Things I Learned Playing SWSE

[Prince Atom]

Two Z-95 Headhunters are no problem for a group in a Ghtroc 720, if I don't let the Headhunters have any concussion missiles.

However, the Gthroc's stock blasters are fixed to fire forward, so there's more blind spot than fire zone with the ship. So the pilot of the Ghtroc has to beat the pilots of the Headhunters with Pilot checks in order to bring her guns to bear.

Don't spend a lot of time closing in from Long Range. Produces 5 to 10 minutes of boredom in your players depending on how many NPCs there are who need to make Pilot checks and attack rolls at range.

If I have only 2 players, by all means let them have NPC allies to back them up and cover for weak skills. I'd probably better a) limit the number of said allies, and b) let the players actually roll the dice, with or without telling them the modifiers.

When my players have been friends since high school, and are both highly educated anyway, no amount of "letting them talk" before getting to the game will reduce their need to digress and discuss topics near to their hearts.

However, it does feel good when the shy one directly asks me a question for the first time in 12 sessions. Perhaps all that prompting is paying off.

TWK
Looking forward to next session.

 

[Bagpuss]

Really, we found a group of six players (all first level) didn't stand a chance of hitting a fighter in Ghtroc thanks to the fact no one had heavy weapon proficiency.

 

[ValhallaGH]

Really, we found a group of six players (all first level) didn't stand a chance of hitting a fighter in Ghtroc thanks to the fact no one had heavy weapon proficiency.

A trained pilot is automatically proficient with pilot weapons. It helps one character out.

 

[Prince Atom]

Okay, I suppose that first point was a little unclear. The PCs in question are both 5th level, and they have three NPCs in support of them, one 4th level and the other two 3rd level.

But the heroes' levels weren't really coming into it. The Headhunters could barely damage their Ghtroc with their blasters. Certainly the heroes would have had enough warning to plot and execute a hyperspace route out of combat before being blown up.

TWK

 

[Michael Silverbane]

A trained pilot is automatically proficient with pilot weapons. It helps one character out.

A character trained in the Pilot skill gains a +2 bonus to Vehicle Weapon Attacks made while piloting.

The Vehicular Combat feat allows the pilot to be considered proficient with pilot crewed weapons.

Later
silver

 

[Prince Atom]

There's also the Spacehound feat, which means your Scoundrel is considered proficient with all vehicular weapons. This doesn't let him use an E-Web unless it's mounted on a vehicle (don't think too hard about this), so someone could benefit from having both Spacehound and WP (heavy weapons).

One of the PCs in my group has Spacehound. The other is played by a rather nonviolent person; the 3PO droid is right up her alley.

One of the NPCs has WP (heavy weapons) and a Base Atk of +3. With the ship's fire control of +2 and the Point-Blank Shot feat, he was rolling at +6 to hit. The PC with Spacehound is also the group's pilot, and the Ghtroc's blasters are described as gunner-fired. As a 5th-level Scoundrel with Point-Blank Shot, she wouldn't have had any better chance, plus (if I'd thought of it) the NPC gunner could have been aiming (2 swift actions) since he wasn't doing anything but taking a standard action to fire the guns every round.

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

Another thing to "watch out for" in SWSE...

Force Slam at low-levels. If your mook squads are grouped together, they become easy prey for a Jedi with Force Slam.

Force Wizards in general. Any character less than 5th level with Skill Focus (Use the Force) is going to steamroll most opponents when they break out the Force mojo, especially ones that target an opponent's Defense scores. Gets even worse if they have the Deflect talent and an ignited lightsaber; the -5 penalty per deflected shot will get them eventually, but they've got a running head start.

Fool's Luck is one of the most broketastic talents in the game, especially if you're a skill-monkey character and worse still if you're a Force-user.

Force Point enhanced Battle Strike plus Destiny Point for auto-crit often equals some big ouch for bad guys, and could lead to an adventure's Big Bad becoming a one-hit wonder.

 

[Prince Atom]

I'll keep that in mind, Donovan. Right now we don't have a Jedi in the party. We're trying to see how the Galaxy plays without 'em in the spotlight.

Which is not to say they don't show up for an adventure here and there. We just don't have one in the party.

I think that's a good thing, myself. Jedi should be exceedingly rare between the Purge and the New Jedi Order, of course.

Plus, I'm trying to move characters around the battlefield rather than standing still and shooting. So I think having them lumped up together would be dumb on my part anyway.

TWK