I own almost all FFGs star wars games, x wing, armada, IA, legion, etc. I thought it would be cool to start a RPG that was a couple of officers aboard a light cruiser in an imperial fleet. I was thinking of using armada in the campaign for the battles, with some rules tweak. I wanted to ask if anyone else has actually done something like this.? All comments are appreciated!

The various systems are just too dissimilar to mesh well. There are certain character talents that would end up being wasted XP. Using the minis for visual reference can be fun, but trying to meld the systems’ mechanics usually ends up being a path to madness.

6 hours ago, Nytwyng said:

The various systems are just too dissimilar to mesh well. There are certain character talents that would end up being wasted XP. Using the minis for visual reference can be fun, but trying to meld the systems’ mechanics usually ends up being a path to madness.

I do see your point, but at the same time I do think it might work. I feel that the huge ship battles in RPG don't capture the picture, and in the end might be unrealistic.

Many have tried. So far none has succeeded in making it work.

Just now, DanteRotterdam said:

Many have tried. So far none has succeeded in making it work.

In think it should be one round= 15 minutes for the PCs in the ship.

1 minute ago, jhh3 said:

In think it should be one round= 15 minutes for the PCs in the ship.

The hurdle has nothing to do with narrative passage of time. It’s about how the mechanics of the mini games (particularly the ship combat games) make some character talents (some of which can’t be avoided because of the talent tree layout) wastes of XP; there’s no way to translate their effect on the action into the mini game’s system. Not to mention that, given the mini games’ scope, you generally end up with the GM and one player playing Armada or X-Wing while the other players (and their characters) have nothing to do. So they end up mentally checking out of the session, and have trouble getting reengaged. Remember, combat - even ship combat - in the RPG is supposed to be quick and cinematic, focusing on the narrative and the group, while the mini games are designed for long-form tactical thinking and take a couple of hours for two “commanders” going head-to-head.

1 hour ago, jhh3 said:

I do see your point, but at the same time I do think it might work. I feel that the huge ship battles in RPG don't capture the picture, and in the end might be unrealistic.

It's actually not too bad with X-Wing...if the search function actually worked, I did mock up a conversion template for X-Wing v1 some years ago that converted skill ranks and agility along with lots of Talents like Skilled Jockey into pilot stats, and eventually a point value. But v2 changes everything and it'd far too tedious to go through that again, because I never ended up using it . Massive effort, dubious gain.

With Armada it doesn't work at all. Character cards focus on one distinctive trait. Your players won't want to be shoe-horned into one ability, like Tarkin's free tokens, they'll want some hodge-podge that represents their character which will end up having more point costs than an entire fleet. The best you can do is allow them to pick who they want to be for the day.

11 minutes ago, jhh3 said:

In think it should be one round= 15 minutes for the PCs in the ship.

I'd say that's going down the wrong path. It's not about time and space, it's about what your characters do with the challenges they face. ...aaaannnnddd ninja'd by @Nytwyng 🙂 But to flesh that out, the RPG portion should focus on specific situations the players have to deal with directly in an RPG context. Battle droids are boarding? Go and repel them. There's a spy or saboteur aboard? Go and find them. Everything else should be background noise, but the player's actions should have the ripple effect of changing the outcome.

4 hours ago, whafrog said:

It's actually not too bad with X-Wing... I did mock up a conversion template for X-Wing v1 some years ago that converted skill ranks and agility along with lots of Talents like Skilled Jockey into pilot stats, and eventually a point value.

Please understand I get all of the points being made here... And I, myself, have never tried integrating the ship combat games with the RPG...

But, Whafrog, I’d REALLY like to see what you came up with for that X-Wing 1.0 conversion (I’ve never been a tournament guy and still only play 1.0 with friends and family); I might actually be curious enough to give your hard work a try at the table. That is, if you don’t mind.

4 hours ago, whafrog said:

It's actually not too bad with X-Wing...if the search function actually worked, I did mock up a conversion template for X-Wing v1 some years ago that converted skill ranks and agility along with lots of Talents like Skilled Jockey into pilot stats, and eventually a point value. But v2 changes everything and it'd far too tedious to go through that again, because I never ended up using it . Massive effort, dubious gain.

With Armada it doesn't work at all. Character cards focus on one distinctive trait. Your players won't want to be shoe-horned into one ability, like Tarkin's free tokens, they'll want some hodge-podge that represents their character which will end up having more point costs than an entire fleet. The best you can do is allow them to pick who they want to be for the day.

I'd say that's going down the wrong path. It's not about time and space, it's about what your characters do with the challenges they face. ...aaaannnnddd ninja'd by @Nytwyng 🙂 But to flesh that out, the RPG portion should focus on specific situations the players have to deal with directly in an RPG context. Battle droids are boarding? Go and repel them. There's a spy or saboteur aboard? Go and find them. Everything else should be background noise, but the player's actions should have the ripple effect of changing the outcome.

You do make a fair point, and I agree with most of what your saying. I don't think it would work that well if it was half armada, and half RPG. Armada should simply be a template that helps the players understand what's going on, especially because I want to do an RPG focused on captains that have to make choices. I think commanders and officer cards would just mess things up.

ship combat is already hard to keep all players active as it is unless its fighter based and then you run into the problem of that fighter die so fast its not funny

6 hours ago, Harlock999 said:

Please understand I get all of the points being made here... And I, myself, have never tried integrating the ship combat games with the RPG...

But, Whafrog, I’d REALLY like to see what you came up with for that X-Wing 1.0 conversion (I’ve never been a tournament guy and still only play 1.0 with friends and family); I might actually be curious enough to give your hard work a try at the table. That is, if you don’t mind.

I was having trouble finding it, but discovered the "advanced search". This was a rough go at it, which I fleshed out a bit at home but ultimately never used it so I deleted it:

Beware the rampant sarcasm throughout the thread... 🙂

Interesting idea, but I don't think it would work. I wish it would. FFG would have had to design all the games together somehow (but to still be able to play them independently).

I wish there was a way to make Imperial Assault have some more RPG elements (like making your own character and gaining XP-- what to spend it on?). My kids love the combat in IA and aren't so into the combat in EotE but they love the other stuff in EotE... sneaking up, picking locks, trying to charm someone etc. I just like the grid based combat and movement in IA. Anyway. Both are good and mixing them would end up being the worst of both worlds, rather than the best, I think.

I'm going to offer the same suggestion I always do:

Do NOT try to mesh the games together, but DO link them.

What I mean is, if you want to incorporate Armada, that's fine. But you need to have that be a separate game of Armada, inviting people who already know how to play. Let's say you're playing the RPG with Karen, Chad, Kyle and Rando, and they have their small rebel fleet in orbit over their hidden moon base. At the end of a session, the Imperial Moff arrives with his star destroyer and support ships. End that session on that cliffhanger, and tell the group that you would like to play out most of the battle in Armada, separate from the RPG session.

Fortunately, Karen and Rando are both Armada players, so a couple days later, the three of you get together to play a pretty standard game, though you could have restrictions on points and objectives and such. Have a commander card to represent each PC (you can probably just use one from the standard game, rather than making your own). Play the battle out, but not to a complete climax. I haven't played Armada, but I understand the game ends after so many victory points, not after the complete eradication of the enemy fleet. The results of the Armada game will inform the next RPG session.

If the Imps win, the next session probably starts with the PCs in a lot of trouble, either trying to evacuate a ship before it explodes, or trying to jump to hyperspace in a badly damaged ship.

If Karen and Rando win, the PCs start off in a better position. Maybe they'll be able to board the enemy star destroyer and capture the Moff, or something like that.

Basically, imagine an Armada session happened just moments before the opening of Revenge of the Sith, and the RPG Session opens with the Jedi PCs having a couple rounds of space combat, then boarding the enemy capital ship.

@The Grand Falloon all I can add is that I had some major Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie flashbacks, hearing their closing credits riffs about The Amazing Rando in my head as I read your awesome post. 😁