Welcome to 2016

Happy New Year and welcome back to Fragments from the Rim!

It's been a long year. I haven't really posted anything of consequence since Gamer Nation Con.  After that, it was a whirlwind trip to Celebration Anaheim, a very long couple of months dealing with the water damage in my home caused by ice dams from the Great Snowpocalypse of 2015, and...general lack of time and drive to write anything for this blog.

Which is sad, I really enjoyed writing and sharing my thoughts.  So with the new year comes a new focus, a new mandate to try and write as much as I can for this blog, while sharing what knowledge I can drop on you unsuspecting peoples in the interwebs.

D20 Radio

As some of you know, I've been an occasional writer for D20 Radio's gaming blog. There have been some handy and entertaining articles posted up on that site; hopefully you find that mine are some of them.  I do still plan to write for them in addition to writing here.  I'm not sure if some of my articles will be cross posted, or if I'll keep content to either page exclusive to one or the other.  I know my readership is more over there, they simply have more viewers.  Still, cross pollination of blog posts can't hurt, right?

Aside from that, Chris and Dave have graciously kept me involved and a part of the Order 66 Podcast, and it's still a lot of fun to do.  We're trying to get the shows down to 2-hours in length, partially because Dave wants some shows he can submit for Ennie consideration, and partially because they were honestly getting long and off-topic at times.  If you never listen, you should.  And "if you never listen", thank you for your patronage.

Another Longshot

Ah, my current flagship; the Longshot Campaign.  It's still going, and tomorrow marks the 1 year anniversary of it's birth. I'm celebrating with the second of two "Side Bets"; games that incorporate characters from both teams (I have one PC group consisting of Force Users from various factions, and another PC group consisting of Galactic Alliance troublemakers called The Idiot's Array). Tomorrows game involves one of the Legacy Era's watershed events, and the PCs get to deal with the backlash from it in the Hagen Sector. Or not. They're PCs after all, they could surprise me.

More about the Longshot Campaign will be shared in this blog as we enter Season 2 of the story.

Fallout 4

Another source of seemingly endless time-consumption lately has been Fallout 4.  I've been playing this game like a mad, mad fiend.  Juilian Cross, sole survivor from Vault 111, has crafted quite a considerable Minuteman Protectorate in the northern Massachusetts region.  I'm finding the game a lot of fun, but as usual I'm getting massively sidetracked from the main plotline by exploring the wastes, managing my multi-settlement Mutfruit-and-Purified-Water empire, and using the proceeds to construct bigger and better towns.  I'm glad I picked up the PC version, as the Settlement Creation Editor's size limit can be bypassed, allowing me to make some pretty elaborate towns (much to the dismay of my frame-rate, at times)

Playing Fallout has got me thinking about roleplaying Fallout.  It's the only real deficiency that I have with the IP, the fact that it doesn't have a dedicated RPG supporting it at this time.  I've kicked around a few ideas to home-brew something, or adapt it to Savage Worlds (pretty easy) or to Edge of the Empire (a little harder).  I even wrote an article about it for D20 Radio called They Came From The Vaults.  Doing so inspired me to come up with an Edge of the Empire module to play at Gamer Nation Con 2016 that takes place entirely in the Fallout world.

It's still under development, and a lot of that development is going to be shared here in the coming weeks.

Costuming

Remember how I advertized this as a costuming blog too?  I haven't forgotten about that.

I'm working on a few costumes for 2016, not all of them mine.  For the 501st Legion, I'm involved in a group project to make a horde of First Order Snowtroopers for the local garrison. My father and I are waiting with bated breath for all our pieces to be complete, and start assembly as soon as they are. I like the look of these snowy's, and while I wish they got more screen time in the movie, at least they were in the movie, you know?

After that, I'll be keeping my eye on something for the Rebel-side of the group, or should I say the Resistance-side.  I really dig the new X-Wing pilot outfits, and there's already talk of supplementing our pilots up here in "Phantom Squadron" with some T-70 jockeys.

Finally, I'm working on a more practical suit, something to be used for the upcoming Crossover LARP in my area. I've been working with EVA Foam to make (a rather mandalorian looking) armor suit for my new character, and my lovely wife picked up an airbrush kit for me to learn how to use. The airbrush can be used for painting and giving the armor some wear, but the main reason for the kit is for use with liquid make-up for my character.  Think something rather Darth-Maul-like, but with blue and white instead of black and red.  Along with that comes repaints of the various weapons I'll be using in the game; nerf guns painted a more appropriate shade for use in the game. I'm moving towards painting nerf guns for other players for commission, and am painting up 5 of them for the NPC camp's use.  I probably won't be doing much work on that until March, as the game isn't starting until May.

Welcome Home

And that's pretty much it for now. Thanks for reading, please check back in here from time to time and see where things are going!

Until next time, may the dice be with you!

GenCon 2014: Pre-Game

Here I am, in New Hampshire.  In 24 hours I hope to be in the middle of the D20 Radio GenCon Meet N Greet, rubbing elbows with those of you out there in the Gamer Nation that could make it to the con, and with some industry friends of the show.  After that, it's likely going to be 4 days of poor sleep, late nights, and geek overload.

Gods, I hope I can survive it.

When going away on any trip, it's important to make sure you don't forget anything.  This trip is no different.  It's even more important not to forget anything because I've got probably a dozen or more folks in Indianapolis who are looking forward to sitting down at my module, "The Big Leagues".  So I did what anyone would do (yes, at the suggestion and urging of my wife); I made a list.

So here's what I'm bringing...

The Big Leagues

• Huttball Map
• Final Encounter Map
• Dice Rolling Tray (Thanks Ann Marie and Erich!)
• Dice (...for the tray)
• Initiative Tracker (8.x11 dry erase board, thanks Chris!)
• The Module (printed)
• Character Sheets (24 of them, 3 pages each.  Quickest use of a printer cartridge ever...)
• GM Screen
• Character Tokens
• Assorted Alea Tools Magnets (Status conditions, height modifiers, etc)
• Cargo Tiles
• Age of Rebellion core rulebook (rules and autographs)
• Edge of the Empire core rulebook (rules and autographs)

Jedi Outfit

• Jacket
• Tabards (2)
• Obi
• Pants
• Boots (with insoles)
• Belt
• Pouches (2)
• Lightsaber
• 32" blade (bought my current suitcase specifically because it fit inside)
• Charger
•  Hex Key

Vaultdweller

• "101" Jumpsuit
• Belt
• 10mm Autopistol (Made from a NERF Maverick)
• Mentats
• Combat Boots
• Vault 13 flask
• Pipboy 3000 (gotta remember to get 9v and AAA batteries)
• Micro Mp3 player (45+ minutes of music & 3-Dog clips pre-loaded)

Electronics

• Phone
• Tablet
• Charge Cords
• Back-up Battery 
• Power Strip (I'm rooming with 3 other guys with just as many electronics as I...we'll need the plug-space)

Mundane items

• 4 days of clothes
• Toothbrush & Toothpaste
• Deodorant (I will not be "That guy")
• Drugs (Wife would be upset if I died in Indy...so would I)
• Airborne chewable capsules (Wife will kill me if I bring home the ConCrud)
• 2 travel-size bottles of Purell (see above)
• Electric Razor (gotta remember to shave the head tonight)
• Moleskin (for when I wear the Jedi boots)
• Scissors (for the moleskin)
• Box of Pop-Tarts
• Box of Granola Bars
• Water Bottle w/ built-in purifier (This item alone will probably save me $10-$20 per day...)

Also included are various gifts and attire I need for the weekend, including my 501st Legion Challenge Coin and Name Badges.

Supposedly most of that will fit into my suitcase and two carry-on bags.  I don't think I'll be over 50 lbs in the suitcase, I've actually got a bit of dead-space in there.

I should be running The Big Leagues at least twice, but I brought enough material to run it all four times (once for each PC Set).  We'll see how many times and who I get to play with.

I have no clue how often I'll be updating this blog this week.  I'm more likely to post little blurbs on Twitter.  Follow me @DarthGM on twitter and you'll get my various updates.

May the dice be with me...

Bonus Content: Boston Comic Con

This past weekend was Boston Comic Con, and I wanted to give a shout out to my base CO, Mike Brunco, for getting his idea for our convention booth from concept to finished product.  Another local legionnaire Kevin made the bulk of our new Trash Compactor, and many of us went to Mike's house to paint it up.  The dianoga head was made by Brian Anderson, and the tentacle was made by Bob Gouveia.  By the images on the NEG website, you can see that it was something of a big hit.

Oh, and I bumped into GM Sam at the con.  Chatted with him for a bit about upcoming conventions. 

And didn't have to pay BCC $40 to do so...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to "The Rim"...

It's been an odd week, and a heck of a way to end my 38th trip around the Sun.  I had a weekend away with the wife, and have been going full tilt with projects, work, and prior obligations pretty much since last Thursday.  This has really prevented me from getting anything done on my GenCon Module.  Hopefully the next week will allow me to get another PC party written up.

 

Some of the distractions are annoying, some of them are awesome, and some of them were completly out of left field.  For example... 

 

Relief Pitcher...er, Host

 

Last week I was offered the position of "Regular Guest Host" for the Order 66 Podcast.  I have already been doing my regular "Fragments from the Rim" bit for them since...seemingly forever.  Probably more like "Year Three" of the old Order 66 (when they covered Saga Edition).  I'd been a guest host a couple times, and it was a blast.  GM Dave is juggling a lot profesionally and personally, and the boys didn't want the show to suffer from a distracted host.  So now I'll be "philling in" (ba-dum crash) from time to time to help out when Dave isn't available.  It sounds like it may be quite often over the summer, but we'll see.

 

Personally, I'm thrilled.  After 4 years of my own podcasting between All-STOP, The Holocron 2.0, and All Wings Report In, I'm excited to get the chance to sit in with GM Chris and drop some Star Wars RPG Knowledge on the listening masses.  My first show, last Sunday, allowed me the chance to chat with Andrew Fisher, one of the main developers for the system over at Fantasy Flight Games.  It was a lovely discussion about the Explorer splatbook, Enter the Unknown, and a post-show chat about Marvel movies and video games.  My next show will be similar, currently scheduled for May 11, we'll be talking with Sam Stewart about Suns of Fortune, the book about the Corellia Sector.  (There's a discussion thread on the D20 radio boards for anyone who wants to submit questions.)

 

Oh, and I now have my own D20 Radio Email addy.  I can now be contacted through the show at gmphil@d20radio.com.  Questions, comments, feedback; send it.

 

Fragmented Fragments?

 

I guess the one downside to this is it sort of derails my plans for my in-character bit that shares the title of this blog.  I'm not really inclined to do both Fragments and guest host the same show.  It feels somewhat redundant, and possibly a little narcissistic.  I'd like to keep doing Fragments for the shows that I'm not on.  Maybe I should find my own back up; someone to fill in for Fragments while I'm doing the Guest Host thing. 

 

I may have an idea for that...hmmmm...

 

My Other Gig

 

Thank the Maker, it looks like All Wings Report In is finally going to get back on track.  Erich and I are supposed to record the next episode this weekend.  It'll be nice to get back on a regular schedule with that.  I really couldn't do the show without him, not the way the Legion deserved.  Thankfully, we've got a lot to talk about too.  All kinds of Star Wars and Legion stuff are coming up.  Should make for a good show.

 

Anyway, that's all I got this week, because I'm sort of out of time to write more.  Hope to have more "crunch" for next time.

 

May the Dice be with you!

 

 

 

Reapercon 2013

For my birthday, I took a trip to Denton, Texas to visit the offices and gaming store for Reaper Miniatures.  Denton is the backyard for GM Dave and GM Chris, hosts of the Order 66 Podcast.  For the past few years, D20 Radio has flooded that convention running games and having a grand time with the folks from Reaper.  Many listeners as well as the folks from Chris's various Star Wars games have some to Reaper and made it a sort of unofficial "D20 Radio Con".

At Celebration VI this past year, I got to hang with Chris Bradshaw (a.k.a.GM Chance) from D20 Radio.  We got him and his Republic Commando spot-approvals so he could be in the big photo-shoot with the 501st Legion.  While talking about various other conventions, and he invited me out to Denton for Reapercon.  I'd wanted to go since I heard about it when I first started listening to the network, and figured it would be a cheaper con to see the D20 Radio folks at than going to GenCon, so the plan started.

Around about November another plan was put in motion too, but I'll go into that later.

At the Airport

I left on my birthday; Thursday, April 18.  Getting off the Logan express shuttle with my suitcase, computer backpack, and duffel bag.  The suitcase got checked, which contained clothing for 5 days and my Jedi Knight outfit.  Also crammed in there is my 24" short-blade for my lightsaber.  The lightsaber itself was in the duffel bag; I didn't trust it going through checked baggage screening and it not getting damaged by TSA agents.  This was 3 days after the Boston Marathon bombings; if I'm a TSA agent and I see a bag go by with a metal cylinder with wires in it, I'm going to search that bag.  Now I've got some TSA agent showing all his buddies the lightsaber he found in some nerd's suitcase, and blinding his buddies with the high-power blade-LED because they don't understand how bright Rebel Star LEDs can be.

So I've got it in my duffel and I get up to the first person at Security; the woman who checks boarding passes and licenses.  I let her know I'm a Star Wars costumer, on my way to a gaming convention in Texas, and I have a replica lightsaber in my bag and want to declare it.  Explaining that it's a 16" long metal tube, she gets an odd look of "that could be used as a weapon" across her face.  I suppose it could be, because that's exactly what I want to do with my custom and very expensive lightsaber prop; bludgeon some stewardess and try to take over an AirBus A320 with it.  Maybe I could blind the pilot when he looks through that peephole on the cockpit door.

She asks me to place it in the bin on the conveyor, and tell the next TSA agent about it.  They might want me to check it with my luggage. I shrug, and I get to the next guy, an older gentleman with a blue-collar look about him (a little rugged, a little surly, but mostly business).  I let him know about the lightsaber, and my travel plans.  He looks at it, ponders for a moment, and then says the Supervisor should probably take a look at it.  I head through the body-scan machine, and the supervisor comes over.

The supervisor looked about my age, and heads over to the x-ray viewer for the conveyor.  I can tell exactly when my tray passes by when his eyebrows pop up and he get's a small smirk on his face.  The tray comes out, and he asks me to get my other belongings and come over to him when I'm done.  "Take your time!" he says.  He heads to a test counter, and I get my stuff and go over to him.  By then three other TSA guys are standing there and a fourth is called over "Dude, you're gonna love this, get over here."  After a brief period of several exclamations of "DOOD!" and "Sweet!", the quick demonstration of the lights and sounds of my saber, and the cursory confirmation that there are no explosives in it, I'm allowed to move on with the saber in my carry-on.

Out of Service (i.e. "Broken Plane")

My flight was supposed to leave at 1:05.  The plan was to arrive at 4:30, get a quick bite, and head right to Reaper to play in a Star Wars game run by GM Chris.  At noon, we were informed our flight was delayed.  At 1pm, we were told that our original plane was taken "Out of Service" and a new plane was on it's way from Orlando.  It wasn't going to arrive until 2:45.  Figure at least a half hour for it to deplane, load up our luggage and passengers, and get moving.


Even the President is delaying my departure...


Oh...and we had the announcer come on, asking for someone to please claim a black backpack that was left at the counter.  THAT request got everyones attention.  Thankfully, a nice lady did.  Swiftly.

I got to Dallas at 7ish.  Went right to GM Chance's place and got settled in.  GM Chris, his wife Krista, and GM Dave showed up soon after and started pulling out Edge of the Empire books.  I ended my birthday hanging with the folks from D20 Radio, playing Star Wars.

Gotta admit, only one way the day could have ended better, but sadly the wife was at home...

At the Con



The non-Star Wars game I played: Warlords In Wonderland

I have to say if you're looking for a great little gaming convention to go to, Reapercon 2013 is it.  I've been to some of the bigger conventions, like Origins, many times.  Reapercon is a fun little con of a few hundred attendees, and has a real family feel to it.  It helps that a good number of D20 Radio folks are there so it feels like you're coming home to old friends.

I got to play GM Chris's new Convention Module Series, Enemy of my Enemy.  It's actually available for download on the D20 Radio website.  Any of my PCs who want to play it should probably stay away, but for folks who want to run it go and give it a read.  Maps used are available from Chris West's Maps of Mastery site, or you can use a white board to reproduce or your imagination.  I do like Chris West's maps, tho.  They're pretty.


GM Chris runs a mean game, and has a snazzy hat!


As a review, Enemy of my Enemy is a wonderful tale of mystery, adventure, and difficult moral choices.  Don't worry if your character doesn't have a skillset for combat (assuming you use the pre-gen characters).  Look at what you're good at, then look at the environment to see how you can contribute to the encounter.  You get XP for survival, not for opponents defeated.  I got to play Tyrix the Gand, who had disgraced himself in the eyes of his society so he only referred to himself as "Gand" (it's established Star Wars canon; look it up).  A tech and slicing god, I was searching for computer terminals and machines to play with in every situation.

Reapercon 2013 represents the first time I've been able to play in an Edge of the Empire game.  It's also the first time I've been able to play in a Star Wars game since my brother failed to finish his Dawn of Defiance* module series.  It's funny, I found myself willing to skip right into danger, and where I thought the Game Master expected the module to go.  Maybe I've spent too many years as one myself.  I got a sense of where we needed to go to continue the adventure.  I could see some players at the table really getting into the persona they perceived for their character to have, but I found myself looking at the game going "what actions move the plot along" and trying to figure out how to get there.  Maybe that hurt my character's role playing, but it kept the game moving.

* - totally taking shots at my brother for that; he earned it...

Friends of the Legions

Back at Celebration VI, I met Chris Bradshaw from the D20 Radio network and became fast friends.  We made idle plans for me to come out to Reapercon the next year (because GenCon was likely off the table).  Sometime around October I was on the D20 Radio forums, and saw Zrissa's post about Jon Stevens being inducted to the Rebel Legion as a Friend of the Legion.  Jon wrote material for two of the Saga Edition books.  Thinking things over, I looked at all the work GM Chris and GM Dave have done with the Order 66 podcast, and how the Gamer Nation really flourished under their banner.  Checking the Legion rosters, other podcasts have been inducted as Friends of the Legion (since Chris and Dave haven't worked directly on a Star Wars product, they would be eligible as "Friends of" not "Honorary Members"). 

A plan was put in motion.  A petition was sent to the Command Staff of the Rebel Legion, and to the 501st Legion founder Albin Johnson to approve the induction of Chris and Dave into the Legions.  The requests were approved, and the plans for the ceremony were put into motion.  While GenCon might be a large venue for an induction, I was going to be at Reapercon.  Bradshaw would be there, so there would at least be one other member of the Legion(s) in attendance.

There was a period of nail-biting after I booked my airfare and con ticket that Dave wasn't going to be at Reapercon this year.  Thankfully, the trip he was planning was delayed a month and he would be in attendance. 

After several days of hanging with the Boys and the other folks from D20 Radio, Bradshaw and
I surprised Chris and Dave mid-live-broadcast by excusing ourselves and returning a while later in full costume, presenting the induction awards to them live on the air.  Sadly, JustinTV has since dropped the visual recording (possibly to return in 14 months) and the audio from the episode was a little tough to listen to .  It's one of the many hazards of recording with a different computer, like a laptop; it likes to be "helpful" when you plug in cameras and records off the camera mic instead of the 4 good-quality microphones.

Transparent Plaque Fail

At any rate, mission accomplished, GMs humbled and giddy all at once, and forever supported by the 501st and Rebel Legions.

Aftermath

Given the time and opportunity (and funds), I will return to Reapercon sometime in the future.  Maybe not next year, maybe not the year after, but soon.  I'll bring a game to run, or run one of Chris's modules.  And it will be awesome, because I'll be hanging out with friends from D20 Radio and Gamer Nation.

Next week, I'm thinking of returning to the subject of gaming.  Star Wars Gaming.  I think I've got an interesting exercise ahead of me and need to get it going.

Until then, be safe everyone.

Chillin' at Reaper, 2013

New Year, New Game, New Podcast, Old Habits

Welcome to 2013!

I look at this dust-covered blog and think "wow, you're a slacker.  You haven't posted since July."  To be fair, my life has been something of an anarchic ball of chaos these past six months.  Buying a home takes a lot out of you, and if you work in mortgages in this time of low prices and lower rates, you get drained a lot due to volume of work.  You seek diversions more, and creativity less.  I haven't written much for any table-top game, for the Gamer Security Agency, nor have I worked on any costume in the last half of 2012. 

That being said, my Old Republic characters have been steadily chugging their levels along into the 30s and 40s...

Changes have happened, my life is starting to stabilize, and there are some exciting developments coming down the pipeline.  Let's start with the gaming, shall we?



New hotness...

 Edge of the Empire

Back in August, it was announced a GenCon that not only was Fantasy Flight Games working on a new Star Wars RPG, but they actually had a Beta Book available for purchase at the con.  The concept of a "Beta" game book for a table-top RPG was new to me, but as I look back on it, it makes sense.  Why have a limited playtest group of a hundred players when you can release a beta ruleset and get thousands of folks playing and giving feedback.  Paizo's done it with Pathfinder, Evil Hat is doing it with their FATE ruleset, so it's a brilliant move for FFG to do it with Edge of the Empire. 

I originally balked at the game and the system for two reasons.  First, the game has a very narrow focus.  Its designed for running games for characters living on the fringe of society in the Outer Rim, during the Rebellion Era.  The system mechanics are very bent towards Obligations (debts to enities & organizations, duty, addictions, family, etc.) and the periphery of the Rebellion Era, and has very little for Force Users or pure Rebellion characters.  Makes sense, because the next two books are Age of Rebellion and Force & Destiny.  The problem is these next two "Core books" are due out in 2014 and 2015 respectively.  I have to wait until 2015 for a more in-depth ruleset for Force Users and Jedi?  Pass!

The second reason I was resistant to change was that I am a fan of SAGA Edition.  Its the game that got me involved with the d20 Radio network, which lead to my involvement with podcasting for All-STOP and the Holocron 2.0.  It's what started me doing the Fragments from the Rim segment on the Order 66 podcast, and led me to start this blog.  I've got a lot of nostalgia wrapped up in SAGA Edition, which likely made me hyper-sensitive to anything in Edge that didn't come close to fulfilling the depth of crunchy material that SAGA has.

When I went to Star Wars Celebration VI, FFG was there with their X-Wing game and with a stack of Edge of the Empire BETA rulebooks.  I decided to drop my $30 and give it a shot.  I should at least read through it because Chris and Dave on the Order 66 Podcast were raving about it.  What little I read got confusing (11 pages just on the dice mechanic?) and discouraging (Yup, no Jedi!  Argh!).  With the chaos of my home-life, it was easy to put Edge asside and focus on other things for a few months.  Then in November the Order 66 Podcast announces they're changing formats from SAGA to FFG's system, and I have a conundrum.  "Do I keep doing Fragments from the Rim for the Order 66 guys?  Do I branch it off for something else?  Do I let it go?"  I had already lost a podcast when Fiddleback decided to stop playing The Old Republic, so I was about to lose my "radio presence" entirely if I didn't change too.  Plus there was something about Edge of the Empire that stirred within me, something that reminded me of the games I played way back in the day, when I first started gaming with the West End Games era of Star Wars RPGs.

I picked up Edge of the Empire again and forced myself to read it, and try to understand it.  After 200 pages (and an additional 12 pages from eleven weeks of Beta Rules updates), I found myself liking the system.  Yes, it's fringe Star Wars (Some would say it's "Firefly Star Wars" but screw you guys.  The show lasted 13 episodes and a movie.  It's never coming back.  Get over it.), but fringe Star Wars is where it all began, wasn't it?  Looking back, how many of you played in a Star Wars campaign where you were all Han Solo types, freebooting around the Outer Rim refusing to join the Rebellion but sticking it to the Imperials every chance you got?  I don't think you can say you played Star Wars until you've played a game or two in that theme.  Everyone's played it, so it makes sense to start a new game there, with something familiar.

The nostalgia for SAGA was slowly transformed into a nostalgia for Star Wars gaming as a whole, and the Edge of the Empire captured that for me.  It's also shinny and new, taking Star Wars gaming from a more tactical-heavy RPG to a more free-form narrative-heavy/map-light game.  I look at Edge of the Empire and I'm amazed how easy it would be to adapt a game session to the players going "off the rails".  I can eyeball NPC stats a lot better, and even make them up completely on the fly.  Creating NPCs themselves are more organic, less formulaic; I can simply say "I want this NPC to have these skills, these stats, and these abilities".  It doesn't matter if a PC couldn't do it, it's an NPC, they shouldn't follow the same rules as PC Character building.  Yes, I could do that with SAGA, sure.  But I don't know; something about SAGA compeled me to make NPCs "the right way", to follow the same rules and progressions as Player Characters.  Giving them an extra feat or talent felt like cheating somehow.  I like how I can make the NPCs do what I need them to do in Edge, without causing their defenses, hit points, or other stats to change dramatically beyond what the PCs can handle.

So I'm working on Edge of the Empire, and getting involved with the Gamer Nation on the d20 Radio boards with home-brewing rules.  Specifically, I'm eager to help brew rules for Jedi; because I sure as hell am not waiting until 2015 for Jedi PCs, not if I am now leaning towards using FFG's system for my "Another Longshot" campaign.

Fragments For the Future

This transition from SAGA Edition to Edge of the Empire means another slight change to the focus of my Order 66 segment.  When I made the decision to switch to EotE, I also decided to make some changes to how I produce my Fragments segment for the show.  Instead of the "persona" of Darth GM, and introduced by one of my "loyal minions", the segment is now introduced by a female bartender character, and my persona is one of a mysterious cantia patron named "Ji'em Fil".  He's an explorer who seeks out and shares little secrets in the galaxy (and the game).  He also may be Darth GM-in-hiding, but we'll see how that develops.  The first installment was in Episode 2 of the new Order 66 podcast, and seemed to go over quite well.  I'm looking forward to the next few episodes. 

The focus on the Fragments from the Rim segment has been to highlight one specific aspect of the game, be it a character ability, talent, or Force power.  Sometimes I'd even do a segment on gamemaster aids, like music or props.  I'm going to continue to do that for the Order 66 show, but it's going to be a little while before I can focus on the character talents and game mechanics choices of the system.  Until then I'm digging through my old West End Games books looking for inspiration that can be used in the new EotE system. 

You Can't Stop the Signal

Back in September, Fiddleback and I recorded our last episode of The Holocron 2.0 podcast, our podcast for the d20 Radio network for Star Wars, The Old Republic.  Fiddleback was ceasing his subscription, and was no longer interested in the game enough to keep playing, even given the Free-To-Play model the game was switching to in November.  So once again I found myself without a podcast to host.  I took a few months off, and then was approached by my good friend Erich Schafer to co-host a new podcast for my other hobby (and focus for this blog); the Rebel Legion. 

The Rebel Legion has been wanting a podcast for some time now, and Erich thought I'd make a good co-host with him.  We got the first podcast of All Wings Report In out the door at the beginning of January, and are currently in the process of lining up the next few shows.  It's going to be a monthly moouthpiece for the Rebel Legion, but it won't just be for news of the Legion.  We're going to have a variety of topics to talk about, including in-depth looks and discussions about the costumes in the Legion, adapting and acting in-character for the costume you're wearing, and hopefully interviews with Honorary Members of the Legion (i.e. Celebrities).

It's good to be on the air again.

Dying Hard

Now to the subject of old habits; I have them.  I cycle through interests like a juke-box.  I have "Attention Deficit-...OH SHINNY!" disorder.  How many months will I be updating here before I have another dead air period?  Good question.  So, in an effort to try and stick with this, I shall do my own version of Sterling Hershey's "Star Wars Wednesdays".  My goal is to have something up on this blog every Thursday (simply because reading Sterling's blog should remind me to update my own.

And hopefully my next update will involve some progress on my Jedi Consular costume...

Fragments from the Rim 89: The Progression of Dune (Expanded & With Stats)

DarthGM here for the 89^th Episode of Fragments from the Rim.  I’m going to break from my review of the various lightsaber forms and talk about my character from Star Wars: The Old Republic.  My big, blue Twi’lek Jedi Shadow hit level 50 today, and I thought it would be a fun experiment to track how his progression could be replicated in SAGA Edition.

Starting with Stats, Dunne’s been rather insightful and charismatic.  He’s also been something of a physical beast, with high Strength.  We’ll put his Constitution at average.  He’s going to grow into his role as a tank, so he won’t quite have the staying power at low levels.  His backstory is that he comes from a long line of Jedi, so I have him take the Jedi Heritage feat exclusive to Twi’leks.

On Tython, Dunne learns how to throw things around, hit people with his lightsaber, and get folks to do what he wants.  He learns Ballistakinesis, Move Object, Repulse, and Mind Trick for his force powers.  He also picks up Block and Deflect, talents to help him survive in his eventual role as a tank.

Dunne                                                  CL 4

Medium Twi’lek Jedi 4

Init +3; Senses low-light vision; Perception +4

Languages Basic, Dosh, Lekku, Ryl

Defenses Ref 16 (flat-footed 15), Fort 17, Will 17

hp 51; Threshold 17

Speed  6 squares

Melee lightsaber +6 (2d8+4) or

Melee lightsaber +6 (2d8+6) with both hands or

Melee lightsaber +4 (3d8+6) with Rapid Strike

Ranged  by weapon +5

Base Atk +4; Grp +6

Atk Options Rapid Strike

Force Powers Known (Use The Force +9) ballistakinesis, mind trick, move object, Repulse

Abilities Str 14, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 14

Special Qualities deceptive

Talents Block, Deflect

Feats Force Sensitivity, Force Training, Jedi Heritage, Rapid Strike, Skill Training (Acrobatics), Weapon Proficiency (lightsabers, simple weapons)

Skills Acrobatics +8, Deception +4 (may reroll but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse), Mechanics +8, Pilot +8, Use the Force +9

Possessions encrypted long-range comlink with holo capability, lightsaber, utility belt (3 day food supply, medpac, tool kit, power pack, energy cell, glow rod, comlink, liquid cable dispenser)

While adventuring on Coruscant, Dunne elects to become a Jedi Shadow, and learns the Clear Mind and Force Haze talent as well as Dual Weapon Mastery I.  He puts points into Dexterity and Constitution, he’s going to need both to use the double-bladed lightsaber well and survive tanking for his allies.  For Force Powers, Dunne picks up more uses of Ballistakinesis and Move Object, but also learns Surge and Force Stun.

Dunne                                                  CL 8

Medium Twi’lek Jedi 7/Jedi Knight 1

Init +5; Senses low-light vision; Perception +6

Languages Basic, Dosh, Lekku, Ryl

Defenses Ref 21 (flat-footed 20), Fort 22, Will 22; Block [Core p.41], Deflect [Core p.41]

hp 79; Threshold 22

Speed  6 squares

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +11 (2d8+6) or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +11 (2d8+8) with both hands or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +9 (3d8+8) with Rapid Strike or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +7 (2d8+6) and double-bladed lightsaber +7 (2d8+6) or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +5 (3d8+6) and double-bladed lightsaber +5 (3d8+6) with Rapid Strike

Ranged  by weapon +9

Base Atk +8; Grp +10

Atk Options Dual Weapon Mastery, Rapid Strike

Special Actions Force Haze

Force Powers Known (Use The Force +11) ballistakinesis (2), Force stun, mind trick, move object (2), repulse, surge

Abilities Str 14, Dex 13, Con 11, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 14

Special Qualities build lightsaber, deceptive

Talents Block, Clear Mind, Deflect, Force Haze, Multiattack Proficiency (lightsabers)

Feats Dual Weapon Mastery I, Force Sensitivity, Force Training (2), Jedi Heritage, Rapid Strike, Skill Training (Acrobatics), Weapon Proficiency (lightsabers, simple weapons)

Skills Acrobatics +10, Deception +6 (may reroll but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse), Mechanics +10, Pilot +10, Use the Force +11 (may reroll to avoid detection by other Force users but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse)

Possessions encrypted long-range comlink with holo capability, lightsaber, utility belt (3 day food supply, medpac, tool kit, power pack, energy cell, glow rod, comlink, liquid cable dispenser), 3 Noetikons

As he moves through Chapter One, Dune becomes a Jedi Knight, gaining further mastery of the Force.  He takes Improved Move Light Object to help harass opponents, as well as Improved Ballistakinesis.  He continues to grow with his skill with the Double-bladed lightsaber taking Multi-attack Proficiency: Lightsabers.  He also improves his skill with the Force, taking Skill Focus: Use the Force.  New Force Powers include Cloak, Rebuke, and Force Shield.  At the end of Chapter One, he completes his first Destiny; Redemption.

Dunne                                                  CL 12

Medium Twi’lek Jedi 7/Jedi Knight 5

Init +7; Senses low-light vision; Perception +8

Languages Basic, Dosh, Lekku, Ryl

Defenses Ref 25 (flat-footed 24), Fort 27, Will 26; Block, Deflect, Soresu

hp 119; Threshold 27

Speed  6 squares

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +15 (2d8+8) or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +15 (2d8+10) with both hands or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +13 (3d8+10) with Rapid Strike or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +12 (2d8+8) and double-bladed lightsaber +12 (2d8+8) or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +10 (3d8+8) and double-bladed lightsaber +10 (3d8+8) with Rapid Strike

Ranged  by weapon +13

Base Atk +12; Grp +14

Atk Options Dual Weapon Mastery, Melee Defense, Rapid Strike, Twin Weapon Style

Special Actions Force Haze

Force Powers Known (Use The Force +13) ballistakinesis (2), cloak, Force shield, Force stun, mind trick, move object (2), rebuke, repulse, surge, draw closer

Force Techniques Improved Ballistakinesis, Improved Move Light Object

Abilities Str 14, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 15, Cha 14

Special Qualities build lightsaber, deceptive

Talents Block, Clear Mind, Deflect, Force Haze, Multiattack Proficiency (lightsabers), Soresu, Twin Weapon Style

Feats Dual Weapon Mastery I, Force Sensitivity, Force Training (3), Jedi Heritage, Melee Defense, Rapid Strike, Skill Training (Acrobatics), Weapon Proficiency (lightsabers, simple weapons)

Skills Acrobatics +12, Deception +8 (may reroll but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse), Mechanics +12, Pilot +12, Use the Force +13 (may reroll to use Block or Deflect but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse; may reroll to avoid detection by other Force users but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse)

Possessions encrypted long-range comlink with holo capability, lightsaber, utility belt (3 day food supply, medpac, tool kit, power pack, energy cell, glow rod, comlink, liquid cable dispenser)

Moving into Chapter two, Dunne is now a Jedi Master and picks White Current Adept as one of his Master talents, allowing him to make Use the Force checks for Stealth checks.  He needs more protective abilities, so he picks up more uses of Force Shield and Rebuke to stand up to all the Dark-Siders and Sith he keeps facing.  He’s tougher now, and stronger too, really able to wallop his opponents with his Rapid Strikes, but he’s smarter with his defenses too, picking up Melee Defense.  He also fulfills his second Destiny; Discovery.

Dunne                                                  CL 16

Medium Twi’lek Jedi 7/Jedi Knight 5/Jedi Master 4

Init +9; Senses low-light vision; Perception +10

Languages Basic, Dosh, Lekku, Ryl

Defenses Ref 31 (flat-footed 30), Fort 33, Will 33; Block, Deflect, Soresu

hp 151; Threshold 33

Immune fear effects

Speed  6 squares

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +19 (2d8+10) or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +19 (2d8+12) with both hands or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +17 (3d8+12) with Rapid Strike or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +18 (2d8+12) and double-bladed lightsaber +18 (2d8+12) or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +16 (3d8+12) and double-bladed lightsaber +16 (3d8+12) with Rapid Strike

Ranged  by weapon +17

Base Atk +16; Grp +18

Atk Options Dual Weapon Mastery, Melee Defense, Rapid Strike, Twin Weapon Style, Whirlwind Attack

Special Actions Force Haze, serenity

Force Powers Known (Use The Force +15) ballistakinesis (2), cloak, Force shield (2), Force stun, mind trick, move object (2), rebuke (2), repulse, surge, circle of shelter, draw closer

Force Techniques Improved Ballistakinesis, Improved Move Light Object

Force Secrets Devastating Power, Enlarged Power, Quicken Power

Abilities Str 15, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 14

Special Qualities build lightsaber, deceptive

Talents Block, Clear Mind, Deflect, Force Haze, Multiattack Proficiency (lightsabers) (2), Soresu, Twin Weapon Style, White Current Adept

Feats Dual Weapon Mastery I, Force Sensitivity, Force Training (3), Jedi Heritage, Melee Defense, Rapid Strike, Skill Training (Acrobatics), Weapon Proficiency (lightsabers, simple weapons), Whirlwind Attack

Skills Acrobatics +14, Deception +10 (may reroll but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse), Mechanics +14, Pilot +14, Stealth +9 (may Use the Force +15 instead), Use the Force +15 (may reroll to use Block or Deflect but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse; may reroll to avoid detection by other Force users but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse)

Possessions double-bladed lightsaber, encrypted long-range comlink with holo capability, utility belt (3 day food supply, medpac, tool kit, power pack, energy cell, glow rod, comlink, liquid cable dispenser)

Now into Chapter Three, Dunne faces the strongest foes and the highest stakes he’s ever faced.  He has Whirlwind attack to strike all foes around him.  His mastery of the Force is the strongest it’s ever been, learning powerful Force Secrets that increase his damage and effectiveness of his Force Powers.  He also picks up the Soresu Talent, and the associated Lightsaber Form Power to protect his allies who are near him.  Dunne is well on his way to completing his third and final Destiny; which may be Destruction or Rescue, depending on how Chapter three ends.

Dunne                                                  CL 20

Medium Twi’lek Jedi 7/Jedi Knight 9/Jedi Master 4

Init +11; Senses low-light vision; Perception +12

Languages Basic, Dosh, Lekku, Ryl

Defenses Ref 34 (flat-footed 33), Fort 37, Will 35; Block, Deflect, Soresu

hp 203; Threshold 37

Immune fear effects

Speed  6 squares

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +24 (2d8+13) or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +24 (2d8+16) with both hands or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +22 (3d8+16) with Rapid Strike or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +23 (2d8+16) and double-bladed lightsaber +23 (2d8+16) or

Melee double-bladed lightsaber +21 (3d8+16) and double-bladed lightsaber +21 (3d8+16) with Rapid Strike

Ranged  by weapon +21

Base Atk +20; Grp +23

Atk Options Dual Weapon Mastery, Melee Defense, Rapid Strike, Twin Weapon Style, Whirlwind Attack

Special Actions Force Haze, serenity, Vigilance

Force Powers Known (Use The Force +22) ballistakinesis (2), cloak, Force shield (2), Force stun, mind trick, move object (2), rebuke (2), repulse, surge, circle of shelter, draw closer

Force Techniques Force Point Recovery, Improved Ballistakinesis, Improved Force Stun], Improved Move Light Object

Force Secrets Devastating Power, Enlarged Power, Quicken Power

Abilities Str 16, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 13, Wis 16, Cha 14

Special Qualities build lightsaber, deceptive

Talents Block, Clear Mind, Deflect, Force Haze, Multiattack Proficiency (lightsabers) (2), Sheltering Stance, Soresu, Twin Weapon Style, Vigilance, White Current Adept

Feats Dual Weapon Mastery I, Force Sensitivity, Force Training (3), Jedi Heritage, Melee Defense, Rapid Strike, Skill Focus (Use the Force), Skill Training (Acrobatics), Weapon Proficiency (lightsabers, simple weapons), Whirlwind Attack

Skills Acrobatics +16, Deception +12 (may reroll but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse), Mechanics +16, Pilot +16, Stealth +11 (may Use the Force +22 instead), Use the Force +22 (may reroll to use Block or Deflect but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse; may reroll to avoid detection by other Force users but must keep the result of the reroll even if worse)

Possessions double-bladed lightsaber, encrypted long-range comlink with holo capability, utility belt (3 day food supply, medpac, tool kit, power pack, energy cell, glow rod, comlink, liquid cable dispenser)

So we end up with a 20^th level Jedi Master who has skill with the Double-Bladed lightsaber, is incredibly stealthy, and can stand toe-to-toe with a host of foes while protecting his allies.  Not bad for a pudgy twi’lek who like his bantha steaks and Chandrillian fondues as much as he does protecting the Republic.

If you really like how your character in The Old Republic plays, take a moment and see how they can be replicated in SAGA.  Or drop me a line, and I’ll take a stab at a favorite build in an upcoming Fragments from the Rim.  Until next time Gamer Nation; 20 side up, 1 side down.

Lando's Used Shipyard: YT-1300

This is the text for the new Segment I'm doing on a seemingly monthly basis for the Order 66 Podcast.  I'm working with fellow Star Wars nut and D20 Radio contributor FULONGAMER.  We're actually using sound-files of Billy Dee Williams for the "Lando" lines.  Folks liked it, and we hope to do many, many more in the future.  For clarity sake, my dialouge is in Red, while FULONGAMER's is Black.

EDIT: This is odd...all the text after this line, which appears in the "edit" screen, is not appearing on the published page.  How irritating...

Lando: "How ya doin’ ya old Pirate!?"

Good Day, Gamer Nation, and welcome to Lando’s Used Shipyard! Each installment will feature ships and starship modifications that highlight the varied craft within the Star Wars Universe.

Lando: "I’m the Administrator of this Facility"

I’m FulonGamer...

...and I’m Darth GM, and for our first installment, Fulongamer and I decided to start the series with perhaps the most iconic craft in all of Star Wars, the YT-1300 light freighter. Made by the Corellian Engineering Corporation in the Fall of the Republic Era, the YT-1300 was one of CEC’s most popular lines. It’s low cost, ease of modification, and general utility led many freighter captains to purchase the 1300.

Given it’s common status and rugged survivability, the YT-1300 is a perfect "group transport" for a PC party. It can be modified in a wide variety of ways, as evidenced by comparing the base YT-1300 stats in P184 SotG (p 182-183 SECR) to the Millennium Falcon on SotG p 186. Because it’s a YT-series ship it starts with a mammoth 10 Emplacement points for modifications, allowing the owner to really trick out the craft quite a bit before the need to sacrifice cargo space sets in.

Standard Features

Lando: "Hello, what have we here?"

For 100,000 credits new or 25,000 used, your basic features are a standard Corellian Cockpit Module, port and starboard docking collars that may or may not incorporate single or dual boarding ramps, a forward cargo loading system nested between the booms for direct access to the cargo bays combined with an external cargo coupling. A solid navicomputer, primary and backup hyperdrives, a light laser cannon in a dorsal turret, and a cluster of individual escape pods round out the basic fittings for the base-line light freighter. For a starter vessel the only two glaring shortfalls are a lack of shields, and perhaps combat thrusters (for your defensive purposes only, of course)

Of course, for ships often this old, they never really come "stock" anymore, because everyone wants to put their two credits in. Part of the modularity of the design is displayed in the basic configuration. Within the confines of the Saucer Section and the Cockpit Module you really have several options. What most have seen is the "starboard" configuration, with the cockpit module in the familiar location, but there are also ships with a "port" or "centerline" cockpit location as well. Choosing one of these alternate styles will immediately allow you to differentiate your ship from the familiar lines of the Falcon and dispense with any unwarranted wannabe accusations.

The sectors of the primary hull can also be reconfigured to meet your preferred needs as either a cargo vessel, passenger carrier, or even a combat vessel and there are a wide variety of engine arrays as well. A significant increase in cargo carrying capacity above the standard 100 tons can often be evidenced by notably bulked-out hull sections, squaring off some of the sloping lines of the primary hull or even filling in the space between the forward booms for more internal cargo capacity. Passenger accommodations can vary from quite spartan to luxurious opulence, depending on the number of passengers and supplementary crew you intend to carry regularly.

Most often weapon mounts are situated on the dorsal and/or ventral apexes for the best field of fire, but more heavily armed craft have re-dedicated one of the docking collars into a side-mount turret, sacrificed the forward cargo access for a fixed firing emplacement between the booms, or even sacrificed the forward boom structures entirely for non-standard hardware such as tractor beam projectors, or even turbolaser hardpoints (for a big bang, these will also pack a severe drain, so use with caution, and no, you probably won’t be able to conceal them). Pop-out deck-guns for (1 emplacement point each and +1000 cr over each gun cost) such as the Falcon’s are also not uncommon for protection in seedier spaceports.

With ten emplacement points standard, you can load some serious armament onto the YT-1300 without losing cargo space. Quad Laser cannons are only 2 EPs, and will run you 15,000 credits a pop. Loading a missile system can beef up your combat damage, but can get bulky. A good Concussion missile launcher will eat up half of the free emplacement points, but give your ship some serious punch, if you find yourself needing to blow up the reactor of a planet-busting space station.Upgrades, Upgrades, Upgrades!Lando: "What have you done to my ship?"

What a stock YT-1300 lacks is finesse. It’s a brick, and handles like one. For 25,000 credits you can add Maneuvering Jets to get a Dexterity of 14. Beef up the stock hyperdrive if you can, you’ve got places to go, and a x2 hyperdrive just won’t do. Adding additional armor can be helpful, but cost ramps up quickly, and space disappears the more you load on.

If you want to get a good use of a 4 PC party, and don’t want to lose cargo space; I recommend 2 Quad Laser Turrets for 2 EPs each and 15,000 credits, a pilot-controlled Proton Torpedo Launcher with a 9-missile capacity for 1 EP and 2000 Credits, combat thruster to kep you safe from Capital Ships for 1 EP and 10000 Credits, Maneuvering Jets +4 for 25,000 Credits. Take the last free EP and upgrade your engines from speed 2 to speed 3 for 15,000 credits.

Sometimes your imagination is the only limit (along with GM approval) for your modification choices. Perhaps there is an instance where the ship’s crew were all "shorties" (squibs, jawas, ranats and the like) and they chose to split-level the standard internal crew spaces. Somebody always wants to configure one of these into a vehicle carrier, with either small ground vehicles or even a whole starfighter stashed somewhere in there. (neither easy, cheap, nor without significant drawbacks and sacrifices).

These types of modification require a bit of bending of the rules, as you can’t put hanger space into anything smaller than a frigate. You could go with docking clamps, or maybe your GM would allow you to spend a number of emplacement points to get a simple fighter launch.

There are fully submersible variants such as those produced for Mon Calamari and other aquatic spacefaring races. I’ve even seen extremes like coupling two primary hulls in a stack that take on the appearance of a small Hapan Dragon (or Cylon Base Star).

Other Eras

The YT-1300 is perfect for any game in the Fall of the Republic, Clone Wars, Dark Times, or Rebellion Era. After the Rebellion, the ship’s popularity starts to wane, replaced by more advanced models of CEC’s light freighter lines. Still, an old YT-1300 can still kick some tail further into the Legacy era. Going backwards from it’s start date, it’s not too far a stretch to think that CEC made something comparable in the KotOR era. Use the stats as a base line, but you may want to dial back the free emplacement points to 5, keeping it in line with the Dynamic Freighter, another CEC ship from that era.

And that’s it! Thanks for coming to visit us in Lando’s Used Shipyard! We’ll be cranking these out as often as we can, and there’s so many ships out there we might be working with Lando for...YEARS!

Lando: "This deal keeps getting worse all the time."

For deckplans of the YT-1300, check out the following resources.

SotG p 154 stock yt-1300s
Chris West’s mapsofmastery
WEG D6 Tramp Freighters Guide
D20 Starships of The Galaxy
FV Bonura’s Star Wars Deckplans Alliance
The Star Wars Complete Cutaways books

Star Wars Miniatures: Sluggy

So a while back, GM Chris of d20Radio's Order 66 Podcast posted a need for a mini.  He's running a couple games at GenCon 2011  and said he needed an Exogorth, more commonly known to Star Wars fans as "The Space Slug".  Chris asked what he could use to properly represent the strange creature, and several people gave good suggestions.

Feeling in a crafty mood, and having a minor background in "Green Stuff" putty and miniatures painting, I offered to make one for Chris.

Now, I admit, one of my problems is I procrastinate.  I think he asked about the Exogorth back in March.  And it's now July with only a few weeks left to the con.  But hey, progress.

The asteroid is a styrofoam block, cut and reshaped with a hot foam-cutter.  Sluggy is made from...of all things...a fake vegetable.  Some kind of chili-pepper, I think.  I took an inch of "Green Stuff" to smooth out the pepper to make the slug, adding in some ridges and patches to give him some character.

All he needs is to get painted and detailed and he'll be ready to go.  I'm giving myself a deadline of next Saturday to get "Sluggy" in the mail to Chris.

I hope he likes it, and I hope his players do too.

Episode 78: Battle Meditation

Let us regain our focus, Gamer Nation, as I bring you the 78th installment of Fragments from the Rim.

When Timothy Zahn wrote the Thrawn Crisis Trilogy, Star Wars fans were first exposed to a seemingly-powerful Force Ability that allowed Emerpor Palpatine, and Joruus Caboth in Zahn’s books, an edge over their opponents in combat.  This ability was explored further in the Tales of the Jedi series of comic books, and once more in the first Knights of the Old Republic video game.  That’s right, I’m talking about Battle Meditation, a power that has seen various iterations over the years, from uber-powerful to talent-wasting ineffectiveness.

Setting the Way Back Machine for the 1990s and the West End Games days of Star Wars Gaming, Battle Mediation was a powerful ability, able to affect tens of thousands of individuals, reducing one of their attributes while increasing allies attributes by the same amount.  The downside was that the character with Battle Meditation was doing nothing for the entire encounter except sitting in a lotus position sustaining the power.  That’s all your contribution to the combat was; maintaining Battle Meditation.  It also took five minutes to “set up”, so you’d better know the enemy fleet is coming, or that ground assault is on its way and have time to prepare to get the Battle Meditation in place.

In SAGA, we see the power flip to the opposite end of the spectrum in just about every regard. Now instead of 5 minutes to activate, it’s a full-round action and a Force Point.  Instead of tens of thousands of beings affected through-out the star system, it’s all allies within 6 squares of you.  Instead of decimating your foes ability to fight, you bump up your allies attack rolls by 1.  And it’s an insight bonus; it doesn’t even stack with a Noble’s Born Leader talent.  Heck, it doesn’t even COMPARE to Born Leader, which is Line of Sight and a swift action to activate.

That’s actually the only thing about Battle Meditation that is better than Born Leader, no Line of Sight restriction.  The other thing is that you can get the insight bonus to attack rolls, where a Noble with Born Leader does not.

But let’s look at what someone can do with Battle Meditation.  In the Knights of the Old Republic campaign guide we were given several talents that could make Battle Meditation a viable character choice.  The first is a standard Jedi Talent; Improved Battle Meditation.  It now only costs a swift action to activate Battle Meditation, instead of a full-round action. Next, the range of Battle Meditation is now a 12 square radius, greatly increasing the range of the bonuses and penalties the power applies.  Third, enemies within the radius of your Battle Meditation now suffer a -1 penalty to attack rolls.

Now we have a talent that harkens back to the original feel of Battle Meditation, decent range, and can be used in a moment.  If you’re willing to invest completely in Battle Meditation, you’ll need to go into Jedi Knight and pick up two talents from the Jedi Battlemaster tree; Defensive Circle and Jedi Battle Commander.  Jedi Battle Commander simply makes the +1 insight bonus a +2.  Defensive Circle allows you to grant some protection to those in your Battle Meditation.  As a swift action, you and any allies affected by your Battle Meditation gain a +2 insight bonus to Reflex Defense, lasting as long as they are affected by your Battle Meditation. Additionally, you gain a +1 bonus to your Use the Force checks to Block and Deflect for each adjacent ally wielding a lightsaber.

For all these talents, you have to have Battle Meditation, obviously.  Defensive Circle is the only one where you need to also have Jedi Battle Commander and either Block or Deflect to get.
So a level 10 Jedi Knight with all these talents can, as two swift actions, spend a Force Point to grant himself and all allies within 12 squares +2 Insight bonus to Attack Rolls and Reflex Defenses, penalize all enemies attack rolls by -1, and grant himself a +1 bonus to use Block and Deflect for every adjacent lightsaber wielding ally.  You know, that doesn’t sound too bad at all.  

So what’s the best type of Jedi to use this?  To really be effective at providing this party buff, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in the middle of your party.  A lot of your movement is going to likely be spent maneuvering yourself to keep all your allies within your 12 square radius.  That pretty much limits you from charging to the front lines and wailing on a Sith with your lightsaber.  I feel that if you’re going to take this path that you devote yourself to a Force Wizard type of build.  Get a bunch of Force Powers you can use at range, like Move Object, Force Blast, Force Stun, or Ballistakinesis.  Look at Force Disarm too, it’s pretty good with the right Force Technique.  If you really like to hit enemies with your light saber, look at the  Lightsaber Force Power Draw Closer, which can bring a foe to you and let you hit it with your saber as one standard action.  For your talents, take Deflect and Redirect Shot.  You’ll need Deflect or Block for Defensive Circle, and if you’re not going to be in the front line much anyway you’re likely to be a target for ranged attackers.  Might as well maximize your defense and your ability to send the shot back at an enemy.

Looking over this, I think this could be a really fun character to play, and a great boon to the rest of the party.  I just don’t know if I could suffer the 10 levels of play it would require to get there.

Sabers off until next time, folks.  For Fragments from the Rim this is DarthGM wishing you 20 side up, and 1 side down.

Episode 77: Tactical Savvy and Predictive Defense

This is DarthGM, bringing you the 77th installment of Fragments from the Rim.

When I think of Nobles, I think of two stats; Charisma (naturally), and Intelligence.  Sure, many Nobles are socialites and negotiators, able to defuse situations with just their words and personalities, but I’ve also seen an equal number of nobles with very high intelligence scores, literal “skill-monkeys” with just about every skill in the game as a trained skill.  A heroic noble with a bent towards Military Strategy can use their exceptional intelligence to help their allies and increase their survivability with two character choices from Galaxy At War.

If you’re building a Noble with a talent for directing combat and aiding your allies, take a good long look at the Tactical Savvy  talent from the Leadership Talent Tree.  It can be found on page 19 of Galaxy At War.  You need to have taken the Born Leader talent to take this one.  If you do take this talent, any ally who you can see can add your Intelligence Modifier to their Force point die roll when they use a Force point to enhance an attack roll.  If Intelligence is your character’s big thing, and their primary stat, odds are you’re looking at a +3 or even a +4 bonus to another character’s Force point.  That means the ally is at least getting a +4 bonus to their attack if they spend a Force point to try to make their near miss a hit.  

This talent is great for party support and providing a serious bonus to any ally within line of sight.  I haven’t run a combat encounter yet where SOMEONE hasn’t spent a Force Point on an attack roll.  And more often than not, they’re spending that Force point to try and get between 2-4 more points to hit their target.  Take this talent and you can help ensure that no Force Point used to modify an attack roll is spent in vain.

So Tactical Savvy is great for keeping your friends happy and hitting the bad guys, but what can someone with a high Intelligence do to help themselves in combat?  Here, I would like to present a feat from page 25 of Galaxy at War, Predictive Defense.  Taking a page from D&D 4th Edition, this feat allows the character to use their Dexterity Modifier or their Intelligence Modifier to determine your Reflex Defense.  This feat is a bonus class fear for Scoundrels, and Nobles.  That same Intelligence bonus that’s giving your allies a +3 or +4 to their Force points for hitting bad guys is now also giving you a +3 or +4 to your Reflex Defense, something most Nobles have a low score with anyway.

With these two options, you can support your team, save your bacon, and get more mileage out of your smarts.

And that’s it for this review.  Until next time Gamer Nation, 20 side up, 1 Side down.