PC Survival in Star Wars

[Kaffis]

I don't think it is a feature. In that fight, PCs were tagged by blaster fire five times. That's a lot of blood for a Star Wars battle. My character was supposed to get a quick scoundrel, and got nailed, three times. It does not seem to reflect the movies; those guys are tough, but first of all, most of them aren't first level, and second of all, every time someone in the movies gets hits, it's either a winging shot or it's a big deal. Saga rules turn characters into tanks, sort of a d20 version of the "blasterproof Wookiee" of d6 Star Wars.

If the PCs are so heroic, why are stormtroopers hitting them with every other shot?

They're not. Hit points are abstract. I tend to think of any damage threshold-breaching attack as something that actually connects solidly, otherwise, it's mostly whittling down the abstract portions of the HP total.

"Winging shots" aren't Leia at Endor -- that's a condition moving shot followed by a second wind at work.

 

[Skywalker]

1st level Scoundrel, Weapon Group Proficiency (advanced melee weapons), Sneak Attack, Dex 17, Str 16.

Given the "gun heavy" and "mobile" nature of SW combat and assuming that you rely only on melee weapons, it is going to be tough going for this PC. I wouldn't be surprised to see this PC on the deck quite a few times unless played carefully.

When outside of melee use all the cover you can and fight defensively for a +10 Ref Def bonus. Having the Acrobatics Skill as one of your trained skills will be of real benefit both for increasing your Ref Def for fighting defensively and tumbling through threatened areas.

Once in melee, you need to use the Bluff skill so you can get multiple uses of Sneak Attack during the combat.

The problems in SWSE you face are:

1. Having a melee weapon gives you only an advantage in up close fights with opponents with Rifles in SWSE. Pistols are pretty much like melee weapons in SWSE for all intents and purposes.

2. In SWSE, people don't start off flatfooted unless surprised, making sneak attack a tough one to pull off. As such, make sure you have Stealth trained to get this surprise as well as Bluff as feinting is easier now - see above).

3. It is much easier to disengage from melee in SWSE with the Withdraw action. As such, even if you get up close and personal most opponents can withdraw (no AoO) and then shoot you. The withdraw action will also make it hard for you to pull off a feint.

 

[Spatula]

Yeah, it sounds like your GM's dice hate you. Unless he's confusing the concealment and cover in regards to the Aim action (which negates concealment penalty, not cover bonus).

My copy says the Aim action negates cover bonuses.

 

[Skywalker]

My copy says the Aim action negates cover bonuses.

Mine too.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

Hmm. Unless i'm wrong, you would have to be spending Force points in these situations or die. There's no negative hit points. If you get hit for over your threshold limit and are sent to at least 0, you have to spend a FP to survive.

Yes. So far, I've spent every force point on not being dead when reduced to 0 (or fewer, that's what happens when the subtrahend -the amount of damage taken- is larger than the minuend -the amount of hit points I have-, you end up with a negative number) hit points.

I've spent eight of them this way.

Later
silver

 

[pawsplay]

Yeah, it sounds like your GM's dice hate you. Unless he's confusing the concealment and cover in regards to the Aim action (which negates concealment penalty, not cover bonus).

See, and here I was thinking it was because it was because the stormtroopers had the save to hit bonus and Reflexes as my Scoundrel.

 

[pawsplay]

Hmm. Unless i'm wrong, you would have to be spending Force points in these situations or die. There's no negative hit points. If you get hit for over your threshold limit and are sent to at least 0, you have to spend a FP to survive.

Yup, and that's what I did.

 

[pawsplay]

Given the "gun heavy" and "mobile" nature of SW combat and assuming that you rely only on melee weapons, it is going to be tough going for this PC. I wouldn't be surprised to see this PC on the deck quite a few times unless played carefully.

As nearly as I can tell, using a virboblade has every conceivable advantage over a ranged weapon. With my Str bonus, I do as much or more damage than most blasters. I don't have to worry about firing into melee. I can flank. And of course, it's useful for silent sneak attacks.

Plus, you know, I still had a 17 Dex and a blaster as a backup plan.

 

[Spatula]

As nearly as I can tell, using a virboblade has every conceivable advantage over a ranged weapon.

Except that you have to be out in the open to use it (barring Running Attack and favorable terrain). And low level characters won't survive long out in the open without armor and/or lots of hp.

 

[Skywalker]

As nearly as I can tell, using a virboblade has every conceivable advantage over a ranged weapon. With my Str bonus, I do as much or more damage than most blasters. I don't have to worry about firing into melee. I can flank. And of course, it's useful for silent sneak attacks.

Plus, you know, I still had a 17 Dex and a blaster as a backup plan.

BTW bonuses to damage mean a lot less in SWSE as weapons do so much damage anyway and everyone gets a bonus to damage from going up levels. As such, your Str bonus to damage is not that great an advantage.

Sneak Attack also is less effective in SWSE than in D&D as no one starts flat footed in SWSE unless they are surprised and the damage bonus isn't that big a deal. For example, you can take Rapid Shot and get 1d8 extra damage all the time for just -2 to hit.

Except that you have to be out in the open to use it (barring Running Attack and favorable terrain). And low level characters won't survive long out in the open without armor and/or lots of hp.

Yep.

- I can shoot someone with a blaster a number of times before they close with a vibroblade.

- I can also use a blaster to shoot and then get under cover.

As such, a vibroblade is may be as good as a blaster once you are in melee but up until that point it has several disadvantages under the SWSE system.

I would expect your PC to be on his back quite a bit unless you play it very carefully. Another option would be to go with armour and Soldier to give you the toughness to take a few hits before you close to melee.