Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 12 – “When Your Quarry Goes to Ground”

After a cunning and–surprisingly–Barawyn approved deception, the crew of the Sky on Fire have lied, fought and sliced their way inside the Pirate Queen’s base: The Vault. Now comes the hard part.

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254 – The Edge to Age Tale

Players grow and some want to move from the Edge of the Empire style of scum and villainy and a shade of grey for every action to something more obvious of good and bad. We have ideas on how to suggest this to your players and a few ways to nudge them into the rebellion.

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 11 – “A Little White Armor Lie”

The crew makes plans and hugs it out before the final assault.

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253 – The End of Thursday Tale

Ben’s Thursday night campaign is coming to an end, but he’s unsure how he should do it. Rissa has several helpful ideas on how to bring it in for an end in a satisfying fashion.

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252 – The Failing Up Tale

After a session or two when your players are having no luck with the dice it can be so disheartening, and which can lead to player resentment. We talk about how to deal with failure after failure in a story and how to make it more interesting and fun for the player.

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 10 – “Fortunes and Embers”

Battered and broken from their day in the jungle, Barawyn, Kaav, Billie, and Vastrano find themselves face to face with another group of four: four figures in white, laminate armor.

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251 – The Tale of Destiny

We get talking about the Destiny pool and how to keep it in play and moving between sides. From using it as a GM intrusion to an adventure to upgrading rolls and so many places in between

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 9 – “Amuse-Bouche en Flambe”

The crew of The Sky on Fire versus a giant lobster. Hope you brought popcorn.

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250 – The GM Experience

We have David and Leslie on to talk about our methods of preparation, what we find needed, and how to encourage a new GM into running a second campaign.

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249 – The Period Tale

Playing in the Old Republic Era has no stats behind it, nor does the Sequel Era. We have ideas on how to still use the system to tell amazing tales and not worry about the mechanics behind everything.

Things talked about in this episode:

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 8 – “Must Go Faster”

Gand down! Having made it to the jungle floor of Black Wind Crater, our Heroes press forward towards the Pirate Queen’s base with a critically injured Kaav in tow.

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248 – The Composition Tale

Translating the inspiration for a campaign into what the players hear and see is hard. We have a few ideas on how to take that comncept that evoked your desire to run the adventure into what your players are having a blast in doing.

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 7 – “Terminal Velocity”

As part of Barawyn’s “cunning” plan, the Heroes prepare to rappel down into the jungle of Black Wind Crater.

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247 – The Rumble Tale

An episode of Heroes makes Ben wonder about different ways of presenting encounters to the players. Rissa and Ben have some ideas on how to make sure that the players weapons aren’t always the first thing grabbed for.

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 6 – “The Best Laid Plans”

When someone pays attention to Kaav’s slicing efforts, the crew does the only logical thing: they start a brawl in a diner.

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246 – The Player Pet Tale

Recounting a few missteps in our own history we have a few ideas on how to make the pets of a player matter to the game and to the players in ways that aren’t always obvious.

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 5 – “Diners, Dives, and Destruction”

Two leads down, the crew of the Sky on Fire duck into a diner for a bite to eat and to conduct a little slicing into Sororonet.

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245 – The Growing Threat Tale

We said it was going to be a series, and we’re starting it. Threat is a tricky thing to use since it’s very easy to undervalue it, we have ideas on how to make it more vibrant and how to not try to steal the success of a roll with threat.

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244 – The New Advantage Tale

We start our discussion about the extra mechanics in the FFG narrative system with advantage, as we start talking about the scale of what makes one advantage a small boost versus making three or four amazing and how to scale mechanically and narratively between.

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 4 – “Good Neighbors”

One lead and a rental speeder down, the crew turns their attention to the remaining two leads: the fence and the network. Which will they investigate first?

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243 – The Indecisive Tale

We talk about methods of how you as a player and a GM can move a disagreement at the table between characters and players along to some form of resolution, with a few examples from our own tables.

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 3 – “A Better Leg To Stand On”

While investigating the ex-Sorority enforcer Graf, the crew was ambushed in the streets. Blaster bolts, knocked over trash cans, and a speeder on fire is just the start as our Heroes defend themselves.

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242- The Unexpected Tale


Surprises can be an amazing thing, and we have a few ideas on how to turn a cliff hanger into something that the players will never expect. From fantastic settings to NPCs that will haunt your players long after they’re put back in the box, we have ideas.

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Mask of the Pirate Queen Act 1, Episode 2 – “An Exchange of Resources”

One Pirate Queen. Three Leads. 40,000 credits up for grabs. Our Heroes take their first actions in locating the Pirate Queen’s trail and make preparations for the dangers to come

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241 – The Conflicted Party Tale

An explosion of discussion happens in this episode about using the conflict mechanic as two GMs talk about their strategy for completely integrating the mechanic into their adventures and sessions.

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