Got the guys coming over today FINALLY since out time allowed it. Any suggestions you can through me when running the game?

Also when you GM'S out there get a game going with this many players, how long would you say character creation takes? Just wanna budget my time lol.

Thanks!

Got the guys coming over today FINALLY since out time allowed it. Any suggestions you can through me when running the game?

Also when you GM'S out there get a game going with this many players, how long would you say character creation takes? Just wanna budget my time lol.

1) Go get the beginners box set. While the story is railroady, it's a great tutorial level and it holds your hand well while it introduces most of the concepts you need.

2) Depends on where in the learning curve you are. When I first opened the book, it took me all night long. Now, with a couple of characters under my belt, no more than half an hour from concept to ready to roll dice.

***edit***

Crap - didnt see the part where you said your first game was today. Here, check out this thread for my ideas. . . .

Lol thanks man. Yeah I have read the rules for a while since release...just a lil nervous running an actual game I do have the beginners box and well everything thats out now. Just trying to decide to do the beginners box or try to pit them against the Beyond the Rim adventure. Really just depends on how long it takes us to create the characters they want to play.

Got the guys coming over today FINALLY since out time allowed it. Any suggestions you can through me when running the game?

Also when you GM'S out there get a game going with this many players, how long would you say character creation takes? Just wanna budget my time lol.

1) Go get the beginners box set. While the story is railroady, it's a great tutorial level and it holds your hand well while it introduces most of the concepts you need.

2) Depends on where in the learning curve you are. When I first opened the book, it took me all night long. Now, with a couple of characters under my belt, no more than half an hour from concept to ready to roll dice.

***edit***

Crap - didnt see the part where you said your first game was today. Here, check out this thread for my ideas. . . .

Love your write up btw!!! So true! I played the same way back in the day when I was GM for the star wars d6 version.

If you are doing character creation today, then you may need some extra time for the actual game. It also depends on the level of player (and GM) experience with role-playing games, and whether or not the players have character concepts (who, what, why) ahead of time. Oh, and how focused/excited the players are, because distractions will slow you down.

With a set of experienced RPG players, you can theoretically skim through the rules (building your character requires understanding the basic system) and put together characters in an hour or less, then learn the rest of it in-play. With less experienced players, or if you as GM haven't had the chance to brief them on the premise of your game, or any other hiccup, it could take a fair bit longer.

I don't know if you are an experienced GM or not, or if your players are experienced, or what sort of game you are running (long-term campaign, short adventure, etc.) so here are some basic tips when starting a game:

1. Make sure to talk with all the players about your expectations and intentions for the game. "This game is about a rag-tag band of wanderers aboard a battered old freighter. You will be taking odd jobs to keep your ship flying, visiting and trading with various planets, and staying under the Imperial radar. Maybe you will smuggle contraband or rob some criminals, but you aren't necessarily out to destroy the Empire or become a band of assassins. I want the game to be like Firefly." Having these expectations in place will (by design) constrain character concepts and set a coherent tone for the story, which is especially important if this is your first time running.

2. Don't be afraid to say "no," or "I'd rather you didn't," or "maybe, but could we change it like this?" to your players, especially during character creation. Especially be on the lookout for things that could wildly skew the story, dominate the in-game spotlight, or tear the game apart. "Maybe, instead of carrying the Death Star plans in your family lock-box, your character has evidence of a Sector Moff's corruption?" "I'd rather your character not be the last scion of the Corellian royal family, seeking to regain his throne." "No, the Wookiee and Trandoshan cannot start the game planning to murder each other; I don't care how much it fits the setting, it is too likely to kill the game."

3. Make sure the players know what skills and abilities their characters will likely need (if the story is about the crew of a single freighter, they don't all need to be ace pilots), and which ones are not likely to come up (if they are expected/intended to run from most fights, they don't need hardcore combat abilities).

It depends on the type of players you have. My son is happy to go through character creation and ponder the alternatives; my friends just want to get going and play. If your group is more the former, then I'd say it would take a good 45 minutes to an hour to get everybody set up. It will go a LOT faster if you ask them to spend most of their XP on Characteristics...this leaves only a little XP to work with for extra skills and talents, but it cuts down on the decision-making. Nothing wrong with letting them tweak things after the first game either.

If your group is more the latter, what is useful about the beginner set is there good character archetypes for all types (especially if you download the 2 extras, Sasha and Mathus). The stories that have already developed around these characters through a few games in my campagin is enough to keep them intrigued and happy, and they've only asked to make minimal changes.

Thanks again guys! Thats why I love coming here for advice

Don't underestimate the power of the break! Players are generally more than happy to chat around the water cooler for ten minutes if you need a little time to look something up or figure something out.

Rules of GM'ing

1.You are right unless the rule book says so unless you invoke gm fiat

2.Gungans do not exist and if one does exist Darth Vader shows up kills it immidiatly and leaves muttering never again.

3.Don't try to kill pc's they will eventually do something dumb enough to kill themselves.

4.Let fun happen rules are not the end all if you dont like a rule get rid of it.

5.CTHULU EXISTS REGARDLESS WHAT UNIVERSE ALL HAIL CTHULU

6.Regardless of how much henti you have seen you dont know where you characters are going bring backup plans.

One method that works depending on time frame and a steady group.

1: Decide upon a day prior to the actual session to generate characters. This will allow time to gain some background info

and allow player's to carefully select the type of character they really want to play. In the end, this will allow more time for the GM to finish preparing for the actual session.

2: If the above does not fit well with the planned time frame and characters are generated on the day of the actual session,

then give approximately 30 minutes give or take to generate all characters. Once the player's understand how to generate characters, then the 30 minutes is cut down even further.

3: If a GM has access to the beginner game, then allow the player's to use the pre-generated characters in which

they can learn the game prior to jumping into the core book.