Just GM'd my first game :)

[darkwing2k6]

thanks for all the great tips and info guys. just back from a small family vacation and hoping to get the game started up again this week

/me goes off to start prepping

[Guardian_A]

Glad we could be of service!

Good luck with your game! We'll all be looking forward to hearing how things go.

[garhkal]

'Tis a pity there is no section (like on some of my ADND sites) where people doing at home games can write in a campaign journal..
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[darkwing2k6]

hello again i have decided to start the game again as after re-reading the Tatooine Manhunt book again i feel like i missed a lot of it out in the rush to get playing and this has my players bumbling about with no real idea what to do (my fault for not prepping). would rather start from fresh rather than hack our way through TM and save it for a later date (we only got as far as episode 4- cantina ambush).

so this coming thursday we are getting together to start making our individual PC's (last time we used 2 generic PC's from the 2nd Ed.R+R book) and get started on a new campaign.

do you have any tips on "helping" my players when creating their PC's and any suggestions for our next adventure (for a bunch of complete SW d6 newbies)?

thanks again for all your great help

Cheers
John

[Guardian_A]

The first thing I would do is download Cheshire's player handout. You can find it here. Then print it off and give it to your players. This will speed up the process of putting together your characters.

As for a first session. My solution to this is almost always the same. Start the game with your characters in a Cantina/Tavern or other establishment where people commonly gather. Set up a few skill checks related to different things in the bar (Perception check might show you a pair of stormtroopers trying to be discreete near the door. An Alien Species might reveal that the bartender is a Twi'lek. A Languages check might allow a player to evesdrop on a conversation at the next table over. A Droid Repair check might reveal that the serving droid is in need of repair.) None of these checks need to be important to the story, but they should be enough to give each character a chance to try one or two of their skills/Special abilities out. The session will start with the characters entering the Cantina one at a time, each player describing their character and giving their initial reaction to their surroundings. Once everyone has entered and met, allow them to start an in-character BS session. While the players are getting a feel for their characters, you can throw in a Special Ability or Skill check as appropriate. After that, the direction I take things has a lot to do with the kind of campaign I want to run. Will they be Rebels? If so, maybe a recruiter will approach them? Or maybe a group of Stormtroopers will attempt to arrest them for "Crimes against the Empire" (Even if they havent done anything wrong.) Will they be smugglers? Maybe they will be approached by a crime lord's representative to do a job. Bounty Hunters? Have a new bounty appear on the vierscreen behind the bar. Even if you want to play a pre-written adventure, starting this way usually works out well.

K.I.S.S. = Keep It Simple Stupid! Keep your first adventure or two nice and simple. This will allow your players (And you) get used to the rules before you start doing anything fancy. It also allows you to establish your characters and get a feel for what kind of adventures will work best for them.

Try to keep your first session a little on the short side. If you can wrap things up an hour or two before everyone needs to go home, then you can talk with the players. Ask them what they liked and what they didnt like. Getting feedback can only help you tell better stories in the future.

One way to get additional feedback is by awarding additional CPs for answering questions at the end of the session:
1cp = Best moment in the game
1cp = Worst moment in the game
1cp = What did you learn? (Game mechanics)
1cp = Did you find a creative new way to use a Skill or Special Ability?
1cp = What was the dumbest thing the GM did, . . . today.
You could ask any of those, all of those, or add as many more as you can think of. I've found that most of those questions will not only give you an idea of how you did during a session, but it will also get your players to take a closer look at what's going on during each session.

I'm guessing that you want to play a pre-written story? If so, what adventures do you have at your disposal? If we know what you have to draw on, we can give you a better idea of what would work well to get started.

[darkwing2k6]

thx for the player handout link, that makes it a lot easier to understand and will speed things up considerably. the only part i am not sure on is specialization dice?

using mech skill - yt1300, this is how i read it for a human pilot -->

take your starting 12d and put into the 6 attributes. i want 4d in Mech

i then take my 7d skill dice and put an extra 2d into Mech: Space transports (now becomes 6d)

*this next bit confuses me*

by taking 1 of my remaining 5 skill dice i can split this into 3x 1d specializations?

and then specialize in Space Transports: YT1300 -->

does this specialization now become 7d (Mech: Space Transports 6d + YT1300 specialization 1d)
or
5d for YT1300 (Basic Mech attribute + YT1300 spec. 1d)?


As for starting adventure i have most/all of the supplements listed on d6 Holocron site. I think i will start off in a cantina as you say and maybe start them off playing pazaak or get them into a little bar brawl- not started off by them but maybe after they will be approached by someone offering a bounty/protection job after seeing how well they fought in the brawl or something along those lines.

cheers
John

[Guardian_A]

The specialization is in addition to the regular version of the skill.

Per your example:
Mechanical 4D
Space Transports 6D
Space Transports: YT-1300 7D

With new players, this is what I usually recommend: I discourage new players from taking specializations right away. I also encourage new players to only put a single skill dice in each skill that they buy so they have a larger range of skills to draw on. I find that its usually better for them to play the character a little before they focus on one thing too much. Ultimately, its their character and they should be able to build it any way they want, but my players are usually happier with their characters when they spread the skills out a bit.

Bar room brawls are a lot of fun, but be careful not to over do it. If the characters arent engaged with someone, you dont have to make rolls for that NPC. Focus on the players and the individuals they are engaged with. Everything else is just background, mention a blaster bolt flying by, or a bottle shattering against a wall, or have them make a dodge roll when that wookiee throws a jawa across the room every couple of rounds to remind the players that there is a lot of other stuff going on around them.

Sounds like you already have an idea of what you want to do for your game:
Meet & Greet at the Cantina
Cantina Brawl
Employment Oppertunity
Begin the Adventure

[Henrik.Balslev]

[garhkal]

It would look like this..

MECH 4d
Space transport operations 6d
(S) YT-1300 7d
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[darkwing2k6]

cool, thanks for helping me clear that one up

just been having a read and think i might opt for "The Politics of Contraband" (Classic Adventures Vol.1) as our first adventure. going something like-

meet in Cantina
discuss the job (delivery as per Contraband story)
get into small brawl (just to get things exciting and get PC's fired up)
off into adventure.

if nobody wants to be a pilot i will equip the freighter with a V6 Pilot Droid (Cynabars page 72). Give the PC's the YT1210 from GG6 page 84. outstanding finance of xxxx creds (will work out how much its worth later) and need to be paying back X amount each month to a loan shark or face consequences.

that should be enough to keep them motivated for a while i hope

edit**

scratch that yt1210, think i will go for Yt2400 (Stock ships page 18 ) and have outstanding finance around 25k creds to be paid back in 3 months or sooner. if they are late........ i think that works well.

[Guardian_A]

Sounds like a plan! And good luck with your new adventure! The Politics of Contraband should be a great place to start a new campaign.

One way to deal with the Pilot issue: Just tell the players that if one of them takes Space Transports that you will give the group a ship. You shouldnt have any trouble getting someone to add a point in Space Transports at that point. You dont have to tell them that they would be getting the ship anyway. At that point, you can tie all the strings to the arrangment that you want!

[garhkal]

Or they are actually working their debt off by being the crew FOR the pilot (NPC) who owns the ship.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[darkwing2k6]

ok just thought of my next sticky point. my players have decided on their pc's and im thinking there is going to be a language barrier. they chose Wookie, Zabrak and Essastii (pg46 in Grys Alien Stats pdf). i can have the Zabrak and the odd npc interact with the wookie ala han solo and chewie but am i right in saying that the essastii can speak and understand basic but the speach will be pretty poor? and will the essastii understand the wookie or vice versa?

thanks
john the not bilingual

[Henrik.Balslev]

[Guardian_A]

Another option would be to give them a translator (Fantastic Technology p47. 1,200credits) If you only have one in the group, make sure to keep track of who has it so you know when they can and cant communicate with each other.