What Do I Know?

Today I happened upon this oddity on the game aisle at the local Walmart:

I have yet to look at the actual rules, but as soon as I saw these, I decided that I had to come up with some kind of randomized . . . thing . . . to use with the Star Wars RPGs.

I may have some other ideas later, but the first thing I came up with is this–when the campaign first begins, have each player roll one of these dice.

 When the above comes up, the player that rolled this die may, when they are called upon to make a Knowledge check, remember an NPC that they know that can give them the information for free.  The player must come up with why the NPC owes the PC a favor, and this favor cannot be called in on Knowledge checks that are of Impossible difficulty.

When the above comes up, the player that rolled this die may call on an NPC to grant them a favor.  The favor may be in the form of one repair, either of equipment or a vehicle, for no charge, and a generally favorable amount of time.  Alternatively, the NPC may upgrade a piece of equipment for free.  The PC must come up with why the NPC owes the PC this favor.

When the above comes up, the player that rolled this die may call upon an NPC to grant them a favor.  The NPC will be a nemesis level character that will show up to help the PCs in a tight spot, even fighting for them and risking his life.  The PC must come up with why the NPC owes the PC a favor, and how the NPC knew that the group was in trouble.

The player that rolls the above may choose to have a minion group wander into a difficult situation to make that situation worse for the PCs.  A fight with a group of bounty hunters might attract a squad of stormtroopers, for example.  After the encounter ends, the player may flip one Dark Side Destiny Point to Light.  Alternatively, the player may chose to add one rank of Adversary to an opponent of Rival level or greater at the beginning of a combat encounter.

The player that rolls the above may choose to have a Rival level character enter a scene and complicate it for the PCs.  A group of Stormtroopers might be reinforced with an officer, as an example.  After the encounter ends, the player may flip two Dark Side Destiny Point to Light.  Alternatively, the player may chose to add two ranks of Adversary to an opponent of Rival level or greater, at the beginning of a combat encounter.

The player that rolls the above may chose to have a Nemesis level character enter a scene and complicate it for the PCs.  An inquisitor might happen upon PCs trying to keep imperial customs agents and army officers away from their ship, for example, or a Krayt Dragon might attack the group when they are engaged with a group of Sand People.  After the encounter ends, the player may flip three Dark Side Destiny Points to Light.  Alternatively, the player may choose to add three ranks of Adversary to an opponent of Nemesis level instead, at the beginning of a combat encounter.

Once everyone has rolled these dice, they do not get rolled again until all of the players have cashed in their die rolls.  Theoretically, this means that the players may get positive and negative rolls, cash in the positive rolls, and “bank” the negative rolls, never getting any more dice rolls.  That’s fine.  This is just a way of introducing some narrative randomness and player control into the campaign.

In the event that the players all manage to roll negative rolls, the GM can “buy” those negative rolls by converting the same number of Destiny points that would flip from light to Dark.  Once the GM has done this, that die is “cashed in,” and the player doesn’t have to suffer the other effects of the die to count as having spent the die roll.

It’s random, and it’s kind of off the top of my head.  Let me know what you think, and even better, let me know if you decide to use this crazy idea in your own games!