I thought it would be interesting to see your take on the Scoundrel.

Sorry to hear about your hard drive. It always sucks when stuff like that happens. Any chance you had it backed up externally?

Alright, got it fixed.

Eh, scoundrels as a class have some of the best talents and the weakest chassis of any of the base classes.  This generally makes them a good dip class for adding a specific power talent and a poor class for a continued progression once you have the talent you want (For instance Dastardly Strike is needed to make a CTKiller build and Gambler talents can easily break the game).

Because most force users replace class talents with force talents anyway, Scoundrels are the worst class for building a force user since you lose the main appeal of the class in the first place.

So, anybody else getting pumped from the new Star Wars trailers?

The last scene actually got me.  I realized I haven't seen Harrison Ford actually smile in. . . ages.  All his recent appearances and movies have been scowly and seeing a twinkle in his eye and celebration on his face was almost jarring.  Home indeed.  We're all home.

I actually avoid movie trailers as best I can until after I see the thing they're traily for. So far I've just seen that earlier one that showed the cross-guard lightsaber, and been pretty excited for the film since it was announced. Not much they can do to make me either not-excited or more excited, honestly. :P

It does feel good to see those promotional shots of Harrison as Han again.

As a dip class scoundrel opens a lot of doors.

All I know is that the trailer made me pee my paints like a little girl....every time I watched it(30times and counting).

I am wondering if they 801st imperial aces are going to be in it with that Tie pilot with the red stripes on his helmet that was chasing the falcon.

And the Latest news is that Boba is not dead, and it has been cannonized.

  Both of the videos they put out are just teasers. They are not actually trailers, so nothing is given away story wise. They have done a good job of pulling in Star Wars fans to be part of the movie. From what I saw and heard, they seemed genuinely happy to be part of the franchise, which will make it better. Everyone from JJ down have a love for it, and I think that will make it so much better. It is obvious from the 2nd teaser they know what us fans want, and they delivered it so far.

  Though, its too early to tell from the brief glimpses, but I just hope that they are not going to rehash the original movies, and just change the names. I mean they are using Empire vs. Rebels, but changed the name to First Order vs. Resistance or whatever they called it. Its Jakku instead of Tatooine, though it looks the same. But, we'll see. I do love that they are using some books to complement and fill back-stories for the movies. Tarkin was pretty good, and I've heard good things about the other books. The Star Wars Rebels series is really coming along well, and the season 2 trailer looked great. They aren't throwing a bunch of Ewoks/Gungans in that series, which I thought they might when I heard it was a cartoon. So far, it has been better than I expected.

May the Fourth be with you!

I really wish the new Star Wars opened in time for May 4th, but oh well.  We got Avengers and that's good to.

so anyone need any Starwars saga players.  another game that I was in just died before it got started.

Maybe. I have a game running at the moment where the current adventure is just coming to the end. Could probably take on an extra player or two, won't be immediately though. Game over three years old now so got legs.

Also realised the other night that I'm currently not playing in any active Star Wars games myself, so if anyone else has openings I'd be interested too.

just as a note.  I have no need or want to play a jedi/sith based game.  If that helps.

I favor Jedi games. Sith not so much. I don't touch Forceless games.

"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."

;P

Do not put too much faith in this technological terror you've constructed. The power to destroy a planet is insignificant next to the power of the Force.

Don't try to frighten us with your sorcerer's ways. Your sad devotion to that ancient religion has not helped you conjure up the stolen data tapes or given you clairvoyance enough to find the Rebels' hidden fort.

I find your lack of faith disturbing.

*force chokes*

"The Force is an energy field.  It surrounds us.  It binds us.  It penetrates us."

Kinky, ain't it?

hahahaha we all are such geeks.  :)  And I mean that in a good way.

  I am thinking about starting a new campaign. I have several options I am considering..

  1. A mercenary campaign in the era around the time of the Tarkin novel (during the construction of the first Death Star). A group of people that are doing odd jobs to get by from various employers. There could be a force user/Jedi that survived the purge, but he/she would have to keep his identity and abilities hidden.

  2. A straight up commando team during the Clone Wars. It doesn't necessarily have to be clones. The Republic did have commando's before the Clone Wars that dealt with system disputes and despots that overthrew legitimate governments.

  3. A Rebel commando team after the Battle of Yavin.

  I like the New Republic/Galactic Alliance era personally, but since the new dawn of Star Wars movies are going to void those timelines I need to stick with pre-episode VI campaigns.

every commando game that I have been apart of has died before it ever got started.  :(

  Yeah, the one I was in got past the mission briefing and then died right shortly after starting the first scene. If the GM's don't have a good mapping program to really run an action based commando campaign it becomes a daunting challenge.

  I use maptools and can move pieces around a board and I post them to the maps section after every round, with grid coordinates so you know your position relative to everything else. Very important for several feats/talents to get flanking, charge, etc. etc. Also good for making use of cover, area effects, and things like that to plan tactics.

  Otherwise you get.. uh well how close are they to me, is there cover nearby, how close are the enemies to each other, which when posting rates are sporadic can cause one round to take many weeks.

Probably the best idea in a commando game is to skip right past the planning and briefing stage.  Get right to the mission, and right to the action.  Just figure that Rebellion high command already came up with the plan.  Now the players' job is to carry it out.  Sure, some players don't follow orders well.  That's fine.  It would be just like Rebels to think they see some flaw in the plan, and start to improvise.  Or they don't even have to see a flaw.  The plan could go bad from the start and they have to improvise.

After a lot of experimentation, I think that a good game has to have the right balance between planning, roleplaying, and action.  But that balance is just a hard one to find because each player has his/her idea of what is the right balance.  If the players won't adjust their preferences, then the GM has to.

Combat though is the real problem.  It just takes so long in play by post.  People get bored.  Better to run a game where the challenges aren't going to be combats.

  That's why I have the merc campaign as #1. That's the easiest to play in pbp and more adventure options and a little more choice of missions.

  But the commando's can still work. They aren't there for a long, drawn out combat. They get in and get out quick. If they get stuck, they can call in fire support or evac. Either that or retreat/reroute to get to an objective or make an escape if support isn't possible (hijack a vehicle, find a sewer system to escape, etc.).

  I do like the idea of skipping the intro and meet and greet role-play. It is tedious for all involved. Jump right into the mission is much better all around.

Well, if we're doing Clone Wars era, I'd probably still want to play jedi. Not really interested in being the faceless scrubs of the Clone Wars.

Clone Commandos does sound like the best option far as skipping past the meet-n-greet, the mission briefing, and the planning.  Clones already know each other.  They know that they only difference between them is their individual specializations.  The mission briefing can be kept really brief, or it may not be completed by a single statement.  The mission could be so secret that mission objectives could be revealed to them when they become relevant.  That way if captured the clones cannot reveal their final objective.  Planning would then have to come by the seat of their pants.  Commandos are trained to improvise.  A lone Jedi could also be sent along to command the mission.

Another idea is a group of heroes thrown together in the heat of the moment.  Everything is happening so hot and heavy that there's no time for meet-n-greet, no time for planning, and barely any time for a briefing of what they have to do.  Clone Wars works great for that because there's a clear line between friend and foe, i.e. the droids are the bad guys, and anyone living is on my side.