New GM Help

[themuffinman1201]

Okay I played my first adventure a few days ago and everything went fine, except I didn't feel like they were challenged at all. I didn't throw much at them, but I didn't want to overwhelm them. The only challenge was taking on one of those spider droids with a 9D blaster damage, but that nearly killed one of the characters. Any tips?

And also when calling on the dark side what determines how many dice you roll?

[Kemper Boyd]

The biggest problem is that the D6 has a very small sweet spot at about 4D-5D in dice pools, after that doing everything becomes very easy for the characters or if you up the challenges, characters die too easily.

Look up some of the alternative rules from Rules of Engagement, because they are pretty good. Also, have enemies be smart. Stormtroopers aren't dumb except when they are led by idiots.

[cheshire]

Please describe the party. What are their blaster and dodge skills at (approximately)?

[garhkal]

I wuold like to know more of the rest of the characters stats.. eg what were their strengths, were any wearing armor??
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[themuffinman1201]

Okay so far there are two characters. Soon to be a third (he is on vacation right now). These are their current stats after one adventure

Zeke - Bounty Hunter
Dex 4D
Blaster 5D
Dodge 5D+1

Per 3D
Search 4D
Hide 4D

Kno 2D+2

Str 3D+2
Stamina 4D+2

Mechanical 2D+2

Technical 2D
Blaster Repair 3D
First Aid 3D

He has a blast vest (1D phy +1 energy) and a rifle (5D) and also miscellaneous items

Sunake - Clawdite

Dex 4D
Blaster 5D
Dodge 5D
Melee 5D (Note: I combined melee parry and melee combat into one skill)
Running 5D

Perception 4D+1
Sneak 5D+1
Con 5D+1
Con:disguise 5D+2
(A) Shapeshift 1D

Kno 2D

Str 3D+2
Stamina 4D+2

Mechanical 2D

Technical 2D

Heavy blaster (5D) Vibroblade (6D w/strength)

The other character will be a jedi, but I don't know the stats yet.

And I also created a GM droid character to spice up the campaign. Its skills are mediocre I just made it to have some fun.

My best idea would make a non combat oriented mission. Maybe something that requires a lot of security rolls because they are lacking in those areas. Or I could have them use their knowledge skill.

I also have a few general questions:
1.) When calling on the dark side what determines how many dice you roll?
2.) What roll opposes con? Is it perception?

[masque]

Yes, Perception is what one uses to resist Con, or they can use their own Con skill.

As for calling on the Dark Side, according to page 86 of the 2E R&E corebook, one earns a DSP as soon as they make the attempt to call on the Dark Side, whether they succeed or not, and if successful, they get a Force Point which must be spent immediately, in addition to any other Force Points they may or may not have already spent.
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Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid.

[obidancer]

And to answer the question, to succeed in calling the Dark Side you roll your Perception Attribute. I think the difficulty is Easy or Moderate, something like that.

[garhkal]

When calling on the dark side, the force sensitivity staus determins the diff for the perception check.

A force sensitive has an easy time of it, but depending on what he will be doing with the DSP given force point, depends on whether it is the low or high side of the easy bracket.

Non force sensitives have a moderate diff.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Grimace]

[Farlight]

I agree. IMO, For a first adventure it sounds that you challenged them sufficiantly.

If you need to make things more challenging, try adding cover, obsticles and terrain modifiers into the combat. Stormtroopers are much more difficult to locate, target, and hit if they are prone or have cover. PC's can also take advantage of this to avoid being hit.

If regular stormtroopers are still too easy, try giving them a leader with Command Skill and use group combat tactics. Combined fire can make even regular Stormies VERY nasty and challenging.

[ifurin]

always try to play your NPC's as player characters. make enimes run for cover in a firefight like Farlight said. even armored characters don't stand in the middle of the street like a target. also try to add personality, even if it is only one personality descriptor. this should help keep your players interested, even if you don't think things went well.

[mastereji]

Ive gamemastered star wars and multiple other game systems for over 20 plus years. Since you are new at gming i think you are going about it the right way by planning things out and having set encounters. As you get more experience and time under your belt you will come to realize one very very important constant in the gaming process: you can pretty much count on the pcs never doing/acting the way you think they will or how you envision them to act. So i usually just have some quick notes written down, some basic stats for npcs and baddies (along with a list of random names - believe me you will appreciate it), and a really basic outline of what id like to have happen but i also try to foresee multiple outcomes that the pcs will come up with. Also dont feel like you have to stick to your adventure exactly how you have planned it. Feel free to just randomly change up things as the night progresses. Id say that i freelance (or "wing it") my adventures 90-95% of the time.

An example that i can give is: your pcs are facing down the blaster rifles of say 5 stormtroopers and you find they are having way too easy of a time dispatching them, just have another squad show up. They do have tongue-activated comlinks in their armor and could easily call for backup, of course, depending upon where they are.

So basically, Id suggest for your first few adventures at least, stick to your basic overall adventure plan. As you get to know your players and how they play their pcs youll eventually just get used to "winging" things.
I hope I have helped you in some small way. Good luck!

[schnarre]

A number of adventure modules were put out, including revisions of classic campaigns. Even if you don't use the material verbatim, it saves a lot of work & can provide possible ideas for new missions.
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The man who thinks he knows everything is most annoying for those of us that do.

[Sabre]

Move the emphasis on the game away from fighting toward why the characters are fighting and what they are fighting for. Sometimes the players can win their fight, but fail to reach their goals because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time (such as being tricked into attacking a target when their real objective was some other thing that the enemy seizes while they are busy wasting time on the fake objective). When the players realize it doesn't only matter that they fight well and that they will need more than a blaster to achieve their goals, they'll start branching out in skills.

Basically, if you want them to raise things like cultures, alien species, languages, etc. you have to make those skills relevant to the action of the story.

Or if you just want them to lose a fight, get them into a space battle and their pathetic base MECH scores will sort that out in short order.

[Pel]

I agree with all points and advice given. In my own campaigns I've often drawn on non-combat skills and even obscure skills to provide flavor, variety, and challenge. Want to really mix things up? Toss in a Beast Riding or even a Swimming challenge and see how things pan out. Beast Riding is always good for a laugh, if nothing else.

Stormies are probably the best recurring villains, since you can play them as smart or as dumb as the situation requires. Players mowing through legions of the boys in white? Toss in some smoke. Trooper armor is equipped with MFTAS which negates vision penalties and provides bonuses to hit moving targets (i.e. pretty much any dodging character). Still not enough of a challenge? Well, Stormtroopers don't operate in a vacuum and aren't afraid to call in reinforcements, artillery, air strikes, or even orbital bombardment in extreme situations.

I guess the point is, there are virtually unlimited options available, given a bit of preparation and imagination.
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Aha!