Players always do the unexpected...

[Exoviper]

This last Sunday my buddy, Mike came over to finish our last session. I used the pre-made game from the Revised/Expanded rule book (Pirates of Prexior). Mike needs to get into the pirates' base at night, retrieve stolen rebel cargo and get off-world alive.

Mike manages to bypass the shock fence, knock out a guard and use his clothes to sneak around. I thought I was looking forward to the cool chase at the end....but Mike came up with something different. He decided to sneak onto the pirates' own parked Corvette and systematically kill the skeleton crew on board with his bare hands (earning several darkside points in the process).

After loading the cargo onto the corvette, and alerting the camp in the process, Mike shuts the ramp, jumps into the pilot seat, and realizes that he's 5 skeleton crew short of taking off....=(

By now Mike's surrounded by 70+ angry pirates, peppering the hull of the Corvette with blaster fire. Luckily he's got a high Space Transports skill.

Somehow he manages to multi-task the ship into the air (force point) and open fire on the base with two double Turo-laser turrets, killing dozens like ants.

After a crash landing near his hidden freighter a few miles away, he transfers what's left of the cargo, and takes off before the Corvette Wreckage blows like a nuke! Game over with a few scratches.

His murdering antics, though entertaining, shortened the session quite a bit. But it was fun anyway! Next time I'll have to increase the difficulties to balance the mission...
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"Save a tree, boycott toilett paper!"

[Boomer]

Nah, never make them more powerful in an effort to "balance" the game against a player who uses his brain and goes all Tom Clancy style at the enemy.
Make smarter enemies. Crazy smarter enemies.
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My backpack has jets!
I'm Boba the Fett!
And I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt,
to finance my 'vette!

[Exoviper]

Ah, good point. If the pirates left the ship's ramp open, they had it coming. Mabey I should've added a couple Kamikazes with detonators....or they could've clogged the engine turbines with the shear number of bodies.
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"Save a tree, boycott toilett paper!"

[gollummen]

I played that adventure with a group a few years back. They also stole the pirate ship and managede to get away in it.

As a GM you can only rely on one thing: The players never, ever do what you expect.
At least that is my exsperince through 7 years of GMing.
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All stats 2D, except: brawling parry: versus boxing 2D+2, melee combat: swords 3D, melee parry: swords 2D+2, languages: english 2D+1, scolar: history 3D, scolar: social studies 2D+1, brawling: boxing 2D+2, computer programming/repair 2D+1.

[Boomer]

You can never count on any element that you do not have direct control over.
Players. Dice. Two major variables. Always plan around them, forcing the players is no fun and fudging die rolls defeats the purpose of using them in the first place.
_________________
My backpack has jets!
I'm Boba the Fett!
And I bounty hunt for Jabba Hutt,
to finance my 'vette!

[Exoviper]

Very true. Once I had this elaborate story ready to go about rescuing a scientist with knowledge vital to the Rebellion from the Sarlacc (tough one). I opened up at a star port and let the PC's browse around. Eventually they decided to take off and hit/run an Imperial supply base instead...

2 hours of improvisation and several Imperial explosions later......

I weave it into the original plot with a distress call from the Rebels and we're back in business!
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"Save a tree, boycott toilett paper!"

[Orgaloth]

The Story Tellers in the LARP I play in have a saying, "No plot survives contact with the players." Goes for any game I find.
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"I take orders from just one person: Me!"

"You know, sometimes I amaze even myself."
Du Cass' Dream

[Exoviper]

Hmmmm, what's a LARP?
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"Save a tree, boycott toilett paper!"

[Orgaloth]

Live Action Role Play.

I do my in a club called the Camarilla, which uses the White Wolf setting.
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"I take orders from just one person: Me!"

"You know, sometimes I amaze even myself."
Du Cass' Dream

[Exoviper]

Well that's sure new to me. How does it work? Is it like stage acting, but with RPG rules?
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"Save a tree, boycott toilett paper!"

[garhkal]

Big question i have there, is everything i have seen for 'skeleton crew' is litterally that. The bare minimum you need at the variaous stations and in engineering (which you to my knowledge cannot monitor or control from the cockpit) to run a ship. So, even on the FP how would he be able to pilot it, let alone run a complete power up?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Exoviper]

Well, I assigned him several penalties even though his skills met the minimum crew skills: ship's atmosphere move -90%, -3D to all actions for having to jump between stations and micromanage, and the inability to fly above 100 meters. Basically he took off, hovered a bit, fired at the ground (killing several), and crashed at low speed/altitude near his ship. It was a fatalistic attempt from the very beginning, but he survived.
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"Save a tree, boycott toilett paper!"

[Darth_Kjeran]

Chello!

WEG also put out rules for a Star Wars LARP. Product number 40130 Live Action Adventures.

Tony
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“A Royal Guardsman never seeks special privileges. Ever. His entire goal in life is to serve the Emperor, and the New Order he created. His goal in life, and his desire in death.”
Major Tierce, Star Wars: Specter of the Past

[Orgaloth]

[Jedi Skyler]

That would be a BLAST! If I ever have the chance to do that, I'm gonna...