Hello guys !

Me and my girlfriend started to get really into SW extended universe few weeks ago. We just found a beginner's kit for Edge of the empire as we always wanted to get into a Roleplaying table game. I just saw , after that, that's if for 3 to 5 players. The thing is, we're only two hahah. So is it possible to play it ? I heard it is but how can we do this ? I guess i'll play GM & a character (but how should i play it?) And she's gonna play another character ? (the twi'lek one). Do you have any suggestions / tips ? Thank you very much !

It's absolutely possible! My favorite character ever was in a solo game (that's what it's typically called when you have one Game Master and a single PC).

Granted, the game needs to be structured a bit differently, but it's certainly possible. I've never played any of the Beginner's kits so I don't know if the adventure is designed for a one-person party, though. Hopefully someone else can jump in and let you know about that part.

But welcome to the hobby! It's great fun! Ask any questions, we're all here to help .

Thank you very much !

May i ask you how you did set up this thing on duo ? Even if it's beginner thing and it's a bit differe, i think i could improvise something to get the difficulty a bit lower or something.

How did you do things ?

Totally possible, I've played several longer campaigns with just my son as a player, and quite a few one-offs as well. You just have to scale things appropriately, so in the beginner game drop the number of minion groups, and/or the minions in each group.

The only real problem is that if the dice are unkind to your player, it can very quickly fall apart...more PCs add a buffer to one PC's bad luck. So as a GM you need to be prepared to deal with having the PC knocked out...instead of killing them, capture them and find a way for them to escape, etc.

There are two other things you can do to mitigate the dice swings. First, you can run an ally NPC that is really a fully fleshed out PC. This is my least favourite because it's really easy to find yourself using this NPC to drop hints or steer the story/narrative/decision-making to where you want to go, and this can just rob the player of their motivation. It's doable, but you have to keep those issues in mind.

The second option is to have the player run two PCs. This is actually really easy to do, my first campaign with my son he had his main character and a trusty droid PC "sidekick".

Hope that helps and hope you enjoy the game!

3 minutes ago, Stoogies said:

i think i could improvise something to get the difficulty a bit lower or something.

Yes, exactly. Quick rule of thumb for scaling is to first check what dice pool the PC is bringing to bear on the challenge, then:

1. If you want an easy challenge, the negative dice should be 2 or more less than the PC's positive dice
2. If you want a 50/50 challenge, the negative dice should be 1 less than the PC's positive dice (this is because you need 1 net success)
3. If you want a difficult challenge, the negative dice should be equal or 1 more than the PC's positive dice
4. etc

You can mess with this subtly by adding setback for environmental conditions ("this should be easy, but it's dark out"), or rewarding the player for entertaining and/or clever plans with boost dice.

So can you give me a situation example whafrog ? About the dice ? What determines how many negatives dices you use ? Is it free to GM ? Or is it in the scenario ?

I've GMed a couple solo campaigns. Both times, the player had a couple PCs and I provided companions/GMPCs to give them someone to RP with, bounce off of.

I like what @whafrog said.

Have your player run TWO characters. The only caveat being that the player will have to keep track of what EACH character knows / says / does and wall that off from the OTHER character being played. But totally do-able and sounds like a blast!

I have run this system with just one player (I was the GM) and it was a lot of fun. I made ONE then eventually TWO “trusted PC’s” that the player could brainstorm ideas with. I explained to the player that this “trusted PC” (which eventually became a SECOND trusted PC) would act as a sounding board of sorts and would play to his or her Motivations. This “trusted PC” would never lie to the player or betray their trust. However, this “trusted PC” would never SPRING FORWARD with the “magical solution” to the puzzle or situation the PC found himself in. Instead, through conversation, if the “solution” became likely or apparent, this “trusted PC” would offer that as one of three or four ideas put forth to the player. [The “trusted PC” was a fully fleshed out NPC that I built and played and received XP rewards just like the player.]

I think you two will have a blast!!

Just out of curiosity, where are you located (state or city)...? Is your decision to play duo / solo based on distance factors, isolation or simply living on a small farm on the outskirts of Anchorhead...?

1 minute ago, Bren Silet said:

I like what @whafrog said.

Have your player run TWO characters. The only caveat being that the player will have to keep track of what EACH character knows / says / does and wall that off from the OTHER character being played. But totally do-able and sounds like a blast!

I have run this system with just one player (I was the GM) and it was a lot of fun. I made ONE then eventually TWO “trusted PC’s” that the player could brainstorm ideas with. I explained to the player that this “trusted PC” (which eventually became a SECOND trusted PC) would act as a sounding board of sorts and would play to his or her Motivations. This “trusted PC” would never lie to the player or betray their trust. However, this “trusted PC” would never SPRING FORWARD with the “magical solution” to the puzzle or situation the PC found himself in. Instead, through conversation, if the “solution” became likely or apparent, this “trusted PC” would offer that as one of three or four ideas put forth to the player. [The “trusted PC” was a fully fleshed out NPC that I built and played and received XP rewards just like the player.]

I think you two will have a blast!!

Just out of curiosity, where are you located (state or city)...? Is your decision to play duo / solo based on distance factors, isolation or simply living on a small farm on the outskirts of Anchorhead...?

Oh alright ! yeah that definitely sounds like a good idea. So what i think i'm gonna do is : She's gonna play the twi'lek and maybe the wookie or the droid (we'll see what she prefers) and i'll play some sort of a droid that we could call a "trusted NPC" that could just follow every moves she make . So she'll have two and i'll have one but by this one i'll only follow and don't help in puzzles, i could just put my stats to help her i guess ? (What do you think about that ? Any suggestions on how i can turn this ? ) Btw how does xp works ? how do you earn it ? How are you supposed to lvl up ? I don't even know if it's explained on the beginner's kit haha.

And we live in a medium sized town in France, we play on duo as we don't see much people (especially not people who plays any RPGS hahah) + quarantine . So we decided to just start such things together haha.

Actually maybe creating another character isnt the best idea. As a "trusted PC" should i pick one of the 4 characters playable ? And play it normally but i'll just follow ? (but how does it work in situations where you guys have to choose something different ? How should i do ? )

8 minutes ago, Stoogies said:

So can you give me a situation example whafrog ? About the dice ? What determines how many negatives dices you use ? Is it free to GM ? Or is it in the scenario ?

First and most important rule: the GM is free to decide anything. That said, be consistent and break the rules with caution...if you establish a precedent you may regret it later

If you're running the beginner game, the negative pools should be spelled out in the game. Any pool can be modified, but don't worry about that until you have a handle on what the default pools are supposed to be.

3 minutes ago, Stoogies said:

Btw how does xp works ? how do you earn it ? How are you supposed to lvl up ? I don't even know if it's explained on the beginner's kit haha.

That is explained somewhat in the beginner box, but if you enjoy the game you'll be better served picking up one of the core books. The beginner box only has a few options for XP spending. There are no "levels", but you can spend XP to build up aspects of your character, giving them more ranks in skills, adding to their toughness, giving them special abilities, etc.

I've run several RPG sessions through the years with just me as a referee and one players. If using a store-purchased adventure you will have to tone it down a bit. I also often add a helper NPC (temporarily if a one-shot adventure since the other players didn't show up), and/or let the single PC pick up an NPC pet/henchman/robot that he or she controls.

4 minutes ago, Stoogies said:

As a "trusted PC" should i pick one of the 4 characters playable ?

That is easiest. Actually if you go to the web page for the EotE beginner box, there are two more players you can download, plus there is an extension to the adventure which makes it 2-3 times longer.

5 minutes ago, Stoogies said:

And play it normally but i'll just follow ?

Yes, your girlfriend should be making the party decisions...believe me you'll have enough to do thinking about how "the rest of the universe" reacts to her decisions.

Having played through this one several times with different groups, I'd say the Twi'lek's + the scoundrel (Pash?) make a pretty good pair.

37 minutes ago, Stoogies said:

Thank you very much !

May i ask you how you did set up this thing on duo ? Even if it's beginner thing and it's a bit differe, i think i could improvise something to get the difficulty a bit lower or something.

How did you do things ?

So everyone else here is giving great advice. In my case, the GM custom tailors all challenges to the character. The character is a pacifist who doesn't even carry a weapon, but is deeply spiritual and a powerful force user.

So challenges are designed to do things like talk down conflict, escape or avoid rather that fight, or help the downtrodden, or explore mysteries of the Force.

She doesn't give my character any pure combat encounters, because that's not what the character does.

That's a lot easier on a custom campaign - in a pre-built game like the beginner boxes, it'll be harder to tailor everything to the character (Although it think they're designed to do that, at least a little). Also, a character as extreme as a pacifist in a setting literally called Star Wars requires a bit more experience for both the GM and player, but it's not impossible .

definitely give the beginner game a shot, then whoever is going to be v the player should just explore and experiment with character ideas they like!

EDIT: So to clarify, as Whafrog said, too balance encounters there's two things to think about - is this type of encounter one the character is good at, average at, or bad at? If they're good at it, you can be a bit tougher, if they're bad at it, go a bit lighter. Then adjust further by b looking at the character's dice pools.

One thing I will mention, especially with a single PC, is be careful of using too many separate enemies or minion groups. Each combat check can hurt a lot if it hits. Definitely scale your number of enemies down below what you think is right until you get a few fights under your belt, so you can judge how the PC is doing. It's much better to give them a few encounters that are too easy and crank the difficulty up than it is to make them too hard and crush your player in the first fight.

9 minutes ago, whafrog said:

That is easiest. Actually if you go to the web page for the EotE beginner box, there are two more players you can download, plus there is an extension to the adventure which makes it 2-3 times longer.

Yes, your girlfriend should be making the party decisions...believe me you'll have enough to do thinking about how "the rest of the universe" reacts to her decisions.

Having played through this one several times with different groups, I'd say the Twi'lek's + the scoundrel (Pash?) make a pretty good pair.

Okay thanks ! What's the webpage of the EotE beginner box ? Can you send it to me ? (If you have any idea if i can find it in French maybe ? )

7 minutes ago, Absol197 said:

So everyone else here is giving great advice. In my case, the GM custom tailors all challenges to the character. The character is a pacifist who doesn't even carry a weapon, but is deeply spiritual and a powerful force user.

So challenges are designed to do things like talk down conflict, escape or avoid rather that fight, or help the downtrodden, or explore mysteries of the Force.

She doesn't give my character any pure combat encounters, because that's not what the character does.

That's a lot easier on a custom campaign - in a pre-built game like the beginner boxes, it'll be harder to tailor everything to the character (Although it think they're designed to do that, at least a little). Also, a character as extreme as a pacifist in a setting literally called Star Wars requires a bit more experience for both the GM and player, but it's not impossible .

definitely give the beginner game a shot, then whoever is going to be v the player should just explore and experiment with character ideas they like!

Yeah i guess it's not "optimized" but i'm quite sure i could do something about it ! When you talk about the "force character" was it on EotE ? And you meant that, as the GM you also played kind of a pacifist character to help and support your player right ?

No, I'm the player, the GM doesn't have any support party member. It's just me (although that might be changing soon, we'll have to see). The entire party is one pacifist! No weapons at all!

It's a Force-using character in the Force & Destiny line, not Edge of the Empire, but they're literally the same game, just different themes and slightly different options available for building characters.

Oh, and I edited my original post to add more advice. Just so you don't miss it .

6 minutes ago, Stoogies said:

Okay thanks ! What's the webpage of the EotE beginner box ? Can you send it to me ? (If you have any idea if i can find it in French maybe ? )

There is a Products tab at the top of this page, you can find the Star Wars line, then Edge of the Empire, then look for Player Resources, there are links to a couple of free adventures and several characters. The extension for the EotE beginner box is called "Long Arm of the Hutt".

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/products/star-wars-edge-of-the-empire/

I don't know about a French version.

Well so i decided, she'll play two characters. I'll get the difficulty a bit lower in some situations (especially fight cause i don't know how it works yet haha)

Do you guys have a discord or something ? I'd love to be able to ask questions and stuff

When it comes to making balanced encounters; if you're not sure how many bad guys to include, I find it's always better to err on the side of too few. If there are too few, it's usually no problem to have reinforcements arrive from nearby; but if it's too many, it's a little more difficult to back out of.

2 hours ago, Stoogies said:

Well so i decided, she'll play two characters. I'll get the difficulty a bit lower in some situations (especially fight cause i don't know how it works yet haha)

Do you guys have a discord or something ? I'd love to be able to ask questions and stuff

Has she ever played an RPG before? If the answer is no, I would suggest giving it a couple sessions before she brings on a 2nd character (if possible). Why? Not just about learning the rules more simply with one character. Running two characters simultaneously as a new RPGer may shove the "RP" to the background and leave just a "G". It may be difficult (as a new player) to remember to RP two different characters differently. So, get a couple sessions in with the first one to establish a personality and motives. Add the 2nd character and its personality after the 1st is well set.

Did that make any sense?

7 hours ago, Stoogies said:

Well so i decided, she'll play two characters. I'll get the difficulty a bit lower in some situations (especially fight cause i don't know how it works yet haha)

Welcome to the FFGSW universe, I'm sure you'll both have a lot of fun. I would suggest that your girlfriend's second character be a Droid. The great thing about a Droid character is that you can play it like Luke and R2D2 with some interaction with NPCs but basically the second character is more of a pool of useful skills and maybe some extra firepower. It doesn't mean she can't give it character but it will allow her to focus on a main character.

Anyway have a great time!

Well so we basically did a game yesterday. It wasnt really really immersive as it sounded hard for her to play two characters, to switch from one to another. And i didn't know the beginner scenario (it didnt say in it at the beginning to read it first before playing, so i discovered it while GMing and i didn't know where to go / what to do.) Well i guess that's how you learn how to GM hahaha. We gonna restart it again tonight, this time i'll take "more freedom" into the scenario, just keeping the big lines but i'll create some different situations (like in the starting cantina for exemple or such things) so she could idk, buy some stuff etc...

Do you guys know how i am actually supposed to "create things" around ? I saw there is an expansive corebook but i guess that's not for beginner ? What would you recommend me to do ?

The core rulebook is pretty essential and isn't "not for beginners." The beginner game is like a tutorial or free trial for a video game, the CRB is the full package (before you blow 1k on DLC, that is).

I suggest getting the CRB as soon as you are sure that you want the game.

The Edge of the Empire line is completely translated in French, only No disintegration hasn't been published yet but is translated. It's called "Au Confins de l'Empire (ACdE in short)" in French. Age of Rebelion and Force and Destiny have been translated as "l'Ere de la Rebellion" and "Force et Destinée" respectively. But only the EotE and F&D beginner's kit have been translated under the names "Kit de démarrage ACdE" and "Kit de démarrage F&D". I don't know if they're easily available because I bought all my Star Wars RPG books in english.

Here is the Forum FFG en français

But it's going to close soon, transferred elsewhere.