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.

7th Sea 2e - A Villain of Honor

So not all that long ago, I posted a plethora of Heroes for the second edition of John Wick Presents' 7th Sea RPG, and even included a write-up of the adventure I used to introduce my Friday Night Skype group to the game.

Well, I'm back with some new morsels of 7th Sea goodness, this time turning my attention to the Villains.  Now admittedly, coming up with stats for a Villain isn't that difficult, given they use a much simpler method to determine their capabilities, those being Strength and Influence, which combine to determine their Villainy Rank, along with any notable Advantages that the Villain might have.  Still, it never hurts to have a few ready-made Villains on hand for your Heroes to face, either for them to confront, confound, and vex, or to be confronted, confounded, and vexed in turn.

Now, I won't be posting these Villains quite as frequently as I did the cavalcade of Heroes, and will instead aim for one new Villain each Saturday for at least the rest of this month and perhaps a couple more going into October.

Captain Charles du Chevalier, Musketeer Captain

Nation: Montaigne

Villainy Rank: 10

Strength: 6

Influence: 4

Advantages: Connection (Montaigne Musketeers), Disarming Smile, Duelist Academy (Valroux), Reputation (Chivalrous)

Notable Items: Rapier and main-gauche, Musketeer uniform, flintlock pistol with powder and shot

Appearance: Charles is tall and muscular, with the grace of an athlete and the bearing of king.  He is clean-shaven, which makes him look younger than his twenty-nine years.  His nose turns upward slightly at the sight of commoners, and he always condescends to those beneath him.  He is always polite, however, and rigidly adheres to the code of chivalry at all times; arrogance and honor can go hand in hand.

Background: Captain du Chevalier is the epitome of a King’s Musketeer: honorable, noble, and devoted to king and country.  He’s also arrogant and more than a little condescending to his social inferiors, but his heart is good and he faithfully adheres to the Musketeer’s code.  The third son of a landed nobleman, he joined the army for the excitement it offered, and was eventually selected to join the Musketeers.  Charles is a valiant swordsman, and fights to uphold the honor of his native country.  He is also an aristocrat, and affects the elitist snobbery typical of Montaigne’s nobility.  He has a hard time believing that a gentle of any stripe could commit a crime, and rarely persecutes anyone of breeding.  If he does become convinced such individuals are a threat, he will hound them to the ends of the earth; in his mind, a noble foe is ten times as dangerous as an ignoble one.  Unlike many of his peers, he knows that the peasantry of his homeland suffer and realizes their complaints are genuine.  While he sympathizes, he also genuinely believes that they were meant to suffer as they do, often saying that “if Theus wanted them happy, he wouldn’t have dirtied their blood.”

Notes: Captain du Chevalier made his first appearance in The Lady’s Favor, Part One of the Erebus Cross adventure series.  He could make for a good recurring adversary for a group of Heroes, given that he’s highly capable but also a man of honor.  Under the right circumstances, he might even make for a capable ally, as his commitment to defending king and country are absolute, and if pointed in the direction of a serious threat to either, he’ll waste no time working to thwart that threat, or at the very least give the Heroes aid in doing so.  He's really not much for scheming, and tends to spend his Influence to call up a contingent of rank-and-file Musketeers in the form of a Strength 10 Brute Squad with the Duelists special ability, or instead to all upon the aid of a Musketeer Officer, who has a Villainy Rank of 5 (Strength 4, Influence 1) with the Deadeye and Fencer Advantages if it appears things might get tough.

Threat Assessment: Imperial Purge Troopers

As I'd noted a while back, I've been playing the mobile app Star Wars: Uprising a fair bit.  Not quite as much recently as the endless grinding has really ground down my enjoyment of the game, but I'm still playing it.

One of the recurring adversaries on the Imperial-themed missions in the game at later levels are the Purge Troopers.  They're a lot tougher than the regular stormtroopers found in the game, and almost qualify as mini-bosses if not outright being a boss in mook's clothing.  I've also not seen any attempts to stat them up using FFG's Star Wars RPG, so I thought I'd take a crack at them.  Fair warning to players, if you're not packing some serious firepower of your own, these guys will be devastating if you try to tackle them head-on.



Imperial Purge Troopers (Rival)
Characteristics: Brawn 3, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 3, Presence 1
Skills: Athletics 1, Brawl 2, Coercion 2, Discipline 2, Gunnery 2, Melee 2, Ranged: Heavy 2, Vigilance 1
Talents: Adversary 1, Burly 1, Enduring 1
Soak Value: 6
Defense (Melee/Ranged): 1/1
Wound Threshold: 15
Equipment: Light repeating blaster (Ranged [Heavy]; Damage 11; Critical 2; Range [Long]; Auto Fire, Cumbersome 4, Pierce 1), 2 heavy frag grenades (Ranged [Light]; Damage 9; Critical 4; Range [Short]; Blast 7, Cumbersome 2, Limited Ammo 1), purge trooper armor (+2 soak, +1 defense, includes helmet comlink and in-helmet scanner), extra reloads, utility belt.

Based upon Star Wars: Uprising, optional weapon load-outs for the Purge Troopers would be to replace a flame cannon (Ranged [Heavy]; Damage 8; Critical 2; Range [Medium]; Burn 3, Blast 8) or a missile tube (Gunnery; Damage 20; Critical 2; Range [Extreme]; Blast 10, Cumbersome 3, Guided 3, Breach 1, Prepare 1, Limited Ammo 6) depending on what their role is in an engagement.

There's a new Big Kahuna in town!

As a prelude to the test fight that I ran a while back, I've decided to post the stats of the various participants prior to the fight itself.

On Monday, I posted the stat block for the novice hero version of Peter Reilly, who has yet to make a name for himself in Emerald City as the Extraordinary Spider-Man.  So now it's time to give the bad guys their due.

Professor Haywire 
Known Aliases: The Big Kahuna, Bowtie Bill, Master of Mechanical Mayhem
Power Level: 8 (150pp)

Combat: Attack +6 (Unarmed +0), Attack +8 (Technocane +8), Attack +7 (Heavy Pistol +4); Initiative +2
Defenses: Dodge +9, Parry +9, Toughness +7/+4*, Fortitude +4, Willpower +9
*without Defensive Roll

Abilities: Strength 0; Stamina 1; Agility 2; Dexterity 2; Fighting 4; Intellect 9; Awareness 4; Presence2
Advantages: Defensive Roll 3, Equipment 8, Minions 8 (spread amongst thugs and robots), Quick Draw, Sidekick 24 (Miss Marilyn), Taunt
Skills:Close Combat (Technocane) 4 (+8), Deception 5 (+7), Expertise (Science) 9 (+18), Insight 5 (+9), Perception 5 (+9), Ranged Combat (Guns) 5 (+7), Technology 9 (+18)
Equipment: Heavy pistol (Damage 4; 8pts), undercover vest (Protection 3, Extra: Subtle; 4pts), commlink (1pt), concealed microphone (bow tie; 1pt); 16pts to spend on either a helicopter or headquarters

Powers:
- Technocane (easily removable array): Activate Plan B! [Continuous Summon Giant Robot 8], AE: Electric Stun [Cumulative Affliction 8, Resisted and Overcome by Fortitude; dazed, stunned, incapacitated), AE: Machine Control [Radio Communication 3 and Move Object 8 (Extras: Accurate 3, Subtle, Flaw: Limited to machines)]; 16pp

Complications:
- Egotistical: Haywire is convinced that he's the greatest criminal mastermind and scientific genius the world has ever seen, and will go to great lengths to prove it.
- Temper: Haywire's got a very short fuse, and quickly loses his cool demeanor when mocked.

Abilities 48 + Defenses 19 + Advantages 46 + Skills 21 (42 ranks) + Powers 16 = 150

Summary:One of my favorite fan-made villains from the Atomic Think Tank, Professor Haywire is one of those cheesy villains that works so well in a superhero setting, the type of guy that players love to hate.  The brainchild of ATT poster Blake "BARON" Trebert, I used the M&M2e stat block that was listed in Amazing Lab's Roll Call '06 supplement (available on DriveThruRPG) as the basis of my conversion to 3e, where you can also find much of his backstory, both how he became a super-villain and some of his prior exploits.  While the 2e version of Haywire had him being a PL 9 foe, I felt that he made a better fit as a PL 8; he's a solid foe against a team of street-level or 'mystery men' heroes, but not as much of a threat against a PL 10 team of supers and in spite of his boasting he's not in the "big leagues" of super-villainy, at least not in the Freedom City setting.

Still, he's a capable opponent thanks to his Technocane, particularly since he can summon up a 120pp giant robot to reign havoc on the PCs while he stands back and enjoys the show, puffing away on a cigarette and generally confident that Miss Marilyn will keep anyone from getting their hands on him.  The heavy pistol is really there as more of a back-up option than being a major means of attack, and if things start getting hairy, he can use his Machine Control power to seize control of any vehicles and use them to attack the heroes.

Miss Marilyn (aka "Babydoll" or "Legs")
PL: 8 (119pp)
Combat: Attack +6 (Unarmed +10), Attack +6 (Thrown +10); Initiative +3
Defenses: Dodge +6, Parry +6, Toughness +10, Fortitude --, Willpower +6
Abilities: Strength 10, Stamina --, Agility 3, Dexterity 3, Fighting 6, Intellect -1, Awareness 1, Presence 0
Advantages: Attractive, Fearless, Interpose, Power Attack, Seize Initiative
Skills: Acrobatics 3 (+6), Insight 8 (+9), Perception 8 (+9), Ranged Combat (Thrown) 3 (+6)
Powers: Leaping 1, Immunity 40 (Fortitude effects, mental effects), Protection 10 (Impervious 10)
Complications: Mute: Miss Marilyn is unable to speak, Literal-Minded: Miss Marilyn frequently takes her master's instructions very literally.
Abilities 34 + Defenses 8 + Advantages 5 + Skills 11 (22 ranks) + Powers 61 = 119

Summary: Professor Haywire's constant companion and bodyguard, she's a lot more than just a pretty face.  She's quite the bruiser for her power level, able to shrug off most small arms fire with ease and her mechanical nature protecting her from a variety of otherwise disabling effects.  If up against a foe with a really low active defense she can use her Power Attack advantage to really lay on the hurt.  And with Interpose, she can put herself in between Haywire and an attack that might otherwise wreck him, adding to Haywire's longevity in a fight as well as player frustration as they try to take the Big Kahuna down.


(art by Joe Crokono, owned by Amazing Labs)

And lo, there was a flurry of writing...

Not too much to say, other than it can be pretty amazing how much writing one can get done if one simply sets aside the time to do so and sticks to doing said writing.  Also amazing how much pizza one person can eat while doing that writing; it's been many a year since I polished off a 12-cut pie in the course of a single day all by my lonesome.

I'd decided a few days ago, after realizing that I had nothing prep'd for a weekly Heroes on Demand entry for the Gaming Security Agency.  Quite a shock, as I'd gotten used to having a few buffer articles just in case I hit a dry spell.  After a coin toss, taking a break to go watch a move, and then a brief scramble to get an article together, I decided it was well past time to correct that.

But I also figured that if I was going to spend a day doing nothing but writing articles, why limit myself to just character builds?  Per a Twitter conversation with Brian Casey, aka Agent 00 on the GSA or more commonly known as Fiddleback on Twitter and d20 Radio forums and former host of the Game On! podcast, it came up that something he'd like to see is vehicle and equipment articles.  They didn't have to be for Star Wars, but seeing as how I'm such a Star Wars junkie, that's what I ended up going with.  I've got a handful of vehicles written up for FFG's Star Wars: Edge of the Empire game (primarily the Beta, but I don't think there's going to be any huge changes between the Beta version and the final product when it comes out in a few months).  I'm sure there are plenty of other players and GMs that have compiled homebrewed stats for various creatures, rides, and gear that have never seen print in an official supplement, and there's probably a lot of other gamers that might benefit from your creativity.

For the Heroes on Demand series, while I've been the primary contributor to it (seems fitting, since it was my brainchild to being with), there's been a few other folks that have made some fine contributions.  I don't know how many of my fellow Agents at the GSA will read this, but you guys are more than welcome to make your own contributions, and they emphatically don't have to be for Star Wars.  Ben Erickson aka Agent 66 aka Cyril did an entry for Pathfinder, and I've done entries for Warhammer Fantasy Role Playing 2nd edition, Cubicle 7's One Ring, Evil Hat's Dresden Files RPG, and AEG's Legend of the Five Rings.  Frankly, there's been a real dearth of D&D builds, and though I'm pretty much out of D&D at the moment, I know there's folks that are still actively playing many versions of D&D, from 1st Edition to 4th Edition, so there's room for GSA Agents to contribute their own Heroes on Demand articles for D&D characters, regardless of where you fall in the D&D Edition War.

And I know there are plenty of older RPGs that are still being played even though the companies that produced them have either dropped the line or simply gone out of business, and what better way to encourage folks to check out the games you've loved for so long than to do a review on it?  I myself did just that, taking a look at what is on my gaming shelf as opposed to being boxed up in my storage closet, and why it's sitting on my gaming shelf.  While only Dresden Files has so far really hit the "you really gotta play this game!" button for me, games like Green Ronin's Dragon Age and Wildfire Studios' CthulhuTech are on my shelf alongside such notables as Star Wars (various editions) and Deadlands for a reason.

Also, as I mentioned to a couple of friends via Twitter, contributions don't have to just be reviews of active/hot RPGs or character builds.  The GSA has some great articles on campaign advice and fleshing out character backstory, as well as a very informative look into how Edge of the Empire's dice pool system came into being by none other than Jay Little, the man responsible for said system; talking about getting your dirt straight from the horse's moutth, you can't do much better than that.  Dave Villegas aka Agent 42 aka GM Dave has started up a designer blog about Hauler, a new card game that Gamer Nation Studios as a follow-up to their very enjoyable Edition Wars card game.

Ben and his ever-so-charming wife Nateal had a Build-Off Competition series of articles going, noting their respective efforts in designing their own campaign.  It was really neat to see their respective thought processes, and while I myself am not currently working on any sort of campaign, I'm sure there are other people who are.  One thing that can always be useful to new GMs is advice and examples by old-hat GMs on how to go about building a campaign or setting of their own.  We even have at least one professionally published author amongst the GSA Agents who could probably offer some insight into creating your own setting and telling stories within that setting.

So I guess maybe this is my attempt at a call to arms, both to my fellow GSA Agents that are already signed-up and to those that have yet to jump on board.  If you're interested in providing resources to your fellow gamers, be they board gamers, table-top gamers, or card gamers, the GSA is on the lookout and in need of submissions.  The submission guidelines are pretty straight-forward; keep it fun, keep it informative, keep it honest and fair (while my review of the EotE Beginner Box was overall very positive, there were a couple of minor quibbles I had), and pictures are nice as are links to the companies involved in the game you're talking about, though in a number of cases Brian has proven willing and able to do the picture hunting.

The GSA has been in existence for six months, and while we've covered a pretty impressive amount of ground in that time, there's the feeling that we could cover so much more.

Okay, really didn't mean for this to turn into a long-winded soap box speech.  Sorry 'bout that.

Oh, and some semi-obligatory links if you are interested in signing up to be a GSA Agent:

GSA Article Submission Guidelines
http://gsa.thegamernation.org/article-submission-guidelines/

GSA Writers Wanted!
http://gsa.thegamernation.org/writers-wanted/

Honestly, when the GSA first started, I wasn't sure how much of a commitment I'd be able to make, or for how long.  So I was quite surprised to learn that in the course of six months, I've written almost a full fifth of the site's articles... not bad for a part-time gig.

My Big List of Star Wars Saga Edition NPCs, now on GoogleDocs

Not much of an update, as nothing super-exciting been going on of late.

Saw the Hobbit on opening weekend, and enjoyed it quite a lot.  Which given how much I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy, that was pretty much a given.

Like the title says, I've finally gotten off my duff and put my big ol' listing of NPCs for the Star Wars Saga Edition RPG up on GoogleDocs.  It can be downloaded here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B-bx0pVzywUJcVdxcFI4dEt1Wjg/edit

In Star Wars news though, I've been playing a fair amount of FFG's new Edge of the Empire system, having run the Beginner Box adventure for my Wednesday gaming group, who enjoyed it quite a bit.  Enough so that they're eager to play the follow-up adventure Long Arm of the Hutt, available as a free download off of FFG's website.

Recently finished the audiobook version of Jim Butcher's Cold Days, the latest installment of his Dresden File series.  As seems to be the case for poor Harry Dresden, victory in the end was bittersweet at best, but it was an enjoyable story, and I very much enjoyed having James Marsters back doing the narration.  Nothing against John Glover and his narration of Ghost Story, but James has these different characters down pat, giving each character their own voice that reflects their mannerisms and mindsets perfectly.

Not much else to say, other than I've been plugging away at various articles for the GSA (Gaming Security Agency) website, getting the first of my three Deadlands-based reviews up, this one for Deadlands: Reloaded, with Hell on Earth: Reloaded and Deadlands: Noir on their way.  Also been playing around with CthulhuTech, both in terms of writing a review (still not happy with what I've written so far, and I'm on the third attempt) and in maybe seeing about getting a mini-campaign together for it.

Oh, and Happy New Year.

My Big Fat List List of Star Wars Saga Edition NPCs

A couple of very minor tweaks to my NPC file, such including an extra hyperlink or two, namely to the previously mentioned D20 Radio Network, and expanding the bookmark for the Fringe chapter to allow you to jump to a section based on the first letter of the NPC,such as clicking on the Fringe "W" bookmark if you're looking for a Wookiee NPC.

The new version can be downloaded here:
Donovan Morningfire's Big List of Star Wars Saga Edition NPCs

And now, for some actual content...

Time to kick this off with some actual content.

To those that know me as Donovan Morningfire on a few different RPG message boards, you may (or may not) be aware that some time back I created a massive resource for Star Wars Saga Edition GMs in the form of a huge document called "Big List of NPCs."  Or as GM Dave once quipped, "Threats of the Galaxy Part Two, Electric Boogaloo."

Well, I've spent the better part of a year going through and revisiting every previous entry as well as adding a host of new NPCs, and even got a few fine folks from the D20 Radio Forums to help with proof-reading them to drastically cut down on the number of stat block errors.

I've also expanded each entry into it's own page, with some advice for new GMs on how to use them in play and a number of build options to change up or customize each NPC, which also doubles as a method to suggest to newer players ways to build their own PCs towards a certain concept.

So without any further rambling on my part, I proudly present...

Donovan Morningfire's Big List of NPCs v2.0