Communication Failure

[AstralFire]

When all of your players show up to your game with Imperial ties and you intended for them all to be Rebels or sympathizers. We all apparently showed up with the idea that we were supposed to be happy Imperial citizens or military members. Not necessarily evil, I think all of us are good, just loyal.

Flatout DM Failure: When you proceed to railroad them into being Rebels, to the point of the NPCs going "glad to have you in the rebellion! [sensitive information]" while the characters are still going "wait, what, I just told you I was going to need time to think about this" and "I just told you I ain't no separatist!"

I'm starting to think I was better off being unaggressive about getting to play instead of GM. I'd rather have been given another day to think about a new character than completely derail my concept in 40 minutes... o.-

[Mando Knight]

Try blowing up their homes and mentors one by one. That's how Tarkin and Vader did it.

[AstralFire]

I think we're all just going with it. It's kind of frustrating; DM is clearly prepared and clearly trying - oh my god the mapmaking pounds mine into the dirt and he has so many macros I'm gonna call him Macromedia Flash Player - but it's like he can't deal with going off-script.

I'm making my character give the recruiter a hard time periodically, though.

[The Neoclassic]

I, like your DM, have a hard time dealing with unanticipated actions. However... Shouldn't he have known a bit about his players' characters beforehand? And if so, why would he have a plot that begins with such heavy railroading which goes in the face of what his players were looking for?

Honestly, maybe it'd be good for someone who knows him particularly well to have a one-on-one chat with him out of character. "Look, I think you're extremely well prepared and will be a great DM, but it appears that your plot is directly contradictory to what most of us players had been hoping to do. We created characters who were friendly or neutral towards the Empire, but we feel strongly pushed into having to abandon that at a moment's notice to make our characters go an entirely different direction. Could we possibly work something out to remedy this stark contrast?"

[holywhippet]

Your DMs mistake is trying to railroad the players instead of asking them to rebuild their characters to be more rebel friendly. For that matter, their first mistake was not telling them restrictions on what they could be playing. There's no use of having the players roll up 3 Jedi for example only to be told they will be working for the Sith and hunting down Jedi.

[AstralFire]

Honestly, maybe it'd be good for someone who knows him particularly well to have a one-on-one chat with him out of character. "Look, I think you're extremely well prepared and will be a great DM, but it appears that your plot is directly contradictory to what most of us players had been hoping to do. We created characters who were friendly or neutral towards the Empire, but we feel strongly pushed into having to abandon that at a moment's notice to make our characters go an entirely different direction. Could we possibly work something out to remedy this stark contrast?"

I don't think he's honestly noticing a problem... we got jumped by three stormtroopers, stunned them and ran and we've just apparently ignited the entire galaxy into open revolt against the Empire and are the greatest heroes ever. He's so... enthused about it all, and our characters are like... "what?"



What's that line from the FATAL review about Synnibar?

Yes, it's a terrible role-playing game in just about every respect, but it's got heart; it's like a punch-drunk, half-blind boxer who hasn't realized that his manager is now "arranging fights" by pushing him in front of a speeding Mack truck and ringing a bell. He's going to get a license plate number embossed into his skull, but he's still out there, still trying.

That's sort of like what I'm watching play right now.

[valadil]

Would it be fair to flat out ask your GM what he expects of you? I'd rather not be in a game on rails with a script either, but if that's what the game is I'd rather play a character who enjoys the ride than one who doesn't.

[Zuki]

I don't think he's honestly noticing a problem... we got jumped by three stormtroopers, stunned them and ran and we've just apparently ignited the entire galaxy into open revolt against the Empire and are the greatest heroes ever. He's so... enthused about it all, and our characters are like... "what?"

It's a shame that "Confused Imperial Loyalists are treated like Awesome Rebel Heroes" isn't being played up for comedy, on purpose. Because that could be entertaining.

I also have a vision of the party members going along with it for now...and then spectacularly betraying the Rebel Alliance somewhere down the road, as an in-character decision. But that sounds like it might break the poor GM's heart, and I know you're not the type to troll a campaign like that.

[AstralFire]

When we killed a group, I continued to gun down the corpses over and over until they were unrecognizable while someone praised us for being noble and respectful of life (as a party member resorted to other means when someone was held hostage.) I just shrugged, said "If I'da had another 2 seconds I'd have shot that bastard into paste because if we'd surrendered, he'd just have killed us all," and continued vaporizing the bodies to make them unrecognizable. (So we could explain the corpses as "random mechanics who weren't paying attention" and "no these are not the agents you are looking for and I'm sure they're alive".)

More noble "blahblahblah you are heroes." And I continue to disfigure the corpses with a vehicle mounted cannon.

The guy is completely unphased as I just keep pumping these bodies full of hot plasma.

[Mando Knight]

Start cackling. Drop your voice an octave or two. Hire Frank Welker and James Earl Jones. Bring a cat (probably a little plush one rather than a real cat) to the next session and pet it. Smile as you describe how you disfigure the corpses. Every male player should grow a handlebar moustache just to twirl it. The girls in the group should buy a costume one just to do the same.

In short, if a clue-hammer doesn't wake the GM up, drop into "Olde-Tyme Mello-dramatic Villain" mode.