Lit Fantasy Flight Games and the Star Wars TCG

I don't think the Living Card Game is canon. Some of the FFG supplement material is canon (or at least considered canon on Wookieepedia), but the living card game draws heavily from Legends.

 

Me, I like knowing what's what, but in the context of the game, I like having the tools to borrow non-canon to fill in canon gaps.

 

FFG isn't canon, and have never pretended otherwise. It's disingenuous to pretend otherwise, or merely indefensibly ignorant.

(Hence why Wookiepedia get it wrong).

Hrm. Apparently I won't get tired of reminding the only people seemingly confused by this in fandom, of this fact.

What does this even mean?

 

Not OP, but the campaign I want to run is broadly about the First Order developing the TIE/fo, but features Corran Horn commanding a mixed flight group of E-Wings, K-Wings, U-Wings, and T-70s. He might mean something like that?

 

Which is RP 101 and why bringing canon into FFG discussions is something people who don't play the RPG do when they're confused by the art they've paid too much money for and the stats they can't correctly understand, is a foolish pursuit.

I mean, Vader has stats now. Which means Vader can be killed by PCs. And there will be canon abilities those stats can't reflect. Do they even understand this?

 

I know. But you also know people buy the books for the art then misrepresent the intent of FFG and the content of those books.

And by people, I mean, literally just the people on this subforum and on Wookiepedia. Nobody who plays the game seems confused since the topic never comes up via FFG boards, D20 Radio boards, Order 66 podcast...

 

Simple; I tend to prefer running canon compliant games. However, not everything is nailed down; there are gaps of information where Legends info can be used as a basis of creating an explanation for the game. There's also the thing that alien species and planets can often be borrowed from Legends and put into a canon-consistent game without creating continuity errors. For example, the Hutt Space sourcebook has a lot of details from Legends, but those can be used as is for the most part to create adventures if wished. Basically, I like having the option to blend canon and Legends together in the game (much like the RPG books themselves), but prioritizing canon when the two sources conflict.

In regards to Vader being killed, what's wrong with that? RPGs don't have to comply with canon (or Legends, for that matter). If the gamers want to run a campaign where nothing is set in stone and history unfolds differently, that's A-okay (I think the core rule books even present this as a legitimate option); at the end of the day, having fun is the point of the game.

As for the stats not covering everything, it's a game. Things get fudged a bit in order to make the game playable. At the end of the day, fun is more important than accuracy and I'd be surprised if very many campaigns needed to know everything to create an accurate movie character for what he'd be needed to. If you must have something that's missing (I don't know, like Vader's Splinter of the Mind's Eye energy ball punch), make it up. Being able to create new skills and templates is something a gamemaster should be able to do.

 

You're missing my point. FFG are indifferent to canon, and there's a strange subset of basement dwellers who insist on trying to catalogue the game into canon and they're also generally not people who play the game. So their concerns are stupid at absolute best - they can never have a nicer adjective applied.

@GrandAdmiralJello -

Universal specialisations are considered in-career for any character. In Edge of the Empire, you have the Force Sensitive Exile. In Age of Rebellion, you have the Recruit and Force Sensitive Emergent. Dawn of Rebellion just added like 5.

Since these are considered automatically in career, they subscribe to the usual rules for multiple specialisations: 20XP for second spec, 30XP for 3rd, 40XP for 4th and final. +10XP if the spec is outside your career.

http://beggingforxp.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/StarWars-AoR-TalentTree-bw-v4.pdf

What this would open for your diplomat, for little real cost long term, are combat talents:

BASIC COMBAT TRAINING
Brawl and Ranged (Light) become career skills.
TACTICAL COMBAT TRAINING
Melee and Ranged (Heavy) become career skills.
TOUGHENED
Gain +2 wound threshold

etc as well as some solid utility:

DYNAMIC FIRE
When making a ranged attack while engaged with an opponent, may suffer 2 strain to reduce the ranged modifier by 1

Given you should be stockpiling strain anyway, this is not a bad outcome for you and it will align to your GM's new remit.

 

That's what it was about?

 

So information in the sourcebook fleshing canon elements like the Force vergence on Lothal and Bardottan stuff is to be considered Legends? That doesn’t make sense. Why bother to create incorrect info for canon subjects. That’s like a big middle finger to the fans

 

The only reason the FFG books exist is to facilitate gaming under their narrative dice system in the Star Wars universe. That's it. It's not to create a repository of canonical information for a planet; it's to facilitate gameplay. "But, I can use it for that purpose!" you might say. So what. FFG don't care. They're making a book that has one purpose only - mechanical and narrative support for a non-canonical game.

Any suggestions to the contrary are layering assumptions over the top of anciliary functions and calling the resulting bastard spawn "intent".

@GrandAdmiralJello - from what you've told me about your GM, I'd get it at creation and just forsake any talents or skills. You should be able to get a 3 3 3 2 2 2 spread (which is more optimal than a 4 1 3 3 2 2 spread) and still afford Recruit. Just ensure you either take Ranged (light) as a human skill (and thus get a free rank at creation) and don't take the talent; or agree with your GM to buy it as a priority with earned XP.

Also, I would go with Agitator. Firstly; I think this is a wonderfully underrated spec. Secondly, I think from what you've told me it'll support your group more.

I had a guy play one in my campaign, after I picked it for him assuming he'd get it (he didn't) and have a blast (see previous point). But he also really badly verbs the noun ("I'm a thief. I go steal stuff. I'm a Big Game Hunter, I go hunt some animals...") and isn't a great roleplayer.

The Agitator's job is to incite revolt. That means it's the dirty side of the Ambassador. Your main job is to understand the political headwinds of a planet, and exploit them to further the Rebellion's aims. Words are your weapon; not kind, high minded words, but dark words, angry words. You see through nonsense clearly, and aren't above a bit of browbeating to get there. Mostly though you bring this to the table:

Scathing Tirade
Take a Scathing Tirade action; make an average Coercion check. One enemy for each success, in short range, suffers 1 strain. Spend advantage for 1 affected enemy to suffer 1 additional strain.
Cost: 15xp
Improved Scathing Tirade
Each enemy affected by Scathing Tirade suffers a setback on all skill checks for a number of rounds equal to ranks in Coercion.
Cost: 20xp

Supreme Scathing Tirade
Suffer 1 strain to perform Scathing Tirade as a maneuver, not an action.
Cost: 25XP

Now, you'll need to get through a 5 and 10XP talent to get tehre, so for 75XP you can twice a round yell people into unconsciousness. Minion groups don't have strain, so it goes to wounds - meaning you can yell stormtroopers effectively to death.

Yeah.

Also this:

Incite Rebellion
Once per session, may take an Incite Rebellion action; make a hard Coercion check to cause a number of beings up to ranks in Coercion to become rebellious for the encounter.
Cost: 25XP

Yeah so, once per game day you can turn a number of NPCs equal to your coercion ranks, pending a successful check, over to your side. Want to fight with stormtroopers but your GM is rebel scum? With this top tier talent, you can briefly realise your dream.

 

Official canon is ********. Do whatever you want with licensed games set in a made-up, make-believe universe.

Now can we please get away from having canon arguments for the nth time and just talk about the games?

 

Honestly, I don't know what new ideas based on canon stuff is considered (and the Wook is extremely inconsistent on whether the RPGs count as canon or not). However, RPGs always invent new details to further flesh out the world in question, since a campaign needs more depth than a movie or TV series does. Whether the additions are considered canon depends on the franchise's rules, however nine times out of ten, they're not, but that's not an insult, any more than Star Trek publishing novels that are non-canon is an insult to us Trekkies. It's just extra stuff to help make a better game experience.

Besides, at the end of the day, the gamemaster and players can play as close or as fast and loose with the RPG fluff and the world the game is based on. The point of an RPG is not to codify continuity, but to have a fun time telling your own stories about the franchise in question, from stuff that builds off of official continuity to stuff where the movies never happened and you control the fate of everything.

(Sometimes bending canon can make for a better gaming experience anyways. I don't think the lightsaber crystal types and rules from the Force and Destiny book fit with canon Kyber crystals very well, but they sound like they're more fun to play; allowing players to fine-tune their sabers in more ways and have different kinds of adventures making them.)

 

Sadly, the player with the Bounty Hunter can't really use the new Ship Captain class in Dawn of Rebellion; it relies on her dump stats. It's a shame, because from a roleplaying perspective she really likes her role (she insists that any other parties talking to her while she's on her ship call her Commodore because she has two ships under her command).

 

Sorry, I'm not following the problem here.

 

It just wouldn't be that useful as the stats used in that class are her lowest stats; Bounty Hunter relies on a different set.
Since she is so attached to her ship, It's a shame she can't really get any benefit from the 'signature ship's abilities because they all rely on her dump stats.

 

Omg Ender, everyone already knows how much you hate it when non-gamers use the FFG books. So, you use them to play the games, congratulations. That doesn't mean that I'm a "stupid basement dweller" because I read them for lore. I don't understand how someone could get so worked up over people enjoying a friggin' Star Wars roleplaying book. None of it's real, anyway. There's no need to be such a condescending elitist because we're not doing it "correctly."

 

Who knew a forum not dedicated to role-playing and other gaming wouldn't devote it's discussions to strictly the mechanics of role-playing and other gaming?

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This is the Armada thread... at least to me. More than once, I've been tempted to abuse my Modly powers and rename it.

I got a game in this weekend. I played as the Empire. ISD (Cymoon Refit), Arquitens-class command cruiser, and a pair of Raider corvettes vs. a pair of Assault Frigates and a pair of MC30's. Our fighters were evenly matched, it basically ended in a draw. I destroyed one of the AF's and one of MC30's, for the loss of my Arquitens and one Raider. However, I lost more fighters, so we called it a draw.

The Cymoon Refit for the ISD basically turns the ship into long range artillery. Throws five red and three blue from the front arc. Great early on, but my opponent deftly moved his ships to avoid the worst of that firing arc, so my ISD didn't really do much by round 4. At least I destroyed one of the Assault frigates with it, that thing was pissing me off.

Next time, I'm playing the Rebels again. I'm thinking an upgraded MC75 and MC80 Liberty-type paired up would be lethal for frontal assaults. An upgraded MC75 throws up to five black dice from the front, plus some blue. Paired up with the mixed seven dice that the Liberty throws, I think these two are a match made in heaven!

--Adm. Nick

 

Who are you and what have you done to Nick?

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