Macon, GA Star Wars RPG Q&A

It has been brought up that a few of us are interested in beginning a RPG group. Being somewhat of a toddler in the role playing world, I thought a round of Q & A was in order. I did cut my teeth, so to speak, with D&D about too many years ago and have not seen a twenty-sided dice since then. I am interested in playing but, much to learn I still have. so, hopefully some of our more experienced members could offer some valuable insight. And now, the questions.

Is Star Wars the RPG much different than D&D outside of the obvious realms and characters?

Will I have to hold a PHD on the dynamics of the Rishi maze to know where, who, or what is going on?

I feel that there will be many more questions to follow. Any help is appreciated.

 

I don't know how Star Wars RPG goes but, I too have played D&D, and Vampire and Magic cards ( which use 20 sided dice )

I would image that it is played like the rest of them but, I ain't sure.

Hope that helped some ( but probley not )

 

Star Wars and the current D&D are quite similar. Note, however, that "this isn't your father's D&D." Check out wizards.com for basic info. I'm currently in a campaign with each of them, so I might be able to answer some of your questions.
SW RPG, btw, lets you play during the Republic era (the prequels, and before,) the Rebellion (the original trilogy,) and the New Jedi Order (as seen in the novels.) The main difference, as far as game play goes, is that certain character classes - Jedi types, mostly - are not as available in certain eras as others.

 

Thanks for the info guys and gals. I will check out the web site but there is still at least one question that I am sure the site will not give me, and that is am I going to have to lay down a load of dough on this? I know that the consortiums and rule books can be expensive. Does every one have to have thier own, or does that burden fall on the DM (as it were)?



Thanks
LJ

 

Dice are pretty cheap and I would guess that if we have one major book ( guidline, character book, monster book and so forth ) then I would be inclinded to think that we would all share.

Makes since to me....what do yall think ?

 

While it's nice for each to have the main book, they're pricey. I have the player's guide and a few of the others. I'd imagine we'd want to have one session just to make characters. And for the record, I personally dislike starting with 1st level characters. Make 'em somewhat more advanced and they'l tend to live a bit longer. I bow, of course, to the majority's wishes on that...

 

Smiley, I agree....but, I think we are skipping over alot of things here.

Have we actually decided to start a RPG group and if so, who is joining, who will be the DM and what are the requirments needed per player ?

I am just wanting to make sure that we are sure that this is a go before we get ahead of ourselves and stuff.

Maybe this should be something that we need to definately say a yes or no to on the Jan. meeting.

Just a thought.

 

Agreed Sabrann, my intentions with this this thread were not only for myself but the benefit of all others curious about the RPG realm. I am interested but I have to know more about the whole kaboodle before I would commit. I don't want to say "I'm in" then discover at the first round that I'm not really in.

So I can take it that there are DM's in the Star Wars RPG then?

As far as books go, outside of the rulebooks and creature guides, what other books would be available (i.e. adventure stories, expansions, or whatever)?

When I did play years ago we were a ragtag group of young boys (read: morons) who pretty much just made up the adventures on the fly. With that being my only experience in RPG's I am certain my views on the genre are probably distorted. Our *ahem* DM, governed the plights but we still did what we wanted as far as the direction of the quest was concerned. Is this the norm or were we truly in a fantasy world?

thanks
LJ

 

I can't speak for all groups, but in my experience, the DM/GM/storyteller sets up the environment in which the PC's (player characters) find themselves, and generally steer the PC's into the adventure. (The really good DM's can make up an adventure on the fly, but generally have something planned before the game starts, either thought up or from a published source.) He/she controls all the NPC's (non-player characters) from the hordes of stormtroopers/orcs/etc. to the barkeeps, commanding officers, and other characters you'll interact with.

IF we decide we want to play, I'd be willing to run the first session to show how it all works.

Tom

 

I'm with everyone on this one. We DO need to have a familiarization session first.

It appears that there are at least four of us that are pretty interested. It will be something that we can keep as a permanent agenda item for regular meetings. That will keep the topic fresh on everyone's mind and we can make it a point to schedule "secondary" RPGing meetings.


I'll call Comix Plus this afternoon to see if there might be a time we could specially schedule a gaming table for our group at their location. We can discuss what we need to play and (possibly)get it while we are at the store.

Maybe we can get something going by the 1st of February.

 

I'd say a good GM has things crafted out in advance but is flexible enough to adapt. I've ran two SW games in the past, and I was always big on having an epic story line when I did.

Personally, I always wanted to play but never got the time. I think it'd be fun from the player perspective. I have played D&D and found it enjoyable.

The only major problem I have with that game is that it sometimes promotes the theme that witchcraft can be good or evil. I have the same issue with Harry Potter. Being Christian, I see all witchcraft as bad. I have a friend who was a witch, and I know from discussions with her the dangers that kind of thinking leads to.

Of course these thoughts are just my personal feelings, and I can show respect to those who disagree.

I've also played Battletech, Earthdawn, and even Vampire (though I wouldn't play that again).

 

Thank GAJ from your local pagan witch

Religion and politics aside, i think a run seesion is a good idea and I would be willing to show and bring some dice and stuff ( I still got some stashed away somewhere )

 

Yeah, Battletech (before Wizkids got a hold of it) was great. Vampires were too full of themselves, so I preferred Werewolf, one of which could mop up a dozen or so vampires without breaking a sweat, generally...

As a basic primer:

SW has nine character classes to start with, though combinations are possible, and you can later become more advanced types... the nine are:
Fringer - lives on the borders of "civilized" space. What Anakin or Luke would have been had they stayed on Tatooine.
Noble - royalty, merchants, ambassadors. (Leia at the beginning of ANH.)
Soundrel - thieves, smugglers, assassins (Han, Lando.)
Scout - Explorers, spies, etc.
Soldier - includes fighter pilots, ground troops.
Tech specialist - repairs things, breaks things, fixes people.
Force adept - Force user trained in tradition other than the Jedi, or untrained at all.
Jedi Guardian - Jedi trained to defend and protect the innocent.
Jedi Consular - Jedi diplomats, negotiators, healers.

 

I'll be sure to bring my firewood to the next meeting Sabrann.

Oh I remembered one big rpg we're missing.

"Marvel Superheroes"

 

I've been RPing from 15-32 Im 34 now and miss the fun and stress it brings.

I'm not sure how the new rules for SW go but, in most RPGs it takes about 30 minutes to really get a character on paper if you know what your doing and a LOT longer if you don't. So you can plan on spending a good while in character creation.

Being a GM is not easy IMHO. I have done it a few times and it is something you must prepare for in advance. It is hard to keep several people happy when every one wants to do something other that what they should.

Example: Hey Luke you Reallly don't want to go fight Vader do you? It could get us all killed?

Dice can be shared. Not everyone will have them and they are easy to pass around. Books on the other hand are not cheap and it seems like when there is only one it is needed in 4 places at once. ( like character creation )

The good news is most of the OLD rules might be able to be found on-line or at a Con really cheap. So the question is New or old school rules.

I am up for either but, won't be able to sink any $$$ into new books. Or if someone has a copier at home...

The Time Line also is a factor.
When I played our time line was after E6.
That way Main characters had less of an impact than ours and every so often you could meet a main character because you pretty much knew what was going to happen to them anyway if you played in the past.
So the future was pretty open even with EU.

Where to play is also a factor. I prefer a house but, renting a cheap hotel room for a day is cool. Unless we can find a better place. RPing is not something you want to do in public much.

I am sure most who play will enjoy it and wish to continue. So I think we will have no problem getting players. The only problem that seems to stick out is what day to play.
Saturdays are pretty much screwed for me. I can more than likely work in any other day if given a couple weeks to prepare.


Aint typed that much in a long time.

 

RPG/Other books I am looking at right now on my shelf...

Shadowrun
Battletech
Mechwarrior
Champions
Wasteworld
GURPS
Call of Cthulhu
Doctor Who
Vampire
Warhammer Battles
Aerotech
Marvel Super Heros ( old version ) ;-)
Starwars ( West End Games )
DC ( Rules are screwed )

I have a few expansions for:
Vampire
Battletech
GURPS
Shadowrun

My favorite rules systems are
Vampire
StarWars (WE)
Marvel (Old)
Shadowrun


If you knew how bad I wanted to play a Super again. With all these movies coming out.
X-men, DD, Hulk, Spiderman....AAHhhhhh

I'll settle for force powers though.

 

Good to see another Shadowrunner out there. My screen name actually came from a shaman I play(ed)...

 

RPG! RPG! RPG!

Let's get these dice rolling, huh?!?

Everyone clear your schedules for Monday March 2nd. I'm not quite sure about a venue yet but myself and litllejedi are looking in the Dublin and Milledgeville areas for a room with a table.

I will post the final details as they are ironed out.

In the meantime, please check out the MIDDLE GEORGIA FanForce thread.

 

^Back up!^

Can I use the 2000 Core Rulebook to create a character template for the latest version?

Do I have to get the new book to play?

I've been reading the book S_O let me borrow and it doesn't seem much harder than the WEG version.

By the way. . .

check out www.swrpgnetwork.com for great references and ideas.

 

Allie -

You can certainly make a character with the first book and play it using the new one. Some of that characters have changed a bit (soldier I believe, and the addition of the tech specialist) but you can either play the character as is, or it wouldn't take long at all to update them to "revised and expanded" standards.

- Tom

 

Do I HAVE to use a template to create my character? The guy that I had created a while ago was a "FORMER JEDI PADAWAN." He was for use during the Galactic Civil War era.

I based him on the Minor Jedi from the old WEG version. I'd like to keep him for development in the new RPG system.

By the way. . .

I must insist that we play during the Civil War(Galactic Civil War, not the War between the States )era.

 

Having it during the Rebellion's as good a time period as any...

I'm not a big fan of starting out characters at 1st level. They're not that interesting, and not overly sturdy, IMO. For that chracter, I'd suggest starting as a Jedi consular or guardian, then picking up a few levels of something else, like fringer, soldier, scout, etc. (A Jedi doesn't become a Knight until 7th level anyway...)

 

I guess we'll be playing the latest version of the RPG. I'll still hold on to my WEG collection just in case.

As I've mentioned, we will meet for the first time on March 3rd. I called Comics Plus and they have "MAGIC Mondays" so we won't be able to meet there.

I also called Outer Limit Comics in Warner Robins/Centerville and the guy I talked to was real nice and told me to, "Come on!" I informed him that the group would meet at about 6:30 p.m. and he didn't seem to have a problem with possibly keeping the place open a little while longer than the normal 7:00 p.m. closing time. I'm going to head there sometime in the next week and a half to introduce myself(and whoever might want to go with me) and iron out the details.

This may be a little farther for some of us but it is right in the neighborhood for Whip Warrior and Force_Me. In the future we can move the meetings around as discussed in the "MIDDLE GEORGIA!" FanForce thread.

So, who's up for SWRPG on Monday, March 3rd at 6:30 p.m.?

 

Unfortunately, that's the one Monday I've got a meeting I must go to. NOOOO!!!! The good news is I have every Sat. after March 1st free if we want to have our regular meeting those days I can come.

Oh, and if you decide on SW 2nd or 3rd edition. I can create my own character. Just tell me the rules for rolling and the setting you decide on.

GAJ Out.