Curmudjinn
Explorer
Keep em coming! I've been thinking about how fitting TOR would be for a star wars game for months. Love what you have so far. I'm going to test run a scoundrel game and then a Jedi game, take it through thegrinder with my group.
Making a Star Wars hack of The One Ring's system
- Thread starter Laurefindel
- Start date
Laurefindel
Legend
Heh, I was wondering if anyone was reading this!
I must say I’m quite satisfied with how things are turning out so far. PCs have acquired a ship (game so far has been an investigation turned into a race to the « treasure » based in and around Mos Eisley), so I’m polishing my space combat houserules…
Curmudjinn
Explorer
I look forward to hearing more about the system and your adventures as you guys continue!
Curmudjinn
Explorer
Not a fan of the old d6 Star Wars? That's my absolute favorite, but long out of print. There's a community-updated rulebook called Re-UP
aramis erak
Legend
It's one big file of copyright and trademark infringements.
Laurefindel
Legend
It’s a good system, very elegant in its simplicity. I just find it a little too simple. I yearn for just a few more bells and whistles.
Curmudjinn
Explorer
I can agree with that, it was very simple and allowed a lot of plug and play of any type of character. I think the One Ring and your port of the system allows much more light side/dark side importance with shadow and a grittier more original trilogy type of combat.
Laurefindel
Legend
Played a few games since my last post. However, lately I've been doing more "playing" and less "designing" (although I'm still giving thoughts to space combat). So while I haven't done anything new, I've consolidated a few things and am rethinking others.
Next, my early thoughts on space combat.
- Archetypes (character classes) replacing TOR's heroic cultures was a good choice. In Middle Earth, characters are primarily defined by where they come from and who they are rather than what they do. "Rohirim" or "Hobbit" is more significant than "warrior" or "hunter". Cultures are relatively insular and have strong identities. Conversely, Star Wars is a cosmopolitan setting; characters of any specie can come from any horizon or planet. There is little identification to culture outside isolated, often "primitive" civilizations (such as Ewoks or Sandpeople). Star Wars characters are primarily defined by how they do things. "Scoundrel" or "Jedi" is more significant than "Twi'lek" or "Human". I'm pretty happy with the archetypes I've got, but there could be more. The archetype virtues seem balanced and fun so far. The Force-User character is still a bit powerful in comparison. Gotta work a bit more on what the Force can and cannot do.
- The episodic approach I'm going for is hit-and-miss. Or rather, the model works, but the 1 episode = 1 game session doesn't work as well as I hoped. Perhaps our play sessions are too short, or else our playstyle doesn't quite do it for the time allocated. I had set up healing and experience and item acquisition and NPC meetings etc, on a 1 episode = 1 game session model, so I may need to revisit this slightly. Or perhaps it work just fine even though it doesn't work as intended. Gotta ask my players...
- Rewards as weapon enhancements is a direct port from TOR. However, I made specific weapons the equivalent of magical weapons in TOR and accessible from the start to everyone. Currently, each PC has the equivalent of a magical weapon, so they are more powerful because of this (but least equally so). It just means i need to up the power level of the adversaries a bit. I'm not sure if I would do it differently even if I had to start over. In TOR, a sword is just that; a sword. In Star Wars, it's nice to have the DL-44 slightly different from the DC-17 despite both being heavy blaster pistols. It allows for an extra layer of nerd-ery.
- I've accepted Serenity/Passion as a replacement for TOR's Hope/Shadow. It could have remained as in TOR but now I'm running with Serenity/Passion and it's working great. Our Force-User is starting to feel the weight of Passion and can't afford to be too trigger-happy with the Force anymore, which is what I wanted. Now I need to talk to him and see if it's fun.
- I've gotta narrow down what I want technology to do (e.g. electrobinoculars, scanners, droids, etc.). I'm more and more inclined to make tech equivalent of TOR's useful items (+1d6 on rolls in one skill) or grant "magical successes" (which is what the Force does). Should droids be equipment or NPCs? I'm leaning on the latter but then it becomes a game about NPCs doing stuff, not the player-characters. hum...
- I still haven't solved my problem with Valour and Wisdom tests (that they do not happen very often, or not happen at all).
- I haven't use my rules for Opening Crawls (re-flavoured travel rules). We tend to jump in play right away and skip it altogether. Now I'm re-questioning it's relevance.
Next, my early thoughts on space combat.
Laurefindel
Legend
We haven't played (that game) in a while and as I had time to reflect on this system, I've taken a few decisions for the upcoming games. Most of these decisions have more to do with our playstyle than the game as a product. I'm not designing for a large audience so better to focus on what my group and I like.
Opening volley - Gone! The concept is sound in the context of a hand-to-hand combat paradigm; as combatants close in to clash in close-quarters combat, opportunities for ranged attacks present themselves before the chaos of melee. This works well for a Lord of the Ring or wanna-be medieval game, but Star Wars is all about ranged combat and combatants don't necessarily rush into melee combat. This step of the onset felt redundant and even awkward at times.
Equipment and Technology. I'll treat it like useful and magical items in The One Ring 2e; they will simply grant 1d6/2d6 on some tests. Perhaps with a group that was more interested in specific equipment it could have worked differently, but I'm just gonna ask my players "what is you one item that you carry, and what does it do?". Luke Skywalker would have had his binoculars in ANH (+1d6 search), Chewbacca would have had his bandolier (+1d6 Awe because it looks awesome) or whatever. I'm not going to be picky or even ask for much sense. I may modify the technician archetype to allow three items or something. Then there will be expensive and/or cumbersome and/or fragile items akin to wondrous items in TOR. They grant 2d6 on a few relevant skills and allow "magical successes". I'm thinking scanners, spy-drones, astromech droids, jetpacks etc. Other equipment (that are not weapons or armor) are just going to be fluff.
Space Combat. I'm still hesitating between ship-as-character or ship-as-party. Ship-as-character has only one pool of shields (hit points) and like a character, it can get injured and crippled (hull breaches). Characters provide actions for the ship. Ship-as-party has as many departments as there are characters. To defeat the ship you need to defeat each character/department individually, just like a typical party of adventurers. I want the latter but the former makes more sense for Star Wars. One thing is sure; I don't want space combats where only the pilot and the gunner have all the fun, so I need to a) allow every character to engage in the fight like they would in ground combat and/or b) give a variety of significant options so that, for example, the mechanics has more things to do than just repair breaches and boost shields. In a D&D analogy, the cleric should have more to do than casting heal wounds rounds after rounds. Currently, I'm working on a hybrid solution...
Opening volley - Gone! The concept is sound in the context of a hand-to-hand combat paradigm; as combatants close in to clash in close-quarters combat, opportunities for ranged attacks present themselves before the chaos of melee. This works well for a Lord of the Ring or wanna-be medieval game, but Star Wars is all about ranged combat and combatants don't necessarily rush into melee combat. This step of the onset felt redundant and even awkward at times.
Equipment and Technology. I'll treat it like useful and magical items in The One Ring 2e; they will simply grant 1d6/2d6 on some tests. Perhaps with a group that was more interested in specific equipment it could have worked differently, but I'm just gonna ask my players "what is you one item that you carry, and what does it do?". Luke Skywalker would have had his binoculars in ANH (+1d6 search), Chewbacca would have had his bandolier (+1d6 Awe because it looks awesome) or whatever. I'm not going to be picky or even ask for much sense. I may modify the technician archetype to allow three items or something. Then there will be expensive and/or cumbersome and/or fragile items akin to wondrous items in TOR. They grant 2d6 on a few relevant skills and allow "magical successes". I'm thinking scanners, spy-drones, astromech droids, jetpacks etc. Other equipment (that are not weapons or armor) are just going to be fluff.
Space Combat. I'm still hesitating between ship-as-character or ship-as-party. Ship-as-character has only one pool of shields (hit points) and like a character, it can get injured and crippled (hull breaches). Characters provide actions for the ship. Ship-as-party has as many departments as there are characters. To defeat the ship you need to defeat each character/department individually, just like a typical party of adventurers. I want the latter but the former makes more sense for Star Wars. One thing is sure; I don't want space combats where only the pilot and the gunner have all the fun, so I need to a) allow every character to engage in the fight like they would in ground combat and/or b) give a variety of significant options so that, for example, the mechanics has more things to do than just repair breaches and boost shields. In a D&D analogy, the cleric should have more to do than casting heal wounds rounds after rounds. Currently, I'm working on a hybrid solution...
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