OOC General Chat

REMINDER:
POSTING WITH DICE ROLLS

When making skill checks feel free to roll your dice pool at the bottom of your post. Do not assume the difficulty level of the check and add red or purple dice. I’ll add them in another post. Do not describe your actions or the results of your actions. By doing so, you make assumptions and will, sooner or later, clutter the narrative with events or results that didn't actually happen.

You may add boost (light blue) dice to the pool if you think it is appropriate, simply explain your reasoning via OOC text after the narrative part of your post. For example: "I’m adding a boost to my Coercion check because I’ve got a blaster pressed up against his forehead". Then go ahead and roll the dice with your post. If I don’t think the boost makes sense (e.g., he knows blaster's not loaded), I’ll just disregard it. Also, you may adjust your dice as your talents allow.

Considering the above, it is worth emphasizing that any time you think there is something worth mentioning that is in your best interest or favor, please do so, in any situation for any check, action, social, or otherwise. For example, this would be posted just above the dice roll in OOC format:When you roll in that situation, add the boost to your roll. I'll negate it if I think it doesn't make sense. Always roll the dice pool that makes sense to you, without adding difficulty (purple) or challenge (red) dice, and I'll make any necessary adjustments and describe the results. Do what you can to help your character succeed.

For those of you who may have missed it in the Library:

SKILL CHECKS: IMPROVED AND SIMPLIFIED

For our game we'll be using a modified dice pool check system as described below. I've playtested it thoroughly, and it has improved the enjoyment of the game for everyone in my table top game immensely.


The Rule, Plain and Simple

[b]A Triumph can cancel a Despair, or count as three Advantage, if the individual making the roll (player or GM) so chooses. If choosing to use Triumph in this way, you must declare so via post.

Detailed Specifics

If a Triumph is used to cancel a Despair, they both fully cancel one another out in the exact same fashion as Success/Failure and Advantage/Threat. The Success component of the Triumph cancels the Fail component of the Despair, in addition to any additional effects that can result from either.

If a Triumph is converted to 3 Advantage, then it does not lose the Success component of the Triumph, which is still applied to the results of the roll. The 3 Advantage gained from the conversion can be used just like any Advantage.

The above mechanics are optional every time a player makes a roll. This allows the player to let the results of the dice be applied using the Rules as Written, or they can use the new mechanics mentioned above, canceling out Despair, or converting Triumph to Advantage to use in any way Advantage may normally be used (cancel an equal amount of Threat, recover Strain, etc).


Reasons for the Change and How it Improves the Game

I’m a huge fan of player agency. I'm also a huge fan of allowing the game to flow more smoothly by not forcing any of us to always feel like every Triumph, Advantage, Despair, and Threat has to have some special meaning applied to the narrative, as this can become tedious, and even boring, over time. This modified dice mechanic expands possibilities and just generally simplifies the dice pool results, at the roller's discretion, facilitating a smoother and more enjoyable game experience overall.

And that’s actually the main reason I adopted this kind of system from a home brew dice mechanics rule I found on the internet, to help the game flow more smoothly. With starting and low level characters the dice are very simple and clear to interpret, but as characters leveled up, more and more red and yellow dice became part of the action. Consequently, we found ourselves spending more and more time interpreting dice rather than enjoying the story. More and more frequently, dice rolls contained multiple Triumphs, Despairs, and Advantage/Threat. It even began to feel stale and boring, as the Triumph and Despair effects began to feel far too common, rather than something special.

I’ve tinkered around and play tested this extensively in my own table top game for months, somewhere close to a year. It took very little time for everyone in our gaming group to fall in love with this home brew dice mechanic. In the simplest terms, the individual making the roll can have Triumph cancel out Despair (demonstrating that role play wise they simply want their Triumph to be a job well done), or they can have Triumph count as 3 Advantage to be used as normal. The great thing about this is that it comes down to player choice. The player making the roll can, for example, risk the Threat or Despair and choose to keep the Triumph as some other narrative fireworks, or they can keep things a little simpler and opt for the job well done, which can still come with a variety of effects depending on the rest of the results in the dice roll.

Also, even with this dice mechanic, interesting combinations of dice still happen, and sometimes the players have an idea of how they want to use Triumph, so they don't cancel out Despair or Threat, risking the consequences. This home brew dice rule takes nothing away from the game, and allows things to flow more smoothly, or be more exciting, depending on the players' choices. Some players like the idea of high risk/reward, whereas some prefer to be smooth operators and get the job done. With the modified system detailed here, more than ever you can play a character closer to your vision.

My interest in adopting this kind of system is supported by the RAW combat tables, wherein it shows that a Triumph can be used to create many effects that would otherwise require three Advantage, not to mention that a Triumph can also cause a critical hit, even on weapons that usually require four or more Advantage. In a similar fashion, a Despair can have the same effect as three Threat on the combat table. In sum, the combat tables themselves showed an equivalent nature that already existed.

As a side note, not every Advantage/Threat needs to be spent either. Sometimes, if the player has no Strain to recover and they can’t or don’t care to think of a way to spend their advantage, there’s nothing wrong with just tossing it. Don't let yourself become burdened by feeling like you to find some way to spend a single Advantage when you don't need to recover any Strain.

Ultimately, I really like using the home brew dice mechanics. It still allows for some of those moments of Triumph and Despair mixed in with Threat or Advantage, but it also allows, depending on player preference, enjoyment of the game by choosing to opt out of some of the bizarre effects that can come with those rolls. It increases the degree by which the players, and the GM, can shape the game.

While I was poking around the internet, I found some updated specialization and Force power talent trees, with information that is missing on the ones linked on the Library subforum here. I thought they might be useful for anyone planning their XP spending for the long term. Here's the thread on the FFG forums with links to all of them.

Nice find! I'll update the Library. Thanks.

Also, while I like the great variety of specializations available, I am not a fan of the 'signature abilities'. They're just too much and a little over the top.

I'm not sure what's going on with Mrvain, but we're going to go ahead and get started with Duty and Obligation. Because it's fun.

DUTY, OBLIGATION, AND MORALITY

A note on dice rolls for Duty and Obligation:

While I do tend to enjoy the core rules for these game mechanics, do not expect them to be rigidly adhered to. Sometimes it just doesn't make sense to apply the more unique plot changing effects of these rolls immediately. As such, I will, at times, apply those effects when it is more sensible to do so, perhaps even combining them with another character's if necessary. Also, do not assume the rolls will take effect exactly as described in the book (e.g., doubles may not always trigger double strain effects or plot changers, while regular rolls may introduce plot changers at my discretion). Ultimately, I like the system but use it more like a guide, with the dice roll primarily being used to determine who's Duty/Obligation takes effect.

Regardless, I will do my best to sensibly work your character's Duty and Obligation into the game, as it adds really good flavor and can make for great twists and turns in the game. Heck, it's why we're using both of them.

The chart and rolls will be posted in the Character and Group Info section.

You guys don't make the dice rolls for Perception; being able to see your roll gives far too much away regarding your success or failure to gain information out of the environment (simply stated, you shouldn't know you did a bad job of looking for clues and details in your surroundings, etc). However, you need to make an OOC note at the bottom of your post making it clear which skill you're using (e.g., "I'm using Perception to look around the room."). This is a great way to highlight your use of the skill and make sure I pick up on your desire to use it.

Also, make sure you do roll your own Force dice for chekcs, representative of your character's ability to feel and know when they're effectively tapping into the currents of the force.

As far as secret checks go and the reasons for using them, there is a thread about it in the Library.

As an addendum, feel free to add the actual rolls as placeholders; it would be very much appreciated. This will help me track you're desire to use a skill, in addition to making any requests for boost dice and other changes to your roll more more visible.

When you say add them as placeholders (just so I don't bork it all up again ;) ), do you mean to include the information in the comment:
Or actually plugging in the dice set to the dice roller and posting knowing that the result will not be the actual result?

A good question. Include the information in the comment as well as a placeholder dice roll. Some important remarks and info below.


The information in the comment is absolutely necessary, as part of knowing what you want to try to do. A major point of including the information in the OOC comment, as well as a placeholder dice roll, is that it eliminates any and all possible confusion as to what you're trying to accomplish with your character. Stealth is a good example of this. You might write that your character is "carefully moving" or "being cautious" or even "tiptoeing", but it leaves a lot of interpretation in my hands, depending on the writing, and I might miss it.

It is far simpler to note your efforts via OOC at the end of a post with (1) the Skill you're using (2) The intent or purpose of the check (3) any changes to dice via talent etc, or boosts you'd like, if any (4) and the placeholder dice roll, providing an immediately clear representation of your character's dice pool for the check.

Ultimately, the idea for having placeholder dice rolls came to me as I made the secret checks for your perception rolls; it was far easier to refer to your posts and look at the 'placeholder' dice rolls than it was to sort through character sheet threads. So, for those of you who forgot the secret rolls, thank you very much.

The placeholder dice roll is extremely important to me. It makes your intentions much more visible, including any requests for boost dice as part of your pool. Additionally, it allows me to see what dice to roll for your various skill checks, of which there could be six, or more, for every post I write. This is much easier than sifting through all of your character sheets, looking for the proper characteristics and skills to combine for your skill checks.

Excellent, that works for me! It would be wonderul on the site if there was the option of a signature or something of that nature that could be tagged onto your posts where things like dice pools, prepared spells, etc could be kept.

Addendum to my most recent post above:

I know adding placeholder dice rolls may seem redundant, but in a PbP setting they are extremely useful as a means of addressing and organizing the actions that all of your characters may or may not attempt, success or failure. And yes, I know that there will be times when your placeholder dice roll extraordinarily well for some of the secret checks, and the dice mock you with their Triumph results on the screen. However, there will also be times when your placeholder rolls are exceedingly poor, and my rolls turn out to be a boon. The dice are random, and in the end it will all balance out.

There was some mention of something like that in one of the site discussions, directed at allowing GM's to save dice pools that were often and repeatedly used for convenience. It's a great idea, and I think Keleth may very well be working on it, or doing so at some point in the future.

In an attempt to avoid potential confusion, I think the statement below might help:

When posting, whether a secret check or otherwise, always do so as if there were no secret checks in our game. Post your intentions for the skill check via OOC comment at the end of your post, along with any desire for boosts or dice pool changes due to talents, etc. Then, simply post an attached dice roll with it, making sure the dice roll itself has a label (Perception, Lightsaber attack, Sense Force Power, etc). The only difference with secret checks is that your roll will be a placeholder, making it easier to see what kind of dice pool you expect me to roll, along with saving me the time of looking for the right characteristics and skills on your character sheet threads.

Using the above method will work whether you're using Sense in pitch black darkness (secret check), or attempting to decapitate someone with your lightsaber (regular check). Also, to make sure you're aware, combat rolls will never be secret checks. You'll always be able to see why you're dying or dead.

Yeah, I saw that one. I also put my own suggestion up for something more like adding info into the text.

Don't know what happened, but I lost the ability to edit Hawke's thread-sheet. My guess is that locking a thread prevents edits as well as new posts.

Yeah, I locked them while I was cleaning them up to make them more uniform. I think I'm actually just going to leave them locked.

If you guys want to make changes to backstory and such, just place a post in the Character Discussion thread and I'll take care of it. Otherwise, form here on out I'll handle the character sheets as far as inventory, etc. It'll eliminate any potential confusion regarding what's what. Just let me know what you want to change (XP spending, backstories, notes you'd like to add, etc), and I'll take care of it.

I've already added the weapons to Lexi and Hawke's character sheets, in addition to removing a stimpack from Kronus' inventory as well.

Also, I'm thinking of creating a "Group Notes" thread; a journal of sorts that I've noticed groups in some other games have, allowing you to organize and track vital info and such. Based on what I've seen so far, I think at least some of you would put it to use.

SKILL CHECKS AND FORCE POWERS

Some of you are missing this so please read it carefully. For those less experienced or entirely new to FFG Star Wars RPG, once you get the hang of the game mechanics, many of you will find that it is an absolutely wonderful and easy to use system. I've played many RPG's, and I believe the FFG Star Wars dice system is my absolute favorite.

Whether the skill or force power check is a normal check or a secret check, you should always post your character's intentions and your dice roll (adding your green, yellow, and potentially some blue boost dice) without added difficulty dice (I'll add those later when your actions are resolved). For secret checks (Perception, Stealth, etc) your dice rolls will serve as useful placeholders, allowing you to help ensure I roll the proper dice. Regardless of the type of check, posting your dice roll will also save me the trouble of potentially looking through six character sheets for characteristics and associated skill ranks to form your dice pools for you. Simply put, treat every check as a normal one, with all attached dice rolls (whether it's a secret check placeholder or not), and I will take care of the rest.[/b]

If you don't know what skill to roll for regular checks, see the Library thread Links to Useful Resources and Reference Sheets, under the link A Wealth of Diverse Knowledge; what you need starts on page 15 of the PDF, detailing Skills and their associated Characteristics. For force powers, look in the Library under the thread Force Powers and Associated Skills. And, if don't know how to put together a dice pool for a Skill Check or Force Power Check, whether you're new to Star Wars RPG or just forgot, you can look in the Library under
Basics: Dice Pools and Skill Check Mechanics. Also, a thread in the Library detailing specifically which checks are secret checks: Secret Dice Rolls: Skill Checks and Force Powers.

My bad, I usually just load threads at their last post, and I completely missed the whole discussion here about placeholder rolls for secret checks. I'll make sure I add them in the future.

Also, the Episode One gameplay thread is currently locked, if that's unintentional.

It was intentional, to stop additional posts that were occurring 'out of time' (e.g., there was no need for Krosus to pick up the Neimoidian yet). I'm going to roll the dice for Meribson and CCL's checks and then post resolution so the plot can advance.

Yeah, I just noticed that you'd made a post on the first page of the game thread stating that. I was just about to edit my earlier post when you replied.

Personally, I've been trying to get my posts in early to avoid missing the daily deadline (I'm normally too rushed in the evening to guarantee enough time and mental energy to write a good post), apologies if I've also been overloading the action queue. Hopefully the new placeholder rolls will make it more obvious when an action has yet to be resolved.