Have you faced your Trials?

[Inquisitor Valstaff 1]

So I have been looking at many resources for the Jedi Trials, from padawan to knight. 

 

With the Trials as listed:

 

Trial of Skill

Trial of Courage

Trial of the Flesh

Trial of the Spirit 

Trial of Insight

 

So What are some of the Trials your players, or yourself have had to endure as a mock Jedi Rite Of Passage.

 

And how as a GM have you presented the Trial of the Spirit? The Right of Passage of self discovery, while facing your fears and demons.

Edited August 23, 2015 by Inquisitor Valstaff

[knasserII 2,557]

I haven't used this (no F&D characters as yet) but the one thing that I would be very wary of is that players have all seen countless examples of spiritual journeys and fake-out sacrifices and expect things that their character really wouldn't. The character in the movie faces a choice - give up their life / dream / treasure / whatever for the sake of another. Or whatever. And the viewer has seen this over and over again and know that really it's just an illusion / dream / trick / whatever. The character does not so the choice is meaningful to them, but the player is genre-savvy and there's no meaning there - just indulgence in the tropes of spiritual journeys.

I loathe this. If my players ever go through some Ezra-in-the-temple type spiritual journey, it's going to be played for real stakes and if I get an open-mouthed player going "but... how can she be dead?", I'm going to reply "I did everything I could to make you think this was real, don't blame me". If my someone in my game has to face their greatest fear or some incarnation of the dark side, that's what they're going to get.

Edited August 23, 2015 by knasserII

[Vexous 27]

I once ran a game where one of the players had been captured by a doppleganger and it had assumed his identity unknown to any of the other players. I just let the player run his character as if nothing was wrong, keeping him totally in the dark as to what he really was. Occasionally the party would "discover" something missing. At first. Later it became something sabotaged. Eventually, "accidents" started occuring. Well, you get the idea. The look on his face when everyone discovered it was "him" was priceless.

 

"Guys wait! It wasn't me! I didn't do that to her, it's not my fault! DON'T SHOOT!"........

 

The point here is just run everyone like normal. Sure, some of them may be illusions or whatnot, but they don't have to know that. Makes the acting more realistic.... Uhm, that said, make sure your players can handle watching their characters maimed/killed/violated/etc. and not neccessarily in that order. Some people don't take arbitrary disfigurement without getting a tad emotional. Once they know its an illusion and didn't actually happen they should be fine, until then though, tread lightly.

[knasserII 2,557]

I once ran a game where one of the players had been captured by a doppleganger and it had assumed his identity unknown to any of the other players. I just let the player run his character as if nothing was wrong, keeping him totally in the dark as to what he really was. Occasionally the party would "discover" something missing. At first. Later it became something sabotaged. Eventually, "accidents" started occuring. Well, you get the idea. The look on his face when everyone discovered it was "him" was priceless.

 

"Guys wait! It wasn't me! I didn't do that to her, it's not my fault! DON'T SHOOT!"........

 

The point here is just run everyone like normal. Sure, some of them may be illusions or whatnot, but they don't have to know that. Makes the acting more realistic.... Uhm, that said, make sure your players can handle watching their characters maimed/killed/violated/etc. and not neccessarily in that order. Some people don't take arbitrary disfigurement without getting a tad emotional. Once they know its an illusion and didn't actually happen they should be fine, until then though, tread lightly.

Yeah, that is true. I had a poor experience once where I ran an "it was all an illusion" encounter. It was very long ago when I had a great deal less experience as a GM. Anyway, it generated a lot of anger at how unfair I was being to the party and the net result was just a lot of bad feeling. It's one reason I've become very, very cautious with the "it was all a trick" sort of ploy. You can't just be focused on how things will be after the reveal (my mistake), you have to keep in mind how it will be during as well. That and the fact that players are too genre savvy and wont find the choices actually meaningful like they're supposed to if they are aware it's some "spiritual trial" thing, are why I favour making things real and there's no reason a Jedi's trials can't be real events with real consequences. Especially now that there is no formal Jedi order any more.

That said, the Doppleganger story sounds both well-handled and hilarious. Kudos for not even telling the player who was the doppelganger!

So to the OP, give us more information about what you want to achieve. Are you wanting to run a whole arc of these stories - one for each type of trial? Is this going to be something for the whole group (are they all going through trials) or only some of them?

[Inquisitor Valstaff 1]

I just finished the 2nd game session of many to come for my players. The overall story arc takes place in The Old Republic. But I wanted their Trials to be meaningful, not just spiritual success. I have a general idea of what i will be pitting against the Players. Eventually creating a antagonistic duo (Sith Lord, Sith Apprentice), not to far off of being an Inquisitor related hunt. I know that the trial of skill, flesh, and courage can easily be a encounter showdown with the Sith Duo. But it seems i have yet to really figure out a meaningful way to present the trials of Spirit and Insight....

 

I am hope that my players are not reading the forums. But some of them have been taking the downtime to meditate, i thought about using that time to drop precognition events during those downtime, only being vague though. And somewhat leading up to a story plot twist, where the aftermath has them questioning their own resolve (leaving an opening for some triggered morality). Still Spirit seems the hardest to portray, without that whole darkest fear, its an illusion/precognition gimmick. 

[Vexous 27]

Honestly without knowing the group, anything you get on the forums is going to be hit and miss. That said, since they're meditating and you've considered the precognition shtick, you could possibly use that as a set up. Precog shows a building, them entering, a huge freaking explosion following. "If you go to Zahadum, you will DIE!" sort of thing. Come session time they do go to that building to get something, something/something happens, things get skewed, explosives are tossed. So bad even many of the parties contacts believe they're dead(holonet broadcast?). Of course they live.

 

The test would be how the Jedi react to all of this. Is there an innocent inside they have to get out? Do they even mention this vision to the rest of the party? Do they bail on the group rather than enter? And so on. Be careful though, lack of subtlety will have them yelling how they were railroaded into all of this. Then again, the Force isn't all that subtle anyway.

[OtterJethro 58]

I just finished the 2nd game session of many to come for my players. The overall story arc takes place in The Old Republic. But I wanted their Trials to be meaningful, not just spiritual success. I have a general idea of what i will be pitting against the Players. Eventually creating a antagonistic duo (Sith Lord, Sith Apprentice), not to far off of being an Inquisitor related hunt. I know that the trial of skill, flesh, and courage can easily be a encounter showdown with the Sith Duo. But it seems i have yet to really figure out a meaningful way to present the trials of Spirit and Insight....

 

I am hope that my players are not reading the forums. But some of them have been taking the downtime to meditate, i thought about using that time to drop precognition events during those downtime, only being vague though. And somewhat leading up to a story plot twist, where the aftermath has them questioning their own resolve (leaving an opening for some triggered morality). Still Spirit seems the hardest to portray, without that whole darkest fear, its an illusion/precognition gimmick.

What did they choose for morality? I would assume the Trial of Spirit would be closely tied with his morality.

[JP_JP 301]

Back in the days, using old WEG D6, I had my players run an entire adventure theme around the Jedi Trials.... they just didn't know that.

 

We had 2 jedi apprentice, formally a Rebel Captain and a Pilot, with 2 non-force users, a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter and a ex-Imperial Scientist. They had rescued a Jedi Master hiding in the Outer Rim territories since the end of the Clone wars and had begun their training. On a mission for the Alliance, they found a special medallion and some kind of space map. Their Jedi Master told them to follow those 2 items.

 

The map depicted the Cron Cluster : the players had to go to Lianna to access old hyperspace cartography and find a way to the old jedi world of Ossus. I had them do a little puzzle to map out the cluster. They finally are able to plan an hyperspace jump to Ossus, only to find themselves in an asteroid field when they pop out back in realspace. They almost crash land on the planet. After a perrillious climb, they finally reach the old temple, they are faced with the dark force user Travgen and his Ysanna hunters. Travgen is using sith sorcery on the players while they are pounded by the Ysanna hunters. Once they engaged in close combat Travgen, he surrenders and gives the players what they want, the Codex of Tython.

 

The medallion was a familly hearloom from Dathomir : on Lianna, they infiltrated a COMPNOR office and hacked the holonet to find clues on Dathomir. After landing on Dathomir, they reached the village of Aurilia where they were attacked by dark side users under the leadership of Mellichae. After defeating the dark side force users, the local counstable gives the players the Key of Exile which will lead them to the Chamber of Banishment. The players can reach the Chamber going through a Rancor infested cave. The players used a loader droid packed with some pheromones to lure the rancors away to make their way to the end of the cave. Once there, they freed the Dathomir Witch Queen Axkva Min and defeated her. The force user players were sent into a sith dream where they were confronted with their own dark stories while the 2 others face the dathomir witch. After defeating her, they found the last holocron fragment which would fuel the Codex of Tython.

 

Trial of Skill : Climbing the rocky clift on Ossus.

Trial of Courage : Going through the cave of Rancors to reach the Chamber of Banishment.

Trial of Flesh : Travgen force lightning seared the flesh of the force user players.

Trials of Spirit : Sith Dream on Dathomir where they are faced with a Dark Side copy of themselves.

Trial of Insight : Piece all the clues together to find Ossus and Dathomir to finally remake the full Codex of Tython.

 

 

Most of this story is based on a quest in Star Wars Galaxies (game I never played) and some lore found on Wookiepedia.

My players had tons of fun and where eventually given the title Jedi Knights from their master at the end. I also gave them a small quiz they had to answer ; what they answered would tell if they were Consular, Sentinel or Guardian, along with a Ilium crystal of the matching color.

 

If you want more info on this game, I'll be happy to give you more info on the puzzles and all.

Kudos

Edited August 24, 2015 by JP_JP

[Inquisitor Valstaff 1]

Back in the days, using old WEG D6, I had my players run an entire adventure theme around the Jedi Trials.... they just didn't know that.

 

We had 2 jedi apprentice, formally a Rebel Captain and a Pilot, with 2 non-force users, a Mandalorian Bounty Hunter and a ex-Imperial Scientist. They had rescued a Jedi Master hiding in the Outer Rim territories since the end of the Clone wars and had begun their training. On a mission for the Alliance, they found a special medallion and some kind of space map. Their Jedi Master told them to follow those 2 items.

 

The map depicted the Cron Cluster : the players had to go to Lianna to access old hyperspace cartography and find a way to the old jedi world of Ossus. I had them do a little puzzle to map out the cluster. They finally are able to plan an hyperspace jump to Ossus, only to find themselves in an asteroid field when they pop out back in realspace. They almost crash land on the planet. After a perrillious climb, they finally reach the old temple, they are faced with the dark force user Travgen and his Ysanna hunters. Travgen is using sith sorcery on the players while they are pounded by the Ysanna hunters. Once they engaged in close combat Travgen, he surrenders and gives the players what they want, the Codex of Tython.

 

The medallion was a familly hearloom from Dathomir : on Lianna, they infiltrated a COMPNOR office and hacked the holonet to find clues on Dathomir. After landing on Dathomir, they reached the village of Aurilia where they were attacked by dark side users under the leadership of Mellichae. After defeating the dark side force users, the local counstable gives the players the Key of Exile which will lead them to the Chamber of Banishment. The players can reach the Chamber going through a Rancor infested cave. The players used a loader droid packed with some pheromones to lure the rancors away to make their way to the end of the cave. Once there, they freed the Dathomir Witch Queen Axkva Min and defeated her. The force user players were sent into a sith dream where they were confronted with their own dark stories while the 2 others face the dathomir witch. After defeating her, they found the last holocron fragment which would fuel the Codex of Tython.

 

Trial of Skill : Climbing the rocky clift on Ossus.

Trial of Courage : Going through the cave of Rancors to reach the Chamber of Banishment.

Trial of Flesh : Travgen force lightning seared the flesh of the force user players.

Trials of Spirit : Sith Dream on Dathomir where they are faced with a Dark Side copy of themselves.

Trial of Insight : Piece all the clues together to find Ossus and Dathomir to finally remake the full Codex of Tython.

 

 

Most of this story is based on a quest in Star Wars Galaxies (game I never played) and some lore found on Wookiepedia.

My players had tons of fun and where eventually given the title Jedi Knights from their master at the end. I also gave them a small quiz they had to answer ; what they answered would tell if they were Consular, Sentinel or Guardian, along with a Ilium crystal of the matching color.

 

If you want more info on this game, I'll be happy to give you more info on the puzzles and all.

Kudos

 

That sounds so familiar and amazing that you pulled that from SWG... I was a devoted fan to that mmo. Looking at how you have pieced that together, makes it easier for me to pool together what i have planned into an outline that fits the Trials.

 

As for the Moralities if players:

Curiosity/Obsession

Pride/Arrogance

Discipline/Obstinance

Love/Jealousy 

 

The combo is really nice. One player as a Cathar picked up both Pride and Curiosity as he felt it fit with the species and background. I have to players that are engaged IRL and decided to try the who jedi relationship a secret with love/jealousy (gonna throw wrenches everywhere with that one), An archaeologist thats curious, and few other players that went the basic jedi stance of discipline over obstinance. 

[JP_JP 301]

 

That sounds so familiar and amazing that you pulled that from SWG... I was a devoted fan to that mmo. Looking at how you have pieced that together, makes it easier for me to pool together what i have planned into an outline that fits the Trials.

 

 

Yeah... sometimes the star align and you can put stuff together that you never imagined.

My players had raided a crime lords vault and found a bunch of stuff, some artwork and jewelry.... I made them roll Knowledge(Lore) to find the most valuable, usefull items of the lot... Some found lightsaber crystals, some found some old droid schematifcs, a melee weapons holster that gave a free rank in Intimidation, a Keevraki warstaff.... among them they found the Dathomir necklace and the Cron Cluster Starmap. I had no idea at the time what I would do with those... just that it was a cool thing to find.

 

A few games later... after their training under the newly found jedi master... I put what I had together and search through wookieepedia and built it up.

I'm a fan of Player solved puzzles... no abstract puzzles that you just roll to pass... real life puzzle that I gave them and that they must solve on the spot... I can give them some clues if they succeed the appropriate skill roll. If you want those puzzles, I can put them up on the internet and link them in.

 

 

In my current game, my players asked to close the storyline and start new players... I'll give them 2 last game sessions where I'll end their personnal stories ; i've got a spy drug addict, a mandalorian bounty hunter, a jedi and an ex-imperial scientist. Surprisingly, the game I was able to mix all their obligations in those 2 games and it will be a blast

[Voice 194]

Not a Jedi-based game, and back in Saga Edition, but we had an encounter in one adventure where the players were exposed to a Rakatta neuro-toxin that made them perceive their worst fears.

When none of the players made their save, the GM simply described what the players saw:

1) The bulk of the party saw our heavy, who had been scratched by a RakGhoul in an earlier session, make the change.

2) The heavy saw the rest of the party's organics react in terror, shouting "Oh, no!  She's changing!  Kill her!".

3) My droid, saw what was actually happening, and reacted in an appropriately confused manner, trying to stop them from killing each other.

 

It was both awesome drama in character, *and* absolutely hilarious out of character.

 

Something like that could be done as almost any of the trials.

[Kyla 1,411]

As I'm running an entire group of Force Users, I have been thinking about this. In the setting, the Jedi Order is gone - and very little of their ways are even recoverable. As such, I was thinking of keeping a sheet on each character with the trials on it, and as they actually encounter situations in game that challenge in them in such a way ticking them off as they complete them. In this way, it will take them a long time, and many different adventures, to complete their trials, but it allows me to both tailor the Trials to the player and also have them develop naturally.

 

I think by "writing" a Trial I will get the effect you described - with it being not as significant or 'forced' by the PC. By allowing them to develop naturally, completing a Trial can serve as a "reward" for good role-playing and honest character reflection and development, engaging the players to develop their NPC relationships and take a vested interested in the game world in order to complete their characters personal goals.

[Inquisitor Tremayne 424]

I'm in the process of writing the next adventure for our group and I am integrating the following into the adventure.  I can't go into too much detail in case he reads the forums, but I'll update as we play.

 

Trial of Skill – negotiation and survival skills (the idea is for him to have to use skills that he is not strong in)

Trial of Courage – play to his emotional strength: Bravery  (there will be a couple of scenes where he should take the lead)

Trial of the Flesh – survive one or two harsh fights that are coming up 

Trial of the Spirit – Face an conquer his emotional weakness: Anger (considering Dark Side visions, not exactly sure what to do here)

Trial of Insight – Have the wisdom to know the right choice to make in an upcoming encounter: give in to anger or take the brave route 

 

I'm also considering telling the player (through his character's holocron) that this next adventure will be his character's trials.  Perhaps with a summary like this:

 

Trial of Skill – at a couple of key points in the story Iaco will need to rely on skills that he is not the strongest in

Trial of Courage – at a couple of key points Iaco will need to prove his Bravery in the face of overwhelming odds

Trial of the Flesh – at a couple of key scenes Iaco will be pushed to his physical limits

Trial of the Spirit – at one key scene Iaco will have to face his Anger

Trial of Insight – at one key scene Iaco will have to choose between his emotional strength and weakness

 

^What do you think of that?  For the first 3 the idea is to give him a couple of chances throughout the adventure to face his trials.  While the last 2 will be high tension dramatic scenes with larger consequences.

 

Possible rewards:

lightsaber crystal

Extra XP

 

Failure:

No lightsaber crystal (must rely on father's lightsaber)

No extra XP, or significantly reduced XP awards

 

Thoughts, feedback?

[LethalDose 628]

I haven't used this (no F&D characters as yet) but the one thing that I would be very wary of is that players have all seen countless examples of spiritual journeys and fake-out sacrifices and expect things that their character really wouldn't. The character in the movie faces a choice - give up their life / dream / treasure / whatever for the sake of another. Or whatever. And the viewer has seen this over and over again and know that really it's just an illusion / dream / trick / whatever. The character does not so the choice is meaningful to them, but the player is genre-savvy and there's no meaning there - just indulgence in the tropes of spiritual journeys.

I loathe this. If my players ever go through some Ezra-in-the-temple type spiritual journey, it's going to be played for real stakes and if I get an open-mouthed player going "but... how can she be dead?", I'm going to reply "I did everything I could to make you think this was real, don't blame me". If my someone in my game has to face their greatest fear or some incarnation of the dark side, that's what they're going to get.

 

I'll admit its a little gamey.

 

I'll admit its a little hokey.

 

But, well... IT'S STAR WARS!!!

 

Some players are okay with that!  Out-of-character, yeah, it's obvious whats going one.  In-character is a different story.

 

From an "in-character" perspective, I frankly thought Ezra-in-the-temple was actually fairly well done.

[Master Yekans 0]

I'm a fan of Player solved puzzles... no abstract puzzles that you just roll to pass... real life puzzle that I gave them and that they must solve on the spot... I can give them some clues if they succeed the appropriate skill roll. If you want those puzzles, I can put them up on the internet and link them in.

 

If it's not too late, could you do that? I'd really like to know how you went about making your puzzles. I've been stumped on making the Trial of Insight for a good while now.

[KungFuFerret 4,120]

So I have been looking at many resources for the Jedi Trials, from padawan to knight. 

 

With the Trials as listed:

 

Trial of Skill

Trial of Courage

Trial of the Flesh

Trial of the Spirit 

Trial of Insight

 

So What are some of the Trials your players, or yourself have had to endure as a mock Jedi Rite Of Passage.

 

And how as a GM have you presented the Trial of the Spirit? The Right of Passage of self discovery, while facing your fears and demons.

 

Are you aware of the Nexus of Power sourcebook, and it's "jedi trials" section?  Listing the kind of test you could present?

[Lostintheforce 1]

as a note for players thinking a trial is all illusion, Ezra in the temple: there were mummified masters in the annex. with the force even illusions can kill!