. That's not good. Even Mychal'el admitted the character concept was a bit of a Gary Stu.