The Rancor Pit Forum Index
Welcome to The Rancor Pit forums!

The Rancor Pit Forum Index
FAQ   ::   Search   ::   Memberlist   ::   Usergroups   ::   Register   ::   Profile   ::   Log in to check your private messages   ::   Log in

Stormtroopers
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Official Rules -> Stormtroopers
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Son of Fire
Captain
Captain


Joined: 03 Sep 2003
Posts: 554
Location: Rose City Canada

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 12:36 am    Post subject: Stormtroopers Reply with quote

I was looking over some stats for npc’s tonight when I was struck by something.
Stormtroopers suck, I mean they are really pathetic. Now before you all scoff and say “of course they suck! Look how they got chumped in every movie!” look at it from a different perspective for a moment. Look at what they are supposed to represent.
Stormtroopers are supposed to embody pure militarism, the very essence of the Empire, the Empires elite shock troops and line breakers, superior to the naval and army forces of the rest of the Empire. And autonomous highly trained and disciplined fighting force feared thought the know galaxy! This is represented with a piddlie 2D in their stats. Heck some Imperial infantry have better stats then that! Sure Luke and the crew trounced them. But who wouldn’t? It was their movie! They where the pc’s (with a lot more of a generous start then most pc’s) so it would only make sense to have them spanked when they deal with them. But if we look outside direct confrontations with the main players the won almost every other encounter. The Corillian Corvette’s crew was taken in minutes, and the same for Echo base on Hoth. Of course there was the Ewok thing, but that was due to a lot of off screen factors (vastly outnumbered, lack of terrain advantage, loss of the Emperor, loss of the base and the AT-ST, etc) in addition to having the best Rebel commando units available.

Now can someone explain why the one of the most highly trained fighting forces in the galaxy have the stats of a common man?
_________________
"My schooling not only failed to teach me what it professed to be teaching, but prevented me from being educated to an extent which infuriates me when I think of all I might have learned at home by myself." - George Bernard Shaw
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Loc Taal
Grand Master (Founder / Admin Emeritus)


Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Posts: 801

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 7:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I definitely agree with you. Here's what WEG says about this exact question in the Gamemaster Handbook Second Edition:

Quote:
Q. Stormtroopers are too weak to challenge my characters. What should I do?

Stormtroopers are supposed to be the "elite fighting forces of the Empire", yet their game stats seem lower than a lot of player characters.
1) Stormtroopers are very talented for "normal" people. Player characters in Star Wars are much more capable than normal people. Therefore, an average stormtrooper is an elite trooper by comparison to average troop types in the Star Wars universe, but not much of a challenge for many player characters.
2) In the movies, the heroes got to merrily blast away at stormtroopers. It was felt that the game should allow the player characters to do the same.
However, that doesn't mean that all stormtroopers have to be push-overs. Just as characters are exceptional individuals, so there can and should be units of stormtroopers or individual troops who are exceptional and can give the characters a run for their money. They would have comparable skills and amounts of Force Points and Character Points.

_________________
"Mind what you have learned. Save you it can." --Yoda

The original RANCOR PIT archive
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Crell Damar
Line Captain
Line Captain


Joined: 31 Jul 2003
Posts: 845

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

you know storm troopers get to make combined action shots with no multiple action penalty, AND if someone's moving more than 10m they get a +2D to their shot from their MFTAS (did i abbreviate that correctly?)

StormTrooper A: "We Got A Runner!"

StormTrooper B: "...I got em..."


and ALSO on top of that, you don't always have to use standard everyday run of the mill stormtroopers... on occasion the imperial royal guard takes stormtrooper duties *in stormtrooper armor* to make sure their skills stay sharp... now ask yourself this... 5D dex anyone?


and don't forget, you can always use experimentally cybernetically enhanced storm troopers too Very Happy

there are always ways to keep the PCs challanged... just don't go too overboard with the cybernetics...

i did once Embarassed , and he was a monster... untouchable... so i scrapped him
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Son of Fire
Captain
Captain


Joined: 03 Sep 2003
Posts: 554
Location: Rose City Canada

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 12:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t a 2D for stats the average that a human can have? And if that’s the case how come these “elite” units have the galactic average for humans and are considered elite? For then they would not be skilled for a normal at all. They would just “be” normal.

Lets add it up, a starting character gets 18D for stats, while a Stormtrooper gets 12D, understandably they are not a good as the pc’s, but such a variance takes almost all threat value out of them. In fact an Imperial Army Trooper has the same total value, that being 12D. To me that hardly represents that galactic elite, they are not even elite among there own peers.
_________________
"My schooling not only failed to teach me what it professed to be teaching, but prevented me from being educated to an extent which infuriates me when I think of all I might have learned at home by myself." - George Bernard Shaw
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Crell Damar
Line Captain
Line Captain


Joined: 31 Jul 2003
Posts: 845

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 5:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

their attributes are average, but their skill is better than professional so...
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Loc Taal
Grand Master (Founder / Admin Emeritus)


Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Posts: 801

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 7:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Auron wrote:
on occasion the imperial royal guard takes stormtrooper duties *in stormtrooper armor*

That's my favorite trick to use, too. The typical Imperial Royal Guard member has 7D for blaster and dodge. The books also state that "The above are 'typical' game statistics for a Royal Guard member, but certain individual guard members will have vastly improved skills". So you throw a few "vastly improved" Imperial Royal Guard members in stormtrooper armor at the PCs and you've put the fear back into 'em. Plus, the players will remember that the next time they run into a group of stormtroopers and should treat them with a bit more respect... "Hmm... I wonder if this is another group of Imperial Royal Guards or just regular stormtroopers" Very Happy
_________________
"Mind what you have learned. Save you it can." --Yoda

The original RANCOR PIT archive
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
Son of Fire
Captain
Captain


Joined: 03 Sep 2003
Posts: 554
Location: Rose City Canada

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 10:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I wonder how the Royal Guard can have a Dex of 5D when the human max is 4D?

The thing is this though, if you add up the points for Imperial Army Troopers and Stormtroopers, they have the same dice value…12D stats 7D skills. That’s seem more than a little off consider that the Stormtroopers are supposed to be the elite of the Imperials. Further, shouldn’t Stormtroopers who are supposed to undergo some of the most rigorous training in the galaxy have that reflect in their stats?
_________________
"My schooling not only failed to teach me what it professed to be teaching, but prevented me from being educated to an extent which infuriates me when I think of all I might have learned at home by myself." - George Bernard Shaw
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Crell Damar
Line Captain
Line Captain


Joined: 31 Jul 2003
Posts: 845

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 11:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

stats mean little to nothing in this system, with the exception of trying skills you're not trained in... but other than that and soaking, it's all about the skills
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Son of Fire
Captain
Captain


Joined: 03 Sep 2003
Posts: 554
Location: Rose City Canada

PostPosted: Wed Sep 17, 2003 11:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

And that’s exactly the reason it should be present.
_________________
"My schooling not only failed to teach me what it professed to be teaching, but prevented me from being educated to an extent which infuriates me when I think of all I might have learned at home by myself." - George Bernard Shaw
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Sovereign Protector


Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14008
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 10:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Other things to make your stormies feared...

1) Smoke grenades. With their MFAS helmets, they need not worry about the smoke.
2) The movement penalty, +2 to their targeting for those moving more than 10... dont forget this!!!
3) Have them be used to their armor, so they suffer no dex penalty
4) Combined fire. I cannot stress this enough!
5) Cover/consealment, same as combined fire. They are foolhardy and fearless but they are not stupid.
6) If all else fails, say they are a veteran squad (platoon) and give them 2d extra in their blaster, dodge and brawl/parry skills, and 1d extra for the others.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
KageRyu
Commodore
Commodore


Joined: 06 Jul 2005
Posts: 1375
Location: Lost in the cracks

PostPosted: Mon Jul 18, 2005 11:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ok, not only is this thread from 2 years ago. But all of the above examples just listed in "resurecting" this post were made by myself and other in a newer thread that has also been posted too. Really, do we need to do this?
_________________
"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Yahoo Messenger
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The Rancor Pit Forum Index -> Official Rules All times are GMT - 4 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group


v2.0