Homebrew Arms and Equipment for FFG's Star Wars RPG

Wow, two entries within that many weeks?  Yeah, I don't expect that pattern to continue either.

So to ring in the new year, I thought I'd offer up some of the various weapons, armor, gear, and personal items that I've come up with for use with Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars RPG.  I'm also including why I created each item.  It's worth noting that I've been working here and there on the meat of this particular post for a while, deciding what to include and what adjustments might be needed.  There are a number of other items that I've created for this game over the years, though the majority of them can be found in my old Ways of the Force fan supplement if you're interested

Armor

Padded Flight Suit
Favored by pilots and spacers across the galaxy, these one-piece protective garments provide limited life support, protecting the wearer from the harsh effects of vacuum as well as lessening some of the adverse effects of high-velocity flying.
Encumbrance: 4
Price: 250 credits
Rarity: 3
Soak Value: 1
Defense Value: 0
Hard Points: 1
Features: When sealed, the wearer can ignore the effects of vacuum or poisonous atmospheric environments for up to 30 minutes.

Why is this a thing? A good friend of mine really likes the snubjock mold of character, even if she doesn't get many opportunities to play that type of character.  We both felt it was an oversight that something like the near-ubiquitous Alliance flight suit really didn't get any sort of coverage, and were both dismayed when Stay on Target missed the opportunity to address that.  I know that one of the FFG freelancers (Jason Marker I think it was) poo-poo'd the idea of Rebel/Resistance flight suits offering any sort of protection to the wearer, but I think on that point he's full of it.  So, I wound up porting over the padded flight suit from WotC's Star Wars RPGs.  From what friends in the Rebel Legion have told me, those get-ups are not exactly easy to move around in, thus why this suit has such a high Encumbrance value, as the various tubes and straps are going to hinder one's movement, even if only a little.

Security Uniform
Common ballistic uniform worn by local soldiers, ship security, and law enforcement. Comfortable, but with a blast helmet giving a definite military appearance.
Encumbrance: 2
Price: 250 credits
Rarity: 4
Soak Value: 1
Defense Value: 0
Features: Includes a helmet comlink attachment, and the wearer adds an Advantage to any Coercion or Leadership checks made in which the wearer is presumed to have a position of authority.

Why is this a thing?  I don't know about the rest of you, but I've run enough fringe type games where the PCs for some reason or another swipe the uniforms of the local guards.  Granted, it's not the same as Han and Luke stealing stormtrooper armor during A New Hope, but its happened enough times I figured that I'd go ahead and come up with something like this, which can function for Imperials, corporate security, and
even royal guardsmen.

Tailored Clothing
Using any number of design aesthetics and distinctive color palettes to catch the eyes of onlookers, these outfits can be found in a plethora of styles and fashions, running the gamut from from the tactfully subtle to outrageously flamboyant, and are well-suited for those occasions when the wearer is wants to make a solid impression on those around them.
Encumbrance: 3
Price: 300 credits
Rarity: 5
Soak Value: 1
Defense Value: 0
Features: Add an Advantage to any successful Charm, Deception, or Negotiation checks the wearer makes when interacting with others and can be seen.

Why is this a thing?  So this is pretty much the equivalent of the custom-fitted three-piece suit or tailor-made evening gown, making the wearer look good but without the outrageous price tag that a truly custom designer outfit would command.  It's a nice boost for social-focused characters.  There are items that do similar for a higher price tag, but I'm not that worried since this counts as armor, and a character can only benefit from one set of armor.


Equipment

Adventurer's Utility Belt 
Marketed and sold under a variety of brand names by several different manufacturers to professional scouts, and amateur explorers alike, this style of utility belt contains a number of useful items for dealing with the hazards that one can encounter when out in the less civilized portions of the galaxy.  The belt's contents are arrayed in such a way as to not encumber the wearer while also providing a couple of empty pouches for whatever else the wearer might have need of, as well as attachment points on either side for a holster or weapon clip.
Category: Survival
Price: 600 credits
Rarity: 3
Features: Contains the following items: a handheld comlink, an emergency medpac, a glow rod, a condensed tool kit, a personal respirator, a spare energy cell, a roll of mesh tape, a liquid cable dispenser (15 meters) and grappling hook, and one week's supply of food capsules.  In addition, this item increases the wearer's Encumbrance Threshold by one.

Why is this a thing? So one item that I always liked from Saga Edition was the utility belt, as it made gear shopping for a lot of my characters very easy; just spend your credits and you've got most of what you need in one place.  Most of what's in this item is what's found in the Saga Edition version, sans the power pack aka extra reload.  The price is a bit higher than what Saga Edition listed, but that's due to a combination of the cost of what's included and the fact that the belt doesn't add to the character's encumbrance total, which lets them carry a lot more other stuff.


Decorative Jewelry
Consisting of a wide and varied array and styles and made using a combination of semi-precious stones and polished metals, decorative jewelry adds a bit of class to one's appearance without being too overtly ostentatious.
Category: Luxury Items
Price: 500 credits
Rarity: 5
Features: Add an Advantage to any successful Charm or Deception checks the wearer makes when interacting with others and can be seen.

Why is this a thing? This came up during an early EotE campaign I was in, where one of the PCs wanted her Twi'lek Smuggler/Scoundrel to have something that would make her look "extra fancy" and provide a boost on her social skills (namely Charm and Deception).  Funny thing was, I cooked up an early version of these about the time I got offered to do playtesting for Desperate Allies, which had the similar Expensive Jewelry item in it.  Like a lot of what's in that supplement, I feel the official item is overpriced or what it does, so I don't mind that this item about the same at a fraction of the cost.  Plus, it's a fun item for characters from a well-to-do background (or those pretending to be from such) to have without needing to break the bank.

Personal Multitool
Offered in a bewildering variety of styles and replate with a number of small yet useful implements, these small devices have proven useful in a pinch to numerous beings across the galaxy.
Category: Tools
Encumbrance: 1
Price: 100 credits
Rarity: 2
Features:The user is considered to have the proper tools when performing Mechanics checks to repair or modify simple devices or when performing Skulduggery checks to open or disable simple locks.

Why is this a thing? Because what is a MacGuyver style of character without their ubiquitous Swiss Army knife?  This way, a character with Mechanics and/or Skulduggery can attempt to do their thing without necessarily having to lug around a full-blown tool kit.  Granted, it's not as good as having the full-blown proper kit for the job, but it's better than nothing.  That and I wanted to have an option out there for characters to be able to modify the attachments on their gear without necessarily having to have access to a full blown tool kit.


Portable Fire Extinguisher
Small and easily portable, these devices are most often used to douse flames, but more than a few creative individuals have used them to create an impromptu if short-lived smokescreen.
Category: Tools
Encumbrance: 1
Price: 50 credits
Rarity: 1
Features: This is a one-use item, and must be replaced after each usage.

Why is this a thing? Because we saw R2-D2 use one to such memorable effect during the Bespin escape in The Empire Strikes Back.  It's here in part as a former gaming companion of mine had a huge thing for astromech droids, to the point that any Star Wars game he was in, he'd play an astromech unless the GM went out of their way to disallow it.  Also, I figure it's a nice thing for a repair/technical droid to have on them without having to flip a Destiny Point any time they wanted to provide some impromptu concealment for their allies.

Security Kit
Comprised of a special set of tools and devices for the express purpose of bypassing electronic and mechanical security measures, most worlds treat the possession of such a kit as illegal, thus requiring specialized permits to legally carry.
Category: Security
Encumbrance: 2
Price: 750 credits
Rarity: 5(R)
Features: Remove 2 Threat from the results from any Computers or Skulduggery checks made to defeat a mechanical or simple electronic lock.

Why is this a thing? So I came up with this one well before Fly Casual introduced the far cheaper Lockpicking Tools, mostly a less-sophisticated version of the electronic lock breaker that would give sneaky types a bonus to their efforts to get past more conventional locking systems without lugging around a full tool kit.  The bonus does seem a bit good at first pass, enough so that I considered limiting the effects to successful skill checks, but I ultimately decided that the higher price tag was enough of a balancing factor.

Weapons

Blastsword
The preferred weapon of duelists from the remote world of Adumar, the blastsword is an unusual combination of a standard vibroblade and the inner workings of a blaster. At the weapon's tip sits an emitter nozzle which glows and hums audibly when the weapon is activated.
Skill: Melee
Encumbrance: 2
Price: 1200 credits
Rarity: 8
Damage: 6
Range: Engaged
Critical: 2
Hard Points: 1
Qualities: Defensive 1, Stun Setting

Why is this a thing? Okay, on this one I'll cop to it just being silly; it was silly when introduced in Starfighters of Adumar, it was silly when I wrote the Saga Edition stats for the Unknown Regions sourcebook, and it's still silly now.  And that's why I like this weapon, which was aptly described by Wes Janson as "a blaster you hit somebody with," and that one listener to the Order 66 podcast denounced as sounding like something from a bad Final Fantasy game.  I've yet to see or play a character with this weapon, mostly as the specs that lean themselves towards melee combat lean towards the brutish side of things while the dueling-orientated specs are focused more on using lightsabers than swords.

Double-Barreled Blaster Carbine
A favored weapon of bounty hunters, enforcers, and those who generally live on society's fringe, the double-barreled carbine packs a rather substantial punch for its unassuming size.
Skill: Ranged (Heavy)
Encumbrance: 3
Price: 1200 credits
Rarity: 6(R)
Damage: 8
Range: Medium
Critical: 3
Hard Points: 1
Qualities: Linked 1, Stun Setting

Why is this a thing? Yes, it's from the Legacy comic book series, but it's essentially a sawed-off double-barreled shotgun that fires blaster bolts.  The version of the weapon that appeared in Saga Edition's Legacy Era Campaign Guide gave it what in FFG's system amounts to the Blast quality, but there's already enough Ranged (Heavy) blasters that offer up the Blast quality.  That, and with it being double-barreled, using the Linked quality made more sense, even if it does make this weapon a lot more dangerous in a fight, thus why it has the restricted tag next to the price.

Electroshock Prod
Usually attached to droids, the probe emits a brief electrical discharge capable of shorting out a computer terminal or security lock.
Skill: Ranged (Light)
Encumbrance: 1
Price: 100 credits
Rarity: 2
Damage: 5
Range: Short
Critical: n/a
Hard Points: 1
Qualities:Disorient 1, Stun Damage

Why is this a thing? So this kinda initially came from the old KOTOR video games, with the idea that your astromech companion could use small blasters to assist in combat, but was largely codified by Chopper, the cantankerous astromech from Star Wars Rebels.  It's a low-powered weapon that lets droid PCs, especially if they're playing some variety of astromech, be able to make ranged attacks without having to pick up full-blown blaster weapons (assuming they care about that sort of thing).

Fighting Pike
Typically made of either fire-hardened wood or well-crafted metal, the fighting pike is a preferred weapon for itinerent monks, being not only innocuous in appearance, but surprisingly effective in the hands of a skilled wielder.
Skill: Melee
Encumbrance: 3
Price: 1000 credits
Rarity: 3
Damage: +3
Range: Engaged
Critical:4
Hard Points:2
Qualities: Defensive 1, Disorient 2, Knockdown, Superior

Why is this a thing? Because there really isn't anything that covers Chirrit's staff from Rogue One, not even in the Dawn of Rebellion supplement where they introduced the Force Adherent universal spec, which is pretty much "You want to play a warrior monk like Donny Yen's character?  Here you go!"  I suppose there's the gaffi stick from the EotE core rulebook, or the heavy staff from TFA Beginner Box, but both of those feel lacking.  The price feels a little low for having the Superior quality baked in, but given ho much of a general disadvantage most melee weapon users are at in this game compared to ranged weapons or to lightsabers, I'm not too concerned about it.

Sporting Blaster Rifle
A favored weapon of bounty hunters, enforcers, and those who generally live on society's fringe, the double-barreled carbine packs a rather substantial punch for its unassuming size..
Skill: Ranged (Heavy)
Encumbrance: 4
Price: 800 credits
Rarity: 5
Damage: 8
Range: Long
Critical: 3
Hard Points:2
Qualities: Accurate 1, Stun Setting

Why is this a thing? This was something I came up with in the early days of the system, wanting something that sat between rifles and carbines but not being quite so military in nature; as the name suggests it's a sporting weapon that civilians could carry around without getting into too much trouble.

Tapani Lightfoil
Although the first lightfoils were creations of the Sith operating in the Tapani Sector, during the time of the Empire a sub-culture of young nobles known as “Saber Rakes” have taken to wielding modern recreations of the lightfoil. Although not as potent a weapon as a lightsaber, the Tapani lightfoil is still a dangerous weapon; a sure sign that one is dealing with an experienced Saber Rake is the presence of a cybernetic prosthesis, often earned as the result of being on the losing end of a lightfoil duel. A Saber Rake without such a prosthesis is either a novice duelist or a very skilled swordsman.
Skill: Lighsaber
Encumbrance: 1
Price: 4500 credits
Rarity: 8(R)
Damage: 5
Range: Engaged
Critical: 2
Hard Points: 1
Qualities: Accurate 1, Defensive 1, Pierce 2
Features: A Despair result from any combat check made using this weapon can be spent to have it short out and deactivate after the combat check has been resolved.  The weapon may be reactivated as an incidental, but not until after the last initiative slot during the following round  If this weapon is used with the Parry or Reflect talents, the attacker can spend a Triumph to trigger the same effect on the weapon.

Why is this a thing? So one of my favorite settings from the WEG era was the Tapani Expanse, as detailed in the Lords of the Expanse boxed set, with the lightfoil being such a fun weapon in concept, providing a means to have lightsaber duels without necessarily bringing in lightsabers or even Jedi for that matter.  I've had versions of this in the past, and often struggled with getting the right balance between it being useful in a fight while still retaining it's quirky nature but keeping it from being as potent as a proper lightsaber.  I ultimately decided to just employ the effects of refined cortosis weapons from the F&D core rulebook to mimic the Tapani lightfoil's unreliability, and from the handful of test combats I've run, it does seem to work without requiring a bunch of extra rolls.

Of Jedi, Vidoe Games, and Fallen Orders

Greetings programs!

Yeah, been a spell since my last post here.  Mostly that's been due to having been rather busy with real life things (nothing worrisome, just time consuming).

So a little over a week ago, I opted to take the plunge and pick up EA's latest offering, Star Wars: Jedi: Fallen Order.  I'll be honest in that I was largely skeptical about whether I'd enjoy this game or not, given the less than stellar experiences I had with Spider-Man and Kingdom Hearts 3.  Still, I'd been hearing lots of good things being said about this game, both from reviewers and especially from one of my friends whose opinion on video games I generally trust.

And I have to admit that the game is generally pretty fun, being an action-adventure "metroidvania" style game.  Now admittedly I'm playing the game on Story Mode (aka Easy Mode) as at this point in my life I play video games as a means of relaxation and am not looking for a serious/frustrating challenge.  The game's not perfect, as the combat controls feel like there's a bit of lag between button input and result, especially when there's a lot of enemies on the screen.

So that said, I got the inspiration to work up some stats and such of people and things that appeared in the game.

Cal Kestis, Jedi Fugitive (as of Escape from Bracca)
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Cal_Kestis 
The protagonist of Jedi: Fallen Order, young Cal is a survivor of the purge that was Order 66, and has spent the five years since that fateful day hiding on the planet Bracca, where he works as a scrapper alongside his Abednado co-worker and friend Prauf.  Circumstances arise that causes Cal to reveal his Force abilities and subsequently coming to the attention of the dreaded Imperial Inquisitors.

I built Cal using the Jedi career and Padawan specialization from the Rise of the Separatists supplement, as it not only fit his background, but also allowed me to get him up to Force Rating 2 rather inexpensively and thus acquire the Bind power, which is what I'm using to represent his Force Statis ability both to slow down enemies but also to briefly freeze various obstacles to allow him to progress.  I also gave him the benefit of the Mentor shared background resource from Force & Destiny to account for the his proper training prior to the events of Order 66.

 

Psychometry (New Force Power)

So this was a Force power I had originally taken a crack at years ago as part of my old Ways of the Force fan supplement.  At the time, the only example of a Force user that was skilled with this ability was Quinlan Vos, but now that we have Cal demonstrating the power, I've got a somewhat better handle on what the power can accomplish.  It's fair to warn GMs that this Force power very much has the ability to unravel adventure plots that center on discovering things, so that end many of the upgrades for this power are expensive to purchase.

Kudos also to FFG forum user Nytwing, whose on take on Psychometry helped inform a fair bit the above.  You can read his take on the power on his website here.

BD Unit Droid
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/BD_unit
Serving as Cal's companion through much of the game, BD-1 is the game's exposition fairy, and has been likened to an intelligent puppy in terms of how he acts.  The stat block presented here presents more of a "factory model" version of the droid.
Cost/Rarity: 4500 credits/6

Abednado

https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Abednedo
While the species was introduced in The Force Awakens, I thought it'd be fitting to include my take on a species write-up given that the character of Prauf plays a pivotal role in pushing Cal to undertake the grand quest that is the game's focus and for the young man to embrace his destiny as a Jedi.  I did use the character sheet for the Abednado Colonist Bormo from FFG's The Force Awakens Beginner Box set to help inform my choices on how to design this species.  It of course goes without saying that FFG ever does an official write-up of the Abednado, it's going to look rather different than what I'm posting here.

Starting Characteristics
Brawn 2, Agility 2, Intellect 3, Cunning 1, Willpower 2, Presence 2
Wound Threshold: 9+Brawn
Strain Threshold: 12+Willpower
Starting XP: 90
Species Abilities: Abednado being with one free rank in Resilience.  They still may not train Resilience above Rank 2 at character creation.
Gregarious: Due to their affable and friendly nature, Abednado characters add an Advantage to the results of all Charm and Negotiation checks the character makes.

S-161 "Stinger" XL Luxury Yacht
https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/S-161_%22Stinger%22_XL
The game's principle method of getting Cal and company from planet to planet on their quest, the Mantis is fairly sleek ship design.  There's not a whole lot to go on apart from the comments of Greeze, the ship's captain and pilot, about how the Mantis is fast but not much good in a fight.

We don't get to explore much of the ship in the game, but I feel safe in presuming that there's more interior space than what is shown, enough to warrant putting this vessel in the Silhouette 4 category and with a decent amount of space for passengers and cargo.  I also decided to price the vessel as something that an Edge of the Empire group could begin play with, though it is out of the initial reach of a Force and Destiny group.

You can find PDFs of most of the above (everything save the write-up for the Abednado) in a zip file located here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/696xqpegf7c2eut/Jedi%20Fallen%20Order%20files.zip?dl=0

Hopefully you've enjoyed reading this, and may even find use for some or even all of this material in your own games.

So until next time, remember.... persistence reveals the path, and trust in the Force.

Two from the archives

I know, I know, it's been a while since my last update.  I haven't forgotten this page exists, but rather keep getting pulled in different directions and rarely have something that I really feel is worth posting here.

Well, that's obviously changed, as I finally got around to doing something I'd been meaning to do for quite some time, that being converting a pair of very memorable characters from a long ago Star Wars Saga Edition campaign over to the FFG system.

The characters in question were by far the two most memorable PCs from a Legacy Era campaign as run by Ben "Cyril" Erickson, and were the brainchildren of Kevin "Rikoshi" Frane and Nateal Falk.  I had a couple of different characters in that campaign, starting off with a Corellian near-human ex-cop (nobody but me seemed to remember that he as a near-human, and even I forgot a few times) before he had a very explosive end (something I don't think Nateal has still quite forgiven me for) and I brought in a Jedi PC from an older New Jedi Order campaign that made the transition to the Legacy Era courtesy of a very long carbonite nap (and managed to avert most of the carbon hibernation symptoms by way of Jedi hibernation trance), though sadly the campaign never really got the chance to explore just how young(ish) Alwyn handled the transition between two very different eras.  Then again, from his perspective the galaxy was still at war, just the bad guys had changed from Yuuzhan Vong to the One Sith.  I think at the end there was a remark about how my PC had a similar name and appearance to a young Jedi from the Skywalker Praxuem that had helped save the Imperial capital of Bastion from a maniacal Dark Jedi's invasion efforts, but again nothing that was explored in any depth due to the campaign wrapping up.

Now, given how very different the two systems approach things, I opted to try and decided to instead aim more for the spirit of what each character was rather than do a straight point-to-point conversion.  Once that decision was made however, the characters actually fell into place, more or less, pretty quickly.  I did have to take a couple of liberties with each of them, but I think they work out pretty well as low-end player-characters.

For both of these, I opted to grant them an additional 25XP, which was treated as "earned XP" and couldn't be used to increase characteristics, as well as an extra 1000 credits worth of equipment.  I considered going full-on Heroic/Knight Level, but found that just that extra 25XP sufficed to get the basics of the character.

The first of these two is Kirikinerry-tovante (Kiri for short), and he remains memorable to me simply for virtue of being a Squib, a meter-high species of blue-furred goofballs with a love of over-complicated negotiations and a notable lack of self-preservation instincts.  This character was played by Rikoshi, and to my view, if our campaign had been a TV series, he would have been the fandom favorite of the cast.  What really sold the character was the way Rikoshi voiced him as well as the mannerisms; given we were playing through Skype and Roll20, that he was able to convey all that with voice alone is pretty amazing.  Heck, I still chuckle at the fact that Rikoshi took the time to draw up a "contract" for the group, denoting who got what amount of any proceeds, with all sorts of adjustments based on some of the most odd factors, such as "non-koovy non-Jedi penalty" for the Caamasi Force adept.  I sadly don't have the list anymore, and I'm pretty sure the forum thread for the campaign has long been pruned for inactivity, but it was a piece of demented genius.

When writing up Kiri's stats, I opted to take two bites at the apple.  In Saga Edition, he was built using the Smuggler class, so I first opted to go the route of the Smuggler career, and settling on the Thief career.  However, that just didn't quite feel right for an "independent busyness being" like Kiri, so I did a second build using Explorer as the career and Trader as his specialization, which I honestly think works a bit better.  Obviously, there's no official write-up for the Squib as a species (a major oversight on FFG's part in my estimation), so I used the unofficial stats that I'd created for this blog some time ago instead.

At any rate, here's links to each of the versions.  Hopefully Kevin can forgive me for using the stock image of a Squib, as I sadly lack the artistic talent to create an image that suitably captures the koovy majesty of the character.

Kirikinerry-tovante, Squib Smuggler

Kirikinerry-tovante, Squib Explorer

Now, for the second character, this was Niera Kurucz, an Arkanian scientist with a rather abrasive personality when it came to dealing with organics, but had quite the soft spot with regards to droids and cybernetically-augmented creatures.  While Kiri was just that right sort of crazy-awesome that makes a character both memorable and enjoyable to have in the group, Niera was in part memorable to me for the fact she was kind of the party face while really not having the personality for it.

Niera's conversion was a lot more difficult, due in large part to her being Force-sensitive, an ability that was always present but was only slowly developed over time.  She never became a really potent Force user due to her cybernetic enhancements (Saga Edition operated under the old assumption that cybernetics interfered with one's ability to use the Force, itself based upon Darth Vader no longer having the potential power that he'd had as Anakin Skywalker), but there were some interesting moments with her trying to learn about the Force from the Caamasi Force adept; she never did quite get around to trusting my Jedi character, though she did accept his offer to let her borrow his copy of The Jedi Path: A Manual for Students of the Force (in-setting, that book was a reprint of the tome that Luke had uncovered some time prior to the NJO era, but obviously without the various in-character margin notes from different owners over the decades; said book is now Legends, but it's worth reading if you're looking to play a character trained in the mold of the classic Jedi).

Ultimately, I decided that Niera's core concept would be best served if I deep-sixed the bulk of the "party face" elements and focused on her being a highly intelligent engineering and droid mechanics expert, and settled on Technician for her career and Droid Tech as her starting specialization.  I did still give her Force-sensitivity by way of the Force Sensitive Exile specialization, though much like her original character build in Saga Edition she's lacking much in the way of actual Force abilities, though that will change over time.  I was sorely tempted to give her the Manipulate power out of Endless Vigil, but all she could really afford was the basic power and that effect didn't really jive with her focus on droids and cyber-technology.

One bit of rule-bending I had to do for Niera was to employ the droid-crafting rules from Special Modifications, and assign a certain number of advantages and triumphs from her Mechanics and Computers checks to build and program her custom personal droid PLUM.  I have no idea what sort of stats PLUM had in Saga Edition, so I built the little droid as having proficiency in mechanics and computers, with a small scientific database, with the intent that it pretty much provides Niera with a boost die on her Computers, Mechanics, and Knowledge (Education) checks.  She can also send PLUM out to operate independently, with it working a little better while following her directions.

So here's my take on Niera and her droid companion PLUM (which in my head canon at least stands for PersonaL Utility Mechanism):

Niera Kurucz, Arkanian Force-Sensitive Technician

PLUM, Niera's custom droid companion

I do have a few other ideas rattling around in my brain, but we'll see how long it takes before something viable actually shakes out.

Edit: Forgot to note, but the characters were built and the character sheets are from OggDude's excellent character generator program.

Y2K-class Light Freighter - A New Ride for FFG Star Wars

Firstly, to my fellow American residents, a happy Fourth of July.  While our nation's current state of affairs is tumultuous (to put it mildly), as a young nation (at least when compared to Europe) we've still managed to accomplish quite a bit for what was once derided as "The Great Experiment."  So that at least we can celebrate.  There's still a long ways to go, but I'm hopeful we'll get there sooner rather than later.

Now, while it might not be May the Fourth, it's still appropriate to say that the Fourth will be with you, so in that vein I'm posting up a little something I threw together not that long ago.

Over on the FFG Star Wars RPG forums, a thread cropped up with a newer member asking for some suggestions on how to stat up a ship design they'd found on the interwebz, jokingly calling said ship a "Falcon Junior."  Dubbed the Y2K Peregrine by Miniature Scenery, it's actually a pretty neat looking ship, and to my mind would indeed be perfect for a small group of PCs, probably no more than two or three characters as a starting ship, perhaps especially for a Force and Destiny group, who frankly don't have a lot of options when it comes to available starting craft due to the limit of a 70K credit price tag.

The thread's OP was initially just using the stats of the JumpMaster 5000 (which still holds a place of amusement in my brain for reasons) as the baseline, but the JM-5K is designed more as a scout ship than any sort of cargo-carrying craft.  So I thought I'd take a stab at coming up with a set of stats for this "baby YT-1300" that set it apart at least somewhat from the JumpMaster.

So one point of contention in the forum thread was the Silhouette, with a few folks being rather insistent that based upon their calculation of the ship's measurements that it must be Silhouette 3 and no bigger.  However, given that Silhouette 3 is pretty much the domain of starfighters and the Y2K freighter is a lot wider compared to most starships, I felt that this fits into the lower end of Silhouette 4 and is better suited for a ship that's designed to haul cargo.  I also wanted something that wasn't a flying death trap in case the PCs wind up getting into a starship battle, so making the ship Silhouette 4 also justified a higher Hull Trauma threshold than a Silhouette 3 ship would generally have.  The initial armament isn't great, but it's serviceable and it wouldn't be too hard to swap it out for a quad laser cannon at some point down the road; admittedly I was tempted to give the ship a quad laser cannon as the default weapon, but I felt the ship had enough going for it already that it didn't need an awesome gun right off the bat.

I won't bore you with too much more of the creative thought processes that went into coming up with these stats, as if you take a look you can see where the stats for the JumpMaster 5000 had a strong influence on the stat block for the Y2K-class light freighter.

Y2K-class Light Freighter

Designed and put into production a few years after the end of the Clone Wars and the formation of the Galactic Empire, Corellian Engineering Corporation sought to create a smaller-scale version of their venerable YT-series of freighters, which were beginning to show their age.  Applying lessons learned over the decades, the design team for the Y2K-series strove to design a courier-vessel, opting to skimp on the frills and focus on functionality.

Unfortunately, not unlike Kuat Systems Engineering's much-maligned S40K Phoenix Hawk-class Light Pinnace, the Y2K-class crew compartments were considered cramped even though it was spacious in terms of cargo hold.  While most independent freighter pilots aren't overly concerned with having luxury accommodations, the Y2K-series' crew berths were certainly not a major selling point.  What the Y2K-series did have was a high-performance ion drive that was reliable and needed far less maintenance than similar models, and while the hypedrive is not exceptional it too is very reliable.  Instead of the more typical single laser cannon that ships of the YT-series featured, the Y2K-series comes standard with a twin blaster cannon, allowing it to more easily pass the Empire's increasingly strict weapon restrictions.  The Y2K-series is surprisingly robust and nimble for a ship of it's size; a Y2K-series freighter won't be doing loops around your typical starfighter, but it won't be easy prey for raiders and pirates either.  Unfortunately, even CEC's long reputation of easily modifiable craft couldn't overcome the ship's reduced size, and the Y2K-series isn't nearly as welcoming of modifications as many other CEC designs.

Unfortunately, CEC's core market weren't overly interested in what amounted to a cramped courier vessel, even at the deeply-discounted price the ship was being sold at, and production ceased after only a couple years.  While replacement parts for this specific make of freighter are becoming increasingly scarce, the Y2K-series is surprisingly accepting of parts and components made for the YT-series, allowing this small and largely overlooked ship design to continue to operate and even thrive long after CEC had forgotten about it and moved on to other, more profitable ship designs.

Some Force & Destiny rules tweaks (Star Wars RPG)

Yeah, yeah, I missed "May the Fourth" in terms of posting something relating to the wide world of Star Wars geekdom.  Still, given that Solo is officially released today here in the U.S., I figure a Star Wars themed RPG post is acceptable.

Far warning, this post is going to be a bit on the lengthy side, not due to the volume of things being tweaked, but more due to explanations of the reasoning behind why the tweaks were made in the first place.  That and the matter that the bulk of what I'd consider my rules tweaks for Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars Force and Destiny RPG is covered in version 2.0 of my old Ways of the Force fan supplement.

Now to be clear, I consider the FFG Star Wars RPG to be a pretty solid system, one that can be run very well without a single house rule needing to be made or implemented.  I've played and run a number of games, from one-shots at conventions to campaigns of varying lengths, and not once have I been disappointed beyond a rare string of crappy dice rolls, but that's more an issue with the Star Wars dice roller apps generally not liking me than any sort of fault of the system.

That's not to say there's elements that I don't think could be tweaked a bit, such as the revised talent trees that I posted a while back for the Ataru Striker, Shii-Cho Knight, and Soresu Defender specializations (you can check them out here), or things that could be added such as the inclusion of synthetic lightsaber crystals (much as I like Dave Filoni's work on Star Wars Rebels, I disagree on the notion that synthetic 'saber crystals are emphatically not a thing in the new canon).

I've been working on most of these for a while, running a series of test combats as well as using them in live game sessions where possible.  Some of what I'm posting below is fairly minor, some of it less so.  But, enough prattling, on to the house rules...

Skills
Deception checks are now opposed by Vigilance instead of Discipline
Okay, so this isn't so much a house rule as adopting a rules element from FFG's Genesys RPG, one that I happen to like.  This change/update/tweak takes some of the value off of Discipline, which is already pretty solid since it's used to resist Coercion and fear, is the default skill for Force powers when a skill check is required, and can be used to recover strain.  As a result, Vigilance becomes a bit more than the "roll initiative" or "resist an ambush" skill.

Talents
Feint
So like I posted last year when discussing the various Lightsaber Form specializations, the Feint talent for a Makashi Duelist is problematic because given how the game's combat system works, said talent is likely to be become less and less useful.  Reason being that combat is skewed towards making it harder to avoid getting hit than it is to be able to hit your opponent.  And since as written Feint requires you to miss on a melee-based combat check, that means that the talent is going to see less and less use as your character gets better at using a lightsaber, which is bad since Feint is the Makashi Duelist's primary defensive talent.

So my suggested tweak is to re-word the talent's effects to read as follows:

F&D pg82 (short description)
Spend Triumph or 3 Advantage when making a melee combat check against an opponent to upgrade the difficulty of the opponent's next melee combat check targeting the character during this encounter by the character's ranks in Feint.


F&D pg142 (full description)
When making a Lightsaber, Brawl, or Melee combat check against an opponent, the character may spend Triumph or 3 Advantage to upgrade the difficulty of the opponent's next Lightsaber, Brawl, or Melee combat check targeting the character during this encounter by the character's ranks in Feint.

In short, make it so that Feint can be spent whether you hit or miss, but as a trade-off the effects only apply if the opponent themselves is making a melee-based attack, which makes sense for a combat form that is built entirely around dueling; Feint should be zero help if the other guy decides to draw a blaster or throw a grenade at you.

Defensive Circle
So after some pondering based upon observations of the Soresu Defender PC in my current F&D campaign, I've decided that this talent needs a bit of a tweak to make it more viable as a tactic.  While on paper it looks pretty good as written, the stumbling block comes when you've got a party where most everyone is wearing armor that provides defense or routinely takes cover when the blaster bolts start flying.  Even more so is the fact that you're rolling against a Hard difficulty, meaning you're probably not going to be getting a lot of Advantage to spend if you succeed on the Lightsaber (Intellect) check that the talent requires.  This is a rules tweak that I've tested in live play sessions, and it's worked out pretty well as it lets the PC be a "defender" for the party without having to min-max his Lightsaber skill or Intellect in order for the talent to be worth the XP.  So for this tweak, the rules text would be re-worded as follows:

F&D pg77 (short description)
Make a Hard difficulty Lightsaber (Intellect) check as an action.  The character plus one ally within short range per uncancelled success increases their defense by 1 until the beginning of next turn.  Increase defense bonus by 1 per 2 Advantage.

F&D pg141 (full description)
Force Talent: While wielding a lightsaber, the character may take the Defensive Circle action, making a Hard difficulty Lightsaber (Intellect) check.  If successful, the character plus one ally within short range per uncancelled success increases their current ranged and melee defense by 1 until the beginning of the character's next turn.  Increase the bonus to defense by 1 for every 2 Advantage.

With the most recent FAQ adding some needed clarification on defense stacking as well as a hard cap on how high a character's defense can get, the rewording of Defensive Circle now allows for the character to help out his party members who are benefiting from armor defense or cover, but not to such an extreme degree that enemy dice pools are loaded with setback dice thanks to the hard cap that's now in place.

Strategic Form
So another Soresu Defender talent, this one caught my eye as at a later date I will be entering into a friend's F&D-themed campaign using a character that has this as his starting specialization.  While he's only at Knight Level in terms of XP, I did take a look at other talents in the tree, especially since the GM is keeping things fairly close to RAW with regards to specializations.  For me, the problem with this talent is there's an entire Signature Ability called Fated Duel, which is for the Guardian career, that does a lot of what Strategic Form does (forces an enemy to attack you and only you), but does it in such a way that the Soresu PC isn't suddenly overwhelmed.  Which, given my experiences with Feint above as well as general play regarding the strain cost of Parry and Reflect, means that a Soresu Defender using Strategic Form as written is pretty much drawing aggro like crazy and more likely than not will be taken out of action before they get another chance to act, either from burning strain to fuel Parry and especially Reflect or from the sheer volume of wounds taken.

Now, as I mentioned under Defensive Circle above, one of the key tenets of Soresu is don't get hit, but is also to use those defensive motions to create opportunities for the Soresu user to make their own attacks while weathering the storm of their opponents' offense.  As written, Strategic Form does neither of these, and instead it really just paints a huge bullseye on the character's chest, making it more of a desperation tactic than something the player would want to use.  Yeah, the talent's tucked into the top corner of the spec, so the player doesn't have to purchase Strategic Form if they don't want to, but it's location does mean that you'd either need to buy it anyway or purchase and go through a second Guardian specialization if you wanted the previously mentioned Fated Duel Signature Ability.  So, my proposed revision to the talent is such:

F&D pg77 (short description)
Make a Hard difficulty Lightsaber (Intellect) check as an action, rolling Force dice no greater than Force rating.  Add 1 Threat to results of combat checks targeting the character until the beginning of next turn; add additional Threat per 2 Success.  Spend Force point to recover one strain.

F&D pg152 (full description)
Force Talent: While wielding a Lightsaber weapon, the character may take the Strategic Form action, making a Hard difficulty Lightsaber (Intellect) check and rolling Force dice no greater than Force rating as part of the check.  If the check is successful, add 1 Threat to results of any combat checks targeting the character until the beginning of the character's next turn, adding additional Threat per 2 Success generated on the check.  The character may spend Force point to recover one strain.

So with this revamp of the talent, Soresu Defender now has a tactic that lets them "weather the storm" (recoup strain used to fuel Parry and Reflect) while creating openings for them to exploit by making it more likely they'll be able to trigger Improved Parry and/or Improved Reflect, which is going to be the main way a Soresu Defender PC is able to make attacks seeing as how using this talent causes them to forfeit their action, and thus pass on attacking with what is probably one of the most devastating close-quarters weapons in the game, especially if they're using a highly-modded Ilum or Mephite crystal (which given Intellect is one of their key characteristics is fairly likely).

Equipment
Most of this is actually tweaks to some of the previous homebrew material I previously published in Ways of the Force rather than tweaks to officially published FFG material.

Adegan Crystal (Lightsaber Attachment)
Okay, so this originally began as a "starter crystal" option for GMs that were hesitant about handing out some of the potentially more potent crystals early in the campaign.  However, given the lore behind Adegan crystals over in Legends, and how they were standard for the Jedi prior to the discovery of Ilum, I felt I was underselling them.  Now granted there are a number of varieties of Adegan crystals, from the Pontite and Mephite to the lowly Katharcite, but I ultimately wanted to keep things more on the simpler side rather than have several different types of Adegan crystals.  I also wanted something that had a bit more punching power than the Athiss Cave crystals from the F&D Beta adventure Lost Knowledge, which are themselves excellent starter crystals for a group of aspiring 'saber monkeys.

So here's an updated version of the Adegan crystal, one that's more potent than the WotF version, but not as potentially potent as a fully-modded Ilum crystal:

Adegan Crystal Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 6 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Breach 1 and Sunder qualities.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating. Modifications: 3 Damage +1 Mods, 1 Decrease the weapon's critical rating by 1 to a minimum of 1 Mod, 1 Item Quality (Vicious +1) Mods. Hard Points Required: 2 Cost: 8,000 credits Rarity: 10 (R)

So main changes are an extra damage mod, one less rank of Vicious, a mod to get the crit rating down to 1 as well as an increase in both price and rarity owing to the increased power of the crystal.

Now, having pretty much removed Adegan crystals as a lower-end "starter crystal," that left me with something of a blank space in that regard.  I still wanted something that a player whose character was designed to be a lightsaber wielder could have that wasn't as timid as the training emitter but wouldn't give novice GMs pause by providing the Breach 1 quality.  The answer was found in the lore for the Tapani lightfoil, in particular the modern versions of the weapon, which per Legends are effectively novelty store knock-offs of a proper lightsabers, not being nearly as well made and employing sub-standard or synthetic focusing lenses.  And so was born...

Synthetic Focusing Lens Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 6 and critical rating to 3, and the lightsaber gains the Pierce 1 quality.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating. Modifications: 1 Damage +1 Mod, 1 Decrease the weapon's critical rating by 1 to a minimum of 1 Mod, 1 Item Quality (Pierce +1) Mod, 1 Item Quality (Vicious +1) Mod. Hard Points Required: 2 Cost: 500 credits Rarity: 8 (R)

So yeah, definitely a good deal more heft than the training emitter, given the potential to make this a Damage 7 with Pierce 2 weapon, but not as potent as a full kyber crystal, making a nice midpoint between the two.  I'm not 100% settled on the price, as a part of me thinks 500 credits is too cheap, but I still want this to be something a starting character could begin play with.

And much like building a training emitter as detailed in the sidebar of the Lightsaber crafting rules from Endless Vigil, it'd take an Average difficulty Mechanics check and 150 credits' worth of parts to build a synthetic focusing lens.

Force Powers
And this is the part where I'm likely due to irk some folks, as one of the powers that I've been working on tweaking is the Move power.  However, unlike a number of folks that have sought to water down the power based solely upon their presumptions of how potent Move is (9.9 times out of 10, the naysayers are using hypothetical examples of PCs with either awesome dice luck to be constantly rolling double light side pips or a few hundred XP invested in both Move and getting to Force Rating 3 or higher), what I've been testing over the past several months probably makes this most contentious of Force powers a bit more powerful, at least in the early going.  But more on that in a moment.

Enhance
Okay, full disclosure, there's been two things with Enhance as written that have irked me.  The first is that leaping horizontally and vertically are split into two separate Control upgrades.  The second is that as the effect is written (and was confirmed by Sam Stewart during one of his guest appearances on the Order 66 podcast), you can't use a Force leap to engage or disengage with an opponent, meaning that you'd have to spend at least one maneuver to either disengage and then Force leap away, or Force leap in and spend a maneuver to engage.

So, my tweak to Enhance is to address both of those points, first by rolling the "leap horizontal" and "leap vertical" Control upgrades into a single Control upgrade that reads as follows:

Control Upgrade: Take a Force Leap action to make an Enhance power check.  The user may spend Force point to jump to any location with short range, ignoring obstacles and difficult or impassible terrain.  The user may not activate this multiple times.
(if using OggDude's awesome character generator, you can label this as Control: Force Leap)

Now, that leaves an empty slot where the "leap vertical" Control upgrade used to sit.  This is easily filled in with the following:

Control Upgrade: When taking the Force Leap action, the user may disengage from or engage with another character as part of the action.  Cost = 10XP

I've not really tested this outside of a few test combats, but given that for the longest time I'd been allowing a character to use this power to engage/disengage without problem, I don't foresee any major issues with implementing this revision.

Move
And here we go, the tweak regarding the one Force power that's drawn all sorts of concern and consternation from many folks who are going on pure speculation of how "overpowered" this power is compared to the reality where it's not nearly as potent as it looks on paper.

Now way back in the EotE Beta days, I had toyed with the notion of incorporating an inherent "attack" ability into the base Move power, much like a character trained in Use the Force could do in WotC's Saga Edition game.  That never made it past the concept phase, until last year when I was working on a bunch of Force user pre-gens for the Star Wars module I ran at this past April's GamerNationCon, when it struck me that none of the PCs (who were originally Padawans of the Jedi Order) had the ability to make ranged attacks.  Yes, most of them had lightsabers, but nobody could really attack at a distance if the situation called for it, something that I recalled happened to Chris "GM Chris" Witt of Order 66 podcast fame during one of his initial Saga Edition games, which resulted in a frustrating experience for players and GM alike. Of course, the tricky part was "how do I balance this without making Move too powerful?"  The answer proved to be deceptively simple once I stopped obsessing over it.

So, my tweak to the Move basic power is as follows:

Basic Power: The user may spend Force point to move or hurl one object of Silhouette 0 that is within short range up to his maximum range.  Hurling an object is a ranged attack using an Easy difficulty Discipline check combined with a Move power check, and deals 5 damage if successful.  The default range is short range.  May not be activated multiple times.

So, the offset is that while you can now use Move to attack as part of the basic power, it's no longer a Discipline check with no difficulty dice, meaning the attack is generally going to do less damage or not generate as much Advantage as said attack would under the rules as written.  And this change has actually seen play at the table, both in the con session I ran (though most of the players were too eager to use their lightsabers to attack than hurl small objects) and in a recent campaign a friend of mine is running.  Thus far, it's not proved to be unbalanced in the slightest, and the increased difficulty actually helps address a point of concern with throwing bigger objects (see below).

Now, with removing the "hurl objects" Control upgrade, that leaves a blank spot in the power tree, which similar to Enhance is rather easily patched with the following:

Control: The target of an attack mad with a hurled object is disoriented for a number of rounds equal to the number of Force points spent on the power check.  Cost = 10XP

I took this idea from the Bind power in that any damage the base Bind power inflicts is determined by the number of Force points spent on fueling the power, so long as at least one of them came from a dark side pip.  Yes, there is potential for a target to be disoriented for several rounds by a powerful Force user, but as being disoriented only adds a setback die to checks, and can itself be overcome with various talents or even equipment upgrades (such as the custom hilt attachment), that's not too big of a concern.

Now, by rolling the "hurl objects to deal damage" Control upgrade into the basic power, this necessitates some rewording of the Magnitude and Strength upgrades, such as:

Magnitude (add the following sentence): If hurling multiple objects or attacking multiple targets, the attack uses the rules for the Auto-fire quality.

Strength (add the following sentence): When hurled, damage is equal to ten times the object's silhouette and the base difficulty is increased by the object's silhouette.

Magnitude isn't really changed so much as relocating verbiage from the "hurl objects" Control upgrade regarding attacking multiple objects or attacking multiple targets.

Now with the Strength upgrade, this actually addresses one of the concerns with the difficulty (or lack thereof) for hurling around larger objects and doing considerably more damage.  As one of my friends put it, the increased difficulty made it so that the tactic of hurling multiple silhouette 1 objects (base damage of 10 each per hit) at only 2 difficulty is no longer an easily accomplished thing.  This change also happens to make it so that hurling anything above silhouette 4 falls under the purview of "impossible tasks" and can only be attempted by flipping a Destiny Point, which since you're limited to one Destiny Point expenditure per skill check means that you'd be stuck with whatever pips your Force dice rolled, meaning you'd be unable to convert them if the wrong flavor comes up.  This puts tossing around truly colossal objects is the realm of the very powerful among Force users, and won't be the sort of thing that player-characters will be able to pull off until they've invested a whole lot of XP into both increasing their Force rating and investing in the Move power.

Okay, that's enough of my rambling on about what my more recent bouts of incessant tinker-monkeying have wrought.

I'm off to go what Solo, which if nothing else I expect to be a fun romp in the Star Wars universe.  To be fair, I was never a huge fan of Han Solo as a kid, so I don't have any sort of emotional investment in the character for the film to trample on, and thus no real expectations for how things are going to turn out beyond Han and Chewing taking ownership of the Falcon and Lando being ticked off about them making off with "his" ship.

Revisiting the Unofficial Species Menagerie - Squibs

So several days ago, while helping a budding GM and new players build their characters for their first foray into Fantasy Flight Games' Star Wars Roleplaying Game, I wound digging up up an older entry into the aging Unofficial Species Menagerie that Ben "Cyril" Erickson and I had collaborated on a surprising number of years ago. 

The species in question was the Squib, which you can read about on Wookieepedia here.  I'm not entirely sure what exactly it is that made these goofy little fuzzballs so endearing to me, but I am certain I can blame Kevin "Rikoshi" Frane for cementing just how off-the-wall awesome the species can be in the hands of the right player.

So, in light of unleashing the Squibs on an unsuspecting gaming group, which sadly I won't there to witness the initial fallout of this action as I'm not a player (at least not at the moment), I decided to look back and reassess the species based upon what I've learned about this system and what FFG has done in terms of published species.

Overall, the Squib as originally written is solid, if not anything overly exciting: Brawn 1, Agility 3, -1 to starting Wound Threshold, +1 to starting Strain Threshold, a free rank of Negotiation, a free Advantage on Mechanics checks, and Mechanics is always considered a career skill.  A lot of this was informed by the Squib write-ups in previous Star Wars RPGs, namely WEG's Galaxy Guide 4 (which introduced the species) and Saga Edition's Unknown Regions (for which I got to write the Squib as a species), but upon further review and with the elements I'd mentioned in the paragraph above, I'd certainly tweak a few things.

First change is that I'd drop their Agility down to 2 and boost their Presence to 3.  From the further research into the species that I've done, Squibs are generally gregarious and outgoing, even if it at times they get on other sentients' nerves.  They're not Kender-levels of cheerful, but they're certainly not timid or reserved by nature.

Second change is that I'd remove the free skill rank in Negotiation, and replace it with the Savvy Negotiator talent from Disciples of Harmony, which is a ranked talent that removes a setback die from Negotiation and Streetwise checks.  This does steer Squibs away from all being expert negotiators, allowing for members of the species that maybe can't sell you a bucket of air and keep the bucket, but does let them keep a cultural aptitude for haggling while also adding in some degree of talent for sussing things out simply by asking around in what is probably a complicated arrangement of little favors that lets the Squib find out things a bit more easily simply because the folks they're talking too are off-balance from trying to keep up with the increasingly convoluted chain of conversation.  Or at least that's how I'd picture a Squib asking around as part of making a Streetwise check and paying for information, because you know full well that any Squib worth their fur isn't going to just say "Here, let me offer you a few credits in exchange for you answering a few questions!"

Third change is that to set their Wound Threshold to the default of 10+Brawn, as their lower starting Brawn already makes them a bit more frail than other species by default.

Fourth and final change is to tweak Tech Savvy so that instead of having Mechanics as a career skill that instead once per encounter Squibs can convert up to 2 Threat to an equal number of Advantage on a Mechanics check.  Reason for this is that for a tech-minded Squib, having Mechanics as a career skill isn't much of a boon, and Squibs that aren't tech-minded probably aren't going to buy more than one or two ranks.  However, if the player gets to swap out a couple of Threat results and instead add a couple advantages to the check, that's a lot more interesting even if the Squib character isn't much of a mechanic.

So with all that in mind, here's an updated version of the Squib species...

Squibs
Starting Characteristics
Brawn 1, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 2, Presence 3
Starting Wound Threshold: 10+Brawn
Starting Strain Threshold: 11+Willpower
Starting XP: 100
Special Abilities: Squibs begin the game with one rank in the Savvy Negotiator talent
Tech Savvy: Once per encounter, Squibs may convert up to 2 Threat from a Mechanics check into an equal number of Advantages.

Not sure this will become any sort of recurring series, given how many of the entries in the Unofficial Species Menagerie have since been supplanted with official FFG write-ups. as the years have gone by.  There's a couple other species I've got my eye on revisiting, but time will tell when or even if I'll get around to doing so.

Thoughts on FFG's Legend of the Five Rings Beta

So as many may have heard, Fantasy Flight Games has released a beta version of their spin of the Legend of the Five Rings RPG.  If not, you can grab it here from FFG's own website or you can snag a copy from DriveThruRPG.

So first off, I will admit to not being that impressed with the system.  One thing that people have noted and railed against was that the game uses custom dice rather than the classic d10s that prior versions L5R used in the long-standing Roll and Keep system.  Seeing as how FFG likely only bought the rights to L5R as a property and not the actual R&K mechanics from AEG, it's no surprise that they'd use a dice mechanic of their own making.  In fact, many folks (myself included) suspected that FFG would use the Genesys dice system, as that had by and large been tested and validated by means of their Star Wars RPG, with the Genesys dice being much the same but using slightly different symbols. Instead, FFG went with creating an entirely new set of custom dice, this one using just d6s and d12s.  At least with Genesys, odds are good that you'll be able to use the dice there for different settings, and for those of us that already have a bunch of Star Wars dice we can go ahead and use those (something I will probably do as I'm already very familiar with reading those symbols to get the results of a roll).

My own take on the current state of the L5R Beta is simply that there seems to be a lot of added complexity for no reason other than to add complexity.  A prime example is formal iaijutsu dueling, which in the previous L5R games by AEG were resolved with three rolls (Assessment, Focus, Strike) and unless the battle was to the death, once those were resolved the matter was settled.  Under FFG's system, dueling feels like it's more fitting for a western-based RPG replicating the back-and-forth of the famous duel between Inigo Montoya and Westley in The Princess Bride instead of the single stroke contest that the samurai-genre is well known for.

Another issue is that starting characters don't feel very capable, as the dice mechanics are skewed to very heavily favor Skill ranks (which use the d12s) over Ring rating (which use the d6s) and characters don't get to start with that many ranks in skills.  Easy solution here is to simply provide the PC with a small number of extra skill ranks, so hopefully FFG does something to address other than to say "if you want more capable PCs, simply start with more XP."

Now, I did manage to play a short session of the L5R Beta this past Saturday, with a friend running a modified version of Heroes of Rokugan II: Champions of the Sapphire Throne module "Writ of Justice."  Our party composition was rather interesting, consisting of a Kakita Duelist (myself), a Togashi Tattooed Monk (wandering kung fu fighter), a Kuni Purifier, and a Shosuro Infiltrator (cover was traveling performer).  Certainly an interesting and diverse group, with my PC winding up as the closest thing to a proper "face character" simply due to what skills were available and the general lack of being able to select skills outside of the presets that the beta schools provide.  While there were some hiccups in making the characters, they did turn out to be an interesting bunch, and were this 4th Edition L5R I'd certainly be looking forward to playing more sessions with this particular cast.

So, after having played at least one session of this new version of L5R, I'm still not convinced that it's something I want to continue playing, especially as I'm not at all found of the "forced social outbursts" that the current Strife mechanics enforce, as we had much of the group breaking their composure and displaying dishonorable behavior more often than any of us would have liked.  I know that it's probably far too late for any sort of changes to how the dice are laid out, but in all honestly the rate at which PCs gain Strife compared to how they lose it needs to be revised, or at the very least the rules on "outbursts" need to be addressed; I'm very much of the camp that simple dice rolls shouldn't dictate how a character reacts to a scene, and unless it's from a mystical source the most they should do is help inform the player how their character might react to given stimuli.

But ultimately, I think I'm at a point in my gaming preferences that I'd rather stick with systems that don't overwhelm you with options on how to resolve in-game challenges, and that's something this version of L5R does, is overwhelm the player and GM so many different ways that skills can work.  Again, it feels like complexity for the sake of complexity without really providing anything meaningful to the story being told.  And to be frank, if that's the sort of thing I'm after, I'll go play 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons, since the high degree of complexity that it had with regards to combat works with what the game was meant to be.

Given the limits of my own time, especially with working on my own Force and Destiny campaign and working on modules for next year's GamerNationCon (I may just scale back to two modules instead of the three I was initially leaning towards), I'm not really keen on learning the ins and outs of a complex set of RPG mechanics when they don't really provide a satisfying return on investment.  I was willing to learn the complex rules of FFG's Star Wars RPG because it proved to be a very fun experience, a high return on the investment of time made.  But for a setting that I don't see myself doing much gaming in to start with, FFG's Legends of the Five Rings just falls flat.

The Building of a Crane Duelist (Legend of the Five Rings Beta)

So as I mentioned in last week's blog post, for the Legend of the Five Rings Beta one-shot that I played in, I created a Kakita Duelist for my PC, who generally wound up being the party face due to how skill selections played out.

For this week, I'm going to go through the 20 Questions character creation process as outlined in the initial release of the beta rules.  It's entirely possible that aspects of the process will have changed between when I made my character and now, but I'm going to stick with the original process.

So let's get the ball rolling...

Part 1: Core Identity (Clan and Family)
#1) What clan does your character belong to?
So looking through the options, I decide I want to go with elegant and refined, so the easy choice is Crane.  Scorpion was also a possibility, but got dismissed for reasons you'll see later on in the process.  Being a Crane, this gives my character a +1 to his Air Ring and 1 rank in Culture, and a starting Status of 35

#2) What family does your character belong to?
Since I already chose Crane as my clan, going through the options I decide to pick Kakita, as I've always enjoyed playing iaijutsu duelists in my prior L5R outings.  This choice gives my unnamed PC a +1 bonus to his Fire Ring as well as 1 rank each in Aesthetics and Meditation, and sets initial Glory at 44.

Part 2: Role and School
#3) What is your character's role and school?
Since I'm leaning towards being a duelist, that means my character's role within the Crane is that of a bushi, which makes my school choice simply as Kakita Duelist is the only bushi school available to the Crane in the beta rules.  This provides a +1 bonus to both the Earth and Air Rings, as well as 1 rank in five skills of my choice, for which I select Courtesy, Fitness, Martial Arts [Melee], Meditation, and Sentiment, and sets initial Honor at 50.  This also gives me the Iaijutsu Kata and Weight of Duty Shuji (social technique), and the Way of the Crane school ability.  For chuckles, I choose an attendant as part of my starting outfit (do need somebody to handle the menial tasks that are beneath a Crane samurai's concern after all)

#4) How does your character stand out within their school?
Okay, so for this one I went more with a mechanical choice than a character-driven choice, deciding to take a +1 increase to my character's Water Ring so that he's fairly well-rounded in his Rings rather than being strongly focused in two and deficient in two.

Part 3: Honor and Glory
#5) What is your character's duty to their lord?
Well, being that a large part of a Crane duelist's job is to serve as a bodyguard and stand-in for the Crane diplomats at court, I decide my character serves as yojimbo and companion to his lord's niece, a demure yet elegantly lovely young Crane courtier, with whom my character is enamored with though he knows that she's far too high of station for him to pursue.  And so my character's Giri is described as "Yojimbo to my lord's niece, a demure yet elegantly lovely young Crane courtier."

#6) What does your character long for?
Now I could just go the easy route and say that my character longs for the hand in marriage of his lord's niece, but instead I decide to go with another classic staple and decide that my character wants to become the most renowned duelist of the era.  This sets my character's Ninjo as "Become the most renowned duelist of the era."

#7) What is your character's opinion of their clan?
Before even looking at the options, it's easy to determine that my PC has a positive view of the Crane and how they do things (after all, it was Lady Doji that set the standards for proper civilized behavior in Rokugan, and who is he to disagree with a Kami?)  While disagreeing would net me a free skill rank, agreeing with the Crane outlook instead gets me a +5 increase to Glory.

#8) What does your character think of Bushido?
I picture this character being a firm believer in the tenets of Bushido, though probably not to the zealous extreme of the Lion Clan, which increases my character's starting Honor by 10.

Part 4: Strengths and Weaknesses
#9) What is your character's greatest accomplishment so far?
I figure being an iaijutsu duelist, that my character is very quick to react to danger, and so select the Quick Reflexes as his Distinction, having used his speed to win several iaijutsu contests during his time as a student at the Kakita Academy.

#10) What holds your character back the most in life?
This one gives a character an Adversity, for which I pick Sworn Enemy, with the idea that it's a young samurai of a different clan and higher status that is also enamored with the young Crane courtier that my character is charged with protecting.  I'm not sure which clan yet, though Scorpion is a strong contender as is Lion (particularly if the enemy were of the Matsu family).

#11) What activity makes your character feel most at peace?
This choice gives my character a Passion, and for this I pick Wordplay, so that rather than being stoic and stolid, my Crane bushi has a penchant for amusing phrasing of words and statements that can seem complimentary but frequently have added meaning to them.  It's also an in character excuse for me to make puns and quips at the table, so added bonus!

#12) What concern, fear, or foible troubles your character the most?
And lastly one's choice here gives the character an Anxiety, and this one proved tough.  I initially leaned towards Irrepressible Flirtation, in no small part to convey his trouble with keeping his feelings towards his charge within the realm of propriety, or with Jealousy given his Ninjo, but I ultimately go with Painful Honesty, to reflect his commitment to Bushido, and that while he might make clever insinuations about a person, there's always going to be a grain of truth to them.

#13) Who has your character learned the most from during their life?
For this one, I'm going to say that it was his sensei that my character learned the most from.  And as I want my character to be a very capable duelist, I opt to take an extra rank of Martial Arts [Melee], bringing that skill up to two ranks, as well as the disadvantage of Whispers of Poverty, for which I decide is reflected in my character opting to dress in a somewhat subdued manner compared to the ostentatious style that many Crane prefer leading others to incorrectly conclude that he lacks the resources one would expect a member of his clan to have.

Part 5: Personality and Behavior
#14) What detail do others find most striking about your character?
Well, apart from his more modest style of dress, I go with my character having the classic Kakita look of the lean bishonen, with a polite smile and striking eyes that have an almost predatory cant to them.

#15) How does your character react to stressful situations?
Okay, this is a part of the game I'm not enthused with, as it plays into the Strife mechanic that I really dislike.  Still, it's part of the process, so going with part of what's described directly above, and that his eyes taken on a much darker aspect and his expression hardens from that of cheerful bishie to the fierce warrior that he is, with his verbal remarks often becoming far harsher.

#16) What are your character's preexisting relationships with other clans, families, organizations, and traditions?
For a character that I'm really only planning to play once, I'm not going to go into a lot of depth on this one, so I'm just going to say that my character leans towards the general Crane attitudes of the other Great Clans, as well as having the previously mentioned relationship with the young Crane courtier he's been charged with protecting.  I also put a bit more thought into his Sworn Enemy, and decide to buck the trend and make it a Yoritomo courtier, who would be of lower status given the Mantis are a Minor Clan at this point in time, but said enemy is obviously more politically savvy, making for a contrast of brains vs. brawn.

Part 6: Ancestry and Family
#17) How would your character's parents describe them?
Again, more of a RP-heavy question that isn't important for a one-shot character, so I'm just going to say that they're proud of his accomplishments thus far, but hold him to a high expectation given the Crane Clan's long legacy of expert duelists and gallant bushi.

#18) Who was your character named to honor?
I'll go with a great-great grandfather as the person, and rolling on the Samurai Heritage table I get a result of 3 for "Wondrous Work" (netting my character +5 to his Glory), and a 6 for a free rank in Composition, which works nicely for his Wordplay advantage.

#19) What is your character's name?
Finally we get to the "what's your character's name?" section, and frankly I think this should be pushed up in the question order, probably to be under Part 1 and as question #3.  After a fair bit of musing, I decide to grab a name from the Bushi character booklet that Katrina Ostrander made for her L5R 4e module at GamerNationCon 2017, and pick the name Takahiro.

Part 7: Death
#20) How should your character die?
So putting aside the temptation to use Tyrion's answer from Game of Thrones, I figure a fitting end for one that lives by the sword is to die by the sword, perhaps perishing in a manner not unlike that of his school's founder, that being of wounds inflicted during an iaijutsu duel of great importance.

Phew, okay now that I've worked my way through the 20 Questions process, here's what the final version of the character's stats look like.

Kakita Takahiro, Crane Duelist

Clan/Family: Crane/Kakita
School: Kakita Duelist
Rings: Air 3, Earth 2, Fire 2, Water 2, Void 1
Skills: Aesthetics 1, Composition 1, Fitness 1, Martial Arts (Melee) 2, Meditation 2, Courtesy 1, Culture 1, Sentiment 1
Techniques: Iaijutsu, Weight of Duty
School Ability: Way of the Crane
Giri: Yojimbo to his lord's niece, a demure yet elegantly lovely young Crane courtier.
Ninjo: To become the most renowned duelist of the era.
Glory: 54
Honor: 60
Status: 35
Resilience:8
Focus: 5
Composure: 8
Vigilance: 3
Starting Outfit: Daisho, yari, traveling clothes, ceremonial clothes, traveling pack (blanket, bottle of sake, chopsticks, coin purse, daisho stand, pillow book, sweets [4 servings], spare kimono, week's reations, wide-brimmed straw hat), attendant, 10 koku
Distinction Advantage: Quick Reflexes (Fire)
Passion Advantage: Wordplay (Air)
Adversity Disadvantage: Sworn Enemy (Earth), Whispers of Poverty (Water)
Anxiety Disadvantage: Painful Honesty (Air)

It's a Resistance, right? And May the 4th Be With You!

Firstly, happy Star Wars Day to my fellow Star Wars geeks.

Setting this up ahead of time to post, as my own plans to celebrate the day consist of a Star Wars movie marathon several friends at the recently finished home theater of one of our cadre, with pizza, popcorn, and soda a plenty.  Which in retrospect will mean having to face the Revenge of the Fifth, but it'll be worth it.

Since we'll be kicking off said mini-marathon with Rogue One and ending with The Force Awakens, I got the notion to post a collection of heroes that combine elements of those two movies.  Built using FFG's Age of Rebellion (as well as including elements from Edge of the Empire), these characters are akin to the crew of Rogue One in that they are a special ops type of group comprised of a variety of different character types.  However, rather than fighting the tyranny of the Galactic Empire, they instead are members of the Resistance, working against the First Order in an effort to prevent the galaxy from once again being engulfed in the flames of war, mostly following leads on trying to uncover what the First Order's plans are.

For each of these characters, I built them with an additional +25XP as well as an extra 1500 credits.  I've come to find that having that extra XP lets me better fine-tune a character concept while still keeping them at the lower end of the power level, and the extra credits means that these characters are sure to have the bare minimum of the various toys they'd need to fit their concept.  I also deliberately tried out different species, career, and specialization combinations that I otherwise would probably have never considered playing. I had used a few of these characters as alternate pre-gens for the Discovery on Jakku, the introductory adventure from The Force Awakens Beginner Box.  And for the most part, they worked out pretty good, most of them able to accomplish their intended roles, though sadly some poor dice luck at the worst possible time ruined a couple moments that would have otherwise allowed certain characters to shine.  There were a couple tweaks needed here and there, but overall I think each of these characters is a solid build and as a group would work great for either a one-shot, be it a published module or an off-the-cuff adventure, or as the basis of a campaign; even with the extra starting XP and credits, there's still plenty of room for each of these characters to grow and develop.  And while their respective Duty and Motivations make reference to the Resistance and the First Order, it'd be a trivial matter to swap those to the Alliance and the Empire and drop one or all of these characters into the midst of Galactic Civil War.

So without further ado, here are a quintet of  Heroes of the Resistance...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/4hzodqoat62f24u/Heroes%20of%20the%20Resistance.zip?dl=0

Cyrin Ulyette, Mirialian Ace/Hotshot
By far the youngest member of the group, Cyrin is the team pilot and mechanic, able to put most any starship through its paces and pull off hi-speed maneuvers that leave other pilots in her wake.

Dewwarra, Wookiee Soldier/Trailblazer
Still considered to be an inexperienced youth among his people, Dewwarra has quite a lot of first-hand experience in surviving a number of inhospitable places, and making sure that his allies survive them as well.

Inder Skirata, Mandalorian Spy/Infiltrator
Certainly not fighting the typical image of an armor-clad Mando warrior, Inder is something of an outcast from Clan Skirata, reliant more upon stealth to win the day, though he's not adverse to using brutal methods if that's what's called for.

Jhyo Bendaki, Twi'lek Commander/Figurehead
The nephew of a Rebel Alliance agent from the days of the Galactic Civil War, Jhyo has put his own spin on being in charge of this rag-tag little group, employing a mix of charm, confidence, playful insincerity, and bold words to keep his team motivated and ensure success.

RA-F1T5, Droid Diplomat/Analyst
Referred to as "Fitz" given the droid's reaction to some of the more out there antics of the other team members, this RA-7 protocol droid might be ill-suited to "aggressive task resolution" but he is quite adept at slicing data networks, and though not as fluent in multiple forms of communications as other protocol droids, his databanks are packed with a variety of information that can prove useful in most any situation.

As the group's starting resource for when I ran them through Discovery on Jakku, I gave them an extensively modified HWK-290 freighter, dubbed the Sly Flourish, which is also included.  She's a fast ship, quite maneuverable and packs a decent bit of firepower.  While she won't last very long in a straight-up fight, as a reconnaissance vessel the Sly Flourish does it's job very well, and is generally able to survive long enough to outrun most threats.