Star Wars RPG R&E Rules Upgrade
By Bill Smith
(Reprinted from The Official Star Wars Adventure Journal, Vol. 1, Number 11)
The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, Second Edition, Revised and Expanded (or simply Star Wars, Revised and Expanded) has several rules changes from the Star Wars, Second Edition rulebook. Here’s a summary of these changes for those who already know the Second Edition rules. Feel free to copy and distribute this upgrade to anyone currently playing the Second Edition game.
These new rules are used to speed up games and encourage good storytelling over “number crunching.”
All aspects of the Star Wars roleplaying game boil down to a mechanic called the “Star Wars Rule of Thumb.”
Pick a difficulty number. If the character’s skill roll is equal or higher, she succeeds.
Whenever interpreting the rules during play, keep in mind this basic mechanic. Keep the story moving, focus on the characters and the players aren’t likely to argue about the rules: All they’ll care about is the excitement of the game!
Table of Contents |
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Chapter One: Characters |
Chapter Two: Attributes and Skills |
Chapter Four: The Rules |
Chapter Five: Combat and Injuries |
hapter Six: Movement and Chases |
Chapter Seven: Space Travel and Combat |
Chapter Nine: The Force |
Chapter One: Characters
Note: In Star Wars, Second Edition, this section is in Chapter One, “Beginning Characters,” pages 7-15.
Character Advancement
Clarification: Specializations are considered “separate” skills when they’re selected. They improve independently of the skill upon which they were originally based.
Clarification: A character can only improve a skill one pip between adventures.
Improving Skills
Improving Skills. Character Point Cost: Number before the “D.” Training Time: None if the character used the skill in the last adventure. One day per Character Point spent to improve the skill if the character has a teacher; two days per Character Point if the character is training on his own. May reduce training time one day per additional Character Point spent (minimum: one day).
Improving Specializations. Character Point Cost: 1/2 the number before the “D.” Training Time: None if the character used the skill in the last adventure. One day per Character Point spent to improve the skill if the character has a teacher; two days per Character Point if the character is training on his own. May reduce training time one day per additional Character Point spent (minimum: one day).
Improving Advanced Skills. Character Point Cost: Two times the number before the “D. Training Time: None if the character used the skill in the last adventure. One week per Character Point spent to improve the skill if the character has a teacher; two weeks per Character Point without a teacher. Characters must train to improve advanced skills.
Note: Some advanced skills have different rules. Check the skill’s description.
Improving Attributes: Character Point Cost: 10 times the number before the “D.” Training Time: One week per Character Point spent if the character has a teacher; two weeks per Character Point without a teacher. Characters must train to improve attributes.
Note: The character rolls his new attribute; the gamemaster rolls the attribute maximum listed in the species description. If the character’s roll is equal to or less than the gamemaster’s roll, the attribute increases; if the character rolls higher, the attribute does not improve, but the character receives half the Character Points back.
Move: Character Point Cost: Number for the current Move. Training Time: One week per Character Point spent if the character has a teacher; two weeks per Character Point without a teacher. Characters must train to improve their Move.
Note: May not be improved above maximum Move for species.
Force-sensitive: Character Point Cost: Costs 20 Character Points to become Force-sensitive. Characters may not “lose” their Force sensitivity. Training Time: None.
Chapter Two: Attributes and Skills
Note: In Star Wars, Second Edition, this section was Chapter Four, Attributes and Skills,” pages 72-91.
Knowledge Skills
Use the following general guidelines for selecting difficulties:
- Very Easy: General, common knowledge that almost anyone would know.
- Easy: Most people would know this.
- Moderate: Professional level of knowledge. The average person who has an interest in the subject would know this much.
- Difficult: Professionals would know this much about a given subject; the average person would be hard-pressed to give much information.
- Very Difficult: This represents detailed, comprehensive knowledge of the subject.
- Professionals and scholars would probably have to research a subject to gain this amount of knowledge.
- Heroic: Only a very small number of people would know this much information.
Scholar. Time Taken: One round to several days. Specialization: Particular field of study-archaeology, Jedi lore, history, geology, physics.
This skill covers formal academic training or dedicated research in a particular field. Scholar also reflects a character’s ability to find information through research. Characters often choose a specialization to reflect a specific area which they have studied. Specializations are subjects often taught at the great universities throughout the galaxy, including archaeology, botany, chemistry, geology, history, hyperspace theories and physics. Specializations can also be topics a character can research on his own.
Scholar represents “book-learning,” not information learned from practical experience. Gamemasters can choose to allow players a limited benefit under certain circumstances-the character is applying theory in a real-world situation.
The scholar difficulty is based on the obscurity and detail of the information sought.
Tactics.Time Taken: One round to several minutes. Specializations: Type of military unit-squads, fleets, capital ships,ground assault.
Tactics represents a character’s skill in deploying military forces and maneuvering them to his best advantage. It may be rolled to gain general knowledge of how to best stage certain military operations: blockading a planet with a fleet, invading an enemy installation, assaulting a fixed turbolaser battery.
This skill may also be used to determine the best response to an opponent’s move in battle: what to do if the enemy entraps your ships in a pincer movement, how to proceed in the assault should reinforcements arrive, what to do if a unit becomes trapped behind enemy lines.
Although tactics rolls might reveal how best to handle military situations, the final outcome of a battle hinges on other skill rolls- command for the leader, and the combat rolls of both forces.
Tactics difficulties should be based on various factors in a battle: how many units are involved, the setting, and the difference in training and equipment between units.
When rolling this skill, characters are often seeking ways to deal with military situations. The better the result, the more hints a gamemaster should give to help the character win the battle. Hints can take the form of reminders about different moves the enemy can make, suggestions on how to maneuver the character’s forces, or (for especially good rolls) risky and unanticipated moves which could throw the enemy off guard.
Mechanical Skills
Astrogation. Time Taken: See Chapter Seven, “Space Travel and Combat.
Jet Pack Operation. Time Taken: One round. This skill represents a character’s skill at using jet packs. Jet packs rely on pulling in surrounding atmosphere and mixing it with fuel, so they can only be operated within atmospheres.
Rocket Pack Operation Time Taken: One round or longer. This skill represents a character’s ability to use personal, self contained rocket packs. These backpack units contain all the chemical thrust components for propulsion and maneuvering, and can be used in zero, low and high atmosphere conditions.
Strength Skills
Brawling.Clarification: Brawling has a difficulty of Very Easy unless the target parries.
LiftingLifting difficulties depend upon the weight of the object to be lifted.
Weight | Difficulty Level |
10 kg | Very Easy |
50 kg | Easy |
100 kg | Moderate |
200 kg | Difficult |
500 kg | Very Difficult |
750 kg | Heroic |
1 metric ton | Heroic + 10 |
1.5 metric tons | Heroic + 20 |
2 metric tons | Heroic + 30 |
2.5 metric tons | Heroic + 40 |
3 metric tons | Heroic + 50 |
Increase the difficulty based on how long the character
wishes to lift the object:
Time | Difficulty Level Increase |
1-6 rounds (up to 30 seconds) | No increase |
7 rounds to 3 minutes | +1 difficulty level |
Up to 10 minutes | +2 difficulty levels |
Up to 30 minutes | +3 difficulty levels |
Up to 1 hour | +4 difficulty levels |
After the first hour, the character must make a new lifting or Strength roll every hour at the same difficulty as for one hour. If the characterfails the roll, he must rest for twice as long as he was lifting the heavy weight.
Technical Skills
Using Repair Skills Repair times, difficulties and costs are generalizations. They may be customized as needed in game play.
The first repair roll is made after 15 minutes of work. Additional repair roll times are noted in skill’s description and altered depending upon the situation.
The costs are always a percentage of the item’s original value. If someone else does the work for the characters, double or triple the cost.
Drives: A Difficult repair roll is needed to replace a destroyed drive. The cost is 35% of the craft’s original value.
Hyperdrives: A Moderate repair roll is necessary to fix a damaged hyperdrive.
Maneuverability
Maneuverability Dice Lost | Repair Difficulty | Repair Cost |
-1D | Easy | 10% |
-2D | Moderate | 15% |
-3D | Difficult | 20% |
Move or SpaceTo repair lost “moves,” check the chart below for difficulties and costs.
Moves Lost | Repair Difficulty | Repair Cost |
1 | Easy | 10% |
2 | Moderate | 15% |
3 | Difficult | 20% |
4 | Very Difficult | 25% |
5 | Drive destroyed and must be replaced |
Shields:
Shield Dice Lost | Repair Difficulty | Repair Cost |
-1D | Easy | 5% |
-2D | Moderate | 5% |
-3D | Difficult | 5% |
-4D or more | Very Difficult | 10% |
Weapons Difficulties depend on how badly weapons are damaged. The repair cost is a percentage of the weapon’s original cost, not the cost of the vehicle it’s mounted on.
Damage Repair | Difficulty | Repair Cost |
Lightly | Easy | 15% |
Heavily | Moderate | 25% |
Severely | Very Difficult | 35% |
Destroyed | May not be repaired |
Improving Vehicles, Vessels and Weapons
Modification Limit: Stats may only be increased one “pip,” one Move level or one hyperdrive level at a time.
Increases in the charts below reflect modification above the original stat. Using theses rules, no system may be improved more than +1D+2, or more than 4 moves.
A new improvement roll can be made every month of game time. As with repairs, the costs are a percentage of the item’s original value; if someone else does the work, double or triple the cost.
Hyperdrives
The difficulty and cost depends upon the old hyperdrive modifier compared to the new one.
Old/New | Difficulty | Cost |
x4/x3 | Easy | 10% |
x3/x2 | Moderate | 15% |
x2/x1 | Very Difficult | 25% |
x1/x½ | Heroic | 35% |
Failure on these modification repair rolls could permanently damage hyperdrives, or cause them to function sporadically.
Maneuverability
Pip Increase | Difficulty | Cost |
+1 | Easy | 5% |
+2 | Moderate | 10% |
+1D | Difficult | 15% |
+1D+1 | Very Difficult | 20% |
+1D+2 | Heroic | 25% |
Move or Space
Move Increase | Difficulty | Cost |
+5 | Easy | 10% |
+10 | Moderate | 15% |
+15 | Very Difficult | 20% |
+20 | Heroic | 25% |
To boost a starship’s Space stat, use the chart below. (The ship’s new Move can be found on the chart “Ships in an Atmosphere” on page 110 of Star Wars, Second Edition.)
Pip Increase | Difficulty | Cost |
+1 | Easy | 10% |
+2 | Moderate | 15% |
+3 | Very Difficult | 20% |
+4 | Heroic | 25% |
Shields
Pip Increase | Difficulty | Cost |
+1 | Easy | 15% |
+2 | Moderate | 25% |
+1D | Difficult | 30% |
+1D+1 | Very Difficult | 35% |
+1D+2 | Heroic | 50% |
WeaponsCan improve fire control and/or damage.
Pip Increase | Difficulty | Cost |
+1 | Easy | 15% |
+2 | Moderate | 25% |
+1D | Difficult | 30% |
+1D+1 | Very Difficult | 35% |
+1D+2 | Heroic | 50% |
Range
Range Increase | Difficulty | Cost |
+5% | Easy | 5% |
+10% | Moderate | 10% |
+15% | Difficult | 15% |
+20% | Very Difficult | 20% |
+25% | Heroic | 25% |
Chapter Four: The Rules
Note: In Star Was, Second Edition, this section was Chapter Three, “Basic Mechanics,” pages 52-54 and 58-60.
The Wild Die
If a “1” comes up on the Wild Die, the gamemaster may choose to just add up the dice normally (instead of having a complication occur or subtracting a character’s other highest die).
Clarification: The Wild Die rule applies to all die rolls, including damage rolls in combat!
Difficulty Numbers
The highest difficulty level is Heroic, covering any difficulty number above 30. Some situations specify to add a number to the Heroic difficulty: “Heroic+10” means a difficulty number of 41-50, “Heroic+20” means 51-60 and so forth.
Scenes and Rounds
Note: In Star Wars, Second Edition, this section was in Chapter Two, “Gamemastering,” pages 27-30.
Rounds
Each round has two phases:
1. Initiative
2. Roll actions
1. Initiative. The character with the highest Perception on each side rolls his Perception. High roller gets to choose whether his side goes first or last.
2. Roll Actions. The first side acts now. Acting in Perception order (highest to lowest), every player tells you, the gamemaster, how many actions his character is making (so you can assign the multiple actions penalty). Each player rolls his character’s first action.
This process is repeated for each character on the second side. After every character has taken his first action, the characters on the first side take their second actions. (Characters without second actions are skipped.) Then the characters on the second side roll their second actions.
This continues until every character on both sides has taken all actions.
Reaction Skills. When a character gets attacked, he can use “reaction skills” to get out of the way. See “Reaction Skills” under “Chapter Five: Combat and Injuries.”
Gamemaster Tips
Combined Actions. Combined actions are used when groups of characters work together to accomplish a single task.
Aside from working on the task, the only other thing a combining character can do is use reaction skills.
The character with the highest command or Perception is the leader. He can only command as many characters as he has command skill dice.
If he’s supervising only, he rolls his full command skill. If he’s commanding and working on the task, this counts as two actions and he suffers a -1D penalty to his command roll.
Select a command difficulty based on the difficulty of the task, the skill of the character involved and how well they work together. (Use your judgment.)
If the command roll is successful, the combined action bonus is +1D for every three characters combining. Add a +1 for one “extra” character and a +2 for two extra characters.
If the commander fails the roll, subtract -1D from the bonus for every point the roll failed by. (A bonus cannot go below OD.)
The combined action bonus is added to the character with the highest skill who’s working on the task.
If a group of characters are combining actions on a combat task, the bonus can be split between the attack roll and the damage roll. If a task requires two or more skill rolls, the bonus can be split up among any of these rolls.
Character Elements
Note: In Star Wars, Second Edition, this section was in Chapter Three, “Basic Mechanics,” pages 54-58.
Character Points
Clarification: Characters may spend two Character Points for skill or attribute uses, including attacks.
Characters may spend five Character Points on specializations, when dodging or parrying (including vehicle and starship dodges, and lightsaber parries), or when using Perception or control to resist others’ Force powers.
Clarification: Characters may use Character Points or a Force Point in a round; they may not use both.
Character Points and Force Points may be spent at any time.
Chapter Five: Combat and Injuries
Note: In Star Wars, Second Edition, this section was in Chapter Three, “Basic Mechanics,” pages 60-68.
Reaction Skills
Characters use “reaction skills” to block or avoid attacks. The game’s reaction skills are dodge, melee parry, brawling parry and lightsaber (if your character is wielding a lightsaber). Repulsorlift operation and other vehicle skills can be used to perform a 4’vehicle dodge” to avoid enemy fire. Capital ship piloting, space transports and starfighter piloting can be used to perform a “starship dodge” to avoid attacks.
When someone attacks a character, the target character declares the reaction and must roll the skill before the attack roll is made. The reaction skill roll is the attacker’s new difficulty number and is in effect for the rest of the round.
The character can use up any remaining actions for a reaction or have the reaction be an extra action, accepting a higher multiple action penalty for the rest of the round.
Combat Modifiers
Called Shots. Attackers can make a “called E hot” against a small target. Add +1D to the difficulty for a target 10 to 50 centimeters long. Add +4D to the difficulty for a target one to 10 centimeters long. Add +8D to the difficulty for a target less than a centimeter long.
Scale
The scales, from “lowest” to “highest,” are character (creature), speeder, walker, starfighter, capital and Death Star. The scale modifiers reflect the differences between small, fragile targets (like characters) and large, tough targets (like Star Destroyers).
* When targets of the same scale are shooting at each other, ignore the modifiers; roll hits, dodges, and damage die codes normally.
* When using the scale rolls, apply the difference between the two scales: this is now called the “adjusted modifier” just to show that you’re not using the raw numbers).
Scale | Modifier |
Character | – |
Speeder | 2D |
Walker | 4D |
Starfighter | 6D |
Capital | 12D |
Death Star | 24D |
Example: A landspeeder (speeder-scale) is firing at an AT-AT (walker-scale). The landspeeder has a modifier of 2D, the AT-AT has a modifier of 4D. The adjusted modifier is 2D.
Lower Against Higher. When a “lower” scale character or vehicle is shooting at a “higher” scale character or vehicle:
* The lower scale gets to add the modifier to the attack roll; if the higher scale target makes a vehicle dodge, just roll its normal maneuverability.
* The higher scale target gets to add the modifier to the roll to resist damage; the lower scale weapon rolls damage normally.
Example: The landspeeder fires at the walker. The landspeeder’s blaster cannon has a fire control of 2D and a damage of 3D+ 1. The walker has no maneuverability (OD) and a body strength of 6D.
The landspeeder gets to add the adjusted modifier of 2D to its roll to hit. If the landspeeder hits, the landspeeder rolls the cannon ‘s normal damage of 3D+ 1. However, because the walker is of a higher scale, it gets to add the adjusted modifier of 2D to its body strength of 6D. it rolls 8D to resist damage.
Higher Against Lower. When a “higher” scale character or vehicle is shooting at a “lower” scale character or vehicle:
* The higher scale attacker rolls its normal attack roll; the lower scale target adds the “adjusted modifier” to its vehicle dodge roll to avoid the attack.
* The higher scale attacker adds the “adjusted modifier” to its damage roll.
Example: Assuming the walker survived the blast (and that’s a pretty safe assumption), the
walker’s commander decides to return fire.
When the walker fires, it uses its fire control normally. The landspeeder, because it is a
lower scale vehicle, adds the adjusted modifier of 2D to its maneuverability to dodge the
attack.
If the walker hits with its blast, the walker adds the adjusted modifier of 2D to its normal weapon damage. The landspeeder only rolls its normal body strength to resist damage.
Damage
The Second Edition Character Damage Chart is still used, but there’s a new level of damage: “wounded twice.”
Wounded. A wounded character who’s wounded a second time is wounded twice.
Wounded twice. A character who’s wounded twice falls prone and can take no actions for the rest of the round. The character suffers a penalty of -2D to all skill and attribute rolls until he is healed. A wounded twice character who is wounded again is incapacitated.
Mortally wounded. A character making a Moderate first aid total can “stabilize” a mortally wounded character. The character is still mortally wounded but will survive if a medpac or bacta tank is used on him within one hour (Moderate first aid total); otherwise, he dies.
Stun Damage. Weapons set for stun roll damage normally, but treat any result more serious than “stunned” as “unconscious for 2D minutes.”
Healing
Natural Healing. Characters who are wounded twice must rest for three days before rolling to heal. Use the chart for wounded characters to determine whether they heal.
Wounded characters may worsen to wounded twice.
Wounded twice characters may improve to wounded or worsen to incapacitated.
Incapacitated characters may improve to wounded twice.
Chapter Six: Movement and Chases
Note: In Star Wars, Second Edition, this section was Chapter Five, “Movement,” pages 92-98.
Characters and vehicles may only make one move per round; pick one of four speeds.
* Cautious Movement: Characters or vehicles move up to half their Move.
In Very Easy, Easy, and Moderate terrain, cautious movement is a “free” action”: it’s not considered an action and the character doesn’t have to roll her running or vehicle operation skill.
In Difficult, Very Difficult and Heroic terrain, roll against the terrain difficulty but reduce the difficulty one level (i.e., Very Difficult terrain is Difficult to cross). In these terrain types, cautious movement counts as an action.
* Cruising Movement: Characters or vehicles move at their Move rate (equivalent to a walk or cruising speed). This counts as an action.
Characters and vehicles can automatically cross Very Easy, Easy and Moderate terrain. Characters and vehicles must roll to cross Difficult, Very Difficult and Heroic terrain.
* High Speed: Characters or vehicles move at double their Move rate.
Characters must roll to cross Very Easy, Easy and Moderate terrain.
Increase the terrain difficulty by one level in Difficult, Very Difficult and Heroic terrain. (Difficult terrain is Very Difficult to cross.)
* All-out: Characters or vehicles moving all-out move at four times their Move rate. Characters or vehicles making all-out movement may not do anything else in the round (including dodge or parry)!
For Very Easy, Easy and Moderate terrain, increase the difficulty one level (i.e., Easy terrain has a Moderate difficulty to cross.). For Difficult, Very Difficult or Heroic terrain, increase the difficulty two levels.
Partial Moves. After picking a “move speed” (cautious, cruising, high speed or all-out speed), a character or vehicle can move anywhere between half and the full move speed.
Acceleration and Deceleration. Characters may increase or decrease their movement speed up to two levels per round.
Vehicles may increase or decrease their movement speed up to one level per round.
Long-distance Movement: All-out movement takes its toll after extended periods of time.
Characters or animals going all-out must make stamina rolls every minute. The first difficulty is Very Easy; increase the difficulty one level for each additional roll. If the character fails the roll, she must rest for twice as long as she was moving all-out.
High speed movement requires stamina rolls once every 10 minutes. The first roll is Very Easy and increase one difficulty level for each additional roll.
Vehicles going all-out must make body strength rolls every 10 minutes. The first difficulty is Very Easy; increase the difficulty one level for each additional roll.
If the vehicle fails the roll by 1-10 points, it’s suffering strain and must “rest” for twice as long as it was moving all-out. If the vehicle fails the roll by 11 or more points, the vehicle has suffered a mechanical failure and requires a Moderate repair roll and at least one hour of work.
High speed movement requires body strength rolls once every hour. The first roll is Very Easy and increase one difficulty level for each additional roll.
Maneuvers. The movement difficulty includes basic maneuvers: straight-line movement, a couple of turns and other simple movements.
For more complex maneuvers, add difficulty modifiers as needed:
+1-5 | Maneuver is fairly easy. |
+6-10 | Maneuver is somewhat difficult and requires a certain amount of skill. |
+11-15 | Maneuver is difficult and requires a very talented (or lucky) driver or pilot. |
16+ | Maneuver appears to be almost impossible. Only the very best drivers can pull of a maneuver of this difficulty. |
Character Movement Failures. Movement failures remain as listed in Star Wars, Second Edition, page 95 except as noted below.
7-10. | Fall. The character falls halfway through her Move but manages to catch herself and is now kneeling. She may take no actions for the rest of the round and suffers a -2D penalty to all actions for the next round. |
11-15. | Minor Tumble. The character falls one-quarter of the way through her Move. She may take no actions for the rest of the round and the next round. |
A character moving all-out takes 1D damage; characters moving at slower speeds take no damage.
Collision Damage. Collision damage depends on how fast the character or vehicle was moving.
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Ramming. Add +10 to the movement difficulty for the ramming vehicle. Ramming counts as a separate action: the pilot suffers an additional -1D penalty.
If the pilot beats the new difficulty number, he rams the target. If the pilot rolls below the original difficulty number, he suffers a “movement failure.” If the pilot rolls above the original difficulty number, but below the new difficulty number, he crosses the terrain safely, but the ramming attack fails.
Vehicle Damage
Vehicle damage is modified as follows:
Lightly Damaged. | Roll 1D to see which system is damaged. |
1-3. | Vehicle loses -1D from maneuverability. (If the vehicle’s maneuverability has already been reduced to OD the vehicle suffers -1 Move.) |
4. | One on-board weapon was hit and destroyed. |
5-6. | Vehicle suffers-1 Move. |
Heavily Damaged. | Roll 1D to see which system is damaged. |
1-3. | Vehicle loses -2D from maneuverability. (If the vehicle’s maneuverability is OD it suffers -2 Move.) |
4-6. | Vehicle suffers -2 Move. |
Severely Damaged. | |
3. | Overloaded generator. The engine or generator begins to overload and will explode in 1D rounds completely destroying the vehicle. |
Lost Moves |
Lost Moves add together. For example, a vehicle that suffers a -1 Move result, then a-2 Move result is at “-3 Moves.” |
-1 Move: The creature or vehicle can no longer move at all-out speed; it’s limited to high speed. |
-2 Moves: The character or vehicle is limited to its cruising speed. |
-3 Moves: The character or vehicle is limited to its cautious speed. |
-4 Moves: The vehicle’s drive is disabled and it cannot move until repaired. |
-5 Moves: The vehicle is destroyed. |
Vehicle Speeds
In a vehicle’s Move listing, the “kmh” listing represents its all-out speed. A vehicle’s “high speed” is half the all-out speed. A vehicle’s “cruising speed” is one-quarter its all-out speed. A vehicle’s “cautious speed” is one-eighth its all-out speed.
Chapter Seven: Space Travel and Combat
Note: In Star Wars, Second Edition, this section is Chapter Six, “Space Travel,” on pages 104-112.
Making Calculations for the Jump to Hyperspace. Calculating a route takes one minute if the character is using a well-traveled route or is using pre-calculated coordinates. (In emergencies, a character can try to jump into hyperspace in one round instead of one minute. The astrogation difficulty is doubled and the character rolls each round until he either beats the difficulty number or suffers an astrogation mishap.)
Calculating a route between known systems takes about half an hour. These calculations take a few hours if the ship has never jumped to the destination system before. If the character doesn’t know where he is, it takes one day to determine his ship’s current position and then compute hyperspace coordinates.
Starship Movement
Starship movement works just like vehicle movement.
A ship can move once per turn. The pilot picks one of four speeds: cautious, cruising, high speed and All-out speed. The terrain difficulties are modified by speed, just as in vehicle movement.
Acceleration and Deceleration. Starships may increase or decrease their speed one level per round.
Maneuvers. Apply the same modifiers as for vehicle movement.
Movement Failures. Use the same results as for vehicle movement failures.
If a starship gets a “collision” result and there’s nothing to run into, the ship goes spinning wildly out of control for the rest of the round and the next round.
Starship Weapons
Tractor Beams. A captured ship that doesn’t resist can automatically be reeled in towards the attacker at five Space units each round.
If the target ship resists, roll the tractor beam’s damage against the target ship’s hull code. If the target ship’s hull code roll is higher, the ship breaks free. If the tractor beam rolls equal to or higher than the target ship, find the result on the chart below.
Tractor beam damage Space unitsTarget ship’s
roll > hull roll by | : reeled in | damage |
0-3 | No change | No damage |
4-8 | 1 | -1 Move |
9-12 | 2 | -2 Moves |
13-15 | 3 | -3 Moves |
16+ | 4 | -4 Moves |
Starship Damage
Starship damage is modified as follows:
Lightly Damaged. Starships can be lightly damaged any number of times. Each time a ship is
lightly damaged, roll 1D to see which system is damaged.
1. Ship loses -1D from maneuverability. (If the ship’s maneuverability has already been reduced to 0D, it suffers -1 Move.)
2. One on-board weapon emplacement was hit and destroyed.
3. One on-board weapon emplacement was rendered inoperative by a major power surge; it’s lightly damaged.
4. Hyperdrive damaged. Double the time to calculate any astrogation courses; if the pilot wants to try to jump to hyperspace in one round, add an extra +10 to the astrogation difficulty. The hyperdrive may be fixed with one hour of work and a Moderate repair roll.
5. The ship loses -1D from its shield code. If the ship has no dice remaining in shields, it suffers the controls ionized result.
6. The ship suffers -1 Move.
Heavily Damaged. Heavily damaged ships have taken a much more serious amount of damage.
If a heavily damaged ship is lightly damage or heavily damaged again, it becomes severely damaged.
Roll 1D to see which system is affected:
1. Ship loses -2D from maneuverability. If its already OD, it suffers -2 Move.
2. Ship loses a weapons system in one fire arc. All weapons of one type in one fire arc are disabled by a major power surge or system failure.
3. Weapons system destroyed. All weapons of one type in one fire arc are destroyed.
4. Hyperdrive damaged. Increase all astrogation difficulties by +10 until the drive is
fixed with a Moderate repair roll and one hour of work.
5. Ship loses -2D from shields. If it has no shields remaining, it suffers “2 controls ionized.”
6. Ship suffers -2 Move.
Severely Damaged. A severely damaged ship which is lightly damaged, heavily damaged or severely damaged again is destroyed.
Roll 1D to determine which system is affected:
1. Dead in space. All drives and maneuvering systems are destroyed. The vehicle is adrift in space.
2. Overloaded generator. The ship’s generator is overloading; unless it’s shut down, the generator will explode in 1D rounds and destroy the ship.
3. Disabled hyperdrives. The ship’s hyperdrives-main and backup-are damaged. The ship cannot enter hyperspace until they are fixed with a Moderate repair roll and one hour of work.
4. Disabled weapons. All weapons systems lose power. Roll 1D:
1-4: Weapons are severely damaged but may be repaired.
5-6: All weapons aboard the ship are destroyed.
5. Structural damage. The ship is so badly damaged that it begins to disintegrate. The crew has 1D rounds to evacuate.
6. Destroyed.
Chapter Nine: The Force
Note: In Star Wars, Second Edition, this section is discussed in Chapter Seven, “The Star Wars Universe,” on pages 138-152.
These rules allow gamemasters a firmer hand in controlling the powers available to Jedi characters.
Tremors in the Force. Jedi cause “tremors” whenever they use the Force; these ripples can be detected by other Jedi.
A Jedi who sparingly uses the Force and then only uses it in a minor way creates the faintest ripples, detectable only by powerful Jedi at close ranges.
However, a Jedi who often uses the Force in grandiose displays creates very noticeable ripples which can be detected by other Jedi at vast distances. Those who rely on the Force as a crude instrument of power are very likely to draw the attention of people whom they’d much rather avoid…
Premonitions and Visions. Some Jedi characters experience premonitions, dreams and visions. Such occurrences have been known to warn Jedi of impending danger or summon then to “crisis areas” where their unique abilities are needed.
Force Skills
Characters must be Force-sensitive to learn Force skills.
When a characters receive their first die in a Force skill (control, sense, or alter),they receive one Force power.
Force Skill. Character Point Cost: Number before the “D.” Double character point cost without a teacher. Training Time: One day per Character Point
spent if the character has a teacher. Two days per Character Point without a teacher. Training time may be reduced by one day for each additional Character Point spent (minimum of one day).
Force Powers. A Jedi may be taught a new power each time a Force skill is improved by one pip. The new power is chosen by the teacher and must use
the improved skill (for instance, a Jedi improving control could not learn a power based solely on alter).
A character may be taught a Force power without improving a Force skill, but the character must spend five Character Points.
A power that uses two Force skills counts as two powers when being taught powers.
A Jedi character cannot use a power that has not been learned.
The Lure of the Dark Side. When a character with Dark Side Points uses a Force skill, her skill roll gets a bonus of 1 D per Dark Side Point.
A Jedi may refuse this bonus, but the difficulties of all Force powers should be increased by at least one difficulty level to reflect the intense concentration needed to avoid the dark side’s temptations.
A character who has gone over to the dark side no longer receives this bonus.
Intuitive Powers. It is well-known that some beings can push themselves to feats of great strength or endurance. Likewise, Jedi characters, when faced
with an incredible challenge, may exhibit powers they had not previously learned.
At the gamemaster’s discretion only, characters may be “granted” powers in exceptional circumstances. This reflects the Force’s mystic and often unpredictable nature.
Gamemasters may grant the power for “free,” require the Jedi to spend a number of Character Points or Force Points to learn the power, or set other conditions. Gamemasters may grant a Jedi a power on a one-time basis to indicate the importance of a particular task, or to “reward” characters who have performed exceptionally well by allowing them to “subconsciously” learn a new power.
Dark Side Characters
Returning to the Light. Dark Side characters can return to the light, but it’s not easy.
A dark side character must prove her commitment to the light by spending a Force Point in a selfless manner at a dramatically appropriate time. Often, this requires the character to make a heroic sacrifice.
When a character is redeemed, the dark side exacts a final toll: she loses all Force Points and Character Points. The character’s Dark Side Point total drops to five … she must atone to remove the Dark Side Points or else she could very easily fall back under the sway of the dark side.