First Time GM/Player- Assistance, Apps and Resources

[TK-423]

Hello all! New member of the forum here.

Life long Star Wars fan, and regular player of RPG video games but with zero tabletop roleplaying game experience. I’m familiar with basic concepts and had a bunch of Saga Edition and Dungeon and Dragons rulebooks growing up but never really had a group to play with- so I’m aware of the bare basics of mechanics but my hands on experience is basically none.

I’m trying to run/GM a very basic game with just two people, myself and one player. We’re really looking for more of a group story telling experience than anything, so we’ve decided to go with 1st Edition. It seems to be the simplest ruleset available and, from what I’ve read, favors a cinematic feel and flow over rigid rules and dice crunching, so it seems like it might be best for a beginner. (If anyone has other recommendations/arguments for a different ruleset, I’d love to hear them!)

We picked up Fantasy Flight Game’s Age of Rebellion beginner box set, as well. Artwork is beautiful, and the sourcebooks and adventures seem cool and well done but I was a little overwhelmed reading over the introductory instructions. The person I’d be playing with has a minimal exposure to gaming in general (tabletop or video) so I think that version may be a bit much for them (or frankly either of us) to start with, though I’d like to give it a go eventually.

I suppose my primary question are…

Can anyone provide resources (such as apps, applets, etc.) to simplify/assist/automate elements of gameplay? FFG/Age of Rebellion, for instance, has a fan made “GM Tools” app (http://www.legendsofthegalaxy.com/Oggdude) that allows you to quickly generate NPC characters, among other things. Anything that could assist a first timer in facilitating GM/gameplay elements such as this could be immensely helpful in getting a game moving and learning the rules through actual execution.

I’ve got a copy of the 1st Edition rulebook. Outside of that, are there any well regarded introductory guides, or tutorial/walkthrough adventures of gameplay? Anything outside of the Core Rulebook that further breaks down a “typical individual turn”, a combat encounter, etc. would be great. FGG, for instance (sorry to keep referencing it), has a very basic adventure specifically designed for teaching players the rules as they actually play. Not sure if there’s anything out there like this for 1st Edition, but it could be helpful! Reading a lot of these rules in the abstract with no past experience or seasoned player to “talk it out with” can make diving in kind of difficult.

You guys seem to have a really great community here. I’ve been lurking for a bit and it’s always enjoyable to see the passion this franchise and its stories create in people. Thanks for any help you can provide!

[thedemonapostle]

The D6 Holocron Wiki is a good place for resources. lots of everything you might need for your games. its all free to use too.
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[Zarn]

The "round" in WEG Star Wars is abstract in the sense that if you declare multiple actions, you get dice penalties.

One action? Standard die code.

Two actions? Standard die code - 1D.

Three actions? Standard die code - 2D.

And so on and so forth.

Obviously, this means that things can go really sideways if and when someone spends a Force point to get out of a pickle - that DOUBLES the die codes, which means that they might decide to unleash a volley of blaster fire that borders on the ridonkulous. It is, however, important to remember that Star Wars is at its heart a CINEMATIC game. Beating the odds in addition to beating the Empire is sort of exactly what you do.

Here's an example. I've got Joe-Bob the Rebel Soldier. He's a starting PC Human, with 3D in all stats (for simplicity's sake, but Joe-Bob may have any die code between 2D and 4D in any attribute, so long as the total for all six attributes is 18D).

The skill dice spent are +2D in Blaster (for a total of 5D), +2D in Dodge (for a total of 5D), and +1D in First Aid (for a total of 4D).

So, it's Joe-Bob's turn. If he decides to pop off a shot (and nothing else), that's a Blaster (5D) roll. If he decides to pop off two shots (and nothing else), that's a Blaster (4D) roll - remember, he got a -1D penalty for multiple actions. If he decides to go for three shots AND a dodge, that's a whopping four actions, ending up with a -3D penalty to EVERYTHING (and he rolls 2D for each of the three blaster shots as well as the Dodge).

Joe-Bob's friends are in a real pickle, and Joe-Bob decides to try being heroic. He pops a Force point, cues the music, and declares SIX actions: He does a Move, a Dodge, and FOUR blaster shots. That's a whopping -5D penalty - he'd BETTER be heroic.

Joe-Bob's Blaster die code is first doubled - for 10D. Then, he takes a -5D penalty to ALL the shots - leading him to roll 5D per shot. Nice, Joe-Bob. The Move is free (there's no obstructions or anything that makes him roll for difficult terrain), and the Dodge is 10D -5D = 5D as well. Not only is Joe-Bob being heroic - he's likely being EFFECTIVE as well. Though death sticks are bad for you, Joe-Bob does feel like lighting one up after heroically rescuing his friends.

Baldakeen the alien has wings, but is otherwise identical to Joe-Bob with regards to skills and attributes. Baldakeen can exchange any Move with swooping (a short hop, not the repulsorlift vehicle) or Fly. If Baldakeen flies long distances, or in a thin atmosphere, or on a heavy g world, Baldakeen may have to roll Stamina rolls to keep flying - just like Joe-Bob would have to roll Running or Stamina rolls to keep running under similar conditions.

Bug the Verpine is a character of an alien race that are technological wizards that can think and speak radio. One of their advantages is a +2D bonus to all Tech rolls. Bug is a PC Verpine, with a whopping 5D in Technical. Nice going, Bug! From the initial skill allocation, Bug ends up with a +2D in First Aid (for a total of 7D), and buys a few other skills (that aren't important now).

Because of the bonus, Bug rolls 9D when it rolls a standard First Aid roll - Bug is an EXCELLENT field medic. However, if and when Bug pops a Force point in order to REALLY do the impossible and sow a bisected Darth Maul back together again, it does NOT roll 18D - the bonus isn't doubled. It rolls 14D +2D = 16D.

Bonuses are not doubled because of Force points.

Tazerface 2 is a Duros. He got his name from an incident involving a nerf herder's cattleprod and an unlikely set of circumstances involving a belt sander, a lightsaber, and a wayward cousin. He doesn't like to talk about it, which he will point out at any opportunity.

Duros are extremely skilled starship pilots and navigators. When a Duros character is generated, 1D (no more) may be placed in a series of skills, for which the character receives 2D of ability: Archaic Starship Piloting, Astrogation, Capital Ship Gunnery, Capital Ship Shields, Sensors, Space Transports, Starfighter Piloting, Starship Gunnery, and Starship Shields.

Tazetoo (which his friends call him - or so he claims; he doesn't have friends before play starts) decides to pretty much go all in. He puts his Mechanical attribute at 4D+2 (the maximum for Duros), and allocates his 7D starting skills as follows: +1D Space Transports, +1D Starship Shields, +1D Sensors, +1D Starship Gunnery, +2D Starfighter Piloting, and +1D in Blaster (because he wants to perpetuate the stereotype of a hotshot pilot with a trusty blaster pistol at his side).

For each skill die placed in a skill, he gets 2D of ability this time ONLY. Which means that his Space Transports skill (and all the other MEC skills) are at 6D+2. The exception is Starfighter Piloting, which ends up being 7D+2. (He gets double for the first die, which is +2D above the attribute, and then he gets the normal amount for the next die, which is an additional +1D; 4D+2 +2D +1D = 7D+2.)

After character generation, the Starship Intuition ability for Duros are essentially inactive - in contrast with the Verpine, the skill boost is rolled into the character's skill code rather than existing as a separate bonus.

Some finer points to remember:

Any +3 is usually exchanged for +1D. But what happens if you have, say, 3D+2 in something, and you pop a Force point?

One school of thought says that it will be 6D+4. Another says that it will be 7D+1. Personally, I don't care which way you go - but I do recommend you being consistent with it.

Starting adventures

Well, here's one: http://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~leirbakk/rpg/starwars/scenarios/starwars_scenarios_rogueplanetoid.html

[TK-423]

Thanks to you both!

D6 Holocron and Zarn's generously detailed write up should be a huge help!

[jmanski]

And don't hesitate to ask questions here. Even if it seems odd or simplistic, we all interpret the rules a little differently which can give you insight or a spark of creativity.
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[TK-423]

[cheshire]

With small games, I've seen GMs just use an NPC. They follow along in the background, follow instructions, and contribute only a little, while letting the players take spotlight. Just be careful not to use them as the GM's avatar for all hints and solutions.
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Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind.

[Zarn]

It helps if the companion is a droid, or perhaps enigmatic alien. Or you can have both. Or perhaps several droids.

They're a way to shore up deficiencies in skills and to facilitate roleplaying, and using them is integral to Star Wars. Consider C-3P0 and R2-D2, for instance. One is a translator droid, and the other one is an Astromech droid. Both have high skill codes in areas that Luke lack - as well as others that they've been around.

Having a pilot droid is nice (though they're notoriously easily flustered by combat), as well as protocol droids and repair droids. Having an alien around -
Chewbacca was obviously a non-human alien, for instance - for a variety of purposes also helps bring that Star Wars flavor.

[cheshire]

Here's an idea, since it is a one-player thing, you could always leave the door open to him meeting new NPCs, and them roleplaying out whether or not they want to join a small party. Not dissimilar to KotOR in respect to NPCs joining a PC, but with a major exception: Don't draw them up thinking, "Okay, this is someone who should join the party," but leave that door open with most NPCs. If the roleplaying works out that an invitation is a natural outgrowth of the adventure, leave room for that happening. Don't force it one way or the other.

Just a thought.
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Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind.