First game?

Proposed: First small-group session on Tuesday, January 27, sometime in the evening.

(Yes, I know this would be Star Wars on Tuesday and then D&D on Wednesday.)

If you are interested in playing on this day, please contact me so I know how many players to expect.  If you also have any ideas for what you want to explore or do, let me know these as well; this is mostly going to be side-quest stuff (and not required attendance).

Clone Wars overview, Part 2

Equipment: Lots of equipment.  In the weapons, devices and armor, nothing really stands out as a must-have, but that's not to diminish the quality of the gear; there's a lot of good stuff here.

Plenty of cool droids.  Now you can play as a midwife droid or pit droid, among others.  Basically, if you saw it in the prequels, it's in here.  Pit droid is actually a surprisingly good option to play as, since they've got pretty good stats and they are specifically said to take no penalty to carrying capacity for being small.

Starships: This chapter just covers the non-aligned ships; Republic and Separatist ships are covered in their respective chapters.  The Barloz-class freighter is an extremely affordable transport at 17.5K used (with a deck plan, to boot), and it's pretty durable (even comes with a shield generator), but it's lightly armed.  There's a wide assortment of other transports and starfighters, too.

Clone Wars Campaigns: Tips for running campaigns in the era.  Pretty good, has tips on running Order 66, how to incorporate Jedi, how to write cool villains.  There is also a section on writing "battlefield adventures"; it includes rules for making squads of troopers that act as single characters.  The biggest deal is the mass combat rules, which detail how to have gigantic battles that feature armies attacking each other.  The rules are pretty short and simple, letting you create troops and vehicle units, and telling how to run them for characters who may serve as commanders.  I may have to run a gigantic battle between the Republic and Sith just to try them out.

Galactic Gazetteer: This section details a whole lot of planets: Cato Neimoidia, Christophsis, Geonosis, Glee Anselm, Iktotch, Kalee, Kamino, Kerkoidia, Malastare, Mustafar, Muunilinst, Nelvaan, Polis Massaa, Sembla, Skako, Teth, Toydaria, and Utapau; it also discusses the "main" planets and what's happening on them in this time period.

The Jedi: A whole lot of stats, both for generic characters and specific characters.  Statted out: Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Mace Windu, Ahsoka Tano, Kit Fisto, Nahdar Vebb, Ki-Adi-Mundi, K'Kruhk, Plo Koon, An'ya Kuro, Aayla Secura, Saesee Tiin, and Quinlan Vos.  I have one big complaint about these stats: most of them read Jedi 7/Jedi Knight 5/Jedi Master 1, and all of them have the Force Point Recovery technique.  No originality in any of the stats, and between Anakin, Obi-Wan and Yoda, only one of them has even a single change: Anakin has one different talent, so the iconic three don't even take advantage of any of the new stuff in the book.  Wasn't the idea of making Jedi Knight a prestige class that not every character had to take it, and you could be a Knight without ever actually taking levels in it, ditto Jedi Master?

There are a few Jedi ships here; mostly iconic Jedi starfighters and different variants.  For example, with the Delta-7 Aethersprite, you also have a high-speed variant, a high-maneuver variant, and Anakin's specialized model.

The Republic: The chapter begins with a look at the organization of the Republic, including the Senate, the Supreme Court, and the Supreme Chancellor.  It then looks at the makeup of the Republic military to give an idea of how it's organized.  Then come the clones: lots of clones and clone variants.  Some of them look badass, like the blaze trooper (which has a jetpack and a flamethrower) and the clone assassin; some look silly, like the subtrooper (for underwater action).  The chapter also stats out some of the most prominent Republic military and political figures.  It then details a number of Republic droids, vehicles and starships.  Especially the latter two.  If you've seen it in any Clone Wars media anywhere, it's statted out here.

The Confederacy: Similar to the Republic chapter, it spends some time detailing the organization and military forces.  It then stats out Count Dooku, Asajj Ventress, Durge, and General Whorm Loathsom, before moving on to lots and lots and lots of droids, vehicles and starships.  I should point out that these sections include a sidebar to point out where other Republic, Separatist, etc. stuff is statted out; for example, if you're looking for Lucrehulk-class battleships, the sidebar points out you can find them on page 146 of Starships of the Galaxy.  There's more droids, vehicles and ships in this chapter than I want to count, but I will point out that Grievous' wheel bike from Episode 3 is statted out.  I always liked that bike; it was pretty popular in an old Star Wars campaign I ran.  It also includes Grievous' flagship from the new Clone Wars cartoon series, the Malevolence, and stats out its ion pulse cannon that is capable of really putting the hurt on Republic fleets.

Fringe Factions: This is pretty much the "everything else" chapter, and it's pretty short.  It stats out various characters like Chewbacca, Boba Fett, and flamboyant stereotype Ziro the Hutt.  It also stats out a few vehicles and ships, as well as two creatures.  Lastly, the book includes a giant appendix that indexes all the characters, droids, vehicles and starships by Challenge Level.

Begun, this Clone War has.

First off, a schedule update — through the end of the month, I am off on Mondays and Tuesdays, if we want to schedule any small-group sessions.

Now — what's new in the Clone Wars Sourcebook?  I'll go chapter by chapter.

Species: Some good races, some rather plain ones.  The Gen'Dai is insanely difficult to kill for a player race — they do live past 4,000 years old, after all — but not broken.  Kaleesh (General Grievous' race) are also pretty cool.  Later in the book are Geonosians, Chagrians, and Umbarans — Geonosians and Umbarans are pretty cool, but Chagrians are a bit bland (though to be fair, their species is not well-developed in the canon).  Also there are rules to play a clone: They get a set ability array, but can put +2 in any ability, and they get the human bonus skill and feat.

Classes: Jedi don't get much (only 6 talents), but what they get is friggin' insane.  Consular's Vitality and Exposing Strike are really, really powerful.  A lot of stuff in this book loves bonus hit points.

Nobles get some good stuff: The Collaborator talent tree lets you work both sides by keeping enemies from attacking you or your allies, sharing bonuses from enemy nobles, and giving your opponents a bonus to give your allies a bigger bonus.  They also get the Loyal Protector tree, which gives them a bodyguard who can exact retribution against enemies who attack you.  They're part of the new "follower" rules, which I have to admit are really, really cool.  They essentially let you play as multiple characters (you can have up to 3 followers), though your main character is much more powerful, and you have to share actions with all of them.

Scoundrels get the Stymie talent for the Misfortune tree, which trips up your opponent's skill checks.  It's pretty solid against Force users.  They also get the Opportunist tree, five talents that give you pretty powerful effects when something else triggers them.

Scouts get the Surveillance tree, which is a little similar to the Spy talent tree from Force Unleashed and is focused on getting the most out of your Perception skill.  They also get the Reconnaissance talent tree, which gives them followers who can do recon work.

Soldiers get the best of the best.  Three new talents for old trees make aiding another and melee attacks super useful.  The new Trooper talent tree gives you attractive bonuses when you're within 3 squares of allies.  The Squad Leader talent tree gives you followers and some squad tactics you can use with them.

Skills: There's some nice new uses for skills.  Knowledge (tactics) can now be used to anticipate an enemy's tactics, Use the Force can be readied to catch and hurl away incoming grenades or place allies in healing trances, Survival can help make "defensive positions" that hinder your opponent, and Perception and Knowledge (tactics) have new uses for the mass combat rules.

Feats: I'm pretty impressed with the feats; almost all of them are combat-oriented or droid-oriented.  Gunnery Specialist makes you proficient as a starship gunner, lets you reroll an attack, and makes you eligible to take gunner maneuvers from Starships of the Galaxy.  Grand Army of the Republic Training is a must-have for heavily armored characters.  Unstoppable Force give you a rather hefty bonus to defenses against Force-based attacks.

Prestige Classes: Ace Pilot gets 1 new talent; Elite Trooper gets the Melee Specialist tree (it's exactly what it sounds like) and Republic Commando tree (which does a whole bunch of different things); Force Adept gets two new talents, and they're both pretty good; Gunslinger gets one; Jedi Knight gets the Jedi Archivist (focused on Knowledge checks and aiding another) and Jedi Healer talent trees (focused on vital transfer and Treat Injury); Officer gets 3 new talents.

There are three new prestige classes.  Droid Commander is a very narrowly focused prestige class focused on droid leaders leading droid troops.  Military Engineer does a lot with technology; a lot of its abilities are about using skills faster, improving vehicles, or improvising weapons on the fly.  The Vanguard is primarily for Scouts, and it's all about getting the drop on your opponent.  Most of its abilities have to do with attacking flat-footed opponents and coordinating allies together.

The Force: Eight new powers.  Cloak gives you concealment and a bonus to Stealth.  Levitate lets you fly short distances.  Malacia moves opponents down the condition track and reduces their damage threshold.  Morichro lets you put enemies into a deep sleep or kill them.  Phase lets you walk through solid objects.  Rend is a damaging dark side power that can be fatal. Shatterpoint reduces a target's damage threshold if you hit them.  Technometry lets you access electronic devices by touch, and also control droids.

There's a bunch of new Force talents, which are almost all awesome.  Aversion makes squares near you difficult terrain.  The Will To Resist lets you substitute a Use the Force check for your Will Defense.  The Light Side talent tree is pretty much solid gold, giving you really powerful abilities.  The Psychometry talent lets you see the past by touching objects.  Shift Sense gives you low-light vision.

A bunch of new Force techniques and secrets; not much to say about them (we're not that high-level yet), but Advanced Vital Transfer is insane, letting you spend a Destiny Point to fully and completely heal somebody.

Also three new Force traditions: the standout to me is the Korunnai (Mace Windu's people), which gives you a vicious Akk Dog follower.

It's getting late now.  I'll post about equipment, ships, stats, etc. later.  That's more than half the book!

I got Clone Wars!

'Nuff said.

Details to come, as I have work in less than an hour.

What's ahead

Here's what's coming up on the Web site:

• My schedule will go up soon so we can start scheduling some of the smaller group sessions.
  
• Continuing recaps of our adventures, including the recap below.
  
• More Character Composites of characters both in and out of our campaign.
  
• The Traveler's Guide to Myzil V.
  

January 11 recap

There was much, much shopping on Taris before taking off for Myzil V.  Rek learned that there was a bounty on Dhiel's head from the Exchange, so he gave them the activation code for the tiny heart bomb he'd installed in Dhiel (leading to his obvious death), collecting a cool 4,000 credits.  Gobmush told GE-3-RX-34 that they were heading to Myzil V, and RX-34 recommended they bring along an ally of his, the Arkanian corporate lawyer and Telubo employee Novin Ealynos.  At the same time, Canderous Ordo, a prominent Mandalorian on Taris working for Davik Kang, learned that fellow Mandalorian Dhiel had been murdered, and asked Gungan Mandalorian Kelif Binks-Fett to find out more about it.  Looking for work at the same timem, RX-34 suggested working security for a freighter bound for Myzil V.  After some initial skepticism, the Raraza crew brought aboard the Gungan and took off.

Late into the 11-hour flight, however, the Raraza was yanked out of hyperspace just shy of Myzil V by an Interdictor-class Sith warship, which promptly sent interceptors out to dogfight it.  A large dust cloud blocked the direct route to Myzil V, forcing the ship to either try to lose the ship in the dust cloud, or fly around.  Novin took to piloting the Cloakshape while Kazbich manned its guns, and Rek Luk took the helm of the Raraza, with Gobmush on sensors, Kelif on lasers, and Logger manning the ion cannon.  At first their goal was mere survival, but Gobmush soon spotted (on the sensors) two Skakoan freighters that had been yanked out of hyperspace and powered down.  Gobmush communicated for them to make a break toward the planet while the Raraza distracted the capital ship.  The ships dispatched of the fighters, then launched a daring frontal assault with proton torpedoes on the warship itself.  More interceptors showed up as the Skakoan ships made it back to Myzil V, so the ships made a break for it, narrowly escaping a tractor beam.

Upon landing, the Herglic docking officer said he would alert the Skakoan Council about the Sith ship holding Skakoan ships, as the planet has professed neutrality in the Jedi Civil War.  His Skakoan assistants were talking quietly amongst themselves about Logger, so Novin pretended that Logger was his assistant.  The Skakoans asked where he "got" Logger before going on their way.  Logger quickly split off from the party in search of On-Warr, Aya, or any Ewoks, but found nothing.  Eventually, he was attacked by two Givins, who offered to take him to see his kind but insisted on blindfolding him.

Most of the party went to the Aunaumi Casino, where Kazbich lost his shirt, Kelif applied for a job working as muscle, and Rek Luk hit the jackpot, turning a 135,000 credit profit.  He quickly turned that investment into a new ship, then announced he would be leaving the party to pursue Riga from behind the scenes and design starships.  He would bequeath the Raraza to the party, insisting only on a 10% cut of profits.  (And he also paid for surgery to get the heart bomb he's installed in Kazbich removed.)

Novin's curiosity was piqued by the mysterious nature of Eutix Research Laboratories' business and hit the jackpot hacking into their systems, finding that they were using alien technology to survey various sites around the planet and hiring Givin workers, who can survive in vacuum, to work deeper into the deeper areas of the planet, where there were no atmospheric pockets.  He successfully petitioned his parent corporation, Telubo, to pay to insert an inside man into the company to find out what things they could be up to, arguing that it could threaten the corporate interests on the planet, and then approached the Eutix offices, saying that if he could hack into their system so easily, they must have a leak, and they should hire him and Gobmush as consultants to find their leak.

Recap

Here's a quick recap for the January 11 game:

• Rek Luk joined the Bounty Hunter's Guild.  The party pursued a bounty on pirate Dyani Zaan and killed her and most of her crew.
  
• Taris Exchange crimelord Ganar made a deal with Dhiel to trade Kazbich for information on his Mandalorian father.  Dhiel got the info, Kazbich got double-crossed, two grenades got lobbed, and the rest of the party stopped Dhiel and Kazbich from killing each other.
  
• Gobmush learned from his corporate broker droid friend GE-3-RX-34 that there's a bounty on his head from another Gamorrean, Globmulch.
  
• Logger got a call on the comm from Aya Lim, a Kaminoan who used to be On-Warr's apprentice, but now works for the Sith — the Sith have captured On-Warr (again), and now they want Logger.
  
• According to the trail of data he's been following, Logger's enslaved Ewok buddies are on Myzil V.