Threat Assessment: Rakghouls

Another blast from the GSA past, I wrote these up a few years back and given their origins in such classic monsters as the vampire and the zombie, I think All Hallow's Eve is the perfect time to have these nasty creatures rise from the grave to yet again menace unwary groups of player-characters in Fantasy Flight Game's Star Wars RPG system.

Rakghoul (Minion)

Characteristics

Brawn 3, Agility 3, Intellect 1, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 1

Skills (Group Only)

Athletics, Brawl, Perception

Abilities

Rakghoul Disease (see below)

Soak Value:4

Melee/Ranged Defense: 0/0

Wound Threshold: 6

Equipment: Claws and Teeth (Brawl, Engaged, Damage 5, Crit 3, Pierce 1, Vicious 1)

Rakghoul Fiend (Rival)

Characteristics

Brawn 4, Agility 4, Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Presence 2, Willpower 1

Skills

Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Perception 1

Abilities

Adversary 1, Rakghoul Disease (see below)

Soak Value: 6/0

Melee/Ranged Defense: 0/0

Wound Threshold: 16

Equipment: Claws and Teeth (Brawl, Engaged, Damage 6, Crit 3, Pierce 1, Vicious 1)

New Ability: Rakghoul Disease

Spend a Triumph generated from a successful Brawl attack that inflicts damage to infect the target with the rakghoul disease, an incredibly virulent contagion that all but dooms most beings into eventually becoming a rakghoul itself.

Every 24 hours after being infected, the target must make a Hard Resilience check.   A failure means the disease still lingers, inflicting a single wound (this bypasses the victim's soak value).  If the check is failed and generates three Threat or a Despair result, the victim is immediately transformed into a rakghoul, which is a permanent condition and cannot be cured.  A successful check means the disease was not able to take hold and the target suffers no lingering after-effects.

Curing this disease requires a Daunting Medicine check, unless the person treating the disease has access to rakghoul serum, in which case the difficulty is reduced to Average.  However, given the rarity of rakghouls in general, getting access to rakghoul serum can be an adventure in and of itself.  A character that has been successfully treated through the use of rakghoul serum is considered to be inoculated against the contagion, and can no longer be affected by rakghoul disease.

Background: The hideous result of a virulent disease that has plagued worlds such as Taris, the rakghoul truly is an abomination and affront to nature.  Created by the deranged Sith Lord Karness Muur, the rakghouls were his means to achieving power over his fellow Lords of the Sith during their time in exile from the Old Republic.   While a resurgence of the monsters occurred during the Mandalorian Wars, by the time of the Galactic Empire the rakghouls had been all but exterminated, a process that was ironically sped up by Darth Malak’s order to conduct an orbital bombardment of the planet Taris in an attempt to kill the Jedi Bastilla Shan and the amnesiac Revan. 

Still, the creatures managed to persist in small pockets of the Outer Rim Territories, with sentient species being their preferred prey.  Those that survived being slain and devoured by the monsters were invariably transformed into rakghouls themselves by the disease inflicted by the creature’s claws and bite.  While a cure for the disease was developed during the Jedi Civil War, knowledge of its existence has become almost as rare as the rakghoul itself, only rarely is the modern medicine of the Clone Wars era or later able to prevent the infection from transforming those poor souls suffering a fate worse than death.

The Dark Trooper Project for SWFFG

Had a couple folks ask about the Dark Trooper stat blocks I wrote up for the Gamer Security Agency some time ago, especially as attempts to use the Internet Wayback Machine came up blank.  So, in the interest of having the material available for GMs interested in them, I'm re-posting the old material.  Bear in mind these were written before the Age of Rebellion core rulebook came out with FFG's own take on the Dark Trooper (specifically the Phase II model).  I have tweaked a few things here and there, most notably removing the Cortosis quality from the Phase One and Phase Two models, as that was initially added so that the lightsabers of the time wouldn't just instantly brutalize one of these things. 

Dark Trooper Phase Zero (Rival)

 Characteristics

Brawn 3, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 2

 Skills

Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Discipline 2, Perception 1, Ranged (Heavy) 2, Vigilance 1

Talents

Barrage 1, Durable 2, Point Blank 1

Soak Value: 6

Melee/Ranged Defense: 0/0

Wound Threshold: 15

Special Abilities: Cyborg Hybrid – this character is considered to be a Droid and follow all the rules for Droid adversaries.

Equipment: Heavy blaster rifle (Ranged [Heavy], Damage 10, Crit 3, Long, Auto-fire, Cumbersome 3), Phase Zero Dark Trooper Armor (as laminate armor), comlink, jet pack

Background: During the early days of the Galactic Empire, the Imperial Stormtrooper regiments found itself in a quandary, as many of its most experienced soldiers were rapidly-aging Clone Troopers.  Rather than accept the loss of these veteran soldiers, the Imperial command gave the green-light to Project Dark Trooper, which was placed under the supervision of Lt. Rom Mohc.  Using extensive cybernetic reconstruction surgeries, the aging Clone Troopers had their bodies forcibly replaced with mechanical parts, giving the Empire a way to continue fielding the battle-hardened veterans of the Clone Wars.  And while the project did accomplish its stated goal, the Phase Zero aspect could hardly be called a success, as many of the converted Clone Troopers attempted suicide in the wake of becoming little better than the “clankers” they had been bred and trained to fight during the Clone Wars.  In spite of this setback, the Empire was able to field an alarming number of these cyborg-hybrid soldiers, being undeniably effective, but as the Empire increased in power and recruiting techniques began to make up for the loss of the Clone Troopers, the decision was made to shut down the project.  However, Lt. Moch would use the effectiveness of this early program and his later influence as a General to reinstate the Dark Trooper project many years later.

Dark Trooper Phase One (Rival)

Characteristics

Brawn 3, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 2

Skills

Melee 2, Perception 1, Vigilance 2

Talents

Adversary 1, Lethal Blows 1

Soak Value: 6

Melee/Ranged Defense: 2/1

Wound Threshold: 15

Special Abilities: Droid, Inorganic, Mechanical Being

Equipment: Wrist-mounted vibrosword (Melee, Damage 5, Crit 2, Engaged, Pierce 2, Vicious 1, Defensive 1), wrist-mounted blast shield (provides Defense 1), combat armor (+2 soak) with enhanced optics suite and built-in comlink

Background: The initial production model of General Ram Mohc’s reinstated Dark Trooper Project, the Phase 1 Dark Trooper is essentially a phrik alloy skeleton equipped with a vibroblade and blast shield.  Although the Phase 1 Dark Trooper droids were produced in great numbers, they usually see deployment as sentries at remote Imperial installations rather than seeing use on the front-lines.

Dark Trooper Phase Two (Rival)

Characteristics

Brawn 4, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 2

Skills

Brawl 1, Gunnery 3, Perception 2, Ranged (Heavy) 3, Vigilance 2

Talents

Adversary 1, Durable 1, Barrage 1, Lethal Blows 1

Soak Value: 7

Melee/Ranged Defense: 1/1

Wound Threshold: 18

Special Abilities: Droid, Inorganic, Mechanical Being

Equipment: Light repeating blaster (Ranged - Heavy, Damage 11, Crit 3, Long, Auto-fire, Pierce 1, Cumbersome 4), missile launcher (Gunnery, Damage 10, Crit 3, Long, Blast 6, Breach 1, Limited Ammo 6), Dark Trooper battle armor (+2 soak, +1 defense) with enhanced optics suite and built-in comlink

Background: The second phase of General Ram Mohc’s Dark Trooper Project, the Phase Two model stands much taller than its predecessors, and features more complete armor coverage as well as a devastating weapons package in the form of its assault cannon, enabling it to lay down withering torrents of blaster fire or deliver anti-vehicular ordnance as need.  They first saw deployment on the attack on the Rebel Base on Talay, in which a small number of Phase Two Dark Troopers utterly destroyed the base, proving the effectiveness of General Mohc’s droid warriors to even the most skeptical of Imperial officers. 

Dark Trooper Phase Three (Nemesis)

Characteristics

Brawn 4, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Presence 1, Willpower 2

Skills

Brawl 2, Gunnery 3, Perception 2, Ranged (Heavy) 3, Vigilance 2

Talents

Adversary 2, Durable 2, Barrage 1, Lethal Blows 2, Targeted Blow

Soak Value: 8

Melee/Ranged Defense: 1/1

Wound Threshold:20

Strain Threshold: 12

Special Abilities: Droid, Inorganic, Mechanical Being

Equipment: Light repeating blaster (Ranged - Heavy, Damage 11, Crit 3, Long, Auto-fire, Pierce 2, Cumbersome 4), missile launcher (Gunnery, Damage 10, Crit 3, Long, Blast 6, Breach 1, Limited Ammo 6), shoulder-mounted missile tubes (Gunnery, Damage 8, Crit 4, Long, Blast 6, Limited Ammo 12) or shoulder-mounted blaster cannons (Ranged – Heavy, Damage 10, Crit 3, Medium, Auto-fire, Pierce 1), phrik alloy battle armor (+2 soak, +1 defense, Cortosis, Superior) with enhanced optics suite and built-in comlink

Background: The culmination of General Ram Mohc’s Dark Trooper Project, the Phase Three design is a massive behemoth, standing nearly three meters in height and with a powerful frame to match that was made even more ominous due to its near-black color scheme.  Where the Phase One and Phase Two models were intended to operate solely as battle droids, the Phase Three could also serve as a powered exoskeleton, providing the operator with vastly increased strength and protection.  Additional anti-personnel armament was included by way of a pair of low-yield missile tubes, though the option to replace the missile launchers with a pair of dual blaster cannons was also present.  Thankfully for the Rebel Alliance, only a small number of Phase III Dark Troopers were constructed before the destruction of the Arc Hammer, General Mohc’s personal flagship which served as the primary construction facility for the entire Dark Trooper project.  Still, the Emperor is not known for little a valuable resource go to waste, and while there are no plans to re-initiate the Dark Trooper Project, there are still a number of Phase III Dark Troopers in operation even during the closing years of the Galactic Civil War.