Star Wars RPG Story: the S.M.O.L. Squad

[@DracoMagnius]

Puffin: "How did the players know there had been a time change?" Me: "They didn't did they?"

[@rickrollerdude]

This, tbh

[@dalancer]

Fun idea: If the party was in the middle of a long warp due to a warpdrive malfunction they were except from the time change by it happening in that exact moment, since they technically "did not" exist in the galaxy as they were warping. It in turns makes their warp drive and their ship a key plot point that they got to protect if they are gonna figure out how to fix the timeline, or find a way to supercharge their warpdrive with long lost Jedi artifacts/crystals. Just a idea!

[@Albertosn3]

I mean in the Rebels TV series there was a temple with weird time stuff going on. The temple on Mustafar probably could have had something like that if Ben was aware of that fact...which he probably wasn't...

[@monkeyvszombies]

The meme answer would be "Somehow"

[@lanteanboy]

@@dalancer except how do you explain the other thousand of crews traveling through Hyperspace at the same time. Believe me, I also thought of that.

[@isaacsantos6200]

Whoever assumed that the message of the first trilogy was that only the Skywalker's had the force was insane

[@thatapollo7773]

Ah yes, Obi Wan Kenobi, the most famous Skywalker

[@vanyadolly]

I was just wondering how anyone would possibly get that impression. I mean I'm pretty sure Palpatine isn't related to the Skywalkers, but Yoda definitively isn't!

[@ianbailey4213]

@@thatapollo7773 Uh actually if you read the 1989 comic, Legacy of Hope Empire, you would learn Obi-wan was secretly Anakin's cousin twice removed but the only person who knew it was the Jedi scholar Takin-tha-pith

[@kentip3444]

@@ianbailey4213 nnnnnneeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrd jk that's actually sick

[@Sip_Dhit]

@@kentip3444 now they're actually making a joke notice how the name is taking the piss

[@youtubeuniversity3638]

I like the idea of a "mechanic" accidentally making a robot that's actually competent with technology.

[@Ben-jl2rh]

Thats literally Anakin Skywalker

[@DracoMagnius]

@@Ben-jl2rh No Anakin made a robot that's good at talking to people and diplomacy.

[@Trekkertech]

@@DracoMagnius You know when you think about it, Anakin wasn't that great with people and diplomacy, so it kind of fits.

[@DracoMagnius]

@@Trekkertech Yeah exactly similar concept just different skill sets.

[@theFLCLguy]

Probably just uploaded the information. And you don't have to be an expert to put together something like a computer. I don't see the issue here at all. It would be as simple as putting files on a computer to make the droid smarter.

[@ApprenticeNick]

"He kept his character's name a secret for a really long time and when the other players learned what it was they didn't really care" is honestly so relatable. Players trying to be enigmatic and other players just not really caring is something I've experienced so often.

[@dashiellgillingham4579]

That’s because y’all don’t know how to be mysterious properly. “So what’s your story?” “…I cannot lie. I do not know.” “What do you mean you don’t know.” “I awakened half-buried in a ditch by the road four days ago due to a short circuit triggering my repair routines. All before that is a blur.” (Hours later, while the rest of the party is celebrating and the robot looks troubled) “So, what do you remember?” *Long pause* “I remember… this. I remember people… laughing.” “Anything else?” *Stares silently* I ended up completely detailing the planned story by mistake because everyone got way more invested in figuring out my backstory.

[@sircharlesninefingers4170]

​@@dashiellgillingham4579 More like people are too rapped up in their own stories, not wanting to talk about it and hoping someone would ask, just so they can say " I dunno." It's annoying working with a "mystery background" character 'cause all they want to do is brood and "not care".

[@schwarzerritter5724]

I had the most stereotypical wizard ever that was actually a monk and a half-elf pretending to be a human, because she had a price on her had and bounty hunters would be searching for a half-elf.

[@bibbobella]

@@dashiellgillingham4579 I once made a wizard that was pretending to be a warrior. Really fun character and there was something fucking hillarious about being so god damn useless, only to suddenly get pissed off and throwing a fireball out of the blue! The other players didn't "care" for say, but they sure as hell did find my character concept really cool.

[@Nemesis653]

I can only see this getting a reaction if the DM really plays with it. Like if they hear the BBEG they're looking for is named Bob and then they learn later on that their teammate was Bob all along and the BBEG they've been hunting is using his name. At that point they'd be interested in what happened in the players backstory to grasp why his name is being used, what happened to him, and who the BBEG could really be.

[@researcherchameleon4602]

“He died, but he got better” That made my day

[@carl8703]

It's a tabletop RPG, no explanation needed, we all know how it goes.

[@MrCompassionate01]

It's Star Wars, nobody's ever really gone. At least not if their character is popular or recognisable enough.

[@novusnocturnm]

@@MrCompassionate01 I see this quote and all I imagine is Dr. Jackson from stargate. He truly died and got better… 3 times.

[@pedrostormrage]

I mean, for clerics (or whatever the Star Wars equivalent would be) death is kinda like a disease (since they can "cure" it) ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@davidlove236]

Especially when it happened a second time!

[@wesleyewert1023]

"he eventually met a grizzly end, dying to his own explosives" as is the fate of all bomb guys

[@carterholcomb1072]

Except for this bomb guy. Vinny's too experienced to meet a tragic end to his own explosives. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXLOeoNveamtatk

[@webbowser8834]

Iunno man, sounds like they were all bad Demoman. A good Demoman said so.

[@GaldirEonai]

@@carterholcomb1072 Fun fact about Vinny: Pretty much all of his "Vinny moments" were unscripted. Don Novello would sit in the recording booth and just get going and when everybody had managed to finally stop laughing they just cut the best parts together. A lot of the other VAs got in on it too and much of their banter is also improvised.

[@LogicBasedAD]

its the way bomb guy would want to go...

[@thewanderingmistnull2451]

While "grizzly" is a word, the one you want is "grisly". Or are you trying to imply bears are involved in all bomb guy deaths?

[@Buffaloguy1991]

My favorite thing with the SAGA system is that Ackbars race has a bonus to perception and one of the things perception accounts for is trap finding. Which means ackbars race is good at finding traps. BTW the narrative dice are legit great give them a try if you can everyone.

[@c6rn6g2k1d]

It's a TRAP! XD

[@pwnorbepwned]

Yeah, the closest that species gets to that in SW5e is an optional +1 to Wisdom, lol.

[@gideonmele1556]

“It’s a-“ *rolls dice “Gas trap”

[@gigastrike2]

People tell me tw Ackbar's race is Mon Calamari. But that can't be right. He's a crab, not an octopus.

[@Ssekkaha]

@@gigastrike2 yeah he is a Mon Cal, I think puffin and his mates got mixed up

[@CaptainShack]

The narrative dice are really fun :D Love to hear about puffins experience with the rest of the systems.

[@LRAStartFox]

They really are, just so much to work with as a dm

[@wedgeantilles6134]

I love the narrative dice! I make it a collaborative thing with me as the dm and the pcs making use of the advantage

[@aaronh.1315]

I like a d20 system like D&D... but a buddy has been running a few FFG campaigns for us and I just greatly prefer the narrative dice. I like the idea of succeeding a hack, for example, but an alarm goes off. Or you missed a shot at a trooper but hit a pressurized pipe next to them disorientating and stunning them while also making it harder to actually hit them (because we can't see through the steam released). It's more grey than black and white... and I like that.

[@quietdignityandgrace]

S.M.O.L. is a hell of an anogram for "Turtle Friends"

[@lemon_god886]

Fucking hell yeah

[@romainsavioz5466]

@Zoe Guy we need to know

[@sethketa]

@@romainsavioz5466 WE NEED TO KNOW, BEN.

[@RoughNek72]

The turtle ##$&ers!!! Hahaha

[@Webshooters1]

The Turtle Fu-FRIENDS.

[@woodsman105]

I've never really known anyone who ended up being impressed by another character's mysterious secret backstory information when the mystery is finally revealed.

[@Cow-Moth-With-A-CRT-Head]

Groups with a gimmick make my favorite stories, especially when the GM plays along.

[@SchizoGenius]

My current PF1e game has every PC except one playing as Dwarves in a gigantic, extended family. One of the PCs, a Barbarian, takes the Squire feat at level 3, and ends up with a Half-Elf also of Dwarven and Human heritage. Party decided his name was "Dorvin." Being a Half-Elf, he couldn't grow a proper Dwarven beard, so he had the most amazing sideburns in Golarion, and a Charisma of 18. He was killed by a bandit, though. The party (mostly the Barbarian PC) chose to spring for a Reincarnate spell, ultimately provided by an Urban Druid cousin in an old cistern under Magnimar. I had made a couple of custom tables for the Reincarnate roll, depending on who would have ended up casting it. Since it was a Dwarf and a cousin to boot, I threw in some D&D 3.5 stuff, like the Urdunnir. I rolled, and got Half-Dwarf, from Dragonlance. So, now Dorvin is a Half-Dwarf with some Elven and Human traits.

[@vanyadolly]

@@SchizoGenius I love that. Not a tabletop story, but that reminded me of when went to Ironforge to learn the gun skill and joined an all-dwarf guild as a nightelf. Good times

[@SchizoGenius]

@@vanyadolly I actually run that game. I'm planning a sequel campaign, worked into the story of the current one. Plus, we're gonna have a "Retaking of Erebor" sorta one-shot with these characters at some point

[@GaldirEonai]

The narrative dice were hands down the best new idea in RPGs for _decades_ and I'll die on this hill.

[@almightyk11]

Really missed your stories Puffin. And it just makes me want to play in one of your groups, including all your obscure games with odd dice or ship maintanence XD What I found fascinating about Star Wars Saga was that it was clearly a prototype for a lot of 4e mechanics, yet it mostly worked. Perhaps you could go over what made that work and 4e should have kept? XD

[@sqoody7invegas625]

Is that possible at a convention or something?

[@noelroberts9118]

I agree, I would love to play a game with Ben a part of a convention or something. Would be a good time

[@kuradamax]

"They hated all tall folk" oh dear god my worst nightmare, an MHI Gnome party

[@faceoctopus4571]

MHI?

[@kuradamax]

@@faceoctopus4571 Monster Hunter International, it's a book series

[@Mobius_Finch]

Biggers

[@mesiagamer5217]

Honestly the fantasy flight system of story dice instead of the standard system is actually very easy to understand and can lead to some incredible situations.

[@FoeHammer618]

To each his own, but once you get past the initial weirdness of the new dice FFG Star Wars/Genesys is my favorite RPG system of all time. I love systems that encourage me to swing in from chandeliers and take risks to make interesting stories.

[@feoleb]

Yeah I love them

[@MonkeyJedi99]

I ran the starter kit module with my friends one session when neither DM had anything prepared. Everyone was quite put off by the weird dice, none of them are big fans of using pre-generated characters. By halfway through the module, they were in the groove, completely breaking the module's narrative. About half of them still don't like the dice that much

[@ribbitribbit4707]

My only complaint with it is the Triumph and Despair(?) results. I thought that could just be folded into the advantage/threat results or at least give staged progression like 1 Triumph gives the result of 2 advantage, two Triumph let's you add a major element to a scene, 3 Triumph blow up the Death Star. The way they are presented feels too much like an auto win/fail button. I still like it but managing 3 dimensions in a die roll gets cumbersome.

[@itssnowingonmtfuji5808]

Now the only thing we have to figure out is what happens when you fail a check, but roll a Triumph lol

[@Spice-Bound-Mediation-LLC]

As a GM for the FFG system I can confirm selling on the narrative dice is the second hardest thing, the first hardest thing is then explaining the dice and getting people to remember how it works. Edit: Also the narrative dice are really cool with how much freedom and expression they give players and the GM that the euphoria of rolling a Nat 20 is nothing compared to rolling a Triumph in a critical moment to knock the Inquisitors lightsaber from their hand or retconning that you DID buy a thermal detonator from that shifty market earlier just as the villain turned their back on you, handing you and your party the battle over your long fought nemesis.

[@fenrishero]

Oddly, Fantasy Flight's interpretation of L5R is easily my favorite because of their mixing their proprietary dice obsession with the 'roll and keep' core mechanic of L5R. By mixing in the 'stress' system, you actually have to make difficult choices with what to keep sometimes, plus it fixes the old 'load up on stats, ignore skills' issue by making the skill dice more attractive. Add in that they absolutely did not skimp on the power level, and it is easily the best interpretation of the system.

[@Tourak]

Of the system? Maybe. But they completely destroyed the lore and what had been built up for decades.

[@BrighamMike]

Clearly the players were in hyperspace when the time ripple adjusted for the time change. Its possible a few others would also experience it.

[@bradleymoore2797]

When I heard figure out a way to go back to the past my mind simply went 'wachaa'. Anyone else think of Samurai Jack when they hear the phrase 'back to the past'?

[@BrighamMike]

@@bradleymoore2797 nope.

[@derekskelton4187]

I love how the Force can totally just do whatever the story wants, Time Travel doesn't even rank in the top 10 of weird nonsense in the Legends books

[@Janoha17]

And Force-enabled time travel is canon.

[@Supersmile330]

@@Janoha17 wait, it is?!

[@Janoha17]

@@Supersmile330 Star Wars Rebels Season 4.

[@Lawlaliet]

@@Janoha17 Or using the force to turn lightsabers into dumb helicopter blades that let 'em flyyyyyyy....

[@poilboiler]

@@Lawlaliet That sounds even too dumb to come out of the prequels... About right for the latest movies though.

[@ZackofSpades]

I feel like one of my friend's Star Wars RPG characters would have fit in swimmingly with this group. He was a Jawa that hollowed out space inside of an Astromech droid and was using it as a Dalek-style tank/computer interface device, complete with an ejector seat. We called him J4-W4

[@master0fthearts894]

Man, I'm so glad to see Puffin talking about some non-D&D systems. Don't get me wrong, I love D&D as much as the next guy, but I remember that he made a video about how he ruined his SM's Sfar Wars campaign podcast, and it was so fun and got me excited for stories from different series. So yeah, glad Puffin is doing more of these.

[@cobraglatiator]

HA!! JOKES ON YOU!! THIS WAS A DND 5E VIDEO ALL ALONG!! *skeletor like laughter ensues.*

[@master0fthearts894]

Jokes on you, my standards are so low that even a video faking its identity as another system is enough to satisfy me. *Pulls out Uno Reverse Card.*

[@cobraglatiator]

@@master0fthearts894 *kaiba recoiling from onslaught of light meme*

[@svennoren9047]

"Non-D&D systems"? This one is built on D&D 3.5, that on D&D 5th... Star Wars D6 all the way, none of that class-and-level crap.

[@Blizz3112]

@@svennoren9047 I love the build flexibility of Fantasy Flight because of that...

[@jonlow_snow3039]

8:11 The Force, it's always the Force. Heck, it's probably even the reason why time travel could occur in the first place.

[@TheSpacecraftX]

Just shoehorn in a Guinan NPC who's sensitive to timeline changes like in Yesterday's Enterprise.

[@zobblewobble1770]

Force time travel is BS, but it is canon from Star Wars: Rebels. So he could probably just have worked in the plot of the imperials actually finding the Ethereals (or whatever they were called) on Lothal if he knows the lore. Or he could just wing it. this is D&D. Don’t have to strictly conform to the lore if they don’t want to.

[@PhotriusPyrelus]

@@zobblewobble1770 Disney Star Wars isn't Canon. And anyone who says otherwise can get fired out of a cannon.

[@EricDaMAJ]

Man I missed you Puffin. I was getting kinda worried there.

[@silkmonkey]

The narrative dice are awesome and I am willing to die on this hill. It’s great to just ask my players “how does this play out?” or “what do you want your triumph to mean?” The flexible initiative and destiny points have blown minds since the first beginner game. It’s a fun system, and I might try a Genesys magic game at some point later.

[@coldstar1012]

I agree 100%, the numbers are easy to learn but not nearly expressive enough!

[@alcoholicwater]

I enjoy when DM asks how do you want to play this out of a critical My first fight ever in D&D I turned someone to Ash with fire bolt

[@cronos4024]

Would really like to play this in the old Republic era! So much potentail and barely any storytelling restriction present and... Ah, fuck it, I just want to shove a ancient mystery story about the Rataka somewhere

[@digitalninja5941]

Old republic Era is perfect since in that time there's thousands of sith and jedi so not too outlandish to have many force users in your group.

[@Deadwarrior000]

@@digitalninja5941 it's why it's the best era imo. Thousands of Sith and Jedi in open war with Empire vs Republic narratives as well it's so good.

[@jish55]

When I was playing in a star wars table top, my group decided to go with the Galactic Empire Era, but because of the species I chose to play, I was the only force sensitive. Now, that may sound unfair, but when you're playing a Hoojib, a 30 cm tall telepathic creature, there really isn't much you can do.... I mean hell, we're talking a species whose adults may get to Grogu's height. So because of that, I played him as someone who was always obsessed with trees, to where by the end of the third session, there was an entire forest room that my Hoojib (who I named Eep), lived in while using someone's head as a means of travel.

[@barrybend7189]

I am doing a Star wars campaign and my rule with force adepts are as such: don't be lawful or chaotic stupid, depending on situations or team dynamics use your force abilities wisely and finally have fun. I do want to play as a Miralukan as they are interesting as a race( even if made 3rd party for Fantasy Flight).

[@sato-kuu]

Could you elaborate on that part about Eep "using someone's head as a means of travel"?

[@jish55]

@@sato-kuu Just sitting on top of people's heads so as to get around from place to place.

[@sato-kuu]

@@jish55 Ok, my brain is a little messed up so I was worried about what you meant because it COULD mean that you, say, emptied a fella's skull out and used some form of telekinesis to float around in it. Thank you for clarifying.

[@BillyBob-ov5ef]

@@sato-kuu would been cooler if they had done that.😎

[@alexwilliams8365]

Cool! I'd love to see more of this campaign covered! Also, Star Wars oddly enough has a time travel system with the World Between Worlds.

[@TheRealAlpha2]

Just hope they don't keep using it too often It could easily be super cheap story telling in the wrong hands.

[@emberfist8347]

@@TheRealAlpha2 Well it looks like it is destroyed.

[@valwenventureco9285]

as I see it the world between worlds had two primary effects, the first was restoring asoka who was implied to be killed by Vader, the second was to allow Ezra to confront his masters death and accept it. I also personally like the idea that Ezra pulling asoka out of time is what changes the future and let's is ignore the sequels.

[@SoulStarSketchin]

I really miss these videos the most. Glad to see them returning again. It's been encouraging me to make my own storytimes with a few past rps

[@TECH097]

M a n I feel that FFG bit Ben...I REALLY wish I could just, find a campaign to join myself dude, def hope you get to play it one day.

[@tylerdillon3745]

I had the same experience trying to convince my friends to learn the dice. "Can't we just play d20?" T_T

[@er00ic]

Honestly, the dice are more annoying than they are fun

[@TECH097]

@@er00ic Speaking as someone who hasn't played the game I'd at least want to TRY because of how FASCINATING it all is.

[@asshole9191]

I'm in a group playing Genesys (same dice) and I have to say that it's ok with technical support (something like the dice rolling app or the discord bot). It just takes a while every time to count up all the symbols, they can also easily be mistaken for the wrong ones etc. Before that we played Coriolis (arabian space opera) which uses only d6 and it was super easy (6 -> success, so just count 6), enemy has an armor rating and he rolls as many dice, every 6 reduces damage by 1. You can use 2 6s of your roll to make a crit which meant you rolled a d66 and that gave you a predefined crit from a table. Super easy combat, no long counting or anything. Really fun system. Only problem I had with coriolis was that magic gave the GM darkness points he could spend to reenforce enemies etc (kinda like story points but only the gm had them and they weren't limited by a certain number)

[@argentascorpio]

I have played Fantasy Flight Star Wars and I love it; in just one session the dice became really easy to interpret and it was a lot of fun. Now I love the narrative dice.

[@Metalloid702]

That ending is very relatable, especially as a new DM also puffin you're back! we missed you!

[@sonicspeedx13]

I really love the fantasy flight system. It is to me the balance of more narrative games that feel too floaty for me to get a solid grasp grasp and more number crunchy systems that can overwhelm me GMing sometime. I also feel the system works well for dynamic settings like Star Wars. Its a shame the dice scare people off. Also if your big on podcasts there's a podcast called silhouette zero that has a similar gimmick as to your players were doing of all the characters being of the smaller races. Really fun to listen to almost as fun as this video was. Love the vid as always!

[@HamletHK]

Silhouette Zero is so good!

[@MidnightSt]

"How do you feel about the three prequels?" ...Absolute masterpieces, in the context of the new trilogy. Absolute masterpieces.

[@Blizz3112]

I wouldn't go that far, but they are definitely more entertaining...

[@KittenyKat]

Thankfully the 'new trilogy' is officially non-canon now so we can all breathe a collective sigh of f---ing relief. xD

[@MidnightSt]

@@KittenyKat just you wait for the new new trilogy...

[@emarnoldmages9780]

wild that people don't love the idea of FFG! I love the narrative dice, I think it makes it such a dynamic and interesting game! I think it's very fun to play :)

[@omega40k]

I have always liked the West End Games D6 Star Wars. There's a Revised and Expanded Fan version out there that I recommend. But finding it is not easy.

[@glenndean6]

FFG re-released the WEG d6 as an Anniversary edition.

[@omega40k]

@@glenndean6 Yea. But they re-released the first edition. And The first edition had poor explanation's for almost everything. Second Edition Revised and Expanded was what they should have re-released.

[@peternordgren]

I generally prefer 1ed rules, but if I started a WEG d6 campaign today I'd want access to 2ed for the bits that make more sense to me today.

[@ewr7291]

“No ones ever really gone : )” Luke watching puffin forest come back

[@carminegraves]

i can never convince anyone play to play Star Wars Sagas but the game mechanics and detail they put into that setting are amazing

[@Jebbtube]

My first ever TTRPG was a Star Wars game. We only had the one session, and I didn't play another TT until summer 2021, so this story has a special place in my heart.

[@bpnforsyth]

FFG Star Wars is my favorite system to run. The narrative dice make it so good at telling a great story that even the GM doesn't know exactly how its going to go.

[@taylorhancock5834]

This was great, however, only one thing was missing. “He died, but he got better” You mean, “somehow, [insert name here] returned”

[@baowen2973]

I really like SW5E, I think what it builds on the standard 5e system is just right, a bit more chunky but not quite as intense as Saga edition was.

[@beagay963]

The whole “only one family has space magic” doesn’t make a ton of sense, like what about Ben and the Emperor and Yoda?

[@dezdanna9297]

And what about the entire rest of the jedi order? Pretty sure they weren't all related lmao.

[@HerrLokiZockt]

@@dezdanna9297 An interesting consideration: What if the force were not an effect due to midichlorians but a side effect of all force users being related to each other by indirection (quasi European nobility in space and with science fiction)?

[@dezdanna9297]

@@HerrLokiZockt Wouldn't work, there's whole species in star wars that developed an independent understanding of the force before achieving space travel or having first contact with anyone, so even if cross-breeding were possible, which is dubious, it couldn't have happened.

[@baconthedarklord970]

I love what I've played of the FFG Star Wars system. I think it's a genuinely fun system to play, and the narrative dice are very much enjoyed by anyone who isn't a power gamer at our table.

[@dinopots6282]

I love the ffg dice and system. Its my favourite one to DM and play. Sure the dice look difficult and weird but once you use and understand how they work, you will love them. Imo they are truly the superior dice when it comes to tabletops and create some brilliant scenarios in the rp.

[@BuilderB08]

I like how one of the characters goal was to take over the galaxy and save it from evil tyranny… and replace it with a even more evil tyranny, but he runs it.

[@gonzo26nix]

best team ever! since I'm only 5' tall.. I "occasionally" rage against tall people, both in game and out. I even had a goblin bard/sorcerer that started his own cult/religion that was well.. basically just anti-tall things. He recruited kobolds, goblins, halflings, etc

[@TaranAlvein]

Ahh, Saga. The system I got to painstakingly craft a character in, and then never ever play, because nobody showed up for session 1. I also liked the way that system took advantage of 3.5, though. Also, on the subject of 5e, if there is one setting where it makes sense for almost every spell to be a Concentration spell, it's Star Wars. Force powers almost universally seem to require some kind of concentration, so it's absolutely perfect!

[@ed-gaming9786]

Yay he's back again! Love your videos Puffin!😄

[@Sparkbomber]

So glad you're back with these fun, wacky and cutely drawn out stories.

[@chrispanossian]

A single Star Destroyer can subjugate a planet. Yes, the Empire can take over in 4 days.

[@MrSplicer3]

My own group LOVES the narrative system of the dice. Different strokes for different folks.

[@roguespectre9656]

That ending is as intriguing as how the Turtle F-kers got their name.

[@mackenziestorey620]

I've been a player in a SW5E game for like a year an a half. We recently got all TPK, but it was super fun the entire time. Soon-ish the GM is running another SW5E game, and I'm super hyped for it. A great system, and an even better Game Master!

[@PepicWalrus]

It's a shame you couldn't play SWFF it's such a clean system that we started playing recently.

[@spanner2117]

I recently rewatched your dnd curse of strahd series and remembered how much I enjoyed it! As a matter of fact I would love to see more of that format, perhaps on other modules!

[@serkayto]

I've played the FF system on and off for years. The 3.5 Edition is one of the best all around but I do enjoy the narrative style for the FF style that lacks in some systems

[@gallantascent6692]

I only recently got people to try out Fantasy Flight Star Wars, and I ran into the same problems of people just hating the dice. But a few months ago I finally got enough players to start playing a Clone Wars Campaign. The players are all fighting for the Republic and are commanded by a Jedi Master and are now fighting it out against the Separatists on the planet Ando. And when they actually gave the game a chance, they loved it. Thank you Ben for making this video, because it helps get more people into giving that system of Star Wars Roleplaying a chance, and that chance is very worthwhile

[@Jessterr2]

The old D6 system is actually one of the best. I recommend it. I play the 1st ed from the 80s, but it was redone in 2012 ish. Also its free (Open GL d6 system, remade by Womp Rat Press).

[@sternguard77]

With my lifelong love of Star Wars and experience with Kotor I’d thought Saga Edition would be a slam dunk with me but somehow it never really gelled with me. I think the hard numbers for everything and the mentioned limited options for things (unless you got to later levels or somehow had all the source books) tended to make me feel frustratedly pigeonholed with it. Meanwhile FFG Star War was practically love at first sight and I’ve roped as many people as I can into playing it with me. Honestly I haven’t found the dice that hard of a sell. Especially since usually for the first few sessions with a new group I walk through each roll and describe things their characters can do with the Advantages and triumphs or how they can exploit the enemies disadvantage or despairs. I especially love how versatile the narrative dice and the system can be at times. I’ve even gone outside star wars itself with things like a Top Gun inspired Fighter Pilot game, a Gundam based Mecha Game and a Zombie Survival horror oneshot.

[@Grato537]

I have played a ton of the Fantasy flight version of Star Wars and love it!!! It's not perfect but I like it much more than DnD, I especially enjoy that it leads to more engaging social encounters and seems to discourage murder hoboing.

[@hundiges1291]

I'm so happy you are back 😍 I love your videos and it kind of got old to rewatch your older vids over and over again. 😂

[@magicstyx]

Rule 1 of DMing: NO TIME TRAVEL, just don’t do it you’ll regret it.

[@andrewrockwell1282]

I freaking love the dice for that system.

[@ErzengelDesLichtes]

I hope we find out more about SMOL squad soon.

[@madhippy3]

The bane of my existence is star wars settings that take us to planets we have already seen. When everything ends up back in tatooine it stops feeling like backwater planet and the universe feels small,

[@tyrant-den884]

I liked how easy it was to form your own criminal syndicate with the crime lord prestige class in Saga. In 5e you just make your minion better at fighting, because fantasy flight sold well and was all combat🙄

[@dtgamerk9670]

I'm in an SW5e campaign rn and its so much fun! Our GM is really creative with stuff (Lucrestation: a Lucrehulk with 4 venators welded to it which got shot down by the empire a session ago thanks to operation cinder) (Kaminoans doing some cloning and experimenting with cyborg stuff which created basically a cyborg world serpent) The character lineup for our most active characters are: a twi'lek ex slave (freed when his master Pizza the Hutt became Pizza sauce session 0) gladiator who is trying to free all the slaves, a sith pureblood who was stuck in a cryopod and freed recently and has amnesia, an Umbaran droid designer who worked for bactoid and is trying to start a droid army and turn our group in a major faction, and the GM's pc who is an explosive happy droid who is trying to free the droids. We will be starting many revolutions and exterminating slavers (our party is either neutral or good) Our GM's goal was to try and make our sessions feel like an episode of Clone Wars and or The Mandalorian and he succeeded!

[@net_spider]

I'm with the "Smol" folk on this one. Chadra-Fan are by far my favorite race in starwars. Who doesn't like little bat people?

[@mikaelpalm2130]

"He later met a grisly end, dying to his own explosives" My character (a quadruple amputee due to the same) cries a tear of pride.

[@lemon_god886]

FUCKING FINALLY hope you've been well man

[@rokentom3926]

Sitting w a huge smile on my face. Thank you as always.

[@jamesglamstar6946]

Who the hell thinks only the sky walkers had powers

[@williamschar2959]

I am so glad these are back! Truly, these videos are always a delight!

[@mattkuhn6634]

I love the group's schtick and it sounds like y'all had a lot of fun! So, I REALLY don't wanna be this guy, but I'm honestly very confused about LP. You say he's a Mon Calamari, but Mon Calamari aren't small, they're human-sized, and they don't have tentacles. Admiral Ackbar is a Mon Calamari. Quarren, who are from the same planet, do kinda have tentacles (they're the ones that look like Mindflayers), but they're also Medium sized, in D&D terms, which means if LP was one of them he'd be a "tall folk." Was LP a custom race that was also from Mon Cala, or did y'all just use Mon Calamari as a rules template to cover what the player wanted to play? Again, I'm really not trying to be that guy here, I don't want to imply that whatever y'all did to let the player do their thing is wrong, I just don't see how a character that's described like a dumbo octopus can be the same species as Admiral Ackbar and I feel like I'm missing something about the character.

[@Rando70oo123]

yes! im not the only one lol

[@webbowser8834]

I'm also curious about this one... Leaning towards "custom dwarf calamari" myself.

[@josephsmith5999]

@@webbowser8834 There was a species submitted to the sw5e discord that was a small octopus species with 8 arms but I don't remember what it was called off the top of my head.

[@JLT0087]

Yeah, Admiral Ackbar is an actual Mon Calamari.

[@black_rabbit_0f_inle805]

Well the Quarren are more squid like so maybe a short one of those

[@cagejenswift5089]

Your dnd experience & story videos are a always the best

[@gregoryb6494]

Yo the dice in the fantasy flight star wars game are actually solid. Like they took a while to get used to, but they work pretty well and its fun.

[@BardofBane]

Just wanted to say: I love the fantasy flight starwars games and the narative dice. I just started a new edge of the empire game last week and the group had a blast. Just gotta get past that "where are the numbers on these dice" step.

[@SgtSpecOps1]

0:50 Haveing played two campaigns of Edge of The Empire (Fantasy Flight) and also having a lot more experience in DnD 5e, I can quite confidently say: the Star Wars Narrative Dice are a Fucking Nightmare to play with. 7 different types of Dice, that while: yes you wont be using all 7 types all the time, get pretty confusing and also become a nightmare of result tracking for the GM/DM. The First Campaign I played in did not last very long for that specific reason: the GM in question was already used to the Percentile Dice style of DnD and had a nightmare of a time figureing out what the hell all these dice did. It resulted in a few key instances of bad players at the table taking advantage of his lack of knolwedge and expertise with the system to basicly "cheat" and get ahead every time by confusing the hell out of him, while me and the other few who where giving the system its fair shot, protested heavily the cheaters and repeatedly received the "nobody is right! shut up!" treatment form the GM, who God bless the poor bastard, just wanted a few seconds of silence to figure out what the fuck was going on and what was he suppose to be adjudicating. Call it a nightmare first impression, but thats what it was: dare I risk say it was a cluste-fuck of a campaign. Queu the Second Campaign, this time I was nominated the GM for it: I had DM'd a few DnD session's (at least two mini-campaign's as well) but I was not about to let this turn sour on the first session: I did my research, I learned the system to the best I could and then I settled on the campaign the players wanted (allow me to give you the rundown of the campaign in question): This Campaign was a Resistance Style Campaing (has in "Resistance to Occupation" - mostly inspired by some players who wanted a French Resistance WW2 type of deal), where the player's started with their initial equipment and where presented to a made-up planet in the Star Wars Galaxy (players asked me to not set myself in any cannon planets for sake of creative drive, I agreed as well) invaded and occupied by the Galatic Empire. They would begin with very little equipment and resources though, and would have to salvage, steal or find channels to contact other resistance Movemente's (Such as the Rebell Alliance) for supplies and equipment. The run-down was that the Local Planetary Governor had declared independence from the Galatic Empire after Emperor Palpatine declare its formation in the Senate. While the Empire was busy with Order 66, the Planetary Defence Force geard up and prepared for the comming fight. Suffice to say it wasn't even fair: the Empire outnumbered the PDF's own fleet and army by a 5-1 factor, all attempts to prevent planetary assault failed and what followed was a brutal but swift and effective ground war where AT-AT's acompanied by Imperial Hover-Tanks, Tie-Fighter and Bomber support, decimated in only a few weeks the PDF's army and space-ship capacity. I further added the element of the PDF's navy's remaining fleet at orbit being able to "Light-Speed" away from a Star-Destroyer Armada which now maintains a close watch over the planetary gravity well for all inbound and outbound traffic in the sector. This is where the players enter the scene: some had background of participating in the fighting; some were civilains in the middle, trying to survive the bruttal war; and a few of the players decided to be scoundrell's/smugglers trying to get rich out of the invasion (and falling short of favour's with the empire, depending on what they did). For refference, I had at least 7 players in this group, so yes: big-group = slow combat, but thats why the players decided on a Resistance Style Campaign: player's would rarely make massive assault's on Empirial Garrison's or towns, they kept to the shadows and ran around doing sabottage and guerrila-style warfare while I has the GM measured later the apropriate response by the newly appointed General of the Empire in the sector, has he attempted to root them out. Funny enough, the players actually started their own resistance movement after all character had meet up and formally introduced to one another (took them 2 sessions to be all together but it was really fun to getting there); instead of looking for the local resistance I had created for them to meet (which was a fun little suprise for them, because then they talked with the Resistance Leader and decided too keep the two groups seperate, but operating together in secret, to misdirect the Empire on who to chase down, kudos to the players here). Now, comment wall aside, I'll get right to the core of the issue: the dice. During this campaign (which is on iatus right now, as two of the players had family emergencies that came up preventing them from attending session's + the group said they would wait and I said I would return as GM as soon as the group is back in full strenght) my main issue with the game is when in combat, the PC's and Enemy NPC's rolling for action's, attacks and etc... The "Advantages" and "Threat's" are in my opinion (and has best as I remember, its being six months so I may need to brush up on my "EoTE" system knowledge) incredibly nebulous and not very specific, which means that even failing action's lead to the player still using the "Advantages" he scored in the roll, to not completly fail but stay delayed in his intended action. Meanwhile, I had to do some really difficult thing which I will tittle "Conservation of Player Character from Obvious Mistake or Failure": "Threat's" left me with the capacity to really put a PC in a bad spot or outright garantee that they would not live to see the next turn after the enemy NPC's round of action/attacks. It became a bit of a running joke in the group that the Empire was just prettending to fight the players resistance too draw out the Rebell Alliance to more effectively hunt down resistance and defiance to the Empire. They stopped that joke when I finally had one of the players loose an arm to a way to obvious bad attempt to use a thermal denetonator in a not so suttle way has an improvised IED while in the middle of a gun-battle with a scout-trooper squadron that was hunting them. His character lived though (I wasn't gonna kill his character out right, but I had seen enough "improvised" explosive attempts by the group who I gave multiple warnings that if they kept doing sketchy shit with explosives someone was gonna get hurt after a very bad dice roll, they though I was joking »:) ). All in all, I say this: its a very result HEAVY TRACKING system of RPG which even if you are well versed, will have many "curve-balls" and "foggy" discriptions for possible outcomes. New Players and GM's beware!

[@Loki-]

I like the part where you said "comment wall aside" and then built another one immediately.

[@xavigonzalez2804]

Time travelers assistant got pissed off and found their capable, or notorious, group and informed them how to go back in time. New to concept ideas and unfamiliar to your worlds back story to the main villain so that idea could be waaaaay off base😂. Love your vids man keep up the great content😁

[@Rebelcommander6]

A different class for Ship Combat you say? I am intrigued since that would help with a LOT of problems I have for my current campaign designs

[@dappercadavear7677]

My first and best game of a RPG was star wars saga. The system was a mess but the dm was so good that it all worked out. The dm wrote a journal for each session to help recap the story and also wrote extra bits like the opening crawl or smuggling insurance calls. We played in the Old Republic letting most of the legends ideas run wild while still following most of canon. The dm had us visit the temple on Lothal multiple times, each time going to a different part of the temple with a new dungeon. One of the dungeons was a slideshow of our backsgtories. Each of us getting to see our traumatizing childhood before becoming jedi. My character was Gizmo, an ewok jedi, focusing on force combat but would still kick some womp rat with his ion lightsaber. The best session we had was as follows: On the Utinni, YT-1200, the intrepid Jedi were jumping through hyperspace when we were pulled out by a gravity well projector. A capital class, cruiser, and space station lay before us filled with pirates. Before they even had a chance to state they were pirating us, we took them on. In the middle of the battle, we lined up the Utinni against a hangar bay of the space station, dropped the station's shields through ion weaponry, then launched an escape pod with our most lightsaber adept Jedi. The Jedi got out the escape pod and surged to the engine system. He went to town on the engine system then ran to the backup generator and did the same. It was AMAZING!

[@AK-qh6lr]

The sequel fans are the ones who think it’s only one family, because that was basically the message of the Rise of Skywalker.

[@BelligerentPenguin]

As someone who has played three campaigns in the FFG system plus two or three one shots, I can happily say it is one of my favorite systems. Period. Your characters feel like they could be in Star Wars, the weapons customization is amazing, and the Jedi classes are balanced but very powerful. I am sorry you can't get anyone into the game.

[@percyjackson386]

2:51 is not Star Wars its Warhammer 40K

[@Necroxion]

Lemme tell you, there were only three tabletop handbook franchise thingies that kept me glued to them the whole read D&D, Warhammer 40K, and Star Wars Saga

[@clericofchaos1]

Yeah, i've got no interest in trying the 5e conversion. 5e wasn't really made to handle the kind of stuff that happens in Star Wars, so the fan conversion obviously had to dumb a lot of things down and nerf a lot of things. Which always ruins the spirit of the setting. Something tells me that you can't play a grey jedi who can control the weather for an entire planet or create black holes in the 5e conversion. There's also the whole "Unlimited use of the force thing" that so many games don't like but that 5e really hates. It was designed with spell slots in mind and can't really handle someone who can do high-level stuff as much they want. Also, with regards to that whole "Mandalorian era" thing, that has two meanings. When you said "Mandalorian era" my mind flashed back to the Mandalorian wars in the old republic...because i'm a real fan. You obviously meant the Disney Mandalorian era though, which is the filthy casual version.

[@thecreatorreborn8785]

nice video! i have been playing Edge of the Empire with friends and we are at a point where we modified a munificent to be a mobile droid factory and have started "liberating" stations

[@ryanmaclean1720]

I love it when a favourite creator releases a video on my birthday

[@cannedcream]

I was one of those people who strongly disliked the Genesys/Star Wars dice system at first, but it was mostly because my first time with it was under a DM who didn't really know how to creatively use them. Currently, I'm part of a Shadowrun game running the Genesys system with those dice with a new DM and I have to admit, I'm in love with it now. So much fun to have such a sliding scale of victories and defeats.

[@ryancasey9763]

its good to see you back at your story time videos with the cool animations

[@blinkenlights]

Perfect timing. Just started my SW campaign myself. A great story as always. "He died, but he got better." Definitely love the FFG system, personally. The narrative dice are underrated, IMO.

[@silentdrew7636]

Just shove home in a bacta tank, he'll be fine.

[@blinkenlights]

@@silentdrew7636 True enough.

[@pwnorbepwned]

Having regular classes separate from space classes (deployments) helps by keeping the skill sets separate. So you don’t have to worry about shaping your character to be a pilot by taking away from what you can do in the ground game. Modifiable items are complicated, but there are also just enhanced items, like enchanted items from DnD. They can’t be modded, and will just have a native special effect or bonus to them already. Modifiable items also need to be attuned to, while not all non-moddable items have to be. Also, if it helps, the “chassis” is not a separate thing you have to put on the item, it *is* the item. For example, a modifiable blaster pistol chassis is just a blaster pistol you attune to and can have mods installed into it. To further cut down on complication, the four sub-categories of modifications per item type are going to be deprecated as a mechanic soon. No more tracking what’s a scope, what’s a barrel, etc., it’ll all just be “blaster mods”.

[@aquater1120]

Damn I missed your RPG stories so much, I am so glad You posted something new

[@TheRichmaster24]

I like how much fun you can tell the players had with this

[@DarkLordOfSockPuppets]

I love the FF narrative dice. Theyre phenomenal.

[@hayleybartek8643]

I actually really like the narrative dice system and played Edge of the Empire for several years before moving on to regular D&D. We had 3 sets of characters plus a few one-shots. When it came to Jedi and Force powers, the more we stood out as "magical" the more it would gain the interest of the Empire, so we had to balance how much we could get away with and how much bad attention it attracted. Our DM was very good at changing difficulties based on our XP and powers/abilities, presenting us with many situations where skills other than fighting were necessary.

[@sirguy6678]

The classic “go back in time troupe” - fixes every writer’s and DM’s plot holes.

[@chadaga8159]

I am glad to see a new video from you.

[@Fredministrator]

That was the best start of the day I had all week. Thank you

[@TheBloodswordsman]

Dude just literally ended the video cause he couldn't close the plothole! God I love this channel!

[@TheLPGary]

Fantasy Flight is so much fun. I like the dice set so much. I would play with you as DM for certain. It makes the story just so much interesting-