Hey guys!

1. Coming from a DnD background, I am a bit clueless on how to build encounters for my group.
I usually go for a level-based difficulty, but since everything here is based around XP, I don't know how weak/strong my encounters are.
Any advice?

2. How can you tell if an adventure module is not to easy/difficult for your band of players?
Do all adventures assume the PC's are newly created characters?

3. What would you do if a player dies and needs to create a new character?
Would you let them start completely fresh (with just the base species starting XP) or would you give them a higher starting amount so they could catch up?

4. I have the feeling that XP doesn't really matter THAT MUCH. It still makes your PC's stronger, but since their base attributes rarely increase, they should still see a lot of encounters as actual threats.
Is my assumption correct?

On 2/14/2020 at 9:14 AM, Tailball said:

1. Coming from a DnD background, I am a bit clueless on how to build encounters for my group.
I usually go for a level-based difficulty, but since everything here is based around XP, I don't know how weak/strong my encounters are.
Any advice?

Until you get a better feel for it, one option is to err on the weaker side but to have reinforcements nearby.

On 2/14/2020 at 9:14 AM, Tailball said:

3. What would you do if a player dies and needs to create a new character?
Would you let them start completely fresh (with just the base species starting XP) or would you give them a higher starting amount so they could catch up?

I suggest that you talk to your players about it and try to come to a consensus that everyone finds agreeable. I can also tell you that this is a touchy subject for some members of this community, but hopefully things will remain civil.

On 2/14/2020 at 9:14 AM, Tailball said:

Hey guys!

1. Coming from a DnD background, I am a bit clueless on how to build encounters for my group.
I usually go for a level-based difficulty, but since everything here is based around XP, I don't know how weak/strong my encounters are.
Any advice?

2. How can you tell if an adventure module is not to easy/difficult for your band of players?
Do all adventures assume the PC's are newly created characters?

3. What would you do if a player dies and needs to create a new character?
Would you let them start completely fresh (with just the base species starting XP) or would you give them a higher starting amount so they could catch up?

4. I have the feeling that XP doesn't really matter THAT MUCH. It still makes your PC's stronger, but since their base attributes rarely increase, they should still see a lot of encounters as actual threats.
Is my assumption correct?

Some general warnings:

This is a hard hitting system. Minions can do a lot to the party (especially beginner groups), even in relatively small numbers. A combat-focused Rival can be a force to be reckoned with, even against combat-focused PCs. A significant challenge (probably resulting in at least one incapacitation for a 3-4 player group) is a stormtrooper sergeant and a 4-member minion group of stormtroopers.

Here's how I build encounters:

• I chuck "balancing" out the window, and build based on what I think makes sense (which includes what the opposition knows about the PCs and how they'd prepare for a potential/likely/certain conflict with them).
• Then I climb out my window and find "balancing," then I skim it quickly to make sure that the result I'm looking for is plausible, though that has probably already been accounted for.
• Then I adjust as needed once I'm in the thick of things, though it's usually not much of a problem unless the dice skew hard one way or another.

I have not played DnD, but others have referred to the "DnD mindset" more-or-less precluding retreat. That is not the case in this game, and your PCs should never be ashamed of going "Oh, there's a tamed rancor and a squad of elite ex-stormtroopers with disruptor rifles. Let's not do that..." Just because something is too hard for the players doesn't mean it is too hard. Sometimes you can have an end-game thing that stays at the same power level. If the PCs meet it early on, they should probably run away screaming. Something else is to not be afraid of chucking something very weak at them. In my combat-heavy Mandalorian bounty hunters campaign (average soak is 6 for the PCs, Average WT is about 19, and that doesn't even mention offensive capabilities), there have been a couple times I've chucked something almost laughably weak at them because it made sense.

On 2/14/2020 at 8:14 AM, Tailball said:

I have the feeling that XP doesn't really matter THAT MUCH.

You are right, it's very much about how many attacks you can bring to bear, and how much damage you can dish out. XP has some impact, but it's hard to quantify. Many PC builds have nothing to do with combat encounters and will never improve above their baseline.

Since you're coming from D&D, here are some rules of thumb to get close to something "balanced":

1. make sure the opponents have the same or fewer attacks per round as your party
2. make sure the opponents dish out less amounts of total damage, ie damage after Soak
3. make sure the opponent dice pools are the same or one less than those of the party
4. When offering skill challenges: in D&D a 1st level character can accomplish a DC15 task 50% of the time if the task is in their area of expertise (eg: they usually get +5, and so on average roll a 15 or more half the time). The equivalent here is if a PC can roll 3 dice against a 2-dice difficulty. If you're adding setback (which you should be doing), you'll probably be starting off with Easy (1 die) or Average (2 dice) challenges.

Now, while that's a rough guide to get going, be prepared to throw all that out and start scaling encounters according to your story. D&D is pretty much built around the expectation of constant conquest. This game is more true to the movies where everybody is almost always running away from superior forces. Clandestine operations, picking your battles, charm or coercion offences, etc are the name of the game. So if your players are used to "standing there and taking it" in D&D, they are going to be confused, and may require some weaning. The most useful trick I have for this is making sure there is always a clock ticking, so the players don't have time to stand around, they have to get the (jewel/artifact/money/child prodigy) to the (space port/train/refuge) before they are overwhelmed by (jungle vines/stormtroopers/nexu pack)...etc

1. Design the encounter as you see fit fit the adventure. Character only die with really bad critical injuries in this game. So if your enemies are too powerful then they get captured and have to escape. Or you players may find that they need to run away. If you error on the side of under powered the you can always add more groups to the fighter later.

2. Most modules will say what level characters should be used. Most are starting exp, or knight level which is an extra 150 exp after creation. When playing you can increase or reduce the difficulty based in the skills level of your group to help them through if needed.

3. Characters are hard to kill in this game. Talk to the players if they are food with player death or if they go down they get captured or having something bad happen versus killing them. If you really do kill them then I would let them start a new character at the same exp of their precious character. Also when making the character if they want to adjust skills or talents later let them since they are thrown in to a class they are unfamiliar with.

4. Yes all encounters can be hazardous since characters have low wound thresholds. Depending on build most characters will get dropped after 2 hits, unless they are focused on Brawn. Gear is a lot bigger factor for effectiveness in combat, if a character is behind on exp you can give them some weapons with attachments to help make up the difference.

Exp doesn't equate to combat effectiveness well since you can focus on social skills and talents versus combat talents.

Hopefully this helps.

8 hours ago, Vorzakk said:

I can also tell you that this is a touchy subject for some members of this community, but hopefully things will remain civil.

Duly noted

7 hours ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

I have not played DnD, but others have referred to the "DnD mindset" more-or-less precluding retreat. That is not the case in this game, and your PCs should never be ashamed of going "Oh, there's a tamed rancor and a squad of elite ex-stormtroopers with disruptor rifles. Let's not do that..." Just because something is too hard for the players doesn't mean it is too hard. Sometimes you can have an end-game thing that stays at the same power level. If the PCs meet it early on, they should probably run away screaming. Something else is to not be afraid of chucking something very weak at them. In my combat-heavy Mandalorian bounty hunters campaign (average soak is 6 for the PCs, Average WT is about 19, and that doesn't even mention offensive capabilities), there have been a couple times I've chucked something almost laughably weak at them because it made sense.

Thanks!
Yea, you are right that the Star Wars universe utilizes a lot of other skills and therefore combat should rarely be the only option.

If Luke entered the Death Star all guns blazing, he would've lasted about 5 seconds.

3 hours ago, damnkid3 said:

1. Design the encounter as you see fit fit the adventure. Character only die with really bad critical injuries in this game. So if your enemies are too powerful then they get captured and have to escape. Or you players may find that they need to run away. If you error on the side of under powered the you can always add more groups to the fighter later.

Exp doesn't equate to combat effectiveness well since you can focus on social skills and talents versus combat talents.

Hopefully this helps.

The capturing part is a good twist! That way, the enemy is still seen as a menace. (just kicking their asses and leaving them in the local cantina, like in the beginner game seems too much of a Deus Ex Machina for me)

And yes, as stated above, indeed combat isn't everything. My players are a pretty varied group. Some love the diablo-style hack 'n slash. Others love planning or sneaking around.

This certainly helps!

6 hours ago, whafrog said:

You are right, it's very much about how many attacks you can bring to bear, and how much damage you can dish out. XP has some impact, but it's hard to quantify. Many PC builds have nothing to do with combat encounters and will never improve above their baseline.

Since you're coming from D&D, here are some rules of thumb to get close to something "balanced":

1. make sure the opponents have the same or fewer attacks per round as your party
2. make sure the opponents dish out less amounts of total damage, ie damage after Soak
3. make sure the opponent dice pools are the same or one less than those of the party
4. When offering skill challenges: in D&D a 1st level character can accomplish a DC15 task 50% of the time if the task is in their area of expertise (eg: they usually get +5, and so on average roll a 15 or more half the time). The equivalent here is if a PC can roll 3 dice against a 2-dice difficulty. If you're adding setback (which you should be doing), you'll probably be starting off with Easy (1 die) or Average (2 dice) challenges.

Now, while that's a rough guide to get going, be prepared to throw all that out and start scaling encounters according to your story. D&D is pretty much built around the expectation of constant conquest. This game is more true to the movies where everybody is almost always running away from superior forces. Clandestine operations, picking your battles, charm or coercion offences, etc are the name of the game. So if your players are used to "standing there and taking it" in D&D, they are going to be confused, and may require some weaning. The most useful trick I have for this is making sure there is always a clock ticking, so the players don't have time to stand around, they have to get the (jewel/artifact/money/child prodigy) to the (space port/train/refuge) before they are overwhelmed by (jungle vines/stormtroopers/nexu pack)...etc

Nice rules of thumb in this post. Thanks!

as someone whos been a DM for more years then not I will say this game is far from it in how the game plays

in the game I am in ground combat is mixed 2 of the 5 players are combat monsters who do most of the work one if targeted gets dropped or close to it

but out of combat the player who cant fight dose a lot of the talking and is the main healer and the combat players can do very little

space combat is just flat out bad we feel weak as **** and even if we win it costs us a lot as hull is 500 per point at base

this is after a year of play with 5 hours a week with about 20 exp per

for D&D players things I have found that you may need to teach them is

1 splitting the party is ok (this was something the GM had to drum into us and force on us with time limits as we were all D&D players 1st)

2 its best to have a well rounded PCs then a one trick pony (in part it helps splitting up and keeps the game fun for everyone as the GM can tune fights for who is there ie if its the weak PC 5 stormtroopers will scare him but 3 will be a hard fight BUT VS the Gunner who can drop 5 ST or more in one round it takes 10 (to groups of 5) for her to debate if running may be a good idea)

3 Combat is not the only way to do things (this can be hard for some D&D players to get behind you may need to sent some bounty hunters after them till this sinks in)

On 2/14/2020 at 9:14 AM, Tailball said:

3. What would you do if a player dies and needs to create a new character?
Would you let them start completely fresh (with just the base species starting XP) or would you give them a higher starting amount so they could catch up?

4. I have the feeling that XP doesn't really matter THAT MUCH. It still makes your PC's stronger, but since their base attributes rarely increase, they should still see a lot of encounters as actual threats.
Is my assumption correct?

Since most was already addressed, let me take a shot at this question

3.- I reward everyone the same amount of XP. Some people consider it's a bad idea. The advantage of doing that is if this player creates a new character, he or she can start with the same XP as the rest.

So to answer your question, I give additional XP after the character generation.

4.- Considering only for combat, characters really increase Wound Threshold or armor. However, XP invested in skills and talents might change the encounter. Also, consider the Signature abilities that might negate a combat encounter.