Back in the Saddle

[AWAD]

Well after 10 years I decided to try and run Star Wars D6 again. Some of my best games as a player and GM have been with this system. Do not have a single book anymore as I had a friend that needed them more than me and I was moving into a new phase in life (married with children), so I had to pare down the games and more that anything the foot lockers of books. But after years of Btech it was time for a change.

Books I got from friends, and well other sources.

But I remember being frustrated with only 7 Dice to make a character with, as a GM and player. This is doubly so when you look at Lando or Leia, do not even think Luke.

So what do most of you use, standard 7 Dice? Is there an upper limit you think the game unbalances?

I am a big fan of the original era but a lot of my players are KOTR guys or want the freedom of after the movies. But the movies give it feel and nice tie ins. It seems later the classic black and white is lost. So what do most of you play?

I have been trying to plunder this wonder site but wondering if anyone knows where to find some nice short adventures and a rouges gallery? Have not come upon then yet in the Pit other then one's and two's. I will start to make my own but some starting point is great.

One question on actions. Does a Jedi action count in terms of dice used? So Lightsaber combat, you use 2 Force Attributes and then the Dex Lightsaber for a total of -2D to everything you do? If so then low level Jedi suck really bad or it -1D to both Force Attributes and no effect on the Dex skill?

Thanks in advance.

Good to see the game is alive and well. The best free flowing game for a GM ever.

AWAD

[Falcon79]

[ifurin]

well for starters welcome to the pit.

[cheshire]

[Ankhanu]

Cheshire and I are pretty much working from the same context.

I almost always use the standard 7D skills.
Keep in mind that the average galactic citizen *might* have 1D in skills; for the most part, they're simply at their attribute for everything. 7D in skills; plus the 6D in additional Attributes puts PC heads and shoulders beyond most people.
That said, there's no upper limit really. I've played in games with 10D or more in starting skills. Obviously they're FAR more powerful than most anyone else out in the galaxy, other than main characters of the setting (I.e. Lando, Leia, Luke, etc)... but then, they're quite exceptional individuals.

The problem with making powerful characters from the get-go is that it leaves very little room for character growth. You're already an expert in most fields... now what?? Part of the fun in playing is failing, and after failing, getting better so that failure reduces (i.e growing). But not everyone is into character development and simply want to succeed. It kind of depends on your gaming style.

As for MAPs and the Force, classically we impose a MAP for an active power, whether it uses 1, 2 or 3 skills. So, Lightsaber Combat (control/sense) imposes a -1D MAP, rather than -2D. By the RAW, however, I believe it should be -2D. Removing the MAP altogether just makes the character too powerful and doesn't convey the fact that the Jedi must concentrate on the flow of the Force to keep the power active while doing other things.

Jedi characters get seriously shafted early on, but they become quite powerful as they grow. That failure is, I believe, integral to being a Force user, especially a Jedi. The Jedi are supposed to be humble; failure helps develop this... and also leaves them open to the temptations of the Dark Side. NEVER underestimate the RP potential in tempting a player with the Dark Side. No matter how it goes, it's generally a rewarding experience for the player and GM alike, and leads to a lot of character growth potential.
When they do become powerful characters, they'll be tempered by the experiences and failures of their early careers.

Era, well, really, it doesn't much matter All the eras have their strengths and weaknesses. Classic era is great to play in BECAUSE of the limitations, and the sense of desperation, helplessness and resolve for change. KOTOR and post-RotJ are fun for their freedom and resurgence in the Force (though it should still be rare). As for which to play, well, fun can be had in any era; play the one you can make the best story for and everything will fall into place.
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[jmanski]

We use 9d starting skills- capped out at 2d per skill max.
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[Whill]

I have an 8D base for starting skill allocation with the standard 2D max per skill, and 1D out of the 8D may be used for 3 pips or 3D specialty skills (any combination thereof not exceeding 3) if wanted.

However, in an attempt for game balance between characters of different species with different special abilities, all player character races (including humans) come with a "package" that includes their special abilities (if nothing else then bonus starting skill dice).

My first effort along these lines was to define my list of "core" player character races for the game. This was so there would be a number of races that are already that balanced for immediately play because I have pre-determined their package. My core game has humans and 23 other species to choose from. I figure that just about any Star Wars fan could settle for one of the 24 races.

Side note: Can players play other races if they really want to? Yes, if they sell me on a character concept. But I'll have to approve/tweak/design attribute ranges and special abilities on the spot, and the package they get for that character may not quite be balanced with the core races. I can't imagine any 18D attribute Ewoks existing, so you really don't wanna play an Ewok in my game.

Anyway, the characters of any of my core races have exactly 18D in attributes, regardless of what the average or typical member of that species has. And as stated, all player characters start with a base of 8D to allocate to skills. The "package" of special abilities for each core race is approximately equal to 4D in skills. So this is similar to a point-buy system like in the current D6 rules, except it is not so cut and dry. I read the info available on the race, look at the original source's D6 or even d20 stats for the species, and then come up with a package that is about equal to 4D in skill dice, in my judgement.

Packages that seem overly valuable have to have counterbalancing disabilities, and so if the race is supposed to have disabilities then that gives them more dice. If a core race has no special abilities (or disabilities) then they get a bonus of 4D to their starting skills. It a race's package equates to about 3D, then there final bonus is 1D to balance it out, etc. Sometimes these bonus skill dice at character creation can only be used on certain attributes, or to "combat skills", etc.

Humans have no special abilities, so their "package" gives them 4D of bonus skill dice, and they can apply them to any skills, to represent how tenacious humans are in the galaxy.

So all that was a long way off saying, "humans get in effect 12D, and for other species, they get 12D or less depending on their special abilities."

Some have argued that being a human is an advantage enough in the classic time period because of the human-centric Empire. I agree, and I love the old "pose as Imperials" trick like Han and Luke did in the Death Star. They pretended that the Wookiee was a prisoner and it worked for a while. If you have a party of all aliens, then it is kinda hard to pose as Imperials that much.

The problem I often run into is, that no one ever wants to play a human! Star Wars has so many cool aliens that I always get people that want to play everything but humans. So the 4D of bonus skills to be able to be spent on any skill is an additional incentive for at least one player in any group to play a human. I can argue it's game mechanically balanced that way, and the rest of the issues are story factors that can be balanced out by me during play. The aliens have a combination of special abilities and bonus dice if needed to balance them out.
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Star Wars D6 Damage

[Delkarnu]

It's all up to you on how many dice to give at the start.

For me, it all depends on the level of the challenge, the size of the group, and the type of players.

One reason I usually give more D is so each character has skills to use when they aren't in their main role. A human pilot generally needs most of their D in mech skills, so they wont have many skills to use off ship if they only get the 7D to start. I've also played many games where the pilot was an NPC to get the players around, but they miss out on ship to ship interaction if it goes that way.

If you have a very small group, more D given can help spread out and eliminate many holes in the group make-up. a large group won't need this as much, and keeping a large group to 7D will make them more specialized and help you give each player a moment to shine in your game.

Lastly it goes to the players, if they've played in a lot of d6 games, they dont really need to go back to the starting level, whereas new players can be forced to think more if they have limited skills.

[Ankhanu]

Whill, that's so incredibly d20
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[ifurin]

[Whill]

[Ankhanu]

I'm mostly referring to the emphasis on balance and everyone needing a special ability. One of my favorite aspects of d6 Star Wars is that races and characters are not necessarily balanced.

Not a jibe against what you do... and I'm also a d20 player... just not for Star Wars. I just find the lack of balance inherent in the system to be one of the better features of the system that fits it uniquely well to the Star Wars setting. Striving for balance, imo, erodes the Star Warsyness of it.
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[Whill]

I admit that my attmepts to balance things do not pretend to balance things out completely, but in my opnion it levels the playing field a bit more than the game as is. And it is all subjective to the GM anyway, because what good is a special ability of being able to breathe underwater and gain +1D to swimming if the adventures never go underwater. The GM's running of his adventures is the ultimate balancing act.

I acknolwledge and respect your opinion about Star Wars D6, but whole-heartedly disagree. Two of my favorite races, Duros and Verpine, are extremely unbalanced and their special abilities/bonus dice are way too powerful compared to many other common races players choose to play. I do not see that as a good thing at all.

And keep in mind, I acknowledge and support the fact that the species themselves are not balanced to each other. All aliens are defintely not created equal (like Ewoks). I do not balance the typical members of a species (or any gamemaster characters) to each other, or to the player characters. I only attempt to balance PCs to each other, a bit more than the game on it's own does.

But to each GM, his own. This forum is to share ideas and sometimes others can inspire each other. But ultimately, each GM must choose to do what is right for his game, and I wish you the best in yours regardless of any differences it may have to mine.

Cheers.
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[garhkal]

While the functionality is different, it is similar to how sparks does it. Each race is assigned a pip cost, from 0 (human) to 3 (trandosian etc).. That comes out of the initial 7d to buy that race.
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[Pel]

We never adjusted stats for any races during our campaigns. Never really saw the need for that sort of thing. I have been known to fudge the occasional dice roll to advance the story, but mostly we just keep to the plan and fly the rest seat-of-the-pants. Worked out so far...

When in doubt, send in more Stormtroopers!
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