Over the many many years which I’ve played my Rogue/Warlock, Zalekios, he has often run into a group called the Dragon Forged. Truth be told, I don’t even recall our first encounter. I believe they tried to accost me on the road, followed by a healthy dose of torturous murder on my part. If I recall correctly, I was so annoyed with their attempt to burgle me, that I performed the closest thing to a good deed which Zalekios has ever attempted. I rooted out their evil plan to trick the nation of Alamon into going to war with their southern neighbor, Mulgran, and foiled it simply to spite them. Alamon awarded me with a rather rare artifact, and I believe I’m still considered a minor hero in that kingdom, since I never had a second adventure in that area.
The Dragon Forged have been a pebble in my shoe ever since. And as I’ve gained higher and higher levels, my dealings with them have become ever more comical. Most recently I was awakened by one of my goblins and alerted to the fact that my tower was under siege. I look out over my balcony, and what do I see but two small warbands of Dragon Forged, impotently attempting to break down my door. So I spend a few rounds lobbing Eldritch Blasts at them before I get bored, jump off the third story balcony, and attack the low-level twats in melee.
What? Zalekios has a wisdom modifier of 0. It’s ROLE PLAYING. >.>
The rabble is dispatched quickly enough, and I’m left wondering why my GM would waste time on such a pointless little skirmish. I actually made sure I kept a few of the pests alive, just so I could torture them and hopefully discover why the GM had chosen to send them against me. But first, I resolved, I would finish my night’s rest.
Yet no sooner had I laid my evil head to my evil pillow, than I was awakened yet again. I seriously considered killing the goblin this time, but Zalekios is trying to work on conserving his resources better, and I resisted. The goblin had a good reason to awaken me anyway: there was a dragon circling the tower. Thinking my GM was sending me a somewhat more deadly challenge, I rushed to the balcony, skeletal hands glowing black with eldritch might. But the dragon didn’t attack. It alighted on my balcony, and morphed into a human shape.
This dragon, as it turned out, was the dragon in ‘Dragon Forged.’ Apparently his goal all along has been to cause all the great nations on the continent to go to war with each other, and continue warring until nothing is left but ruination. Being Chaotic Evil himself, Zalekios is fond this this notion. The dragon had also noticed that, given his follower’s repeated failures, and my repeated pwning of them, that perhaps I was just the psychopath to lead him to victory. He offered me a position as his chief lieutenant, with complete command over the forces of the Dragon Forged, to the end bringing about the catastrophe we both desired.
It took me a few days, but I came up with a rather solid plan I think. It’s not only multi-layered, but has fail-safes which kick in if some element of the plan fails. Made me feel like god-damned Xanatos. The details of that plan, however, may be written about at a later date after I’ve had an opportunity to see how the plan unfolds. However, one of the elements of the plan was that I required the Dragon Forged to not suck. To that end, my GM and I worked out some simple rules for training large groups of NPCs. I’m not sure if I’ve seen rules for anything like this in any official supplements, so they may be of use to you if you are ever in need.
A character can train a group of NPCs in any class that character has at least 3 levels in. For example, a 4th level rogue / 2nd level fighter can train a group how to be rogues, but not how to be fighters.
A group of NPCs can never be trained to a class level higher than 2 levels below the current class level attained by their teacher. For example, a 10th level rogue can train a group of NPCs to be level 8 rogues, but not level 9 rogues.
Each level requires [2 * The Level Being Trained To] months. For example, training a group from level 6 to level 7 requires 14 months.
Training costs [1000 * The Level Being Trained To] gold pieces. For example, training a group from level 6 to level 7 costs 7000 gold. This cost is for training only. Items such as training equipment etc. Any cost for food and lodging of the trainees would be extra.
Training more than 10 people at a time adds a 2% failure rate for each additional person. For example, if you’re training 10 people, then there is no failure rate. However, if you’re training 11 people at once, then you must roll a D%. If you roll 1-2, then the training fails and the materials and time is wasted. Training 12 people at once has a 4% failure rate, training 13 has a 6% failure rate, and so on.
Hirelings can be used to train groups in classes which they have.
New Feat: “Teacher:” Characters who have this feat only need to spend half as much money when training groups of NPCs.
New Feat: “Improved Teacher:” Characters who have this feat reduce their failure rate for students above 10 to 1%. (11 students has a 1% failure rate, 12 students has a 2% failure rate, and so on.)
I quite like the system. At first glance, and for our game, it balances well. Each level of training comes with a cost in both time and money which keeps the system from being abused to create massive armies. Also, note that this system says nothing about loyalty. Simply that skills are imparted from one high level character, to multiple lower level characters. If the GM is feeling particularly dickish, he or she could simply have the students turn on their teacher once they have nothing more to learn.
I’m sure the system has numerous flaws, though. It was really just slapped together by the two of us chatting back and forth one evening. I’d be interested to hear anyone’s thoughts on what flaws it has, or how it could be improved.
I thought I’d round out Star Wars week with a summary of the classic time periods available to Game Masters. The political and social landscape of the galaxy changes drastically as time progresses in the Star Wars Universe. Each provides unique opportunities for adventure. And while you may want to stick to what you’re already familiar with (either from the films, or from books you’ve read) this list can help foster ideas about where you’d like to take your games as time progresses in your own little version of the Star Wars Universe. Or, perhaps, even give you an idea of which periods you’d like to look into further.
As with all Star Wars posts, this list focuses on the classic Star Wars trilogy and the fiction based on it, rather than anything based on the prequel films, which were bad. For those unaware, the Battle of Yavin (where the first Death Star is destroyed) is used as year zero. Dates are measured as either Before the Battle of Yavin (BBY) or After the Battle of Yavin (ABY).
Most of the truly iconic imperial technology had not yet been deployed during this period. The Death Star was, obviously, still being designed and built. And ship types such as the Imperial Star Destroyer, and the Executor Class Star Destroyer (or “Super” Star Destroyer) were likewise still on the drawing table. Though some would have been under construction in secret shipyards owned by Kuat. The Emperor also humors the Imperial Senate, providing the illusion of representative government.
There is no organized resistance to the Empire. There are many dissident groups, but they are independent from one another, and easily crushed by the Empire. It isn’t until two years prior to the Battle of Yavin that a group of Imperial Senators, in an act of treason, sign The Corellian Treaty, bringing the disparate rebel groups together to form The Rebel Alliance.
Rebellion Era From the signing of the Corellian Treaty in 2 BBY, to the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY
Also known as the First Galactic Civil War, this period is probably the most well known, as it takes place primarily during the original trilogy of films. The Rebel Alliance and Empire engage in a brutal conflict. Many of the Empire’s most notable atrocities and most terrifying weapons occur during this period: the destruction of Alderaan by the Death Star, and the creation of the Executor class Star Destroyer among them.
Early New Republic Era From the Battle of Endor in 4 ABY, to the Conquest of Coruscant in 7 ABY
After the death of both Emperor Palpatine and Darth Vader at the Battle of Endor, the Galactic Empire is thrown into chaos. A whirlwind of successors hold the reigns of power for a short time, only to be assassinated or otherwise removed from power. Sometimes a single leader dominates, other times a small group will declare itself a ruling council of some kind. Meanwhile, more and more powerful Imperial leaders simply split off from the Empire, becoming Warlords.
In the days after the Battle of Endor, an interim government is formed by the Rebel Alliance, calling itself the Alliance of Free Planets. And one month after the battle of Endor, the Declaration of a New Republic is issued. Planets begin breaking off from the Empire immediately, joining the New Republic. Imperial responses to these “secessionists” is sporadic at best. Most of the New Republic still relies on secret bases, but the government makes itself visible. The New Republic continues to be viewed as a feeble government, in its infancy, until the conquest of Coruscant three years after the death of Palpatine.
New Republic Era From the Conquest of Coruscant in 7 ABY, to the signing of the Pellaeon-Gavrisom Treaty in 19 ABY
The New Republic consistently grows in power, whilst the Empire becomes continually weaker. There are some brief periods of upheaval, in which the Empire surges and becomes a serious threat to the stability of the New Republic, such as the dreaded Thrawn Crisis, or the brief rule of the Reborn Emperor.
This is simultaneously one of the most and least varied periods in Star Wars history. On the one hand, the number of major events which occurred during this period are numerous and interesting. Yet when all is said and done, everything returned to more or less the status quo.
The Empire’s territories steadily shrink during this period, until Fleet Admiral Gilad Pellaeon, as supreme commander of the Empire, with the backing of the Moff Council, signs the Pellaeon-Gavrisom treaty, ending the 21 year Galactic Civil War.
One other major event occurs during this period which will shape the fate of the galaxy through the future: Luke Skywalker establishes his Jedi Praxeum on Yavi IV in the year 11 ABY, officially beginning the training of a new generation of Jedi Knights.
Late New Republic Era From the signing of the Pellaeon Gavrisom Treaty in 19 ABY to the start of the Yuuzhan Vong War in 25 ABY
Remarkably little has ever been written about this period. Primarily just the children’s books and young adult novels written about the youthful adventures of Han and Leia’s children and their friends. So aside from those relatively minor threats to galactic peace, these few years are a time of relative tranquility in the galaxy.
New Jedi Order Era From the start of the Yuuzhan Vong War in 25 ABY with the First Battle of Helska, to the end of said war in 29 ABY with the Liberation of Coruscant.
The Yuuzhan Vong invade the galaxy, initiating one of the most brutal and bloody wars in galactic history. The Yuuzhan Vong’s organic technology is, at first, completely invulnerable to any attempts to attack it. Thousands of worlds are conquered by this technology-hating species, and completely reformed to fit the needs of the Yuuzhan Vong. Trillions upon Trillions of beings are killed, and many completely loose hope that anyone can stand against the onslaught.
The New Republic has grown complacent and weak in the years since the treaty with the Empire, and is ill prepared to handle the invasion. It consistently makes major blunders, and eventually loses control of Coruscant to the invading Yuzzhan Vong hordes. After the death of Chief of State Borsk Fey’lya, along with much of the senate, Cal Omas was elected leader of the New Republic. And shortly after the New Republic victory at the Battle of Ebaq 9, it was decided that a new, more united government would be required if the war was to be won.
And so the New Republic was dissolved, and reformed as The Galactic Alliance, which also included the Imperial Remnant, as well as the Hapes Consortium. And, with the cooperation of the Chiss Ascendancy and the Jedi Order, the Galactic Alliance was able to push back the Yuuzhan Vong, defeat their war machine, and make peace with those who remained.
This is yet another period of relative calm, like the late New Republic era. The damage done during the Yuuzhan Vong war is never fully undone, but much effort is invested by the Galactic Alliance in trying to soothe the wounds of the war. Finding new homes for a planet’s worth of refugees, and so forth.
Second Galactic Civil War Era From Operation Roundabout in 40 ABY, to the Battle of Shedu Maad in 41 ABY
The planet Corellia begins to express a lack of satisfaction with Galactic Alliance rule, and talks of succession. The two governments posture at one another, until a series of blunders leads to an all out war between Corellia and the Galactic Alliance. Neither side has the moral high ground in this conflict. More than any war prior to it, the Second Galactic Civil War pits family members against one another.
Guided by Sith teachings, the grandson of Darth Vader, Jacen Solo, gradually assumes power over the Galactic Alliance, and takes the name Darth Caedus for himself. Under his leadership, the Galactic Alliance becomes as loathsome as Palpatine’s empire before it. The Hapes Consortium withdraws from the Galactic Alliance, and the Jedi Order abandons it.
Darth Caedus is killed at the Battle of Shedu Maad by his sister. Natasi Daala is named Chief of State of the Galactic Alliance.
There’s still one post left in Star Wars week coming up this evening, but I wanted to take this opportunity to make note of a new project of mine which some of my readers may or may not be interested in. I rather like superhero cartoons, such as the old Batman animated series. My ladyfriend, Morrie, quite likes them as well. So we settled on a fun project: watch each and ever episode of the five shows produced by Bruce Timm (Batman, Superman, Batman Beyond, Justice League, and Justice League Unlimited) and write about them in turn. We call the project Trapsing Through The Timmverse, because I like assonance.
If you’re uninterested in my non-role playing shenanigans, then simply enjoy this lovely picture of a Batdwarf.
Atmosphere is essential to creating an authentic Star Wars experience for your players. A good GM knows that atmosphere is important in any game. But Star Wars presents a unique challenge, because the goal isn’t creating an atmosphere which enhances feelings of dread or excitement. The goal is to create a far more specific atmosphere which enhances the illusion that the players are acting out a continuation of the Star Wars films. There’s a certain feel to the Star Wars mythos, one which sets it apart from other internally consistent fictional universes. It’s a dirty, gritty place, yet never a hopeless place. It’s a universe of stark contrasts between good and evil, where even characters who exist as a shade of gray have picked a de facto side.
The West End Games core rulebook for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game (second edition, revised and expanded) has some great tips for creating the Star Wars atmosphere. These are some of my own thoughts on how to enhance that atmosphere.
Used Universe One of the core principals behind the original Star Wars films was the Used Universe philosophy. Unlike other future-tech media, which was filled with gleaming white, or worse, chrome technology, the Star Wars universe is a dirty patchwork which breaks down half the time. Many other works of fiction, such as Firefly, have adopted the used universe philosophy, and it is arguably the most important part of the Star Wars atmosphere.
Very little in a Star Wars game should look pristine and new. Even the ships of the Imperial Navy should have obvious score marks from battles, off-color hull plates where replacements were added, and corrosion here and there. Outside the Imperial Navy, this should be even worse. The ships of the rebellion, or ships owned by smugglers and pirates, often have multicolored hulls from the numerous replacement hull plates which have been installed over the years. And the interiors should be no better. Things get piled in corridors or empty store rooms, sections of ships might even be completely shut down to save on precious energy if money is tight.
Ancient Universe Have you ever really thought about the line “For over a thousand generations the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic?” That means the old republic must have existed for at 1001 generations. A generation is an imprecise method of describing time, but even by lowballing and saying that one generation is equal to thirty years, we’re talking about a single government which lasted longer than the entire history of human civilization. And before the rise of the Old Republic, there must have been hundreds or thousands more generations of pre-republic history.
Nobody remembers a time before traveling around the universe was commonplace. No planet has a history which is unaffected by the existence of interstellar travel–at least no history which anyone remembers.
That said, it doesn’t mean there are no unexplored planets. And there’s always the unknown regions to provide unknown challenges.
Tactile Universe The original Star Wars films were made in the late seventies and early eighties, and reflect the technology of the period. In the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon, Han solo flips switches, adjusts levers, and even spins dials. Holograms are grainy and heavily tinted to green or blue, and computer readouts are primitive, to say the least. This can create cognitive dissonance for players who already own technology much more advanced than that seen in Star Wars. The handheld comlink Luke Skywalker uses to tell C-3PO to shut down the garbage masher doesn’t really stand up when it’s compared to a Samsung Galaxy II, or whatever the kids are excited about this week.
This dissonance can be solved somewhat by mixing your tech levels based on the technology being used. Ships and military hardware, for example, should have more tactile controls. Mechanical parts which need to be physically manipulated in order to bring about the desired effect. This can be explained as simpler hardware being more reliable than touch screens and fancy high definition readouts. Don’t be afraid to mix a little bit of high-end future tech in there as well, though. Traditionally, datapads have always been a kind of cross between an e-reader and a TI-85 calculator. But there’s no reason you couldn’t let your players use them as tablet computers.
Fantasy, not Science Fiction Star Wars should never be confused with science fiction. There’s nothing scientific about it. The distinctive scream of a TIE fighter would never be heard in the vacuum of space, no planet could ever exist as a single biome, lightsabers make no sense, and The Force is magic. A Star Wars GM could never make a bigger mistake than enforcing the laws of science onto the fantastical universe of Star Wars.
That’s all there really is to say on the matter.
Droids Like Their Lot Stories which take place in space tend to fall into two groups. Either there are no robots, or very very few robots, such as in Firefly or Star Trek. Or robots are omnipresent, but they’re secretly plotting the downfall of humanity, such as in the Terminator or Matrix films. Such stories often place emphasis on the balance between how advanced artificial intelligence has become, and whether humanity has granted civil rights to those artificial intelligences. Personally I take the Speaker For the Dead / Questionable Content position on this issue, but that’s neither here nor there.
In Star Wars, robots (which are always referred to as droids, despite rarely being androids of any kind) are both highly intelligent, and completely content with their subservient position to the organic species of the galaxy. There are a handful of exceptions within Star Wars cannon. IG-88 and 8T88 are both good examples. And, of course, there was the great droid revolution, but that was an isolated incident.
Their contentment with subservience doesn’t mean they’re always docile, or even that they’re content under whichever master currently owns them. More highly intelligent droids can do plenty of grumbling, and R2-D2 is notoriously sarcastic, even with his beloved master Luke. Droids can have very strong personalities, but it’s unlikely that they’ll ever actually turn on their masters without outside interference, such as a malicious hacker (or “slicer” in star wars terminology).
Unique Terminology A GM who isn’t a devoted Star Wars fan might find this to be more trouble than it is worth, but I for one find the unique terminology of the Star Wars universe to be an important element of immersion. Many things which exist on earth, and also within Star Wars, have alternate names. Paper is Flimsi, Coffee is Caff, and a bar is a Tapcaff. I could create a list of cross-referenced terms (like some kind of English to Star Wars dictionary) and might actually do so at some point, but simply making a point to use the terms you’re already aware of can be helpful.
In the same vein, it’s good to make use of Star Wars’ unique slang and material names. You, like me, may feel that “Bantha Fodder” is a shitty sub-in for the word “shit,” but many of the later novels have done a good job of creating more organic sounding profanity. Words like “Sithspit,” “Stang” or “Karking” have the kind of punch we expect from profanity. Other examples of slang include “Eyeball” for a TIE fighter, “Squint” for a TIE Interceptor, or “Impstar Deuce” for an Imperial Star Destroyer Mark II. And it never hurts to make up your own. Just remember to avoid making up terms which sound as goofy as “Bantha Fodder.”
As a quick example of how helpful this can be, consider this scenario: Your players are rebel commandos. They’re on a transport on their way to a mission. As they come out of Hyperspace, the NPC pilot exclaims:
“Shit! There’s a Star Destroyer out there. Looks like a victory class, and it’s launching TIEs! Man the guns, people!”
There’s nothing wrong with that, but I don’t think it holds up well when compared to a more flavorful exclamation:
“Sithspit! There’s karking Star Destroyer, looks like a Vic. And it’s deploying squints! Get to the quads!”
Ione was born and raised on Coruscant, in the heart of the Emporer’s new order. His human family prospered when the Old Republic was transformed into the Galactic Empire. They were not wealthy, but they were proud citizens of the Imperium, and raised their children to respect and obey Palpatine’s government. Ione, like his siblings, was encouraged to consider military service. And when he was of age, Ione enlisted in the Imperial Naval Academy.
The academy was a harsh trial for Ione. He had always been heavy, and his instructors were merciless in their disapproval. The young recruit was singled out for additional training many times during his education, often in needlessly cruel ways. Once he was required to undergo an additional hour of exercise in the middle of every sleep cycle for over a month. For his part, Ione rarely complained. Not that he had anyone to complain to. He was not well loved by his classmates, due to his ability to get the entire group marked for half rations, or second laps through the obstacle course.
Despite his difficulties, Ione successfully graduated from the naval academy with the rest of his class. He barely managed to skirt beneath the maximum weight limit, but he was an officer in the Imperial Navy. And like all officers, the first year of his commission was spent in a TIE cockpit. He took great pride in his skills as a pilot, and even volunteered to help the technicians keep his squadron’s TIEs in top fighting shape. His skill and dedication were noticed, and he was given a posting on the Imperial Class Star Destroy Judicator as a TIE Interceptor pilot.
Ione had been stationed on the Judicator for two years when he received word that his family, parents and two younger brothers, had been killed in a speeder crash. His elder sister, also in Imperial service, but stationed on Imperial Center, was arranging the funeral. Ione was crushed by his family’s passing, but could not abandon his duties as an interceptor pilot. He did his best to carry on, but despite his efforts, he began to gain weight as he sought to find some solace in the comforts of food. His commanders were understanding at first, but his weight continued to increase. When disciplinary action failed to curb his eating problem, Ione was dishonorably discharged from his majesty’s service.
Without a career to focus on, but unwilling to abandon his values or his love of ships and flying, Ione took his half of his family’s inheritance and bought a ship. Nothing too impressive, just a little Seinar Fleet Systems scout ship. He also bought a TIE/In Fighter from a black market dealer, and burned through the last of the credits modifying the two in a cheap garage on Corellia. He improved the weapons systems and the speed, as well as adding some minor shield power to the TIE, in exchange for losing some of its maneuverability. The biggest modification was adding a docking clamp to the scout ship, allowing him to carry the TIE with him, and launch it when needed. He self-deprecatingly named the ship Grear’s Folds, and christened the TIE Spitball One.
These days Ione does whatever freelance work he can pick up. Much to his chagrin, this often includes smuggling work, which Ione avoids if at all possible. He prefers to keep his work legal, and still has some friends in the Empire who help him out if there’s ever a freelance Imperial contract to be had.
Personality Grear is a morose fellow. He’s probably suffering from undiagnosed clinical depression, but he wouldn’t allow himself to blame a medical problem for his outlook even if he could. He’s simply doing his best to get by, even if he sometimes wonders if ‘getting by’ is worth it. Despite being a diehard Imperial, he is not so sexist or xenophobic as most members of the Imperial military. Just the same, ff he happens to encounter rebels, it’s likely he’d attack them in the hopes of going out in a blaze of glory–perhaps even to be remembered by the Empire.
Tactics Grear is unlikely to engage in combat unless he meets with rebels. If he does find rebels, or is attacked by another aggressor, he will use his flying skills to the best of his ability to defeat his foe, and will not retreat. If the attacking ships attempt to use superior maneuverability to defeat him, he will put Grear’s Fold on auto-pilot, and attack them in Spitball One. If outmatched, he may attempt to trick foes into believing he is defeated by allowing Grear’s Fold to drift powerless through space, only to launch in his TIE when the enemy’s defenses are down.
If attacked outside of his ship, Grear will attempt to escape to the safety of his ship. Or to the safety of his TIE, if Grear’s Fold has been boarded.
Thoughts on Use Grear and his ship make a great source of transportation for any type of player–though rebels will want to keep their affiliations secret!
Ione Grear Type Discharged TIE Pilot Gender/Species Male/Human Age 32; Height 1.5 meters; Weight 148 kg. Physical Description Short and squat, with folds of excess weight barely fitting in to his sweat stained and threadbare olive drab uniform.
Well, that little break lasted longer than expected. That’s how my self discipline works I suppose. If I give up an inch of my ironclad mental schedule, then my tendency towards laziness will take a mile. Fortunately, my self loathing was really on top of things this time. By the end of my little “vacation” (which caused me to miss all of two posts) I was so frustrated with myself that getting back on top of writing became my only escape from a constant barrage of self recriminations. Go self loathing! About time you started pulling your weight.
As a change of pace, I thought I would end 2011/start 2012 with a week dedicated to my beloved Star Wars D6 RPG by West End Games. As a geek, Star Wars is my specialty, and I have a soft spot for the simple and elegant system designed by West End Games. I’ve been writing about Pathfinder nonstop for months now, but I’ve always imagined this project as one which can be more diverse. Pathfinder is my focus, certainly, but there are so many systems and possibilities out there. It would be a shame not to give them some of my attention.
Today it’s plot hooks! Every adventure needs a starting point. Something to get the players excited about the game they’re playing, and what they’re doing in it. It’s a springboard for the GM to get the action going. You never have more of the player’s attention than you do in the first minute or so of the game, so you’ve got to make it count. With a Star Wars game, GMs have a unique opportunity to hook their players into a game by intersecting that game with one of the three good films. Unless you’ve got a game group full of avid Star Wars fans (in which case, I hate you) it’s likely that your players are somewhat wary of playing in the Star Wars universe. By giving them a touchstone to something they’re familiar with–the films–you help make everyone a little more comfortable and familiar with their surroundings.
Ultimately, how you intersect the films is up to you, but I’ve arranged these according to the methodology which I feel is most appropriate. The idea is for the players to fit into the background of the films. Perhaps someone with a moment of screentime, or someone who was standing just off camera during a specific scene. These characters can then go on to change the course of the entire saga if they want to, but starting your players out as Obi-Wan Kenobi’s ‘other jedi apprentices’ simply strikes me as awkward and masturbatory. Like bad self-insertion fan fiction.
A New Hope
Death Star Plans: Imperial Players who would like to explore the sophistication and grandeur of Palpatine’s New Order can start the game with orders to recover the Death Star plans. Eventually this would intersect with the opening scene of A New Hope, where the Star Destroyer Devestator is giving chase to (and eventually capturing) the rebel blockade runner Tantive IV. When the plans are not found (having been hidden with R2-D2) the Imperial players can continue down to the planet, and continue following the plan’s trail. Particularly successful players may be able to capture the plans before they eventually reach the rebels, stopping the destruction of the Death Star. The rebellion would be a great deal weaker after losing the Battle of Yavin, but that wouldn’t mean they couldn’t still pose a threat for your players to fight against!
If you were so inclined, you could start the quest even earlier, with the players on the planet Danuta following Kyle Katarn’s theft of the plans–a classic moment in the Star Wars continuity, and more well known than many other stories from the Expanded Universe (EU).
Death Star Plans: Alliance If your group prefers the more traditional route of playing as rebels, the Death Star plans can still provide impetus for gameplay. In the film, when Darth Vader and the Devestator capture princess Leia and the Tantive IV, the rebellion’s leadership has every reason to suspect that they’ve been compromised. Not only have the Death Star plans been (supposedly) recovered, but an important leader has been identified and captured by the enemy. As much respect as anyone might have for Leia, can they really trust that she wont betray the Yavin IV base when subjected to torture?
So the rebel leadership is faced with two problems. First, they must find a way to counter the Death Star. Such a weapon is too devastating to be ignored, even in the face of massive setbacks. Likely this would mean formulating a new plan to re-acquire the schematics for the station. But after the destruction of Alderaan, they may feel that it is worth the risk to attempt smuggling operatives onto the Death Star itself to destroy it from within. Secondly, the rebellion needs to find a new base, which I’ll discuss more below.
New Base: Alliance Regardless of how events transpire, it is highly likely that the Rebellion’s Yavin IV base is compromised. Whether it’s simply assumed due to Princess Leia’s capture, or whether the Empire follows the tracking device planted on the Millennium Falcon, one way or another, the rebels need a new home. Eventually this new home will be Hoth, as seen in Empire Strikes Back. However, GMs could run some very interesting exploration games where the players are rebel scouts, looking for suitable planets for the rebellion to hide on. Hoth is remote, and has the benefit of per-existing structures for the rebels to use, but if players find something better, that could change the course of the saga.
There’s a lot of benefit to this hook. First, it presents an opportunity for the players to make a significant contribution to the story immediately. That ability to have a real impact on events is rarely so clearly spelled out, and players like to feel as though the outcome changes based on their actions. That’s what we call Player Agency. Second, the possibilities are wide open for the type of adventure you could run. First players need to figure out where to go, which allows them to pick from a number of options. Then the players need to get there, which provides an opportunity for space-based adventure. Once the players arrive, they’ll need to scout the area, giving the GM plenty of opportunity to create all manner of conflict. Since the players will want to find a planet with existing facilities for the rebellion to use, you could even use that as an opportunity to include a dungeon delving-esque adventure.
Bounty on Solo: Bounty Hunters Rebels and Imperials are not the only types of characters players enjoy. Thanks to the popularity of characters like Boba Fett, some people view playing as a bounty hunter is the best part of the Star Wars universe. Considering the sizable bounty placed on Han Solo’s head by Jabba the Hutt, players may be very interested to hear (or better yet: witness) Solo’s cold blooded murder of Greedo in a little tapcaf on Tatoine.
Sand Crawler: Droids I don’t have many ideas regarding this, but if you’re GMing for a party of droid characters, they could all meet up on the Sand Barge where R2-D2 and C-3PO are reunited.You might even bend the plot of the story a bit by having R2 entrust one of your players with the Death Star plans, and the task of taking them to Obi-Wan Kenobi
The Empire Strikes Back
Hoth Escape: Alliance After the battle of Hoth the rebellion is completely routed. The surprise attack on their hidden base left them scrambling to escape, taking massive losses during one of the most exciting and memorable battles in any of the films. There’s a reason this encounter has been repeated ad-nausea in almost every Star Wars video game ever released, and it’s a perfect place to jump into the game as Alliance players.
Right off the bat, players are faced with the deadly battle against the invading imperial force. The group could start the game in the trenches, then fall back as the Stormtroopers press further into the base. Or if the players prefer, they could be pilots, zipping about in agile air speeders, trying desperately to figure out how to take down the towering imperial AT-ATs. But Hoth is a losing battle, and any combat is merely to provide cover to allow time for other rebel personnel to load transports and begin the escape. The players who survive (which, given the fatality rates in the Star Wars game, probably won’t be all of them) must then escape from the planet themselves. If they’re pilots, this can be even more exciting than the battle below. If they’re not, then they’ll be huddled in the belly of a rebel transport, hoping they don’t get blown out of the sky.
Vader’s Task: Bounty Hunters A short, but memorable scene in Empire Strikes Back is shortly after the battle of Hoth, when Darth Vader meets with a group of bounty hunters and tasks them with finding the Millennium Falcon. The scene introduces Boba Fett, and includes the now infamous “No disintegration” line. There was actually a whole book about it called “Tales of the Bounty Hunters,” which was remarkably good. But I digress. The major problem with this hook, of course, is that most players will already know that Han Solo is on his way to cloud city. None the less, there’s some opportunity for a good game here.
Occupy Cloud City: Any During Empire Strikes Back, Cloud City is occupied by the Empire. This becomes particularly problematic at the end of the film when the Empire’s occupation becomes permanent. Cloud City is a mining outpost, but it’s also a haven for smugglers, gamblers, and manner of riff raff. There are doubtless even some rebels amongst the populace. The frantic escape from Cloud City doesn’t give the game much direction, but it’s a fun and interesting way to tie your game into the film.
Return of the Jedi
Free At Last: Any Jabba the Hutt was a powerful crime lord. Head of the powerful Desilijic crime family of Hutts, his underworld power was matched only by Prince Xizor of Black Sun. In his Tatooine palace, he had any number of droids, slaves, mercenaries, bounty hunters, and other hangers-on around him at all times. His death would have caused a frantic scramble either to escape from the fallout of a collapsing criminal empire, or to try and claim a piece of that empire.
Players who don’t mind playing as villains may even be interested in starting the game earlier, and having an opportunity to prevent Han from being rescued by his friends. Or, if the players wish to start out as slaves, perhaps they help the heroes escape Jabba’s sail barge, and follow them to join the rebellion.
Assault on the Death Star: Rebels The most impressive space battle in the entire trilogy, in my most humble opinion, is the fight to destroy the second Death Star at the end of Return of the Jedi. After the fleet jumps in-system, players will need to fight tooth and nail just to survive while the shield remains staunchly in place. And once the shield is down, small craft can dive into the structure of the massive space station, and perhaps join Tycho Celchu on his ‘merry chase through the Death Star.‘
Assault on the Shield Generator: Rebels If players aren’t particularly interested in space combat (and in fairness, it can be tricky to pull off well) then the action on the ground of Endor is another great place to start. Particularly if one of your players wants to be an Ewok. The conflict on the ground is long, and comes in multiple phases, which provides good structure to the adventure. First the characters must use stealth as they avoid Imperial scouts as they make their way to the generator, then they must fight to get in. Once in, it’s revealed that the whole thing was a trap, and they must fight against insurmountable odds to accomplish their mission. If the players in the game manage to be more skilled than the characters in the film, then the destruction of the Death Star may even go a great deal more smoothly, perhaps leading to promotions for the PCs, and more dangerous missions in the future!
My lady-friend will be working over the Christmas weekend, so she and I decided to celebrate the holiday today. Fancy dinner and gift giving, followed by hours of watching the Batman: Beyond DVDs I got her. Not exactly related to the content of the blog, but as it turns out, my lady-friend knows that I like:
There’s a lot of great RPG stuff here. So lets tackle it in order.
Goblins of Golarion is a small Pathfinder supplement which serves to aid people who wish to play as Pathfinder’s iconic goblins. Not too long ago I ran a one-shot game called We Be Goblins! which was offered by Paizo as free promotional material for the release of this little supplement. And I must confess, the idea of playing as a goblin really got my group excited, and everyone had a lot of fun. Goblins of Golarion is only slightly over 30 pages long, which is about how many pages were allocated to each race in the old D&D 3.5 ‘Races of…’ series of books. It’s even structured similarly to those books. It begins with “Life as a Goblin,” and goes on to cover numerous elements of goblin culture, specific goblin tribes, as well as a few player options at the end. Goblin specific feats, spells, and so on. Based on my cursory perusal, it seems like a solid supplement.
Moving on is a more full-bodied Pathfinder supplement, Ultimate Magic. I haven’t had time to meaningfully look over the options presented here, but I suspect I’ll feel about it the same way I felt about Ultimate Combat. Which is to say: lots of good stuff there, glad to have it in my collection, but way too much filler content. I really like the class archetypes system Pathfinder introduced. I think it’s a great deal better than using prestige classes. Personally, I rather wish Pathfinder had gotten rid of prestige classes altogether, rather than nerfing them and de facto replacing them with archetypes. That being said, does every supplement need 70+ pages of archetypes? Surely you’re not that desperate to fill pages, Paizo.
The rest of the book seems much better. Spell duels can be difficult, so having some advice on running them would be good. Spell blights sound extremely interesting, and I always love to get more detail on classic wizard tasks such as binding outsiders and crafting constructs. So overall, the “Mastering Magic” chapter seems cool. There’s also a sizable chapter on feats. I’m somewhat dubious, due to my aforementioned problems with feats, but at the same time I readily acknowledge that the core game lacks feat variety for casters. Hopefully Pathfinder solved the problem better than D&D 3.5 did. I’m not really sure what to expect from the Words of Power chapter, and of course, there has to be several dozen new spells for some reason. I look forward to delving further into the book. I’m sure I’ll eventually post about anything particularly interesting.
All I really wanted for Christmas was the Mouse Guard RPG. And I got it. I’ve been in love with the concept ever since I first read about it on /tg/ a few months back. After reading a few of the comics, I can confirm what I heard then. It’s a story (or game) about the creatures at the absolute bottom of the food chain trying to survive in a world where everything is a giant monster. I have no doubt there will be one, or several, posts dedicated tot his book in the future.
The ladyfriend also picked up a number of items from our game store’s “old stuff” bins. All very interesting, but the stand-out win here is a copy of Gang Busters. Classic 1980s TSR game about being a mobster or a copper back during America’s roaring twenties. The game was pretty popular in its day, enough to eventually get a third edition (though no second edition). What I got is first edition though, which is killer. I’ve really been wanting to sample some of TSR’s earlier work. I will absolutely be forcing this game on my players at some point in the future, and doubtless I’ll be posting about the experience.
I also received three issues of an independent British role playing magazine (says so right at the top) called “The Last Province.” I haven’t had a chance to peruse these much, but they look like they have some good information in them. And I always like old RPG materials, if for no other reason than collector’s value.
Lastly, there’s issue 17 of White Wolf Magazine. Truth be told, I don’t know if I’ve ever played with a White Wolf product. However, the cover says that this issue covers AD&D 2nd edition, Shadowrun, and contains 3 adventures. Those are all things which interest me. One of these days I really must get around to trying Shadowrun! Also, the woman on the cover has the boob. Like, woah, lady.
Overall, a very merry Christmas for me!
Friday’s normal colorful characters post will be pushed back to Saturday or Sunday, and will replace the regularly scheduled weekend post.
If I haven’t made this clear before, I’m a huge fan of 4chan’s “Traditional Games” forum. This makes me something of an oddity on the “respectable Internet.” The general consensus is that everything on 4chan is awful, and saying anything positive about it makes you a bad person. As is often the case, the general consensus on this matter is drawn from ignorance. Not only does it overlook that many of the cute and harmless Internet jokes everyone is so fond of originate there. But it is most often informed by an encounter with /b/. And while /b/tards may be the most numerous of 4chan’s contributors, I’m a fa/tg/uy. And I’m proud of that. But defending 4chan’s non-/b/ subforums isn’t the purpose of this post.
About two years ago I participated in a thread on /tg/ which forged the most horrible magical item any GM has ever concocted. A wicked cursed dagger so ghastly in nature that I honestly hesitated to post about it. It’s not an item any civilized GM would include in a game. Its value lies in how amusingly vile it is. We called it: The Womb Dagger. It was created in a generic thread about cursed items [Very mildly NSFW link]. You can view the entire discussion if you like–there are some gems in there. But here is the full write up which I put down on paper once the thread was completed.
I would like to make clear that I am not responsible for creating the majority of this. I merely sorted all my favorite ideas together, then made a nice write-up. I would also like to add, in all seriousness, that this item may be offensive to some readers. If sexual elements in role playing games bother you, you may not wish to read further.
The dreaded Womb Dagger is a cursed minor artifact created by a long forgotten god of trickery and balance. Most of the few womb daggers are very plain, though a few are adorned with ornate carvings. All Womb Daggers are +6 Keen weapons. However, the true wonder–and horror–of the item is obscured from identification with spells.
When a woman uses the dagger to kill a creature of any type capable of sexual reproduction, the wielder becomes pregnant with the (now dead) creature’s offspring. If the character is already pregnant and kills with the dagger, then immediately after giving birth she will become pregnant again. Each killed creature is added to her ‘queue.’ Creatures are born as halfbreeds, half the DNA of the killed party, and half the DNA of the killer. In some cases this can cause odd creatures to be created, since not all species would normally be genetically compatible.
The dagger wielder can never harm the child in any significant way, but will always recover fully from any injuries relating from pregnancy and birth. In such cases where such injuries may be extreme, such as with hill giant or draconic children, this can be a lifesaving feature of the dagger. The woman’s children are strongly predisposed to be quite fond of their mother, and will remain with her as companions throughout her life, barring any extenuating circumstances.
If a woman’s queue becomes large enough, she will begin to bear young in ‘litters’ to avoid an endless repetition of pregnancies after clearing two or three dungeons.
If the dagger is wielded by a man, then any time he kills a creature of any type capable of sexual reproduction, he will “carry” that creature’s genetic legacy with him. The next time the male dagger wielder has sexual contact, he will have a 100% fertility rate, negating the use of any preventative measures. Men will maintain a queue of waiting young much like their female counterparts will, though they will only ever pass children along one at a time.
So long as a man wielding the Womb Dagger has a queue of children waiting to be passed on, he will find that he is irresistible to women. Heterosexual women passing within [10 * # of children in queue] feet of him must succeed on a DC: 16 will save or make aggressive advances on him. These women will suffer the same pregnancy and birth related oddities experienced by women who kill with the dagger. This includes their young having a lasting fondness for them. However, that fondness will be overwhelmed by a deep hatred of their father. Most often, these children will leave their mothers once they reach adulthood, and attempt to hunt down and murder their father.
I’ve never liked deserts. Even when I was a kid, I found stories which take place in deserts to be pretty boring. The character is thirsty, the character is hot, it’s cold at night, boom. Deserts. Of course, I’m aware that deserts have their own forms of diversity. Geological formations in deserts can be quite mysterious and beautiful, and the types of creatures with the ability to survive in such harsh environments are often fascinating to learn about. Despite that, I still don’t find deserts all that enjoyable. It’s a bias of mine. Cold deserts are a little more interesting to me, but those will not be covered in this post.
But you can’t just send your PCs through forests all the time. Sure there are idyllic forests, creepy forests, dense forests, sparse forests, coniferous forests and deciduous forests, forested mountains, and forested planes. But for some reason, players eventually get tired of trees, and you need to throw in something else. Eventually that something else ought to be a desert. In all likelihood, since we are playing Pathfinder, that desert is going to produce a creature which is going to try to kill your players. And unless you’re fine with all of your desert combat occurring within a featureless box with a desert painted on the background, you’ll need to find some way for the environment to become a factor in combat.
The problem is that in many ways, deserts are featureless boxes. The box just extends further than the eye can see in every direction. None the less, there are a number of ways in which the players can use the environment to their advantage, and ways in which the environment can betray them.
Sand
Blinding Attack If movies have taught us anything about sand, it’s that sand makes for a good quick blinding attack. (if movies have taught us a another thing about sand, it’s that people are softer than it.) If players want to throw sand in their opponent’s eyes, you can treat it as a ranged touch attack (range of 5ft.) which can be performed from a prone position. If the target is wearing any kind of full eye covering, the attack fails. Success causes the target to be dazed for one round. Bear in mind, as GM, that most creatures which evolved in a a desert will have better protection against this kind of attack than most humans would, and may not be susceptible to it.
Blinding Wind Deserts are often very windy, and that wind tends to pick up sand and carry it around the battlefield. This effectively functions as the blinding attack noted above, but against all players facing a certain direction. How often this effect occurs is entirely dependent on what the whether is like. If the characters are fighting during a sandstorm, then any time they open they’re eyes they’re going to get hit by the dazed effect. More likely, though, players will need to deal with either a consistent wind, or a sputtering breeze.
—Consistent Wind: The wind is coming from a single direction. If this wind is not present and defined before combat begins, roll 1d8. A result of 1 means the wind is coming from the side of the battlemat opposite your position at the table, or “north.” A result of 2 means the wind is coming from the “top right” corner of the battlemat, or “north east.” Results continue in a clockwise fashion around the battlemat. The GM may, at any time, roll 1d6. A result of 1-2 means the wind shifts one “space” in a clockwise direction (West becomes South West, East becomes North East, etc). A result of 3-4 means the wind remains the same. A result of 5-6 means the wind shifts one space counter clockwise. Any players facing against the wind without eye protection must succeed on a reflex save DC: 16 or become dazed for one round. Players facing a direction which is only one space off from the wind direction are allowed a reflex save DC: 13 to avoid becoming dazed for one round. Note that since Pathfinder does not include a facing mechanic, facing must be determined based on the direction in which the player performed their last action. If the player wishes to turn in their space, treat it as a swift action which provokes an attack of opportunity to any enemy the player turns their back towards.
—Sputtering Breeze At the start of each round the GM rolls to see if there will be a gust of wind this round. There is a base 20% chance (which can be raised or lowered depending on the current weather patterns, but should never be above 50%) that the battlefield will be affected by a gust of wind this turn. If there is a gust, roll 1d8 to determine which direction the wind is coming from as noted above. The effects of the breeze are as noted above under Consistent Wind.
Poor Footing Sand makes for poor footing, particularly when moving up and down the sides of dunes. Any characters not intimately familiar with desert environments suffer a -2 penalty to their CMB and CMD for any combat maneuver which requires them to have firm footing (resisting a bull rush, tripping, charging.) This penalty rises to -4 if the character is standing on a particularly loose area of sand, such as the steep side of a dune. In such an instance, the character also loses their dexterity bonus to AC.
Gets Everywhere Sand gets blown around so much, and is so fine, that it can get into anything. And if enough of it gets into a mechanical device, odds are that device will stop working. If your game includes guns, these would be particularly susceptible to this danger. But any number of devices which rely on moving parts could be at risk. Clocks, locks, or even crossbows! Players can avoid this trouble by wrapping their equipment and keeping it protected, but if they fail to do so, then they risk a 5% failure chance in the first two days, a 10% failure chance for the rest of the first week, a 20% chance the second week, a 30% chance the third week, and so on. For guns, these numbers would likely double. Fortunately for bowers, crossbows are relatively simple, and a standard action to clean out the sand in the triggering mechanism should be enough to restore the device to working order.
Just Beneath the Surface The wind over a sandy desert covers up anything quickly. It would be essentially impossible to actually track something through the sand. It would be be similarly impossible to see anything buried just beneath the sand. If foes are springing a trap on the PCs, they could easily have tripwires beneath the sand which would be impossible to detect. Weapons could also be hidden just under the surface of the sand to give the appearance that a group was unarmed. Sand could even hide a trap door with ease, allowing GMs to prepare deadly ambushes where additional foes can spring forth from the sand itself.
Dune Collapse Sand dunes form in a “wave” formation, with one gently sloping side which the wind blows over, and one steep side which is blocked from the wind. Dunes can grow quite large, and oftentimes, quite precariously balanced. A sudden change of wind can potentially cause a dune to collapse towards the steep side. This would have similar effects to an avalanche (Pathfinder Core Rulebook Page 429)
Detritus
Underfoot As noted in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, hot deserts are not always endless wastelands of nothing but sand. Stones, sometimes a lot of them, often litter the landscape of a desert. Occasionally, even extremely resilient shrubs can manage to survive in the harsh desert landscape. So light undergrowth, light rubble, and dense rubble are all possibilities in a desert environment. See the Pathfinder Core Rulebook page 430 for more information on that.
Bones Perhaps it was once a large native creature, such as a blue dragon. Or maybe it was a pack animal brought here by travelers, or simply a wild creature who became lost. It could even be the remains of a creature who died here when this desert was lush and green. Wherever it came from, and whatever the cause of death, all that remain now are bones stripped clean of any meat by the persistent winds. While small creature’s bones may only be good for improvised weapons, the skeletal remains of a blue dragon or dinosaur could potentially provide a good vantage point for archers, or just an interesting environment in which to fight. Hopefully the players don’t try to use it as a landmark, however, since the nature of a shifting sea of sand is that it will sometimes completely conceal the presence of these bones under a dune of sand.
Geological Formations Big rocks are, without a doubt, the coolest thing about deserts. The unique element of sand constantly being blown around seems to create an environment where literally any kind of rock formation imaginable can theoretically be produced. The sheer level of variety makes it impossible to discuss in any meaningful way. Instead, here are a number of photographs of interesting desert rock formations. Let your imagination run wild here. Click any of the thumbnails for larger versions.
Not to sound like an advertisement, but if you like the options which a hot desert environment provides, and would like to run a session or even a campaign in a desert environment, you might consider picking up Sandstorm. It’s one of the better Dungeons and Dragons 3.5 supplement, and it manages to retain most of its relevance in the Pathfinder system. The only reason it was cut from my recent list is because I thought it would be odd to mention it without the other “Environment Books” (Frostburn, Cityscape, etc), which I don’t yet own and have not read. The book contains a lot of great information on running sessions in a dry desert, as well as some really cool desert monsters and specific locations to adventure in. I’ve wanted to find a use for the “Dry Lich” monster for ages. Now that I’ve got myself all hyped up to give deserts a try, I just might get a chance…
Paizo recently announced a new product which, in keeping with form, I’m a huge fan of. They’re calling it the “Pathfinder Bestiary Box,” pictured to the right. The box will contain more than 300 cardboard stand-ups with full color art of various creatures and monsters. They also mention that there will be “more than 250 unique creature images,” which makes me happy, because it would be ridiculous if a GM only had one goblin token to put on the table. The idea obviously follows on the heels of the Pathfinder Beginner Box, which had similar cardboard standups for both monsters and player characters.
Personally, I’ve never been a huge fan of miniatures, which is why I like this idea so much. For years I’ve been using things like pennies and other random items found around my apartment to represent items on the battle mat. It works well enough, but I’ve never been fully satisfied with it. The cardboard standups provide a good middle ground between having nothing to mark your battlemat, or spending tons of time and money on minis.
Still, I’m not completely sold on the idea. Part of the reason I’ve never liked minis is because they steal some of the imagination from the game. If I want to throw my players up against 4 goblins and a poisonous plant creature with the head of a monkey and the legs of a spider, I don’t want to have markers for the first four, and nothing for the last creature.
Still, for those more interested in using miniatures casually, this sounds like a solid product.
