Show Posts

This section allows you to view all posts made by this member. Note that you can only see posts made in areas you currently have access to.


Messages - Jan Tolbara

Pages: [1]
1
The Senate / Re: Why are there two "BlasTech 500 ESPO Riot Guns"?
« on: December 21, 2013, 02:26:57 pm »
Posted by: StevenO
Quote
...you've probably seen some of the hate that goes to ToG, mostly because of the incorrect stat blocks, but do you think that book could have been better if written later in SAGA's run?

Possibly. Part of the problem stems from the fact that we got the CRB at the beginning of the time allotted for us to do our work, so we didn't have much time to learn the new rules. Part of it comes from the editing. I seem to recall a few stat blocks I turned in that I checked later on and found to be correct on submission but were later edited and made incorrect.

2
Star Wars Saga Edition General / Re: Lets get to know the new Community!
« on: December 21, 2013, 01:34:47 pm »
Posted by: richterbelmont10
Quote
Just out of curiosity, are there any recent science fiction movies that have grabbed your attention?

The last two movies I saw in the theaters were Thor: The Dark World and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I enjoyed both movies, but the Marvel movies have kept me stoked for my Marvel campaign. I wanted to watch Elysium, Ender's Game, and Gravity in the theater but wasn't able to catch them in time.

I find myself being inspired more by TV shows lately, probably because I have more exposure to them. Shows like Almost Human, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., and The Tomorrow People have kept my brain ticking to create new adventures.

3
Star Wars Saga Edition General / Re: Lets get to know the new Community!
« on: December 21, 2013, 10:15:30 am »
Okay, I'll bite.

Jan Tolbara
Real Name: Patrick Stutzman
Age: 43
Sex: Male
Where I'm from: Kansas City, Missouri (I currently live a few miles from Sterling Hershey) but I also claim Seattle, Washington
Occupation: Online support agent and science fiction author
Interests: Science fiction and fantasy in general, gaming in general, writing, reading, music

I posted occasionally on the WotC forums under the nickname Starspeed. I was pointed to these forums by SAThelen, and I'm glad he did. I'm going to try to point more people this way.

Since the Saga Edition line closed, I have self-published three novels through Amazon and am working on two more.

4
The Senate / Re: Why are there two "BlasTech 500 ESPO Riot Guns"?
« on: December 20, 2013, 11:24:02 pm »
Wow! I didn't expect such a plethora of responses. I'll try to answer as many questions as possible. If I missed yours, just slap me upside the head and point me to it.

Posted by: sienn_sconn
Quote
...would you mind making a list of other Saga material that you worked on?

My full Star Wars RPG bibliography can be found on Wookieepedia. But to make things simple, I'll list them here without links.

Adventures: The Betrayal of Darth Revan, Murder on the Executor
Articles: Message to Spacers #2-10, Star Wars: The Musical Experience (3-part series)
Books: Threats of the Galaxy, The Clone Wars Campaign Guide, Jedi Academy Training Manual, Scavenger's Guide to Droids, The Unknown Regions

Posted by: MERC_1
Quote
...how come that you gave it a ammunition capacity of only 50 shots? After all, you said that it used to have a 300 shot per clip capacity in D6.

Since I was using the d20 A&EG as my primary reference and didn't have a copy of Gundark's in my possession to check at the time I worked on CWCG, I didn't know any better. In addition, the Saga CRB states that rifles gets 50 shots per power pack before being replaced. If I had a copy of Gundark's at the time, I could have ruled that the Espo would get 300 shots per power pack, but I would probably balance it by doing something like reducing damage a little. Just a thought (that will probably incite a few more comments).

Quote
...Rodney probably did not have the full grasp of every item/power/feat/talent ever created.

Rodney did have a lot on his plate at the time. Between his (at the time) recent move to Seattle, taking on more responsibilities with WotC, and running SWRPGNetwork on top of developing Saga Edition, I would say he did a great job. I didn't envy his position considering everything he was handling...well, maybe a little.

Posted by: lithobolos
Quote
Anyone willing to make a fan version. Something that combines the two and their rules?

How about this?

RIFLESCOSTDAMAGESTUN DMGRATE OF FIREWEIGHTTYPEAVAILABILITY
Medium
BlasTech 500 "ESPO"11,5003d8YesS, A4.5 kgEnergyMilitary
1 Inaccurate weapon: This weapon cannot fire at targets at long range.

BlasTech 500 "ESPO" Riot Gun
Best known as the "ESPO" gun due to its wide use by the Corporate Sector Security Division, the BlasTech 500 is a compact blaster rifle with a short barrel and an open-frame stock. Designed for use against large crowds, the weapon trades simple accuracy and range for the ability to hit just about anything in its path, giving it a +2 equipment bonus when using autofire. Further supporting this basic strategy, BlasTech removed the firing governors at the Corporate Sector's request to allow the weapon to use its stun setting on autofire but at a cost of twice the energy consumption. The ESPO gun can operate in single-shot mode but its inaccurate nature incurs a -2 penalty per shot. Due to superior energy consumption engineering, a standard power pack uses 100 shots when firing in single-shot or autofire but has only 50 when firing stun shots in autofire mode.

Developer's Notes: I raised the price due to what I added and kept the inaccurate quality as a balancing factor. I also tried to find a decent middle ground between the D6 and d20 versions regarding ammo capacity without breaking the rules too much. As for the weight, 4.5 kg isn't that bad. It's only about 10 pounds. Besides, most other blaster rifles listed in other books set the weight between 4 and 5 kg. My belief is that the weight was cut in half for the RECG, because they treated the weapon as a carbine instead of a rifle.

BTW, the illustration of the ESPO in Gundark's shows it with a fixed stock (pg. 32) and is also the same one used on Wookieepedia. Blame Jerry DeCrotie.

Your feedback is welcome.

5
The Senate / Re: Why are there two "BlasTech 500 ESPO Riot Guns"?
« on: December 14, 2013, 11:53:27 pm »
First, I wish to apologize for resurrecting this thread. But considering I've just recently joined the forums here, I wanted to give my input since I wrote the entry for the CWCG version.

Yes, the price in the CWCG version is supposed to be 1,000 credits. (Good catch, MERC_1!) And, it is also classified as a military weapon in CWCG per the table on pg. 61.

Before posting this, I reviewed the Wookieepedia entry and compared all 4 sets of game stats for the weapon: D6 (Gundark's), d20 (Arms & Equipment Guide), and Saga (CWCG & RECG). If you look back to D6, they set the price at 1,500 credits and gave no weight or range effects for the weapon, but they did give rules regarding autofire when using it ("...once a shot hits in a round, all following shots at the same or immediately adjacent targets - within one meter - are one difficulty level lower."). Also, the description in the D6 version points out that the weapon has a large ammunition capacity, specified to be 300 shots per clip in the stats. The d20R version does provide a penalty on attack rolls when not in autofire mode. The RECG version, while it does share the same damage, stun damage, rate of fire, type, and availability as the CWCG version and does take the single-shot penalty from the A&EG version into account, it does not address its inaccuracy issues with its game stats.

Now, here are my developer's notes. When I established the stats for the riot gun, I consulted the A&EG a lot, since it was the only set of stats to which I could refer. I pulled the cost and weight directly from the A&EG version to try to keep continuity within the game line. Although I did not have a copy of Gundark's in my possession at the time I wrote the entry, I did also read the brief entry about riot guns in The New Essential Guide to Weapons and Technology. I came away from that research with the impression that riot guns work best as a close-range weapon, mainly due to its accuracy issues. From here, I researched the existing rules in the Saga Edition to best recreate the weapon. The autofire feature works well for the "spray and pray" approach, and adding the Inaccurate label not only supported the weapon's description in text but would also support the close-range concept in game play.

As for the Wookieepedia entry, I have to say that I feel a bit insulted that it refers almost exclusively to the RECG for its information, making reference to my CWCG version for only the model name (first listed in Gundark's) and its use in the Rise of the Empire era (first listed in the A&EG). But, I'm probably overreacting to the whole thing, since the entry creator probably decided to use the most recent version of the weapon instead of taking the time to research the other versions first.

Why were two versions of the weapon written for Saga Edition? I don't know. All I can say is that Rodney let it pass when the designers' entries passed through his hands for the RECG. But, players are allowed to use the version of their choice. If you choose the CWCG version, that's fine. I'm honored that you chose it. If you choose the RECG version, that's fine, too. As long as it works for your game, that's all that counts. And hopefully, my input gives you some food for thought or at least something to laugh at before moving on to better reading.

Pages: [1]