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OtterJethro
Sub-Lieutenant
Joined: 22 Jun 2007
Posts: 52
Location: Mesa, AZ
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 Posted: Fri Jul 20, 2007 8:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Sometimes who the characters are depends a little on how you run the game. We played a group of smugglers/ pirates so it was less of a campaign at times as we just would turn away from things all the time. When we played as a group of soldiers in the New Republic, the GM had alot more direction as we would recieve tasks and missions that we recieved from the government. We didn't stray from what they asked often so he could plan more of what was going to happen. |
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kyledon Mystic
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 30 May 2007
Posts: 158
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| Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 1:33 am Post subject: |
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yes that is right. Military campaigns are a lot easier to run then freelance, but becuase freelance is harder to plan but sometimes the characters go a completely diffrent direction then planed.
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Xynar
Commander
Joined: 10 Aug 2003
Posts: 282
Location: Northwest Indiana
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| Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:08 am Post subject: |
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| ifurin wrote: | | 1. don't pre-plan stories that are dependant on character actions. the characters never do what you want. |
They will after time as you should pick up on their que's and learn your players. But it is also fun to make the character actions more important to the story, basically have them make some major decisions that affect the campaign setting. This way your players will think about their actions a bit more.
| ifurin wrote: | | 2. plan places, people, animals, and other encounters seperatly. this alows you to be more flexable. |
Absolutely. Set it up as you see in the Planets book. Have all of the world stats, important blurbs, flora and fauna, etc. created ahead of time. If you're more of a "pull it out of your butt when you need it" kind of person, then don't forget what you've done and write it down so there is some continuity.
| ifurin wrote: | | 3. don't pre-plan a story! |
You can but be ready to side track. As you get better, you should be able to maneuver your players to do what you want them to do without truly railroading them.
| ifurin wrote: | | 4. have your players use a well developed background so you can draw adventures or plot hooks from them |
Absolutely. Work with them on this. Or if you don't want them to, instead make them have a stake in this area and use those developments as plot hooks.
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Xynar
The Great Adventurer |
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OtterJethro
Sub-Lieutenant
Joined: 22 Jun 2007
Posts: 52
Location: Mesa, AZ
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| Posted: Sat Jul 21, 2007 10:37 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | ifurin wrote:
4. have your players use a well developed background so you can draw adventures or plot hooks from them |
Sometimes it can be fun to do this in reverse. My friend plays a new alien race from a far galaxy. It is called a Rakkesh and my friends character crash landed on our planet and doesn't remember what happened or how. He does remember little things about it and knows that the planets are controlled by "Jedi" who happen to be dark. We have gone to this planet to find out more about his history and where he comes from and see if we can help out his race which is being persecuted |
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Jedi Skyler
Moff
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 8440
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| Posted: Thu Aug 30, 2007 6:50 am Post subject: |
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The idea about the sourcebooks is a very valid one; you'll want them for stats and for possible adventure hooks, but it's not a good idea to rigidly plan your adventure using the well laid-out format they have. Your players will piss you off every time if you do that unless you're running a military campaign, where the only way they can deviate very far from the plan is if they decide to desert, which brings about a whole slew of consequences all its own... 
You'll also want to not only encourage your players to round out their characters, spreading points between space- and land-based skills, you'll want to also plan adventures that will FORCE them to build both sets of skills. This can be done a number of different ways, the first two that come to mind are either scattering in a few land missions or a few boarding missions in space. That way they'll have to build up a wider skill set and will be better off in the long run. Sure, it might slow down progression of their 'favorite' skills, but it'll make the characters better suited to handling the different kinds of jobs that can come their way as privateers. |
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Falcon79
Commander
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 406
Location: The Planet of Pensacola Florida
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| Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:18 am Post subject: |
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| Jedi Skyler wrote: | The idea about the sourcebooks is a very valid one; you'll want them for stats and for possible adventure hooks, but it's not a good idea to rigidly plan your adventure using the well laid-out format they have. Your players will piss you off every time if you do that unless you're running a military campaign, where the only way they can deviate very far from the plan is if they decide to desert, which brings about a whole slew of consequences all its own...
You'll also want to not only encourage your players to round out their characters, spreading points between space- and land-based skills, you'll want to also plan adventures that will FORCE them to build both sets of skills. This can be done a number of different ways, the first two that come to mind are either scattering in a few land missions or a few boarding missions in space. That way they'll have to build up a wider skill set and will be better off in the long run. Sure, it might slow down progression of their 'favorite' skills, but it'll make the characters better suited to handling the different kinds of jobs that can come their way as privateers. |
Yeah, I know how PCs can some times deviate from the planned adventure sometimes.  I'm still puting togeather a group right now (I'm shooting for 8 players, it's hard to find players sometimes around where I'm at: they all want to play D&D 3.5  ) but I can improvise when I need to (I'm flexible).  Plus I want to give each PC a Reason to want to stick it to this warlord. I'm also thinking of leting the PCs start with more than the standard 7D for skills (I'm thinking 9D or 10D, with the standard maximum of 2D allocated to any skill); what would you guys cap the skill dice number at? 
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Jedi Skyler
Moff
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 8440
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| Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 8:42 am Post subject: |
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That all depends on the level of the opposition. You don't want them to be able to easily overpower the warlord's forces; that'd be too easy. It needs to be a challenge.
Sure, it's cool for the characters to be pretty darn good at some things, but they still need to depend on each other to get the job done. They need to have complementary skills, not be carbon copies of each other. So encourage them to spread their template types out (use the extra D as a bribe, if necessary). I think I'd maybe cap it at 10D personally. |
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14168
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Fri Aug 31, 2007 10:49 pm Post subject: |
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| Falcon79 wrote: | | (I'm thinking 9D or 10D, with the standard maximum of 2D allocated to any skill); what would you guys cap the skill dice number at? |
Back when i was in england, and i played with the admiral (over on the holonet), he had us starting at 10d rather than the base 7d, but capped it at 2d+2 above base we could put into any one skill. Still limited to 3 specialties though.
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Falcon79
Commander
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 406
Location: The Planet of Pensacola Florida
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 1:15 am Post subject: |
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| Jedi Skyler wrote: | That all depends on the level of the opposition. You don't want them to be able to easily overpower the warlord's forces; that'd be too easy. It needs to be a challenge.
Sure, it's cool for the characters to be pretty darn good at some things, but they still need to depend on each other to get the job done. They need to have complementary skills, not be carbon copies of each other. So encourage them to spread their template types out (use the extra D as a bribe, if necessary). I think I'd maybe cap it at 10D personally. |
Agreed, I was thinking a 9D or 10D cap (for them being a little bit seasoned, like Han and Chewbacca were before hooking up with Luke and Leia, but not excesively so) would be good and I'll stick with the standard three specializations too. What would you recomend for the warlords forces? I plan on him having served under Grand Admiral Thrawn (and studied his methods), he's almost (but not quite) as good a tactician as Thrawn was, And not really as prejudiced against aliens as the standard Imperial High Ranking Officer and a bit more moderate of his treatment of conquered peoples (but can still be ruthless as necessary) using the "Big Carrot and Even Bigger Stick" approach to get subjugated worlds to fall in line. I want him to have a relitively powerful force at his command. Basically he conquered this particular section of the Unknown Regions because they were resource rich, uncharted by the New Republic, and had a number of fairly advanced civilizations that were unknown to the New Republic, and he was familiar with the region (part of his job serving under Thrawn was covertly mapping the area and cataloging it's two dozen, unknown, space faring races and twice that number of "Lesser" civilizations. He's pretty much pulling up stakes in the Known Galaxy (and relocating large sections of population, and a lot of Industrial facilities from his Sector to his new domain) and moving to easier and greener pastures. He's also raided a number of hidden Imperial Armament Mothball and Impound Worlds of their clone wars era mothball stocks and fleets (thanks Gry for your stats Fanbooks!  ). He's Smart, Adaptable, and NOT adverse to learning from his enemies. In some ways he's more like your typhical Rebel Commander than an Imperial one, Well except for tthe fact that he can be ruthless and has a slight lust for power, case in point he's ordered his TIE Fighter forces all outfitted with shields, and uses captured enemy equipment and supplies, when possible, to augment his still as yet limited manufacturing resources and unlike Thrawn he makes heavy use of his own privateers to annoy the New Republic and gather new supplies. This is still tenative so far as I'm still in the Planning stages and taking notes (Reminds me I need to pick up the Thrawn trilogy when I get some money. ) Thanks for your suggestions everyone they're a big help.
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Jedi Skyler
Moff
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 8440
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| Posted: Sat Sep 01, 2007 2:01 am Post subject: |
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| Wow. This does sound more like a Rebel commander than an Imperial one. Your players are going to have their work cut out for them...but it sounds like it'll be a fun campaign! |
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Falcon79
Commander
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 406
Location: The Planet of Pensacola Florida
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| Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 1:42 am Post subject: |
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Here's one of the local Near-Human Races High Admiral Terias Lorn (My name for this BBEG) partially has subjugated. Half their worlds have willingly sided with this Imperial Warlord, a quarter support him, but not willingly, and a quarter are free due largely to the "geography" of their region of space (lost of space anomalies, planetoid fields and Nebuae, and such), this was the most powerful group in their region of space until the Imps showed up. This race is Known as the Zanlites, and while primarily known in their region of space as wiz-bang engineers and crack pilots, have some of the best trained, most ferocious, (and "Crazy, like Corellian Wraith-Foxes" as an Imperial Army Special Missions officer once commented) Marine Space Infantry around. This group of near humans is decsended from Corellian stock, and arrived in their home about 4200 years BBY, pretty much trying to get away from the Old Republic (being generally annoyed by onerous taxes and Repulic interferance in local affair in and around Corellia), located with in a large pocket with in a nebula, this large area with in the nebula had an abnormal number of terestrial planets with Type I atmosphere (about 75 out of the 200 systems in the nebula contained at least one world inhabitable by human life, many had mulptiple inhabitable wolds). Unfortunetly the colonists then lost the secrets of Hyperdrive technology, during a fratricidal civil war among themselves a few decades after ariving in system. Oddly it was a bunch of lost, roaming Squib traders, ariving in system in a old decomissoned Trade Federation LucreHulk bulk freighter (full of salvaged starships and salvaged ship parts, scaveged by the Squibs) that kick started the Zanlites back in to hyperspace travel 5 Centuries BBY (they had been reduced to using sytems identical to those used in early Coruscanti Colony Ships, equipped with hibernation pods to span, the relitively close, interstellar distances in the Zanlaus Cluster) . The Squibs (being the wily merchants that they are) offered to trade the mass of of junk in their holds, plus the secrets of hyperdrive tech, in exchange for the raw materials, assistance in repairing their ship, and a 600 year exclusive contract to the Squib Merchandizing Consortium to provide salvaged technological goods to the Zanlites. (Oddly, the squibbs never shared their knowledge of their new, profitable, market with the Old Republic, Empire and New Republic (not that they'd of have an easy time reading squibb astrogation charts ), and never provided charts of the Known Galaxy to the Zanlites who promptly settled another 225 worlds outside the Zanlaus Cluster, where they promptly came into contact with another couple dozen species (mostly other types of near-humans and some lost human colonies with a few other aliens in the mix as well). Size: 1.5 - 1.9 meters tall Homeworld: Zanlaus Prime (Zanlaus translates in old corellian as "Where in f***in hell are we you dolt?!?!", it's basically a curse aimed at an inept navigator when he fouls up.) Weapons/Tech Unfamiliararity: Zanlites are a bit Unfamiliar with Imperial/New Republic Standard Weapons Technologiy, being most familiar with their own Weapons Designs and also, people who are Used to Imperial/New Republic Standard Weapons Technology are Unfamiliar with the slightly different design of some aspects of Zanlite Weapons and certain Zanlite technologies, and so Zanlites working on standard galactic weapons tech (and vice/versa for those people used to working with standard galactic tech) suffer a penalty of -1D to their Various Repair skills for 3D weeks of working on such technology until they gotten used to working with it (unless they select a Specialization in Galactic (or Conversely Zanlite for those in the known galaxy) technology in a particular repair skill; Game Masters please note that this penalty ONLY aplies to certain aspects of Galactic (or Zanlite) technology (GM's discresion). Partially Force-Blind: Zanlites have dificulty with learning force skills (most Zanlite force users are of the parlor trick type); Zanlite characters must spend QUADRUPLE as many character points to learn and advance force skills as normal. Technical Aptitude: Zanlites have a natural for repairing, modifiing, maintaining, and copying items of technology. Zanlite characters begin with an extra 6d to be placed in technical skills (EXCLUDING First Aid, (A)Medcine, or Demolitions), and can place up to 3D in any beging tecnical skill. Military Training: Nearly all zanlites have had some degree of military training. Honor Code: Zanlites have a well developed sense of honor (though not as well developed as that of Wookies, Noghri, or Coynites, however), Even the most dispicable of Zanlite criminals and pirates have a line they will not cross. Unknown to the Galaxy: Zanlites hail from the Unknown Regions and are (before the Imperial Warlord high Admiral Terias Lorn invades and partially conquers Zanlite space) unknown to the Know galaxy at large with the EXCEPTION of the Squibs (but they won't spill the beans until six an a half years after The Battle of Endor). Consequently, the Old Republic, Empire, and New Republic are not familiar with them. Conversely the zanlites have heard of the Old Republic, The Empire, and the New Republic, but the details are conflicting. A People Divided: the Zanlites were engaged in a serious civil war when Imperial Warlord Lorn's forces showed up and invaded. One of the two opposing factions in this war (the Zost Planetary Alignment) allied, and swore alligence to Lorn, in exchange for power, and since then the Civil War has become a cold war, mostly due to Lorn's and the Zost Alignment's combined superior fire power, though things could heat up any time now...... This is a rough draft feel free give advice and criticize (Constructively of course ) my ideas here, or share ideas I haven't thought of. Thanks!
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Last edited by Falcon79 on Fri Sep 07, 2007 5:27 pm; edited 3 times in total |
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vong
Jedi
Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Posts: 6699
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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| Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:39 am Post subject: |
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wow, thats quite the powerful race. Me Likey
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PM me if you want user created content uploaded to my site: http://databank.yvong.com/index.php |
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Jedi Skyler
Moff
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 8440
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| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 1:32 am Post subject: |
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Yeah. Not too shabby. And PRIME candidates for *ahem* SLICERS!!!
hehehe |
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Falcon79
Commander
Joined: 19 Jul 2007
Posts: 406
Location: The Planet of Pensacola Florida
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| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 6:11 am Post subject: |
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Tomorrow I'm gonna work on some Zanlite ships and Droids, I'll post em when I get thru.
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Jedi Skyler
Moff
Joined: 07 Sep 2005
Posts: 8440
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| Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2007 6:29 am Post subject: |
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| Can't wait to see 'em... |
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