Handing the group a droid? IAG campaign / Pilot Question

[Chaosmeister]

Hey all, I am about to start my game of the IAG Campaign freedom for Edan. Pretty early on they find a Y-wing fighter in that campaign for their own use. This is a two seater though and I wonder if my single pilot player wont get frustrated because of the MAP. None of the other Chars are likely to ever pilot anything, they don't have the skills. Hence I was pondering to replace the Y-wing with an X-wing and let them find a slightly damaged R2 unit to use with it. What are your experiences when it comes to pilots and MAP? I have never run the system before and find it very hard to gauge for situations like these.
_________________
Teamwork is essential, it gives them someone else to shoot at!

[CRMcNeill]

Make the Y-Wing a Longprobe (replaces the rear seat with a navcomputer and added Consumables) and give it an Astromech anyway.

Personally, if I did a Brash Pilot PC again, I'd go right past the classic starfighters and pick a combat scout like the HWK-290, the A-24 Sleuth or the MRX-BR Pacifier. All of these ships are capable of mixing it up with starfighters if they're in the hands of a capable pilot, and all have at least basic living spaces (food prep, bunk, fresher, etc) so the pilot isn't spending 2-3 days trying to live in his cockpit during extended jumps.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Yora]

I think the best ships for pilot characters are everything in the transport category. The party is unlikely to be spread out over different systems and will almost always travel through space together.
Transports, light freighters, scouts, and shuttles allow the pilot character to do his piloting while at the same time the other players can control some of the guns, even if they don't have any skill in starship gunnery, or be assigned to do various other things on the ship during a space fight.

An X-Wing is a cool ship for Luke Skywalker who goes on an adventure all by himself, or for a party that consists entirely of starfighter pilots.
If only one character in the group is a pilot and he's in a starfighter, what are the other players doing while he's in space fighting?

Transports are super popular for Star Wars heroes for just that reason. Pilots can fly and the party can stay together and be useful at the same time.
_________________
"Adventure? Eh... Excitement? Eh... A Jedi does not crave these things."

Iridium Moons Retro-futuristic Space Opera

[garhkal]

[MrNexx]

Many years ago, I ran a game and the team DESPERATELY needed a droid, because only one person had anything resembling piloting skills. So, I see there being two main options:

1) Bog-standard, non-heuristic droid. A bit dumb, but able to handle a few tasks. Like, it has Sensors and Shields, but specialized in this ONE model of ship. It's 4D or 5D in a Y-Wing, but put it in an X-Wing and it's 2D.

2) A droid, but with a quirk. I gave a droid the quirk of wanting to be independent, and actively working to make itself so. Not sabotaging the party, but causing weird stuff to happen nearby because of its attempts to free itself. A similar option would be Chopper from Rebels... competent, but an utter b@st@rd*.
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/

[Whill]

Great advice here.

[garhkal]

[MrNexx]

[shootingwomprats]

Keep in mind that MAPs are mitigated by things such as Maneuverability and Fire Control. If I remember correctly Fire Control is typically 2D and Maneuverability for a starfighter is at least 1D. If the pilot was flying and shot one time, they would still be 1D to gunnery and 0D to piloting.

As for adding a droid to the ship, it typically does little more than perform repairs, power management, calculate hyperspace coordinates and power up the ship. Granted, easy enough to assume that the droid can also pilot the ship, but then again within the rules, a skill test is assumed to be successful unless its outcome is in doubt, adds to the story, or failure would cause drama.

Also, keep in mind that characters who don't have a needed skill perform the skill at the base attribute level. Taking into account modifiers for Fire Control, Maneuverability, or perhaps scanners, even an unlikely hero with 2D would be +1D or even +2D to perform a skill.

I don't know, its your game. You can always toss in a an old R2 unit with issues. Perhaps its the original R2 or over model from when the ship crashed. Its functional but not as good as it was or with some quirks. You can also take it away at a later time stating it has a bad motivator.
_________________
Don Diestler
Host, Shooting Womp Rats
The D6 Podcast
http://d6holocron.com/shootingwomprats
@swd6podcast, Twitter

[garhkal]

Also don't forget, if a PC is doing the action, he can spend CP to modify it.
IF a droid (not a pc) is doing it, you can't spend CP on it.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Whill]

Good point. I was suggesting a droid or two to help for now, but over time other PCs should work on copiloting skills.
_________________
*
Site Map
Forum Guidelines
Registration/Log-In Help
The Rancor Pit Library
Star Wars D6 Damage

[Chaosmeister]

Thank you all for the advice! The campaign is self contained, it's not an open campaign but the specific written one from the IAG. And there they only get the single Y-wing for a long time. It's a cool albeit railroady campaign.
_________________
Teamwork is essential, it gives them someone else to shoot at!

[garhkal]

Choo Chooo!!! jump aboard the train
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!