Hello everyone. Before I start firing my big list of questions, thank you for your attention! I finished the Jewel of Yavin last night and I’m preparing to run it in 3 to 4 weeks for now. I have a few (actually, a lot of) questions for each chapter and also some ideas that could enhance the experience. My overall idea is to run it as Vanilla as possible, except some minor changes.

As a bit of a background, I play with a lot of characters (9), with over 250 xp.

For episode I,

Some questions related to the Grand Prix:

1. If the main Pilot PC is specialized in Piloting space: Does anyone have any suggestion that does not involve Sabotage or using NPC as pilots?
2. The MandalMotor team section, says Copilot instead of Gunner. Can a Gunner in a Storm IV perform acctions like Copilot?
3. Does Initiative (possible Cool) influence in the race? How would you implement this?
4. On page 49 (JoY) “(…) Piloting (planetary) counts as an action on the main pilot's turn but doubles as the fly/drive maneuver for the purposes of moving forward along the racecourse. Whatever else they do, all racers are moving forward along the course, so any maneuver or actions they performare within that context.” I’m probably missing something in this section, but Does this mean that the pilot may only perform maneuvers as Stay on targett / evasive maneuvers? Or does it means that a pilot can perform a second action?
5. (cont.)If we consider the first alternative to be true (only one action): when a Pilot may perform a Full Throttle or Brilliant Evasion action?
6. On p51 (Rayzer description) there is mention of defensive fire. Is this a type of action/maneuver available for the gunner or just a fancy description?

Zekra Fol during Episode I

Zekra Fol role in this adventure IMHO, is weak and dependent of the characters despairs. On one hand, I hate the fact that is not possible to uncover she is an ISB agent (even with a Triumph). I feel like cheating on my players. One might argue that it would require several checks and fantastic roleplaying.

Also, I see it’s very unlikely that she might discover my players. They are super careful in their investigations and they avoid combat every time is possible. Also, they are 8 players!

Do you have suggestions of how she might cooperate/antagonize with the players, if she doesn’t discover their motives in episode I and II?

Slicing in Cloud City.

So, the party has a Droid Tech who is a great Slicer and Crafter. (5 yellow, 1 green in both). Naturally, the adventure is not planned for this kind of raw power. Also, since the release of the adventure we have Special Modification rules for slicing and the effects of a Dataspike.

If I wish to use the Dataspike rules available in Special Modifications (-2 purple to Slice, plus an action to deactivate security as a maneuver), should I increase the difficulty of the Slice in general? I was thinking to use an excuse that the dataspike has to be crafted to the specific conditions of Cloud City (due Lobot surveillance and the several generations of computers interacting together), inviting the PCs to the small challenge of crafting a dataspike with limited time/resources. If the PC use a regular spike it might only reduce 1 difficulty.

For the slicing section, I was thinking in using several defense programs that needs to be deactivated in order to work on episode II against the banking droid or any slice operation in Cloud City. Does this sound reasonable? I’m open to suggestions in this area.

Episode II

Bid for the jewel of Yavin. Since I have almost the double of PC in a regular party I was thinking in increasing the price of the gem for the episode II. Is this a good idea? I was entertaining the idea that instead rising 10.000 credits per successful interaction with the Bidders, to add 15.000.

Security. During the preparation or the infiltration in the museum, there is no clear rule for deactivating the electro Railings, without activating the alarm. Is this controlled from the front desk?

Episode III

Aris. I’m looking for suggestions to handle Aris as a potential ally of the PC. I don't see many opportunities in the adventure, except for the first section. And even that opportunity depends on making the suggestion to betray her father for a bunch of strangers. I know, roleplaying should build this in an organic manner, but does anyone have additional suggestions?

Flight In the final scape, there is a recommendation to upgrade the difficulty of Pilot (Planetary) due lack of pre-flight warm-up. But If they are fleeing in a space ship, shouldn’t be Pilot (Space)? I know it seams nit picking, but I’m trying to assess if they should use Pilot (Planetary) in atmo as a rule standard.

Obligation. At the end of the adventure, it’s recommended that the characters suffer a 5 obligation for the Heist if they are recognized. In my group case that’s 45 obligations. Is this better handled as a group obligation? How much would you use? Also, if the PCs are careful enough to leave no traces, I still planning to add some obligations at least as suspects in case they flee the city the same night, or that Kaltho is wondering were his money went. It shouldn’t be 5 each, but how much do you recommend?

Thank you!

1. You probably should make him use Piloting (Planetary), but if you want to let him use Piloting (Space), I would add at least 2 setback dice.

2. The rules aren't clear on that. The adventure also doesn't (that I could find) specify exactly what vehicles the other pilots are using, so I would use stock Storm IV cloud cars (unless you want to give some modifications to the MandalMotors team). Whatever you do, I would be consistent across the board, as allowing the gunner to take copilot actions will be much more beneficial than shooting. Regarding shooting, I would houserule that, given the fragile nature of cloud cars, a vehicle that exceeds it's hull trauma threshold isn't destroyed but disabled and suffers a crit, unless the gunners were shooting to kill (which they wouldn't be).

3. Initiative doesn't appear to have any role in the race. Speed determines flying order, with ties broken by piloting check, with final place value determined by the results of piloting checks. You could also modify the place value by flying order as well, as that makes logical sense.

4. The pilots make a piloting check to navigate around the buoys. Remember that the check for cloud car going at speed 4 is PPRR. Speed 5 probably isn't worth the increased difficulty. You only can ever take one action a turn, but the gunner can also take an action, and both can take maneuvers, but taking multiple maneuvers, as well as certain types of maneuvers cause system strain. I recommend using emperor Norton's starship houserules for the purposes of movement (and is also a good resource for space combat)

5. You could insert a gap before each buoy of clear space that allowed for shooting and/or maneuvers or to take actions like Brilliant evasion or Full throttle. This would also give speed 5 vehicles a greater advantage. You could also insert additional hazards into these gaps, or move hazards from around the buoys to these gaps.

6. It's just a fancy description, however if you want to add a mechanic you could either add a setback die for defensive fire, or have the gunner roll an attack (that automatically misses) and use advantages to try to stack on penalties to an attacker.

Bid: It's up to you, but it's only going to be relevant if your players wire part or all of the money into their own accounts, which wouldn't be smart unless they've got their own fake account(s).

Security: I'm sure the electro-railings could be turned off-from the front desk, but setbacks or despair would send an alarm to the Wing Guard. The easier method is to shoot the railing with an ion charge, which they may or may not know. You can drop the hint that there are electro railings if they visit the museum.

Aris: This is a toughie. The biggest thing would be to have her interact more with the party, and give a chance for additional roleplay.

Flight: The game seems a bit inconsistent as to whether space ships in atmosphere use piloting (Space) or piloting (planetary)

Obligation: Group obligation would probably be best.

Also, watch out for the scene at the end, at the spaceport. It seemed very railroady to me that they get into conflict with the wing guard no matter what.

Thank you for your answers. I really appreciate you take the time for this.

27 minutes ago, Kirdan Kenobi said:

Also, watch out for the scene at the end, at the spaceport. It seemed very railroady to me that they get into conflict with the wing guard no matter what.

Oh yes, I agree. I didn't like the last part at all. The chase and holo-park didn't make much sense to me (seams more like a Star Trek episode). I know my team and if they got betrayed, their going to steal the Venture and leave Arend to pay the consequence for the crime. But who knows... that the beauty of the RPGs.

I'll read the optionals rules for vehicle combats. Thank you!

Any Idea what to do with Zekra Fol and the Slicing rules?

Sorry, missed those points when I was replying. Was in a bit of a hurry.

Zekra is another tough one. As written it is indeed virtually impossible to discover her true identity, and that's how it's supposed to be as written, but it doesn't have to be that way in your game. The main thing that comes to mind to do with her is have her get suspicious of the PCs if one or more of them fails the charm or cool check to not stick out when trying to get the bidders to bid higher than they would otherwise.

Regarding slicing, if you do allow the special spikes that decrease difficulty, I think you're right that you should make the check a little harder, though be sure to reward players for proper preparation. Remember though that the adventure has rules for constructing a spike specific for the purposes of the adventure, and I'd recommend you just go with that. One idea I do have, since your primary slicer is so good, is to make there be a security feed or something along those lines that needs to be sliced and wiped at the same time the primary slicer is working on the droid. You've got nine players, so make sure they each have something to do! With a party that big it's easier to super specialize, but if you have multiple things that require the same check, it makes it so others who have one or two points in a skill, instead of 3-5 can still shine. Obviously not all the checks need to be as difficult as slicing the droid (or even close), just hard enough that there's a little tension. PPR or PR or PPP depending on your PC's skills would probably be a good ballpark estimate for these other tasks.

As is, Arend is unlikely to get caught, as he's covered his tracks really well, and he's fixed things so the PCs will get blamed for certain things if they go south. It will take action on the PCs part to make him pay for his crime, whether by vengeance or by returning the jewel and trying to make it right.

Another thing I'd like to point out, something I'm really surprised the adventure doesn't talk about....the hutt is the one most likely to win the auction. If he does, and the PCs rob him of his jewel, he's going to be a very unhappy hutt. He's quite powerful, and will probably devote as many resources to figuring out the culprits, if not more, than Cloud City does, and place bounties on the PCs if he ever connects them with the crime. This will make selling the jewel especially difficult. Just something to keep in mind for an extended campaign.

Thank you so much for your feedback!

It's a great idea to engage other players in activities, even if it's not their main focus (Like Han trying to get open the Blast door in Endor). I'll keep an eye on that.

Probably the only way to get the upper hand on Arend is with the help of Aris.

2 hours ago, Kirdan Kenobi said:

Another thing I'd like to point out, something I'm really surprised the adventure doesn't talk about....the hutt is the one most likely to win the auction. If he does, and the PCs rob him of his jewel, he's going to be a very unhappy hutt. He's quite powerful, and will probably devote as many resources to figuring out the culprits, if not more, than Cloud City does, and place bounties on the PCs if he ever connects them with the crime. This will make selling the jewel especially difficult. Just something to keep in mind for an extended campaign.

I agree 100% with you. They might get away with stealing the jewel and getting Arend (dead or alive), but for sure the success will be contrasted to get a very angry Hutt on their tail. Taking the prize, the credits and making look a Hutt as a fool? that's a recipe for disaster (and obligation!)
Thanks for your advices!

This is a lot to unpack, but I'll give it a shot since I adore this adventure! General notes upfront (all IMO ofc): This adventure is super variable, tests the group (GM included) on juggling multiple tasks at once, splits the party, and stresses PC time management ability. When I ran it I had a lot of fun keeping track of the PC's actions and movements in an excel sheet (which I found very helpful). Nine (9!) characters is a lot (like too many) for any group, but since you've dealt with it so far I'm guessing you'll plan around it.

Episode 1:

1. Not sure what you mean here. The rules are quite clear that non-spaceships use Piloting (Planetary). If the pilot didn't balance out his skill ranks then this will simply be a more difficult challenge for them/the party. All the talents for piloting should (iirc) apply to both piloting skills, so a talented pilot specialization with great agility will still be the best pick for the job (over the NPCs) even with zero ranks in the skill. Sabotage probably shouldn't involve the pilot or co-pilot in case the saboteurs get caught/spotted, wouldn't want to be disqualified!

2. Though the devs have said the vehicle needs to have co-pilot listed in order to do the co-pilot action, I still let my PCs do it since it gives more options and not every group is going to want to use weapons. If you don't want to just hand wave it, just make up a "Secondary Control Interface" item that takes a hardpoint and makes the gunner station also a co-pilot station.

3. I think Initiative itself doesn't come in to play RAW, but you can absolutely call for Cool checks when anything crazy or unexpected happens in the race (like the exploding gas pockets). You could roll a single initiative check at the start of the race and use the successes/advantages as a pool to draw on for adding successes/advantage to the determination of who is in the lead. (ex: a PC rolls 3s/2a on initiative, later they roll 1 less success than someone else going the same speed, they can pull one of their successes from initiative and be tied with the other racer (and since PCs break ties, they take the lead for the range band)).

4. RAW, I think it only means the pilot's action is taken up by the terrain check. They are free to perform any other maneuver of their choice during their turn (including using master pilot to take an action). It also means the Fly/Drive maneuver will do nothing in the context of the race; they're already trying to make the best progress they can (and that's represented by the skill check).

This being said, I think I ran it by treating it like a chase (only instead of closing range bands use the speed and successes to determine placement). This way the pilot can take an action on their turn (but likely significantly increases the amount of dice rolls in an already long event, so be super wary. It might be better to simply run it RAW.)

5. Running it RAW, the obvious answer it to have the master pilot talent and use that to take the action. I'd probably also let triumphs be spent to allow the extra action (with the narrative being they were able to clear the danger quickly and have time for something else).

6. I'm sure it's a fluff description. To avoid shooting up the other racers, PCs and good sportsman NPCs should be using targeted shots with the aim maneuver to score component hits on their opponents instead of dealing hull trauma.

Zekra: The thing with Zekra is that the PCs aren't her job; they're a distraction at worst and pawns at best. This is why she might appear "weak," she's not a villain! I agree that PCs should not be able to crack her cover with a single triumph, but it might be an indicator that something isn't right (perhaps she messes up her cover accent or they notice some of her equipment is imperial issue or something). Several checks and fantastic roleplaying sounds exactly like what the blurb at the top of page 40 wants to have happen. I'm sure the adventure wasn't written with 8-9 PCs in mind and was probably written with a more typical 3-5 group in mind; in your case I'd probably set the despair count at 5. It doesn't matter if the PCs are super careful in their investigations, red dice are pretty hard to get out of the pool. Also, it's your option to spend the despair on moving her toward being involved so if you don't want to "cheat on your players" then just never bring her investigation into the story.

This being said, I used her early to get the PCs on track. My group was seriously neglecting trying to find info on how to play the bidders against each other but had rolled a couple despairs. I had her get the leader PC alone and make a side deal where she'd clear some of his obligation if he guaranteed a minimum value for the auction. At the end of the day she's just another tool you can use to keep the PCs on track and focused. Since my group didn't interact with Aris much (but did up the bid significantly) I was going to have her bail the group out if they got in trouble during act 3.

A final note on Zekra/the investigation, even if you do keep the number of despairs needed high, that should be a reachable number during the investigation if all the PCs are involved. I think I've misplaced the notes I had taken, but Casing the Joint, Acquiring Schematics, Kitting Out, investigating Grayson's Crew and each of the 7 bidders could/should be at least 3 checks each, not to mention looking into the race/the racers. Throw in the slicing legwork and maybe planning a double-cross and in total there -could- be upwards of 50 checks (and since most are social/you have destiny points) where a despair is possible. Whether the PCs have enough in game time to deal with all of this is another matter, but my group did a pretty decent job of it with only 5-6 PCs.

Slicing: Don't be so sure the adventure wasn't designed for that "raw power." If the PCs don't find a way around Lobot, the difficulty will be at least CCCDDSS and since its an opposed check I might interpret that as the PCs interacting with a custom system designed by Lobot to defeat ordinary data spikes (making them unusable). As you have a very skilled slicer, you could also upgrade Lobot's abilities (a destiny point, one more rank in Computers, and adding Improved Defensive Slicing would make the check 6 Red). This being said, if the PCs do spend part of the adventure/their prep time dealing with Lobot then they should be rewarded with an easier time. I'd let the dataspike work on the main slice check if Lobot isn't a factor, but would probably upgrade the difficulty once by default (and likely flip a DP for another upgrade) and on a despair bring Lobot back into things (assuming he's physically able). You could also go with a stand in system administrator (a regular slicer rival or w/e).

The point is the group show be rewarded for doing a lot of prep work, if the PC slicer simply says, "don't worry, I got this" and takes no prep then he'll probably be looking at his skill, a boost die from his equipment, and a difficulty of at least CCCDDSSSSS. Even with his pool of PPPPPAB the odds of success on the first check are only 45%. Even if you let them use the generic dataspike on that check the odds of success only rise to 61%. The encounter already calls for at least 2 computers checks (one to plug in and disable the physical droid, the other to transfer funds) but I could see adding a 3rd to break through the droid's internal computer security and access the central banking node. If they attract attention in the system there's also the potential to try and ward off electronic counterattacks. I also like the suggestion of needing to cleanse their electronic presence/other evidence from the computers (which would take separate checks in a different area to accomplish, the banking droid wouldn't have access to the security computer).

Bidding: This is only relevant if the PCs intend to steal the funds instead of diverting them to Arend's fund (since they're not supposed to get them anyway). If they do steal it, 200k-ish is still more than 20k per PC with 9 PCs. I personally wouldn't increase things since it'd be a huge windfall anyway, but if you want your PCs to be real rich (or tempt them more toward backstabbing) then do it.

Electro-railings: IMO, they're static defenses without remote control. It also seems they're intentionally there to trigger an alarm and add tension to the PCs getaway; I don't think the PCs are supposed to get out of the museum without triggering it. If a group wanted to disable them I could see a difficult perception check to locate a hidden control panel (unique to each exhibit) and a check (likely computers) to disable it.

Aris: Like Zekra, I view her as another tool for keeping the PCs on track. I had her keep badgering the PCs about what they had made progress on and had two more face to face meetings. I did like playing her straight though; my PCs never really dug in to getting to know her so she was absolutely there at the ambush. If you wanted to give them a shove in the right direction, you could sprinkle something in to their investigation of Vorse (maybe he knows of the rocky relationship between her and her father).

Flight: My book absolutely says Piloting (Space) in the bottom right of page 94. My PrintID in the front of the book seems to indicate a Feb 2014 printing; maybe it was a typo which got fixed? In any event, the core rules clearly state the piloting skill used is dependent on the craft being piloted (EotE p. 230, Combat and the Piloting Skill sidebar) and the skill descriptions themselves allude to this.

Obligation: I interpreted the 5 points each as only being applicable if they have the jewel. If the jewel is recovered by the wing guard/Grayson or destroyed then the obligation will be much less. Remember, the jewel is worth up to 50 obligation so if they do have it and get 45 obligation they can do a small adventure to find an appropriately powerful person they can give it to and wipe the obligation out. This very much comes down to how the PCs ran the adventure and GM/group preference on what type of game they want. If the group just wants a sweet heist story then it can be no big deal, if the group wants to have meaningful consequences to their actions follow them then pour on the obligation. I would use group obligation in this case however (just have the magnitude be determined by group size). Personally, I think the PCs are only supposed to walk away with about 10,000 credits each (the prize money for winning the race and a little extra from other things), so if they take everything which isn't nailed down (get the bid credits, Arend's starship, the jewel, and the prize money) they should have an appropriate amount of extra problems.

Final thoughts:

Holopark: I wasn't the biggest fan of this either but it could be interesting. I don't think it's too railroad-y (starships would be parked at the starport so why wouldn't they need to go through the holopark) especially if you mention/describe it to the PCs when they land on Cloud City. The PCs do need to decide to go there however, and making that decision for them could be railroad-y. As for the fight, the adventure outright says on p. 92 that the author simply assumes it's the Wind Guard but instructs the GM to have it match the campaign. Heck, Arend might anonymously leak them as suspects to the Wing Guard if he thinks it'll help him get the PCs. As it says, once one group does something to attract attention the others will naturally be brought in. Like much at the end of the adventure, how this scene goes down depends on how well they did earlier (including what precautions they took).

Hutt Vengence: I think this would only happen if the PCs also took the money. It's called out he has no personal stake in the jewel; if he gets his money back then he probably wouldn't care (possible exception of he might be annoyed at Grayson from setting up a bad deal). On the other hand, if he gets stiffed a few hundred thousand then both whoever Kaltho thinks is responsible and Grayson are going to be in very hot water.

Good luck with it!

Thanks for the answers, Hinklemar. I'll use your advice on Zekra Fol (among other good tips). I'll post in this thread when I start the adventure. I'm so intrigued on how well it will end

I recommend checking out this thread, where a fella laid out his podracing stuff. One thing I do in my races and chases, I very specifically do not have the Piloting check require an action. And spell that out to your players, the pilots get a special check at the end of each round, but can take actions normally during the round. This allows the guys who sunk all those points into piloting to actually do something interesting, like use Full Throttle, Gain the Advantage, or try to ram another Cloud Car. I actually allow my pilots to Co-pilot for themselves, though nobody else can make a copilot check if they do so. Hey, when you're flying a starship between the skyscrapers of Nar Shaddaa, you need to concentrate!

Hi folks -

I’m about to run this for my Roll20 EotE group of 5 players. A couple veteran players have over 700xp, but our resident power gamer (player #6) recently quit our game, so I’m looking forward to this adventure.

One new twist I’m gonna try: I’m replacing the race with a sabaac tournament, since we just ran a race mini-adventure. And... our newest player is going to (conveniently) play a gambler who has a secret romantic relationship w Aris (as an obligation).

One question as I start to prep: has anyone seen a “player” map of the museum? ie: one that does NOT have the room numbers and patrol route on it? I’d like to provide it to the players when they inevitably obtain the floor plan...

thanks!!

GM Khyrith

15 minutes ago, Khyrith said:

One question as I start to prep: has anyone seen a “player” map of the museum? ie: one that does NOT have the room numbers and patrol route on it? I’d like to provide it to the players when they inevitably obtain the floor plan...

Hi Khyrith. I haven't, unfortunately.

I have seen one of Cloud City districts without the numbers used in the adventure.

Sound really interesting a Sabacc game in this adventure.

Hello everyone! Long time I didn't post in this thread.

So, I'm having a rather simple issue, but I wanted to check with the experience GMs (and players).

On page 28, there is a detailed description of the museum interior, continued on page 75 with the exteriors. The description is simple: the museum is flanked by two business and is not possible to enter from the upper or lower level. The description invites you to imagine a store or apartment in a building, like you see in the interior of Cloud City: narrow hallways, doors, and windows when it faces the exterior. Let's also remember that the museum is in the level 22, below the Plaza Concourse

Now, for Chapter III (page 86), the idea is that Arend offers an airspeeder to pick up the PCs after the heist. So, my question is... where exactly can you drive an Airspeeder? in a hallway? The text does not specify the exact location of the rendezvous, but in case the PCs can move to the upper levels, where an Airspeeder can pick them up in order to go to their ship... I think is more logical to take an elevator to anywhere but the upper levels! Maybe the Industrial sector or Port Town.

How did the GMs run this section? (or players, how do you recall this part?)

Thank you! I'm always eager to read your experiences!

Has anyone seen (or made) a player (or VTT) friendly map of the museum? I'd like to have a version that does NOT have the numbers or the security droid route on it...

Surely the original artwork is out there somewhere??? Especially with all the groups that have run this??