Tuesday, July 17, 2007

2 thoughts on a Star Wars campaign

1) You can get a lotof mileage out of only taking the first movie as established fact and using the rest of the films as inspiration. Anakin Skywalker and Darth Vader are not necessarily one and the same. Luke, Leia, and Darth may not be related. Darth Vader's dark master is not necessarily the Emperor. Jabba could be merely a local thug or an intergalactic criminal mastermind able to threaten the Empire.

2) Should some characters receive Get Out Of Death Free cards? I'm kinda thinking major villains only work when they are recurring villains. No GM-created villain should get more than a single 1-Up. But I'm willing to cut Darth Vader or Boba Fett a bit moe slack than that. PCs should also get at least one Miraculous Escape if the bad guys get such consideration.

8 comments:

  1. Should some characters receive Get Out Of Death Free cards? I'm kinda thinking major villains only work when they are recurring villains.

    ... but on the other hand, a really smart, menacing villain will recur without ever getting a "Get Out of Death Free" card. The villains worthy of such a "card" never need them.

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  2. Well, for each "Get Out of Death Free" "card" cashed by the player characters, you as the GM should get one to use for a villain of your choice. That way, if the players play it hardcore, the villains will also need to live and die hardcore. Keeps things in balance...

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  3. I like your thoughts on villains. I'm running a Star Wars campaign with my kids. Here's my question jeff: what kind of resources are you using to prepare? The core rule book is sparse.

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  4. As long as no one actually sees the villian die, the villian always gets away. If they can't find a corpse to poke with a stick, then resurrection is as simple as "escape pod" or "hid in air ducts" or even "crawling out of the Sarlacc cause I'm just that cool".

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  5. 1) Definitely. That really cuts down on the possible marginalization of the PCs in the rebel era.

    2) I agree with Jum. Also, the Force Point expenditure to avoid dying helps with this, if interpreted loosely.

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  6. Here's an idea: how about a "Get Out of Death Mostly Free" chart? A similar mechanic is used in the Skull & Bones pirate sourcebook from Green Ronin. A character could survive deadly wounds, but had to take a roll on a table that had all sorts of different possibilities, from losing a few Con points or fingers to losing a leg or arm or eye, etc.

    This fits in with Star Wars pretty well. In ANH, C3PO probably should have been bashed to bits by the Sandpeople; instead, he lost an arm. In ESB, Luke probably should have been killed by Vader (the whole Father-Son thing aside), but got his hand chopped off instead. Han should have been killed by Vader, but was used as a guinea pig instead. In AotC, Anakin should have died, but lost an arm instead; same to the multiples in RotS. And so forth. In Star Wars, of course, there are easy ways to fix such disabilities, but it makes for interesting stories...

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  7. mitch: My resources for prep are the corebook, the films, some cartoons, some old Marvel comics, wookiepedia, and a complete disegard for the little voice in my head that tells me an idea is "too stupid".

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  8. >the little voice in my head that tells me an idea is
    > "too stupid".

    Umm, hey man, can I get that back from you?
    I think I was keeping it in that stack of OMAC comics I lent you.

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