45 minutes ago, SavageBob said:

An alternative I use is 5 XP per encounter (and those only encounters that advance the plot, so no shopping trips, etc.).

What about encounters that don't advance the plot but contribute a lot of interesting characterization? XP, or no XP?

4 minutes ago, Stan Fresh said:

What about encounters that don't advance the plot but contribute a lot of interesting characterization? XP, or no XP?

I tend to take a movie-simulation view (as do the players), so there aren't many straight characterization-only scenes. But if we do something like that, it counts for XP. I'm more interested in this metric to encourage players to avoid excessive table-talk, rules flipping, and mundane shopping.

2 minutes ago, SavageBob said:

I tend to take a movie-simulation view (as do the players), so there aren't many straight characterization-only scenes. But if we do something like that, it counts for XP. I'm more interested in this metric to encourage players to avoid excessive table-talk, rules flipping, and mundane shopping.

Yeah, in something like Masks I'm going to encourage hangout scenes; with Star Wars, unless we're explicitly doing an alternate take, the pacing should be much more propulsive.

I get it from the OP's perspective.

My first FFG Star Wars campaign involved a GM who wasn't awarding a lot of XP and we also played VERY infrequently so on a given month, my PC could expect to earn 5 xp. And yeah, that campaign died a rather weird death. I did lose interest because it was frustrating that the PC's weren't developing. One player got so fed up that they trashed their character and then min/maxed their replacement with outrageous levels of tech to compensate for the absence of any real development.

And last night when I awarded the players with 15 xp (it was a rather simple one note encounter and we didn't progress the plot much) my players complained bitterly when they only received 15 xp because they couldn't spend it on anything! PC's are hovering between 800 - 1000 xp so I guess they're right. 15 XP isn't all that useful.

I have played some RPG's where character advancement wasn't as necessary but D&D and FFG Star Wars AREN'T those types of games!

For instance, in D&D your sole focus as a 1st level player is to survive long enough to get to 2nd level! And in the current D&D game that we're playing things aren't really able to get interesting until now that we're levelled up to level 5.

With FFG Star Wars, you're trying to emulate the over the top cinematic action of the movies and you just can't do that until you hit about 500+ xp.

And to make my PC's jobs harder, MY Stormtroopers aren't minions. They're all Rivals (at least). And my PC's were still able to take 'on' a battalion of 'Troopers. (They didn't 'win' per se but they 'succeeded').

On 5/20/2019 at 6:11 AM, Archlyte said:

This advice is more likely to make the GM hate the PCs and throw his game into a power level he does not want. Pushing the GM to run a game that is more cheesy than the GM wants is a good way to get the whole game to die.

The GM is not magically more important than the players. This system is not made for super-slow progression, and character progression is just as much part of tabletop RPGs as storytelling. Your hyperbole of "50 exp twice a session" is uncalled for and not what anyone suggested, either. 5 EXP per hour of play is the "standard" allotment. A slow EXP game could be 5 EXP per 2 hours. Not 1 EXP per hour. The game isn't made for that.

4 hours ago, Silim said:

The GM is not magically more important than the players. This system is not made for super-slow progression, and character progression is just as much part of tabletop RPGs as storytelling. Your hyperbole of "50 exp twice a session" is uncalled for and not what anyone suggested, either. 5 EXP per hour of play is the "standard" allotment. A slow EXP game could be 5 EXP per 2 hours. Not 1 EXP per hour. The game isn't made for that.

Well when the GM runs out of enthusiasm for the game you'll fish your wish.

No game > bad game. If an EXP rate of 2-4 per session makes it a bad game (hint: It does for 99% of players), then having no game at all is better than one where the GM is trying to keep characters from any sort of growth.

Just now, Silim said:

No game > bad game. If an EXP rate of 2-4 per session makes it a bad game (hint: It does for 99% of players), then having no game at all is better than one where the GM is trying to keep characters from any sort of growth.

That's an interesting statistic can I enquire where you got that number? I have shoved many players off the mortal coil of my games for being munchkins and needing the XP teat too much. It's not the end of the world for either side.

On 5/19/2019 at 6:19 AM, bblaney001 said:

From my understanding he feels Stormtroopers should always be a threat in a fight, but they're minions and not designed to be a major threat.

Then he needs to play the Stormtroopers smarter. I've had a handful of five men Stormtrooper squads take on - and nearly beat - three 1,000-point Jedi.

26 minutes ago, Desslok said:

Then he needs to play the Stormtroopers smarter. I've had a handful of five men Stormtrooper squads take on - and nearly beat - three 1,000-point Jedi.

Can you do a post on your methods?

I have done similar encounters like Desslok described.

1. Don't forget that 1 Squad of 5 Stormtroopers sums up to a Dice-Pool of YYYG.
2. Give your Troopers some heavy weaponry (i.e. T21 Repeating Blaster for example) a squad only carries one (in Lore), but that's the one that hurts.
3. You have 4 PC's? Start at 4 Squads of Stomtroopers á 5 Troopers (or even 6) and remember that if they get decimated, they are going to call in reinforcements quickly.
4. Add a Stormtrooper Commander or Sergeant to the mix buffing the rest of the troopers with his Leadership abilities and talents.

In my experience, these kind of encounters hurt the PC's so much that they're gonna want to bail.

But I'd also be interested how Desslok runs his Stormtroopers.

I've been running a street level Edge of the Empire game for over a year now. I've been only handing out 5xp or so a session. Most they got was 20 so once. I've found that limiting cash has more of an effect on stopping them being overpowered. I've made sure to keep them hungry meaning they'll go out of their way to earn money. They find XP satisfying with that style of game, it makes milestones feel more satisfying.

Depends on how frequently you are playing.

My current group meets every 4 to 6 weeks, so with 5xp per session there would be no milestones at all.

Nothing wrong with slower progression.

I’m currently giving my players 5 xp per session and 20 at the end of each story arc. Just started the campaign, so I’ll probably up it to 10 after 5 xp isn’t enough to get something new and keep going up from there. I want to give them an opportunity to get to know their characters and still get something new out of each session. Characters are more than just a collection of numbers and talents after all.

13 minutes ago, AnomalousAuthor said:

Nothing wrong with slower progression.

I’m currently giving my players 5 xp per session and 20 at the end of each story arc. Just started the campaign, so I’ll probably up it to 10 after 5 xp isn’t enough to get something new and keep going up from there. I want to give them an opportunity to get to know their characters and still get something new out of each session. Characters are more than just a collection of numbers and talents after all.

As long as your players are on board. And how long are your sessions

4 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

As long as your players are on board. And how long are your sessions

Around 4 hours on average. We’re still on the first arc of this particular campaign, but I imagine I’ll up it to 10 per session after that, because I do think getting a skill rank or a talent per session is important for player buy in. At some point 5 xp just isn’t going to cut it.

1 minute ago, AnomalousAuthor said:

Around 4 hours on average. We’re still on the first arc of this particular campaign, but I imagine I’ll up it to 10 per session after that, because I do think getting a skill rank or a talent per session is important for player buy in. At some point 5 xp just isn’t going to cut it.

Seems super low. But as long as your players are happy it is fine.

6 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

Seems super low. But as long as your players are happy it is fine.

Eh, we play weekly during an arc and take a couple of weeks off between them. By the end of the first arc they should have earned around 35-40 xp, which is plenty for 3-4 sessions with starting characters.

4 minutes ago, AnomalousAuthor said:

Eh, we play weekly during an arc and take a couple of weeks off between them. By the end of the first arc they should have earned around 35-40 xp, which is plenty for 3-4 sessions with starting characters.

Which is 12 to 16 hours of playing. Keep in mind Jay Little who created the base game recommends 5 per hour. But as i said as long as your players are happy that is what is important.

12 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

Which is 12 to 16 hours of playing. Keep in mind Jay Little who created the base game recommends 5 per hour. But as i said as long as your players are happy that is what is important.

Each to their own, but I’ve never had any interest in running a game with that fast of progression. I feel each talent gained should be noteworthy.

4 hours ago, AnomalousAuthor said:

Each to their own, but I’ve never had any interest in running a game with that fast of progression. I feel each talent gained should be noteworthy.

This is a fair point but I feel there are so many talents that aren't that noteworthy (Grit for example).

19 hours ago, AnomalousAuthor said:

Nothing wrong with slower progression.

I’m currently giving my players 5 xp per session and 20 at the end of each story arc. Just started the campaign, so I’ll probably up it to 10 after 5 xp isn’t enough to get something new and keep going up from there. I want to give them an opportunity to get to know their characters and still get something new out of each session. Characters are more than just a collection of numbers and talents after all.

Slow progression allows the character to be what they are for longer. I have some players who do not like spending XP because they see it as changing the character when they feel they had the character dialed in already. These are very narrative type players but their viewpoint is just as valid.

14 hours ago, MrTInce said:

This is a fair point but I feel there are so many talents that aren't that noteworthy (Grit for example).

That's a good point and I will agree that in this game the progression can be pretty subtle, which to me is a sign of careful design. I think that what some people may not like is having characters seem to morph in capability constantly and the resulting power creep. I will admit though that at times my own reactions on this subject can be influenced by a slippery slope view.

On 6/29/2019 at 10:48 PM, Fl1nt said:

I have done similar encounters like Desslok described.

1. Don't forget that 1 Squad of 5 Stormtroopers sums up to a Dice-Pool of YYYG.
2. Give your Troopers some heavy weaponry (i.e. T21 Repeating Blaster for example) a squad only carries one (in Lore), but that's the one that hurts.
3. You have 4 PC's? Start at 4 Squads of Stomtroopers á 5 Troopers (or even 6) and remember that if they get decimated, they are going to call in reinforcements quickly.
4. Add a Stormtrooper Commander or Sergeant to the mix buffing the rest of the troopers with his Leadership abilities and talents.

In my experience, these kind of encounters hurt the PC's so much that they're gonna want to bail.

But I'd also be interested how Desslok runs his Stormtroopers.

Yeah, that's not to dissimilar to what I did. Commanders and sargants are brutal as ****. Then, make sure the bad guys are thinking tactically. Yeah, sure sometimes you have to take a rebel ship through a chokepoint, but often you can pick the battleground - enemies at a distance with a gap between you and them - that sort of thing will take away the Jedi beatsticks. Also, make sure you've read the minion rules right. For years I was calculating the dice wrong. As written, the stats in a squad of 5 is nasty. And don't forget, triumphs can mean reinforcements!

The time I nearly whupped the three Jedi, they were escorting some escaped prisoners across a star destroyer's hanger to a shuttle. The Stormtroopers were in catwalks and blocked by pits and as far away as I could put them. You wont be able to do the escort mission every fight, but you can still play them smart and be devastating.