I am running a F&D game for my family, ages 6, 8, 12, and 43, and I came up this idea called cinematic events that my kids are enthralled by. At the beginning of an Act (which is usually 1-3 sessions), each player is handed a sealed envelope that says something along the lines of "Open when <insert condition here>"

For example, "Open when the auxiliary power kicks in"

It's vague enough that they don't know what is going to happen, but specific enough that when the event occurs, it's obvious when to open it.

And usually, it culminates in them getting to do something cinematic or cool. In the above example, I was reading some text about how the ship's power died and the auxiliary power came on-line (which caused the player to open the envelope). I didn't stop reading the GM text, which ended with me saying, "And that's when you realize..."

And the envelope contained a piece of paper that read: "When the GM says 'And that's when you realize...', finish the sentence out loud to the group with '...It's a Trap!'"

Since this immediately jumped into a starship dramatic combat scene, you can imagine everyone thought this was a hoot and a great nod to the genre.

The point of this lengthy post is I am looking for more ideas for classic Star Wars stuff that will lend itself well to these cinematic events. What should be in a future envelope? What phrases can players use? Or what other things can go into these envelopes? For example, I've had blurred photos for visions that PC's get. Any ideas, including props, are welcome.

I'll give this some thought AND steal this great idea. For now, I just want to give you props, that sounds amazing for your kids (and non-kid players as well)!

2 hours ago, ColonelCrow said:

I'll give this some thought AND steal this great idea. For now, I just want to give you props, that sounds amazing for your kids (and non-kid players as well)!

Thanks! I just sort of came up with it on a whim, and it look a life of its own!

I love this idea. I can see having several envelopes made up and ready to hand out for potential incidents. I can see using this instead of having the characters roll perception to see Stormtroopers coming down the road when you know they are going to succeed, have one player open an envelope saying that he spotted them and letting him react accordingly.

I don't know how well this would work with your group, but its something I have pulled from time to time with other sci-fi games. It does take quite a bit of prep work, though, just forewarning.

From time to time, my groups have had to 'hack' computer systems for various reasons...information, opening a gate or door, sabotage, what have you. Rather than make them sit and roll dice, I have 'built' the computer system they have to hack into, then saved it to a USB drive. When the time came, I would set up my laptop, plug in the drive, and set a kitchen timer and told them 'Alright...go for it', then sat back as they feverishly 'hacked the system'. Some of the files would be dead ends, wasting a little time. Others would have interesting but useless information. One or two would make the group start over...bad connection, server reset, bad sectors, etc. And of course, there was always one somewhere that indicated that the players had tripped an alarm, and their attempt to hack the system had just flat out failed.

Like I said, I don't know how well it would work with your group, but having to break into a computer system while a clock counts down would really give them an experience.

On 10/15/2018 at 5:07 PM, LugWrench said:

I don't know how well this would work with your group, but its something I have pulled from time to time with other sci-fi games. It does take quite a bit of prep work, though, just forewarning.

From time to time, my groups have had to 'hack' computer systems for various reasons...information, opening a gate or door, sabotage, what have you. Rather than make them sit and roll dice, I have 'built' the computer system they have to hack into, then saved it to a USB drive. When the time came, I would set up my laptop, plug in the drive, and set a kitchen timer and told them 'Alright...go for it', then sat back as they feverishly 'hacked the system'. Some of the files would be dead ends, wasting a little time. Others would have interesting but useless information. One or two would make the group start over...bad connection, server reset, bad sectors, etc. And of course, there was always one somewhere that indicated that the players had tripped an alarm, and their attempt to hack the system had just flat out failed.

Like I said, I don't know how well it would work with your group, but having to break into a computer system while a clock counts down would really give them an experience.

this is a cool idea. How did you actually do this? Programming I assume?

On 10/6/2018 at 8:40 AM, schuwa said:

I am running a F&D game for my family, ages 6, 8, 12, and 43, and I came up this idea called cinematic events that my kids are enthralled by. At the beginning of an Act (which is usually 1-3 sessions), each player is handed a sealed envelope that says something along the lines of "Open when <insert condition here>"

For example, "Open when the auxiliary power kicks in"

It's vague enough that they don't know what is going to happen, but specific enough that when the event occurs, it's obvious when to open it.

And usually, it culminates in them getting to do something cinematic or cool. In the above example, I was reading some text about how the ship's power died and the auxiliary power came on-line (which caused the player to open the envelope). I didn't stop reading the GM text, which ended with me saying, "And that's when you realize..."

And the envelope contained a piece of paper that read: "When the GM says 'And that's when you realize...', finish the sentence out loud to the group with '...It's a Trap!'"

Since this immediately jumped into a starship dramatic combat scene, you can imagine everyone thought this was a hoot and a great nod to the genre.

The point of this lengthy post is I am looking for more ideas for classic Star Wars stuff that will lend itself well to these cinematic events. What should be in a future envelope? What phrases can players use? Or what other things can go into these envelopes? For example, I've had blurred photos for visions that PC's get. Any ideas, including props, are welcome.

Love your idea. Perfect for getting kids invested in the game. I may steal this someday. Kudos to you.

You can work an Interdictor Cruiser into one of these scenarios around hysperspace travel, either being pulled out unexpectedly or being unable to do so due to the interdictor’s presence.

14 hours ago, schuwa said:

this is a cool idea. How did you actually do this? Programming I assume?

Not really. A really, really simple way to do it is to create a couple of files at the 'top' of the system, then create files within those files a la Russian Nesting Dolls.

Envelope: “Open when you encounter a blue-skinned female Twi’lek wearing a black leather vest”

Note inside the envelope: “Say: ‘Hello, sister’”

Envelope: “Open when the mysterious R2 unit starts beeping and chirping frantically for the first time”

Inside: “You realize you’re the only one who understands the R2 is saying this “senator” is the person who assassinated the leader of your unit”

Btw I’m also stealing this idea. ?

On 10/15/2018 at 3:07 PM, LugWrench said:

(...) From time to time, my groups have had to 'hack' computer systems for various reasons...information, opening a gate or door, sabotage, what have you. Rather than make them sit and roll dice, I have 'built' the computer system they have to hack into, then saved it to a USB drive. When the time came, I would set up my laptop, plug in the drive, and set a kitchen timer and told them 'Alright...go for it', then sat back as they feverishly 'hacked the system'. Some of the files would be dead ends, wasting a little time. Others would have interesting but useless information. One or two would make the group start over (...)

This is super cool too, I’d love to steal this idea as well. If you feel so inclined, I’d encourage you to share more details on how to do it exactly, because I’m still not quite sure I understand how. Maybe in a separate post?

1 hour ago, RalfieT said:

This is super cool too, I’d love to steal this idea as well. If you feel so inclined, I’d encourage you to share more details on how to do it exactly, because I’m still not quite sure I understand how. Maybe in a separate post?

Pick up a couple of these:

And for very difficult hacks

Then start the timer and sit back and watch.
Actually, I would be interested in seeing what he actually programmed as well

We used puzzles in a Sci Fi larp years ago.

Fixing someone's "energy shield" took completion of an 10 length sound/light pattern in a Simon Says game (so basically same difficulty every time) - Easy sat in a chair, much more of a challenge lying in a ditch in the middle of a firefight!

Electronic locks used a Lights Out game, which you could program with a starting position, which let you set easier or harder patterns to represent the difficulty of the lock.