Long, long ago, there was a little gaming company called West End Games, and they had the license to make the Star Wars Roleplaying Game.
And it was good.
So this game used a simple, straight-forward system later known as D6, which they published as stand-alone books after losing the SW license, going bankrupt and trading hands a couple times. Long story short
WEG is still thrashing around, and D6 is all but a free gaming ruleset.
A fairly interesting overview on Star Wars D6 and WEG from one of 2ed R&E's designers. This includes changes between editions and some insight on the waning days of the company.
Here's a promotional pamphlet detailing the basic mechanics of D6. I'll be laying out the important rules and skills for play in a bit, so feel free to question and discuss the strengths/weaknesses of the system as well. Main reason this thread is up is I'm going to be running a short adventure soon after Christmas. In the meantime we can sit on my porch with whittling sticks and reminisce, nodding knowingly about the good old days.
And now for the facts about my adventure.
Game's first narration starts on
this post.
Owning the Rulebook is not required. I'll be providing the basic rules on skills/resolution and assisting with character creation.
What's the game and Where will it be played: I'll be the Gamemaster for a game of the Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2nd Edition Revised and Expanded, by West End Games 1996. We'll be using this thread for IC and OOC replies once it gets underway.
It will be set during the Empire era and involve the players as outlaws/mercenaries, working for less-than-savory corporate/criminal organizations. It will be a short single adventure unless there's demand for an ongoing campaign.
Post your character sheets in this thread as you develop them. I want everyone included on the character-making process and encourage players to design their characters as a team in mind, not just lump everyone together and assume similar goals. There will be a day or two at the start of the game where I'll be setting to tone and giving players time for character introductions, so be sure to develop some basic motivation and connections to players before setting out.
When do we begin and play: This will be most likely
starting Friday, January 2nd; I was going to start this last month until I realized the holidays started a month later, and I'd rather the game not take a break for it.
Rather than mandate some time frame or order for players to post,
I will be resolving one full round/scene at the end of each day, at roughly 11:00PM CST. My expectation is that, rather than post my narrative at random times whenever I see everyone make one response (and expect them to know when this occurs even when offline the rest of the day), players will have at least one point each day they can make their character's action, knowing exactly when I'll update the game and start the next round.
I've plotted out the adventure, pinpointed the major points for player decisions and turn of events, and split it up into a number of clear-cut scenes and encounters.
This adventure is intended to run about five to six weeks depending on how many quickly or how much extra time is spent resolving some encounters.
Players absent for one day will be skipped. I'll take your turn for you in a 'character X tags along and does what's expected of him' manner. Try to keep us informed when you might miss a whole day and preemptively dictate your course of action.
How's it going to run: This will be the fairly standard Play-by-Post format you'll find on PA for a mid-sized group adventure with a set goal and beginning/middle/end. I'm putting a tad more control and rules transparency in the players' hands (for the sake of the 1 round/day resolutions), but otherwise I don't see my formula needing adjustments.
Invisible Castle will be used for player's dice rolls, and I'll be rolling my own fistful of D6s at my desk (presumably you're willing to trust me as GM).
Generally, I will start my narrative with a scene fully-described, listing important difficulty numbers and some of the less-standard rules that you should be aware of in the situation, giving hopefully enough info to work with and not need additional responses from the GM. Players are free to post more than once, especially to talk to eachother and ask questions; I'll try to chime in with answers, rulings, or skill checks during the day & evenings before the next round resolution. Otherwise we'll be going through one whole round of combat or one set of skill challenges each and every day.
Initiative order will be first come first serve. If you post consistently right after each round starts you'll invariably go first in combat.
My focus on splitting up scenes and rounds is to cut out the superfluous pauses between challenges & encounters and go straight to the important stuff each round. In pen & paper roleplaying you can narrate a scene continuously and simply let players interject with their own courses of action, which is impossible in PBP unless you stop every 6 seconds to let everyone say "I continue walking to get where the group wants to go" (or basically let the players run much of it themselves). Even if they decided to *not* go forward it'd simply slow the game down at those points. My conclusion has been to trim the fat and remove the sense of pure PBP freedom in exchange for getting to the meaningful choices.
Who's playing:
I am looking for about
3 to 5 players for this, who can devote at least one time each day to read and post. Ideally everyone will be online at the same time so they can exchange dialogue and strategy multiple times each day, but even players in opposing timezones should be able to get in on this (just not as active in ongoing conversation). The adventure will be roughly an even mix of combat/non-combat situations; characters can have any focus of skills but at least one or two combat skills will be useful. Aliens from Galaxy Guide 4 and 12 are encouraged, but I'm more than willing to convert from the Aliens Anthology D20 book or create stats for any race found on the Star Wars Wikipedia.
Two house-rule character exceptions: No Droids and no Force powers for starting characters. You
can start as Force-sensitive, beginning without force powers. And your character can own a droid and by my discretion you can RP its actions (if your race has less than 12D attribute die I'll give out compensation via cash, equipment, backstory, etc). But you can't start already as a Jedi or exclusively play a droid character. I'd much rather develop force-users' careers from scratch than take the attribute die penalty. As for droids: they don't have souls. :P
Naturally I have the right to dismiss a character for being 'munchkin' or not working for the adventure (no Charon or Yuuzhan Vong, you are not Palpatine's lost son, etc). I'll be direct and state my reasons constructively in such event, but it's never happened on this forum.
Currently on the roster:
Denada (Cal Ar'Dinnon, Kaleesh Outlaw Gladiator)
Name: Cal Ar'Dinnon
Type: Outlaw Gladiator
Gender/Species: Male/Kaleesh
Age: 23 Height: 1.9m Weight: 86kg
Dexterity 4D
-Blaster 5D
-Dodge 5D
-Melee Combat 6D
-Melee Parry 5D
Knowledge 2D
Mechanical 2D
Perception 3D
Strength 4D
-Brawling 5D
-Stamina 5D
Technical 3D
-Armor Repair 4D
-First Aid 4D
Special Abilities:
Claws: STR+1D damage.
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Equipment:
Combat Armor (+1D physical and energy), Blaster Pistol (4D), Vibroblade (STR+2D+1, max 6D), 4 medpacs, 1800 credits
Nefffffff (Moose Dorno, Duros Spacer)
Type: Duros Spacer
Gender/Species: Male/Duros
Age: 22 Height: 1.8m Weight: 86kg
Dexterity 4D
-Melee Combat: Knives 5D
-Pickpocket: 5D
Knowledge 2D+2
-Scholar: Mathematics 4D+2
-Culinary Arts 3D+2
Mechanical 4D+1
-Astrogation 6D+1
-Space Transports 6D+1
Perception 3D
-Gambling 5D
-Persuasion 4D
Strength 2D
Technical 2D
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Equipment:
Chef's Knife (STR+1D), Blaster Pistol (4D), Comlink, Datapad, Flask of Duresian whiskey, 3500 Credits
Mad Jazz (Harek Loell, Human Ship Technician)
Name: Harek Loell
Type: Ship Technician
Gender/Species: Male/Human
Age: 24 Height: 1.7m Weight: 68kg
Dexterity 2D+1
-Dodge: 3d+1
Knowledge 3D+1
-Streetwise 4D+1
-Languages 4D+1
Mechanical 3D
Perception 3D
-Investigation 4D
-Bargain 4D
Strength 2D+1
Technical 4D
-Space Transports Repair 5D
-Starfighter Repair 5D
-Security 5D
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Equipment: Datapad, Comlink, Tool Belt with Fusion Cutter and Plasma Welder, Starship Toolkit, Security Systems Toolkit, 4315 Credits
El Skid (Mons Jiru, Human Bounty Hunter)
Name: Mons Jiru
Type: Bounty Hunter
Gender/Species: Male/Human
Age: 34 Height: 1.8m Weight: 86kg
Dexterity 3D+1
-Dodge 4D+1
-Blaster4D+1
Knowledge 3D+2
-Streetwise 4D+2
Mechanical 2D
-Space Transports 3D
Perception 4D
-Investigation 5D
-Persuasion 6D
Strength 3D
-Brawling 4D
Technical 2D
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: yes
Force Points: 2
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Equipment:
Bounty Hunter Armour (+2D physical, +1D energy) with built-in Comlink, Air Supply, Brawling Spikes (STR+1D), blaster holster and arm-mounted datapad, Heavy Blaster Pistol (5D), 2 power packs, 2 Medpacs, 2 gas grenades (5D stun), 100 credits
Horeshoe (Chen Kalmurra, Human Mercenary)
Chen Kalmurra
Type: Mercenary
Gender/Species: Male/Human
Age: 27 Height: 1.9 meters Weight: 82 kg
Dexterity 3D+2
Blaster 4D+2
Dodge 4D+2
Knowledge 3D
Intimidation 4D
Mechanical 2D+1
Starship Gunnery 3D+2
Perception 3D
Search 4D
Strength 3D+2
Brawling 4D+2
Stamina 4D+2
Technical 2D+1
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Equipment: Heavy Blaster Carbine (5D+1), Combat Suit (+1D+1 physical, +2 Energy) with Night Vision Visor (+2D in low-light conditions), Breath Mask and Comlink, 4 Fragmentation Grenades (5D/4D/3D/2D), 2 Blaster Power Packs, 2 Medpacs, Bandolier, 400 Credits
And yet, why:
Because
it is awesome.
Posts
Bear with me here, this is to put everything on the table so we all can be on the same page. I like to GM by reminding players about the applicable rules and what they'll need to roll to succeed, so a lot of this can be skimmed over if you're at all familiar with this type of game or want a direct answer to a character-building or rules question later.
The underlying mechanic of the game is that you roll dice measuring your abilities versus a target number, succeeding if you roll that number or higher. Characters have all their actions represented by six Attributes: Dexterity, Knowledge, Mechanical, Perception, Strength, Technical. Pretty standard, but I'll cover what does what when I explain skills. Attributes are measured by different numbers of six-sided die (simply D in this game), so having 2D would be a low-level attribute, 3D is about average and 4D covers above-average. You'll roll your Attribute Dice against a Difficulty Number (selected by your GM) and attempt to beat it. Here's the difficulty number ranges we'll be using:
Automatic: 0
Very Easy: 1-5
Easy: 6-10
Moderate: 11-15
Difficult: 16-20
Very Difficult: 21-25
Heroic: 26-30
Anything over that is simply 'Legendary' and usually comes up due to accumulating penalties. Your average 3D attribute is going to roll 9-12 most often, so due to the bell-curve you can expect to pass Easy challenges quite often and Moderate only occasionally. You'll want to boost your Attributes up using skills if you want to be good at specific tasks, like Running, Starfighter Repair, or Bargaining.
So eventually, we're going to need a pilot to shuttle the PCs around. Not as a main character, but a characterful and competent NPC, so I'll make them like a starting character. Let's show off how the species stats work by creating a race not in D6: Nosaurians, like the Ep1 podracer.
Species Statistics:
A human's minimum and Maximum attribute ranges look like this:
Attribute Dice: 12D
Dexterity 2D/4D
Knowledge 2D/4D
Mechanical 2D/4D
Perception 2D/4D
Strength 2D/4D
Technical 2D/4D
So at least 2D in everything and no more than 4D in any one Attribute (skills can go over this). You can shuffle dice around individually from one attribute to another, or you can split dice up into points (D6 calls them 'pips', you may call them points) and apply those as you want. Three points make up a D, so one point to 2D becomes 2D+1, another is 2D+2, and a third bumps it back up to 3D. 3D+1m 3D+2, 4D, et cetera. Aliens will have different ranges and often special skill bonuses and story factors, so I'll make those adjustments. The Ultimate Alien Anthology has traits for them I can use as reference:
Bleh. :P I'll treat those as ~10% differences in similar Attribute ranges, and make a few other adjustments. They also have combat-usable horns, phosphorescent mouths, an instinct for hooting at sunset, and +2 to Climbing and Stamina. Everything else is standard, including their movement. I'll give +1D to the skills and add the other features:
Attribute Dice: 12D
Dexterity 2D+2/4D+2
Knowledge 2D/4D
Mechanical 2D+2/4D+1
Perception 1D+1/3D+1
Strength 2D/4D
Technical 1D+1/3D+1
Move: 10/12
Special Abilities:
Endurance: +1D bonus to Climbing and Stamina rolls.
Horns: Cause STR+2 damage.
Phosphorescent Mouths: Projects a dim light, 4 meter range.
Story Factors:
Singing Down The Sun: Nosaurians have an instinct to know when sunset occurs on a planet and are compelled to 'shout it down' by hooting and braying loudly. Resisting the urge is an Easy Willpower roll.
Movement is meters per round at standard speed. The second number is maximum speed after training it in-between adventures, it's not important for now. WEG's Star Wars was less 'tactical' and more character-exploratory than WotC's, so I feel the Willpower check is appropriately minor and in line with the game.
That gives me a basis to make a character. PCs get an extra 6D for attributes, so that's 18D for all Attributes: an average of 3D in each. I like to start with that arrangement and start splitting and shuffling around points down the line.
Attributes
Knowledge is your penchant for being educated and holding onto learned information and facts. It's a big galaxy, so a lot of skills are rather broad fields of knowledge: Alien Species, Law Enforcement, Languages, Streetwise, Value, and Survival are Knowledge skills. Any one of those could be useful in the right situation, but a general knock for know-how is good, so I'll put that spare point to make it 3D+1.
Mechanical lumps everything that involves fiddling with control sticks, buttons and reigns to make all the fancy machines and creatures in the galaxy move. There's a whole bunch of skills to specialize in, like Space Transport Piloting, Starship Gunnery, Astrogation, Sensors, and Jetpack Operation. A pilot should be good both in common trained and untrained Mechanical skills, so I want him to have 4D. I'll have to pull the other 1D from his last 3 Attributes.
Perception is the Attribute for wits, alertness, and charm. It also is used to roll initiative when that's being used to determine combat order. You have Bargain, Con, Search, Sneak, Investigation, Hide, and Forgery as several skills to utilize here. I'll set it to 2D+2; I'm willing to afford a lower score for the next Attribute.
Strength is actually a very important stat for adventurous characters. It measures your base roll for resisting damage and dealing damage with fists and hand weapons. You'll want it to be high if you expect to punch things or get shot at a lot. Conversely, there's only five standard Strength skills: Brawling, Climbing/Jumping, Lifting, Stamina, and Swimming. I don't need a brawny pilot to sit in a cockpit; 2D+1 Strength is fine.
Technical is for fixing and reprogramming mechanical devices and electronics. Its skills, like Blaster Repair, Droid Programming, Demolitions, Security, Walker Repair, go well with related Mechanical skills. I'll leave Technical at 3D for my pilot, as he should be decent at dealing with minor issues that crop up on his transport. Now for skills.
Skills:
Starting Characters for this game will get 8D to spend in skills. They can put either 1D or 2D into any skill.
Naturally I won't list each and every skill in the rules, let alone explain most of them in detail. But they're rather self-explanatory and I'll be happy to clarify any when asked. Feel free to describe what sort of abilities you want your character to start as trained in and I'll pick out Skills that would fit.
Main Skill List:
Knowledge: Alien Species, Bureaucracy, Business, Cultures, Intimidation, Languages, Law Enforcement, Planetary Systems, Scholar, Streetwise, Survival, Tactics, Value, Willpower
Mechanical: Astrogation, Beast Riding, Capital Ship Gunnery, Capital Ship Piloting, Capital Ship Shields, Communications, Ground Vehicle Operation, Repulsorlift Operation, Sensors, Space Transports, Starfighter Piloting, Starship Gunnery, Starship Shields
Perception: Bargain, Command, Con, Forgery, Gambling, Hide, Investigation, Persuasion, Search, Sneak
Strength: Brawling, Climbing/Jumping, Lifting, Stamina, Swimming
Technical: Armor Repair, Blaster Repair, Capital Ship Repair, Capital Ship Weapon Repair, Computer Programming/Repair, Demolitions, Droid Programming, Droid Repair, First Aid, Ground Vehicle Repair, Security, Space Transports Repair, Starfighter Repair, Starship Weapon Repair
This Nosaurian is a space transport pilot, so I'll divvy out his Mechanical skills first. Space Transportsfor steering freighters and shuttles in risky maneuvers, Astrogation to calculate hyperspace routes on nav comps. 1D in each of those will boost them up to 5D. He'll have a solid 5 dice when making Mechanical rolls concerning astrogation and transport piloting, so Difficult challenges shouldn't be so hard. Sensors and Starship Shields are useful, as would Starship Gunnery, but I'll leave off that last one for the players to handle, they'll have more fun with shooting down pirates than directing deflector quadrants.
So 3D left for skills in the other 5 Attributes. Bureaucracy is a Knowledge skill for dealing with government administrations and procedures, and this pilot will need to deal with port authorities a lot, so that skill goes to 4D+1. If he wanted to know more about how police and security agents operate, that'd be Law Enforcement. I expect the ship's minor systems to fry in short scuffles, so someone with a decent Space Transport Repair skill will be needed. 4D is good for this drop-off mission, but they'll need a dedicated ship technician if the player team gets involved in space combat in later adventures.
I'll use the last 1D to put Dodge to 3D+2. Dodge is your 'preemptive hitting the deck' skill when avoiding ranged attacks. It replaces the range difficulty your enemy needs to hit you and uses your Dodge roll. This means you'll want to dodge at close range and think twice before dodging at long rages; if a soldier needs a 16 to hit you and only rolls a 15, he'll miss, but if you roll a 14 to Dodge, that becomes a hit (you may have weaved into the path of his shot when ducking would have been better).
Type: Transport Pilot
Gender/Species: Male/Nosaurian
Age: 34 Height: 1.3 meters Weight: 76 kg
Dexterity 2D+2 2D+2
Dodge 3D+2
Knowledge 3D+1
Bureaucracy 4D+1
Mechanical 4D
Astrogation 5D
Sensors 5D
Space Transports 5D
Starship Shields 5D
Perception 2D+2
Strength 2D+1
Technical 3D
Space Transport Repair 4D
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Special Abilities:
Endurance: +1D bonus to Climbing and Stamina rolls.
Horns: Cause STR+2 damage.
Phosphorescent Mouths: Projects a dim light (-2D), 4 meter range.
Story Factors:
Singing Down The Sun: Easy Willpower roll to resist urge to shout at sunset.
Force, Character, and Dark Side Points:
Character Points also can be used to boost a dice roll by adding one extra dice. Any time you think you didn't roll well enough, spend one to boost an important roll. You can spend up to two points on one skill roll (up to five to Strength when resisting damage, and five to any Dodge & Parry skills), but you'll only have 5 to start so watch out. They're treated as Wild Die, which I'll explain.
In a dire situation, you can instead spend your Force Point, which will double all rolls in the round. This is a matter of 'giving everything you got', not out of any special attunement to the Force but just by being the special & unique person you are. Our pilot's Dodge would become 6D+4 on his whole turn, which is useful for taking multiple actions per round. You suffer -1D to rolls when making two rolls in one round, -2D for three, etc. The pilot could make four separate Dodges at 3D+4 if he needed (at least I think he can dodge four times in a round, as long as they're different kinds/direction. I'll look into that).
The thing is, earning new Force Points or Dark Side Points depends on the nature of the actions. You'll basically only earn an FP back if you spent it on a selfless or noble action, and earn two if you heroically save the day, like prevent the death of lots of innocents or stop a city from being bombed. Spending it on a Gambling roll or throwing back a grenade to save yourself is not noble. I'll tell you straight up: if the situation arose in this adventure where your party was in peril and you spent a Force Point to save them from imminent death, you'll *likely* get the point back. I won't whisper 'use the Force, stupid!' but I'll spell out doom the moment it happens. An outright heroic deed will not come up on this mission; you can be the good guy and rescue your team but your unsavory boss is not sending you to do anything heroic.
Spending a Force Point on a vengeful, cruel, outright evil action will instead earn you a Dark Side point. These are normally useless (though the GM can give opportunites to use them), and accumulating them brings you down the road to villainy. You can do selfless acts to get rid of Dark Side Points at the GM's discretion if you wish to attone. Earning one isn't a big deal, having two or three is risky, and by the time you get five or six you might be moved from anti-hero PC to NPC bad guy.
Here's where the force really comes into play: if you chose to be force-sensitive you start with 2 Force Points. In addition, all the rules about earning Dark Side points come into play at all times. Just as you affect the Force, the Force affects you, and the Dark Side will be in touch with you whenever you call upon hate and anger. There's a pretty big level or karma behind force sensitivity and you can be sure I'll be playing it up.
As a NPC, I don't really need to list a background or personality for him, or provide a physical description until he shows up in the game, so all that's left is equipment.
This is kind of up in the air as I definitely can't list everything. You'll have to think of stuff you'd want and I'll look for it and make suggestions. I'm thinking of 5000 credits as starting money, in the form of common Imperial/IGB coinage or credit sticks & vouchers. The pilot will get fairly standard pilot equipment for now: a flightsuit, datapad, comlink, blaster pistol, and 200 credits.
Here's the basic stats for a typical blaster pistol:
Skill: Blaster
Ammo: 100
Cost: 450 (power packs: 25)
Fire Rate: 1
Range: 3-10/25/100
Damage: 4D
Fire rate is the number of times it can fire in one round: even if you take two actions in a round (at -1D penalty) this gun can only fire once until your next turn.
Range lists the distances in meters the gun can shoot at Easy, Moderate, and Difficult rolls, respectively. Under 3m would be Point-Blank at Very Easy, while over the max range (100m for this gun) is impossible.
One last thing for this post will be wounds. Again, I'll post this whenever someone takes a shot at someone else.
0-3: Stunned (-1D to all skill & attribute rolls for the rest of the round)
4-8: Wounded (No actions for the rest of the round, -1D to rolls until healed)
9-12: Incapacitated (knocked out for 10D minutes; no actions until healed)
13:15: Mortally Wounded (you will die within a few rounds uless healed)
16+: Killed (You are dead)
Stuns will leave you 'under the affect' for 30 minutes or until 1 minute of rest. If you are under the affect of as many stuns as you have number of Strength dice, you fall Unconscious for 2D minutes until revived (Easy First Aid roll)
When Wounded a second time, you become Wounded Twice. It's the same as Wounded but -2D.
If you are wounded a third time, you become Incapacitated. If you are Wounded or Incapacitated again while Incapacitated, you become Mortally Wounded. Another Incapacitated or Mortally Wounded result while Mortally Wounded results in death.
Combat is kind of deadly, so be sure to look out for cover to hide behind and know when to use Character points.
I'll also be providing pre-made character templates in the next couple days, for anyone who wants a place to start.
I was reading through the gamemaster chapters when I realized I still had the majority of the rules devoted to memory, save the vehicle damage charts.
I want to get in on this. I'll find the books, somehow.
I can has cheezburger, yes?
Anywhere near Iowa by any chance?
I can has cheezburger, yes?
EDIT: I'm thinking about going Duros, but I haven't decided what sort of character I want to be yet. I'm thinking spacer/scoundrel. Also I don't have the book, so I may need a little help. All this is assuming that there is still room in the game.
Depending on how well I expect this daily system of 'we can expect the game to move one important step forward every midnight' works, I could take 6.
I've also got three pre-made characters I could post by tonight, for use or as examples. They have everything ready to go except physical descriptions and skills picked out (they each have 16 listed but no extra skill dice allocated). Strangely all their backgrounds ended up making them cultural misfits and exiles of their homeworlds; dunno if that was coincidence or exemplary of the kind of characters I'd like to see.
It's fine, first of all. I think it's more than enough character info to start with, and it covers possible character connections and motivations for him already, which I think everyone should consider as their playing the game. Nothing sounds far-fetched or over the top for El skid's as to require rationalization, so I'd suggest when you post your character in the thread it can be trimmed down to just the the main points, letting the events in his life speak for themselves. I'd post it sooner than later, it can give everyone else interested something to discuss and a point of reference to plan their own characters. We can figure out his stats later.
In the meantime, it sounds like he'd have high natural Perception and Knowledge (3D+2 to 4D), and you can afford to pull 4-5 pips out of the other 4 Attributes and still be good at specifically-trained skills like Blaster, Space Transports or Blaster Repair. A good character-creation strategy is having high attributes in fields you want to be good at for all sorts of skills.
If you want to naturally have a knack for picking up languages, knowing how to survive, how to plan a battle, and be educated about cultures, aliens, planets, and businesses in general, a high Knowledge attribute is a better bet than devoting 6-7 skills to Knowledge skills; if all you want from Knowledge is a good Streetwise and Planetary Systems dice code, you can leave Knowledge fairly low and just pump up a couple choice skills. It provides some good flexibility and believable character strengths/weaknesses.
You can also do both and be both good at all Knowledge checks and really good at several specific skills. Investigation, Intimidation, and Search are always good for bounty hunters. Persuasion is a good all-around Perception skill for convicing people to get your way; Bargain and Bribery involve money and Con involves trickery, but Persuasion can cover borderline situations ("I'm sure you'll be well compensated for your assistance", "would I send you straight into danger?")
I've updated my rules posts about Points a bit. You gotta do something wicked in the classic 'good vs evil' sense to earn Dark Side points. Each time you get one I roll a dice and see if it's less than the total points you got so far. If you're not force-sensitive then being a bastard only puts bad karma on you if you're 'giving everything you got' to be a bastard. It also means I'm not going to goad you into earning more, so don't try to become a Jedi if you're a pushover. :P
Name: Mons Jiru
Type: Bounty Hunter
Gender/Species: Male/Human
Age: 34 Height: 5'11 Weight: 190 lbs
Dexterity 3D+1
-Dodge 4D+1
-Blaster4D+1
Knowledge 3D+2
-streetwise 4D+2
Mechanical 2D
-pilot transport 3D
Perception 4D
-Investigation 5D
-Persuasion 6D
Strength 3D
-Brawling 4D
Technical 2D
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: yes
Force Points: 2
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Equipment:
Bounty Hunter Armour (+2D/+1D physical/energy) 3500 credits total
- built in comlink: 100
- Air supply: 300
- Brawling spikes: 100
- External holster: 400
- Built in datapad in arm: 100(?)
Heavy Blaster(5D):750
2x power pack: 50
Medpack: 100
2x gas grenades (5D stun)- 500
100 credits remaining.
Backstory:
30 years later, he has graduated from con man to "collection agent" for the hutts to full-fledged bounty hunter under the name assumed name 'Jaedan'. He has taken great pains to keep his real identity secret, and while in his bounty hunter guise keeps his face and body covered at all times such that his species is not known for certain).
His current home is on Ylesia, where he stays with his girlfriend Nassar when he's not engaged on a bounty. She is one of the very few who know his true identity.
I've left the last bits open to facilitate integration into the party. 'Retirement' from bounty hunting is definitely an option, especially if anything unfortunate should happen to Nassar by someone who has managed to find out his identity and taken exception to one of his bounty collections. If any of the party happened to want to play the love interest and hook Mons into the story, that would work well too.
Personality:
He's now at a point in his life where he can choose what bounties to follow, and has made a good living going after dangerous psychopaths and others who he can convince himself need to be taken out for the greater good. Whether he has to kill them himself or bring them back to face the music (and likely be killed for his employers' benefit and/or amusement), he feels he's improving the galaxy a little while making a decent living for himself.
General abilities/aptitudes/skills
He's probably got a hefty dose of combat experience (people don't generally want to come along quietly when people have had to spend alot of money to track them down), and is quite perceptive- being able to read people or recognize an ambush would have been necessary to get him this far.
I've not decided whether to make him force sensitive or not- seems like it adds quite a lot of overhead to determining a character's actions (dark side points, what?), so I'll think on that.
Edit- Added stats and some skills I might want to take (haven't allocated points yet)
For now I'm just getting the ball rolling, measure interest and give people time to think about what they'll play and when. Hell, I haven't even posted the pre-made characters I promised or a full skill list.
But for the record, the three corresponding starship piloting/repair skills are:
Capital Ship piloting/repair
Space Transports piloting/repair
Starfighter piloting/repair
'Space transports' covers all freighters, shuttles, and scout craft that fall between the other categories; they aren't really big & powerful or really small and fast.
Otner Long
Type: Outlaw
Gender/Species: Male/Human
Age/Height/Weight: 29 / 6' 1" / 185 lbs
Stats:
-Dodge 5D
-Blaster 5D
-Melee Combat 5D
Knowledge 2D
-Law Enforcement 3D
-Willpower 3D
Mechanical 3D
Perception 2D
-Hide 3D
Strength 3D
Technical 4D
-Demolitions 5D
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Background:
He saved as much money as he could while working as a mercenary, and uses what little he has to stage one-man strikes against the Empire. He destroys factories, weapons depots, ships, fighters, anything that he can attach a bomb to.
Branded a terrorist by the Empire, Otner considers himself a liberator. Aligned only with himself, he isn't particularly well-liked by the Alliance either. Although they've tolerated his actions so far, his unpredictability and violent methods are frowned upon, and he's just one wrong move from being on their wanted list as well.
Personality:
Just getting the brainstorming going. I have other ideas if this doesn't mesh well with the other characters.
Okay, finally I've got those pre-gens here to put up. They've got 16 skills listed to chose 8 from, for a well-rounded character that compliments the others rather distinctly. Anyone can take one, alter it a bit and fill out the physical description, or use it as a basis for their own character.
Chen Kalmurra
Type: Mercenary
Gender/Species: Male/Human
Age: 27 Height: 1.9 meters Weight: 82 kg
Physical Description:
Blaster
Brawling Parry
Dodge
Grenade
Knowledge 3D
Intimidation
Law Enforcement
Streetwise
Mechanical 2D+1
Repulsorlift Operation
Starship Gunnery
Perception 3D
Investigation
Search
Strength 3D+2
Brawling
Climbing/Jumping
Stamina
Technical 2D+1
Armor Repair
First Aid
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Equipment: Heavy Blaster Carbine (5D+1), Combat Suit (+1D+1 physical, +2 Energy), Night Vision Visor (+2D in low-light conditions) Breath Mask, Comlink, Fragmentation Grenade x4 (5D/4D/3D/2D), Blaster Power Pack x2, Medpac x2, Bandolier, 400 Credits
Background: Raised on Abregado-rae with the hope of to becoming a security agent, he eventually left dissatisfied, he now searches for greater opportunity in the galaxy, so far serving as a soldier-for-hire.
Personality: Calm and no-nonsense, he is a man of action who likes to be the one who asks the questions and get to the heart of the issue. He has little patience for idleness or unprofessionalism.
Frrlld Jynwln
Type: Outlaw Slicer
Gender/Species: Female/Nazzar
Age: 37 Height: 1.8 meters Weight: 70 kg
Physical Description:
Blaster
Dodge
Running
Knowledge 3D+2
Business
Languages
Survival
Willpower
Mechanical 1D+1
Communications
Perception 3D
Con
Forgery
Persuasion
Sneak
Strength 3D+1
Technical 3D+2
Computer Programming/repair
Demolitions
Droid Programming
Security
Story Factors:
Fanaticism: Nazzar are fiercely loyal to anyone and anything they have made any form of vow of friendship or allegiance.
Move: 12
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Equipment: Blaster Rifle (5D, one round of aiming adds +1D to blaster), Sporting Blaster (3D+2), Blast Vest (+1D physical, +1 energy), Macrobinoculars (+2D to search, 50-300 meters), Tool Harness (with Hydrospanner, Fusion Cutter, Power Prybar, Worklight), Droid Toolkit, Computer Toolkit, Security Systems Toolkit, Medpac, 2,500 credits
Background: She was exiled from her homeworld upon adulthood for her disregard for Nazzar social values (as well electronic privacy). She has since associated herself with the fringe elements of galactic society, where her data-slicing skills are measured as valuable.
Personality: A misfit at best and a narcissist at worst, she becomes argumentative with authority, reserving respect only to those who appreciate her talents and points of view.
Name: Nybalt
Type: Gun Runner
Gender/Species: Male/Sarkan
Age: 33 Height: 2.1 meters Weight: 106 kg
Physical Description:
Blaster
Dodge
Melee Combat
Melee Parry
Knowledge 3D
Cultures
Planetary Systems
Value
Mechanical 3D
Beast Riding
Perception 4D
Bargain
Command
Gambling
Hide
Strength 4D
Brawling
Stamina
Swimming
Stamina
Technical 1D+2
Special Abilities:
Night Vision: No penalty in darkness
Cold Blooded: -3D to die codes in freezing temperatures, can die within half an hour.
Move: 7
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Equipment: Armorweave Suit (+1D physical & energy), Blaster Pistol (4D), Boot Knife (STR+2), Vibroblade (STR+2D+1, Max 6D), Comlink, Datapad, Recording Rod, Wrist Comp, 2,900 Credits
Background: Fybalt developed his skills as a supported of the Sarkan cultural revolution, engaging in a propaganda campaign against established customs & strict code of conduct. When his superiors were found and arrested, he fled off-world and found employ with smugglers and black market dealers.
Personality: He projects a very outgoing yet skittish nature; in truth he is very shrewd and observant of others, taking note of their behavior and waiting for the right opportunities to gain the upper hand.
Back to the drawing board. I think something other than human might be good. Ooh, just came to me:
Cal Ar'Dinnon
Male Kaleesh
Outlaw Gladiator
Background:
Since his escape from Nar Kreeta he has spent his time working as a hired gun, avoiding recapture and waiting for his chance to return and destroy the Hutts that enslaved him. He prefers to work jobs that take him out of Hutt Space, though he does return from time to time to reassess the strength of his adversaries.
Personality:
I don't know if you have stats for that race, or if they're allowed. They were around in the time of the Empire, I know that much. If that's a no-go I'd be fine with a similar non-human race.
Now you gotta make me go look over his species' Wookieepedia entry and make race statistics like I promised. :P
EDIT: Even more coincidentally, the location of the sector I've made/am using for this adventure is not terribly far from Kalee, roughly between it and Ord Mantell. Whether or not you've chosen to have him actually born and raised on the homeworld is another matter.
Decided to be force sensitive... seems like it adds more meaning to a character's choices.
So I guess I have a pretty good social character who can hold his own in a fight. Good at finding people and information, not much to write home about on the technical side. I'm pretty happy with him as-is... Of course feel free to step in with any additional advise
I'll have to look up Duros' stats, but I don't think they have any special abilities or considerably high or low mix/max Attributes. They do get a starting character bonus to starship Mechanical skills, I believe.
Looks like a solid arrangement. Just mark your move rating as 10 (default Human speed), and get those blasted Imperial measurements out of your height measurement, we don't use feet around here. :P
Ahaha... funny you should say that- I went by the sample character, going so far to ask the internets how to translate from normal measurements to that metric stuff. I'll go change that back now :P
That's at least what I've been using. At least I think I have.
I'm definitely still looking for as much input and D6 discussion possible at this point, as technically this is still the D6 discussion thread and not yet converted to the game thread.
Duros Male
Age: 22 Height: 180 cm Weight: 86 kg
Attribute Dice: 18D
Dexterity 3D
Blaster: Blaster Pistol 4D
Knowledge 4D
Scholar: Mathematics 5D
Mechanical 3D
Astrogation 4D
Space Transports 4D
Perception 4D
Bargain 4D+2
Con 4D+1
Gambling 6D
Persuasion 5D
Strength 2D
Technical 2D
Equipent:
-Blaster Pistol
BlasTech DL-16b Blaster Pistol
Skill: Blaster
Ammo: 100
Cost: 450 (power packs: 25)
Fire Rate: 1
Range: 3-10/25/100
Damage: 4D
-Comlink
-Datapad
-Flask of Duresian whiskey
-3500 Credits
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
I assumed no racial bonuses/penalties, let me know if there actually are any and I'll change. Also, let me know if you see anything else that appears out of order.
I also noticed that El Skid and I both have pretty high persuasion. If this is not good then I can change mine and grab another skill.
I'll have the character details up when i get home from work at midnight-ish tonight.
Duros
KNO 1D+1 2D+2
MEC 2D/4D+2
PER 1D/3D
STR 1D/3D
TEC 1D+2/4D
Move: 10
They do however get 2D in starship-related Mechanical skills for the cost of 1D each.
Kaleesh
KNO 2D 2D+2
MEC 2D/3D+1
PER 1D+1/3D+1
STR 2D+2/4D
TEC 1D+2/4D
Special Abilities:
Claws: STR+1D damage.
Sacred Warfare: At character creation only, the character gets 2D for every 1D placed in Firearms and Melee Combat, and Thrown Weapons.
Move: 10
Also, a list of almost all the skills:
Knowledge: Alien Species, Bureaucracy, Business, Cultures, Intimidation, Languages, Law Enforcement, Planetary Systems, Scholar, Streetwise, Survival, Tactics, Value, Willpower
Mechanical: Astrogation, Beast Riding, Capital Ship Gunnery, Capital Ship Piloting, Capital Ship Shields, Communications, Ground Vehicle Operation, Repulsorlift Operation, Sensors, Space Transports, Starfighter Piloting, Starship Gunnery, Starship Shields
Perception: Bargain, Command, Con, Forgery, Gambling, Hide, Investigation, Persuasion, Search, Sneak
Strength: Brawling, Climbing/Jumping, Lifting, Stamina, Swimming
Technical: Armor Repair, Blaster Repair, Capital Ship Repair, Capital Ship Weapon Repair, Computer Programming/Repair, Demolitions, Droid Programming, Droid Repair, First Aid, Ground Vehicle Repair, Security, Space Transports Repair, Starfighter Repair, Starship Weapon Repair
Moose Dorno
Type: Spacer/Scoundrel
Duros Male
Age: 22 Height: 180 cm Weight: 86 kg
Stats:
-Melee Combat: Knives 5D
-Pickpocket: 5D
Knowledge 2D+2
-Scholar: Mathematics 4D+2
Mechanical 4D+1
-Astrogation 6D+1
-Space Transports 6D+1
Perception 3D
-Gambling 5D
-Persuasion 4D
Strength 2D
Technical 2D
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
--Damage: STR+1D
-Blaster Pistol
--Ammo: 100
--Fire Rate: 1
--Range: 3-10/25/100
--Damage: 4D
-Comlink
-Datapad
-Flask of Duresian whiskey
-3500 Credits
After several years he had worked on many different starships for many different masters, and because of his work had gained much in the way of manual dexterity and skills with a knife. He also seemed to have a knack for the arts of astrogation and starship piloting. He began to take co-pilot jobs and honed his skills as a spacer like any true Duros. Because of his vices, and the debts incurred in their pursuit, he often found himself working with mercenaries and outlaws. To avoid paying a rather large sum of credits that he owed to a rather large sum of gangsters he left his ship and joined up with a new crew of mercenaries. The pilot of his new ship was named Stemla Knucklenob.
I might tweak things a bit if I come up with anything, but this is pretty much the final version.
Nefff, your skill dice are split up screwy. For one thing you're using specializations, which is acceptible, although I'd like to deemphasize them for character creation (each skill is split up differently and would take too long to list, putting people without the book at a disadvantage).
The real shortfall is you've got 1D split into 1 point one Dex skill and 2 for a Dex Specialization. I don't think the rules let less than 1D put into a skill at the start (at least it seems to never suggest it, and I don't know the purpose but I'm sticking to it), but you definitely shouldn't be mixing dice among skill and skill specializations. You've probably gone and confused the other players. :P
I'd suggest this:
-Melee Combat: Knives 5D
-Pickpocket: 5D
And then you have another D to put into skills.
Male Kaleesh
Outlaw Gladiator
Age/Height/Weight: 23 / 1.9m / 86kg
Stats:
-Blaster 5D
-Dodge 5D
-Melee Combat 6D
-Melee Parry 5D
Knowledge - 2D
Mechanical - 2D
Perception - 3D
Strength - 4D
-Brawling 5D
-Stamina 5D
Technical - 3D
-Armor Repair 4D
-First Aid 4D
Special Abilities:
Claws: STR+1D damage.
Sacred Warfare: At character creation only, the character gets 2D for every 1D placed in Firearms and Melee Combat, and Thrown Weapons.
Move: 10
Force Sensitive: No
Force Points: 1
Dark Side Points: 0
Character Points: 5
Background:
Since his escape from Nar Kreeta he has spent his time working as a hired gun, avoiding recapture and waiting for his chance to return and destroy the Hutts that enslaved him. He prefers to work jobs that take him out of Hutt Space, though he does return from time to time to reassess the strength of his adversaries.
Personality:
Physical Appearance: