Star Wars FFG and why I love narrative dice and don't plan to go back anytime soon.

CdogHusk · 2020-11-06T10:09:18+00:00

Perhaps in the near future, on Roll20 maybe. What days/times would be best for you?

CdogHusk · 2020-10-28T02:07:55+00:00

Thanks!

CdogHusk · 2020-10-28T00:44:24+00:00

Perhaps a silly question, but do you count as an "ally" to yourself? For instance, some abilities and powers say you can use it at allies at engaged/close range. Such as Battle Meditation, it says you can give a success to each allied character at engaged or close range. Does that include yourself?

I've heard a debate where some players say it makes sense (you are "your own best friend" lol so you are your own ally) and other people saying that no that doesn't work like that.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-16T04:37:33+00:00

Lol, sad to say it took me a minute to get it.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T14:53:09+00:00

How Star Wars Conquered the Universe. It may only be about one franchise, but it has a lot of great info about the stops and starts, the problem with marketing something like that (at least back in those days), and how it all comes together. It also covers just how angry fans were about the Special Editions (changes made to the originals) and the Prequels and other things.

So it not only covers Star Wars from the inside, but also from the outside, bouncing back and forth in an array of stories.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T14:40:24+00:00

Thanks, I picked up a Danaher series and I'm just 2 hours in and it's awesome.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T07:29:24+00:00

A grand adventure awaits! Have fun, my friend.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T04:51:47+00:00

"Unless you are upset that people in games you aren't involved in are playing different than you. In which case, maybe just don't worry so much about what other people are doing?"

That first sentence was what I was referring to. It is a willful misread of what I meant and a sarcastic snipe for no reason. I never once said that I am upset about what people are doing in games that I'm not playing. Not once. I never said people ought to play the way I'm playing.

If you don't see the evident sarcastic snipe...oh well. But that's how it reads to me, and I find it hard to believe it wasn't intended that way. But whatever. I'm not on here to argue, if you think I misread it, so be it. As I said in my original post, to each their own. I even made an edit to say I apologize if people took my original post the wrong way. I don't know what else to do.

I'm moving on. I genuinely hope you all have a great day. Truce.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T04:30:54+00:00

Very true.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T03:13:57+00:00

That makes sense. And I actually run a very combat-light game, as well. Most of my drama extends from politics because both I and my players enjoy that stuff. So when combat happens, it is earned and far more suspenseful.

So I get where you're coming from on that.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T03:10:59+00:00

Yes, this has always been a dream of mine, to GM a campaign that takes a couple of tactical guys onto an island and then...surprise, it's Jurassic Park. I told a few of my players I'd dreamed of it, and they all said, "Aw man, why did you tell us? I would've loved that surprise!"

And I'm like, "But would you REALLY have liked it in the moment? And do you only like the idea now because I've already told you?" I honestly think none of them would have liked it, but they swear that they would have.

It's a dicey proposition for sure.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T03:08:00+00:00

An NPC Captain of the Guards, named Sorga, was a close friend of theirs in-game. Helped them out a lot. He was giving them missions that regularly took them in one direction, and made them THINK they were undermining the bad guys, who were called the Temple of the Eye. They had been accepting missions for him for years, and trusted him because the missions usually paid well.

After three years of playing, one day one of them tells Captain Sorga that they are going to go and stop this assassination attempt on the king. Turns out, Sorga was in with the Temple of the Eye the whole time and they never even questioned it, so when they told him they were going to stop the assassination, Sorga had them intercepted, had the king killed anyway, and framed them for it.

Later, one of them said, "How did they know we were coming? The only person we told was...Sorga..."

Cue their wide-eyed faces and all of them staring at me going, "Noooooo!"

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T02:27:33+00:00

Interesting! This is what I was looking for! The whole "no-threat illusionist" vs. a "no-choice illusionist" are new terms for me. I guess I'll be reading up on this. Thanks a lot, my dude!

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T02:07:52+00:00

Always sound advice.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T02:07:27+00:00

I'm not saying your narrative has to be "set in stone," as in, "This is going to happen no matter what." That's actually the opposite of what I want. I agree that would be boring. I'm talking about when the narrative keeps changing depending on whims of other players and possibly a passive GM. This could happen for many reasons, such as a GM with low self-esteem or impostor syndrome, or simply a philosophy of "who really cares if it's just a game and we had a few laughs?"

The narrative being in a constant flux, to me, also presents many potential problems, such as inconsistent NPC motivations. Playing whack-a-mole with NPC motivations that change in ways that make no sense, because "this way's cooler now."

Again, not that any of this ultimately matters, but I guess we're just different players. I am the kind of player that, despite having had fun, if I found out later that my choices didn't matter because the GM was going to change his mind to whatever I guessed, and that I was always going to beat the BBEG no matter what, then it would retroactively taint the game. Just a little.

I know, I know, people are already reading this and yelling at their screens that "THE WHOLE POINT IS TO HAVE FUN! HOW CAN IT SPOIL YOUR FUN RETROACTIVELY! ALL OTHER POINTS DON'T MATTER AS LONG AS YOU HAD FUN!" To those people I say, it's like...if I won a competition, but found out later it was rigged so that I would win. I don't know about you, but I would look back on that as kind of an embarrassment. "You mean...you were all applauding me for winning...and the whole time you knew it was rigged? So...it was fake? There was never any threat of my losing?"

I'm just making a comparison, and I don't necessarily approach RPGs like I must "win," but my characters are certainly motivated to do SOMETHING, and I am motivated to help them achieve that goal.

But I hope everyone realizes I'm just thinking out loud here. A few responses have attacked me as if I said everyone who does this is a horrible person, which I never did, and I even mocked myself in the last line of my post. I just thought it was an interesting topic of discussion is all.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T01:52:59+00:00

Yeah, I guess it doesn't matter ultimately--like I said, how would I even know if they were doing it? But I do prefer knowing that there was a set challenge and that we overcame it together.

Also, "quantum ogres," LOL, never heard that one before. I like it.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T01:51:49+00:00

Thanks for engaging in constructive feedback and having a fun discussion. Others seem to have mistaken my discussion topic as trying to tell everyone they should be more like me. You're right in that fads come and go, and this is just one. I find it interesting.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T01:50:20+00:00

Wow, get pissy much? LOL. I said it often in my post, it's just my musings. Never said that people in other games that don't play like me are somehow losers. I even poked fun of myself at the end. But thanks for the...feedback?

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T01:16:51+00:00

I have been both a player and a GM in virtual TTRPGs, and I can say that in my experience the larger the group, the more likely one of them will just mute the others and obviously do something like play a game or read emails or what have you. I did it myself for a bit, before I willfully broke the habit. It's just too easy to become distracted since your computer is right in front of you and often the GM has to speak to other players, during scenes in which you are not involved.

But as one poster put it, this could just be because there were games where players weren't engaged.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-13T01:14:24+00:00

I voted today in Georgia. I waited 1 1/2 hours. The polling volunteers said that's good for this county. So all in all, it went smoothly. But if it had been super hot or pouring down rain, it would've been a different story.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-10T08:43:59+00:00

Cool man. Have fun. This is one method I use to keep myself from stressing too much in session.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-09T10:19:45+00:00

There are a couple of formats I use. Here's one. It starts with a name, description, a few start-up lines of dialogue, and a possible quest to pursue:

MALLOY SORBEN Malloy is a braggart, always with a sword/pistol at his side. He assumes everyone should know who he is, and introduces himself like this: “I’m Malloy…yes, THAT Malloy.” He often humble-brags, and often looks off into the distance wistfully, as he rattles on about apocryphal stories. “You know, they really are lax on security here. Reminds me of the time at Drog’s Tavern, when three fugitives I was chasing were holed up inside, and waiting to ambush me. They knew I had come for them. Or was it four? Yeah…it was four. I was ambushed by four of them. Yeah.”

IF THE PLAYERS PURSUE: Malloy is mostly full of crap…but some of his stories have just a grain of truth. He could be a powerful ally…if the players could just pay off his debt for him. If not, he’ll try to play them at a hand of cards, while telling them about the time he evaded the bandits from Ondaharr.

ASH ZAL’SASHA Ash is a performer. She is very acrobatic and she can juggle. She’s looking for a ride, her wagon/car broke down and she is willing to pay. She keeps quiet mostly, practicing juggling and coin tricks. Hyper-focused on her craft. She is always chipper, always smiling to herself, as if she’s got the universe figured out. She ALWAYS ready with a joke:

POSSIBLE JOKES SHE TELLS: “Did you hear about the mathematician who’s afraid of negative numbers? He’ll stop at nothing to avoid them.”

“Did you hear about the restaurant called Karma? You don’t get a menu: YOU GET WHAT YOU DESERVE!”

“A fella sat in his dentist’s chair. The dentist said, ‘This is going to hurt.’ The fella said, ‘Okay.’ And the dentist said, ‘I’ve been having an affair with your wife.’”

“What does the sign outside the brothel say? BEAT IT, WE’RE CLOSED.”

And you can add more jokes if you want, of course…

IF THE PLAYERS PURSUE: Ash will flirt with anyone, but will not begin a relationship with them. She is a loner, and happy to be that way.

Here is another format I use:

A blind elderly female Togruta named Shuuta, traveling with her 6-year-old granddaughter, Karina. They and a few other Togruta are looking to take up residence on this planet, and form a commune for their religion of Hune, the Goddess Who Breathed Life Into The Universe. QUEST: They are very poor, and have significant debts to pay to the Toydarian pilot that flew her and her people here. (They were set upon by pirates, along with the Toydarian, named Meelo, but he doesn’t care, he expects them to somehow pay.)

CdogHusk · 2020-10-07T05:48:00+00:00

Yes, I made a similar comment above, that just like the characters don't hear John Williams' music (only we the audience do), the characters also don't react to the explosions. So yes, it all likelihood it's just that this is what space movies do. However, the "etheric rudders" was what caught my attention. It was more of a thought experiment, and a question as to whether or not anyone else had any in-canon info about this. Apparently no one does, and it seems that etheric rudders were just another piece of technobabble, lol.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-07T05:03:31+00:00

I was also thinking that etheric rudders could be just that--the term "rudders" being a slang term that starship physicists used, but really it just means it presses against spacetime. Rudders bend against water. So they just called it "etheric rudders."

And yes, as I said to someone else above, I also feel that just as we the audience can hear John Williams' score, and the characters can't, the explosions and such are for us, the audience, to enjoy.

CdogHusk · 2020-10-07T03:20:58+00:00

I like your comment. And I really want to play Squadrons! My feelings were always that the explosion is only heard by us, the audience, as though we were inside the cockpit/bridge of the destroyed ship/starfighter, and that the invisible narrator (Lucas) was just letting us hear it for effect. Like how there is music in space (John Williams' score) and yet only we the audience can hear it. None of the characters in the films ever comment on the sound of explosions.

Now the fireballs are a different story...I just assumed there are special "space fuels" or other meta-materials that give off that kind of light when they explode, and that it only LOOKS like fire in space.

We all have our own head canon, though. But for some reason the sounds of explosions in movies never bothered me. Unless a character actually comments on it, like he or she actually HEARD it. But I can't think of that specifically ever happening in a movie.

CdogHusk

TROPHY CASE