Star Wars using Hero...?

[Tasha]

I wouldn't blanket say that PCs won't be as powerful as Prequel Jedi. It really depends on the powerlevel of the game you want to run. I ran my Hero Star Wars game as a Superhero power level game. I let the non jedi buy superskills and Supertalents that allowed them to compete with the Jedi. Everyone had a great time and got a chance to play a REAL Jedi or Hero of the Rebellion.

[mallet]

Some general thoughts and ideas.

 

If a worry for a GM is a jedi character overpowering the other PC's in combat situations, maybe looks for other ways to "limit" them, for example, maybe all force powers have to have the extra Time (full phase) limitation, or maybe if you consider the Speed characteristic to be more of a "screen time" concept then actual speed, maybe put restrictions on the SPD characteristic for Jedi characters, so while when jedi's do their thing it kicks-ass, but other non-Jedi players maybe get more actions in a turn. 

 

There are scenes in the original trilogy where Luke, Leia and Han are together and fighting, and Leia and Han hold their own with blasters and such taking out just as many bad guys as Luke does, sure Luke is more flashy with the lightsaber and force powers, but Leia and Han probably kill just as many stormtroopers or bad guys as he does. 

 

Also, like the old fantasy trope of gacking the mage first, in a fight most of the npc's will focus their attention on the the jedi character to take him or her out first. So, just like in the movies, the jedi character spends more time defending and deflecting/reflecting attacks, then out right attacking, so the other characters get to be more offensive in combat. 

 

Also maybe there are other limitations that all Force Powers have (like Concentration 1/2 DCV) that the players will have to buy off with XP in order to use them effectively in combat. This is also shown in the movies when Luke really has to concentrate (sometime it looks like he'd even be at 0 DCV) when moving objects but then later on he when he is more powerful he can do them without concentrating, just like Vader can. It even looks like "starting" jedi's might have to use Gestures on some of their physical powers, as well as Concentration, which is another limitation that would need to be bought off with xp to be fully effective in combat. ie) moving objects, force choke, and even mind control (Luke waves his hand about when trying to mind control Jabba, and so did Obi Wan with the Stormtroopers in A New Hope, and Qui Gon when cheating at dice in Phantom Menace. )

 

These types of automatic limitations on Force Powers, then can be bought off over time, also allow for some differences to develop between jedi characters, like Qui Gon was really powerful, but still needed to wave his hand to move objects (because he never bought off that limitation) while Vader bought off all the limitations on that power and could move and throw stuff around while still in lightsaber combat with Luke in Empire.

 

As for the darkside of the force, an idea could be that all force users automatically have to have (or buy) the power:

 

Draw On The Darkside: (AID)Boost 3d6, Force Powers (+1/2) (36 Active Points); Only to Aid Self (-1), Side Effects, Major Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-1), Costs Endurance (to maintain; -1/2)

 

With the Side effect being something like must make a successful EGO roll or become Enraged, plus some sort of tracking of how many times the character becomes enraged then if it happens too often he either is considered to be a darkside character, or gains a Complication of Addiction (to the Darkside) and must make an Ego roll NOT to use the darkside when using the force. 

 

Or maybe, have all force using characters also start with a custom complication like:

 

Lure of the Darkside: The character starts with 10 "Lightside" points. Whenever the character uses the Draw of the Darkside power they must make an Ego roll (at -1 per 10 AP in the power used), if they fail they become Engraged and lose one "Lightside" point. If the character ever loses all his "Lightside" points he automatically become Enraged in all combat unless the make an Ego roll and may also gain the Negative Reputation complication as well as negative modifiers to all Social Skill rolls. 

 

Add a way to spend XP to regain "lightside" points, to reflect time spent meditating and finding inner peace, etc... this allows the players to draw on the darkside when really desperate, but also to regain their calm, at the cost of spending xp. Which would also further be a boon for non-jedi characters as they will be spending all their XP on skills and stats, etc... while a jedi who keeps using the darkside will have to spend XP to keep their character in play and not go fully evil. 

 

Or something like that. 

 

Then if you are really building a full Force Power system, including for the NPC's, you could have Force Powers that are only available if the character has zero "lightside" points, this might include Force Lightning attacks, and other powers shown that only the Sith have. 

[TheDarkness]

Additionally, put this in super hero terms without the associated points.

 

Your character can have deflection(as long as they have their lightsaber), a pretty mild telekinetic push and lift power, and close combat skills better than others.

 

Everyone and their brother can pick up EB off the street. Everyone and their brother can have flight through high speed vehicles. They could have flight through armor, entangle through armor, poison dart guns(NND), higher energy exploding EB(Chewie's weapon), robots with energy shields, grenade type weapons, contacts, et al.

 

Even if a character just has a blaster, if they get the same points, they will be waaaaaaaay better by means of their skill and skill levels and bells and whistles they can put on that than the jedi could ever start at as far as a ranged attack, because he has to pay for much more.

 

Plus, if you make him pay for a dark force power push, he's got even less points to throw in more powers.

 

It's useful to remember that, in the OT, Luke was usually running at the same times as the rest of his party. There aren't really that many scenes of him taking on all kinds of baddies.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Well and that's the point: Luke didn't start out a great Jedi.  In fact, there's no scene of him anywhere in the movies being particularly great, despite being said to be "strong in the force" etc. Its possible in the next film we'll see him do more impressive stuff but he was frankly pretty weak as a Jedi.

But it still made him able to do what others could not, and able to properly fight with a light saber, which is immensely more deadly than any blaster.

[massey]

If I was going to do a Star Wars game, it would be OT and TFA power level.  I hated the prequels and almost everything about them.  They made Jedi into video game characters, not people that you cared about who had some deeper understanding of the universe.  The prequels were way too cartooney for me, but the good part is if you eliminate them, Jedi become much more in line with the other heroic characters.

 

So let's get a generic "action hero" template.  I'll use 5th edition because that's what I like best.

 

 

 

Action Hero

Str  13

Dex 18

Con 15

Body 13

Int 13

Ego 15

Pre 15

Com 14

 

PD 6

ED 6

Spd 4

Rec 6

End 30

Stun 30

 

+1 OCV with blasters

 

Rapid Healing

3/3 Combat luck

 

Let's assume that in the first movie, Han, Luke, and Leia all have at least this basic level of ability.  From there, we customize.  

 

Leia spends the rest of her points on social stuff.  She has Wealth, Contacts, Rank, and lots of skills relating to leading the Rebellion.  She's in her element in areas that kind of get short screen time, but would still come up in an RPG.  When they get to the rebel base at the end of Episode IV, Leia is the one who gets them in, and she immediately takes control.  From the standpoint of the Rebellion, she's the only one on the Millennium Falcon who is worth a damn.  They don't even know these other people.

 

Han spends his points on smuggling stuff.  He's got a cool ship, and that costs points.  He's got his own Contacts and skills that pertain to his life as a scoundrel and a rogue.  Again, the movie mostly focuses on Luke's story, but there's a lot of roleplaying that would be done in a game with the bounty hunters chasing him, and different people that Han knows (I'm sure there are other Landos out there).  Han also spends points on being an awesome pilot.

 

Luke spends his points on being a great pilot, and he also spends them on various Force Awareness abilities.  We see him in training with his lightsaber, but I don't think he actually uses it in the first movie.  So for a starting character, he probably buys Combat Sense (we see him deflecting blaster bolts with the helmet on), and maybe like 5 or 6 Overall Levels with Costs Endurance and Concentration ("Use the Force, Luke"),  His character sheet will probably be shorter because he's got these big point hog things that he buys.  In the trench run, Luke the character is unaware that he's using the Force.  Luke's player, on the other hand, is assigning those Overall Levels to boost his X-Wing's DCV to keep Vader from killing him.

 

--

 

With something like this, the 3 main characters in the first movie are all roughly equal.  Han is probably the best in a combat situation, and has all the "loner" skills that players seem to want to go for.  Leia has a lot of social stuff that benefits the party, and she's got the highest social standing of any of them, but you need a player who wants to do that kind of thing.  She knows about the Empire's troop movements, and knows about their secret plans and things like that.  In her element, she's the best, but on her own she's not as good as Han.  Luke has tons of potential, and is the only one who is going to be allowed to buy superpowers.  But so far he's not at the point where it all comes together to make him a combat monster.  He can do some amazing stuff ("Great shot kid, that was one in a million!"), but he's still limited.  He's being built for future growth.

 

--

 

By Empire, the characters have grown.  Han has spent his XP on making his character more legitimate.  He's an officer in the Rebellion now (I don't remember if he's a general yet or not, I think he's a captain).  He's taken skills that help him in a military organization.  Tactics, some knowledge skills, things like that.  He's starting to duplicate some of Leia's skills.  Not to the point where he horns in on her character design, just in a way that it's natural growth for his character.  He's starting to become less of a loner, and finding a place where he fits in.  He's got a high enough rank that he can order a common rebel soldier around.  He's finally got legitimate authority for once.

 

Luke has picked up a smattering of Force abilities.  5 Str TK (the better to move his lightsaber within the Wampa cave), some sort of Detect: Force Ghosts, things like that.  He uses his lightsaber now, and trusts in his existing abilites enough to pull off things other people can't do (like scaling an AT-AT and throwing a grenade inside).  He's growing stronger in the Force, but he's kind of directionless.  He'll be that way for a while, purchasing individual Force powers on their own with various limitations, until he finally visits Dagobah.  His training with Yoda is basically a radiation accident that will let him rewrite his character and move some points around.  He'll come out of there with a point-saving Multipower and much stronger abilities.

 

Leia, meanwhile, has started saving points for Force abilities of her own.  We don't really see a lot of it until the end of the film (she spends most of the movie flying around on the Falcon with not much to do, and she has all this XP from the first movie and the battle of Hoth just sitting around).  But by the end of the movie she figures she might as well become Force Sensitive, and so she buys some limited form of Clairsentience so she can pick up Luke's call for help.

 

--

 

When we get to Jedi, things have changed again.  Leia got some basic Force senses, but then she decided she didn't really want to go down that route.  Instead, she puts her points into being more of a combat badass.  She comes in at first in disguise as a bounty hunter, and then she kills Jabba in hand to hand combat.  After that, she's flying around on speeder bikes and gunning down stormtroopers.  This is a lot more fun than being in the rebel control room!  Her Force abilities just kind of stay in the background for this movie.  She's got the potential, but she's not doing anything to actively encourage it.  Instead she buys more Combat Luck, more levels, several weapon and transport familiarities, Security Systems, Systems Operations, Stealth, Navigation, etc.  She's Badass Soldier Leia now.

 

Han spent a lot of his time frozen in carbonite.  One of his Hunteds finally got him, and while he still gained XP for the adventures he had in the 2nd movie, he hasn't been able to spend them.  Han's player hasn't been too bored, though, because he got to play Lando in the meantime (who is basically just like Han).  When Solo finally gets up and around and has some time to spend his XP, he goes further into the "legitimate" realm.  He becomes a General, and gets commando training like Leia does.  He buys some group abilities to let him better lead a force of men.  He might not be any better with a blaster than he was in the first movie, but he's way more fleshed out.

 

Luke however, has done nothing but put points into Force abilities and combat.  He's a fully experienced Jedi at this point.  23 Dex, 5 Speed.  I'd say he's got a partially-limited multipower, with a small amount that is usable in combat (low level TK, missile deflection, superjump, choke, etc).  And then the rest of the MP (for moving X-Wings, seeing the future, etc), still has the Concentration, Extra Time limitations on it.  All told he's really effective.  He's nominally a General, but he's not really in command of anybody.  He hasn't taken the "legit" path than Leia started with and that Han later took.  He doesn't know anything about commanding troops or organizing a strike force.  He's a General because he's buddies with Han and Leia, and also because nobody is comfortable ordering the weird creepy Jedi guy around.  He isn't gonna follow orders anyway, he's just gonna do what he wants.  At this point he's just a streamlined, personal combat monster.  He's more effective than Han and Leia on foot, but Han and Leia know how to pilot a Scout Walker and other cool stuff like that.  So overall they're still roughly equivalent.

 

--

 

At the beginning of the OT, you could probably do the 3 main characters on about 150 to 200 points each (5th ed).  By the end, I think they're all closing in on about 275.  Han is really expensive because he's got to pay for the Millennium Falcon.  I did a quick build for it and it came up to 450 points.  That's 90 points added to his character.  Even if you split the points between him and Chewbacca, that's still a big chunk of points for a starting character.  I'd suggest giving the guy who was paying for the group transport some extra points to start off with.  So Luke and Leia start at 150, and Han starts about 180 but he's paying for half the ship.  Chewie is either an NPC, or he's one of those players who sits there quietly and never has any ideas.  3PO and R2 are either NPCs, or they're two characters played by the same guy.  Neither is as powerful as one of the main characters, but played together you get to have one competent person and one jerkass who can mostly go unnoticed, because nobody in the Star Wars universe pays attention to stupid droids.

 

And that's how I'd do a Star Wars campaign.

[bigdamnhero]

Well and that's the point: Luke didn't start out a great Jedi.  In fact, there's no scene of him anywhere in the movies being particularly great, despite being said to be "strong in the force" etc. Its possible in the next film we'll see him do more impressive stuff but he was frankly pretty weak as a Jedi.

But it still made him able to do what others could not, and able to properly fight with a light saber, which is immensely more deadly than any blaster.

Well, I'd say blocking laser bolts with a sword counts as pretty impressive. I don't think non-Jedi could do that even if they could activate a lightsaber. But it's a valid question: how much are the Jedi badasses, vs how much are lightsabers badass and it just so happens that only Jedi can use them?

[Tasha]

Ya, know if I was interested in running SciFi without gonzo Space Wizards, I would just say frack it and run Traveller Hero. Star Wars without Jedi becomes Firefly/ Traveller/ etc generic SciFi. I guess I hate playing Zeroes or noobz. 

[TheDarkness]

Well and that's the point: Luke didn't start out a great Jedi.  In fact, there's no scene of him anywhere in the movies being particularly great, despite being said to be "strong in the force" etc. Its possible in the next film we'll see him do more impressive stuff but he was frankly pretty weak as a Jedi.

But it still made him able to do what others could not, and able to properly fight with a light saber, which is immensely more deadly than any blaster.

Most everyone who was shot with a blaster who wasn't a central character died. And at range, a blaster is immensely more deadly than a lightsaber. No one ever threw a lightsaber far enough to change that.

 

And, deflection against simultaneous fire almost never happens. Which is why there was often some running away from such situations.

 

In game terms, I just don't think they're that powerful if one uses the OT. Even the Emperor needed bodyguards. Luke in ROTJ being weak as a jedi seems off, he force choked, lots of levitation, sensed Darth Vader's goodness. Within the context of the OT, he was a strong jedi in that movie.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I don't recall Luke ever using force choke, just minor levitation and some leaping.  His force powers were pretty weak, especially compared to later demonstrations of the power.  But he clearly was more capable than everyone else around him, even flying a ship and shoot a blaster because the force just makes you better at everything you do, particularly if you let it "flow through you" (activate skill levels, whatever, probably RSR ego roll or Force Power skill).

 

As for blaster one shot kills, that was just cinematic, like wearing armor that does nothing and never missing.  Its just part of the action serial genre Lucas was filming, in my opinion. even if the blasters are meant to be instant death, I doubt any GM would hand out instakill guns that never run out or miss.

[tkdguy]

IIRC, Luke used force choke on the Gamorrean guards at the entrance to Jabba's palace. But he only used it to stop them from hindering him.

[TheDarkness]

I don't recall Luke ever using force choke, just minor levitation and some leaping.  His force powers were pretty weak, especially compared to later demonstrations of the power.  But he clearly was more capable than everyone else around him, even flying a ship and shoot a blaster because the force just makes you better at everything you do, particularly if you let it "flow through you" (activate skill levels, whatever, probably RSR ego roll or Force Power skill).

 

As for blaster one shot kills, that was just cinematic, like wearing armor that does nothing and never missing.  Its just part of the action serial genre Lucas was filming, in my opinion. even if the blasters are meant to be instant death, I doubt any GM would hand out instakill guns that never run out or miss.

The only comparison we have in the OT is Vader, Yoda, and the Emperor. As far as telekinesis, he's on par with almost all the jedi in the prequels except Dooku, Yoda, and the Emperor.

 

So, by ROTJ, fight choreography aside, he does everything jedi knights in the prequels do at about the same level, including deflecting blaster fire on Jabba's barge and leaping.

 

This is why I think most jedi builds are overpowered, if one goes by the movies. That leap is not that long, the choke and telekinesis is not ever shown at Yoda/Emperor/Dooku/Vader level except for by those four, they're the only ones shown to be able to do heavy telekinesis in combat, and those are four of the most powerful AND highly trained of all jedi/sith, not average jedi or sith.

 

Past that, there's just choke, mind control, and fight choreography(plus force lightning for sith, and some sort of ability to absorb that by yoda); the choreography is obviously much more frenetic in the prequels, but that is really more due to the era they were made. Once one figures in that Luke beat Vader in a light saber duel, and Vader was a paragon of the era when there were jedi knights, Luke is on par with other jedi knights, imo.

 

By ROTJ, Luke's leap, control of minds, and choke are depicted as being exactly the same as any other depiction of them that we have from any but the most insanely powerful force using characters. So, for instance, Vader chokes a commander from a great distance(over comm, no less), Yoda, Vader, Dooku, and the Emperor all fling extremely heavy things in combat(or, in Yoda's case, stop those things from being flung), but no other jedi display this strength, and only Luke senses Vader's goodness.

 

As for better at everything, piloting was something he had talent in, not all jedi were, so that plays into it, but we don't actually know if Han was better or not. Han himself, after all, did surprise Vader while he was pursuing the novice Luke in the trenches of the Death Star.

 

Han was portrayed as the better shot, but, of course, this is all relative, as the heroes usually hit and the enemies usually miss. But Luke wasn't really shown as being better at that in the movies, it was never emphasized much, but keep in mind, Han, half blind, shot the sarlacc tongue thing, outdrew Greedo, emphasis definitely went into Han being more a gunslinger than Luke.

 

As for the blasters and damage, I am not suggesting instakill guns, but if we're handing out lightsabers that are on par with the genre, at least a blaster SHOULD potentially knock someone out, including a jedi. Especially if there are concerns with jedi unbalancing things, which, if one uses the movies as a basis, I don't think they would, because they will lack a lot at range, and if blasters aren't nerfed, there will be more situations in which a jedi is in a pinch than almost anyone.

[TheDarkness]

As an aside, I have found that if I don't want to see awful, hamhanded choreography and awkward posing, I need to avoid looking at the background action during the arena jedi battle in Attack of the Clones. And if I want to avoid seeing a highly manipulative relationship destroying an intelligent woman's confidence in the most hideous way, I need to not look at the foreground action in other scenes. And if I want to avoid being forced to wonder who thought the best cinematic approach to combine the wonder of the force and a totally disfunctional relationship forming was levitating a sliced spam pear before rolling around meadows filled with herd creatures who undoubtedly leave hidden treasures in those meadows, then I need to actually sedate myself.

 

I spend a good portion of the movie telling myself 'I am only here to see storm troopers and tusken raider murder, I will not ask why Yoda never has a talk with Annakin about all that tusken raider murder, there is nothing but storm troopers and tusken raider murder. All but storm troopers and tusken raider murder are the mind killer. They are the little death that brings final anni-alation.'

[Christopher R Taylor]

Best to just pretend the prequels were dumb kid movies that have little to do with the actual Star Wars story.  The jury is still out on the next three films, but I was a bit underwhelmed with the first.  The director needs to understand these are 40's serials updated to modern tech and sensibilities, and treat them as such.

[Archade]

I'm an old, old, old HERO system user that is coming back to 6th edition, and I'm trying to build a Star Wars game.  This is a great thread -- thanks!

 

Here's a sample racial template...

 

 

Aqualish (Walrus Man):  Tusked bipeds from the planet Ando whose appearance combine aspects of arachnids and pinniped aquatic mammals. Aqualish have a reputation for being nasty, crude and aggressive, and they generally pursue off-world careers as mercenaries, bounty hunters, and pirates.

 

 

     The Aqualish people are made up of

 

 

three distinct races which included the Aquala, the Ualaq and the Quara, with the same baseline genetic structure. All Aqualish have two facial tusks which curve down over their mouths, and some are born with a second set of eyes. These facial tusks are highly sensitive to heat and cold, and are used for cracking open the hard shells of shellfish or burrowing through the swampy loam of their homeworld.

 

 

     These species are well known for their hair-trigger tempers that flare without reason. Anthropologists believe that the streak of rage can be dated back to the species' earliest evolutions.

 

 

     Starting Characteristics: DEX 8, CON 13, PRE 8, PD 4, STUN 24.  3pts

 

     Language: Aqualish (4pts, literage). 0pts

 

     Amphibious: Life Support (expanded breathing: underwater, safe environment: high pressure, intense cold). 8pts

 

     Awkward Gait: Running -2m (10m total). -2pt

     Thin Blood: Physical Complication (blood does not cauterize, slashing weapons do +1 BODY damage, infrequent/slight. -10pts

 

     Option – Four Eyes: +1 Sight Group PER. +2pts

 

 

     Option - Fair Swimmer: Swimming +2m. +2pts

 

     Option – Aquatic Hunter: Survival (aquatic). +2pts

 

     Option – Quarrelsome: Psychological Complication (easily angered and violent, infrequent/moderate). -10pts

 

Total: 11 pts Plus Options, Complications -12 pts

 

 

[Archade]

Here's how I did the force and the dark side ...

 

The Force Skill: The Force is a skill that characters can take – 3 Points buys the skill with a (9 + EGO/5) roll.  For each 2 points the skill roll is increased by +1.  When using force powers, the skill roll suffers a -1 per 10 Active points in the power.

     The Force skill can also been used for non-power related abilities, such as a check to see force ghosts, or unlock a holocron, at the GM’s discretion.

     When developing or modifying existing force powers, a force practitioner requires time to meditate and align their spirits – after medition of 1 day per 10 active points in the new or modified power, a Force Skill check is needed, with the usual -1 modifier for every 10 Active Points.

 

The Dark Side: The dark side of the force is an easy path to power, but at great personal cost.  Most jedi adherents have to practice a monastic existence and constantly strive to a purity of being to stave off the temptations of the dark side.

     Any time the Force skill is used, if a 3 or an 18 is rolled, the force wielder gains a Dark Side Point.  If the wielder uses the force to kill a sentient being or commit a blatantly evil act they also gain a Dark Side Point (which means even good jedi need to fight off the temptation of the dark side now and then).  These points bestow the following effects:

 

• 10 Points – The Power of the Dark Side (For every 10 Dark Side Points, the force user gains a +1 Skill Level with the Force Skill.  These can be used to improve Force Skill checks).
• 20 Points – Tainted By The Dark Side (Physical Limitation - minor disfigurements, such as yellow eyes or pale skin, concealable with effort, causes reaction).
• 30 Points – Lured By The Dark Side (Psychological Limitation – desire to use the force, especially to harm or overwhelm enemies, EGO check at +5 to overcome compulsion, common/moderate)
• 40 Points – The Power of the Dark Side (Aid 3d6, boost force powers, costs 2 END/phase to maintain, only aid self)
• 50 Points – Dark Side Initiate (Perk, may unlock certain powers such as force lightning)
• 60 Points – Much Anger In You (enraged in combat, common, will use most powerful attacks including the force, 11- to become enraged, 8- to recover)
• 70 Points – Seduced By the Dark Side (Psychological Limitation – consumed by evil, character becomes NPC if not already, can no longer attempt to remove Dark Side Points, common/total)
• 80 Points – Consumed By The Dark Side (Physical Limtation – major disfigurement such as melted features, demonic countenance, withered or consumed limbs,

 

Limitations above do not grant extra character points, and cannot be bought off with experience points. 

     To remove Dark Side Points, it requires intense meditation and purification – for each full day of meditation with no other activity, a force user may attempt a Force Skill check, without using Skill Levels and further suffering a -1 penalty for every 10 points of Dark Side Points they have.  If they are successful, they may remove 1 Dark Side Point.  If you reduce your Dark Side Point levels below the threshholds listed above, the effects are lost.

[Tasha]

How about some bigger type and a readable font. That typeface just makes my eyes blur and gives me a headache.

[Christopher R Taylor]

I like the system used for dark side, that is a good method of handling it.

[Archade]

How about some bigger type and a readable font. That typeface just makes my eyes blur and gives me a headache.

 

Sorry ... posted it from my Word document -- I'll make it larger going forward.

[Archade]

Okay ... next thing I'm doing is statting up stormtroopers!  What do you think of what I have here for the trusty E-11 blaster rifle, and stormtrooper armor?

 

     E-11 Blaster Rifle: Multipower (45 pts), 100 Charges (+ ¾), Focus (OAF, -1), Real Weapon (-¼), extra time – full phase to change firing settings (- ½). 29pts

     Blaster Fire: 2d6+1 RKA (35 pts), 350m Range, Autofire 3 (+¼), OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-¼). 2f

     Stun Ring: Blast (9d6 vs ED, 45 pts), STUN only (-0), OAF (-1), Real Weapon (-¼), reduced range 20m (-¼), organic beings only (-¼), requires multiple charges x10 (-¾). 1f

     Targeting Scope: +2 OCV (2pts), +4 RMod (4pts). 6pts = 38pts/760 credits

 

and

 

     Plastoid Armor: Resistant Protection (4 PD, 6 ED, 15pts), focus (OIF, -½), real armor (-¼), full coverage (-0), half mass (6 kg, -½). 7 pts

     Comlink: HRRP (12 pts), focus (OIF, -½), imperial frequencies only (-½), affected as hearing and radio group (-½), requires Systems Operation roll (-½). 4pts

     Enhanced Visor: +2 PER with sight group (4pts), focus (OIF, -½), no peripheral vision (-½). 2pts

     Nightvision (5pts), focus (OIF, -½), no peripheral vision (-½). 2pts

     Filtration System: Extended Breathing (1 END/minute, 2 pts), focus (OIF, - ½). 1pt = 16 pts/320 credits

 

I'd love some feedback, especially if I did the multipower blaster right (it's been 30 years since I built one of those) -- thanks!

[Christopher R Taylor]

I'm kind of torn on the storm troopers.  Its pretty obvious they're supposed to be wearing armor, but every single attack that hits them knocks them out of the fight.  So either blasters are catastrophically deadly, or their armor is tissue paper.  Or, you go with what should happen and ignore the foundational source material in all the films.  Its just an ugly situation.

[Netzilla]

Yeah, the average blaster shot should be able to at least KO the average Stormtrooper through their armor.  2d6+1 vs 6rED won't do it (average 2 Body/4 Stun gets through). 

 

I'd start by upping the blaster damage to 3d6 (unless it was an arm/hand hit, anyone we saw hit was pretty well out of the fight).  That would up that through-armor damage average to 5/10, which at least has to stun someone through the armor (depending on their actual stats).  I'd also consider lowering the armor's ED.

 

Alternatively, you could make Blasters Armor Piercing, which would up the average damage to 5/10 (for 2d6+1) or 8/16 (for 3d6).

[Chris Goodwin]

Why not make all the blasters Normal Damage?  More Stun damage, plus you don't need to give everyone, or make them buy, Combat Luck for them to survive combat.  Maybe Armor Piercing for blasters that are supposed to be more dangerous.  Save KAs for lightsabers and ship-mounted weapons.

[Tasha]

I just figure that the Heroes are using skill levels and Talents to do extra damage with their blasters.

[Christopher R Taylor]

Yeah apparently the force gives more damage and Han and Chewie have like deadly blow or something

[bigdamnhero]

In the Edge Of Empire rules, there's a Talent in the Smuggler/Scoundrel tree that lets you add your Cunning score to damage rolls. Obviously Han took that feat. Plus Chewie has that ridiculously overpowered crossbow thingie that normal humans can't use except when it's funny.