What's Your Favorite System for Star Wars

[aramis erak]

For those who prefer 1st edition WEG versus later editions, has anyone houseruled any way to raise attribute points?

Long ago, before 2E, I required 10×(#d) XP and 1 FP, per pip.

 

[Longspeak]

I was interested in @Longspeak's OtE and DitV variants. Both those systems are more my style.

I'll see if I can dig up the old docs, but here's what I recall...

For Over the Edge, I just wanted fast and easy rules. Nothing fancy in the hack. I used the core trait system. with a few bits I borrows from WEG. I permit a PC to have a central trait which describes a Jedi or similar, or a side trait that describes more limited force sensitiviy. Or neither if they wanna play a non Jedi.

I then added a Trait for Species or Origin. Instead of dice, this gave three keywords, which could be invoked in play once per session each for a free bonus die. To invoke it, you have to be doing something in the narrative that supports it. Like a Wookie might be "Strong" so a player could invoke that when doing something physical, but not when repairing a jammed comm circuit.

I refused to make standardized lists; I asked players to tell me their inspirations.

Then everyone gets a Force Pool and a Dark Side Pool. These work very similar to the 1e WEG. Force Pool lets you call on inner reserves for nice bonuses, and refreshes conditionally. Dark Side accumulates when anyone does anything evil, or when a Force User does anything which can be construed as giving in to their emotions. OR for using the Dark Side Pool. Usually a player gets a warning for behavior, a chance to restate the action. But not when using Dark Side in the action.

Any character could use their Dark Side Pool to get free dice. Any time. As often as they like. Go on... use them... it's so easy...

Every time your character gets a Dark Side point invokes a scene where you might turn. When you do, suddenly I'm killing your PC's friends while you make a new character. (In WEG it's a die roll. In this it's drama). The more points you have, the harder it is to resist. At 6 points, the scene is a mere formality to see how you turn, not if.


In Dogs, I wanted to explore the relationship to the Force and the lure of the Dark Side, so I got a little more in depth.

First, the backgrounds in Dogs determines what assortment of dice you have for Attributes, Traits, and Relationships. To this I added that some backgrounds were "Force-Using" backgrounds, indicating a Force-Using character. They got fewer attributes, more traits, and a few more relationship dice, in general, that their non-Force Using counterparts.

I renamed the attributes (I'm not at home, so I don't recall the exact names), and gave slight redefinitions. Nothing major here.

Traits worked the same, save that a Force-Using background needed to have at least one "I use the Force to..." Trait. You wanna be a Jedi? Probably most of your Trait dice go to traits like this.

Relationships also worked the same, save that everybody had a 1d6 relationship to The Force. You could spend dice here to change that, but the default is always there. Anyone with a Force-Using background would always roll that trait in any conflict. Your relationship to the force is always at stake. Other characters could choose to roll it any time for the extra die.

Anytime a PCs relationship to the Force is at stake, your actions are under additional scrutiny. If you act with too much passion, or too evil, the Raise accrues immediate Fallout. I generally let a player know and give them a chance to redo. Players can also call it out if they see it.

If your Raise is called out as Dark, you immediately took fallout of two dice (of the same type as the current level of conflict). There's a separate table and there's no good result. The best result possible is "2-7: We'll let it slide... this time." Higher results would affect the number or type of dice in your Force Relationship, possibly damage other force traits (lowering die type or number of dice), add dice in a conflict the GM could use to complcate matters, and finally, potentially turn your character.

AND... that fallout total remains until to have a conflict to purge it. If you have further fallout, you add those dice to the previous total before consulting the table. You keep doing this until a successful conflict vs the generic obstable (4d6+4d10), but we also include all the Dark Fallout Rolls you've made since the last time you meditated.

This got complicated, but had some fun results.

 

[slipshot762]

Are there any good hacks for D6 to make combat flow faster? The way attacking and dodging are separate actions feels like a bit of needless complexity.

Hello. I find that one answer here can be found in the D6 Fantasy/Adventure/Space books that came later; the die-code simplification chart in the back of these books allow you to roll either 5D plus a number based on actual skill code or even 1D plus a number if you prefer.

Another option is one defensive roll that stands for the entire round or encounter vs that type of attack (ranged, melee, thrown etc) only re-rolling when something changes like being injured or moving more than a half-move or so.

Yet another option from (I think) D6 masterbook is to allow a static number for defense/resist = to 3 points per die, so 5D dodge becomes a static 15 for example.

As to parts of the game I've felt needed reworked badly, one was force mechanics. I for example always ruled a force point doesn't double dice pools but gives you the max you could have rolled (except wild die, still roll that).

I also made force powers be skills under perception which require a force point to activate, and made force points work like mana, your max being equal to the number of force skill dice or perception dice for non-force sensitives, allowing them to partially regenerate (1 per die of perception) between encounters. (a pre-statted jedi's total number of control-sense-alter dice would be re-assigned to his force skills under perception as increases above baseline attribute)

I also tossed most force-power activation rolls, just spend the point to telekines the can of vienna sausage off the table and into your hand, we only need a skill roll if you are levitating an or pushing darth vaders chest buttons.

The D6 Fantasy/Adventure/Space method of strength damage die code being half of the attribute, coupled with the "hard mode" version of damage resist from the same books is also advisable to avoid bulletproof or chainsaw wookie problem that can pop up under 2e reup rules as written. (hard mode is there is no resist roll beyond armor or shields, one can buy dice with character points or must spend force point to roll normal strength/physique/vitality/whatever.)

Beyond that I always made shields skill and dice function like a parry roll, making shields very valuable and making "their shields are down!" a very climactic moment. Thus shields stop attacks and bolster resist if a shot penetrates until they go down. Suddenly even 1D in shields is not so anemic.
ETA: against ions do the same but don't add shield dice to resist damage, they are only counted for the parry portion.

I would also recommend putting a "frigate" and "dreadnought" step in the scale system below and above capitol, as well as merging starfighter/walker into the same scale step, but that is just my own preference/bias.

ETA#2: Stun damage, rather than used as written I always had it function like normal damage but be non-lethal, stuns and wounds results are stuns essentially, incap or better is non-lethal knock-out/shutdown. Unless I misremember you can only suffer a number of stuns equal to strength before being knocked out anyway.

ETA#3: Somewhere out there on the net is the "dueling blades" chart from an article in D6 magazine or a D6 pirates game or something, I also highly recommend using that chart for melee/jedi, better cinematic feel imho.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Honestly, next time I want a break from working on my own game, rather than homebrew more warlords or assassins or whatever, I think I’ll start working on a Saga.5e version of Saga Edition.

the conversions I’ve seen are too “5e with saga dressing” for me, and I’d rather see Saga with 5e improvements.

Insert BA, consolidate a lot of feats and talents, front load 1st level a bit more, decrease the endless prerequisites, and work out a chart for NPC numbers by CL. That’s...90% of what the system needs. The rest is tuning, “errata”, little bits of streamlining complexities that are needless vestiges of Revised Core Rules or overcorrections from them.

Class becomes nothing more than a starting package, at that point, which is how I want it.

Gah! Back burner! Too many pots, not enough spoons!

 

[Manbearcat]

1a) Strike! with the Vehicles Supplement

1b) Scum and Villainy (Forged in the Dark hack)

Some overlap but very divergent where it counts.

 

[atanakar]

After trying them all, I just bought the d6 WEG 30th edition reprint. I used to own it way back when. It's the edition I like best. SAGA is my prefered WoTC edition. Didn't like FFG's version. The icon dice ruin it for me and the background system interferes too much in the narrative for my taste.