Wednesday, September 16, 2015

Universal Adventure Generator for your Star Wars Game

So while I was on vacation I will admit that like what seems to be more and more people I finally drank the Fantasy Flight Star Wars Kool-Aid.  A friend of mine let me borrow their copy of Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion and honestly while I thought I would hate the custom dice and figure that there's no way it will compare to the old Star Wars D6 system I found myself actually really liking the game.  So much in fact that the Force & Destiny book is on its way to my apartment as we speak. The only problem I've had (and it's a problem I have with any licensed setting) is that I get stuck when it comes to writing Star Wars stories.  I know I can writing pulpy scifi fantasy (and let's face it that's what SW is), but my brain freezes when I worry about making it fit with all the races and cultures in a pre-existing setting.

To fix this I did what I always do and made a lazy option.  I modified a generic adventure generator to be full of Star Wars specific adventure hooks.  I will admit this is designed for free lance heroes and smugglers willing to pick up odd jobs, but with a couple tweaks it should fit any type of story you're looking to run.  Also with it being non system specific it will work no matter what game system you prefer to use.

Roll for each section you might need inspiration in:

Contract (Roll at least once for employer, however if the party were to come across helpful NPCs you may roll for them here also.)
  1. The Force (If a character is Force Sensitive they receive contact from either a force ghost or visions)
  2. Trade Guild (One of the many guilds of the Trade Federation has a job for you)
  3. Tech (Someone is looking to build or repair something)
  4. Friends & Family (Someone from one of the characters' background)
  5. Underworld (A crime lord or hutt is offering work)
  6. Locals (The locals of a planet need help)
  7. Happenstance (Sometimes you just get tangled up in things)
  8. Nobles (Some form of royalty or noble family is in need of your help)
  9. Jedi/Sith (A Jedi or Sith in hiding is offer a job, roll again to see what they are posing as if you roll 9 again they are open about who they are.)
  10. Rumor (You weren't hired, but there is a payday out there.)
  11. Rebel Alliance (The Rebels have contacted you for aid, if you are not a part of their ranks roll again to see who they are posing as.)
  12. Roll Twice

Theme (This is the overarching theme, however for a longer adventure you may want to roll once for the main theme and then 3 more times for each act or "Episode")
  1. Escape/Survival (The adventure starts after things have already gone sour.)
  2. Hunt (You are searching for something… or someone)
  3. Violence (You are hired to harm or possibly kill someone)
  4. Kidnapping (Sometimes this is just a rescue in disguise)
  5. Prevent Something (The clock is already running)
  6. Protection (You are tasked with protecting something or someone.)
  7. Intel (You need to gather information on something)
  8. Rescue (It's time to be the cavalry.)
  9. Mystery (Little information is known or given.)
  10. Steal (You are tasked with stealing or destroying something.)
  11. Escort (All you have to do is get it there on time.)
  12. Discovery (Something new or long forgotten has surfaced and you are hired to check it out.)

Location (This is the location of at least one climactic scene in the adventure, if the adventure has mutiple episodes roll once for each.)
  1. Hutt Space or Crime Planet
  2. Wealthy Core World or Busy Trading Station
  3. Swamp Planet
  4. Fringe Planet
  5. Military Installation
  6. Desert Planet
  7. Forrest Moon
  8. City Planet or Space Station
  9. Asteroid or Barren Planet
  10. Imperial  Controlled Location or Detention Center
  11. Ocean Planet
  12. Open Space

Macguffin (If you plot revolves around an object this is it. Sometimes the item might be vague, in this case feel free to roll twice and merge the two concepts such as Secret Tech)
  1. Credits (Sometimes it's cold hard cash.)
  2. Information (The right info can be priceless)
  3. Rare / Dangerous Creature (Sometimes even your cargo wants you dead.)
  4. Jedi/Sith Artifact (Holocrons saber crystals ancient tech)
  5. Key (While not usually valuable on its own this item will lead to future riches and even possibly another Macguffin)
  6. Territory (Sometimes this is a planet, sometimes it’s a ship or station, either way this is something large enough for an entire group or community to use.)
  7. Medicine (More common in the outer rim, but sometimes simply getting the right medicine is valuable enough for a job.)
  8. Person (People aren't things, unless they are.)
  9. Owned (This is an item already in the possession of someone of power or might even be a fairly low value item worth a tremendous sum to a single character.)
  10. Secret (Sometimes what you've even looking for you don't full know what it is. This could be a seemingly normal item with a secret or something heavily protected)
  11. Tech (Cutting edge or experimental tech can always fetch a fair price.)
  12. Treasure (Something os valuable to even finding a buyer might be a job in itself, but always worth a heavy price.)

Victims & NPCs
  1. Nobility (Someone of considerable wealth possibly dating back to pre-Imperial ties.)
  2. Child (Sometimes a kid gets sucked into the mix.)
  3. Family or Friend (Someone personal to a character's background.)
  4. Local Hero (Possibly a cameo from a more well-known character or just someone popular within the sector.)
  5. Jedi (Usually in hiding, but in possession of ancient knowledge.)
  6. Scavenger (Many in the galaxy are just scraping by reusing what others discard.)
  7. Refugee (The Empire in addition to Crime Lords and civil wars has laid waste many communities leaving refugees away from their home word al across the galaxy.)
  8. Rebel Alliance/ Imperial Officers (Always looking to help out the enemy of their enemy.)
  9. Explorers (For some in the galaxy staying in one place is just not enough.)
  10. Witness (Could be anyone, but they saw something useful to you.)
  11. The Force or Prerecording (For a force sensitive a force ghost or vision could be of aid, then again a simple holo recording could be found too.)
  12. Sith (They still lurk in the shadows and are likely never to reveal their true intensions, reroll for their cover identity.)

Antagonist / Target
  1. Bounty Hunter (A common threat when working freelance.)
  2. Con Artist (Sometimes an enemy pretends to be a friend roll on the victim table for a cover identity.)
  3. Guild or Company (Even reputable businesses sometimes have darker sides.)
  4. Nobility (Usually fallen from power or under the influence of the Empire)
  5. Crime Lord (Usually a Hutt, but many other criminal organizations exist in the rim.)
  6. Force Sensitive (Roll again, but they also possess some power of the force.)
  7. Wanted Criminal (This isn't a normal threat, they are some of the baddest of the bad enough to be on Imperial radar.)
  8. Mercenary Group (An entire crew is far more deadly than a single threat.)
  9. Cult (Some say the Jedi and Sith fall into this, but many others in the galaxy has idealist or extremist views as well.)
  10. Force Sensitive Creature (The force can effect more than just the civilized races.)
  11. Dangerous Beast (Sometimes it's just about the hunt.)
  12. Assassins (Even worse than mercenaries these characters have one task and that's to kill.)

Twists / Complications
  1. Ally with the Enemy (Sometimes it turns out the target isn't the real threat.)
  2. Betrayed by Contract (Sometimes it's a set up.)
  3. Disaster (Sometimes things just go wrong.)
  4. Diversion (Sometimes you aren't part of the REAL job.)
  5. Dodgy Ally (Sometimes you need help for less favorable sources.)
  6. False Contract (Your employer is an imposter and has no intension of paying.)
  7. Tech (Sometimes equipment or ships fail and other times the enemy gets their hands on far superior technology.)
  8. Old Enemy (A former enemy resurfaces)
  9. Old Friend (Sometimes in the end the target or enemy turns out to be a friend from your past.)
  10. On Two Fronts (Sometimes an entire third part gets involved complicating everything.)
  11. Time Limit (Sometimes a simple clock makes everything more difficult.)
  12. Trap (The entire job is a big complicated trap.)

Dramatic Reveal (The final conflict always needs to be something special.)
  1. Destruction (Something about the final conflict will cause massive destruction.)
  2. Economic Disaster (Something about the outcome of this will most likely leave a lot of innocent people poor.)
  3. Environmental Damage (Something about the final conflict will cause massive damage to the surrounding environment.)
  4. Family / Friend (Completing the contract turns out to directly harm someone from a character's past.)
  5. Honor (Something during the final conflict will force the players to decide between completing the job or getting out alive.)
  6. Innocents (Some innocent NPCs will be potentially hurt during the final conflict, usually saving them may involve in failing to complete the job in the way intended.)
  7. Justice (Either a villain will escape or a character will be falsely blamed.)
  8. Loyalty (The final conflict puts a character's previous loyalties to the test.)
  9. Morality (To complete the job the characters will have to made a hard choice and do something morally wrong.)
  10. Reputation (The final conflict is going to make a lasting mark of the groups reputation for good or bad.)
  11. Truth (You will uncover some great or secret truth, possible lost jedi or sith knowledge.)
  12. Wealth (The final conflict reveals that not only will they be rewarded for the contract, but if they can make it back alive they may be bringing even greater wealth.


8 comments:

  1. aWESOME! That´s what I´m looking for!!!

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  2. Thankyou! This is very expansive, just the way I like it.

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  3. Thanks, this is great food for thought as a new GM :)

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  4. Perfect, needed some bullet points to get the creative juices flowing.

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  5. Thanks for making this! I put it in a spreadsheet so it would choose all items randomly.
    https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1GijbQ3A31d7m0UmDzfmg6voTAlkyl5jWQDLVIc5uB5g/edit?usp=sharing

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    Replies
    1. Excellent! Thanks for the work and for sharing. I’ll put this spreadsheet to work this weekend!

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  6. This is perfect! Thanks!

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  7. So awesome! Thanks for putting this together and sharing.

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