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Zudrak
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Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 24
Location: New Jersey
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 Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 3:10 am Post subject: It took me long enough... |
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I have been wanting to play d6 Star Wars for years and finally had the opportunity today. My son (9), his friend (9), and his friend's dad sat down today for our first game. My son and I have played a few RPG's together (AD&D, C&C, Star Frontiers), but never Star Wars. Because his friend and he share a love of Star Wars (as do us dads), we decided to get in on the best version of the SWRPG. I had played the introductory box set years ago and bought a few books from the 2nd edition, but with the eve of 3rd Edition D&D, got into (and soon out of) d20 SWRPG. Blech. It just wasn't for me as I feel it does not capture the spirit of the SW universe at all. Especially since I prefer pre-1999 SW.
Anyway, I had little time to prepare this week, so I ran the "Pirates of Prexiar" adventure from the 2nd Ed. Revised & Expanded book. We all had a great time. I've DM'd the above games as well as Top Secret, Gamma World, and Twilight 2000 in my time, but I don't remember anything (except BD&D) being this easy to run the first time out.
My son has chosen to be a Minor Jedi, his friend is a Rodian smuggler, and his dad plays a Bounty Hunter. We quickly went through the book and created the characters, with only a short time spent "shopping." More time was spent looking up the skills to assign the 7D for the starting characters.
***SPOILERS***
(I'm trying to be generic here and not very specific of adventure details)
The players decided to punch through the fence to take back the Rebel supplies from the pirates. The bounty hunter attempted throwing poison gas grenades at the guard towers, succeeding on one and then hitting the other with his vibroblade. The smuggler used his hydrospanner and a lucky roll to deactivate a section of electrified fence before the Jedi cut the fence with his lightsaber. Soon, the stolen cargo was aboard the loading skiff.
After being spotted, the bounty hunter threw his thermal detonator at the lowered ramp of the pirates' corvette, disabling it. The smuggler piloted the skiff and drove through the cut fence, the Jedi manning the rear with a light repeating blaster. After taking out a couple of pirates with his blaster fire, the bounty hunter used his jetpack to rendezvous with his teammates down the jungle path, away from the pirates' compound. Just as he boarded the skiff himself, the pirates' speeder bikes sped out onto the path. The skiff drove into the jungle, where laser blasts and crazy maneuvers were exchanged. The Jedi sent his lightsaber flying a few times, with no success, while the bounty hunter propelled himself onto an opponent's bike, landing seated on the handle bars due to a lucky roll. After dispatching his adversary, he took the bike and helped the skiff safely make it to their ship. As time was running short, the number of player characters was only three, and the two 9-year olds' attentions were being swayed by the hockey game on TV, I cut the ending a little short. As the ramp of Vangar's ship was damaged, I ruled that he could not leave the atmosphere. While the Jedi and smuggler ran Astrogation and piloting checks, the bounty hunter manned the ship's guns and got a fortunate shot on Vangar's ship, which went down hard but did not explode or crash.
The boys were happy with the game and want to play again. I think I have a new gaming group. d6 was easy to run, even though I feel like I was making rules up as I went along since I don't have them set in my head by the book. It's ok, though. That's how I first gamed a long time ago in a neighborhood not-so-far away when my dad bought my brother and I the Basic D&D set. I've been a DM/GM/what-have-you since.
Thanks for this site. I've been lurking and reading for years now and finally got to enjoy the game that's celebrated here.
Happy gaming,
Zudrak |
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Bren
Vice Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2010
Posts: 3868
Location: Maryland, USA
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| Posted: Sun Feb 19, 2012 11:01 am Post subject: |
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Welcome to the Rancor Pit. Your first adventure sounds fun! And somehow I expect they will be seeing Vangar again.  |
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mdlake
Sub-Lieutenant
Joined: 21 May 2009
Posts: 65
Location: Montclair, NJ
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 12:11 pm Post subject: Re: It took me long enough... |
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| Zudrak wrote: | | (AD&D, C&C, Star Frontiers), but never Star Wars... |
| Quote: | | I've DM'd the above games as well as Top Secret, Gamma World, and Twilight 2000 in my time. |
Those are some o-o-old titles. If you haven't really been shopping around for RPGs since then, some of the trends--profound ideas and fads alike--might stagger you.
As a system geek, I'm convinced a set of rules well-suited to your gaming purposes, whatever they might be, make a huge difference. d6 SW is probably a good match for 9-year-olds, with lots of straight-up action and ability inflation. And don't sweat making up rules on the spot; d6 SW will tolerate it far better than those old TSR titles.
Nevertheless, I encourage you to shop around for other games for other purposes, too; there's some great ideas out there.
| Quote: | | The boys were happy with the game and want to play again. |
And what more could you hope for? Good on you, and best wishes for your future efforts! |
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Zudrak
Cadet
Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 24
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 2:17 pm Post subject: Re: It took me long enough... |
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| mdlake wrote: | | Zudrak wrote: | | (AD&D, C&C, Star Frontiers), but never Star Wars... |
| Quote: | | I've DM'd the above games as well as Top Secret, Gamma World, and Twilight 2000 in my time. |
Those are some o-o-old titles. If you haven't really been shopping around for RPGs since then, some of the trends--profound ideas and fads alike--might stagger you.
As a system geek, I'm convinced a set of rules well-suited to your gaming purposes, whatever they might be, make a huge difference. d6 SW is probably a good match for 9-year-olds, with lots of straight-up action and ability inflation. And don't sweat making up rules on the spot; d6 SW will tolerate it far better than those old TSR titles.
Nevertheless, I encourage you to shop around for other games for other purposes, too; there's some great ideas out there.
| Quote: | | The boys were happy with the game and want to play again. |
And what more could you hope for? Good on you, and best wishes for your future efforts! |
Heh. I truncated a lot of my gaming history so as not to bog it down with opinions on games I have played since returning to gaming in 2000, after a 10-year hiatus. I returned with Third Edition D&D, played 3.5E, and then moved onto Castles & Crusades before most recently switching back to AD&D for my S&S gaming. As for SW, my friend and his son have never played any RPG's, so I figured D6SW was the best point of entry since the dad and I love old EU SW and the kids love all 6 movies.
I like RPG's as they were prior to mimicking MMORPG's and before many of them took power away from the GM and gave it to the players.
In short, I'm a semi-grognard.
*feels shame* |
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Zudrak
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Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 24
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 2:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Bren wrote: | | Welcome to the Rancor Pit. Your first adventure sounds fun! And somehow I expect they will be seeing Vangar again. |
Thanks, Bren. They certainly will, though I will have them complete an Imperial-based adventure or two before Vangar meets up with them.  |
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Wisconsin Wookie
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Joined: 25 May 2011
Posts: 936
Location: WI
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 3:51 pm Post subject: Re: It took me long enough... |
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| Zudrak wrote: | | I have been wanting to play d6 Star Wars for years and finally had the opportunity today. My son (9), his friend (9), and his friend's dad sat down today for our first game. My son and I have played a few RPG's together |
Just out of curiosity and at risk of hi-jacking your thread, how old was your son when you started playing? My two boys are turning 10 and 7 this spring and summer and I would love to get them started on Star Wars roleplaying. I always assumed they weren't quite old enough as I started at around age 12 or so. Do you find that they are able to keep up and grasp all that is happening? |
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jmanski
Arbiter-General (Moderator)
Joined: 06 Mar 2005
Posts: 2065
Location: Kansas
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 5:52 pm Post subject: |
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I think my boys were 9 and 11 when they first played. They struggled to connect with the characters they created, so we started over and I made them play characters I created until they got the hang of it.
The PCs I made were B.A. from the A-team and Crocodile Dundee; that way they were easy to play in character. Once they figured out the whole "describe what I'm doing" thing it got very, very fun.
_________________
Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect? |
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Zudrak
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Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 24
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Mon Feb 20, 2012 11:41 pm Post subject: Re: It took me long enough... |
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| Wisconsin Wookie wrote: | | Zudrak wrote: | | I have been wanting to play d6 Star Wars for years and finally had the opportunity today. My son (9), his friend (9), and his friend's dad sat down today for our first game. My son and I have played a few RPG's together |
Just out of curiosity and at risk of hi-jacking your thread, how old was your son when you started playing? My two boys are turning 10 and 7 this spring and summer and I would love to get them started on Star Wars roleplaying. I always assumed they weren't quite old enough as I started at around age 12 or so. Do you find that they are able to keep up and grasp all that is happening? |
Would you believe 4?
Here's how I used role-playing games (namely, a very stripped down C&C) to teach him the alphabet:
http://www.trolllord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=1570
After talking with Gary Gygax via email and on his Q&A threads at EN World.org, I played a "safer" game with my son than I would with adults. What I mean is that there was never a real threat of death; only the illusion that things were dangerous. SW RPG, I think, is better than the fantasy games for younger gamers in that it is very easy for them to see themselves as someone like Luke, Han, etc. thanks to the movies and action figures. Also, the pace is ever moving forward in Star Wars as there are no traps or secret doors to search for, as there would be in a dungeon.
I started playing BD&D when I was 8 and my brother was 7. That's when our classmates were all playing. My parents were going on vacation, so to keep us busy at our grandmother's, Dad bought us the BD&D set. After we moved (figuratively to the Expert Box and literally to the next town over), we converted our campaign to AD&D as that's what the kids in the new town were playing.
I think the sessions have to be shorter - or take more frequent breaks - for the sake of younger players, but if you know your own kids, you can begin to "read" their body language, etc. and it's time to wrap up.
Good luck! |
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Bren
Vice Admiral
Joined: 19 Aug 2010
Posts: 3868
Location: Maryland, USA
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 12:30 am Post subject: Re: It took me long enough... |
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| Zudrak wrote: | | I think the sessions have to be shorter - or take more frequent breaks - for the sake of younger players... |
Interestingly my players in their 50s also prefer shorter sessions. At least shorter than when they were younger. |
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Zudrak
Cadet
Joined: 22 Aug 2008
Posts: 24
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 1:10 am Post subject: Re: It took me long enough... |
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| Bren wrote: | | Zudrak wrote: | | I think the sessions have to be shorter - or take more frequent breaks - for the sake of younger players... |
Interestingly my players in their 50s also prefer shorter sessions. At least shorter than when they were younger. |
Heh. I meant players up to the ages of 10 - 12. Somewhere in that range of ages, players can start to stick around for a long time. And if it's summertime, they can be marathons like our (A)D&D, Top Secret, Gamma World, and Star Frontiers games were. |
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Wisconsin Wookie
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Joined: 25 May 2011
Posts: 936
Location: WI
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| Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the input. Based on what you guys have said, I'm getting very close to being able to get them going. I would imagine that Pirates of Prexiar is about the perfect introductory scenario for younger kids. Anyone have another suggested pre-made scenario that could be a good starter for a 9-year old? |
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Downstrike
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Joined: 03 Mar 2012
Posts: 80
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| Posted: Sat Mar 03, 2012 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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B.A. and C.D. in the Wizard of Oz?
Scarecrow is an alien plant thing
Tin Man is a droid.
Cowardly Lion is a Don Knots sort of whatever fits but I’m thinking Wookiee.
Glenda is a Jedi Master
The wicked witch is something Dark with an army of robot monkeys….better dress them as ninjas.
The Wizard, well, he’s still just some dude hanging out with a bunch of special effects to run a puppet Hutt.
Etc.
If you want, there was a lot more than just wizard of Oz and Return to Oz. LibriVox has a ton of the Oz series available in audio for free.
http://librivox.org/
Also, there is the new prequel Oz stuff. I have not read the books but my wife made me go see Wicked and it was pretty damn good.
Cheers
DS |
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