Fantasy Flight Imports: Part 2- Marin and The Thranta

Another week, another conversion.  With the first character conversion from Saga Edition to Edge of the Empire out of the way, I'm able to move on from design theory and method explanation to a discussion of conversion on another character.  I'm going to try churning these out pretty quickly from here on, because my current game is sorta on hold until I complete these.


I was indirectly asked in a different board why I don't just wrap-up the current campaign and start a new one.  The simple reason is because it would be like wrapping up the Lord of the Rings just after the Battle of Helms Deep.  Or Star Wars just after The Empire Strikes Back.  The characters just turned a corner, and have a good 4-7 sessions left to get to a point where I could end the campaign on a good note.

So my work continues...

Marin Zycolik

Next up on the conversion list is Barret's business partner and pilot, Marin Zycolik.  Just like Barret,

Art by Phil Maiewski

I'll be building him on 300xp after starting character creation.  Let's see what we have to work with.

Marin Zycolik                                                    CL 10

Medium Human scout 5/scoundrel 2/gunslinger 2/vanguard 1

Destiny 4; Force 11

Init +9; Senses Perception +11

Languages Basic, Bocce, Durese, Sullustese

Defenses Ref 28 (flat-footed 24), Fort 27, Will 23; Vehicular Combat

hp 95; Threshold 27

Speed  6 squares

Melee  by weapon +7

Ranged targeting blaster rifle +13 (3d6+5) or

Ranged blaster pistol +11 (3d6+6)

Base Atk +7; Grp +11

Atk Options Deadeye, Extended Ambush, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Soften the Target

Special Actions Quick Draw, Shake it Off

Abilities Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 10

Special Qualities trusty sidearm +1

Talents Extended Ambush, Hyperspace Savant, Improved Stealth, Snap Shot, Soften the Target, Spacehound

Feats Deadeye, Force Sensitivity, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Shake it Off, Skill Focus (Pilot), Skill Training (Use the Force), Vehicular Combat, Weapon Focus (rifles), Weapon Proficiency (pistols, rifles, simple weapons)

Skills Climb +10, Endurance +12, Knowledge (galactic lore) +13, Knowledge (physical sciences) +13, Mechanics +13, Perception +11, Pilot +19, Stealth +14 (may reroll but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse), Survival +11, Treat Injury +6 (no penalty to heal self), Use the Force +10

Possessions blaster pistol, flight suit (+0 armor, +1 equipment), comlink, energy cell, glow rod, liquid cable dispenser, medpac, power pack, 2 rolls of mesh tape, security kit, tool kit, utility belt, targeting blaster rifle (tech specialist mod; +1 attack)

Marin was passed over for Jedi training as a youth, and instead found his way into the Republic Astrological Survey Team, and working with the Jedi Explorer Corps.  He's a wonder at the controls of the group's transport ship, a YT-1930 transport named The Thranta.  He's also a great shot with is slightly more "socially-acceptable" Targeting Blaster Rifle, as well as having a good amount of proficiency with stealth.

As we did with Barret, we start by looking at Marin's stats.  Ironically we're looking a lot like we did with Barret, except that I put Agility at 4 and Intellect at 3.  All other stats are at 2, because I've just burned 100 of his starting 110xp and can't afford to raise any more Characteristics.

My biggest conundrum was where to start Marin.  Explorer/Fringer fit.  Smuggler/Pilot fit.  Heck, even Bounty Hunter/Assassin fit.  After a long car ride and discussion with Marin's player, we decided that a split between Fringer and Assassin made the most sense.  Looking at the Career skill lists for Bounty Hunter and Explorer, and the Specialization skill lists for Assassin and Fringer, I decide to have Marin start in Assassin.  He's not really an assassin, more of a hunter and exploration party protector when on uncharted worlds.

Initial skill selections from Bounty Hunter are Athletics, Perception, Piloting-Space, and Ranged-Heavy.  From Assassin we'll put a point into Coordination and Stealth.  This covers Marin's athletic ability, his sneakiness, his piloting skill, and his rifle proficiency. I'm going to bypass Marin's bonus human skills for now.  I want to see where the rest of the character goes and fill in any holes.  I will put the last 10xp from character creation into Ranged-Heavy, bumping it up to 2.

Let's start spending XP.  I'm going to bump up Piloting-Space to Rank 3 for 25xp.  I'm also going to pick up a couple Knowledge Skills for Marin, those being Lore and Outer Rim for 10xp each.  That should cover Marin's Galactic Lore skill from Saga.  It won't cover much from the Core Worlds, but it will cover the Outer Rim and the Obscure, which fits why Marin had it in the first place.  I think at this point I'll declare one of his Human skills for Education, which will cover Physical Sciences but can also help him out in other areas.  Ironic, he loses something from Galactic Lore, but gains more than Physical Sciences gave him. 

I know I'm going to take Fringer which will cost 30xp thanks to it being Marin's second Tree from a different Career.  I'll buy up Marin's Astrogation skill at this time.  He's a good Astrogator, thanks to his Hyperspace Savant talent in Saga.  I might need the points elsewhere so I'll only buy it up to Rank 2 for 15xp, total.  I see Marin won't get access to Mechanics as a Career skill, so I'll make that the other Human skill.

Total Spent for Skills: 90xp

Moving on to Assassin Talents; I took this tree for it's great list of talents for a sniper build.  With Dead-Eye, Careful Aim, Extend Ambush, and a rifle that is designed to be used with an aim action this is where Marin's specialty in combat lies.  The first column in the Assassin tree is calling for Marin to dump XP into it.  Grit for 5xp is where we start, moving on to Precise Aim for 10xp.  Targeted Blow is great for Marin's Agility of 4; he'll be able to flip a Destiny Point to deal +4 damage with a successful attack.  I'll hold up there, even though going through Stalker will get him a second Precise Aim an a pair of Sniper Shot talents.  I do like Stalker though, with it's Boost die to Stealth and Coordination.  Fortunately, we can snag it back on Row 1 for 5xp.  I see that Quick Draw (a feat Marin had in Saga) is a short hop down from Dodge at 5xp, which is a nice defensive talent to have.  Plus, between Fringer and Assassin Marin could end up with 4 ranks in Dodge.  I'm also going to take Jump-Up, branching off from Precise Aim.  It's handy, allowing Marin to get up from a prone firing position quickly.  Looking in Fringer, it'll also allow him to bypass that same talent in a 20xp slot and get that much closer to a Dedication talent.

Total Spent in Assassin: 60xp

Time to move back over to Fringer (which I paid for back in the Skills area).  There's a great cluster of talents perfect for galactic travel and exploration.  We start with a rank of Galactic Mapper for 5xp, move down to a rank of Skilled Jockey for 10xp.  Now Marin's taking off a black Setback die from Astrogation and Piloting checks.  Master Starhopper at 15xp allows him to decrease the difficulty of Astrogation checks, which fits in nicely to replicate the Hyperspace Savant talent.  Now his Astrogation really could be as good as his piloting skills.  I like Defensive Driving, adding 1 Defense to a vehicle Marin pilots.  It's only 15xp, and is a good replicator for the defensive aspect of the Vehicular Combat feat.  

Moving on from there, Marin's a hardy individual.  The life of being a scout will do that.  I want to put some points into toughening up Marin, so I slide over a couple columns to take Rapid Recovery for 5xp, another rank of Grit for 10xp, a second rank of Rapid Recovery for 15xp, and move over from Grit to take a rank of Toughened.  Now Marin can take a little more damage, suffer a little more strain, and recover more strain after an encounter.

Total Spent in Fringer: 85xp

Last area of Marin's backstory is his connection to the Force.  He's not trained, not really.  At best he goes off hunches, sometimes weighing the outcome against what his gut is telling him.  He has learned to be better at going with his gut, thanks to Skill Training in Use the Force in Saga Edition.  We'll start with taking the Force Sensitive Exile specialization tree for 30xp (3rd Tree, and a Universal tree).  I like the look of Uncanny Reactions, and Uncanny Senses at 5xp each.  Ironically, going into Exile gets Marin access to a Talent that touches on his Survival skill training in Saga; Forager.  This talent will make it easier for Marin to scrounge food and water in the wilds, something that Survival allowed him to do.  It's a great fit.

Now, I like the idea of Marin having some Force ability, but have it be explained as a more passive, instinctive manifestation.  We have Marin take the Sense Force power for 10xp.  We then spend another 10xp to get the first Control Upgrade.  This will allow Marin to dedicate his one Force Rating die to a defensive ability; once per round he can upgrade the difficulty of an incoming attack.  It has been clarified that this upgrade works in vehicles as well as personal combat (unlike the Dodge talent), so this is another way for Marin to display his piloting ability.

Total Spent in Force Sensitive Exile: 65xp

Total Spent overall: 300xp

Equipment time!  Marin's got this hot Targeting Blaster Rifle.  In Saga Edition, this was a weapon that was a Licensed weapon, as opposed to a Blaster Rifle which is Restricted.  Base damage was that of a Blaster Pistol, but if you aimed with it the base damage went from 3d6 up to 3d8 (standard Blaster Rifle Damage).  I could just say "to hell with it, it's a Blaster Rifle" and call it a day, but I like where this is going so I'm going to work with it. I'll take the Blaster Rifle skill (Ranged-Heavy), Critical Rating (3), Range (Long), and Hardpoints (4).  I lower the base damage to that of a Blaster Pistol (6), and the Rarity to 4.  These weapons are supposed to be pretty sizable too, bigger than a Blaster Rifle, so the Encumbrance is 5.  It keeps the Stun-Setting quality, and gains the Cumbersome 2 quality (meaning you need a Brawn of 2 to use it without penalty).  

Here's where we work in the unique quality from Saga.  I'd thought about things like "when you take an Aim maneuver, you get an extra Boost die", but that would affect the ability to hit as well.  Successes equal damage, but the targeting rifle is supposed to hit harder when you aim, not be easier to hit with in the first place.  So I need a way to increase the damage when aiming and came up with this; when the character uses the Aim maneuver, the rifle gains the Pierce 3 quality for the next attack.  That effectively brings the base damage of the rifle back up to that of a Blaster Rifle.  I could also say that instead of Pierce 3, the rifle's base damage increases to 9, instead of 6.  Two ways of doing the same thing, really.  I just feel that gaining "Pierce 3" sounds cooler and conveys how deadly the rifle can be in the right hands.

I'm tempted to dial it back so that to gain the Pierce 3 quality you need to have used 2 consecutive Aim maneuvers.  We'll see how it playtests like this.  I might just say "to hell with it, it's a blaster rifle with the long-barrel modification".  We'll see.  Other than that, toss in a blaster pistol, add in some standard gear, some Padded Armor for protection, and Marin's good to go.

We move on to Obligations and Motivations.  I had all my PCs answer the Three Questions by GM Chris, so I've got a great place to start.  Based on his character backstory, his Obligation is the same as Barret's, the loan on their ship.  They've kept ahead of their payments, so the Obligation is only a 5.  His motivation is also similar to Barret's; Ambition-Wanderlust.  Marin loves exploring, and would be happy just pointing his ship in a direction, throwing the hypersapce levers, and ending up wherever the Force takes him.

Not To Be Confused With "Benny and the Jet"

As mentioned, Barret and Marin own a YT-1930 called The Thranta.  It's the party's ship, their main transport, and has brought them through many tough scrapes and close calls. The party has made some extensive modifications to the stock model.  Guns have been added, shield systems and hyperdrives upgraded, a cryogenic hold added to the storage by, and even a special "fighter cradle" that allows the ship to transport a small fighter with them in hyperspace.

The Thranta; Modified YT-1930 Light Freighter
Defense Ref 16 (flat-footed 14), Fort 28; +14 armor
hp 150; DR 15; SR 45; Threshold 78

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Speed fly 12 squares (max. velocity 950 km/h), fly 3 squares (starship scale)
Ranged medium laser cannon +2
Ranged quad ion cannon +2
Ranged laser cannons +2

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Abilities Str 46, Dex 14, Con -, Int 14
Crew 2; Passengers 6
Cargo 130 tons; Consumables 4 months; Carried Craft 1 starfighter
Hyperdrive x1 (backup x12), navicomputer
Emplacement Points (10 base) -14 (-70 tons to Cargo)
Quad Medium Laser Cannon (pilot)
Dmg 6d10x2

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Double Medium Laser Cannon (copilot)
Dmg 5d10x2

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Quad Medium Ion Cannons (gunner)
Improved Accuracy (+1)
*Dmg 7d10x2 Ion
Upgrades

• x1 Hyperdrive (replaced x2)
• Maneuvering Jets +2 (2 EPs)
• Armor +1 (2 EPs)
• Shields, SR 45 (replaced SR 15)
• Cryogenic Chambers (2)(4 EPs)
• Sensor Array Computer +2 (1 EPs)
• Fighter Cradle (10 EPs)
• Quad Medium Ion Cannons (2 EPs)
• Quad Medium Laser Cannons (2 Eps)

This is not a ship that FFG has done stats for, yet.  Thankfully, Donovan Morningfire wrote up some stats for it for the GSA.  After some modifications, here's how she looks Edge of the Empire style.

The Thranta; Modified YT-1930 Light Freighter

Hull Type: Freighter
Ship Class: YT-1930
Manufacturer: Corellian Engineering Corporation
Hyperdrive: Primary: Class 1, Backup: Class 12
Navicomputer: Yes
Ship’s Complement: One pilot, one co-pilot/engineer

Starfighter Complement: One starfighter
Passenger Capacity: 6
Encumbrance Capacity: 180
Consumables: 4 months
Silhouette: 4
Sensor Range: Short
Speed: 3
Handling: -1 (-2 when carrying a starfighter)
Defense: 3/3

Armor: 5
Hull Integrity: 25
Strain Threshold: 18
Customization Hardpoints: 0 (Reinforced Shield Generator +3, Hyperdrive Generator Upgrade, add Quad Laser Cannon, add "Quad" Ion Cannon)

Weapons
Dorsal Turret Mounted Twin Laser Cannon (Fire Arc All; Range Close, Damage 6, Critical Hit 3, Linked [1]) 

Forward Mounted Quad Laser Cannon (Fire Arc Front; Range Close, Damage 5, Critical Hit 3, Accurate, Linked [3])

Ventral Turret Mounted "Quad" Ion Cannon (Fire Arc All; Range Short, Damage 6, Critical 4, Ion, Linked [3])

Yes, the hardpoints are likely fudged and "hand-waived", especially the ship's ability to transport a fighter it it's storage bays, but it fits the work the players have done to the ship.  The Shield Modification fits because the PCs got the biggest shield generator they could fit in a space transport, and installed it.  I had to make my own Quad Ion Cannon, which should work out pretty well as a foursome of medium ion cannons fire-linked.  It's not accurate like a true quad-cannon, but it should do just fine. 

Finally, while there's no modification listed for a "fighter launch" or "shuttle clamps", I wanted this ship to still be able to haul along a Jedi Starfighter when the need arose.  I figured losing a point of Handling while carrying a starfighter in the hold would be good compensation.

Like everything else, I'll be testng this to see how it flies.  *ba-dum crash*