How to Teach the SWRPG System?

[FickleDroid]

Of the four Beginner Games (five if you count the Rebels one...Rancor Publishing Group did an awesome job on their Rebels content), I've found that the Edge of the Empire BG tends to get players (especially new players) to buy into the scenarios a little quicker than the others. I've played through the Age of Rebellion BG a couple of times (our GM runs several groups organized through Meetup, and has scheduled the various Beginner Games as a way of introducing the system to potential new players...some of us who are his more experienced players will often sign up for the BG sessions to help shoulder the burden of explaining how things work...and to have some fun), and find that, if the players really pay attention to how their mission is set up, think creatively, and - of course - get good rolls, they can bypass a lot of what's intended for them and be done with the Beginner Game in about 30-45 minutes, so it's definitely wise to have the downloadable follow-up or something else ready to go. (I've seen that happen at least twice: the first time, was just a matter of the crazy ideas the players came up with; second time around, knowing it could happen, I was trying to keep my mouth shut, and this second group bypassed the bulk of the game too, just in a different way.)

Thanks for the heads up. What parts are easily bypassed?

[Nytwyng]

In as general terms as possible (because the two groups went about it in different specific ways), a creative team that’s paying attention and has the dice on their side can, before even getting past the garage, maneuver the Imperials in the base into isolation/a trap and take control of the base with little or no resistance.

[Sunseeker]

I just got some buy-in on the campaign concept and then threw them to the wolves. d20 players are smart, and the system isn't that complex. Getting them to unlearn some of the unhealthy nit-picky rules-heavy elements of d20 systems and adapt to a more narrative concept depends on the group, a more RP-heavy d20 group probably won't have any trouble, but a very "crunchy" group might have more difficulty accepting the narrative elements.

At the bare minimum, I'd pick a book and say "we're playing with this only" as at least a way to keep down some of the bloat.

My group was largely just fantasy nerds with one real hardcore Star Wars fan, I'll be honest the fan has been the hardest to deal with of the group, as they have very strong ideas of how Star Wars "should be" even if they don't play a character who would fit their own ideals at all. The fantasy nerds were not that hard to entice into Star Wars really, especially a jedi-oriented campaign.

[Atama]

Having seen multiple groups of players “broken in” to the system, I’ve found that if you try to explain the system and dice, Destiny Points, and so on, eyes will glaze over. If you just put them in a simple combat scenario though, and walk them through doing it, they catch on quick. It’s easier to answer questions in the middle of play than to prepare people ahead of time.

I also encourage handing out aids, explaining what the dice symbols mean, what the dice are, what actions you can take, how to spend Advantage/Triumphs, and so on. But request that they use them as references, not as something to study. Otherwise they’ll be overwhelmed.

Just my suggestions based on seeing what works and what doesn’t for new players.

[rogue_09]

I encourage all new players to read this comic so they come in knowing the very basics of the dice:
https://www.uptofourplayers.com/ready-t ... rpg-rules/

From there, I slowly roll out details like the Destiny points, Talents, and more involved Force rules. The rest comes naturally through gameplay.

Be sure to encourage fun, narrative interpretations of the dice rolls. Once people get used to swinging the story around, they'll have lots of fun to with it.

[Swordbreaker]

Try these comics that were posted on the forums a while ago. They offer a succinct explanation of the basic dice and symbol mechanics.

https://www.uptofourplayers.com/comic/e ... ulez-pt-1/

https://www.uptofourplayers.com/comic/e ... ulez-pt-2/

[ExpandingUniverse]

I was lucky with my group - all four are SW fans two quite 'mad' and couldn't wait.. they've all invested in dice too. First session was PC gen then a sample combat session to work out dice pools and results.. sweet