Saga Edition House Rules [Clone Wars Campaign]

Here are the current house rules for the Clone Wars campaign I direct. They're quite long, which I partially attribute to the fact that the campaign has gone on for a long time so I've noticed a lot of stuff, and partially because I'm in law and I like tinkering with rules.

AIMING & COVER Instead of completely negating the benefit of Cover or Improved Cover, aiming cuts the defensive bonus in half (from +5 to +2 for Cover and from +10 to +5 for Improved Cover). Rationale: Characters have little incentive to seek cover and take advantage of terrain if aiming negates any benefit, which results in characters standing in the open and trading shots with each other.

ALTERNATE CHARACTER Every player should have a back-up character ready to play each session. For story reasons, you may choose at any time to play this secondary character and transfer any experience earned to your primary character. Rationale: If your main character gets killed, captured, or frozen in carbonite early in a session, you can still keep playing instead of spending the whole time rolling up a new character.

ASCENSION GUNS In order to get the grapple to “stick”, a character using an ascension gun has to make a Climb check equal to the DC of the surface. This represents the character’s skill and training with climbing devices. If the check fails, one retry is permitted by that character. If the check fails by ten or more, the grapple is damaged and must be repaired (DC 20 Mechanics check w/ tool kit). Rationale: Ascension guns can make an entire skill (Climb) completely useless and can take away some of the drama of scaling heights. They’re still useful, however, as there’s no risk of falling and characters can ascend with them faster than with normal climbing.

ASTROGATION Travel time is calculated according to the books, but with a modifier based on how “far” a trip it is (see galaxy map).

ATHLETICS If a PC is trained in one of the following skills, he or she is automatically trained in a second one as a bonus (as long as the second one is a class skill): Climb, Jump, Ride, Swim. Rationale: Saga combined a lot of skills that used to be separate, and these skills on their own aren't used very often.

BLASTER POWER PACKS We won't keep track of these. Rationale: Saves bookkeeping.

CINEMATIC BONUS I'll give a +2 bonus to an attack or defence roll for a creative, exciting, or cinematic description of what your character (or my NPC) is doing. Rationale: Star Wars combat should be dramatic and fast-moving, not just two sides standing still and trading blaster fire.

CRITICAL FUMBLES On a natural attack roll of 1, a critical fumble will occur as described on the d100 critical fumble table. If a starship rolls a natural 1, we’ll roll on the Vehicle Mishaps table from Scum & Villainy.

DAMAGE REDUCTION 10 (Force Talent) This power lasts for 1d6 rounds. Rationale: Allowing it to last for a full minute means high-level characters will be able to keep it on for the duration of most battles.

DIAGONAL MOVEMENT I won't apply the double cost for moving diagonally described in the book.

DEFENCE ROLLS When attacked, every character will roll a d20 and add modifiers to their defence bonus (this replaces the fixed +10 bonus). Rationale: Makes combat a little more random and gives a better sense of controlling a character’s destiny; also allows Force points to be used defensively.

DODGE FEAT The Dodge feat provides a +1 reflex defence bonus versus multiple opponents instead of just a single opponent in a round. Rationale: Saves time and bookkeeping during combat.

EARNINGS & COSTS Jedi & Soldiers earn 300 credits a month from the Republic (the earnings of characters employed by other organizations will be decided as necessary). Every character has to pay monthly “upkeep” according to their standard of living (Luxury: 10,000 Credits; Wealthy: 5,000 Credits; Comfortable: 2,000 Credits; Average: 1,000 Credits; Struggling: 500 Credits; Impoverished: 200 Credits; Self-Sufficient: 100 Credits). A character’s upkeep level may provide a small bonus when dealing with persons of the same class and a small negative when dealing with members of other classes (Luxury +/- 2, Wealthy +/-1, Impoverished: +/-1, Self-Sufficient: +/-2). Character who can’t even afford “self-sufficient” upkeep need to actively role-play stealing food, hunting, or some other explanation of how they survive.

EDUCATED (Noble talent) This talent provides a +3 bonus to all Knowledge checks. Rationale: Since we have another house rule allowing all Knowledge checks to be made untrainted, this talent requires a new role.

EQUILIBRIUM (Force talent) Removing a persistent condition requires a Use the Force check that exceeds the DC of the condition. The Fortified Body talent provides a +5 bonus on this check. Rationale: Otherwise, characters with this talent are effectively immune to all poisons, diseases, radiation, etc.

EQUIPMENT Keep a careful list of your equipment. If it's not written down, you don't have it.

EVASION & IMPROVED EVASION Characters with the Evasion feat take half damage if hit by an area attack and ¼ damage if the area attack misses. A new Scout talent for the “Survivor Talent Tree”, Improved Evasion (Evasion required as a prerequisite) reduces the damage to 1/8 if an area attack misses. Rationale: Evasion can lead to some ridiculous results, makes it difficult to harm characters with high Reflex defences, and is very easy to get by “dipping” into the Scout class for just one level. Remember that, as per the Core rules, characters with Cover or Improved Cover take no damage from area attacks that miss.

EXPERIENCE POINTS Experience points will be awarded based on role-playing: giving your character a unique personality, paying attention to their motivations and background, and (most importantly) staying in character except for rules questions or other necessary exceptions. Experience point awards will be based on the total needed for a character of your level to reach the next level: Each session I'll award each player 15% for average role-playing, 20% for good role-playing, and 25% for great role-playing. Being on-time is worth a 5% bonus and occasional combat bonuses will be awarded to the group for notable/significant/surprising victories (equal to a 5 to 10% bonus). Ways to get bonus experience points and flesh our your character include writing up a background, detailing an ally or enemy I can use as an NPC, finding a picture of your character, etc.

FORCE FORTIFICATION (Jedi Talent) This talent can only be used once per day. Rationale The ability to negate critical hits is incredibly powerful.

GRAPPLING CHARACTERS A character who is Pinning or Crushing another character loses his Dexterity bonus to Reflex defense and is considered flat-footed to attacks from enemies who are not grappled. The grappling character also loses the ability to threaten adjacent squares. Rationale: A character who is locked in a wrestling match with another character is going to be unable to defend himself as effectively from the attacks of third-parties because he has his attention focused on the enemy he is grappling with.

HIT POINTS We'll going to be using the negative hit point rules roughly similar to D&D 3rd edition. That is, if you are knocked to exactly 0 hit points, you are knocked prone, fall to -10 on the Condition Track, may take move actions (at 1/2 speed), and may take a standard action but you immediately lose a hit point and fall unconscious. If you are knocked to -1 to -9 hit points, you are unconscious and bleeding. Each round, you lose 1 hit point unless you are bandaged (DC 15 Treat Injury) or make a DC 20 Fortitude roll and became stable. If you are knocked to -10 hit points, you die (the Revivify rules from Treat Injury still apply). The Condition Track rules continue to work normally. Rationale: I want to return a real risk of dying to the game, instead of the current situation wherein if you have a Force Point left it is impossible to die unless someone does a coup de grace.

IMPROVISED TRIP & THROW Anyone can make a trip attack or a throw attack, but at -5 on the initial grab and opposed grapple checks to succeed. (the normal rule is that only characters with the Trip and Throw feats can do these things—under this rule, characters with those feats wouldn’t take the -5 penalty). Rationale: The ability to trip or throw someone isn’t so specialized that characters should be flatly barred from even trying.

MARTIAL ARTS FEATS The Reflex bonus provided by Martial Arts I, Martial Arts II, and Martial Arts III apply only when the character is fighting unarmed. Rationale: The text of the feats are ambiguous on this point, but they constantly reference unarmed combat and common sense seems to indicate they’re intended to help those characters who choose to forego the benefits of using weapons. Allowing the Reflex bonus to apply all the time makes these feats far more powerful than most others and leads to over-inflation of Reflex defenses.

MIND TRICK The target receives a modifier to their Will Defense based on their attitude towards you (as per the Persuasion skill). Rationale: Mind Trick can be immensely power if misused.

MOVE OBJECT We'll use the optional rule on p. 24 of the Jedi Academy Training Manual--the damage done by a hurled object depends on the size of the object hurled, not the result of the Use the Force check. Rationale: Prevents tiny objects from doing massive amounts of damage.

NATURAL 1 AND NATURAL 20 RULES FOR SKILL CHECKS A natural 1 is an automatic failure on a skill check and means something bad happens, while a natural 20 is an automatic success and, if applicable, will work even better than normal (though is still has to be within the realm of reality—even a natural 20 on a Jump check won’t allow you to leap on top of the Empire State Building). Rationale: Adds a little bit of drama to skill rolls even for characters who have incredibly high (or incredibly low) bonuses.

PULLING A BLOW/WINGING A TARGET If you wish to hurt an opponent without risking killing them, you may attack at a -5 penalty and do 1/2 damage. If that damage still exceeds the target's damage threshold, the target is maimed instead of killed.

STARSHIP SYSTEMS (CALLED SHOTS) During space combat, gunners can target the particular systems of enemy ships: communications, hyperdrive, ion engines, weapons (specify), sensors, or shields. The attack roll is made at a -5. If the cumulative damage done to a single system exceeds the ship's damage threshold, that system is temporarily disabled and it takes 1 minute and a DC 20 Mechanics check to repair (5 rounds with a DC 30 Mechanics check). If the cumulative damage done to a single system is more than twice the ship's damage threshold, the system is disabled and repairs take 1 hour and a DC 25 Mechanics check (10 minutes with a DC 35 Mechanics check).

TEMPTATION (Sith Lord Feature) The target adds a DSP or goes down the track if it makes an attack against you—not just if it uses a Force Point. Rationale: Otherwise, this is far less scary and very easy to avoid.

TUMBLING Using the Tumbling skill to avoid an attack of opportunity or tumble through a square occupied by an opponent is opposed by the target's Initiative skill roll; failure means the opponent gets to take an attack of opportunity or manages to block the tumbler from passing through the occupied square. Rationale: It's simply too easy to make the DC 15 check as currently required in the rules, and the addition of the Acrobatic Strike feat exacerbates the problem.

VEHICULAR COMBAT This Feat works normally the first time used during an encounter, but subsequent uses receive a -5 (cumulative) penalty to the Pilot check to avoid damage. Rationale: The possibility of negating one hit per round makes the feat too powerful, as a character’s Pilot checks will usually be drastically higher than the attack rolls of most stock ships, thereby prolonging combat. The Juke talent of the Ace Pilot prestige class allows you to use it twice per encounter before receiving penalties (see errata).

VITAL TRANSFER The DC for Vital Transfer raises by 5 (cumulative) for second and subsequent uses in the same day. Rationale: Keeps this power in line with other methods of healing and negates the “two Jedi healing each other” problem.

WEAPON RANGES Ranges for all ranged weapons will be cut in half. Rationale: The ranges in the Core book are simply too great to accurately represent on a tactical map and make closing the distance into melee much harder. In addition, they are much, much greater than the ranges given for the same weapons in the previous edition of the Star Wars RPG.

NEW USES FOR KNOWLEDGE SKILLS You no longer have to be Trained in order to make a DC 15 or higher Knowledge check.

Knowledge: Bureaucracy
(1) Identify local laws and regulations, including those pertaining to weaponry—DC 20-25 depending on obscurity

Knowledge: Galactic Lore
(1) Identify a species and what planet they hail from: DC 10-20 depending on obscurity--+5 DC to identify their strengths and weaknesses
(2) Know the location of a useful person, planet, city, or building where a particular service can be obtained: DC 20-30 depending on obscurity
(3) Know the history, prejudices, and customs of a people DC 15-25 depending on obscurity

Knowledge: Life Sciences
(1) Make poisons. Takes 1 day per dose and requires available materials (herbal or chemical). DC depends on strength. Examples (Core Rules p. 255): Knockout Drops: DC 20; Paralytic Poison: DC 25
(2) Make Healing Salve (functions as medpac). Takes 1 day per dose and requires available materials—medical or wilderness. DC 20

Knowledge: Physical Sciences
(1) Estimate the hit points and damage resistance of wall, a door, binder cuffs, etc. DC 20-25 depending on obscurity
(2) Create acids and gases. Takes 1 day per dose and requires available chemicals. DC depends on strength. Examples (Core Rules pp.252-255): Mild Acid: DC 15; Toxic Gas: DC 20; Dioxin Gas: DC 25)
(3) Run DNA, fingerprint, or other tests. DC 25.
(4) Identify the likely destination of a ship that has recently jumped into hyperspace through its tachyon emissions: DC 25 + 5 per 12 hours delay

Knowledge: Social Sciences
(1) Predict the reaction of an organization or other large group of people to a given stimuli: DC 20-25 depending on rarity
(2) Identify a character’s psychological motivation and personality traits: DC is opposed by Will Defense and bonus or penalty given based on degree of interaction (roll is done secretly, as mistaken impressions are likely).

Knowledge: Tactics
(1) Estimate an opponents hit point total or reflex defense: DC 25 or opposed disguise check (roll is done secretly as mistaken impressions are likely).

Knowledge: Technology
(1) Identify a droid, starship, or other piece of technology: DC 15-25 depending on rarity--+5 DC to identify its average speed, durability, firepower, etc.

RANDOM STUFF Remember there’s a bunch of new ways to use old skills—I sent out a list a while back. Remember when multi-classing you can only pick one starting feat and you get the best of the bonuses to defence, you don’t combine them. A character can only spend one force point per round. Force Focus only works 1/encounter as per errata. I’ll be interpreting the word “encounter” for the Force Point Recovery technique broadly so it doesn’t become too powerful. When setting explosives, every time you double the number you add +2 dice of damage (Core p. 130). A breath mask provides 1 hour of breathable atmosphere before the oxygen canister needs to be replaced. Grab attacks are at -5 (Core p. 152). If you ready an action, and the triggering circumstance doesn’t happen until the next round, you still only get that one action in the round (not the readied action and a normal action) (Core p. 162).

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