Having Entire Jedi Party a Bad Thing??

[Saber]

My group is beginning a Star Wars campaign this week, with none of us having ever played the system before (DM included).

Therefore, with every player knowing very little about the game and world, we ALL want to be some type of jedi (Guardian, Force Adept, or Consolor)

The DM seems to think this will be a problem, and is offering extra incentives to non-force sensitive characters, yet our hearts are devoted to exploring the force and using lightsabers.

I would love any opinions from experienced Star Wars players about this situation. Can a group of only jedi be a fun experience without getting real old real quick? Does diversity make for a more enjoyable campaign? Any comments are welcome.


Note: We are not ALL the same class, but we do all have access to the force. And even those of us who do share a class have built the characters very different, focusing on different skills and feats.

 

[Crothian]

Well, there is a difference in power level between a force adept and a Jedi. I played a force adept and someone else played a Jedi, there was really nothing I could do that he couldn't do better. There really wasn't anything unique a Force Adept could do, but there was plenty a Jedi could do that I couldn't. It was frustrating.

But as an all Jedi party goes, it seems the DM doesn't want this. So, no matter how practical others may think it is, I'd side with the DM. Hold out for lots of extra goodies though

 

[Haradim]

I'm not an experienced SW player, but I can't see how an all-Jedi party would cause problems. There is enough room within the Jedi archetype to allow for many different characters.

Having run a short game of SWD20, and knowing the perks that Jedi have, it even seems like an all-Jedi party would be one of the better routes to go if you are going to play Jedi, especially if you are new to playing and don't want to deal with party friction or PC imbalance.

It's also a convenient way to start initial adventures (assuming you are in the Old Republic or New Jedi Order eras, and have an upper command to give orders).

Note that if you do end up with a mixed party of Jedi and non-Jedi, there is a risk of the Jedi running the show. They do not simply travel and adventure; they have a code and a chain of command to obey. I've heard this can sometimes be a trouble spot, where the rest of the non-Jedi PCs are pretty much just along for the ride, since the Jedi has definite places to go and things to do...which may often conflict with the other PC's desires.

Hope that makes sense. And I hope your SW campaign lasts longer than mine did

 

[d4]

i wanted to run an all-Jedi game the last time i ran Star Wars, but it was my players who wouldn't go for it.

this was shortly after AOTC, and i was all jazzed to run Star Wars again and really wanted to see what a party of all-Jedi could do. of course, when i presented the idea of a Star Wars campaign to my group, one person wanted to play a Scout, one a Noble, one a Tech Specialist, and only one a Jedi Guardian.

i was eventually able to convince the Techie player to play a Jedi Consular instead, so i had half a party of Jedi.

i say this from experience: it is much harder to run Star Wars with a party of mixed Jedi and non-Jedi than it would be all non-Jedi. i can't speak to an all-Jedi campaign because i haven't run one yet, but i had some difficulties with my mixed group.

we were in the "prequel" era, and i had some problems justifying how to bring the characters together and then keep them as a group. i had trouble coming up with challenges that were appropriate for both the Force-users and the non-Force-users. the whole campaign just felt rather uneven, with the presence of the Jedi pulling the campaign in one direction and the non-Jedi pulling it in another.

i will possibly be starting another Star Wars campaign shortly. this time, the only choice i'm giving them is either all-Jedi or no Jedi. i just had too many problems GMing a mixed group.

if your GM thinks he can pull it off, more power to him. however, i would suggest to him that he rethink his position. besides, how cool is a whole party full o' lightsabers?

edit:

Haradim said:
Note that if you do end up with a mixed party of Jedi and non-Jedi, there is a risk of the Jedi running the show. They do not simply travel and adventure; they have a code and a chain of command to obey. I've heard this can sometimes be a trouble spot, where the rest of the non-Jedi PCs are pretty much just along for the ride, since the Jedi has definite places to go and things to do...which may often conflict with the other PC's desires.

this was one of my major problems. how i initially got the PCs together was this: the Jedi were given a mission by the Jedi Council and the Senate. the Noble PC was a senator's aide from the world the Jedi's mission was on. the Scout PC owned a ship and was their transportation, so they could travel "incognito".

the problem was that after that initial mission was over, there was no incentive for the Noble to continue going on adventures with the Jedi. even worse, the Scout really had no reason to be a part of the group other than that she was being paid to taxi the Jedi around. unfortunately, the Scout's player's way of "staying in character" was to have her PC remain onboard her ship 90% of the time because the actual mission "wasn't her problem."

at least with an all-Jedi group, they all have a reason for being there and they all ultimately take orders from the same boss. so the group has a unity of purpose that can keep them legitimately together over an extended campaign.

i believe there is enough variety in the Force skills and feats that even with only two Jedi classes there can be quite a difference between the members of an all-Jedi party. once you get to mid-levels, they can start taking the various Jedi prestige classes to differentiate themselves even further.

if the GM is worried that an all-Jedi party might be too "powerful," that simply means he can throw more challenging encounters at the group! that's a plus, not a negative!

 

[Saber]

Hmm some great thoughts.

From the sound of it, it seems like we're doing the GM a favor.

Keep the comments comming, your experience is sure to help us newbies out.

 

[argo]

Just got finished playing a SW campagin and one of the conclusions I came to was that the SW classes are not balanced like we are used to in dnd (and that is ok really, I mean a Jedi SHOULD be able to kick the pants off of any non-Jedi. That's part of the SW flavor). The Jedi classes are without a doubt much more powerful than all the rest (including Force Adept). In the campagin I played in we had only one force user (a Force Adept) and he was cleary the single most powerful party member.

So, with that in mind an all Jedi party might actually be a good thing. That way you don't really have to worry about inter-party power level differences, you'll just be playing a really high-powered campagin. If you do go with mixed-classes then I would suggest that you do what we did: each pick a specality (computer-nut, pilot, heavy weapons specalist, etc) and try to not step on the other guy's toes.

 

[d4]

If you do go with mixed-classes then I would suggest that you do what we did: each pick a specality (computer-nut, pilot, heavy weapons specalist, etc) and try to not step on the other guy's toes.

this is a good idea for any group.

also, make sure all the necessary bases are covered.

someone should know how to pilot a space transport, so that the group can get around the galaxy easily without having to hitch rides all the time. (i maintain you can't have a real Star Wars campaign unless the group has their own ship, which has so much personality it becomes almost an NPC in itself. ) someone should know how to repair the ship when it breaks down. someone should know how to fire the ship's weapons. someone should be able to heal other party members, whether that be Treat Injury or Heal Another. etc., etc.

i ran into this problem with my last group -- the very first adventure involved the group having to break into a secure compound. the only entity in the party with Disable Device (used to disable security systems and locks in Star Wars) was the ship's astromech droid, R2-L7 -- an NPC. i really hate the group having to rely on an NPC for vital functions.

 

[clark411]

I've known players who have been in mixed SW games.. and the two who played a non jedi almost always felt excluded- and this was in a group that adhered to the genre pretty strictly. The Jedi would be called to council, the non Jedi were not involved. The Non Jedi found their plot hooks in non Jedi stuff (bounty hunting etc.. heck, the techie in the Clone Wars era apparently designed the folding wing tech you find in Imperial time shuttles) but this was almost always an aside to the real meat of the campaign- the stuff the Jedi had to do. The nifty cookies didn't make up for a deep flaw in the structure and feel of the campaign.
By and large, the Non Jedi were treated as cohorts... the people who knew how to fly ships, the people who were quick talkers without manipulative force powers... the ones who got the Jedi to where they had to go, did the ranged damage that invariably paled in comparison to the threshers with sabers, and were only involved by association from the moment the ship touched down or the fire fights stopped (oh crap look what trouble the Jedi are getting us in.. kinda deals).

The Non Jedi resented this immensely. One guy would bring a magazine because for half hour stints the DM simply couldn't give him anything to do. Not to say that being out of "Audience mode" is a good thing or a polite thing, but when its a year old campaign with level 10 characters and you're STILL not involved, as you Weren't 11 months ago, you can't help but blame the guy.


The DM had a hard time of it too, because it was extremely difficult to challenge the Jedi without presenting near death to the Non Jedi, and the challenges that were designed for the non Jedi were either a) done without the presense of the Jedi or b) were brief, as the Jedi scythed through the challenges. In effect, there were almost two campaigns running... the real one, and the non Jedi one. That was the only way to keep it balanced without having non Jedi many levels ahead of the Jedi.

Now, I wasn't in the whole campaign, but I did hear the stories and the reactions from all sides. From what I've heard, I'd have to say that a game should either be All Jedi, No Jedi, or Minority Jedi. One Jedi Guardian isn't going to dominate properly designed encounters.. and a lone Consular, even with tons of skills, can't go at it alone. Also, a full Jedi game will allow for everyone being involved and everyone acting with the Force stuff rather than half the party getting all the "You hear the force cry out" stuff. A non Jedi game is pretty obvious in it's potential.

 

[Haradim]

One Jedi Guardian isn't going to dominate properly designed encounters.. and a lone Consular, even with tons of skills, can't go at it alone.

Unfortunately, I'm not really sure this solves the problem. It just risks making the Jedi PC the one that gets dragged around, and is still hard to justify for a long-term campaign.

Basically, you just can't have adventuring non-Jedi and duty-bound Jedi in the same party without some very good reasons. Because at the end of the adventure, the Jedi still has duties to attend to...which must either mesh with what the other PCs are doing, or risk breaking the party, or forcing someone to go where they don't necessarily want to.

I'm not saying mixed parties are impossible. But it certainly seems hard to avoid making the Jedi both true to setting (where they *are* the stars of the show, for the most part), yet not so much a focal point of the campaign that everyone else is a servant of the Jedi Council to avoid breaking the party.

 

[Faraer]

At least in the Rise of the Empire and Rebellion eras, an all-Jedi or no-Jedi game makes much more sense than a mixed group. You can find rationales for non-Jedi accompanying Jedi long-term in the Republic, and for Jedi other than Yoda and Obi-Wan and Luke existing in the Empire, but they're pretty marginal. What's your GM's thinking here?