Edge of the Empire Book

a threat individually, but are more effective in numbers.
Individually, their combat abilities should be one or two
dice lower than those of the Player Characters.

Balancing narrative scenes is less of a concern. Me-
chanically, such scenes are usually focused on skill
checks. The GM simply needs to confirm that any
adversaries he selects have a roughly even chance of
opposing the Player Characters' skill checks. However,
it is perfectly acceptable for opponents to have great-
er skill and abilities in these scenes, especially when
dealing with beginning Player Characters.

ENCOUNTER VARIETY

Each adventure should feature a variety of encounter
types. This gives a greater opportunity for characters
of every type to contribute significantly to the story.
Most adventures should be a mixture of combat, ro-
leplaying, exploration, and confrontation encounters.
Some may mix in investigation, training, and other
forms of play less common in the core Star Wars ex-
perience. Encounters should also vary in location and
adversaries See Running a Full Campaign on page
317 for additional encounter location ideas.

DIRECTING THE SESSION

An EDGE OF THE EMPIRE session should focus more
on the grittier nature of dealing with the galaxy's
less savory places and people. While the Player
Characters are free to be as heroic as they wish,
they are more likely to be concerned about self-
preservation and personal wealth than taking the
battle to the Empire or freeing a planet of slaves.
GMs should keep this distinction in mind when
playing NPCs and especially when improvising new
characters and situations on the fly.

PRIOR TO START OF PLAY

Character creation or adjustment should be com-

pleted before the start of play. Obligation adjust-

ments should also be discussed and completed

at this time. The GM rolls the Obligation check

(see Using Obligation), and determines whether

the group's Obligation triggers, and if so, which

player's Obligation triggers specifically. He then

decides whether he wants to bring up that Player

Character's Obligation in the adventure or simply

let it prey on the minds of the players (not bringing

up a character's Obligation can often be a good

dramatic tool, as it leaves the players a bit off bal-

ance and nervous. Keeping players from becoming

complacent is usually a good idea).

THE OPENING SCROLL

Every Star Wars movie starts with scrolling text

that explains the immediate situation to the audi-

ence. It gives a little bit of context to the opening

scene and foreshadows major plot developments.

The GM should write his own opening scroll for

adventures he creates. It helps tie into the over-

all Star Wars feeling, and provides an easy intro-

duction for the players. The GM should mimic the

scroll style, limiting the text to the bare bones of

what is required to set up the opening scene. Star

Wars: Episode IV A New Hope does this in three

long sentences. The GM should leave any descrip-

tions regarding the opening scene out of the scroll.

Those descriptions should be part of the read-

aloud text for after the scroll.

SCREEN WIPES

Star Wars movies use screen wipes to transition from

scene to scene, jumping forward in time and/or chang-

ing locations. GMs can use metaphoric screen wipes

to transition between encounters, especially if signifi-

cant time has passed. This can be used to cover long

periods of travel, switch between groups in a party

that has split up for a long period of time, and cover

mundane actions that have no effect on the plot.

ENDING THE SESSION

Ending a session is different than ending the adven-

ture. Ending a session occurs midstream, when the

players do not have enough time to complete the

adventure in one sitting. The players should note the

current status of their characters, and jot down the

exact situation they left to easily remind everyone

where the game should pick up next time. Sessions

are often ended on cliffhangers, to keep the suspense

and excitement alive until the next session. The GM

may decide to award XP for longer adventures. Oth-

erwise, he may elect to award it all at once, when the

adventure is complete.

ENDING THE ADVENTURE

An adventure is typically finished once the major plot

line is complete. If the adventure is part of a larger

campaign, some subplots or story elements may

carry over to the next adventure. Campaign story

arcs typically span many adventures. The GM should

award XP and grant other rewards at this time. Player

Characters are free to advance their characters be-

tween adventures.

THE GAME MASTER

EDGE OF THE EMPIRE