November 04, 2009

Getting a Handle on Enemies

I can't recall a time that I ran a Star Wars: Saga Edition game. I've always played in games run by a friend. And he runs pretty killer games. One thing he always grouses about, and even stumbles over as the game is running, is the stat blocks for enemies. After all the trash I was talking about 4th Edition D&D last week, I figured I'd play nice and try adapting the new monster stat block from 4th Edition for use with Saga Edition. I've also times myself at it to see roughly how much prep time it would consume to convert a few stat blocks for use at your game table. I grabbed a handy SW:SE book, so the NPCs come out of The Force Unleashed Campaign Guide. So hopefully, this is helpful to some of you besides my erstwhile GM. If it is, let me know!


Imperial Jump Trooper CL7

Force 1; Darkside 5
Init: +8; Senses: Perception +12(can reroll must take second result); Low-light vision
hp 51 bloodied 25 (threshold 20)
Defenses: Ref 24(FF 21); Fort 20; Will 16
Speed 6 (Flying: jetpack)
M: unarmed +9 (1d4+4)
M: Grapple +10
R: Blaster Rifle +12(3d8+3)
R: Rail Detonator Gun +12 (3d8+3, 1 square splash)
R: Strafing Run +10 (3d8+3) Targets a line 1 square by 4 squares (autofire) or all squares flown over while using jetpack (autofire)
S: Takes no penalties for firing into melee, or attacking a target with concealment.
S: Can move before and after an attack, provided movement does not exceed normal movement. S: +1 to attack and damage at point blank range.
Skills: Jump +11, Stealth +13
Str 13, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
Possessions: rail detonator gun, blaster rifle, jumptrooper armor with helmet package, jetpack, comlink

Imperial Radiation Zone Trooper CL4

Force 1, Darkside 5
Init: +5; Senses: Perception +11, Low-light vision
hp 34 bloodied 17 (Threshold 19)
Defenses: Ref 19 (FF17); Fort 19 (25 vs Radiation); Will 14
Speed 6
M: unarmed +7 (1d6+2)
M: Grapple +7
R: Blaster Carbine +8 (3d8+1)
A: Autofire Blaster Carbine (Area 2 blast) +6 (3d8+1)
A: Frag Grenade (Area burst 2) +7 (4d6+1)
S: Aid Another is automatically successful when target is adjacent or at point blank range.
Skills: Endurance +10, Mechanics +9, Survival +9
Str 12, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
Possessions: Blaster carbine, 2 frag grenades, Radtrooper armor with helmet package, comlink, radiation survival kit.

So it took me about 30 minutes to throw these two together. However, I had to look up several feats to make sure I incorporated their effects into the stat block for easy reference, and I had to look up some talents as well. I think when you start familiarizing yourself with those feats and talents, it will become even faster. In fact, the second stat block took roughly half as long as the first.

In newer Saga Edition books, the stat blocks have started resembling the 4th Edition monster block a little more closely, but even so, the choice not to include the specific numbers for autofiring, talents and feats that modify attacks, etc. has made running those stat blocks a little less GM-friendly. With a few minutes of quick work, they can be "streamlined." And they're reusable once you've converted them!

Hope this helps, and let me know how it works!

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