Pete Thompson just put out another Edge of the Empire heist, called “Primal Enterprise”. I helped out a bit with editing ad lending some guidance and advice. It’s pretty good! Even if you hate the adventure itself, which you won’t, the maps that are with it are absolutely top notch and worth looking at on their own.
I’ve long held the belief, here, that by analyzing a simple flowchart of an adventure in a roleplaying game one can quickly deduce the level of “railroading” and linear plot devices inherent to that adventure. With that in mind, I am very proud to show off a flowchart I created for the upcoming Fane of the Sith Lords Star Wars adventure.
This flowchart serves multiple purposes.
Firstly, it shows off the interesting, complicated web of potential actions and exploration that could, though doesn’t necessarily have to, occur within the advneture. All of these criss-crossing lines represent many meaningful choices that the players must make, each with their own major impact on how the adventrue unfolds.
Secondly, I am proud to show off the stunning, evocative place names within the adventure. My hope is to further whet the appetite of the Star Wars RPG for this coming adventure. Who wouldn’t want to delve into the mysteries locked away in the FORBIDDEN ARCHIVE? Or shake in terror when trapped in the PTERO-RANCOR’S CRUCIBLE?
Lastly, this flowchart serves a very practical function for the Galaxy Masters across the globe who will be running this massively detailed and intricate adventure. Knowing which spaces connect to other spaces and where those connections are one- or two-way, is vitally important. The flowchart is an invaluable aid to running a smooth, seamless adventure at the table, allowing Galaxy Masters to focus on their delivery and presentation by cutting down on confusion as much as possible.
Friend of the blog Peter ‘Maveritchell’ Thompson has once again put forth some serious blood, sweat, and tears to craft a new Edge of the Empire heist, “Echoes of the Past“. I helped work on this one a bit as well, providing editing and design feedback. The heist itself is full of secrets and puzzles, it begs to be explored and offers tantalizing rewards to clever players. It’s something that I’m proud to have helped with and a top-notch product.
Some time ago, I was asked to help edit and guide two fan-made adventures, Bendu’s Shadow and Stalitz Flight, for the Star Wars Edge of the Empire roleplaying game by author Peter Thompson. Peter was very gracious about everything, took my often scathing criticism in stride like a true professional, and definitively earned my respect. Not only that, but his work on the custom maps created for these adventures is absolutely top-notch and worth seeing on their own.
You can find a full discussion of the adventure, the full links to his wonderful maps, and links to all of Peter’s other work here on the FFG Forums.
I also took the liberty of transferring the bare-bones adventures to my preferred file host; not only to make the files more accessible, but also better highlight the parts where I contributed.
Long-time Triumph & Despair reader, friend of the blog, and known galactic criminal Brendan Flattery has graciously put together a beautiful new product. Now, fans of the Edge of the Empire Alphabet may read the compiled first run of 26 articles, with bonus Appendix Full of Stars; leisurely, conveniently, and in a handy, portable fashion with the Edge of the Empire Alphabet eBook. Check out the links below to grab this awesome, free product in both ePub and Mobi formats. I’ve heard many requests for consolidated lists of these articles and I’m really happy and proud to show off the work Brendan has done here with this eBook. I hope you all enjoy it!
This product is licensed under Creative Commons.
Licensees may copy, distribute, display, and perform work and make derivative works based on this product only for noncommercial purposes.
Do you need to populate a M is for Map with a random assortment of spaces? Sure you do! While one can easily pick and choose from the list provided in that section of Edge of the Empire Alphabet; a randomized, weighted table can be used instead. Using random tables can often make the game feel a bit magical and grow the design of your heist organically.
To randomly determine a slew of rooms; roll once on a Force Die and once on a d10, consulting the charts below, for each room. The results should produce a haphazard array of contained sites featuring a high density of the commonplace and a low density of the most rare and esoteric of venues.
| d10 | . | .. | ||
| 1 | Fitness | Observatory | ||
| 2 | Galley | Armory | ||
| 3 | Storage Hold | Security Command | ||
| 4 | Crew Quarters | Magnetic Dynamo | ||
| 5 | Troop Barracks | Interstellar Communications | ||
| 6 | Security Checkpoint | Prototype Lab | ||
| 7 | Power Coupling | Decontamination Bay | ||
| 8 | Repair & Maintenance | Research Lab | ||
| 9 | Droid Storage | War Room / Briefing Room | ||
| 10 | Service Tunnel | Command Center | ||
| d10 | OO | O | ||
| 1 | Cantina | Labyrinthine Corridors | ||
| 2 | Officer’s Quarters | Vault | ||
| 3 | Missile Bay | Chasm | ||
| 4 | Ion Drive | Grand Hall | ||
| 5 | Hyperdrive | Arena | ||
| 6 | Turbolaser Control | Brig/Prison | ||
| 7 | Medical Bay | Throne Room | ||
| 8 | Communications | Meditation Chamber | ||
| 9 | Library | Inner Sanctum | ||
| 10 | Flight Deck | Temple; see Z is for Zealot | ||
I don’t even know what this is all supposed to represent, and that’s sort of the point. There’s lots of little details here that could go any which way, hopefully other Galaxy Masters seeing this map get the same sort of inspiration I did. “Where does that hatch go? What does that console control?” etc.
The completely vertical nature of this map was pretty interesting as well. It’s like an old platformer video game, completely suitable for use with Edge of the Empire‘s Range Band system of approximate distances and relative scales.
Many times during my Star Wars Edge of the Empire games, a starship scene breaks out and everyone at the table tries to scramble and figure all this hooey out.
“How do I angle the deflector shields? What can my character do if she isn’t piloting or shooting? How much damage do the guns deal?” etc.
For my own games, I’ve sought out to remedy that jarring bump in game mechanics learning curve by providing an all-in-one starship sheet on a single 11″ x 17″ sheet of paper. It contains all of the information the Crew needs, roughly organized by location on the starship and/or the character’s role on the starship. It also integrates the basic statistics of the starship in question for a seamless flow of information.
In practice, this has worked amazingly well, with my players quickly grasping their available options and being able to weigh in on an informed decision when they take their character’s turn. Players tend to place their character’s token or mini directly on top of the box of text that represents the area of the ship that their characters are in.
My group has enthusiastically chosen a YT-1300 light freighter for their starting starship, however I can only imagine the joy that the owners of Firespray system patrol craft will feel now that some of the complexities of their starship’s weapons systems are streamlined. Moreover, I hope that the benefits of the Firespray, and its unique ability to Gain the Advantage due to its higher speed, will be better spelled out for all interested parties.
C. Steven Ross
Iamfivebears
mdl780
Triumph & Despair 