Raye’s Recommendations for New SW5e GMs
This document is meant to help GMs for SW5e who ask, “Where do I start with SW5e?”
Where Should I Start?
Read the PHB
Seriously. Go read it. If you’re in a hurry, you can read the following chapters thoroughly and skim over the rest.
- Introduction
- What's Different
- Chapter 1: Step-by-Step Characters
- Chapter 7: Using Ability Scores
- Chapter 8: Adventuring
- Chapter 9: Combat
- Chapter 10: Casting
- Appendix A: Conditions
These chapters help you understand how to run the SW5e system. The chapters not listed are mainly used with character creation. You should read those, too, at some point.
Use the Website and the Discord server
While the website is useful, there are some things on the website that are very out-of-date. Instead, you should use certain updates/revisions posted in the Discord server. These things include:
- Don’t let your players rely on the character creator on the site. It can be used to assist with character creation, but it’s nowhere near as polished as its D&DBeyond counterpart. It has errors, is unfinished, and is really unreliable. Have them use the character sheet PDF under the "Assets" tab of the website or the GSheet Character Sheet.
- A handful of archetypes (Artificer Engineer, Biotech Engineer, Inquisitor Scout, et al.) are either over- or under- powered and have revisions in the Discord in their respective workspace channels.
- Don’t use Scum and Villainy on the site, and don’t use the Scum and Villainy PDF. Both are very out-of-date. Many monsters have incorrect CR calculation or other errors. Instead, you should use Scum and Villainy 2.0.
- Many users on the Discord have made their own monsters for this system. Aziz's Hypercodex is a document that sorts and compiles all those creations into a single list. Characters from SW Lore are typically renamed so they can be repurposed, but you can
Control + Fthe character’s name to find their stat blocks (such as Darth Vader, Yoda, etc.)
Ask questions
Ask around the discord for clarifications. The following channels you'll likely find to be very helpful:
- #sw5e-rules-questions: If you have a question about how the sytem works, 99% of the time your question should go in here.
- faq: After you read the PHB, it's a good idea to read everything in this channel.
- #player-character-help: If your players need help in building a character, people here will help them out.
- #behind-the-screen: Best place for most GM-related questions
Common Pitfalls
Here are some common mistakes new SW5e GMs make.
Making Encounters Too Easy
SW5e characters are more powerful than their DND counterparts. However, the CR calculation system for monsters remains unchanged. That means all your SW5e encounters will need to be a little harder compared to DND encounters of the same level. In general, treat SW5e characters as if they are 1 or 2 levels higher when balancing encounters, unless characters are very low level.
Restricting Character Options
Any content posted on the website should be considered "Official." Even if it's labeled as "Expanded Content," if it's made it to the website, that means it's been approved by the higher-ups and is appropriate for play. This includes archetypes, equipment, species, and more.
Additionally, the list of backgrounds in the PHB are suggestions. They are meant to help give your players guidelines for grounding their character in the SW Universe. However, RAW, characters are allowed to customize their backgrounds. They can change any skill or tool proficiency, or language granted by a background to a different one. This also applies to feats; while each background has a list of feats that characters can choose from players are not limited to only those feats. They may choose any feat so long the feat doesn't have a level prerequisite, and the character fits any other prerequisite.
Underestimating Companions
The Companion Keeper feat and a variety of archetypes can grant a player character a companion. You should only allow a player to use these options if you are okay with it, as these options make that player significantly stronger than other party members. I would highly recommend against allowing companions in large parties. If you do allow companions, treat their companion as half the level of their owner when balancing encounters.
Frequently Asked Questions
"Does SW5e have a DMG?"
SW5e uses the DND5e DMG, as a lot of it is setting agnostic in terms of running a game. Wretched Hives is a DM resource that has rules for factions, downtime, and a wide variety of equipment, both enhanced and unehnaced.
"Do companions have their own character sheet?"
No. Use a seperate, standard character sheet for companions.
"Where are all the Jedi/Sith stablocks?
"Where is the Darth Vader statblock?
Use Aziz's Hypercodex.
"What is the bless spell called in this system?"
"Is healing word a tech or force power?"
"Is (feature from DND5e) in this system?
Use Aziz's DND and SW5e Equivalents.
"A GMBinder document I found on the discord is broken. How do I fix it?"
Use Chrome on Desktop at 100% view. If that doesn't work, GMBinder might have undergone an update that broke a document. Check out this post on the discord for more details.
"Where can I find pre-written adventures for SW5e?"
Use the Adventure Codex. You can also discuss pre-written adventures in #adventures-allready
"In DnD 5e, according to Tasha's Cauldron of Everything, characters can reassign which ability scores are increased by their race. Can the same be done with SW5e species?"
The creator of the system has gone on record stating that this would be fine to implement. For example, a Chiss usually grants +2 to Intelligence and +1 to Charisma. A player with a Figther Chiss might instead choose to take +2 Dexterity and +1 to Constitution.
Reworked Rules
Since the website update does not have an ETA, there are a variety of rule changes that have have been discussed on the Discord that will not be on the site for quite some time. Below are a few rules that can be considered official even though they are not currently on the site. You can also check out #typos-phb in the discord for other changes that will eventually make it to the site.
No Minimum Roll Thresholds
Certain features, such as the Great Weapon fighting style, add a minimum roll threshold, discussed in chapter 7 of the Player's Handbook. If your table enjoys rerolling damage dice, wants to get more use out of features like the vicious property, or if this rule slows down gameplay a bit too much, consider using this variant rule instead of the minimum roll threshold:
When you roll a 1 (or a 2) on the die, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll, even if the new roll is a 1 (or a 2). This rule does not apply when you roll a d20.
Item Modifications
The rules for item modifications aren't getting changed, but the way they are presented in WH can be misleading and confusing. The link below makes it easier to understand; a key change being that the word "chassis" is replaced with "modifiable item."
Resources
This is list of vital resources I believe all SW5e GMs could make good use of. Previously mentioned resources are also listed here for convenience.
Miscellaneous Advice
This is collection of general advice from a variety of GMs on the SW5e Discord Server and Subreddit.
"I'd say be ready to make the rules bend to your table and your party. We've run into a few situations where the rules-as-written don't quite work (either don't do what we all think they should or are massively overpowered) and have a set of "house rules" to make sure we're handling cases consistently.'
As a DM, also good to know that enhanced items are controlled by the DM, so be ready to make those available. Also keep an eye on credits and loot you're doling out to make sure it matches what kind of expenses they're going to have!"
"Take advantage of the Star Wars setting's abundance of random technology lying around everywhere. This is especially for people coming from DnD, where any objects beyond the mundane have to be magical or big and mechanical to function. Here, there are all sorts of buttons, switches, levers and terminal panels that interact with all sorts of technology, as well as pipes, cables and containers full of and/or connected to who knows what. There's a lot more opportunity for players to interact with their environment to inspect what does what, even in combat, where running over to a wall to play with some piecce of ambient tech may be useful in a battle. This could even encourage more use of the Search action."
"Take time to look over the Variant Rules on the website. There are some great options there that can really enhance your game. I highly recommend using the following Variant Rules in your game:"
- ASI and a Feat
- Bonus Action Consumables
- Destiny
- Force Alignment
- Overlapping Features
- Tactical Iniative
"If players want a special item, you don't need to find the exact perfect item already prewritten on the website. Enhanced items are meant to be made by the DM, items that are better than normal because of some effect or another. The ones on the website are just conveniently premade for you, and help give you an idea of what effects deserve which rarity. If you can't find one, just make it, figure its rarity, then use the tables in Wretched Hives' Enhanced Items chapter to determine when would be the best level to give the item to a player at some point, and how many items of that rarity they should have."
"Lightweapons (lightsabers and similar weapons) are weak and cheap in this game, freely available to three different classes at the start of the game if using Standard Equipment. This can be hard to wrap one's head around, since we're so used to lightsabers being these indomitable god-weapons in the movies and shows. Those enhanced items I mentioned earlier can include weapons that deal more damage or are otherwise more effective in combat or just at cutting through things. Enhanced weapons are also rare, expensive, and unavailable to players without the DM allowing it to happen in the moment, so players will only ever find any as the plot demands. One method of giving one to players is to let them craft it, using special rules in Wretched Hives that include the player going on a mini-quest for a special material. This is perfect for the "real" lightweapons you see in the movies and shows. A powerful, special weapon made from a material someone gets after a personal quest, like a kyber crystal. (Note that kyber is not a mineral, it's just an umbrella term for all lightsaber crystals.) So you could treat enhanced lightweapons as "real lightsabers", and the regular lightweapons players start the game with as something inferior. A homemade saber crafted from a lesser crystal, a broken lightsaber, or one of the training sabers younglings use before they get their own sabers. (I mostly use the latter flavor of a training saber.)"
"Many Star Wars tabletops treat the Force as a poweful, additional thing anyone can do, so Force-users end up being stronger than others. This is not the case in SW5e, as Force-based abilities aren't inherently stronger than non-Force abilities, force powers have a counterpart for non-Force users called tech powers (using nebulous gadgets they have on-hand), and lightweapons are balanced against vibroweapons just fine. So Force users don't have a mechanical edge or advantage over their non-Force party members, though everyone is quite powerful, which leads me to my final point (for now, unless you want to talk further)."
"DO NOT WRITE STORIES. Write people, motivations, situations, but never stories. Consider how an event would proceed without the players' involvement, then drop them into it. Be mentally prepared to throw everything out the window and improvise. Take your time, consider the possibilities, hell, even call for a bio break if you need an excuse. Rather than writing entire worlds, instead create outlines and a few key important NPCs for each location. Gives you room to maneuver, and hides the rails you may have your party on." Finally, if you want to work within canon, okay, but consider instead that canon is a jumping off point for the story you and your players will make, so as to not limit theirs or your choices.
"Session 0. Find out what your players want to play and then go from there. Are they a group of bounty hunters? Are they wanting to play force users? Clone troopers? Rebellion members? Outlaws? Do you already have a time frame in mind? If not, work that out with them as well. Next pick a starting planet or system and once you put all that together you have your starting point. Once you have that information come up with between 3-7 plot hooks, depending on how much work you want to put into it, and see which one they bite on. Flesh out the plot hooks enough to run your session 1 off of each. Once you've finished session 1 and know where the players want to go you can go more in depth in planning out your next session. I generally have a vague idea of what's going to happen 3 sessions out, some detailed notes for 2 sessions out, and fully fleshed out plot line, NPC's, and any treasure they might come across for 1 session out. If you're feeling stuck for ideas you can always take a look at older SW RPG books for campaign ideas or even convert one of the older ones to this version. There a number that people have already converted on the Discord channel. It's also not hard to take a Shadowrun module or scenario and convert that over, and I'm sure the same is true for other systems. Be sure to get feedback from your players as you go on to what they are and aren't enjoying about the current campaign."
- "Fun > Rules: Everyone is coming together to have a fun time. If you have a character who wants to do something cool let them, just pick a roll that feels right for the situation and keep the momentum flowing. In every handbook it says that the DM has final say, so you are entitled to make up a bit of the rules as you go.
- Invest in your players: Take the time to find out what kind of game they are looking for; weather it be combat oriented or more roleplay based. See what character arcs they might be trying to fill and try your best to incorporate that into your story. I feel so much pride when I throw out a call back to a characters backstory and their jaw drops and the table goes wild. They feel so invested into the story at that point that no matter how bad of a DM you may be, they will be hooked. *Be a benevolent god: As a DM you have the power to shape worlds. Always remember that you are a 'servant-leader'. It is your job to make sure everyone is having a good time. It may not seem that way, but trust me you will run a better table if you are catering to your players and giving them what they want. An age old trope in any RPG is to learn the value of "Yes, and..." or "Yes, but...". Let a player pull off something crazy, stupid, or off-the-wall but follow it up with a roll or a description.
- Benevolent but fair: You may cater to your players but don't forget that there are consequences to actions. It is true your job is to provide a fun experience, but your campaign has to hold some weight to it. Ensure that you take good notes and follow up on past endeavors. A player death is the hardest thing to deal with, but don't ignore it; these are some of the most defining components of the game. They drive, inspire, and emotionally entangle the players in the game even further.
- DM Dice Rolls can be what you make them: This is a bit of a taboo only us DMs speak of and is heresy to players, but if your players are not privy to the result of your die, in certain circumstances determine what the best dice roll for you story is. It's our little secret.
- Use a pre-established campaign for your starter: For me, I started with the 5E starter kit with a quest called Lost Mines of Phandelver. If you are using SW5E I suggest getting something similar and modifying it to the universe you are in. When anything can be taken off of your plate as a new DM it is a good thing! You'll learn to get into the flow and come up with things on-the-fly but it's better to have a structured campaign set up to kick things off.
- You are not an actor: Finally, unless you are in Hollywood, you probably don't have significant acting skills. That is OK! Use whatever voice you wish or don't use a voice at all. If you can't do voices, add a certain quirk to a character to set them apart in your description. Everyone is there to have fun and on a level playing field. I see that you watched/listen to Critical Role. Do not expect to come out of the gate as a Matt Mercer, it's not possible. Just do what you feel is fun; remember, the DM is there to have fun too."