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Handing the group a droid? IAG campaign / Pilot Question
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Chaosmeister
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 2:45 pm    Post subject: Handing the group a droid? IAG campaign / Pilot Question Reply with quote

Hey all, I am about to start my game of the IAG Campaign freedom for Edan. Pretty early on they find a Y-wing fighter in that campaign for their own use. This is a two seater though and I wonder if my single pilot player wont get frustrated because of the MAP. None of the other Chars are likely to ever pilot anything, they don't have the skills. Hence I was pondering to replace the Y-wing with an X-wing and let them find a slightly damaged R2 unit to use with it. What are your experiences when it comes to pilots and MAP? I have never run the system before and find it very hard to gauge for situations like these.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 3:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Make the Y-Wing a Longprobe (replaces the rear seat with a navcomputer and added Consumables) and give it an Astromech anyway.

Personally, if I did a Brash Pilot PC again, I'd go right past the classic starfighters and pick a combat scout like the HWK-290, the A-24 Sleuth or the MRX-BR Pacifier. All of these ships are capable of mixing it up with starfighters if they're in the hands of a capable pilot, and all have at least basic living spaces (food prep, bunk, fresher, etc) so the pilot isn't spending 2-3 days trying to live in his cockpit during extended jumps.
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Yora
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 3:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think the best ships for pilot characters are everything in the transport category. The party is unlikely to be spread out over different systems and will almost always travel through space together.
Transports, light freighters, scouts, and shuttles allow the pilot character to do his piloting while at the same time the other players can control some of the guns, even if they don't have any skill in starship gunnery, or be assigned to do various other things on the ship during a space fight.

An X-Wing is a cool ship for Luke Skywalker who goes on an adventure all by himself, or for a party that consists entirely of starfighter pilots.
If only one character in the group is a pilot and he's in a starfighter, what are the other players doing while he's in space fighting?

Transports are super popular for Star Wars heroes for just that reason. Pilots can fly and the party can stay together and be useful at the same time.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 4:00 pm    Post subject: Re: Handing the group a droid? IAG campaign / Pilot Question Reply with quote

Chaosmeister wrote:
Hey all, I am about to start my game of the IAG Campaign freedom for Edan. Pretty early on they find a Y-wing fighter in that campaign for their own use. This is a two seater though and I wonder if my single pilot player wont get frustrated because of the MAP. None of the other Chars are likely to ever pilot anything, they don't have the skills. Hence I was pondering to replace the Y-wing with an X-wing and let them find a slightly damaged R2 unit to use with it. What are your experiences when it comes to pilots and MAP? I have never run the system before and find it very hard to gauge for situations like these.


As cheep as droids are, why can't he just buy himself one?

Also, if players get that easily upset about MAPS, just wait till they are in combat on the ground, in a blaster fight..
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MrNexx
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PostPosted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Many years ago, I ran a game and the team DESPERATELY needed a droid, because only one person had anything resembling piloting skills. So, I see there being two main options:

1) Bog-standard, non-heuristic droid. A bit dumb, but able to handle a few tasks. Like, it has Sensors and Shields, but specialized in this ONE model of ship. It's 4D or 5D in a Y-Wing, but put it in an X-Wing and it's 2D.

2) A droid, but with a quirk. I gave a droid the quirk of wanting to be independent, and actively working to make itself so. Not sabotaging the party, but causing weird stuff to happen nearby because of its attempts to free itself. A similar option would be Chopper from Rebels... competent, but an utter b@st@rd*.
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 12:33 am    Post subject: Re: Handing the group a droid? IAG campaign / Pilot Question Reply with quote

Great advice here.

Chaosmeister wrote:
Hey all, I am about to start my game of the IAG Campaign freedom for Edan. Pretty early on they find a Y-wing fighter in that campaign for their own use. This is a two seater though and I wonder if my single pilot player wont get frustrated because of the MAP. None of the other Chars are likely to ever pilot anything, they don't have the skills. Hence I was pondering to replace the Y-wing with an X-wing and let them find a slightly damaged R2 unit to use with it. What are your experiences when it comes to pilots and MAP? I have never run the system before and find it very hard to gauge for situations like these.

Definitely get them some droid assistance because MAPs are killer. The easiest way around them is for the group to eventually get a bigger ship where they all can do something to help. I really do not understand players that refuse to put anything in to raising their PCs' space skills. To me, Star Wars isn't Star Wars without space combat every now and then. If you have no-space characters, then they have nothing to do in the space scenes. Boring. Even a low Mechanical character can start focusing on one space skill to improve every now and then. In my book, everyone should pull their weight in the group. Just letting one character handle all the space skills is not only selfish, but it is a quick way to a TPK. MAPs'll kill ya!
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2020 1:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

MrNexx wrote:
Many years ago, I ran a game and the team DESPERATELY needed a droid, because only one person had anything resembling piloting skills. So, I see there being two main options:

1) Bog-standard, non-heuristic droid. A bit dumb, but able to handle a few tasks. Like, it has Sensors and Shields, but specialized in this ONE model of ship. It's 4D or 5D in a Y-Wing, but put it in an X-Wing and it's 2D.

2) A droid, but with a quirk. I gave a droid the quirk of wanting to be independent, and actively working to make itself so. Not sabotaging the party, but causing weird stuff to happen nearby because of its attempts to free itself. A similar option would be Chopper from Rebels... competent, but an utter b@st@rd.


Isn't that essentially telling them, "go ahead and neglect an area of skills.. i will cover it for ya, by willfully just GIVING you something to fill that gap"??

What would you have done, had they say, not taken a single person with first aid? Or anyone who had the capacity to bargain (all were low Per)? Would you have likewise given them something to cover that up?
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MrNexx
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
MrNexx wrote:
Many years ago, I ran a game and the team DESPERATELY needed a droid, because only one person had anything resembling piloting skills. So, I see there being two main options:

1) Bog-standard, non-heuristic droid. A bit dumb, but able to handle a few tasks. Like, it has Sensors and Shields, but specialized in this ONE model of ship. It's 4D or 5D in a Y-Wing, but put it in an X-Wing and it's 2D.

2) A droid, but with a quirk. I gave a droid the quirk of wanting to be independent, and actively working to make itself so. Not sabotaging the party, but causing weird stuff to happen nearby because of its attempts to free itself. A similar option would be Chopper from Rebels... competent, but an utter b@st@rd.


Isn't that essentially telling them, "go ahead and neglect an area of skills.. i will cover it for ya, by willfully just GIVING you something to fill that gap"??

What would you have done, had they say, not taken a single person with first aid? Or anyone who had the capacity to bargain (all were low Per)? Would you have likewise given them something to cover that up?


Probably not, but I don't tend to make ship combat a big part of the game... as others have said, if you don't have a ton of buy-in from the group, it's not something that goes well for them. So, I give them an NPC who can fill in, have it make sense why our one pilot can effectively fly the ship they need to get around, and occasionally have an NPC to be narratively useful... someone to get the ship to where they need it under little stress, or get kidnapped/stolen and serve as a useful reason why they can't do what they need.

It's kind of like assuming everyone in the D&D group can ride, at least well enough to get where they're going, and that the groom they brought along will be enough to watch after the horses while they're in the dungeon. It lets the story move along.
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shootingwomprats
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 2:56 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Keep in mind that MAPs are mitigated by things such as Maneuverability and Fire Control. If I remember correctly Fire Control is typically 2D and Maneuverability for a starfighter is at least 1D. If the pilot was flying and shot one time, they would still be 1D to gunnery and 0D to piloting.

As for adding a droid to the ship, it typically does little more than perform repairs, power management, calculate hyperspace coordinates and power up the ship. Granted, easy enough to assume that the droid can also pilot the ship, but then again within the rules, a skill test is assumed to be successful unless its outcome is in doubt, adds to the story, or failure would cause drama.

Also, keep in mind that characters who don't have a needed skill perform the skill at the base attribute level. Taking into account modifiers for Fire Control, Maneuverability, or perhaps scanners, even an unlikely hero with 2D would be +1D or even +2D to perform a skill.

I don't know, its your game. You can always toss in a an old R2 unit with issues. Perhaps its the original R2 or over model from when the ship crashed. Its functional but not as good as it was or with some quirks. You can also take it away at a later time stating it has a bad motivator.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Also don't forget, if a PC is doing the action, he can spend CP to modify it.
IF a droid (not a pc) is doing it, you can't spend CP on it.
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2020 5:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good point. I was suggesting a droid or two to help for now, but over time other PCs should work on copiloting skills.
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Chaosmeister
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 2:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thank you all for the advice! The campaign is self contained, it's not an open campaign but the specific written one from the IAG. And there they only get the single Y-wing for a long time. It's a cool albeit railroady campaign.
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PostPosted: Mon Aug 17, 2020 3:27 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Choo Chooo!!! jump aboard the train Very Happy Very Happy
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