I am not sure how many had Cortosis for Neko but I think i had maybe a handful of villains that possessed it. There were reasons for why the Mandalorisn got savage and those details were sprinkled through out the game, so if you missed it that is fair.
No man's land fight was actually not that bad, she was built as a glass cannon, she could evade damage but not really take that much and was easily defeated with minimal issues even if things looked bleak. Players tend to be hyperbolic and are very focused on what happens to them as they should be, she was tough but obviously not insurmountable.
Mandalorians are difficult they don;t have a consistent personalization through the setting, even one of the most iconic members the Fett was pretty much just a gun for hire doing whatever it took to win. I don;t worry too much about the odds, because this system has many ways to get around those odds if players are willing to think dramatically like in the the fight to rescue the Resistance fighters. In most of the boss fights the objective often wasn't just stand there and punch other guy till they die.
Even the Varo fight is not like that. But yeah I am getting better at gauging and adjusting fights as need be, and that will be an area that will always be... contentious for me.
Durasay Mixo wrote:First of all, as others have stated: Thank you for running. It's a bear to run a game for a large group, and you pulled it off again. Thank you, for allowing me the opportunity to play.
I loved that you put in more setback dice in events due to various things, with the explanation as to what was generating them. It allowed people the opportunity to shine with species abilities, or talents that reduce setback, that maybe they didn't get the opportunity to before. It's one of my favorite things to do as a GM to put in setback that I know the players can ignore because it rewards a choice they made with their character. I know I took advantage of my abilities to do so when I could.
Contribution, in my experience, is the weakest of the three "theme" mechanics (the strongest being Obligation, and Morality being the most... boring?) It's hard to make it work, and the CRB doesn't give a whole lot of guidance. I wish that it didn't tie to generating Power for the Strike Force, but that's my only major complaint, as we're in an era when the Republic is economically powerful, so it took a little bit of the immersion of the setting out for me that we were feeling like a rag tag Rebel group vs. a well funded military (though if one was playing as a member of the Bankor Resistance, that would feel absolutely flawlessly perfect, so it might just be a problem of perspective). I get why you did though, because once you get past Contribution rank 2, that's when you start bringing in credits that are normally out of reach for PCs. All of a sudden, it's the gear issue and we're walking around with a veritable arsenal. It forces a choice, which is good for drama, but there were times that it felt punishing to take power as opposed to outfitting oneself, especially with the difficulty in shopping because, this isn't Nar Shaddaa or a major trade planet. We're in a warzone.
So I applaud your design choice there, as much as wished it wasn't the case, but that's more me wanting to see PCs always get more "stuff".
Of the three theaters, I loved the Viridian Sea the most. I felt it had the most flavor, and in my mind, the best character event for everyone. I am curious, what were the plans for the theaters not chosen? How would the prison mission have gone? Is there a chance we could see the events not made available?
Lastly: Thank you for your time with our conversations in my PF. I will say that I truly appreciate the open communication between players and GMs, and you did it marvelously. I look forward to future games.
The Republic is very powerful but this conflict is unpopular, no one wants to admits that there cis a full scale conflict which was the backdrop. Saresh scraped together what she could to even mount a strike force as the Republic anted to focus on larger goals. Thus the lower than average support for the team, which was my goal.
Gear will always be tricky, and yeah it didn’t as well as I would have liked but hopefully people will have a chance to use the last contribution if they get it to be selfish and get toys for the future.
The Viridna Sea was probably the clearest idea… the prison would have seen more a of breakout vibe, with infiltration and saving prisoners and hanging out with desert nomads. The Imperial section was interested it could have been a bi-week for the team depending on actions if they allowed Team Empire to join, otherwise lots of Ice and sneaky Imperials. The Resort would have seen a rancor and a behemoth sea creature vehicle battle.
Below are my preliminary notes for Garig Port Town which would have been a campaign but scrapped for length.
Garig Port Town Campaign - Operation Havoc RancorGarig Port Town is an important milestone controlling the Port gives the Republic Forces access to many useful military objectives on the planet and opens up supply lines for the ground forces while the Space Forces deal with tying up the Mandalorian. The Mandalorians have left Huya Vy of the Black Union in charge, a local crime syndicate with ties to the Black Sun families. Huya has no real loyalty to the Mandalorians and could be convinced to switch sides for the right amount of compensation.
Missions & Events - Wetworks Incorporated: Senator Saresh is meeting with a local resistance cell and the Black Union sees a chance to take her and the cell out. A hit squad storms the meeting and will kill the Cell leaders and critically injure Saresh if they are not intervened, will cost Trust if the leaders are killed, Day 1 combat event.
- Fire! Fire! Fire!: A Resistance cell has been found out and the Black Union has set fire to an apartment building, heroes have to brave the flames and rescue the Resistance, innocent civilians, while battling criminal forces during the fire.
- Off the Rails - Heroic Moment: A Resistance attack has gone awry and now a speeder train is barreling out of control, the Republic hopes to avert disaster and deploys a squad to try a deft defying rescue by boarding the speeding rail system and hopefully disabling, if not then someone may have to stay behind to guide the rail system into the sea and avoid a catastrophic accident and loss of life but it will cost them their life. Combo Combat and Skill based encounter.
- All in the Family: This is a combat encounter the Resistance has found out that the twin children of Huya Vy are enjoying themselves at a local casino. The Resistance wants the Republic to take them out, this is a combat encounter but the Republic has the Option to kill the twins which makes dealing with Huya Vy more difficult or sending a message by letting them live and killing off the other gangster and leaving the twins alive, they will submit and send the message but anger the Resistance; they have six rounds to complete this before they are overrun by reinforcements.
- Make a Deal - Heroic Moment: If the first event to get Huya fails then the Republic can try a more direct route by simply paying off Huya or defeating her powerful enforcers to get a line on her whereabouts. If the team decides to simply Bribe her it will cost 5 to 7 Power, otherwise this is a combat encounter against very strong enemies, but a hero could sacrifice themselves and detaching the crane which breaks off part of the room.
- Priceless Junk: Dr. Rexa has identified some black market goods that were stolen from the local museum and set to be moved off world. This is a skill based heist to get the goods back with minimal fighting.
- Too Fast, Much Furious: Street races with souped up speeders. dangerous route and a chance at a cool reward... swoop racing at its finest.
- Soup Kitchens: This is a Day 3 event, uses a variety of skills to try and aid the locals with helping run a soup kitchen and bringing succor to the beleaguered people.
Commander: Huya will be encountered in her estate and she will either join the Republic Forces or kill them based on choices made in the campaign and during the scene. Still working on the self sacrifice.