A while back I ran a few sessions of Star Wars: Edge of the Empire on Roll20. The results were not entirely satisfactory from my perspective as a GM. The combination of a new game system run over a virtual tabletop that I was not entirely familiar with, added to that very ambitious multiple plots...topped off by a developing chronic illness...it could have been far better. There were even technical issues as well with Roll20 (along with a less than potent internet provider at the time).

Fast forward...having just seen The Force Awakens and I got the bug to run Star Wars again!

Some of the lessons that I take away from the previous experience go like this.

Running any game over a Virtual Table Top (or VTT) requires very good organization. Having your files where you can find them quickly is pretty much an imperative for a smooth game.

You need to sit down...study and practice with the VTT until you thoroughly understand it. Imagine sitting around a table trying to run a game without understanding how a pen or dice work (but magnified x4 fold). Having all of the options of Roll20 means very little if you can't utilize them fully.

FFG Star Wars with their dice mechanic does not have a fine graduation system. Imagine a trying to tune in an AM radio station but the dial moves in increments of 5 instead of 1. Getting to the point where you understand what difficulty level is going to be appropriate takes a bit of time with this game.

Keep it simple when you start off. Simple plots and small encounters are going to better serve you as you acclimate to a new game and running it over a VTT.  The players may also be learning the VTT.  It is very tempting, especially as an experienced GM, to load up with complicated plots and massive encounters. Yet, it is those very things that are going to frustrate you as you try to handle the all of the unfamiliar elements. Even if it means that the players are going to find the challenges a little simplistic you shouldn't be troubled by that...you are after all building up to big and better things.

Overall I would say prep time for a VTT can be upwards to 4 to 1...4 hours of prep for every hour played. Having access to GIMP or Photoshop is going to be extremely helpful! The good news is that the internet is full of images that you can make use of for your game.

The other take away from my Star Wars games on Roll20 is that they felt extremely focused. There really wasn't a lot of chit chat or side tangents going on. We would log on...deal with about 15 minutes of technical issues and then play pretty much straight through. The duration of the games was about 3 hours, which some felt was too short.

With all of those lessons learned I am ready to start up another Star Wars campaign.

WARNING MAJOR SPOILERS...read NO FURTHER if you have NOT seen the movie!!!

At the end of the movie as the lights went back up there was a young boy perhaps 10 to 12 years old in front of me. He turns to his father and states emphatically (as youngsters often do), "But Han Solo was the coolest of them all!" I couldn't help but smile and silently agree that Solo has always been one of my favorite characters out of the Star Wars universe.


As a writer when you kill off a major character you should avoid the UNWORTHY death. A rather painful example of this for me, was the death of Captain James T. Kirk in Star Trek: Generations. Which actually should have been titled...Star Trek: Shut Up About Kirk Already!

It seemed to me that the entire point of that movie was to kill off Kirk so fans would finally shut up about another Original Series Cast movie.

Did they give Kirk a death worthy of his stature as one of the Federation's greatest heroes?

No...in fact the last words of Kirk's dialog were panned so bad by focus groups that they had to go back and reshoot his death.

What did Kirk die for?

To stop a drug addict???

Now, what did Han Solo die for?

The rogue who shot first and was in it just for himself.

Well, he died for love...love of Leia and for a son lost to him. Even though he states that there is too much Vader in him, he tries...when it would have been easier to walk away. That is what heroes do, they put others ahead of themselves.

So we went to see it today, the theater was pretty full even for a 1:00 PM Saturday showing. The rumored Rogue One trailer...did not...materialize on screen so that was a bit of a let down but I can handle that.

Then as the movie started, the real world fell away and there I was back in the Star Wars universe. Now...I didn't feel like a 10 year old kid again, which I would have paid good money to experience but there was no denying I had bought into it.

The movie didn't drag at any point, maintaining a fast pace.

Visually it was stunning.

Acting wise...Daisy Ridley was the standout for me. She hit her mark precisely and with flair...never a helpless damsel in distress.

Where the movie faltered a bit for me was that it was trying to cram SOOO much into a short time frame that you didn't feel like you got all the information you needed.

Did that in any way detract from the movie experience?

No, and I am relatively certain that the Director's Cut version will have plenty of footage from the cutting room floor added back. Yes, I am positive that Disney is going to release a Director's Cut...for something this big you can bet on it.

Should you go see it?

Well...Duh! Of course!

Warning: non-game related rant forthcoming...

Just a few minutes ago I was listening to "Say It Isn't So" by the Outfield and doing some casual web surfing. I was relaxed and having an interesting read...when all of the sudden...a Dominos ad starts blaring through my speakers ruining the ambiance of the moment.

I am relatively certain that Dominos thought if they told me about their current specials that I would seek them out to fill that void in the pit of my stomach. Sadly, such is not the case...nor will it ever be the case ever again, it would be fair to say that I can hold a grudge and frequently do so (nobody is perfect). Why advertisers and equally guilty...web sites...think that is OK to commandeer my computer to suddenly blare their advertisement at me is simply dumbfounding. If anything one would imagine that by 2015 everyone who has even a miniscule amount of experience on the internet would know what a massive faux pas it is to do that.

More importantly, I am now inclined to go out and get Pizza Hut or more likely Mark's Pizzeria (local pizza place) instead of Dominos. As of this moment my level of disdain for Dominos is ranked higher than it is for having to clean up a cat hairball...which if you don't know me is pretty high on my disdain meter. Not only that, their thoughtless intrusion into my personal space and taking a collective crap through my speakers has prompted me to put together this little diatribe...which one would call bad press. This bad press, well it will live on for as we all know...the internet doesn't have an expiration date.

Thank you for your time.

I know better, I really do and in spite of that fact I am going to smack this particular hornet’s nest.

Having watched a number of tests with various swords, axes and longbows versus heavy leather (6mm thick) armor, I do believe that the standard RPG model (D&D, Pathfinder, etc.) is in fact completely wrong. So wrong in fact that it is worth contemplating revising how we treat armor within games

The three big points that I come away with are...

First, piercing and cutting through a single layer of 6mm thick leather is incredibly difficult. Requiring the type of swings and thrusts that is going to leave the attacker vulnerable to a counter-strike (riposte). Cutting, results in only surface damage and thrusting, in those rare instances where it actually penetrates, leaves the attacker’s weapon stuck in the armor. When I say stuck, we are talking about having to put your foot on the target to get the weapon out. In terms of that penetration you are only talking about several inches which would have to deal with the gambeson (the padding under the leather armor)…the proverbial...just a flesh wound.

Second, against an armored opponent it is not about penetration or cutting it is all about the blunt force trauma. This means that weapons with the greater mass (warhammers, poleaxes, etc.) are going to do much better at wounding the armored target.

Third, chainmail should be the bottom rung of the armor ladder in terms of protection. Again, it isn’t about cutting or penetration it is all about blunt force trauma and chainmail does nothing to stop that.

I can hear the shouts of, ‘HERETIC!’ We all saw little Frodo withstand that cave troll hitting him with that big pointy spear and his mithril chain saving him. In reality, what would have happened was that poor little Frodo would have had ribs shattered and a lung punctured…expiring a few minutes later having drowned in his own blood.

Next come the hecklers, ‘this is fantasy and I don’t want reality intruding into my sandbox!’ Remember that the next time you making your case based on real world physics at the game table. We shouldn’t cherry pick when to apply reality and when to ignore it…even in a fantasy game.

It is important to note that Mythbusters and YouTube were not around when D&D was developed, so this is not an indictment of those game designers. Today we simply have more information readily available than we have had at any other point in our history. Dispelling misconceptions about the effectiveness of actual armor and weapons doesn’t dilute or detract from the overall gaming experience.

Just a smattering of videos that prompted this article...

ThengThrand, Skallagrim, Bigbowbrum, I am Shad, Arms and Armour, Conncork

Let me know what you think?