I'm finally going to be playing in a game instead of running one. This Saturday at Knight Watch Games in San Antonio, they're running a "demo" game in hopes of starting up a group.

This game has been out a while and I played it about... oh... 5 years ago or so (?). As such, I know the dice system and like it. However, I was wondering how those who play it like it. Anything I should look out for? Be aware of? Etc.

What warts have reared their ugly heads?

Have to admit I'm super stoked to be able to PLAY a game instead of RUN it.

Have fun!

I'd recommend that your character purchase Stip-Pak's in bulk (20) so that you can stay vertical in combat.

Congrats on finding the game.
talk with the GM and work out a character you will enjoy. Is it EOTE, AoR, or FaD or a mix open to any characters.
There are lots of choices for character types and (if they are doing higher level XP instead of starting) I recommend combining specs from different careers to get the character you like (I like diverse characters over specialized but that's just me).

We'll be playing the EotE Starter Set progressing into the "main" game. At least, that's my understanding.

Any other player-side tips from anyone?

I know you pain as always being the GM (ongoing joke in my group at this point).

I thing that I can say, even as a veteran, use every single one of those advantages when you can and never have a round of combat where you are not doing anything. All too often my players forget that being staggered or ensnared does not mean you are a sitting duck. Other than that, if you can, I would recommend playing one of the lesser known species that you think don't get a lot of screen time, or even a certain type of character (I know my game severely lacks support characters outside of the healers).

2 hours ago, ArtWend said:

However, I was wondering how those who play it like it.

Since I started playing this game, I only play others under duress Starting with the beginner game is a good call, and I would suggest to your GM that he/she let people re-create or adjust their PCs after, once they learn how the game works. It's hard to make char-gen decisions before you know how things work.

There are a lot of little quibbles that could be discussed, but that's true of any game, and I think this system is unusually clean in that regard. All these quibbles are easy to fix, and each table can decide how to deal with them as they come up, if they do at all.

That said, if there's one thing that seems to come up a lot it's how people spend XP. The two broad schools of thought are: lean towards min-max; or lean towards jack-of-all-trades. There's no right or wrong answer, but it seems to work better if the players are in sync about that.

Hope you enjoy!

Between Attributes and Skills, which one should I spend the most on during character creation.

I ask because in some games, after character generation, attributes are a bummer to raise while skills are easy. In others, it's the opposite.

How's this one?

Attributes. This game specifies that character creation is the only time you can update attributes without using the Dedication talent which is only available once per spec tree.

This typically means that starting characters are primarily using green dice for checks with only the bonus ranks from profession and starting spec but that's OK.

Thanks, Varlie! That sounds super important.

For sure attributes. I usually spend everything I can on them, and take the max XP bonus from extra Obligation to pile on. Your attribute spread will in some ways be dictated by your choice of min-max vs jack-of-all-trades. Assuming you get +10XP from Obligation, most species can get a 4/3/2/2/2/2 spread (min-max, with a bit left over to start on Talent trees or extra skills), some can even get a 5/2/2/2/2/2 (super min-max, not recommended, everything is either too easy or impossible). You can also often get a 3/3/3/3/2/2 spread (jack-of-all-trades build), which is the most efficient in the long term, because it puts you a whole pip ahead of most builds by the time you can take Dedication to bump one of those to a 4. After Dedication you end up with 4/3/3/3/2/2, whereas others end up with 4/4/2/2/2/2, or 4/3/3/2/2/2.

My favourite spread is 4/3/3/2/2/1, which is possible with species that starts with a 1 in something...or maybe your GM will allow a human to drop something to a 1 for 20XP (I allow this for my players, but if they do that they can't have an attribute higher than a 4). I like it because it gives a good range of competency, with an amusing weakness. My most recent game, one player wanted to "be a terrible driver, but he thinks he's really great". Well, that means Agility 1, and he took 1 rank in Piloting Planetary, and he role-played it that that one rank made him think he was a god at driving. Rolling a single yellow makes for an interesting challenge, and even then that Triumph comes up more than one would think

K**l those Imperial Dogs

No chargen advise, but play advise: do not forget your talents.

17 minutes ago, DanteRotterdam said:

No chargen advise, but play advise: do not forget your talents.

Or your Skills! I've seen a lot of builds where people go all-in on talents and either do a ton of damage or miss entirely. A balance is pretty good, but once you get to 2-3 ranks in important skills and 4 in vital skills, you probably should brush off further skill ranks until it becomes apparent that you need them. A dice pool of 3 Proficiency, 1 Ability, is pretty much sufficient for a prime skill, then just tacking on talents to improve success/reduce difficulty.

Like I said... I wasn’t giving character generation advice but playing advice.
I have seen so many players buy talents and then forgetting to use them in play...

1 minute ago, DanteRotterdam said:

Like I said... I wasn’t giving character generation advice but playing advice.
I have seen so many players buy talents and then forgetting to use them in play...

Ah! Yes, I thought you were saying "don't forget to buy talents." Yes, that is very good advice.