SWSE: Dawn of Defiance: They all walk into a bar....

[Waspinator]

And meet the PCs. :D

I'm going to be starting as the GM of a new Star Wars group soon and the ideas I've been hearing so far for the players' characters sound like they will have some fun ideas. For one, they want their own business. It's being debated whether it'll be a bar or restaurant and what kind of either, but it should give me a fun opportunity to reverse the standard cliche of "the PCs walk into a bar, meet some other customer, and get into a fight" way of starting an adventurer and change it to "hey, those guys are creating a big cleaning bill for us. Maybe we should break it up and see what's going on".

Also, one of them wants to be a soldier with a cybernetic arm. Unless I'm missing something, the SWSE rules don't give any real benefit to having a robot arm, only penalties like the use-the-force check one and the vulnerability to ion weapons. Since he's doing it voluntarily, I'm thinking I might let him have some kind of benefit like a built-in blaster pistol or something. Any ideas on how to handle this?

Also, one of the other guys is wanting to play a Jedi and since this is Dawn of Defiance, the Empire's oppression is in full force. I'm thinking I might just let him have a dual lightsaber-blaster made using the rules from Scum and Villainy. That way, he can pretend to be a soldier-type most of the time and switch to lightsaber-mode easily for when serious combat happens. Any opinions on that?

[Kiero]

And meet the PCs. :D

I'm going to be starting as the GM of a new Star Wars group soon and the ideas I've been hearing so far for the players' characters sound like they will have some fun ideas. For one, they want their own business. It's being debated whether it'll be a bar or restaurant and what kind of either, but it should give me a fun opportunity to reverse the standard cliche of "the PCs walk into a bar, meet some other customer, and get into a fight" way of starting an adventurer and change it to "hey, those guys are creating a big cleaning bill for us. Maybe we should break it up and see what's going on".

As long as owning a bar serves as a reason to defend their patch of space, not to remain stuck in one location never venturing out and doing heroic stuff.

You also have to avoid the temptation as GM to take it away from them at the first opportunity that the Imperials make the connection between these Rebels and ownership of this property.

Also, one of them wants to be a soldier with a cybernetic arm. Unless I'm missing something, the SWSE rules don't give any real benefit to having a robot arm, only penalties like the use-the-force check one and the vulnerability to ion weapons. Since he's doing it voluntarily, I'm thinking I might let him have some kind of benefit like a built-in blaster pistol or something. Any ideas on how to handle this?

What's wrong with it just being an arm? If the player understands the drawbacks, leave it at that. Perhaps allowing him to customise it later if desired.

Also, one of the other guys is wanting to play a Jedi and since this is Dawn of Defiance, the Empire's oppression is in full force. I'm thinking I might just let him have a dual lightsaber-blaster made using the rules from Scum and Villainy. That way, he can pretend to be a soldier-type most of the time and switch to lightsaber-mode easily for when serious combat happens. Any opinions on that?

Blaster-saber is lame, IMO.

How about disguising it as another melee weapon, like a stun baton? Perhaps when a catch is flipped, it breaks apart and the baton's grip becomes the lightsaber's grip when the head and a section of haft is removed?

[hamishspence]

Corran Horn in I, Jedi made his from a speeder bike handle. This came in handy when, after a big fight, he was out of power and seen by civilians: his comrade turns up in the nick of time and says "Idiot! What have you done with the rest of the bike!?". Thus allowing him to keep his cover.

[Kiero]

Corran Horn in I, Jedi made his from a speeder bike handle. This came in handy when, after a big fight, he was out of power and seen by civilians: his comrade turns up in the nick of time and says "Idiot! What have you done with the rest of the bike!?". Thus allowing him to keep his cover.

IIRC, he was also near-naked at the time as well, which helped reinforce the image of him being some drunken buffoon.

[hamishspence]

In general, it would make sense in a Dark Times setting, to conceal the nature of the weapon- stun baton sounds pretty good way.

[Starshade]

You also got other firms i can think of, as Detective/Investigation company, Freight company, security consultation firm. Bar is good, since its a nice gathering place, and a NPC or two and droids could run the place when NPCs are away.

[Liliedhe]

Well, my Jedi in Dawn of Defiance is just using a stun baton. He doesn't even have a saber.^^

For the bar... I don't think it's a good idea for this campaing, as this just gives the Empire a place to catch them. Some campaigns profit from the players having a homebase, but this certainly won't. Having too much to loose prevents people from taking risks.

[Kiero]

Well, my Jedi in Dawn of Defiance is just using a stun baton. He doesn't even have a saber.^^

For the bar... I don't think it's a good idea for this campaing, as this just gives the Empire a place to catch them. Some campaigns profit from the players having a homebase, but this certainly won't. Having too much to loose prevents people from taking risks.

However, a well-screened bar (shell corporations, dummy owners, etc) is great for money-laundering, which is surely something a Rebel cell could make a lot of use of.

[hamishspence]

Given that in the novel "Death Star" the characters are in a bar on the death star, and they, while not Rebels per say, decide to help the Rebellion after the destruction of Alderaan, I'd say a bar works.