Combat Balance in d20 Star Wars

[Lord Pendragon]

For those of you who have a lot of experience with d20 Star Wars, how is the balance between Jedi and non-Jedi characters? Is it feasible to have a combat-oriented game that contains a mixture of Jedi and non-Jedi, or will the Jedi always outshine the non-Jedi in a combat-oriented game?

 

[Victim]

Generally, combat ability goes something like Jedi > Soldiers > other. We house ruled force adept extensively; when multiclassed with soldier, they were about as effective as Jedi. Unfornately, Soldiers get enough skillpoints and stuff like computers to make them no slouches outside combat while Jedi get decent skills and their Order. The classes that are best at combat don't trade off much noncombat ability for a rather decisive advantage in combat.

 

[Thanee]

Jedi (Guardians) outshine all the others in close combat, but that's how it should be, really. It's not as bad as in the movies.

Bye
Thanee

 

[humble minion]

Jedi, especially Guardians, are by far the most powerful combat class in a straight fight. A well-equipped soldier can hold his own (jetpack, repeater blasters, Multishot and Heroic Surge are the keys here), but if it comes down to one-on-one he won't last long. A lot will depend on the environment and the opponents. Soldiers (with automatic ranged weapons, heavy firepower, grenades, etc) will generally find large numbers of battledroids or other mooks easy to manage, especially when he's got decent fields of fire to play with, while a Jedi is be better against a small number of powerful opponents in close quarters.

The other big differential is that Jedi (or Sith...) are very hard to take down because they have access to the various Lightsaber Defense feats, and low Defense values all round are a hallmark of d20 SW. To Hit bonuses outpace Defense scores very, very quickly and there simply isn't any reliable way of beefing up your soldier character defensively, other than blowing two feats for Defensive Martial Arts. Armour, since it only works against WP damage and is useless against lightsabers, is generally only useful to make your cannon fodder a little more survivable.

 

[billd91]

I've played a soldier in Living Force and haven't had any trouble holding my own against Jedi. You just have to shoot them down before they get in close where they do (and should) rule. And one thing that tends to keep Jedi more manageable is using vitality points for their force powers. If you get into a fight with them, they're already generally a bit lower on the VP scale and whittle down a bit quicker.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Pretty much what's been said already. Jedi Guardians are strong in melee(obviously), but they have a way of losing VP quickly if you can keep the fight going for a while. Soldiers can be just as good depending on Feat choices.

Its not like the old WEG d6 game where Jedi are simply on a completely different scale than everyone else.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

Classes

We have played Star Wars a couple of times. I was thinking about changing some of the classes around. Giving Sneak Attack back to scoundrels, allowing the Noble to use his 1st edition Inspire ability at 17th level (since it is of a more epic scale than the Revised Edition abilities), taking Jury Rig away from the Fringer and giving it to the Technical Specialist where it belongs (I thought about giving the Fringer some Tough/Dedicated class abilities like Intuition and Energy Resistance Talents in their place, makes them seem more like survivors). This means than Anakin is a 1st level Technical Specialist instead of Fringer.

I also want to bring back the Defense bonus from Armor from 1st edition. They won't stack with Class Defense bonuses (the Equipment bonus takes precedence) unless the character is a Soldier of 3rd level or higher or a Thug (the Armor Compatibility class feature from Wheel of Time) and give Soldiers +1 wound point at 2nd, 5th, 11th, 17th, and 20th level (just like the Strong Hero/Soldier from the Shadowchasers Minigame).