Young Padawans

[walkingcarpet]

I'm an old SW fan, now a teacher, looking to get a game together for some students (age 12-14) to play...

I've got the Introductory Game on order from ebay. Will this be enough to be going on with? I was looking for any good ideas/scenarios for younger players... my feeling was to base the game sometime before 'A New Hope' - I'm much more familiar with the Original Trilogy but have obviously seen the Prequels...

I'm sure they'll all want to be Jedi - I saw the Force is a controversial area within the game - could anyone point me towards any useful threads on how to handle this too?

Great site and community - the Alliance lives on!

[Gry Sarth]

Humm.. I don't know that I would recommend the Introductory Adventure Game as your starting material (as oddly as that sounds), specially if all your players are inclined to play Jedis. I know it would take a lot more work on your part, but I think you would be better off getting the 2nd Edition Revised & Expanded rulebook and brushing up on your rules and gamemastering all around.

You're quite correct in your assesment that the Force is a touchy point of the D6 Star Wars system, specially if your group consists of overeager youngsters who just want to do all those kewl Jedi stuff right off the bat. To put it bluntly, the D6 system was not built for that kind of play. If you intend on giving the players what they want, you'll need to be very generous as far as starting character abilities go. On the other hand, if you think your players are "mature" enough to face a challenge and play the game as it was meant to be played, and work and invest on their characters to achieve something, then the rewards could be... hummm.. well more than you can imagine!
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[hanker]

Hi walkingcarpet!

Interesting to see another teacher in this forum!

I once was a gamemaster of a group of 14-16 year old students. Luckily, they didn't like the "colourful and flashy" Episode I (Episode II and III weren't out then).

12-14 years is a difficult age for roleplaying, I think. It's all about fun and killing and fun and power and fun and beautiful girls.


Good luck with your project!

René


PS: I used 2nd ed R&E, SW Sourcebook and Tales of the Jedi Companion (because of the Force Powers in there), but had most of the books at home.
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Editor of the Jedi Handbook 1.3ap and Unofficial TPM Sourcebook

[Amra]

I used to play the Marvel Superhero RPG where you could craft your own power feats based on the template powers, but you had to do it so many times at a harder difficulty, then so many times at a moderate difficulty before it became a regular power without penalty.

I have adopted a similar construct to Force power feats in the D6 system. First, there must be a rational explanation of the power from the player. Then I decide on requisite Force powers or attribute skills. The player must succeed ten times on a Very Difficult base (with MAP for multiple power/skill combos). Then the player must succeed ten times with a Difficult base (with MAP for multiple power/skill combos).

After those 20 successes, the player gains that now Force Feat at the die code of that Force power. The base difficulty becomes a High Moderate and the player no longer suffers MAPs for combined actions of the skills (though MAP for multiple targets or multiple uses of the power in a round still apply). The player must raise the requires Force power(s) by 1D by the time the training has finished in order to attain Mastery. Thus, a player can only gain Mastery of Feat one at a time, though they may train in Force feats similtaneously.

I crafted my own Force Feat record sheet to be used.

Example: One of my Jedi PCs has a Dex skill specialization of Thrown Weapon: Lightsaber. He then makes an Alter check to add his Telekinesis dice to the throw. He makes another Telekinesis check to recall the lightsaber to his hand. So he suffers a -2D MAP and additional MAPs for additional targets. The base roll is Very Difficult for the 1st ten successes and he checks off a box for each success. Then the base difficulty becomes Difficult and he checks off 10 boxes for each success. After all 20 successes have been made and he gains 1D in Alter (the prime Force skill), he gains Thrown Lightsaber Mastery Force Feat and no longer suffers the -2D MAP and the base difficulty is a high Moderate. NOTE: This Force Feat can only be used to disarm opponents, attack weapons directly or disable vehicles. Any use of this Force Feat against a sentient being (plants are ok) is an automatic DSP.

I also allow the use of Lightsaber Combat to add Sense dice to the attack, but this remains a -1D MAP to actions, even after Mastery. But I do not allow Control dice to be added to damage in this case.

I like using this system because it gives a little more personality to the game and give characters something to work for other than just boosting die codes. So if your players see a Force power in a movie/show/book/comic and can explain the power in terms of the game and justify it's use, this allows them to work toward that ability with their character.

Luke Skywalker essentially trained himself after learning the basics, so I think Force Feats provide the avenue for enterprising Jedi/Sith.

[Rerun941]

I think a larger problem you will face is the escalation of power inherent in Force Users.

I've talked with other folks who play SWd6 and I hear the same story:
Force users are very, very weak when starting. After quite a while (depending on how generous the GM is with character points, Force powers and Jedi training) the Force user will reach a magic tipping point where they go from weak characters to nigh invulnerable. In my experience, it's been when Control, Sense, and Alter skills get to around 3D-4D each, they have Lightsaber Combat, reduce injury and remove pain.

At that skill level they can reliably activate Lightsaber Combat and mow down squads of stormtroopers, with little worry.
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Han - "How're we doin'?"
Luke - "Same as always."
Han - "That bad, huh?"

[hanker]

[Ankhanu]

[Rerun941]

[Amra]

I'm running a campaign with a 10 year old Padawan whose total cummulative Force Power dice are at 3D. To get a flavor for how the game works, I had him fight in hypethetical combat against a single, solitary Stormtrooper (which you never encounter). He threw all of his meager powers at the Trooper and got owned. I think giving new/young players this sort of "Sandbox" opportunity to see that Jedi aren't built for that kind of playing right out of the book is a great experience.

They need to learn right off the bat that new Jedi characters aren't Starkiller.

Also, for you other teachers upthread, I'm about to start my full time teaching internship in high school and middle school in January. Yeah for education!

[walkingcarpet]

Thanks for all the great tips!

I shall not underestimate the power of the Force... I saw an idea somewhere on the site of keeping it under wraps which characters are force sensitive for a while. This seems a good idea too and might hopefully help delay the onset of jedihood!

I thinks a pre-ANH setting could help in this sense too - after all, there aren't many places/people to go to get quality training... without it, skills should take a long time to master (as detailed in the excellent force feats post above)...

I'll keep everyone posted how it goes on the Holonet here!

[walkingcarpet]

PS Re Gry Sarth's comment: is the Introductory Game WEG's Phantom Menace or something? I had thought it sounded like a good way to get younger players through the blast doors (I've not read it yet, mind)...

[Lostboy]

walkingcarpet you might want to concider having each force power(control pain, Reduce injury, force lightning, E.T.C.) with its own dice code like a regular skill inted of the usual control,alter,sence. It can work wonders to even out a game and be great fun.

Hope it helps.

[Gry Sarth]

No, it has nothing to do with The Phantom Menace. Remember, WEG lost the license before the prequels. The Introductory Adventure Game is a kit that teaches you the basics of the system and presents a ready-to-play adventure about Rebels facing an Imperial attack on their secret base. If you're thinking of curbing your players' Jedi aspirations, then it might be a good choice.
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"He's Gry Sarth, of course he has the stats for them."

[Whill]

[cheshire]

I've set up some adventures for beginning players, and usually, I want a newbie player to have played a small campaign of 3-5 adventures before I recommend that they have any Force powers. It lets them get a feel for the game first, and then get into a campaign where they'll be dealing with more complex rules and story factors.

If you want to try a similar approach, I can give you outlines for my campaigns. The first two are focused around freelance traders. I'll have an all-Jedi campaign set up sometime during the winter. (That will most likely be New Republic, but I'm sure that things could easily be tweaked to fit a KotOR campaign if they're into that.)
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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.