On 2/3/2019 at 10:14 AM, Stan Fresh said:

GMs, which Clone Wars era canon characters are you planning on using in your games, and how?

"Rebels" era more than CW, but for the first time ever, I'm actually bringing in Darth Vader -- a prologue scene for the solitary Jedi PC. It's going to be a more EotE game, but I want to make it clear why she needs to be on the run, plus I can always bring him back later. The advantage of using Lord Vader is that I need not explain to the table who he is.

12 hours ago, RLogue177 said:

How do you use a cutscene in your game? Can you give me an example?

For my CW campaign, the players have joined the Separatists so at the end of a particularly "story critical" session (maybe they've uncovered a vital piece of information, destroyed a Republic facility or have defeated an important adversary) I sometimes treat them to a glimpse of what's happening over on the Republic side.

Like those countless scenes in the Clone Wars TV show where the Jedi Council, the Senate or folks in Palpatine's office gather to sum up what has happened over the course of an episode, I describe a brief scene of people like Mace Windu, Yoda or the Chancellor himself discussing the impact of their actions. It's a fun way to show how their actions have consequences for the greater war as a whole. It isn't as explicit as "Mace Windu: Players A, B and C are dangerous foes, we need to deal with them." but rather something like "Mace Windu: Dooku's agents are continuing to stir up trouble in the XYZ system. If the local garrisons can't get the situation under control, we may have to consider dispatching a Jedi to the planet."

It helps the PCs get a little tease of what might be coming further down the line and gives them a kick out of having a marginal impact on canon characters. And I do so love a good opportunity to put on my best-terrible Samuel L Jackson voice.

16 hours ago, Smog said:

Antagonist cutscenes (or just scenes, as I call them) are quintessential Star Wars. I've utilized them since I started DMing WEG Star Wars back in the 90s.

I do always love a good Villain scene, but I can't say I ever really use them in role playing. I do try and build up the villains through what other characters will say and what the villain themselves will say/do, so the big final fight has more weight to it. My only other issue is that (while I love my guys and have a blast playing the game with them) they sometimes struggle to separate Player Knowledge from Character Knowledge. Do you ever have issues with the players "gaming the game" because of these scenes?

I really, really hope they aren't holding this til Celebration in April.

16 hours ago, RLogue177 said:

How do you use a cutscene in your game? Can you give me an example?

In Star Wars, any scene with lightsaber become cutscene!

17 hours ago, RLogue177 said:

How do you use a cutscene in your game? Can you give me an example?

3 hours ago, evo454 said:

I do always love a good Villain scene, but I can't say I ever really use them in role playing. I do try and build up the villains through what other characters will say and what the villain themselves will say/do, so the big final fight has more weight to it. My only other issue is that (while I love my guys and have a blast playing the game with them) they sometimes struggle to separate Player Knowledge from Character Knowledge. Do you ever have issues with the players "gaming the game" because of these scenes?

I can tackle both of these at once, I think.

I run my Star Wars games in a similar pacing and style as the movies, which is to say villain cutscenes occur after a specific trigger in which the player characters can no longer alter the course of what those villains are going to do. In other words, they give insight into what the villains are doing just before they act.

I don't have a specific example of my own at work, but all you have to do is look to the movies for the best possible examples. Empire Strikes Back is the best one to use, I think. Imagine giving the players (Luke, Han, Leia, and Chewie) the scene where we see the Executor looming above Hoth, and Vader emerging from his meditation chamber so that Veers can inform him of Ozzel's incompetence at emerging from hyperspace too closely to Hoth. It gives great insight into one of the big bads (Vader), into the new nemesis that is about to face the PCs (Veers), and most importantly: it's already too late for the PCs to use this information to metagame. The invasion of Echo Base is the very next scene, and it only gives some additional context into what the PCs already suspected (due to the encounter with the probe droid).

So, as I said, scenes shouldn't be used too early. They should be triggered by specific player actions, and only utilized in a way that minimizes or entirely eliminates the potential for metagaming (though to be fair, my players don't metagame anyway, because it is neither fun nor interesting). Not only does it make the game feel more like Star Wars and more like a movie, it makes the antagonists feel real -- like they're actually out there in the galaxy working towards their own objectives and living lives rather than just popping into existence at predetermined times to oppose the PCs.

Finally, one small point is that players should be involved in the delivery and reading of the scenes. Have one player do the narrative pieces (reading the descriptions of actions, the rooms, etc), and the rest of the players voice the cast. Scenes are, in my opinion, boring if the DM just reads through the entire thing expecting the players to listen to him monologuing and having a conversation with himself between multiple characters. Letting players read the NPCs lines also gives them a small amount of investment with that NPC and makes them feel a bit more alive and not just some fragment of the DM's personality. I have players that will pick an NPC and then read that NPC's scene lines for the entire campaign because they connect with them or grow to enjoy them. Another secondary benefit of this is that your players might give them some additional personality or quirks you wouldn't have thought of that breathes even more life into them (a specific way of speaking or interacting with specific other NPCs, for example).

Antagonist scenes aren't an exact science, but I strongly believe them to be an amazingly versatile, fun, and a perfect piece of Star Wars theme. Give them a try in your own game, modeling them after the antagonist scenes in the original trilogy in terms of timing and length, and think of them in terms of "how much does this scene really allow my players to change the course they're already on?" In terms of structure, if you're unsure how to lay them out, look up examples of screenplay formats online. That's how I write mine (and as this is a cinematic universe, it's pretty appropriate). Make sure to include those classic Star Wars screen wipes.

I'm happy to answer any other questions around this tool. They're one of both my and my players' favorites.

4 hours ago, Kualan said:

And I do so love a good opportunity to put on my best-terrible Samuel L Jackson voice.

I've found imitating Mace Windu's voice actor from TCW is so much easier than trying to do Sam Jackson himself, possibly because the voice actor is only doing his own semi-passable Jackson impression, heh.

2 hours ago, Scott McFarland said:

I really, really hope they aren't holding this til Celebration in April.

Every day that goes by this seems more and more likely (though, logically, I guess that would be the case). It's what I believe at this point, anyway.

On 2/1/2019 at 12:23 PM, Lorne said:

Another Thursday passed.

56 minutes ago, themensch said:

Another Thursday passed.

My guess would be that if we don't see a status update by next Thursday, then we shouldn't be expecting this book until the end of March. From what i recall, most of their SW books hit shelves at the end of the month, and as it's usually a two week window from what a product goes to "shipping now" to "on shelves," stands to reason that the status update would happen more towards the middle of the month.

Of course, given we've no idea what's caused the book to be as delayed as much as it has been, the above is armchair speculation at best.

2 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

My guess would be that if we don't see a status update by next Thursday, then we shouldn't be expecting this book until the end of March. From what i recall, most of their SW books hit shelves at the end of the month, and as it's usually a two week window from what a product goes to "shipping now" to "on shelves," stands to reason that the status update would happen more towards the middle of the month.

Of course, given we've no idea what's caused the book to be as delayed as much as it has been, the above is armchair speculation at best.

Yeah, I'm just going to gif-mope.

Just picked up Android it was printed in China. Somehow it was announced after Rise of the Separatists and still made it all the way from China and got on the shelfs in retail stores before Rise of the Separatists could get out of the container.

3 hours ago, Eoen said:

Just picked up Android it was printed in China. Somehow it was announced after Rise of the Separatists and still made it all the way from China and got on the shelfs in retail stores before Rise of the Separatists could get out of the container.

🤔

11 hours ago, Eoen said:

Just picked up Android it was printed in China. Somehow it was announced after Rise of the Separatists and still made it all the way from China and got on the shelfs in retail stores before Rise of the Separatists could get out of the container.

Lends credence to the “bad print run” theory.

2 minutes ago, Nytwyng said:

Lends credence to the “bad print run” theory.

To paraphrase Wilde, ‘To have one long-delayed Star Wars book as a result of a bad print run may be regarded as a misfortune, to have two looks like carelessness.’

1 hour ago, scottmcfarland said:

To paraphrase Wilde, ‘To have one long-delayed Star Wars book as a result of a bad print run may be regarded as a misfortune, to have two looks like carelessness.’

I'm willing to give FFG the benefit of the doubt and guess it's a printer issue they can't do much about. Or maybe there's a proofreader that keeps finding errors.

Possibly *puts on tinfoil hat* with Clone Wars coming back they had to clear some stuff with Disney before printing it to keep from spoiling/contradicting the show.

Regardless of the reason, I just want the book to get some form of update so we know what's going on!

3 hours ago, evo454 said:

I'm willing to give FFG the benefit of the doubt and guess it's a printer issue they can't do much about. Or maybe there's a proofreader that keeps finding errors.

Possibly *puts on tinfoil hat* with Clone Wars coming back they had to clear some stuff with Disney before printing it to keep from spoiling/contradicting the show.

Regardless of the reason, I just want the book to get some form of update so we know what's going on!

Don't be absurd; FFG would never slow down a release to fix errors discovered through proofreading. In fact, I've known them too ignore it when such things are pointed out in playtest and then the exact same errors from playtest show up in the finished version. It's very irritating to me.

Just now, HappyDaze said:

Don't be absurd; FFG would never slow down a release to fix errors discovered through proofreading. In fact, I've known them too ignore it when such things are pointed out in playtest and then the exact same errors from playtest show up in the finished version. It's very irritating to me.

Absolutely this. I'm an editor, and the amount of typos and inconsistencies in terminology that make it to print is fairly atrocious (by professional standards). There's no way that FFG is a company that delays publications or issues reprints specifically due to print errors.

I still think they're staying quiet and holding it back until the Celebration. If that is the case, I will certainly not be buying it there.

3 hours ago, evo454 said:

Possibly *puts on tinfoil hat* with Clone Wars coming back they had to clear some stuff with Disney before printing it to keep from spoiling/contradicting the show.

They would never even move to playtest were this the case.

1 hour ago, 2P51 said:

They would never even move to playtest were this the case.

I cede to your experience, master pirate

1 hour ago, Smog said:

I still think they're staying quiet and holding it back until the Celebration. If that is the case, I will certainly not be buying it there.

I really hope not. I'd love for it to be out before then cause I'm itching to get my hands on the book.

3 minutes ago, evo454 said:

I really hope not. I'd love for it to be out before then cause I'm itching to get my hands on the book.

I agree, ever since I started playing this version of Star Wars I've wanted to play the clone wars era, but no good setting info for the current game. I never played the D20 version at all.

1 minute ago, Eoen said:

I agree, ever since I started playing this version of Star Wars I've wanted to play the clone wars era, but no good setting info for the current game. I never played the D20 version at all.

What setting info are you wanting, exactly? The only thing I find myself waiting for are the Clone and Jedi trees. Everything else, beyond possibly vehicle statistics, is accessible via wookieepedia, TCW show, etc.

I'm not trying to be combative, but I am genuinely curious why, exactly, so many of you seem to feel as though it's impossible to run a Clone Wars game without this book.

32 minutes ago, Smog said:

What setting info are you wanting, exactly? The only thing I find myself waiting for are the Clone and Jedi trees. Everything else, beyond possibly vehicle statistics, is accessible via wookieepedia, TCW show, etc.

I'm not trying to be combative, but I am genuinely curious why, exactly, so many of you seem to feel as though it's impossible to run a Clone Wars game without this book.

I'll add my two cents.

I'm waiting on the book for three reasons:

1. I find the books to be genuinely interesting and fun to read, not to mention the artwork is always beautiful. I have this horrible habit of getting Roleplaying games just to read the book, see the artwork, and dream one day I'll play it! (looking at you, Witcher TRPG)

2. I want to get the official Clone and Jedi stats and trees as well as all the adversaries and vehicle stat blocks. Plus the ideas for troupe style play seem interesting and I want to see what FFG has done with it.

3. I love homebrewing, but the first thing I learned with my group when we started playing is that it is far easier to use official rules (when it comes to stats and basic rules, I know plenty of folks homerule some of the stuff) than to have to suddenly decided how I'm going to handle my player wanting a Shaped Explosive when I don't have a stat for it and nothing is close (I know there's one in FiB, that's one reason I bought it!)

Overall, I just want to see more official content for something I love. During this weird Star Wars break Disney has been on, it's been nice to see FFG still doing stuff. I don't see running the campaign as impossible, but I'd rather wait for the book to come out and make my life as a GM a bit easier!

The Clone and Jedi trees of course the FAD trees are cool but don't seem very movie Jedi like unless you restrict yourself to sentry and niman.

More Gar and Sep equipment.

The stat blocks for the following separatist droids:

Aqua droid

dB2-RP Super Battle Droid

B2-RT Super Battle Droid

Buzz droid (I don't like Chris Hunts version)

Droid Gunship

Tri-Fighter

Dwarf-Spider-Droid

FA-4 Pilot Droid

Hailfire Droid

Homing Spider Droid

Hyena Bomber Droid

LM-432 Crab Droid

Millcreep Droid

NR-N99 Persuader-class Tank Droid

Octoptarra Droid

Retail Caucus Droid

Separatist Assassin Droid

Sniper Droid

Super Tactical Droid (using Chris Hunts atm)

Viper Recon Droid

Vulture Droid

The missing fighters, shuttles, capital ships on both sides, and stat blocks for iconic Jedi for comparison sake mostly.

Anything more on the Witches of Dathomir who will be around in this setting.

Explanations for how the airspeeders seem to fly around in space so much.

Not so thrilled about Genoshian pc's I'd prefer Zygerrian, but I'm sure everyone has their preference.

Wookieepedia is fine but it's fan edited and doesn't have stats; I am willing to pay people to game test, balance, and publish for me (If only they'd give me pdf's). I don't think it's impossible to run clone wars without but there should be some published info about a major canon era.

19 minutes ago, evo454 said:

Plus the ideas for troupe style play seem interesting and I want to see what FFG has done with it.

Oh yeah and troupe style play is the sh@t thank you Jonathan Tweet and Mark Rein•Hagen!