VII. VII. Guidelines for Writing in Sparks Section Last Updated: 7/31/16
1.) Getting Started: Once you have an idea for a module the first thing you have to do to submit it as a Sparks campaign module is to give it a name and write a two to three sentence convention book synopsis. Then submit the synopsis to the SF7 Council and they will assign a Sparks module number and determine the editor for that module. The author is then expected to submit an outline, rough draft and final draft of the module to the editor for review (some of these steps can be skipped as long as the author and editor agree). The editor checks the module over for mistakes or problems and assists the author in ironing out any of the problematic details. The editor also checks the module for campaign balance. Another important reason for having an editor is that it will enable an extra person to playtest the module in case the author is unavailable or if the module will be run at multiple tables.
Content and Sources: It is important for Authors and Editors to be aware that Episode IV: A New Hope, Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode VI: Return of the Jedi are the only cannon (cannot be conflicted – i.e. you cannot kill Darth Vader, because he dies in the movie) sources. The Sparks campaign has also established that all West End Game official (not fan or internet releases) sourcebook content exists in Sparks, but some of this material and knowledge may be extremely hard or near impossible to obtain. Subsequently all West End Game stories, NPCs, and locations are considered actual background and facts for use and reference in the Sparks campaign, and everyone should do their best to not contradict them through Sparks storyline usage. Beyond this material there are a lot of additional source materials that can be utilized especially with all of the Expanded Universe video games, books, comics, tv shows, movies, etc., but Authors need to be wary when using these source materials outside of West End Games approved material as well as information that may not be timeline appropriate. Authors and Editors need to be mindful of campaign balance, timeline appropriateness, and story appropriateness. It is recommended to not change any story point that is in any presented printed or other media concerning Star Wars to the 'best of our ability'. Conform to these other stories unless there is some specific contradiction that cannot be avoided. In that event the contradiction should be presented to the Storyline Committee for determining the 'facts' as we want them presented in Sparks. Any story or material conflict is subject to Council approval. Some events or story information may require post-edit modifications for spin to resolve conflicts. With all of the Expanded Universe information there are a lot of contradictory views. Some have been clarified, but many have not. As each becomes relevant to the Sparks campaign they should be clarified and put on record to avoid confusion. It is recommended to not ‘intentionally’ conflict any published information that has not been previously reviewed by the Sparks campaign for inclusion or elimination, because it can put the module or material in jeopardy of requiring post-edit modifications or adjustments to conform if the information is deemed inappropriate. If someone ‘accidentally’ conflicts with published information (and it is identified as a conflict), then post-edit modifications may be required. The conflict should be brought to the Council’s attention for review and clarification. The Sparks material would then need to be edited to conform to the approved result. It is not difficult to make these changes with the application of proper spin or with minor alterations. The addition of information clarifying the resolution of the conflict may need to be added to prevent further misunderstandings. Obviously conflicts of this nature can be easily avoided by creating your own NPCs, locations, etc.
2.) Module Requirements and Options: All Sparks campaign modules must contain certain elements that give the campaign its overall flavor. Sparks Modules are numbered to reflect the current timeline. One round is equivalent to one month of game time up to Sparks #110. One round is equivalent to two weeks of game time after Sparks #110.
a. Two or More Chapters: This will divide the action into separate parts. This will allow for a natural break for the players as well as get them back on track if they get too far off the beaten path. Some modules will have more than two chapters or episodes.
b. A Script: The script describes the setting and gives the players a good starting point for them to interact. Scripts are also very useful if you want to start your module in the middle of the action. They can be used to summarize how they got into their current situation.
c. Space Combat: We recommend at least one space combat, so that characters have an opportunity to use their space-based skills.
d. Ground Combat: We recommend at least one ground combat, so that characters have an opportunity to use their combat related skills.
e. Cutaway: The cutaway is a classic West End Games Role-playing game tool. It allows the author to give the module the feel as if they are watching a movie. It conveys information that the players’ characters are not aware of, but can sometimes put a situation in perspective for them. It is also a useful tool to motivate or speed up slower portions of the module.
f. Force Sidebar: A Force sidebar is the point where those who are force sensitive will get some insight. “Things you will see in the Force. Things of the past, things of the future.” This can give force sensitive characters a hint of the past or future or they can glean some important detail otherwise impossible to introduce to the group.
g. Commercial: Commercials are a fun way to introduce a break in the action. And similar to cutaways it gives the feel as if you are watching and participating in a movie.
h. Tiering: To insure that experienced characters are challenged and that new characters are not overwhelmed the gamemaster has several options for tiering their modules. One method is individually customized stats and skills for each encounter for different experience levels of the characters. This is the recommended version, because authors can better balance the individual encounters. Also some encounters (rookies, thugs) should not be tiered and this can be expressed in the module. Another method could be to designate the module for advanced character play only and then the stats and skills are set accordingly. Finally there is the default campaign tiering (if a module does not specify any select tiering the gamemaster can use this system) which adds dice to the NPC stats and skills according to the average player character sheet level. Also gamemasters can apply any or all of the tiering based on their specific table makeup and the challenge level needed (gamemasters should feel free to adjust the tiering as they see fit even in the middle of an encounter if it is unbalancing, too easy or beyond acceptable challenge).
Simply add up the number of sheets each player character is on (new characters, white sheets, count as 1), then add in any accompanying droid sheet levels (droids are 1 sheet for every 10,000 credits or portion thereof; see FAQ for additional details), and then divide by 6 (number of characters that the module is designed for; hence more players will shift the tiering up and fewer players will shift it down to maintain balance) and refer to the chart below. Additional character points (CP) and Force points (FP) are only added to NPCs that have character points and/or Force points already (again thugs would not be boosted).
Average Skills
Level Primary Secondary Tertiary CP FP
1-2 N/A N/A N/A 0 0
3-4 +1D N/A N/A +1 0
5-6 +2D N/A N/A +2 +1
7-8 +2D +1D N/A +3 +1
9-10 +2D +2D N/A +4 +1
11-12 +3D +2D +1D +5 +2
13-14 +3D +3D +2D +6 +2
15-16 +4D +3D +3D +7 +2
17-18 +4D +4D +4D +8 +3
19-20 +5D +5D +4D +9 +3
21+ +1D per sheet average to be added to any skill up to the limit of +3D to any single skill of the gamemaster’s choice except the primary, secondary and tertiary skills. No additional character points or Force Points are awarded.
The primary skill is the main skill the NPC is dependent on. For example, Bounty Hunters would most likely be blaster skill or in space combat the TIE fighter’s starship gunnery. This bonus is applied to only one skill for any group in each encounter. Also this bonus is never applied to damage, it only applies to skills.
i. Character Sheet Rollback Reduction: The purpose of this system is to allow high sheet Player Characters to downgrade themselves, if they choose to, to more closely balance the Table Tiering.
i. This system is usable when a PC is over the table average by 5 sheets or more (where 1 sheet is 7 events played).
ii. If multiple PCs are over the tier level for the table by 5 sheets or more, then any of these PCs may use this system.
iii. Player's may lower their sheet level to a maximum of one sheet above the highest sheet level unable to make use of this system.
iv. For each sheet level dropped, the PC will reduce their two highest skills whatever they are (normal, advanced, specializations, or Force) by -1D. Reduce 1 sheet at a time and reexamine what the high skills are prior to reducing another sheet level. The PC may stop reducing sheet levels at any point they want to.
v. If multiple skills are available to be dropped, the choice of which two take the -1D is up to the PC.
j. Premiere Modules: It is recommended at Origins and Gencon or any multiple table conventions with modules listed including a ‘required experience’ level, list premiere modules with a higher experience level required (i.e. Some, Any; anything except the beginner or novice). The premiere modules are more likely to have the high sheet characters and new players may not know what they are getting into at these events. New players can play any event and “should” go to the lower number, non-premiere modules for better table balance. Those that are low sheets, but have at least played before will know what they are getting into at premiere tables and can choose to stay or go to their comfort level whereas new players will not know. This combines well with the ‘Low-Sheet Table’ rules recently approved for these larger conventions. In fact, running a ‘Low-Sheet Table’ opposite the premiere would fit excellently. This is to prevent new players (not necessarily new characters as they know what sheet levels mean) from sitting at a table that they may not enjoy.
k. Low Tier Modules: This option allows for the scheduling of a ‘Low Tier’ event table as a table limited to Sheet 5 or lower characters only with the following guidelines and stipulations:
Never a premiere event
Note that sometimes if 2 tables of a premiere event is run at the same time one can be lower tier and the other higher tier for balance, but it would not be scheduled that way and if there were insufficient players the tables could be combined.
Minimum of 3 Sparks events scheduled during the indicated slot
If the event is by special request (experienced player trying to pick up older missing module), the requestor of the event must be eligible at Sheet 5 or less.
Convention Coordinators can assign an older module even if it was not requested simply for Low Tier use.
Possible anytime the schedule allows for 2 tables of matching events, but as noted above the tables may be condensed to the ‘normal’ table as opposed to ‘Low Tier’ if players would be lost (i.e. make the attempt, but everyone needs to be aware that this result could happen).
Most likely conventions that this would be an option are Gencon and Origins.
3.) Seminar Requirements and Options: Seminars are not to run as just off the cuff modules, because people are around. They are scheduled events with some form of underlining plot. Seminars are limited to running at multiple day conventions or by express permission of the Council only. They are to be scheduled for the convention or posted at least 1 week in advance to notify the players. Seminars are required to have the approval of the SF7 council by simple majority before being run. There is a limit of one Seminar per convention. Sparks Seminars are not numbered events, because they are single or double (different geographic region or overlapping convention dates) run events that are smaller than the Interactive. Seminars are provided to give characters an opportunity to accomplish personal goals outside of a Module or Mission. Seminars are also a great place to learn skills, and Force powers from set NPCs. There is a limit to what can be accomplished at one Seminar.
a. At a Seminar a player can learn one standard skill, one Force power, half of an Advanced skill (from NPCs only), special skill that cannot be taught by other players (Special Forces Martial Arts Attack and Parry, etc.), half of a Force skill (Control, Sense, or Alter), or become Force-Sensitive. The NPC, which is doing the training or teaching can and often does charge for their services (not necessarily money). A good guideline is 100 credits for each die required by the teacher as outlined in learning skills or powers. If you are learning an advanced skill such as Medicine or an Engineering skill, multiply the credit cost by 10. If you are learning anything but Advanced skills from Rebel Alliance NPCs, the credit cost is usually waived (up to the event Head Judge on the Seminar layout). {Jax’s Perception is 3D and wants to learn Con. The teacher would have to have a 5D Con to teach Jax and this would cost 500 credits. If Jax had a 5D in First Aid and wanted to learn Medicine, the cost would be 7000 credits (the teacher must have 7D to overcome the base skill requirement; so 7 x 100 = 700; and 700 x 10 = 7000 for an advanced skill.}
b. At a Seminar a player can accomplish Personal Initiatives such as shopping, visiting contacts, trading/smuggling, or other personal objectives. There are several different types of Personal Initiatives, see 9.) Personal Initiatives for details of rules for various categories of Personal Initiatives. If a Personal Initiative (other than an RP Only PI) is not completed during the Seminar, it will be lost and will need to be rescheduled for the next Seminar. Seminars should allow one to three hours for Personal Initiatives.
c. Seminars should also include a group plot event or Mission. This can be run as one large group or broken into smaller groups based on event objectives. Seminars should allow one to three hours for the Mission portion.
d. The Head Judge is responsible for the Seminar event timing as well as the Personal Initiative timing. In most cases the Head Judge is also the author of the Mission portion. The Head Judge can select Assistant Judges to help with the Mission and can ‘tap’ any campaign judge to assist with unscheduled Personal Initiatives. The Head Judge also assigns scheduled Personal Initiatives to judges (usually determined by the player or basis for the Personal Initiative). No more than 4 scheduled Personal Initiatives can be assigned to any one judge for a Seminar. The Head Judge does get a Personal Initiative of their own, but it is not run during the Seminar time. It must be run before the next scheduled Seminar and must be for the Head Judge only (1 participant; 15 minutes maximum). If it is not completed for any reason (judge availability, timing, convention attendance, etc.), then it will be lost.
e. The Head Judge can customize the Seminar as they need to, but there are several things that should be included and are suggested for Seminars:
i. Sign In Sheet – to assist with bounty listings, etc.
ii. Personal Initiative Sign Up Sheet – to help schedule the PIs and needed judges.
iii. Bounty Encounter Rolls – the two players with the highest bounties will need to roll on the Bounty Encounter chart.
iv. Cargo Runs – list some basic cargos for those in the market.
v. Bounty Runs – set up some wanted listings for players to track down.
vi. Shopping – guidelines or system for buying equipment.
4.) Interactive Requirements and Options: The Interactive is an extended and comprehensive version of the Seminar. Currently there is only one Interactive each year and it is scheduled at GenCon Indy. Interactives, like Seminars, are provided to give characters an opportunity to accomplish personal goals outside of a module. Interactives are numbered events even though they only run one time, because they are larger scale (usually 8-hour) events. Interactives are also a great place to learn skills, Force powers from set NPCs. There is a limit to what can be accomplished at one Seminar or Interactive.
a. At the Interactive a player can learn two standard skills, two Force powers, an Advanced skill (from NPCs only), up to two special skills that cannot be taught by other players (Special Forces Martial Arts Attack and Parry, etc.), a Force skill (Control, Sense, or Alter), become Force-Sensitive, or some combination of any of the options that you can learn two things. The NPC, which is doing the training or teaching can and often does charge for their services (not necessarily money). A good guideline is 100 credits for each die required by the teacher as outlined in learning skills or powers. If you are learning an advanced skill such as Medicine or an Engineering skill, multiply the credit cost by 10. If you are learning anything but Advanced skills from Rebel Alliance NPCs, the credit cost is usually waived (up to the event Head Judge on the Seminar layout). {Jax’s Perception is 3D and wants to learn Con. The teacher would have to have a 5D Con to teach Jax and this would cost 500 credits. If Jax had a 5D in First Aid and wanted to learn Medicine, the cost would be 7000 credits (the teacher must have 7D to overcome the base skill requirement; so 7 x 100 = 700; and 700 x 10 = 7000 for an advanced skill.}
b. At the Interactive a player can accomplish Personal Initiatives such as shopping, visiting contacts, trading/smuggling, or other personal objectives. There are several different types of Personal Initiatives, see 9.) Personal Initiatives for details of rules for various categories of Personal Initiatives. If a Personal Initiative (other than an RP Only PI) is not completed during the Interactive, it will be lost and will need to be rescheduled for later Seminar or Interactive events. The Interactive should allow two to six hours for Personal Initiatives.
c. The Interactive should also have multiple ‘station’ events. Station events are preset events that are commonly selected Personal Initiatives or specialized tournaments. Station events can be specialized shops or areas where players buy equipment, modify ships, modify droids, participate in Pod races, Ship races, Sabacc tournaments, Deathbowl tournaments, etc. This can be run as one large group or broken into smaller groups based on station objectives. The Interactive should allow two to six hours for the station events.
d. The Interactive should also include a group plot event or Mission. This can be run as one large group or broken into smaller groups based on event objectives. The Interactive should allow two to four hours for the Mission.
e. The Head Judge is responsible for the Interactive event timing as well as the Personal Initiative timing. In most cases the Head Judge is also the main author of the Mission portion. The Head Judge should select Assistant Judges and Assistant Authors to help with the Mission and can ‘tap’ any campaign judge to assist with unscheduled Personal Initiatives. The Head Judge also assigns scheduled Personal Initiatives to judges (usually determined by the player or basis for the Personal Initiative). No more than 4 scheduled Personal Initiatives can be assigned to any one judge for an Interactive. The Head Judge does get a Personal Initiative of their own, but it is not run during the Interactive time. It must be run before the next scheduled Seminar and must be for the Head Judge only (1 participant; 20 minutes maximum). If it is not completed for any reason (judge availability, timing, convention attendance, etc.), then it will be lost.
f. The Head Judge can customize the Interactive as they need to, but there are several things that should be included and are suggested for Interactives:
i. Sign In Sheet – to assist with bounty listings, etc.
ii. Personal Initiative Sign Up Sheet – to help schedule the PIs and needed judges.
iii. Bounty Encounter Rolls – the two players with the highest bounties will need to roll on the Bounty Encounter chart.
iv. Cargo Runs – list some basic cargos for those in the market.
v. Bounty Runs – set up some wanted listings for players to track down.
vi. Shopping – guidelines or system for buying equipment.
5.) Mission Requirements and Options: Sparks Missions are one or two time run plot events similar to Modules, but with fewer guidelines. Sparks Missions are not to run as just off the cuff modules, because people are around. Sparks Missions are not numbered events, because they are single or double (different geographic region or overlapping convention dates) run events. Missions are to be scheduled for the convention or gaming event with at least 1 week advanced notice to allow players to make the event. A Mission requires council majority approval to run prior to the event. Currently there should be no more than 12 Missions run per year. Missions may not be run at a convention where there is an Interactive, Seminar, or Shore Leave already being run.
a. Space or Ground Combat: We recommend at least one space or ground combat, so that characters have an opportunity to use their combat skills.
b. Cutaway: The cutaway is a classic West End Games Role-playing game tool. It allows the author to give the Mission the feel as if they are watching a movie. It conveys information that the players’ characters are not aware of, but can sometimes put a situation in perspective for them. It is also a useful tool to motivate or speed up slower portions of the module.
c. Tiering: To insure that experienced characters are challenged and that new characters are not overwhelmed the gamemaster has several options for tiering their Missions. One method is individually customized stats and skills for each encounter for different experience levels of the characters. Another method could be to designate the Mission for advanced character play only and then the stats and skills are set accordingly. The Head Judge can also use the generic tiering system as outlined for Modules.
d. Purchasing Equipment: As allowed by the event and Head Judge, usually limited.
6.) Compensation Guidelines: Now for the good stuff. At the end of every Module, Mission, Seminar, Shore Leave, or Interactive the characters get certain compensation, which often depends on how well they performed. This compensation comes in many forms: character points, force points, credits, rank points, toys, contacts, and even favors.
a. Character Points: Every Module, Mission, Seminar, Shore Leave or Interactive should have a character point award. The character point awards for modules should reflect how well they accomplished the Module objectives. Whereas Missions, Seminars, and Shore Leaves since they are one or two time run events, have a set character point award. Interactives have set character point awards for the different areas being run. A standard one round Module (or multiple round Module run without advancement) should have a maximum overall character point award of 7 points. For multiple round Modules when run as advancement only (round #1, 2, 3 instead of A, B, or C) the first round should have a maximum character point award of 8 points. The second round a maximum of 9 points. And the third round a maximum of 10 points. The maximum award should be given if the characters interacted and role-played well and completed all of the mission goals. Some bonus points can be awarded for special circumstances. The Module editor should concur with the author whether this is warranted. Also in addition to the maximum character point award there is player voting to determine bonus placement awards: +3 for first place, +2 for second place and +1 for third place. This rewards and compliments the earnest role-players. The players conduct the voting for placement only and in case of a tie both players are awarded the bonus. There is no voting at Missions, Seminars, or Interactives. A standard Interactive has a base of 8 character points with a maximum overall character point award of 10 points (points divided up per area or portion of the Interactive). A standard Seminar should have a maximum overall character point award of 3 points. A standard Mission should have a maximum overall character point award of 4 points. A Shore Leave should have a maximum overall character point award of 2 points. These events have lower awards based on overall writing time invested with limited plot outlines and concepts, portions of the event could be Personal Initiative time requiring less overall writing, and due to the fact that they are only run one or two times. Special Events (Seminar, Mission, Shore Leave, etc.) can be run twice as the same event for update purposes at two conventions with Spark Force 7 Council approval and an understanding that these two conventions should be geographically separate. The event would be unique, so they do not get 2 updates. If you were to judge and/or play (attend) both, you gain the greater of the two options for character point awards (i.e. play and or judged in one, and then was the Head Judge for the second – the update would be for the Head Judge character points as that is 1 character point greater), but it is listed as the same event (instead of being named as the single convention event it would be listed as the event for both conventions in the title – ‘con 1/con 2 event’). You would still gain 1 character point for either or both events as part of the Judge Incentive program for the individual conventions. You cannot ever get two Personal Initiatives from the same event update.
Single Round Module – base of 7cp plus voting award
First Round of Multi-round Module – base of 8cp plus voting award
Second Round of Multi-round Module – base of 9cp plus voting award
Third Round of Multi-round Module – base of 10cp plus voting award
Mission – set 4cp
Seminar – set 3cp
Shore Leave – set 2cp
Interactive – base of 4cp for each half (max of 5cp for each half)
b. Force Points: See Section II #3 for guidelines on awarding Force Points.
c. Credits: The Rebel Alliance pays 100 credits to freelance operatives for any Module, Mission, Seminar or Interactive. The Rebel Alliance pays more to any operatives that officially join the cause. This pay increases as the operative advances in rank. There is no Rebel Alliance base or rank pay for Shore Leave events as these are considered vacation times. If the characters do an outstanding job or turn vital goods over to the Rebel cause, then the Rebel Alliance can give them a bonus to their initial pay. Try to keep this reasonable. Remember originally Lans Garner was personally funding this war, and now the Rebel Alliance has adopted this responsibility. They are funding a huge war with a substantial number of people and it adds up. Now if the characters take means to procure other funds there is a limit to how much they can make in an individual module. It is important to realize that this credit cap is the maximum deviation of money that can be gained from any NPCs during the event. This means that if you pay out to an NPC 60,000 credits you can gain 75,000 credits. So the end final “bottom line” is +15,000 to the character AFTER all involved exchanges are taken into account. One limitation to this is that the character must have the money available up front for any purchases prior to any new income arranged in the event. There is no credit cap for money changing hands between PCs.
Single Round Module – 15,000 credits/PC
First Round of Multi-round Module – 15,000 credits/PC
Second Round of Multi-round Module – 25,000 credits/PC
Third Round of Multi-round Module – 35,000 credits/PC
Mission – 15,000 credits/PC
Seminar – 25,000 credits/PC
Shore Leave – 35,000 credits/PC
Interactive – 50,000 credits/PC
Judging Update – 30,000 credits
These credit limits are to be used as a guideline. The Gamemaster should utilize these limits proactively. This means that the Gamemaster should through the adventure not allow the players to exceed this cap instead of taking away credits earned because the cap was exceeded. In effect the players should never realize that the cap was induced if the Gamemaster is successfully controlling the module. If an author wishes to expand the reward usually due to higher risk, they must get the approval of the SF7 council. This insures that modules will not be abused and keep a check on the funds coming into the campaign. This does not limit items or equipment gained. There is no deferment of these credits, so excess credits unaccounted for at the end of a module are lost. Creative players can attempt to spread monetary gains over a couple of modules with some form of payment or installment plan. Any payment plan must be set up in roleplay encounters during the event (not acceptable at the end of a module during accounting – “Oh I wanted to do…”) and are subject to Gamemaster approval as part of that roleplay encounter.
Note: In the case of Personal Initiatives (PI’s), events may be chained together to accomplish a larger goal. The number of events that will be chained together must be declared at the start of the chain of PI’s. Then the credit cap may be added together for all of the included events to be totaled at the end of the PI chain. If more PI’s were declared than it actually takes, any excess PI’s may NOT be totaled for the credit cap. If more time is required to complete the goal, more PI’s may be taken, but the credit cap still will only consider the planned number of events. Each event update that is part of the chain should be notated that it is PI# of TotalPIs (PI 1 of 4, etc). An Ongoing Personal Initiative Tracking Sheet will be utilized to note the number of PI’s to be included in the series, and the approved judge(s) that must be the same throughout the PI series.
Example: CheezyRebel plans to go after a wanted criminal worth a 100k credit bounty on their own. This is a big job and will require a lot of work and preparation to capture the bounty by themselves. They declare they are going to take 3 PI’s to go after this bounty. During the first 2 PI’s they spend 25k credits while they are tracking down and preparing to confront the bounty. Then on the 3rd PI they capture the bounty. Assuming all 3 events were at Seminar’s (cap of 25k ea) they can turn in the bounty and potentally receive the full 100k since they spent 25k earlier in the PI chain. If they run into issues and it ends up taking 4 PI’s to capture the bounty, then they still would be limited to a credit cap of 75k (since they declared only 3 PI’s). However, if they somehow manage to capture the bounty in only 2 PI’s, the judge would have to reduce the credit cap to 50k.
d. Rank Points: With the addition of the Rebel Special Forces character there are now characters with a military rank. To show appreciation for a job well done or the completion of an overly heroic mission goal, bonus rank points can be awarded. All characters with a rank automatically gain 1 rank point per character point gained, but this would be a bonus. The more heroic or epic the deed, the more points to award. The award should be kept between 0 – 10 points for a Mission, first round or single round Module, or Seminar, 0 –15 for a second round of a Module, and up to 0 – 20 for a third round of a Module or Interactive. The upper end should be utilized only for very epic events such as destroying the Death Star or a Super Star Destroyer, saving an entire planet or a relevant (somebody needed for the movies) hero.
e. Toys, Favors and Contacts: This covers any gadgets that the players may pick up in a module. Also any people that may provide future help or information to the players. This is a useful tool for help at a later date.
f. Medals: Often exceptional deeds or acts are rewarded with the presentation of medals or service awards. Award ceremonies can be held at Mission, Seminar, or Interactive events.
g. Asset Acquisition Cap: This Asset Cap is to aid judges and Player Characters in game balance for the acquisition (theft, barter, etc.) of assets during Personal Initiatives (modules and other events are written to be balanced and/or prevent “over acquisition” – the typical “Rebellion needs that”, etc.) with the amount being acquired limited to a certain value based on (or requiring) multiple personal initiatives.
1st Unscheduled PI credit cap x1 per PC
1st Scheduled PI credit cap x2 per PC
2nd PI credit cap x5 per PC
3rd and additional PIs credit cap x10 per PC
This is also with the understanding that the Asset cap can build across multiple PIs (so with the first you cover a small portion, then more with the second, and then add all of that up with the third to cover the asset), so smaller assets with big groups can be acquired easily while individuals have to put in more effort (more PIs) to get the item.
7.) Judges Incentive Plan: This is a benefit given to Authors, Editors, and Judges due to the fact that they cannot play in the modules they direct. The main compensation is character points awarded according to their effort.
Event Type Character Point Awards
Authoring a Module Maximum Base + 3 (usually 10)
Editing a Module Maximum Base + 2 (usually 9)
Exclusive Judging of a Module Maximum Base + 1 (usually 8)
Seminar Author/Head Judge 4 character points
Mission Author/Head Judge 5 character points
Shore Leave Author/Head Judge 3 character points
Interactive Author/Head Judge 12 character points base
for entire (8 hours)
Interactive Asst. Author/Judge 11 character points base
for entire (8 hours)
Interactive Asst. Judge (8 hours) 10 character points base
Interactive Asst. Judge (4 hours) 4 character points per half base
Head Judge bonus cp assignment Optional 1-5 character points (to be
to Interactive Assistants approved by Council)
In addition to this to encourage Judges to attend more conventions and to be willing to judge more than the minimum requirement for a convention, we have instituted another character point for Sparks and experience point for Force incentive. For each module judged at a convention (including SF7 HQ) the player will receive either 1 character point that can be assigned to their Sparks character or 50 experience points that can be assigned to their Force character (their choice). These points are awarded at the conclusion of the convention.
Judge Award System – As an alternative to gaining character points, judges can now opt for gaining alternative benefits. When a judge hits 10 events judged, they need to fill out an update sheet. Any events over 10 will roll to the next judge update once another 10 events are judged. They can then have the following choices to apply to that update sheet:
i. Keep the 10 character points as outlined above.
ii. Instead of claiming the 10 character points, claim 30,000 credits immediately as one lump sum on that update sheet.
iii. Instead of claiming the 10 character points, count the Judging Update as 1 event when called to give up an event for learning/creating something (ex. Teras Kasi, Lightsaber Construction, etc.)
iv. Choose to not claim the 10 character points, with no alternative reward. In this case record the update, but it will not factor into total updates for sheet number calculation. Note that this option is still decided upon when you have completed judging 10 events. You cannot retroactively go back and change to another option, or choose to not fill out an update until some later date for whatever reason (wanting to apply to a later character after retirement, etc.).
v. Certificate to reroll one Wild Die – 4 uses
Most significantly this would be when you get a ‘1’ on the wild die. Some added limitations to this certificate are that this type of certificate has 4 uses, but can only be used once on any particular roll. Also using this certificate would prevent the use of any other reroll or modification certificate for that roll. Ultimately you are stuck with the reroll result even if it is another ‘1’.
vi. Certificate to reroll any single roll (all dice involved) – 2 uses
This could be due to a ‘1’ on the Wild Die, below average roll, or to change a decision for using a Force Point and/or Calling on the Dark Side for a Force Point (because that has to be decided prior to the roll of the dice). Some added limitations to this certificate are that this type of certificate has 2 uses, but can only be used once on any particular roll. Also using this certificate would prevent the use of any other reroll or modification certificate for that roll. Ultimately you are stuck with the reroll result even if it is worse than the original.
vii. Certificate to force Judge to reroll any single roll (all dice involved) – 2 uses
This forces the Judge to reroll all the dice used in a test. The second result stands even if it is a worse result. The certificate is useable twice but only once per event, even if the player has multiple certificates. When used the player must hand the certificate to the judge who will hold on to it for the duration of the event. If used in a situation where the Judge must fudge the rolls the Judge will continue to fudge them then hand the certificate back, unused, after the event.
viii. Certificate for extra Personal Initiative – 1 use
The Personal Initiative has the following restrictions:
Character Points: 0
Maximum Credits: 5,000
Maximum Credit Value Unpaid for Gear: 10,000
Maximum Length of Personal Initiative: 20 minutes
Scheduled: Some time prearranged by the judge of the Personal Initiative and the Player who earned the reward at any time they wish (no specific expiration time limit for use of certificate once obtained)
Note that this is a Quick or Small Personal Initiative for 1 participant (the certificate holder)
This counts as a standard Personal Initiative for all other considerations
ix. New options to be added pending SF7 Council of Elders approval.
Since Authoring and Editing is voluntary, it is difficult to discuss penalties for not fulfilling some or all of the listed commitments, but unfortunately it is necessary. Failure to fulfill an Authoring/Editing commitment (as deemed by the Council – Council may request a module to be pulled if deemed inadequate for premier) means that the Author/Editor will not be able to play in ANY Interactive (Mission, Seminar, or Interactive) events until the commitment is met. Editors can request to be removed from an assignment if they feel the Author is no longer accepting their input or is not making appropriate progress. The Council can assign a new Editor, but the Author must show significant progress or effort or the Editor will not be subject to the penalty. If the Author feels the Editor is the problem, they can request a new Editor. In either case the Editor cannot play in the event if they were privy to more than a general description of the event (outline, etc.). This penalty is subject to Council review of the specific circumstances to determine if the commitment was missed due to ‘acceptable’ problems or not. The Council can suspend the penalty if due to ‘acceptable’ understanding.
8.) Guidelines for Convention or Gameday Coordinating and Scheduling: It is important to note that Sparks Force 7 only has two types of events at which they run events, Conventions and Gamedays. Essentially any event that is not a convention is considered a Gameday event even if it is running only a single event. Any Sparks Force 7 member can volunteer to coordinate a convention or gameday event by notifying the SF7 Council. Typically Council members are selected to act as the coordinator for conventions that SF7 has supported in the past if another SF7 member does not volunteer to coordinate the event. Convention and gameday event coordinators are subject to approval by the SF7 Council. For GenCon a common practice is to have one lead convention coordinator and one assistant convention coordinator appointed due to the convention size with several events and judges to manage. Typically the assistant convention coordinator will be appointed as the lead convention coordinator the following year to utilize their experience.
The convention or gameday coordinator is then responsible for setting and submitting the schedule of events and requesting/selecting gamemasters for the events. The event schedule needs to be submitted no later than one week prior to the event. For some of the larger conventions (Origins, GenCon, etc.) there may be an earlier deadline for submitting the event schedule. The coordinator is responsible for knowing if there are any existing deadlines and submitting the required information directly to the event personnel or to the assigned Game Base 7 event coordinator in a timely fashion prior to any deadlines. The convention or gameday coordinator is also responsible for submitting the gamemaster listing for the scheduled events early enough (as deemed by the event) to insure proper judge compensation (badge, rooms, etc.). The convention or gameday schedule also needs to be submitted to the SF7 membership at least one week prior to the event. Usually this is accomplished over the Sparks Force 7 yahoo group site (moc.spuorgoohay|7ecroFskrapS#moc.spuorgoohay|7ecroFskrapS). The coordinator can arrange for someone else to post the information, if they are having any computer problems or issues. Each event may have special requirements for the format that the information needs to be in for submission. For the yahoo group SF7 membership posting the schedule needs to include the following for each event: date, time, module title (this can be listed as Sparks or Force Open to allow for attending members to select a module at the run time), and gamemaster (if known). If the event has a Mission or Seminar scheduled, it must also be listed with the date and time (Missions and Seminars cannot be listed as Open or tentative events).
The convention or gameday coordinator is also responsible for the onsite management of the schedule. This includes making sure gamemasters know where they need to be to run an event. This also includes making sure events start and end on time (or are allowed to run over in approved instances).
The Council, by majority vote, can approve exceptions to the basic time and notification requirements as needed for emergencies, last minute changes, judge qualifications, etc.
Since the Convention Coordinator position is voluntary, it is difficult to discuss penalties for not fulfilling some or all of the listed commitments, but unfortunately it is necessary. Failure to fulfill a Convention Coordinator commitment (assumes that convention is not cancelled, convention is willing to support SF7 schedule, there is acceptable membership feedback warranting the event, etc.) means that the coordinator will not be able to play in the next Interactive (Mission, Seminar, or Interactive) event at the next established convention with an Interactive event. This penalty is subject to Council review of the specific circumstances to determine if the commitment was missed due to ‘acceptable’ problems or not. The Council can suspend the penalty if due to ‘acceptable’ understanding.
Typical Conventions Supported by SF7 with Typical Module Premiers and Special Events
Sparks Force
Convention (Month) Special Event Premiers Special Event Premiers
Fire & Ice (Feb) Yes (Any) 1 No 0
Concentric (Mar) Yes (Any) 1 No 0
Marcon (Mar) Yes (Any) 1 No 0
CODCon (Apr) Yes (Any) 1 No 0
Jewel City Con (Apr) Yes (Limited) 0-1 No 0
Origins (Jun-Jul) Yes (Any) 1-2 Yes (Limited) 1
GenCon (Aug) 8-Hr Interactive 3-5 4-Hr Interactive 2
Conception (Sep) Yes (Any) 1 No 0
Charcon (Oct) Yes (Any) 1 No 0
WolfCon (Nov) Yes (Any) 1-2 No 0
VerneCon (Dec-Jan) Yes (Any) 1-2 No 0
If there is a convention or gameday event not on the above listing that you would like to see SF7 support, please contact the SF7 Council with the convention or gameday information.
9.) Personal Initiatives: At a Seminar or Interactive a player can accomplish Personal Initiatives such as shopping, visiting contacts, trading/smuggling, or other personal objectives. These Personal Initiatives generally fall into one of 4 categories. Each category of Personal Initiative has different requirements and rules that apply to it. When a PI is being requested of a Seminar or Interactive Head Judge, the type of PI must be specified in order to properly schedule the judges for PI’s and get a judge properly prepared to handle the request. PI Categories:
a. Group PI
i. Has 4 to 8 PCs involved in the PI, and the Seminar Head Judge may opt to have this type of PI used as one of the Seminar Mission tables.
ii. By advance request only (must be requested at least 1 week prior to the convention, 2 weeks prior to be considered for use as one of the Seminar Mission Tables.)
iii. If used as a Seminar Mission table, then will be as long as the mission portion of the Seminar. Otherwise get 1 hr for 4 players + 10 min per player up to the total of 8 players, Maximum of 1 hr 40 min. During an Interactive, there will be a bonus +5 min per active registered SF7 member involved in the PI, but only increasing the Maximum to 2 hours.he other categories.
iv. Limited by number of Judges available (involvement) and Scheduling.
v. A PC can only be involved in 1 of this type of PI per Seminar or Interactive unless 1 of them is one of the Seminar Mission tables.
b. RP Only PI
i. Any number of PCs involved in the PI.
ii. Nothing requiring die rolls.
iii. Only PC to PC money or equipment transfer.
iv. No Judge required.
v. Can be RP’d outside of Seminar or Interactive slot, but transfers happen during Seminar or Interactive or next module both PC’s involved in transfer play together.
c. Small PI
i. Has 1 to 4 PCs involved in the PI.
ii. If scheduled in advance (must be requested at least 1 week prior to the convention) maximum available time allotted. If not scheduled in advance, reduce available time allotted.
iii. Has some RP involved plus issues that may require die rolls.
iv. Has a Judge assigned.
v. With advance notice 20 min + 10 min per additional PC beyond the 1st. Without advance notice 10 min + 5 min per additional PC beyond the 1st. In both cases during an Interactive, there will be a bonus +5 min per active registered SF7 member involved in the PI.
vi. Only 1 of this type of PI per PC per Seminar and PC also cannot be involved in any Group PI’s unless the Group PI is the Mission portion of the Seminar for the PC.
d. Quick PI
i. Has only 1 or 2 PCs involved in the PI.
ii. Can be requested at the start of the Seminar or Interactive (sign-up sheet).
iii. Gets a few Judges assigned to only run these type of PIs for the PI portion of the Seminar.
iv. 5 min per PC involved.
v. PI is pretty much mechanical – minimal RP if any – you want to do one thing that requires a series of die rolls, so you take the time with the judge required to specify what you are doing and make the die rolls.
vi. Each separate task (which may involve multiple rolls) would be a separate PI. I.E. building a droid is 1 PI. Installing skillware in droids is 1 PI. Ship modifications would be 1 PI. Buying things from1 merchant is 1 PI. Seeing multiple merchants would be multiple PIs.
vii. Each PC who signs up gets 1 of these PIs till everyone signed up gets their first one, then the Judges will go back through the list again for second PIs and so on till all are done or time is out. Any PC who goes on a Group or Short PI will be skipped on the 1st time through the list and will be picked up on the 2nd time and further through the list as time allows.
e. Special PI
i. Must request and receive Council approval prior to being run.
ii. This includes any type of PI Request that is not covered in one of the other categories.
f. Head Judge PI Bonus Time: As an additional incentive to encourage people to volunteer as the Head Judge for Seminars, Shore Leaves, and Interactives the Head Judge PI, which is a singular PI during off time, gains an additional 10 minutes.
10.) Shore Leave Requirements and Options: Shore Leaves are not to run as just off the cuff modules, because people are around. Shore Leaves are limited to running at multiple day conventions or by express permission of the Council only. They are to be scheduled for the convention or posted at least 1 week in advance to notify the players. Shore Leaves are required to have the approval of the SF7 council by simple majority before being run. There is a limit of one Shore Leave per convention. Sparks Shore Leaves are not numbered events, because they are single or double (different geographic region or overlapping convention dates) run events that are smaller than the Interactive. Shore Leaves are provided to give characters an opportunity to accomplish personal goals outside of a Module or Mission. Shore Leaves are also a great place to learn skills, and Force powers from set NPCs. There is a limit to what can be accomplished at one Shore Leaves.
a. At a Shore Leave a player can learn one standard skill, one Force power, half of an Advanced skill (from NPCs only), special skill that cannot be taught by other players (Special Forces Martial Arts Attack and Parry, etc.), half of a Force skill (Control, Sense, or Alter), or become Force-Sensitive. The NPC, which is doing the training or teaching can and often does charge for their services (not necessarily money). A good guideline is 100 credits for each die required by the teacher as outlined in learning skills or powers. If you are learning an advanced skill such as Medicine or an Engineering skill, multiply the credit cost by 10. If you are learning anything but Advanced skills from Rebel Alliance NPCs, the credit cost is usually waived (up to the event Head Judge on the Shore Leave layout). {Jax’s Perception is 3D and wants to learn Con. The teacher would have to have a 5D Con to teach Jax and this would cost 500 credits. If Jax had a 5D in First Aid and wanted to learn Medicine, the cost would be 7000 credits (the teacher must have 7D to overcome the base skill requirement; so 7 x 100 = 700; and 700 x 10 = 7000 for an advanced skill.}
b. At a Shore Leave a player can accomplish Personal Initiatives such as shopping, visiting contacts, trading/smuggling, or other personal objectives. There are several different types of Personal Initiatives, see 9.) Personal Initiatives for details of rules for various categories of Personal Initiatives. Members of SF7/GB7 are eligible for the same bonus 5min of time for Group and Small PI’s in the Shore Leave as they would be for the Interactive. If a Personal Initiative (other than an RP Only PI) is not completed during the Shore Leave, it will be lost and will need to be rescheduled for the next opportunity for Personal Initiatives.
c. The Head Judge is responsible for the Shore Leave event timing as well as the Personal Initiative timing. The Head Judge can select Assistant Judges to help and can ‘tap’ any campaign judge to assist with unscheduled Personal Initiatives. The Head Judge also assigns scheduled Personal Initiatives to judges (usually determined by the player or basis for the Personal Initiative). The Head Judge does get a Personal Initiative of their own, but it is not run during the Shore Leave time. It must be run before the next scheduled Shore Leave, Seminar, or Interactive and must be for the Head Judge only (1 participant; 20 minutes maximum). If it is not completed for any reason (judge availability, timing, convention attendance, etc.), then it will be lost.
d. As Shore Leave is a leave of absence from the Rebel Alliance, there is no standard pay for this event. However, the credit cap for Shore Leave is 35k credits.
e. The Head Judge can customize the Shore Leave as they need to, but there are several things that should be included and are suggested for Shore Leaves:
1. Sign In Sheet – to assist with bounty listings, etc.
2. Personal Initiative Sign Up Sheet – to help schedule the PIs and needed judges.
3. Bounty Encounter Rolls – the three players with the highest bounties will need to roll on the Bounty Encounter chart.
4. Shopping – guidelines or system for buying equipment.
5. Job Board – this is a posting of various things for those who do not have personal initiative ideas themselves. The Head Judge should have available at least 3, if not more, jobs posted on this board that there will be a judge available to run. Things to have on it:
Cargo Runs – list some basic cargos for those in the market.
Bounty Runs – set up some wanted listings for players to track down.
NPC Postings of Jobs they are hiring people to do.
PC’s may also post jobs to the Job Board with listings of jobs they are looking for people to either assist with or to pay people to do for them.
11.) Module Replay System: This system was created to allow Sparks modules to be played more than once. The individual addendums below outline the requirements and limitations to which modules are allowed for replay and specific considerations that may apply. The system will begin utilization at Vernecon 2012 as player, judge, and modules allow. The system will be under review by judges and players throughout a test period through the end of Gencon 2013. An automatic review of this system will be added to the annual meeting agenda for discussion and comments on the Wednesday night of Gencon 2013. An earlier review may be warranted if problems are identified. To assist with this review period a simple form will be developed and available for comments and suggestions along with basic ranking of how the system was utilized and functioned.
a. Prior to any module being approved for replay under any developed system the author of the module must approve the module for replay. If at any time the replay system is modified, new author approval for replay must be obtained. Authors can choose to approve some modules for replay while disallowing others as they feel warranted.
b. Players may replay a module with the understanding that any individual character may play a module once.
For example; George has two characters, Luke and Han. George has played Luke in Sparks 100 through 150. George started Han and has played him in Sparks 35, 48, 69, 76, and 94. George sits down to play Sparks 105 again. George has to play Han because he has already played the module with Luke. If George wants to play 105 again, he must create a new character.
c. Experience is the same.
d. Players will announce that they are replaying the module.
e. Revise Death and Retirement rules to add clarification that any character starting under the Death and Retirement rules is NOT considered a secondary character allowed to replay the modules that the original character already played. They can still create a new character from scratch that is capable of replaying modules as dictated by the final system.
f. Authors can never play in their own modules with any character.
g. Modification to Priority Seating Order for Sparks Events:
1. Anyone with registered event tickets or on convention sign-up sheet if provided regardless of replay or judge status.
2. Judges [on first time play] for SF7 events with generic tickets in decreasing order based on the number of slots being judged at that convention.
3. Judges [on first time play] for GB7 events with generic tickets in decreasing order based on the number of slots being judged at that convention.
4. Anyone with a generic ticket that are playing the module for the first time in the order of arrival at the event.
5. Re-players with generic tickets who are judging SF7 events in decreasing order based on the number of slots being judged at that convention.
6. Re-players with generic tickets who are judging GB7 events in decreasing order based on the number of slots being judged at that convention.
7. Re-players with generic tickets in order of arrival at the event.
Note: If there are no tickets or sign-up sheets presented for the convention, start priority seating with #2.
f. Replay only available to Spark Force 7 members.
g. Editors can never play in the modules they have edited with any character. This is an extension of the authors being unable to play in modules they have written due to the authors and editors familiarity with the module.
h. If a module is approved for replay under the Replay System, the author and editor get full credit (character points, pay, update, etc.) on their secondary (replay) characters as well for modules written and edited once the specific module is actually replayed for the first time.
12.) Guidelines for Coordinating and Scheduling of Regional ‘Far Far Away’ Conventions: This system is designed to aid convention coordinators and judges to run events and conventions in regions distant from standard convention locations frequented by Sparks campaigns (i.e. Australia).
a. Any events that are to be run by people who are not well known to the council must provide proof that the events are real. Links to convention websites, PDFs of fliers or other similar proof will suffice as evidence so long as the evidence is not suspicious. These events will be known as “Far Far Away” events.
We also don’t want lots of unskilled judges running events who haven’t been vetted at GenCon or other events with high councilor turnout thus we need to limit it to judge(s) who step up and offer up their credentials and desire to do it the SF7 way.
b. Unfamiliar judges or pools of judges need to offer up a true desire to run events in line with Sparks Standards. This can be done by a series of e-mails or phone calls explaining their history with the West End Games d6 system, judging at conventions in general and overall experience with running RPGs. A judge must have played at least one GB7 game in the campaign they wish to run. These judges, as they are running the events “Cold” will be referred to as “Cold Judges.”
c. Now we need to get down what they can run. Some will want to run the old stuff first while others may want to run the few events they have played. For whatever they request some ground rules will be needed. As these are new judges they are not on anyone’s allowed judges list unless that is an open list.
d. “Far Far Away” campaigns are limited to no more than 4 unrun events from the library until those events have been run.
Eventually as these events are run cold by our “Far Far Away” judge(s) they are going to want those who have played them to take up the mantel and run more tables.
e. Players in “Far Far Away” events who have run under a “Cold Judge” can run events per normal campaign rules at the discretion of the “Cold Judge” with the understanding that SF7 holds judges to high standards and if the judges are lacking to cease their judging of future SF7 events.
f. They must submit 'After Action Reports' upon completion of the event noting table attendance to determine Fill Rate and review of the event.
