Final Preparation
Final Preparation
You're just about finished. The last thing you need to do before calling your players together is pull together the scripts, maps, and other handouts you'll use in play.
Scripts
Scripts are one of the basic props of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, and also have the advantage of being easy to prepare.
Scripts are normally used at the beginning of an adventure and present each character with set lines. Through the information in the script, the players learn where they are, what they are supposed to be doing, and why their lives are in danger again. Scripts are a great way of putting the characters in a difficult and exciting predicament at the very start of an adventure instead of having to "trick" the players into stumbling into this situation during the course of the adventure.
Scripts also have their uses during the course of an adventure. Sometimes it becomes necessary to portray characters in a more strictly defined manner, and a scripted scene is a way to make sure that a particular event happens. This works well for transition periods between scenes. Of course, you have to be sure not to be too heavy-handed—players get very upset when their characters are forced to do something because a script says they do. You must make sure that when you direct characters in a script, you are loyal to the personality of the characters involved.
Scripts can also be used for "cut-away" encounters—scenes that relay important information to the players, but don't involve their characters. If you find yourself sitting and mulling an encounter that the players are only minimally involved with and you hear a script flowing casually through your head as you play out the scene, write it down!
Example: The player characters are attending a briefing on the goings-on on the planet Chateuse VII. There are a number of warring factions, and Padmé Amidala is leading a review of who the major factions are, who their leaders are, and what the Republic's current slant is on the situation. Pick out a few major gamemaster characters in the room (including Padmé) and fully script out their lines in the briefing.
Don't forget to include stage direction, since how a character moves and his or her reactions give insight into their attitudes and feelings. When the time comes for the scene, hand out the scripts to your players and let them play the parts of the other members of the briefing—let them do some roleplaying beyond their own characters. They're sure to enjoy the change of pace.
When you use a script, take the time to write it out, polish it, and then make enough copies for each player so everyone can be involved.
Handouts
Handouts are other paper props that you can give to players. They can be used to provide information on a number of subjects, including: • overviews of planets the characters will visit • criminal dossiers on villains they are sent to apprehend • notes and computer data pirated from Imperial computers • mission profiles or datafiles on locations they will visit
Gamemasters are often tempted to write all of their handouts for the beginning of the game as a supplement to the beginning script. While this is useful, it is sometimes more effective to write up handouts that will be used in the middle of a gaming session—such as when the characters break into a computer. Rather than read aloud to the players what the characters have found, the gamemaster gives the players the handout of what the characters recovered.
Gamemasters are encouraged to make handouts challenging. Rather than provide the players with all of the answers to a particular challenge, the gamemaster can provide several clues in a handout and allow the players to choose between which path they want to explore.
For example, rather than have a handout tell the characters, "Yesgar's hideout is on Antared III," you might want to say:
"Yesgar's pirates have been spotted in the main spaceports of Durollia, Pegg and Hermos. Of particular interest is Merrk's Weapons Shop on the concourse of Pegg's main starport—several pirates have ventured into the store and never registered their purchases, if any, with the local government."
This kind of clue definitely suggests that the characters investigate the spaceport on Pegg, but it gives them several options to look into rather than forcing them along one path.
Handout subject ideas
Planets. When characters are sent to a world, the players will probably want to know what their characters know about the world and what they can call up on computer databases. Aside from listings of basic planetary data, you can use scout reports (if the world is on the frontier), encyclopedia entries, excerpts from galactic travel guides, tourism datajournals, personal diaries, and other data-magazines (like Contemporary Galactic Architecture) to give the characters a feel for this new world.
These entries can not only provide basic information, but might discuss past events, like datajournal reports on a revolution that happened on a planet, biographies of new corporate officials, or anything else related to the plot, the location, or individuals the characters are dealing with.
This type of handout could also be used for specific locations on a planet, such as a city or area (like a mountain range), a factory where starships are built, a spaceport, a particularly infamous bar, or any other noteworthy location.
People. If the characters have been sent to capture a wanted criminal, a refugee hiding from the Empire, or some other personality, what better way to give them information than to provide a personal dossier on the character? Aside from personal biographies, you could use excerpts from diaries, eyewitness accounts of incidents, a list of known and suspected criminal activities, and a list of suggested contacts and locations where the character might be encountered.
Organizations. Characters might be sent to investigate a company, a cult, a group of mercenaries, a crime gang or ring, a trade organization, or any number of other groups. These handouts could give information on the structure and activities of the group, important personnel, history of the group, or other information that the characters and players will find of interest.
Aliens. If the characters have been sent to contact a relatively unknown or poorly understood species, they would probably find xenobiologist or scout reports handy. You might also provide eyewitness accounts of previous meetings, histories and myths, information on a society's structure, and particular mannerisms or abilities that the aliens possess.
Computer piracy. If the characters manage to force their way into a computer system, the information they retrieve would be more interesting if it were presented in a handout that the players can read. This is especially useful if the characters have to decipher an unusual code or follow a complex set of directions.
Ships. Players love to know what their ship looks like and how the interior of their vessel is arranged. Use a handout for things like the deck plans of whatever ship the players own.
Puzzles. If you want to present the players with a new challenge, the handout could be a visual or mental puzzle, such as figuring out a pattern in certain crimes to predict where the next crime in the pattern might occur, or determining how to break through a security system by falsifying a security code.
Maps
When characters are involved in combat situations or want to get an understanding of a location they are visiting, maps are a great alternative to having to verbally describe a location.
Small-scale maps are used in adventures to show specific locations, like the interior of a cantina or a warehouse. They are most useful for locations where the characters are going to get into combat—by drawing all of the major terrain pieces on the map (like boxes, computers, power generators, and the like), the characters can look at the map and take advantage of cover or try to plot an escape route.
For example, if the characters stumble into a room and the scene is only described to the players, they might forget about the back stairwell in the corner; with a map, they are more likely to notice the stairwell.
The gamemaster can also use hand-made or published counters for battles on small-scale maps. Counters are useful for representing characters in combat (and it's a lot easier than marking up a map that you spent hours working on), but can also be used to indicate other objects that might be moved around during a combat.
You can also create maps at a larger scale for chases involving speeder bikes or other vehicles. These kinds of maps give the players more options—maybe the players will want to try ducking down an alleyway instead of simply fighting it out.
Large-scale maps usually aren't necessary for an adventure, but by being able to show the characters a map of a world, a continent, or a city area with surrounding terrain, the players get a sense that the place they are visiting is a real location.
Maps can also give a great amount of information to the characters as far as layout of an area. From neighborhood to terrain maps, trade routes can be seen, hiding places figured out, areas that are more defensible can be spotted, and other important facts can be determined.
Maps also list the names of cities, terrain features, and other factors. These kinds of details help make this new "temperate forest world" different than every other "temperate forest world" the characters have visited in the past.
Maps of sectors of space can also be great fun. By having a map of the planets of a sector, the players can play "what world will we visit this week?" The players can see trade routes, ambush points along hyperspace routes, and areas where they are likely to cross customs inspectors.
The players will have a lot of fun looking at the mysterious locations on the maps and going to these worlds to explore them.
Source: REUP:205