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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Spok, WA Upcoming RPG Campaign - GM Corvalis

Discussion in 'Pacific Regional Discussion' started by Corvalis, Jun 3, 2009.

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  1. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    Before we get back into the main RPG campaign after Sean and Steph return, I will be running another campaign designed to introduce the group (that is, all GMs and players alike) to Force Powers. So far, none of us have used them in any of our campaigns, and the wording and rules behind them in the Saga system leave a lot of room open for "pushing the envelope" when it comes to usage.

    The purpose of this group is threefold.

    First - To introduce and, as a group, create some Force Power house rules for the whole group to use. The intent behind this is so that the GMs that decide to allow Jedi or other Force Users will be familiar with the powers and able to construct balanced encounters, and also so the players can design balanced force using characters.

    Second - To introduce the newer players to the subtle but powerful playing style of singular character growth. This will encourage stronger role-playing within the group, and more development of the characters being played. More on this further down in the post. Trust me, it will be fun!

    Third - To introduce a new era of Star Wars: Post Eros. I have not finished designing all of this era yet, but here is the information I have so far:
    - The time is almost 10,000 years after the events of ROTJ. Measurement of time is now calculated as PE, or Post Eros. The current game year is 214 PE.
    - Emperor Eros Suun brought the entire galaxy under peaceful rule, but was mysteriously assassinated around 200 years ago.
    - The current state of the galaxy is still relitively peaceful, and the Grand Imperial Republic is still maintaining that peace through diplomacy.
    - The Jedi are still around, acting as galactic law enforcement, though they are strictly not allowed to interfere with any actions of the GIR or it's protected planets, or involve the Republic's citizens in any form of Jedi military action.
    - The remnants of the Hutt Syndicate and the Bothan Information Brokerage are currently waging war against the Jedi on the barren and charred surface of the once mighty planet of Ryloth, in retaliation for the near genocide of the Hutts over 5,000 years before.
    - A new galaxy has been discovered in the recently explored Unknown Space, and the only anti-GIR faction is moving into it, attempting to establish thier own way of life.



    As for characters for the players, you will not be choosing anything. Based upon your playing style and the purpose of this campaign, you will be assigned characters of my own creation. You will ALL be playing Jedi of 6th level. The following GM set rules apply to this campaign:

    - Force Points will just allow you to succeed at a failed action you have attempted.
    - Destinies are chosen for each character, and the Destiny points can be spent ONLY to further your characters destiny, as approved by the GM. For example, when Luke is being tased by the Emperor in ROTJ, he is trying to persuade Vader to help him. Luke used a Destiny Point to change his fate, and allow Vader to save him. I will let you know when it will be appropriate to spend them.
    - You will all be given gear, and have a team budget for expendatures. Looting the bodies of deceased enemies is against Jedi code, except when attempting to gather information or mission specific items. That being said, there will be no supplimental income for this game. You have what you are given, and if you run out of assets, you may attempt to request more from your Superiors.
    - There will be several ships in this game. One for non-pilot characters, and one for each pilot character. I will inform each of you who is assigned as a pilot about your ship and its capabilities as the game begins.
    The play style in this game is refered to as "Individual Character Growth". It is a playing style that is very subtle, yet very powerful. Here's how it works. Your main job as a player is to come up with a background/personality for your character (I will choose this for you), and then play it within the group, even if it goes against the group'
     
  2. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    **UPDATE**

    Events of the past:

    6,000 years ago:
    - The Hutts ally themselves with the last of the Imperial Remnant. This forms the Hutt Syndicate.
    - The Jedi Order begins a new war on the re-emerged One Sith. The civillian deaths number in the millions, and the war begins to take a large toll on the galaxy.
    - Taking the best parts from both the former Imperial government model, and the Senate government model, politicians begin working to create a powerful, yet accountable form of government.

    5,992 years ago:
    - The Grand Imperial Republic is formed. It is led by an elected Emperor, who's actions must be approved by a council of 15 planetary senators that are replaced every 5 years. The Emperor and the Council are only given Galactic responsibilities, and cannot interfere on a planetary level with any world. The Senate is also re-established with one representative from each willing planet. The Senate's responsibilities are strictly limited to matters on their own planet, but may request mitigation from the Council if an interplanetary dispute breaks out. The Military is reorganized to be established on each participating planet, and act according to the Senator's wishes for the planet, unless countermanded by the Council or Emperor. Many worlds are happy with the change and join immediately, but a large number of planets, still skeptical from prior government failures, refuse to participate.
    - The Hutt Syndicate moves in quickly to capture several worlds not joining the GIR.
    - The Jedi Order is defeated by the One Sith, the surviving Jedi go into hiding, and the Sith set their sights on the GIR on Coruscant as their next goal.

    5,984 years ago:
    - War errupts between the GIR and the One Sith.
    - The Hutt Syndicate continues to capture non-GIR worlds, and in fear, many more worlds join the GIR for protection.
    - The One Sith secretly negotiate with the Bothan Spy Net, and the Bothan Information Brokerage is formed, in order to find the survivng Jedi.

    5,582 years ago:
    - War between the One Sith and the GIR still rages. The galaxy is divided into three factions, The One Sith, The Grand Imperial Republic, and the Hutt Syndicate. No one is considered nuetral anymore.
    - The Bothan Information Brokerage declares itself open for business, and all sides pay for their services.
    - The surviving Jedi begin negotiations with the Hutt Syndicate, in an attempt to gain enough resources for a decisive strike to destroy the One Sith leadership.

    5,581 years ago:
    - With help from the last of the Jedi, the Grand Imperial Republic is able to successfully end the war with the One Sith, destroying them utterly within a single military strike led by the Jedi.
    - The Hutt Syndicate immediately joins the GIR, a shock to the Republic, which was expecting the Syndicate to attack the weakened Republic.
    - With the war over, the GIR decides to elect a new Emperor, a croke by the name of Eros Suun. Emperor Suun take the position, and decides to put in place laws that would limit the amount of damage further Jedi military actions would have on the galaxy. Effectively, he exiles the Jedi and any other major Force-using organization into Wild Space. With the military might of both the GIR and the Hutt Syndicate threatening them, the Jedi leave, and begin exploring Wild Space, in an attempt to find a home.

    5,256 years ago:
    - An attempt on Grand Emperor Suun's life is thwarted, and evidence shows that the Hutt Syndicate was behind it.
    - A Jedi Ambassador arrives on Coruscant with charts and information about a new galaxy found beyond Wild Space. Due to the rising tensions in the government, the charts and holocrons with the information are quickly forgotten, and the Jedi is ordered to be arrested due to the breach of the Jedi banishment.
    - The Hutt Syndicate declares the GIR too powerful, and begins to attack key trade planets within the Republic.

    5,255 years ago:
    - Republic planets under attack are quickly defeated, as the military presence available is not enough to fend off such a la
     
  3. roxez

    roxez Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2007
    Sounds interesting... I'm a little skeptical about the character creation not controlled by the players. Does that mean when we level up too that you as the GM choose our level up bonuses? I heartily agree to having more character driven story, I'm just concerned about having such restrictions.

    Another thing, I am getting a little overwhelmed by the number of games we have. So far we have:

    The Felspar - Dave
    The smugglers stealing the book - Chris
    Mandalorian vendetta - Mason

    (not yet started)
    Clone Wars - Bevan
    Future Jedi - Dave

    I guess I am thinking we might want to finish one or two before starting any more. Either that or we need to start doing some weekend sessions where we play longer than two hours at a time and get some story behind us.
     
  4. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    You do have a good point, but it's not uncommon for a GM to have two or three different campaigns he/she/it is running. Typically they only run one campaign at a time when there is a pool of GMs to run things, but this is a special circumstance that requires me to step up with this campaign.

    First, Sean and Steph are central to my Fellstar campaign, and I need to have them join us before I can pick up that campaign again.
    Second, our pool of GMs is rotational, and since I've had the most time off as GM, it's my responsibility to create and run a campaign when you are done with yours, so that no one gets burned out on being GM. We're averaging about 1-2 months with any one GM, so I'm not sure your Clone Wars campaign will last until Sean and Steph return to school, and I don't want to dump the GM work on Chris or Mason since they are just finishing as GMs.
    Third, I need the group familiar with Force Powers for the second half of my campaign, as I will be using the Sable Dawn Thugs in the book as they are written, and yes, they do have some Force Powers they can use against you guys.
    Fourth, with the type of campaign this one is going to be, you'll find that you'll be discussing and playing the game with the GM personally through out the week as your characters plot and plan within the group. You'll find it's quite meaty in the way of gaming, and with an open GM policy, it's like ordering pizza, just call the GM and tell him what you want. You'll also be discussing and playing with other players as you think of things to do, and plans to carry out. Trust me, it's a ton of fun.

    As for leveling up, you won't be in this campaign. I've designed the whole thing to serve your current level. It's easier to deal with that way. As a GM, this is a super complicated style of play, but it's loads of fun! Sometimes a character gets altered through their actions that impacts the character stats/level/bonuses and the rest of the players are not aware of what happens, so I have to uphold the utmost secrecy of what the change was, and how it affects everyone. By the end of the game, I doubt it if more than one of you will have the same character info you started with.

    The reason I didn't let you guys design the characters is that the selection of force powers needs to be done by me, in order to get all the tough to deal with powers in the game to work out house rules. But you're right about it being a bit restrictive. Let me change that with my next post.
     
  5. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    **UPDATE**

    Campaign Info:
    This is a set campaign, and unless the entire group decides to play it again after my FellStar campaign is finished, we will not be playing it again after it ends. It will run from when Bevan's campaign is over until the storyline is finished, with no GM changes in between.

    I will allow each person to come up with the following information for their character:

    Starting Race (to be chosen from any of the Saga books available, with certain races excluded, as listed below) If you choose Human, I will let you pick up your extra feat after I present your character.

    Starting Abilities (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis and Cha) These will be determined by one of the following 3 methods, chosen by the player; the Saga packaged abilities (15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8), the point system using 28 points and the cost chart in the Saga Core Book, or roll 3d6 for each ability, no rerolls, you keep what you roll.

    Trained Skills, but I require the group to work together and produce two characters only who are trained in the Pilot Skill.

    Jedi Type for your character, to be selected as either a Jedi Consular, Jedi Guardian, or Jedi Sentinel. This will help me assign your feats, talents, and powers.

    Jedi Rank, which should be decided as a group. Pair up with another player and decide who is to be a Knight, and who is to be their Padawan. This is for roleplay purposes only, nothing will be affected in the game mechanics. Also, there should be one person who is left out of pairing up. That person will be contacted by me once I have heard the pairings for Knight and Padawan.


    *Excluded races: Droids, Twi'leks, Bothans, Hutts, Wookies, any race originating from the Sith or tied to the Sith, and Yuuzhang Vong.
     
  6. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    **UPDATE**

    Trained Skills will be not be available for selection in chracter creation yet. I realized that several feats and talents you each have take various trained skills, and I will have those listed on the character sheet when we start the game. At that point, you may select the remaining Trained Skills.

    Also, I have 9 premade characters ready to go for anyone else who would like to play too. Just PM me if you think you will be playing, or want to play, and we haven't talked.
     
  7. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    <bump>
     
  8. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    **UPDATE**

    Okay, after accidentally pulling out my thumb drive before stopping it, I lost all 15 Jedi's that I had so carefully made. So in the interest of time, and so I don't feel so frakked off about losing all that work, here's what you will do for character creation:

    Everyone should read through, or skim through the Force section of the Saga book. Specifically Force Powers and their use. If you want, you can read the other Force sections from the other books as well.

    Create a Level 6 Jedi using the following rules:

    1) Every Jedi will have to take the Block and Deflect talents as described in the Saga book. You will also need to be at least Trained in Use The Force.

    2) Every Jedi will take the Force Training feat as their 1st Level Feat. You may only take it once more during character creation, at the cost of your 3rd or 6th Level Feat.

    3) Every Jedi will only spend their starting credits on equipment, no additional weapons or armor is allowed.

    4) Every Jedi will start the game with only one lightsaber weapon of their choice, out of any of the books, unless they have the Dual Weapon Mastery Feat(s)

    5) At least two of the group must be pilots (I believe we already know who those are), and those pilots must take the Vehicular Combat feat as the 3rd Level Feat, as well as be trained and focused in pilot, and also take the Starship Maneuvers feat as the 6th Level Feat. Pilots will need to at least skim through the Starship Manuevers and Starship combat rules from Starships of the Galaxy.

    6) If I have already talked to you about your Jedi concept within the game, we will NOT be changing what we have discussed. If you have a question, please PM me. If I remember correctly, I have spoken to Mason, Bevan, and Nate about their characters, but not Chris of Nat.

    7) Those of the group who have selected to play as a Jedi Knight will get to choose one free Talent from the Jedi Knight Talent trees, located in the Prestige Classes section of the books.

    8) Those of the group who have selected to play as a Jedi Padawan will get the feat Skill Focus for one of their Trained skills for free.

    9) Since Nate is an advisor for the group, and does not count as either Jedi Knight or Jedi Padawan, he will be allowed to choose a talent from the Force Disciple talent trees located in the prestige classes section of the Saga books.

    10) If you chose to be a Jedi Consular, you will gain a +5 misc bonus to Persuasion. If you chose to be a Jedi Sentinel, you will gain a +5 misc bonus to Stealth. If you chose to be a Jedi Guardian, you will gain a +5 misc bonus to Endurance.


    It's not imperitive if you don't read any of the above mentioned material from the books, but it will definately help you understand how things work, and save us time from explaining everything during the game session.

    Also, everyone should bring scratch paper of some sort, as note passing will be a regular occurance to discuss character actions and results that are not apparent to the group.
     
  9. roxez

    roxez Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2007
    Questions:

    Max HP for the class at 6th level, or roll when game starts?

    Limits on Class?

    How do you want attribute points calculated? Planned Generation, random, standard?
     
  10. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    1) You get your starting hit points for first level, roll for levels 2 through 6.

    2) Class can only be Jedi. There's enough stuff in the game to give a good chance everyone becomes unique.

    3) These will be determined by one of the following 3 methods, chosen by the player; the Saga packaged abilities (15, 14, 13, 12, 10 and 8), the point system using 28 points and the cost chart in the Saga Core Book, or roll 3d6 for each ability, no rerolls, you keep what you roll.
     
  11. roxez

    roxez Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2007
    28 points? Interesting, because the standard score package equates to 25 points.

    Perhaps though you are being rewarding depending on what system one chooses. One could play it safe and easy and just take standard, one could plan it out and get a few points more, or one could gamble and get either a lot of points or not nearly enough.

    Or I could be reading into a typo a bit too much. :p
     
  12. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    A sorting of the stats:

    Planned Stats (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8)
    Pros: Easy to assign, minimal work to generate, ability increases at 4 can both be used to increase skills now.
    Cons: Not the best stats, certainly above average, but not very impressive check results

    Bought Stats (28 points using system)
    Pros: Good system to plan characters with, easy chance for min/maxing, or dumping all points into one or two uber stats.
    Cons: Usually doesn't create a very balanced character, but if planned right, can create a better character than the planned stats. Higher costs for higher abilities tend to sap points from other abilities, creating more dump stats.

    Random Stats (3d6 roll, no rerolls)
    Pros: Chance at awesome character stats 15+
    Cons: Chance at crappy character stats 8 or less
     
  13. roxez

    roxez Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2007
    Another question:

    It has been stated that characters will remain at level 6 for this campaign. By doing so, we have a set limitation on the number of destiny points, which is all well and good.

    However, if this game is supposed to teach us about using the Force, wouldn't the restriction of never recharging Force points as well be considered a severe limitation? Many Force powers use Force points to operate.
     
  14. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008

    A lot of the powers listed as talents do require you to spend a Force point to use. But the Force Powers all work without spending them, though each has an optional effect if you do spend them. I have taken this into account, and will be rewarding players with extra Force points based on their roleplaying ability.
     
  15. roxez

    roxez Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2007
    Fair enough.

    I was pouring over the books to work my character and come up with this quick guide. To make a level 6 Jedi character you will need (remember, any stats that depend on mod scores may change when you add your two ability points from level 4. Therefore, this assumes that any mod score is what it will be at level 6):

    HP: 30 + 6 x Con modifier + 5d10
    BAB: +6
    Destiny Points: 6
    Force points: 8
    Class bonus: +1 to all three defenses

    2 Ability Points added

    Trained Skills: 2 + Int modifier
    Must have Use the Force Skill trained
    - Pilots must have Pilot skill trained

    Feats:
    Starting: Force Sensitive, Weapons Proficiency (Lightsabers);(simple weapons)
    3 Open Feats (any feat)
    3 Class Bonus Feats - See page 41 of Core
    Must have Force Training Feat (Open). Can take once more if you wish
    - If Human, add 1 more Open feat
    - Pilots must have Vehicular Combat (open) and Starship Tactics (open) Feats. Yes, sorry pilots, but your non-Class Feats are spoken for. Also, Pilots require Skill Focus (Pilot) Feat (Bonus).

    Talents:
    3 Talents
    Must have Block and Deflect Talents, so really you get to choose only 1 talent.

    Force Power:
    (1 + Wis modifier) x # of Force Training Feats
    You can have multiple copies of the same Force power.

    Equipment:
    1 lightsaber, any style (if you have Dual Weapon Mastery Feat(s), you may have two)
    Clothing
    1200 credits on equipment, no weapons or armor allowed


    Character specific bonuses:
    Knights get 1 bonus talent from Jedi Knight prestige class
    Padawans get 1 Skill Focus (Padawan pilots, use this to focus Pilot)
    Advisor gets 1 bonus talent from Force Disciple prestige class

    Consular: +5 Persuasion
    Guardian: +5 Endurance
    Sentinel: +5 Stealth


    Follow rules to enable what Dave has talked about for your own character, including making sure you have required feats and such.

     
  16. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    Thanks for that guide Bevan!

    So far, I have talked to Nate, Mason, and Bevan regarding their Jedi.

    Nat, Chris, and Noelle I have not talked to yet. I will talk to each of you before the game regarding your Jedi.

    Except for Chris. I've just made an executive decision for the group regarding Chris's Jedi. I'll post it in a minute.
     
  17. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    **UPDATE**

    One final thing on choosing your Force Powers: NO DARK SIDE POWERS!!!

    The group's prior set up was as follows:

    Chris was a Jedi Knight, his Padawan was Nat
    Bevan was a Jedi Knight, his Padawan was Mason
    Nate was a specialist assigned to the group by the Jedi Council

    I have changed this to the following:

    Chris is a Jedi Master, his Padawan is Nat
    Bevan is a Jedi Knight, his Padawan is Mason
    Nate is a specialist assigned to the group by the Jedi Council

    Chris:

    You are assigned as the Jedi Master for the group. It is your responsibility to see the mission through to the best of your abilities, and help nuture and train the Jedi under you. You will answer to the Jedi Council alone.

    You should create your Jedi according to the rules I set down before, up to level 6. Then level your character up to Level 10, as you see fit. You do not have to take the Jedi Knight or Jedi master Prestige class, the title was honorary. You will need to construct your own lightsaber, using the Saga rules out of the Jedi Academy book. I have the pdf if you need it. Other than that, have fun making the Jedi you want to play.

    Everyone else:

    Your levels will remain unchanged. As for Nat, I will talk to you this week about your Jedi. Noelle, Alfredo, I will want to speak to both of you as well regarding this game.
     
  18. -JediClone-

    -JediClone- Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 21, 2005
    Corvalis: said no weapons other than lightsaber, but what about traditional weapons of a given race? (IE: a Cerean learning the sharyn as part of studying up on his/her native culture).

    Are there any signfigant differences in how this future version of the Order operates than the once we're used to? Any weird rules or lax ones?

     
  19. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    I will allow racial weapons instead of lightsabers if you want.

    As of right now, there really isn't a change in the beliefs and structure of the Jedi Order. But that could change.
     
  20. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    Just a reminder for everyone, this campaign starts this week.

    I have spoken to everyone except Noelle and Alfredo about this campaign. You two are more than welcome to join in, I know we've all had schedule issues before, but don't let that stop you. Just PM me, or show up and we can get you going on characters.

    Those people I have spoken with regarding your characters, remember that the things we discussed are decidedly for your ears/eyes only. If you slip up and reveal something out of character, I will allow the other party members to "sense a disturbance in the force" and use that knowledge in character! So watch what you say or do around other people, even out of game.

     
  21. The_Cheeser

    The_Cheeser Jedi Knight star 3

    Registered:
    Feb 16, 2005
    Now we need to figure out when are where.
    Thursday and Friday are fine for me, although Friday would be slightly better.

    Nathan, do you still like hosting and want to continue?
     
  22. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    Either one works well for me this week.
     
  23. roxez

    roxez Jedi Youngling star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 13, 2007
    Nat and I have worship team singing/media practice Thursday night, so for us it will have to be Friday.

    Mason, that means that in my previous PM to you, I guess I'm only available Wednesday or after 9 on Thursday.
     
  24. Corvalis

    Corvalis Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Oct 17, 2008
    Well, with two of the 5 players gone if we do it on Thursday, we might as well do it Friday, unless Nate and Chris can't make it.
     
  25. -JediClone-

    -JediClone- Jedi Youngling star 2

    Registered:
    Mar 21, 2005
    I can make it
     
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