I've given them all the rope in the world. Let's see what happens.

[malcolypse]

Need some advice from the various ne'er-do-wells scouring the forums.

In the D6 Star Wars game that I'm running, I kinda got myself into a situation.

My players are a group of pirates that I've been trying to build up into a band of daring Pirate Kings! Unfortunately, they mostly just hit or shoot things, and haven't been preparing their characters for command roles (Since the first character discussion, I've been saying that I was going to get the characters a fleet to command, and that they should start taking the command skill), just to be better thugs.

I've gotten to the point in the game where they should be ready to build their fleets and rule the vacuum, but despite giving them all the money in the world (one world, at least) they are still totally unprepared for any kind of position of authority, and will most likely accidentally order their fleets into a star before they accomplish anything pirate-like.

One part of me feels like I should try to keep this from happening, but another part of me keeps saying that as long as they survive their first attempted assault it'll be a valuable lesson for them.

I've gotten several opponents set up for them, but mostly of a non-violent nature, so that blowing them up isn't the best (but still fairly likely) option for the players.

My problems are:
1. Should my PCs be punished, and to what degree, for the players avoiding working towards the goal agreed upon before the game started?

2. If I beat their vast armadas like a red-headed stepchild with a well coordinated and smaller fleet, what's to stop them just thinking that they needed a vaster armada and getting themselves into a vicious cycle of building fleets and then flushing them down the drain?

3. I have no interest in continuing a game where the party become supremely powerful and use their vast wealth to go out and steal tiny amounts of money from people who have no possible way of stopping them. If they insist on ignoring everything I say to them out of game about the way the game is headed, should I start wrapping things up and get ready to move on to my next campaign?

Please, great warriors and magicians of Enworld, advise me.

 

[Nagol]

1) No punishment. The recourse I see is to talk to them and verify they still want to go in that direction. I'd offer alternatives I would be comfortable playing. So it may be (a) end this campaign and start something else, (b) have a player take over this campaign, (c) continue the campaign in the direction the PCs have chosen, or (d) continue the original direction and have the PCs deal with the consequences of trying to command without preparation. As this is the natural consequence of player choice it's not a punishment.

2) Nothing. That would be called strategic choice. If you want to point out that other strategies exist; show don't tell. Have them run into a fleet with organisaiton and tactical ability and have them watch it trounce a larger unprepared fleet.

3) Yes.

 

[UngainlyTitan]

I have never seen much merit in punishing players or their characters for not going along with the DM. While the DM is entitled to his/her fun so are the players.

It seems to me that they are not all that interested in the Pirate King plot and so I think you should consider something else.

 

[DnD_Dad]

WEG SW is my favorite. Just let them play around in the world. It is the only game that I never made adventures for. I alway just sandboxed for the players as we played. Let them enjoy the crazy wild die and give them a dark side point every once in a while to scare them straight.

 

[On Puget Sound]

How about a challenge from within their fleet? "Our fleet of 40 star destroyers is going to scour the spacelanes capturing shiploads of..... cloth. Also cotton balls and other medical supplies. And maybe some tinned sardines, the kind with that yummy mustard. But nothing well guarded."

NPC Lieutenant who DOES have command and strategic skills, and wants to go after real treasure: "I will inform the men of your commands."

That night the Lieutenant and a dozen henchmen are (maybe) kind enough to provide the former fleet owners with an escape pod after the mutiny. Or might even allow them to stay on board after the change of command - they are excellent thugs, after all.

 

[the Jester]

1. Should my PCs be punished, and to what degree, for the players avoiding working towards the goal agreed upon before the game started?

Never punish the players for playing their characters how they want to play them.

2. If I beat their vast armadas like a red-headed stepchild with a well coordinated and smaller fleet, what's to stop them just thinking that they needed a vaster armada and getting themselves into a vicious cycle of building fleets and then flushing them down the drain?

Nothing, but eventually they'll wise up or run out of money/resources with which to build fleets.

3. I have no interest in continuing a game where the party become supremely powerful and use their vast wealth to go out and steal tiny amounts of money from people who have no possible way of stopping them. If they insist on ignoring everything I say to them out of game about the way the game is headed, should I start wrapping things up and get ready to move on to my next campaign?

Or see if there is a way to change things up that is satisfying to you; maybe the Hutts move in, maybe the pcs experience Imperial entanglements, maybe a secret assassination plot develops. Ultimately, though, if your players and you have highly incompatible playstyles, ending the campaign is the solution.

 

[Wednesday Boy]

Definitely don't punish them for not going in the direction first agreed upon. That'll just alienate them from you and the campaign. I would sit down as a group and revisit where they'd like to see the campaign go and what sort of game they want to play.

This is will give you an opportunity if you want to "punish" their characters for not becoming commanders and have that become the motivator for the next plot arc. You might get great reception from your players if you propose [MENTION=68988]On Puget Sound[/MENTION] 's plot where their lack of commanding leads to a mutiny.

In the end if they want to stick with the pirate kings plot but aren't willing to take command skills, if it's not going to leave you annoyed just go ahead with that plot. Give them plenty of action by letting them lead from the front and let them roleplay the social side of things instead of relying on skill rolls. Giving your players leeway that will accentuate their fun will only endear you to them as a GM.

 

[On Puget Sound]

Reavers have no command skills; it doesn't stop them from terrorizing the 'verse.

 

[malcolypse]

I think one of the greatest losses from the end of Firefly was that they never told us what was up with the Reavers.

They're obviously still highly technically competent, first they strip the safely gear from their ships and then they successfully fly them.

I don't think the Reavers are what anyone thinks they are.

If only they could make an awesome movie to advance the plot of the series and explain some of the plot points that were not given sufficient screen time in the show's tragically short time on the air, while leaving open a possible return to the series or more movies.

 

[d2OKC]

My players are a group of pirates that I've been trying to build up into a band of daring Pirate Kings! Unfortunately, they mostly just hit or shoot things, and haven't been preparing their characters for command roles (Since the first character discussion, I've been saying that I was going to get the characters a fleet to command, and that they should start taking the command skill), just to be better thugs.

Give them skill points in command for free. WEG is flexible enough that you can do this without sacrificing realism (since, frankly, there isn't any in the system to begin with) or breaking the game. It sounds like they're just not interesting in paying for the command skill when they could be taking space transports or blasters? Maybe they're more interested in being scoundrels than kings. There is more than one way to captain a pirate ship.

Perhaps, give them some goals. When they achieve a goal they earn some respect from their crew, and it gives them an extra +1 to their command skill. This way, they're getting the necessary preperation, but not using up precious CP to do so.