Hey everyone. I GMed my first game tonight using the Beginner's Set. Everyone liked it and we agreed to meet Sunday to start a full campaign with our own characters. I'd never GMed before, but I enjoyed it for the most part. I did have a couple of questions for you all though.

First of all, my copy of the core rulebook will be here tomorrow and I know there's a campaign in the back of it, but I also know there is the free "Under a Black Sun" module on FFG website. For a first time campaign with a new GM and two new players which one do you think would be better to use?

Secondly, how much leeway should I give to my players in terms of solving problems? For instance, in the stormtrooper encounter of the beginner game a player asked if he could use the skulldiggery skill to steal a thermal detonator off a stormtrooper's belt. He mentioned that stormtroopers often carried them in the movie. They weren't in the equipment pool, but I allowed it since I liked the creativity, but I want to be careful of not allowing them to go too far in terms of creative solutions. What do you all think?

Thanks for any advice.

If you mean steal off the belt in the middle of combat, I think that would be just the Melee skill, with setback dice and no damage. If you mean in the middle of a crowded street, sure, but it would be difficult to pull off. I'd certainly allow it, but I wouldn't make that kind of thing too easy, and it would certainly be worthy of at least one dice upgrade (replacing a purple with a red) because of the possibility of Despair (eg: there's another group of stormtroopers nobody noticed standing right there and watching; or the character accidentally pulls the pin and drops it...).

Saying "yes, but..." is a good guiding principle.

As for the modules, personally I was more impressed with the Shadows otBS than the other. Though if you've already played the beginner set, you can download the followup called Long Arm of the Hutt, which continues where that left off.

Hey everyone. I GMed my first game tonight using the Beginner's Set. Everyone liked it and we agreed to meet Sunday to start a full campaign with our own characters. I'd never GMed before, but I enjoyed it for the most part. I did have a couple of questions for you all though.

First of all, my copy of the core rulebook will be here tomorrow and I know there's a campaign in the back of it, but I also know there is the free "Under a Black Sun" module on FFG website. For a first time campaign with a new GM and two new players which one do you think would be better to use?

Secondly, how much leeway should I give to my players in terms of solving problems? For instance, in the stormtrooper encounter of the beginner game a player asked if he could use the skulldiggery skill to steal a thermal detonator off a stormtrooper's belt. He mentioned that stormtroopers often carried them in the movie. They weren't in the equipment pool, but I allowed it since I liked the creativity, but I want to be careful of not allowing them to go too far in terms of creative solutions. What do you all think?

Thanks for any advice.

I don't think stormtroopers do carry thermals they are such a specialized item. However, I also like the creativity so I would have required a destiny point to be spent to have "that" trooper have one. Page 28 mentions using destiny to introduce facts.

A quick Gm'ing tip - keep an eye on how much your "new" players are reading the equipment section. I doubt that it was just idle conjecture that led your player to suggest that a Thermal Detonators are often carried by Storm troopers. Rather, I'd wager, after a quick glance through the rule book, a new player might see that Thermal Detonators are VERY powerful and this was a quick way to get his hands on one.

Although, rewards as such always come with cost. They could wipe out your entire party if they used it improperly. Have fun with that!

A quick Gm'ing tip - keep an eye on how much your "new" players are reading the equipment section. I doubt that it was just idle conjecture that led your player to suggest that a Thermal Detonators are often carried by Storm troopers. Rather, I'd wager, after a quick glance through the rule book, a new player might see that Thermal Detonators are VERY powerful and this was a quick way to get his hands on one.

Although, rewards as such always come with cost. They could wipe out your entire party if they used it improperly. Have fun with that!

I'll keep that in mind for the future, but that couldn't have happened this time since the only copy of the rule book was next to me and closed the whole time. It wasn't the new player who suggested it though, it was someone who was familiar with Pathfinder and a big star wars fan which is part of the reason I let him get away with it. I can't remember if stormtroopers normally carry thermal detonators or not, but it didn't seem completely unreasonable to me so I let it slide. I will be more careful in the future though since a single thermal was enough to turn the tide of the battle.

The cylindrical object on the back of the stormtrooper's utility belt is supposed to be a disguised thermal detonator. According to wookieepedia and some old stormtrooper diagrams. I think these old diagrams, from EP IV, are from before thermal detonators were specifically noted as being very powerful explosives, which was later revealed in EP VI. - That is speculation on my part though.

For my games I change it to a frag grenade.

Also, I had one more question that I forgot to ask in the OP. During the Stormtrooper encounter I had some trouble figuring out how to control them. There were 6 total, but the book stated they were in groups of 3 and following the minion rules. My question is do both groups of NPCs act at the same time or would I roll two separate initiative rolls for each group?

They are 2 separate minion groups of 3 troopers roll separate initiative for each minion group.

I'd roll for each to give some variety, but it's up to you how you want to do it.

If you mean steal off the belt in the middle of combat, I think that would be just the Melee skill, with setback dice and no damage.

I see why you would suggest this alternative, but I would like to mention that making this action a melee skill rather than a skullduggery skill puts further emphasis on combat skills in a combat scenario. It makes sense that in combat you want to focus on combat skills, but presenting opportunities to use non-combat skills within combat should be something a GM should strive for.

In my combat encounters, I usually have a piece of construction equipment form the mechanic to re-wire or a console to slice into that can control environmental factors.

Skullduggery sounds perfect for this situation.

The cylindrical object on the back of the stormtrooper's utility belt is supposed to be a disguised thermal detonator. According to wookieepedia and some old stormtrooper diagrams. I think these old diagrams, from EP IV, are from before thermal detonators were specifically noted as being very powerful explosives, which was later revealed in EP VI. - That is speculation on my part though.

For my games I change it to a frag grenade.

Nope

It's a tube for holding a pack of Oreos.

OP, I think skullduggery was a good choice. I would have also upgraded the die to a red die just because stormtroopers aren't used to having people willingly get so close, so it would immediately set off an alarm in their mind, moreover figure there are likely cameras and such that could catch such a trick.

Good call!

Be careful about players taking outside knowledge into the roleplaying setting. Unless a PC was well-versed in Stormtrooper procedure and armament, he wouldn't necessarily know about the partially concealed thermal detonator. There are RP horror stories about jerk players who tell the GM, "I'm taking the dead stormtrooper's belt," neither party mentioning a thermal detonator, and then later the player says, "Okay I'm gonna use that thermal detonator!" If your players EVER try to one-up you on Star Wars lore, call them out at the table: "I'm the GM, I am providing a fun experience for you, I'm not trying to screw you over, and I ask that you trust me to run a good game. Please do not try to out-play me with obscure Star Wars knowledge again." Or something to that effect. Basically, what Will Wheaton says. DBAD.

Furthermore, those thermal detonators aren't even usable without an unlock code and the buttons on the detonator are unlabeled (with very good in-universe reasoning), so unless your players have the muscle memory of the dead stormtrooper handy, they aren't gonna be able to use the thing without completely dismantling it and rebuilding it (requiring some pretty intense mechanics checks, I'd imagine).

For the info: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Stormtrooper_thermal_detonator