Encounters
Encounters
Encounters are the heart and soul of roleplaying games. From battles with alien creatures, to a round of haggling with a trader or weapons merchant, to the final confrontation with a central villain, encounters are what drive your Star Wars adventures.
Your First Encounters
Beginning gamemasters sometimes want to design elaborate, detailed encounters right from the start. While this is an admirable goal, it can often lead to frustration instead of fun. As a beginning gamemaster, your first few encounters should be simple. The emphasis should be on developing smaller-scale, exciting, and interesting encounters. With experience, gamemasters can expand to more elaborate encounters.
Roleplaying Encounters (Early On)
If the encounter is a roleplaying encounter—where the action will be resolved through character interaction instead of skill use or combat—limit yourself to encounters where the player characters are only interacting with one gamemaster character.
This allows you to concentrate on developing one personality at a time, instead of switching among several different characters. After you’ve had practice playing different characters over the course of several adventures, you will be able to start playing multiple characters during encounters. But at the beginning, your gamemaster characters will seem more realistic if you only play one during each encounter.
Combat Encounters (Early On)
In combat encounters, you do not have to limit yourself to only one gamemaster character because personalities in combat situations do not have to be as thoroughly developed as they do in roleplaying situations. There is usually very little interaction during combat—the participants are too busy shooting at each other.
Instead, think of the enemy as one cohesive group. Use a homogeneous group—a gang of thugs or a squad of stormtroopers, for example. By running a cohesive group, you can decide on one set of priorities for the whole group. Whenever you make a decision for one character, it can serve as a decision for the whole group.
Don’t use one thug, one bounty hunter, a battle droid, and a Gamorrean as a single group—each responds differently: • The thug runs as soon as he meets resistance. • The bounty hunter retreats if the danger is too great, then sneaks around to attack from behind. • The battle droid doesn’t retreat until commanded. • The Gamorrean attempts to destroy the entire town.
You would spend so much time deciding who should do what that you’d never finish the encounter.
Recurring Characters
With practice, you will be able to easily switch from one gamemaster personality to another, but when you first start, you will probably have difficulties with this. Using recurring characters is one way to learn to overcome these difficulties.
Just as it helps players to become familiar with their characters by playing them again and again, it will help you become more familiar with gamemaster characters by using some of them for more than one encounter. Reusing characters lets you learn the intricacies of developing a fictional personality.
Generic Characters
Some gamemaster characters are generic characters—characters that fit into a group and have very little individual identity. Stormtroopers are the perfect example. They always look the same, act the same, and respond in the same manner. Whenever you use a stormtrooper, you can treat that stormtrooper as essentially the same one the characters met last time, and build on the nuances of that personality.
Another example is the common thug. Thugs may come in different shapes, sizes, and species, but they share the same “attitude.” Each encounter with a thug becomes another chance to refine that attitude.
Reusing Important Characters
Many gamemaster characters can be used repeatedly. They are not limited to only one appearance per adventure. • A friendly Ewok or a lost kid could follow the player characters throughout the adventure, turning any lull into an encounter. • An Imperial officer who has kidnapped the families of the player characters—or a crime lord to whom the characters owe credits—may appear early, then return for the climactic conclusion. • Other characters might only show up once or twice in any given adventure but can be used across multiple adventures.
A Rebel officer who first seems unremarkable can, over repeated appearances and added personality traits, become a sympathetic boss, a struggling revolutionary, a tough-as-nails taskmaster, or any of hundreds of other types. In time, the Rebel officer becomes a person.
Multiple Characters
After you become proficient at jumping from character to character between encounters, try playing multiple gamemaster characters simultaneously to add complexity. As an added twist, play gamemaster characters who oppose each other and argue among themselves.
A good way to try this is to bring in a well-known pair such as C-3PO and R2-D2 and have them constantly bicker as they interact with the player characters.
Preparing Encounters
There are several aspects of an encounter you must consider before it is ready for play.
Main Character
Who is the main character the players will deal with? Write up a brief description including: • Species and appearance • Attributes and skills (or at least the ones you’ll need) • Equipment
Unless this character is a major, recurring character, the description doesn’t have to be extensive—just enough that you know who they are.
You should also ensure your gamemaster characters are well designed. In all encounters—but especially roleplaying encounters—detailed, realistic gamemaster characters are a necessity. If their opponents are flat and artificial, the player characters will feel lifeless too. But interacting with vibrant gamemaster characters forces players to bring their own characters to life.
Gamemaster characters can also help put player characters back on track. If the players aren’t having the flash of insight needed to solve a puzzle, a gamemaster character can drop a hint. However, do not let gamemaster characters become the leaders of the party. The player characters should make the major decisions. Gamemaster characters should provide support and rarely solve problems themselves.
Objective
What does the main character want to gain from the encounter? • Money? • To hire the characters? • To betray them to the Empire or a crime lord? • To be left alone?
It’s also possible the character has no set objective regarding the player characters—until the characters offend, amuse, flatter, or otherwise get their attention.
Without knowing what the main character wants, you can’t know how they will respond.
Location
Where will the encounter occur? You need a realistic and interesting setting prepared. Part of Star Wars appeal is the stunning visuals of exotic worlds and locations, so put effort into creating settings that feel like real places in the Star Wars universe—not movie sets. If the setting doesn’t feel realistic, the players won’t act realistically; they’ll hold back.
Combat encounters differ: the feel matters less than the layout. In combat, strategy becomes most important, and players want detail. They will look for features they can use to their advantage. For combat encounters, prepare a map—even a rough sketch—and consider in advance how both sides might use the environment.
The Player Characters
Who will be in the encounter? Be familiar with the player characters and factor their strengths and weaknesses into the design. • If several have unarmed combat skills, give them a chance to use them. • If someone knows an uncommon alien language, build an encounter where that skill matters.
Tailoring encounters this way makes players feel like fate has pushed them into these situations because they—and no one else—can succeed. That makes the story feel heroic and personal.
Example: Luke’s success in destroying the Death Star is tied to his experience hunting womp rats in Beggars Canyon. That connection makes it feel like fate was preparing him all along.
Roleplaying the Scene
Sometimes (combat) encounters must be resolved through die rolling—there’s no other way to determine the success of a blaster shot or the outcome of a brawl.
But many other situations—bargaining, con, investigation, gambling—could be resolved through die rolling but are often better through roleplaying.
Whenever players use a skill involving extensive personal interaction between a player character and a gamemaster character, play out the interaction as fully as possible. Bargain with them. Try to con them. Let the scene feel like a movie—not like backgammon.
This does not make the skills useless. Use skills in two key ways: 1. Let skills guide how well you roleplay the NPC. Example: Ghent’s bargain skill is only 4D, so “Ghent” won’t drive a hard bargain. Talon Karrde’s bargain skill is 8D, so “Karrde” should make them work for it. 2. Roll in secret, then roleplay to match the result. The game follows the rules, but players still feel like the NPC acted from personality rather than dice.
Plotting
Plot is how you connect encounters together. A series of well-designed encounters can lose punch if not arranged effectively.
In a traditional story, dramatic tension builds until the climax, then is released by success or failure. In game terms, encounters should become more difficult as the story progresses.
Within each encounter: • Start at a low level of tension. • Let tension rise as danger becomes clear. • Characters make decisive moves, releasing some tension—but not all. • Each encounter should create a net increase in tension across the adventure.
Early in the story, give characters time to “catch their breath”—follow a stressful encounter with a humorous one, or a combat encounter with a more relaxed roleplaying scene.
As the conclusion nears, breaks between stressful encounters shrink until the last few encounters stack with little relief—until the dramatic end.
Difficulty Levels
Early encounters should be relatively easy. You don’t want the characters to face real failure before they understand what’s at stake. As the story progresses, encounters become more difficult, culminating in the most difficult encounter at the dramatic conclusion.
Easy early encounters help characters get into the story. If Luke couldn’t find R2-D2 on Tatooine, the story ends before Luke ever understands his importance. When characters fail, you want them to understand exactly how badly they failed—or the story has no impact.
Once characters understand what’s going on, you can raise the difficulty. Alternatively, you can begin with an intentionally hard encounter to force failure and thrust them into the story.
Factors That Determine Encounter Difficulty
• The number of opponents
• The skill level of opponents
• Believability
• Staging
• Surprises
The Number of Opponents
More opponents usually increases difficulty. Twenty stormtroopers are much more dangerous than two.
If characters must succeed against large numbers, give them a break by: • Lowering enemy skill levels, or • Giving PCs a tactical advantage (better weapons, cover, choke points), or • Giving enemies a weakness (cowards flee after two are knocked out)
The Skill Level of Opponents
A single skilled opponent can be more dangerous than many unskilled ones. In Star Wars dice mechanics, even +1D is a significant advantage.
Example: A character with blaster 4D shooting at a target with dodge 3D has excellent odds. A two-die advantage almost guarantees success.
So twenty stormtroopers may be equivalent to three bounty hunters if the bounty hunters are much more skilled. Use large numbers of weaker foes for heroic spectacles; use one elite foe (Darth Vader, Boba Fett) for fear and potential defeat.
Believability
Keep internal consistency. If the characters know there are only forty stormtroopers on the planet, they can’t kill twenty and then meet thirty more.
To increase difficulty without breaking believability, make the remaining twenty expert stormtroopers with higher skills. That’s easier to believe than “spontaneous generations” of new troops.
Staging
Setting can change difficulty by limiting how many opponents can attack at once.
Example: A character might defeat ten stormtroopers if they must enter one at a time through a narrow doorway—but be doomed if all ten can fire at once.
Assume players will use cover and terrain to their advantage. Smart NPCs will too.
Example of staging: Weeffil Liff’s Trading Center Weeffil Liff’s Trading Center supplies many ships passing through Ord Mantell with foodstuffs and recycling systems.
The center was built inside a large starship construction hangar, consisting of: • A warehouse occupying most of the hangar • A small 15-by-15-meter business area at the front
The business area sits just inside heavy durasteel blast doors. The only exterior entrance is a narrow doorway cut into one blast door.
Chased characters could duck inside and attack thugs as they squeeze through the doorway one at a time. But if Liff is part of the gangster’s organization, thugs might use private back entrances and attack from ceiling catwalks.
Surprises
Opponents may have hidden advantages or disadvantages: • A clunky transport might be stock—or might be supercharged with heavy turbolasers. • A bridge security officer might remotely lock and unlock hatches to herd PCs into a trap. • Bounty hunters might be bluffing with nearly-empty blasters.
Players can’t predict these things, which raises tension—so long as you maintain consistency. Use surprises as plot devices or as balance levers when needed.
Encounter Results
You’ll often conceive the adventure as a series of encounters linked by likely or dramatic resolutions—the skeleton of the story. But players rarely proceed exactly as expected.
For each encounter, consider alternatives: • What is most likely to happen? • What could go wrong? • What earlier events might make it easier or harder? • Is it likely to resolve through combat, negotiation, or argument?
If PCs can be captured, how does the story continue? Escape? Released by a benefactor?
If the encounter is about gathering information, how could PCs fail? • Insulting the NPC • Talking to the wrong people • Failing to ask the right questions
Then plan alternate ways to obtain the information—or ways to proceed without it: • Another NPC who knows it • A Rebel spy sent to deliver it • The PCs plug an R2 unit into a terminal • They stumble into the next encounter and learn the info later
Decide how important each encounter is. Develop the important ones thoroughly. Less important ones just need the basics. But your climactic encounter must be well developed—if the ending is exciting, players will forgive the middle.
Success and Failure
Success
Define what success looks like: • Victory—or survival—in combat • Bypassing a door’s security system • Getting a password from the bartender
Often the reward is simply moving to the next part of the story, but additional rewards may include equipment, information, allies, or extra Character Points.
Failure
Define failure clearly—and don’t let it end the story. Failure should complicate the adventure, creating new obstacles.
Example: If PCs fail to bribe a customs official, the official reports them, and they spend the rest of the adventure avoiding authorities.
More extreme punishments include losing a ship, being dismissed from the Rebellion, or having loyal companions killed.
Possible Encounters
There are many kinds of encounters and many ways of resolving them.
Combat Encounters
Combat encounters are flashy—blaster bolts, explosions, and cinematic action. But they should be used sparingly. Many beginning gamemasters string together fight after fight with minimal plot. This is discouraged.
Combat is most exciting when it matters. It’s also dangerous in the Star Wars rules. Too much combat can lead to: • Dead characters, or • Smug invulnerability if PCs outclass enemies
Players should believe combat is risky but survivable if they play shrewdly.
Even if combat seems likely, players may talk their way out—and some of the best roleplaying comes from scenes where a shootout is imminent.
Suggestions for combat encounters: • Stormtroopers trying to capture or kill the characters (for obvious or mysterious reasons) • Bounty hunters collecting a bounty (known, unknown, or mistaken identity) • Common thugs angry at outsiders (often flee once they start losing) • Pirates who think the characters have valuables • Police arresting characters for obscure local laws • Inscrutable aliens capturing or killing for reasons known only to them
Roleplaying Encounters
Roleplaying encounters make up the majority of an adventure. Combat isn’t expected, and characters shouldn’t be provoked into fighting.
These encounters emphasize what makes Star Wars unique: exotic aliens, droids, strange cultures, and vivid details. They also deliver information and gear, introduce allies/enemies, provide comic relief, and shift pacing.
Suggestions for roleplaying encounters: • Salesbeings selling anything from slave girls to battered landspeeders • Gamblers who think the characters are easy marks • Con artists who think the characters are easily fooled • Lunatics who draw unwanted attention • Street preachers trying to convert the characters • Primitive aliens trading pretty rocks for “lightning-makers” (blasters)
Background Encounters
Background encounters don’t advance the plot. They show depth and help the universe feel alive.
Example: In A New Hope, the Jawa sandcrawler droid scene adds little to the plot, but shows the diversity of droids and the world.
Background encounters can: • Show the universe exists beyond the PCs • Provide comic relief (very Star Wars) • Add minor annoyances when things feel too easy
Suggestions for background encounters: • Mercenaries heading to a distant “mop up” operation (possible later reappearance) • Teens attacking PCs; PCs learn they’re desperate for food due to unemployment • Riders on flying serpents (alienness) • A bizarre alien trader (accent, tentacles, rippling skin) to highlight diversity
Objects
Encounters with inanimate objects can be as important as encounters with NPCs. A security door can be as much of an opponent as guards.
Common object encounters include barriers:
To defeat a barrier, characters must: 1. Activate the opening mechanism (bypass security/pick lock) 2. Break through it (blast wall/force door) 3. Go around it
If it’s essential that the characters get past the barrier, ensure at least two viable methods.
Other object encounters include malfunctioning equipment or terminals. You can make them richer by describing how the equipment works—inputs, outputs, controls—so player choices feel meaningful.
If the characters meet a truly alien artifact, prepare a detailed description: what it looks like, what it does, and exactly how it can be activated.
Examples of object encounters: • Defuse a bomb before it destroys a building or starship • Hack a corporate system to steal Rebel-needed data • Cross a wide chasm by building a rope bridge • Use sensors and handheld scanners to detect advancing Imperials
Animals
Animal encounters can be as dangerous as encounters with sentients. Understand the animal’s motivation: • Food: A well-fed predator may retreat if met with fierce resistance; a starving one won’t. • Hungry animals can be distracted by bait. • Defending territory or young: Defensive animals fight with unexpected ferocity. • Explorers: Curious, skittish, friendly, fierce—varies by species. • Friendly animals: Approach for food or companionship; may follow PCs. • Surprise: Mutual surprise can trigger attack, staring, flight, or indifference. • Frightened animals: Usually flee or observe from safety. • Guard animals: Trained, healthier, stronger, possibly fight to the death. • Comic relief: Affectionate animals can create funny complications.
Balancing animal encounters: Most animal attacks are brawling. PCs with ranged weapons have an advantage at distance. Animals can counter with cover/camouflage. Once in brawling range, animals often gain the edge. Adjust difficulty by changing how many animals appear and how quickly they close distance.
Drama tip: Give animals a non-lethal attack in addition to lethal ones (grabbing, constricting, etc.) so PCs can be threatened without immediate catastrophic harm.
Character Development Encounters
You can design encounters to develop player character personalities—like Luke’s training scenes on Dagobah. These require strong NPCs and settings. Plot distinct moments that reveal NPC personality and encourage players to deepen their own characters.
Examples: • Helping save a family business through mundane tasks and local interactions • Jedi training: philosophy, dream challenges, morally complex choices • Learning ship maintenance with a mechanic—building trust and friendship
Heroic Encounters
Give characters chances to act heroic. Lines of good and evil are clear, and they must take great risks to succeed. Heroism should be used sparingly; it’s not appropriate for every encounter.
Heroic doesn’t mean “winning a fight.” Slicing unarmed pirates in half isn’t heroic. Protecting a child from armed pirates with a rusty cutlass is.
Build heroism into the story structure: early encounters easier, and the final one before the big goal demands heroism.
It’s often more satisfying to create heroic encounters by increasing opponent strength and skill rather than sheer numbers.
Examples of heroic encounters: • Fighting through an Imperial shipyard after rescuing a friend from execution • Confronting the bounty hunter who killed a character’s family—then choosing mercy when the enemy is helpless • A solo starfighter diversion against a pirate base so others can rescue Wookiee slaves, knowing death is likely
Source: REUP:214