So I've been GMing this system for a few months now. I've done a few of my own encounters, plus the encounter at the end of the Core Rulebook, and the one with the GM screen, including some space combat using X-wing miniatures, and some narrated space encounters. My players seem to enjoy it. My most recent game I decided to let them take the reigns and lead the encounter. Their ship, a VCX-100, was damaged in a landing at a hot drop zone, thus needing parts that the Rebellion likely didn't have. They took this and ended up getting captured and causing both large loss of fleet assets for the rebellion and causing the battle of Hoth.

Has anyone else run games like this? Letting your players go and have full control over the direction of the game? I found it was a challenge for me keeping the game moving and coming up with situations on the fly as they went through the night.

I've TRIED to do that with my players, but they are so introverted and afraid of taking initiative, that it crashed and burned really early.

I had them in a space station, with a multitude of options of where to go, and what to do. They could look for work, try and steal a ship, literally anything was available on that station. Legal work, criminal work, the sky was the limit....and they just sat there staring at me, saying "...ummmm.." when I asked the terrifying question "So what do you guys want to do ?"

Since then, I pretty much strap collars around their necks and drag them along a plot rail. They seem happiest when they don't have to be proactive about things.

I've had groups that needed to be loaded on the train. It's easy in that you can do a large amount of prep work and keep the plot moving along. You spend most of your time telling them to roll a skill to complete a task which unlocks the next segment of the adventure.

My current group is the exact opposite. They continuously throw me curve balls and I have to keep notes on which direction they want to go and how they intend to get there. This was the main driving factor in my "base building" system that I shared on this board. I now have roughly 20 different adventures laid before them and they will pick which direction they want to go. Each adventure has the potential to spawn other "side quests" but at the end of the day they circle back around to the base to build and improve their home.

Well my group likes roleplay some, enjoys combat, and doesn't need hand holding most of the time. At times during this encounter they needed some pushes. Now they do like to throw curveballs at me all the time. Like trying to board and take a fully crewed Gozanti Cruiser. Something I was completely unprepared for, had no stats for crew, or troopers ready. It was an interesting session.

I'll probably do more of them, as everyone seemed to enjoy the randomness of it, and I enjoyed having to make stuff up on the fly as we played.

This is pretty much all my players do. I learned early to only plan the bones of an adventure because they'll inevitably take it in a wild direction. I'm always ready to nudge them back on track if need be, but it's really rewarding when everyone is contributing to the story and the action.

Fortunately, this system handles improvisation very well. If I get into a completely unplanned scenario, I dig out a couple relevant NPC cards for stats and dive right in. Learning how to handle player twists while trying to keep within the basic borders of my planned story has made me a markedly better GM.

15 minutes ago, rogue_09 said:

This is pretty much all my players do. I learned early to only plan the bones of an adventure because they'll inevitably take it in a wild direction. I'm always ready to nudge them back on track if need be, but it's really rewarding when everyone is contributing to the story and the action.

Fortunately, this system handles improvisation very well. If I get into a completely unplanned scenario, I dig out a couple relevant NPC cards for stats and dive right in. Learning how to handle player twists while trying to keep within the basic borders of my planned story has made me a markedly better GM.

I have to agree with Rogue 09 here. The NPC cards that FFG provides are a HUGE time-saver. It cut my prep times down by at least an hour if not two just because I'm not flipping through books looking for stats.

I have some of the NPC Cards and haven't used them in game yet, we have had some things come up the last time we were supposed to get together. So I agree that they are useful. I'm new to the whole GMing thing anyway, so every little tool I can have helps.

I guess it's different with each group, where some need to be led, while others go off on wild tangents. My group is kind of in the middle, they like a mix of both.

1 hour ago, Kiowa706 said:

I have some of the NPC Cards and haven't used them in game yet, we have had some things come up the last time we were supposed to get together. So I agree that they are useful. I'm new to the whole GMing thing anyway, so every little tool I can have helps.

I guess it's different with each group, where some need to be led, while others go off on wild tangents. My group is kind of in the middle, they like a mix of both.

Regardless of the type of group, those cards are super handy. Being able to quickly reference stats for npcs (especially disposable ones for combat, like minions) is super useful and time friendly. Plus, you can just ignore the flavor text of them. I lost count of the number of times I used "Street Toughs" minion card as "Savage Native Party" and "Random Mooks In a Bar Fight" etc etc. At most, you have to tweak the skills they have (the native warriors wouldn't have ranged heavy, but they would have ranged light, for example, or no Astrogation, but Survival.) Plus, if they are a little too weak, and you don't another, slightly tougher card to use (the next tier up would be a Rival perhaps, and you don't want that), just add a few points here and there to what's already there. Give them a slightly higher wound/strain threshold, maybe another skill they have access to, or upgrade their weapons a bit for a little more oomph.

I can't recommend them enough for any GM. Sure you might not use all of them, and some cards you may never use (though I doubt this, given the trick of just reskinning the flavor text and using the stats themselves), but even a handful of them are a very handy tool for your GM bag of tricks.

After the first session which was so railroaded they saw the tracks before I laid them down, I let them take the reins. Problem was only one of my five players had any sort of knowledge on Star Wars, regarding anything beyond the films, and they kind of seemed lost at what to do. I told them repeatedly that I would fill the gaps in their knowledge as we went but it took them some time before they felt comfortable making their own choices.

A database with NPCs and small encounters is very comfortable, the splatbooks are full with modular encounters to use the core books are full with NPCs to use. The cards make it even easier and there are plenty of custom made cards ready to print as well.
With all this tools it becomes much easier for the GM to give the PCs more free reign.

Still personally I prefer when the the GM has some adventure, some content rolling for the PCs, something which involves the PCs interests in some way or a task which is given the PCs by their obligations, duty or morality. The players set those marks for their characters themselves and thus they usually bite to and get involved into the planned plot, even when their ideas might derail it and make the use of those NPC cards a regular thing. ;-)

Though my group likes to influence the writing and narrative itself too, sometimes literally by writing and adding to a system. So the whole destiny point mechanic is a welcome tool.

12 hours ago, Oden Gebhac said:

After the first session which was so railroaded they saw the tracks before I laid them down, I let them take the reins. Problem was only one of my five players had any sort of knowledge on Star Wars, regarding anything beyond the films, and they kind of seemed lost at what to do. I told them repeatedly that I would fill the gaps in their knowledge as we went but it took them some time before they felt comfortable making their own choices.

Most of my group has far less knowledge of the universe than I do. Most of it is simply the movies, and some of the Clone Wars series. I fill in what they may not know and such, and for the most part they figure out what to do with themselves. The diplomat goes and rubs elbows with Command every chance he gets, the mechanic fixes the latest damage his Y-wing has incurred due to his poor piloting ability, commander trains and explores the Force in her spare time, and the pilot does piloty things and fixes damage to her ship from the latest "We can handle that *insert starship larger than ourselves* on our own, right?" maneuver.

I've got all the books and there is a huge amount of story hooks and ideas in them. I've been tossing around the idea of sending them to Byss or into the Unknown Regions and running across the Vong. They're probably not cannon anymore but who cares?

14 hours ago, SEApocalypse said:

Still personally I prefer when the the GM has some adventure, some content rolling for the PCs, something which involves the PCs interests in some way or a task which is given the PCs by their obligations, duty or morality. The players set those marks for their characters themselves and thus they usually bite to and get involved into the planned plot, even when their ideas might derail it and make the use of those NPC cards a regular thing. ;-)

That's why I love the ODM mechanics. They provide a nearly endless number of potential plot hooks, all related to at least one character. It makes for a much richer game than whatever random new scenario/villain I come up with on my own.

2 hours ago, Kiowa706 said:

I've been tossing around the idea of sending them to Byss or into the Unknown Regions and running across the Vong. They're probably not cannon anymore but who cares?

It took me a while to divorce myself from cannon. With the recent reboot, I finally realized that it really doesn't matter and I can have my own little pocket cannon in my games. Now I feel free to pick and choose elements from either cannon as well as introduce my own. Have fun with it!

1 hour ago, rogue_09 said:

It took me a while to divorce myself from cannon. With the recent reboot, I finally realized that it really doesn't matter and I can have my own little pocket cannon in my games. Now I feel free to pick and choose elements from either cannon as well as introduce my own. Have fun with it!

Yea I've been thinking along the same lines. Cannon is sacred, but not for the sake of the game and having fun.

I remember a fan theory I read a while back, that said Palpatine knew of the Vong, and everything he did, while in a quest for power, wasn't fully to benefit himself and only himself, but to prepare the galaxy for what was coming, and the use of mostly humans simply because they were the most adaptable beings in the galaxy. I've been tossing around the idea of having my players go to Byss on a secret smash and grab for some intel and come across a treasure trove of data on the Vong, that the Outbound Flight's true purpose was to make contact with the Vong and establish peace talks, of course it failed, and a secret ally of the Empire, the Chiss. And that not just one Deathstar was being created, but a small fleet of them, I was thinking somewhere between 5 and 10, in order to defeat the Vong. Then with this information, send them out into the Unknown Regions to investigate, and of course find the Vong, who will probably kill them off in the end. It's a lot of writting, but I think a basic framework is there and my players can roll with it on their own, with little seeds here and there from me.

21 hours ago, rogue_09 said:

That's why I love the ODM mechanics. They provide a nearly endless number of potential plot hooks, all related to at least one character. It makes for a much richer game than whatever random new scenario/villain I come up with on my own.

Well the ODM is basically just a background element of character development, that they actually turned into a mechanic. A good character design would normally include that kind of detail. At least one hook that makes them a fleshed out, 3 dimensional person. For me personally, the ODM wasn't all that amazing, because I'm the kind of player who usually puts a fair amount of work into a fully realized background anyway. Not everyone does, and boy do I understand that given the players at my table, so I appreciate the mechanic being there for that reason. But I personally felt it was a self-evident aspect of the character creation.

I usually try to give my GM/ST about 5 potential plot hooks they can use later if I can manage it.

Really only one of my players has really taken his duty and run with it. I'm guessing ODM is the duty mechanic. Being new to the game and these forums I'm still learning the lingo. Ironically he's a diplomat whose duty is space superiority, and he's also the one constantly asking if they can steel what ever ship they come across this particular day. Him and another character are focused on trying to steal a Bellator class dreadnought that came in and decimated the fleet in a surprise attack. None of my players really fleshed out their characters. I can't really blame them as they really don't know Star Wars all that well. They are getting better, the sessions where I let them lead are helping them come out of their lack of knowledge shell, understanding that while they may not know something about the universe, their characters probably do. That's likely been the hardest thing for them to wrap their heads around.

ODM: Obligation (Edge of the Empire) Duty (Age of Rebellion) Morality (Force & Destiny)

On 6/16/2017 at 4:10 PM, P-Dub663 said:

ODM: Obligation (Edge of the Empire) Duty (Age of Rebellion) Morality (Force & Destiny)

Ok, thanks.

another vote of love for the NPC cards, hope they are working on more

I'll echo the comments too. My group is pretty good at making rolls I'd never expect. Last night they skipped a whole chunk of content (my fault, shouldn't have let them roll for it).

Luckily I had a plan for the next session, so we used that, but they didn't play it at ALL in the way I planned.

I used to make my own npc cards on notecards, but then got sick of it and grabbed some FFG NPC cards. Best purchase after the core book.

On 6/14/2017 at 10:53 AM, Kiowa706 said:

So I've been GMing this system for a few months now. I've done a few of my own encounters, plus the encounter at the end of the Core Rulebook, and the one with the GM screen, including some space combat using X-wing miniatures, and some narrated space encounters. My players seem to enjoy it. My most recent game I decided to let them take the reigns and lead the encounter. Their ship, a VCX-100, was damaged in a landing at a hot drop zone, thus needing parts that the Rebellion likely didn't have. They took this and ended up getting captured and causing both large loss of fleet assets for the rebellion and causing the battle of Hoth.

Has anyone else run games like this? Letting your players go and have full control over the direction of the game? I found it was a challenge for me keeping the game moving and coming up with situations on the fly as they went through the night.

This is generally how I run my groups.

We play roughly once per month barring no reasons to cancel or delay games. Because of the length of time between sessions we say around 2 weeks pass in-game time between sessions (unless we ended right in the middle of an adventure).

Rather than rolling for obligation, which is random and has meant on multiple occasions that we skip obligations for 3+ months, we decided to run Obligations every other month/session.

On non-obligation sessions, the group can pursue whatever course they want, though I will throw out hooks and see if they bite. I typically only create an NPC or two, the rest are created on the spot and the encounters are improvised unless I have something very specific I would like to happen... Even so, the group could steer the direction completely away from what I want to happen, as they have the reigns.

On obligation sessions, if it's the character's starting obligation, I work with them to tell the story they want to tell, getting main plot points and the theme of the adventure from them, some NPCs that they know, etc... then I throw in some twists and the progression of the adventure is improvised. Again, it's up to them to steer the adventure.. they could technically completely ignore what we planned & change up what they want to do which can alter the session.

If it's an obligation they gained through play, that's something I keep a complete surprise from the group. They still drive the story forwards, so their choices largely affect the rest of the session.

I've had more luck predicting the free agency actions my PCs take than i'd guess most GMs do. Maybe "great minds think alike" (I and all but one of my players work at a government lab doing R&D). But my mentality is cooperative and the PCs should usually prevail... so I give the a goal to accomplish or problem they have yo deal with, some obstacles/hurdles/challenges to overcome and then anything goes, any plausible proposal on how to deal with it is fine with me, so my players will brain storm and i'll even throw in suggestions.

Yesterday was the capstone session to my campaign, most of my PCs have now dealt with their obligations/side stories (side stories are basically non random obligations on steroids, I still use the obligation number but I try to plan in at least 3 of the characters' sidestories each session), for the final session (cliffhanger from last time) my PCs ship was being boarded, and unfortunately for them, this was probably the first fair fight (as in they had approximately equal odds of winning/losing) they've been in. The weren't able to repel the first wave, retreated back into the ship (a highly modified, redesigned and rebuilt to have similar appearance is more accurate, consular c70 charger class light cruiser) closed the sliding blast doors and slapped a repair patch over the seam to keep the pirates from opening it quickly, and vented the boarding/engineering section to space by opening the airlock on the opposite side of the ship (a sidekick/lower level 2nd pc, is an hrd that merged with the ship's computer and has remote control access to most ship's systems ala rommie from gene Roddenberry's starship Andromeda) suckling the 3 of the pirates with vacuum sealed armor and rocket boots, out into space). That bought them some in universe time to make a plan. Which was to launch the salon pod with the npc vip aboard it (with the flip of 2 destiny points they had previously thought ahead to rig a life signs faker thing aboard the salon pod), and because the ship had undergone a total redesign and rebuild it had engineering access Jeffreys tube (Ala the e-9 explorer) which wasn't standard for this class of ship, so they hid in them, waited for the pirates to power the ship back up and leave a skeleton crew aboard to fly it, and then retool the ship from the skeleton crew and then went after the original pirate ship that was in pursuit of the salon pod (they had let it go initially knowing that it couldn't get away, and the main ship was the bigger prize). They got the drop on the pirate ship who thought it was a friendly and disabled the pirate ship beforeally it had a chance to return fire.

They managed to keep the data chip, with the critical info on it, that the pirates were really after, which resolved one of the PCs side stories. The planning phase of this took well over an hour of at the table player discussion time (their characters are much more decisive than the players are). I had a whole lot of contingencies (to fill the session time) written up in my notes but didn't need any of them. But the players got a kick out of reading them after the fact, a lot of what they had discussed and done was in my notes though.

And the reason i'm shelving my campaign is, I am going to be a daddy in about 6 to 7 weeks (his name will be Samuel L ..., and I am totally playing up the mace windu connection), and am passing the gm mantle on to one of my players, who is starting a KotOR era Jedi FaD campaign (still at my place because I have all the books and a huge number of miniatures and maps, which are kind of hard to transport). In maybe 2 or so years I expect to unshelve my campaign for a few sessions, with a lot of in universe time having passed and the characters having leveled up significantly and so being able to deal with the few lose ends)

On 6/25/2017 at 1:07 PM, EliasWindrider said:

And the reason i'm shelving my campaign is, I am going to be a daddy in about 6 to 7 weeks (his name will be Samuel L ..., and I am totally playing up the mace windu connection), and am passing the gm mantle on to one of my players, who is starting a KotOR era Jedi FaD campaign (still at my place because I have all the books and a huge number of miniatures and maps, which are kind of hard to transport). In maybe 2 or so years I expect to unshelve my campaign for a few sessions, with a lot of in universe time having passed and the characters having leveled up significantly and so being able to deal with the few lose ends)

Congratulations on becoming a father. It's not an easy job, but is a lot of fun. Especially as they get older and start taking an interest in gaming. I play X-wing and MTG with my 13 year old son. My four girls don't have much interest in any of it, but my 4 year old does. He'll sit with cards on a card mat while I play with friends or something. I've actually been tossing around the idea of GMing a game for some of my kids, see if they like the game and see how they enjoy roleplaying.