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cheshire
Arbiter-General (Moderator)
Joined: 04 Jan 2004
Posts: 4834
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 Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 7:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | Honestly, if it were anything other than the Technical attribute, I might agree with you. However, the player can be limited monetarily. Repairs cost money, upgrades cost money, and computer systems cost money. Take a look at this from the perspective of a race that has never had to deal with money. All he'll realize is that he doesn't have the necessary parts to make the improvements or repairs that he wishes. Even if he did slay an enemy, would he really think to clean out his pockets? "What are these little round things in here? They don't look useful to me." |
If it works out to be a balanced character, then more power to you. I'd love to hear the updates as to how this goes.
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That's when the GM starts getting creative, like applying a +30 difficulty modifier to his force rolls because he doesn't share even a chemical base with almost every creature in the galaxy, save for Dianogas, Mynock, and the other Crystal species who's name escapes me right now. |
Ouch.
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Raven Redstar
Rear Admiral
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 2648
Location: Salem, OR
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | But at least verpine are A) a space based race who have been around tech for a long time and B) used to the stuff they gain the bonus on. |
Which is everything? Yes, the Verpine have more experience through space, however my argument still stands that the shard are a race of beings that we still have no way of even comprehending how their physiology allows for them to be so well connected to pieces of technology, we're limited by the electro-chemical pathways constructed by our bodies. Now, given the fact that we're discussing this over a fictional alien species, we're liable to have disagreements.
But, I'm going to come back with a question now, what exactly is it about the character that bothers you. Is it the "huge" dice pool that the player is going to have in an easily monitored attribute such as technical? Or is it that the player is getting a flimsy droid body for "free"? In a sense getting 3D of easily removable stat dice.
Yes, the GM can take rules already in place to keep his characters in "check" if need be. But, I'm not going to stifle my players in order to preserve some type of balance that I'm not even sure if the player is throwing it out of yet.
He is getting free attribute dice... sort of... But, his dice are going into an almost useless attribute without the GM's stamp of approval at every turn. Parts are easy to withhold, so is money. My player has decided to in a sense sacrifice his role in combat to be able to fix stuff, so he's got a couple of extra attribute dice, where have they left him? Not in any position to become a "god" character. The only point that would allow him to improve his droid body, is when the GM says it's acceptable. I'm not giving the player multiple droid bodies so he can just switch whenever he likes, he has one. One with human average dexterity, and flimsy strength. This droid body could break if a person sneezed near him wrong. Not to mention: "1 on the wild die?" "You go to raise your lightsaber, and your arm seizes up... it won't move, perhaps a wire has come loose in all the commotion, or maybe one of the silica pathways is clogged up. Either way, your arm isn't usable for the time being until you get a chance to work out the malfunction."
Or, imagine a leg not working when the group is trying to escape, someone has to run back for the droid. Heck, the player might not even get a chance to accrue enough money to improve the droid, because all of his money goes into maintaining the droid so it doesn't freeze when needed or any number of additional things that could go wrong. |
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Raven Redstar
Rear Admiral
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 2648
Location: Salem, OR
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| Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:32 pm Post subject: |
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Ok, for the time being I have the official template, my idea was to have two separate character sheets for the player. One for his shard in body, and one for his shard out of body. For simplicity's sake, I'm going to just post the combined for you guys.
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Name: Alpha - 1 (I'm just calling this A-1)
Type: Shard Jedi Trainee
Dexterity 2D: Dodge, Lightsaber, Running.
Knowledge 4D: Alien Species, Cultures, Languages, Planetary Systems, Scholar: Jedi Lore, Willpower.
Mechanical: 3D: Astrogation, Communications, Repulsorlift Operation, Sensors, Space Transports, Starship Shields.
Perception 3D: Hide, Persuasion, Search, Sneak.
Strength 1D+1: Climbing/Jumping, Lifting
Technical 6D: Armor Repair, Computer Programming/Repair, Droid Programming, Droid Repair, Lightsaber Repair, Repulsorlift Repair, Security, Space Transports Repair, Starship Weapon Repair.
Control 1D
Sense 1D
(Powers have yet to be determined)
Equipped With:
-Humanoid body (two arms,
two legs, head)
-Audio recorder
-Vocabulator
-Basic processor
-Translator unit
Move: 8
Size: 1.7 meters tall
Special Abilities:
Telecommunication: Shards can emit and receive eletromagnetic transmissions as a means of communication. This allows them to detect any operating technological device or droid within a 100 meters with an Easy Perception roll. Their signals can reach out to about one kilometer
individually, but are enough to reach anywhere on their homeworld when the Shard is part of the group-mind. Shard transmissions can be picked up on standard comlinks and other devices turned to detect them. Shards
can also affect droids equipped with restraining bolts as if they had a control wand by making a moderate Technical or droid programming roll.
Computer Mind: Shards have an instinctive understanding of computers and droid brains and gain +1D with the computer programming/repair and droid programming skills as well as any other skill that involves computer programming or operation such as astrogationor security
(versus computerized locks and devices). Shards can interact directly with comlink-equipped computers using their telecommunication ability.
Story Factors:
Fragile: Shards have no Strength attribute dice and gain only 1D to resist damage in their natural state. A damage result that kills a Shard shatters its body into fragments. Normal medical treatment is ineffective on Shards, they must heal naturally unless they can be returned to Orax to
receive treatment in the mineral hot-springs on the planet. Force abilities such as accelerate healing and transfer Force do affect Shards, as they are still living creatures.
Sessile: hards are incapabile of movements on their own. They have no natural Dexterity or Strength dice. They can learn Dexterity or Strength based skills and use them in conjuncture with a droid body, if the body is capable of performing that skill. They can only move inside a droid
“vehicle” or by being carried by a droid or another creature. In their natural state, Shards also have no senses apart from their electromagnetic sense.
Disadvantages:
Cultural Unfamiliarity (R3) "Alien to galactic culture"
The character is an outsider to the “mainstream” culture of the society he spends the most time in. The player should decide on the character’s native planet, which is somewhere with a different culture than the one he is normally in. Alternatively, he could be an android who hasn’t been programmed with all of the correct social skills. Bigots might get in the
way of the character, and the character might not always “know” things
about the setting that natives would automatically understand. Example: A character might be from a recognized and generally well-liked alien species but work on Human planets. Nonetheless, the character is from an alien culture and so might see some things differently. Gamemasters may choose to disallow this Disadvantage if their campaigns have no single “mainstream” culture. The character is of a culture almost totally different from the “mainstream”he operates in. The character should constantly make mistakes and social gaffs. All attempts at streetwise or similar “getting around town” skills should have +6 to the difficulty (at least). In addition, the character should probably have trouble with the native language (he could even take the Disadvantage Language Problems).
Prejudice (R1) Droid
The character is of a minority group — or maybe it is just the
character himself — that is subject to prejudice and discrimination.
The character receives modifiers (from +2 to +4) to difficulties during
normal interaction with characters not of the minority group, and is
generally treated unfairly by society. The group the character belongs to, or the reason he is discriminated against, should be identified when the character gets this Disadvantage, and the player should know how he can expect to be treated in most cases. Restrictions/Notes: The gamemaster has to be careful with this one. Roleplaying prejudice is not often something players want to get into. When used in a setting where there are many different sapient species, however, it can be quite interesting — especially if there are several characters in the group who are prejudiced
against.
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Now, the above disadvantages were cut and pasted from D6 space. Seemed easy enough to incorporate the penalties into Star Wars setting. So in some situations the player can expect at least a +8 difficulty for some social rolls, which can make things interesting. On top of the +6 social penalty, the player won't be able to attempt any untrained skills until he spends the appropriate number of character points and time adventuring to get rid of the disadvantage. He will not be able to get rid of the droid disadvantage, because to the outside world, he will in fact be a droid, a piece of property. One that can be shot up, wrecked, or any number of other things with little legal repercussions. Only a small fine, or something of that nature. And, if it gets out that he's a droid who can forgo his programming about harming living creatures, well... bounties can be posted, there may be a price put on his head. Any number of other things that can make adventuring a little tougher.
I just wanted to take the time to thank you guys for your feedback. Even though it may seem like I'm somewhat resistant to it. It's making me come up with more interesting consequences for the player if he should get out of line with the leeway I've granted him on the character concept. |
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wolfe
Lieutenant
Joined: 03 Mar 2004
Posts: 91
Location: earth-need a vacation
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| Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 6:51 am Post subject: |
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Have you considered having the player dependant on others to repair the droid shell or do some of the more advanced upgrades, unless the Shard has another droid body to use to do it them self.
If the shard tries it the droid shell while still inside it you can impose penalties or possible shock/stun if they mess up. |
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Raven Redstar
Rear Admiral
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 2648
Location: Salem, OR
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| Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Not a bad idea. If he wants to improve himself, he'll have to train one of the other crew members. Makes sense. Thanks! |
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garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14034
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | ut, I'm going to come back with a question now, what exactly is it about the character that bothers you. Is it the "huge" dice pool that the player is going to have in an easily monitored attribute such as technical? Or is it that the player is getting a flimsy droid body for "free"? In a sense getting 3D of easily removable stat dice. |
A mix of both. He will have higher starting tech than races who are used to being around tech all their lives... AND his droid body is going to be giving him effectively free dice. And how do you call them removable stats? If he is removed from his droid body he is effectively useless and i cannot see you allowing that to continue for long, so he will end up gaining a new body relatively quick.
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Raven Redstar
Rear Admiral
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 2648
Location: Salem, OR
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| Posted: Wed Oct 07, 2009 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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If the droid body is destroyed, he takes damage. He has 1D to soak. Vehicle damage dictates that he'll have 1D to soak 12D worth of damage. So... he'll be toast. Even with 5 character points, he'll have 6D to soak 12D, that comes out to on average 18 vs 36; 36-18 = 18 = dead.
His free dice aren't that free. If the character gets too out of line. He's easily destroyed. I'm giving a bit of leeway for what I think is a fun concept for a "tinkerer".
Hutts have additional dice for their attributes. They'd get 20 attribute dice. They have trouble moving without additional conveyance. He's just a smaller think tank than a Hutt, same principle though. Ya, they can only have 4D in technical, but they have nasty other attributes. A Hutt gets 2 free dice. Why not a shard? Don't even get me started on Noghri. The fact of the matter is with the D6 system is that some species are better than others in certain areas, or period. They could be truly broken and have shards be well attuned to going inside war droids with high strength and dexterity. But they're not. Each shard picks a droid body based on how he wishes to be perceived. This shard wants a low key body, one that's not going to bring much attention to himself or his people. |
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Whill
Dark Lord of the Jedi (Owner/Admin)
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
Posts: 10297
Location: Columbus, Ohio, USA, Earth, The Solar System, The Milky Way Galaxy
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| Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 4:14 pm Post subject: |
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I never liked the idea of allowing droids as player characters. For one, non-combat driods can get destroyed too easily. And you can't play an armored battle droid and blend in. Military/security type droods are extremely restricted in the Empire so most players groups are not going to get away with having a battle droid in the midst of the adventuring party for long.
Then three things happened. 1. I was exposed to and inspired by the D&D Eberron PC race Warforged (magical sentient humanoid constructs made out rock and wood). 2. I had a potential SW player that really wanted to play an R2 unit because Artoo was her favorite film character. 3. I rediscovered the Star Wars Shard species. As the species capsule says, this is a way for players to play droids without really playing droids. That player never ended up playing, so I haven't had any Shard characters yet. But I will allow then with altered stats/rules.
Still no combat droids allowed, although the character may develop combat skills normally thought experience. To get around the "destroyed so easily" factor, I'll say that even if the droid body gets totally destroyed, the actual Shard crystal body has a decent chance of surviving. If a teammate "salvages" the Shard crystal then the Shard character has a chance to continue on. But as a balancing factor to their ability to possibly survive the destruction of their bodies, there will be large expense of creating a new body. Yes, I agree that there would have to be an special process to augment the droid body to be able to fully interface with the Shard.
I really don't want to use vehicle rules, powersuit rules, or pure droid rules for Shards because I want to handle them as a species. So for character creation, a Shaard (plus starting droid body) will still have 18D of attributes total. The physical atributes are derived from the droid body completely, but the mental ones can be thought of as at least partially being from the Shard itself and would transfer to a new body if needed. But regardless I want the attributes to always balance out to 18D, so if a new body's physical attributes change rom the previous one, then the mental attributes would have to go up or down accordingly. So for skills I'm thinking that they wil have to just be dice values on their own without attributes, but I haven't really thought that far into yet. I think that the experience of the Shard should at least be able to partially transfer to a new droid body.
To keep things simple, I was thinking about just not allowing Shard characters to be Force-sensative (Yes, I read about the Iron Knights on Wookieepedia). Since Shards are living species, I'll let them use and gain Force Points normally as other non-Force characters do. But if a player really wants to play a droid so bad in my game, they are going to have to accept not being a Shard Jedi. That just seems to be pushing it. If you want to be a Jedi, then pick another species. That seems to be a disaster in the making, the best of too many worlds for one character. I have never allowed droids of any kind or level of importance to even have Force Points because they are not living things. In my universe, even Artoo-Detoo does not have a single Force Point (but much higher skills and attributes than your average astromech droid.). An in-universe explaination for the disallowance of Shards being Jedi could be that Midichlorians are an organic lifeform, and Shards are not. It's a mystery how Shards are even alive in the first place. The out-of-universe reason they are alive is so players have a way of playing droids in my game. Not droid Jedi.
I'm still really interested in hearing about anyone's use of Shards in their game, force-user or not, so please do tell us how it all works out!
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Raven Redstar
Rear Admiral
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 2648
Location: Salem, OR
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| Posted: Thu Oct 08, 2009 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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Some things to think about.
I'll definitely keep everyone posted as to how my first game turns out. Though it's not going to be til the end of December. |
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Raven Redstar
Rear Admiral
Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 2648
Location: Salem, OR
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| Posted: Mon Jan 11, 2010 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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So, the first and only session occurred last week.
Players all had fun, the shard wasn't too overpowered. I doubt he will be at first. Since I had the character rolling everything, and things that I didn't think would be appropriate for him to know, I was giving him -10 penalties on the rolls.
He may eventually become extra powered, but to be honest, this game may happen once or twice a year, at most... So, it'll take him at least a few years to progress to a point where he might disturb game balance. But, as for a force sensitive droid. His force attributes are weak, so there's not much he can do currently, he relies more on his ability to sense technology than his ability to sense life or anything like that. The role playing has been rather fun though, since none of the other characters realize that he's anything other than a protocol droid, his mannerisms are a little off, and have the other players wondering. Things like physical contact and reassurance.
All in all, an interesting character, however I really would have rather had something else. But, considering that this is not a frequent game, I'll worry about it later. |
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