TheSagaContinues

Star Wars:  War's Inferno

It is a time of war.  As the Second Galactic Civil War rages, the Alliance of the New Jedi Order, Empire-in-exile, and Galactic Alliance Remnant come together to strike at the heart of the resurgent Sith Empire.

However, conflicts within the Alliance and a massive Sith offensive across the galaxy threaten to shatter any hope of unity and victory.  Conflict rages along supply lines as the two factions jockey for strategic positions.

Launching an attack on the planet Gala along the Perlemian Trade Route, the Alliance fleet hopes to acquire territory and information by dispatching a specialized group of operatives to capture the Sith command center . . . . .



The Houserules

--The campaign will be set in the Legacy era, about 137 years after the Battle of Yavin, shortly after the formation of the Alliance against the Sith Empire.
--Looking for 4 - 5 players.  I have one definite (Lordnever) and one possible (Ghondar).
--I have access to all the official Saga books, so you may use era-appropriate material from any of them.  The only restriction is on species.  The following species are not allowed:  Celegian, Ebruchi, Gen’dai, Lugubraa, Mantellian Savrip, Rakata, Republic Clone, Sorcerer of Rhand, Ssi-ruuk, Vagaari, Yevetha. 
--Players wishing to use non-official sourcebooks as a resource must run each item by me.  If you have a question about any material (or if I have one about something your character has), we’ll figure it out.
--You may start as any class, including Jedi.  Normal multi-classing rules apply.
--Point buy of 32 points (28 for a droid).
--Make your character 9th level.
--Hp after 1st level will be half the max on the dice roll (so d10 gets 5, d8 gets 4, d6 gets 3), then add Con bonus
--I will not be using Destiny Points.  Normal rules for Force Points apply.
--Each character should have a background from the Rebellion Era Campaign Guide.  If you have a background idea that does not fit the existing options, I will work to accommodate you.
 --The feat Force Training may only be taken a total of 3 times.
--Certain Force powers are not allowed.  This includes the following:  Phase and Fold Space.
--Force Grip is a [dark side] power.
--All talents from the Dark Side talent tree increase your DSS when they are used.
--Area-effect Force powers can be Rebuked.  I refer you to GM Sarli  (read the opening post, then post #55). 
--Any talent that was previously ‘1/day’ is now ‘1/encounter’.
--Any talent or feat that substitutes one ability or skill for another is subject to the same limitations that the original ability or skill was.
--If you have the Melee Defense feat and take a penalty of at least -2 on your attack roll when using that feat, you may gain the benefits of any talents or feats that activate when using the Fighting Defensively action.
--Changes have been made to the following Jedi Knight talents:  Niman - Provides a +1 bonus to Reflex, Will, and Fortitude Defenses.  Jar’Kai - No longer has Niman as a prerequisite.  Trakata - No longer has +12 Base Attack Bonus as a prerequisite.
--Credits/possesions:  Each character recieves their starting class’s maximum amount of credits (1200 for Jedi, 4800 for Nobles, 3000 for Scoundrels, Scouts, and Soldiers) multiplied by their character level (x2 if they took the Wealth talent).
--I intend for a wide spectrum of encounters, both combat and roleplaying, so be warned that characters would do well to have both combat and non-combat related abilities.  I also am open to ideas from everyone, so if something really piques your interest, say so, and I will try and incorporate it.

Awesome, I’ll get working on creating someone and post it here soon!

I'm in. I'll be taking Gialle for this one, after rewriting her a bit and taking her a few levels down. I'm going to lose the Malkite poisoner, though - it doesn't work as good as I hoped for, and I'll trade it for Brigand talent tree. The rest I hope to have ready by tomorrow, but the concept should remain (I should also note that she'll probably lose the Force sensitivity)

Sounds good.

Awesome, I’ll get working on creating someone and post it here soon!

Awesome!

Maybe I missed it, but what level are you starting from?

9th.

Planned length?  Sounds bigger than an encounter but more "adventure" length or hoping to go full campaign?

Not full campaign.  That's a bit too ambitious for me with PbP.  The idea is for an adventure-length game.  I'd say that I want to try about 15 - 20 scenes.  Some may be very short and others may be longer, depending on character actions. 

Reading the hook as "Launching an attack on the planet Gala along the Perlemian Trade Route, the Alliance fleet hopes to acquire territory and information by dispatching a specialized group of operatives to capture the Sith command center" has me thinking along militaristic characters although I had thought about someone who may be a "partner" for Gialle.  Of course most of the character's I've done will require a bit of tuning to boost ability scores, reduce hitpoints, and figure out how I'd want to (ab)use Background with this last one being the thing that may mix things up most.

Since I'm trying to gear this towards Lordnever's request of space battles, big bad empire, rag-tag heroes, and lightsaber fights, I figured a battle during the Legacy Era would probably fit all that criteria.

Military characters are certainly encouraged, but given the disparate elements of the Alliance, just about any character can fit here.  They may have personal feelings about other factions, but they are all (roughly) united by their desire to take down the Sith.

Any particular rules/rulings regarding lightsabers? Ie, if someone is in the Jedi class, would any lightsaber they have already be self-built? How about rulings regarding crystals such as from the Jedi Academy Training Manual?

A Jedi character (or Imperial Knight, etc) receives one standard lightsaber hilt and one Ilum lightsaber crystal upon character creation (based on the Lightsaber class feature outlined in the Jedi class) and I will consider that to be a self-built lightsaber.  No crystals from the Extremely Rare Crystals section may be selected, and the Build DC modifier of the lightsaber hilt plus the crystal may not exceed 25.  Purchase prices for a second lightsaber can be found on page 52 of the JATM.  The price of a second lightsaber crystal is determined as follows:  1000 credits for a crystal without a listed Build DC Modifer and 5000 credits for any crystal with a +5 Build Modifier.

Any Force-users wishing to upgrade an existing lightsaber may pay the difference in credits between his current lightsaber and the hilt/cyrstal combo he desires to have.

Might as well address this, too.  Tech Specialist and S&V upgrades are available (but Superior Tech is not).

And with Gialle come several questions:

1) The already mentioned Tech specialist - what will be the cost (and can we have tech specialist uprades on gear at all?) The basic 1000 or 10%, double, or double for anyone who hasn´t the tech specialist feat?
2) Starting credits - I gave Gialle starting credits per levels in classes (4800+7*3000+1200), or should I have given her 4800*9?
3) Ranged AoO - I know we´ll soon crash into this one, so I´d like you to write down how will ranged weapons work with AoOs
4) Unarmed and two-weapon fighting - can "unarmed" be considered one of the two weapons used in two-weapon fighting?
5) Disguised items - I´ve got several things written as "disguised" on the sheet (as in, deceptive appearance application of Deception skill). Should I roll for these deceptions now and write them down, or will we be making these rolls when/if they become important?
EDIT: 6) Does Combat trickery count as feinting in combat for purpose of Cheap trick?
I´m sure I´ve forgotten something, so I´ll probably bug you later again. Thanks for the answers!

several questions:

1) The already mentioned Tech specialist - what will be the cost (and can we have tech specialist uprades on gear at all?) The basic 1000 or 10%, double, or double for anyone who hasn´t the tech specialist feat?

Players may take the Tech Specialist feat if they wish, and you may have Tech Spec upgrades on your items per RAW.  I think to make it simple, if you have Tech Specialist, you need only pay the 1000 or 10% cost for the modification (plus the item, of course).  If you do not have Tech Specialist, you must pay market value for such items (double cost of mods + cost of item).

2) Starting credits - I gave Gialle starting credits per levels in classes (4800+7*3000+1200), or should I have given her 4800*9?

4800*9.

3) Ranged AoO - I know we´ll soon crash into this one, so I´d like you to write down how will ranged weapons work with AoOs

Are we talking about ranged weapons provoking AoOs during their attacks?  No, ranged weapons do not provoke AoOs during regular attack actions.  Can ranged weapons be used for AoOs?  Yes, subject to the requirements on SECR page 155.

4) Unarmed and two-weapon fighting - can "unarmed" be considered one of the two weapons used in two-weapon fighting?

Yes.

5) Disguised items - I´ve got several things written as "disguised" on the sheet (as in, deceptive appearance application of Deception skill). Should I roll for these deceptions now and write them down, or will we be making these rolls when/if they become important?

Roll them if/when they become important.

EDIT: 6) Does Combat trickery count as feinting in combat for purpose of Cheap trick?

I will say yes, based on the flavor text of the feat.  I will also clarify for my own sake that the Force point portion of Combat Trickery will be interpreted as "if you spend a Force point, the target is flat-footed vs your next attack against them or the end of the encounter, whichever comes first."

OK, so you are not allowed to take the Superior Tech feat at 9th level either then i suppose?

I had not supposed that anyone would want to take Superior Tech.  I just want to avoid too much rampant customization of weapons and equipment, as I feel that might skew the game, especially since I'm dropping a ton of money on you guys and letting you get a bunch of gear at money cost with no skill investment (by this, I mean not forcing you to roll Mechanics checks for Tech Spec and simply presuming that each attempt was successful).

However, as I ponder, I think I can come up with an acceptable solution.  If you take Superior Tech, you may start with an item modded by Superior Tech (and paid for as outlined from Tech Specialist above).  For each additional Superior Tech item you wish to have, subtract 1 Force point from your starting total in addition to the cost as usual.  Other characters may benefit from an ally's Superior Tech as well, spending 1 Force point for each Superior Tech item they wish to have their ally make for them and likewise paying for the cost as usual.

And thinking on this leads me to speculate on lightsabers.  A Jedi-type character may ignore the DC 25 limit of a lightsaber hilt/crystal combo by subtracting 1 Force point from his starting total.  At the cost of an additional Force point, he may have one of the following Extremely Rare lightsaber crystals (and must pay the credit cost for such a crystal as well):  Barab ingot (5000 credits), Dantari crystal (1000 credits), krayt dragon pearl (10000 credits), lambent crystal (10000 credits).

My rationale here is that the credit cost combined with the Force point cost can try to approximate either failed attempts to craft powerful equipment or represent a quest or struggle to obtain unique crystals or lightsaber hilts.

This is just an idea as I type here.  I'm not necessarily looking for comments on this houserule, but if you have concerns, you may post or PM me and we can discuss further.  Above everything, I want to be a flexible GM and provide an enjoyable experience while still trying to maintain my own level of balance.

I don't think we'll be started until closer to New Year's, so no worries if you need to focus on Christmas.

You sound like you have an interesting concept for a character, which I like.  Proceed how you like, I'm sure we can make it work no matter what.

Looking at a few possibilities with a couple of them tying in with Gialle but some questions:
Look at substituting Advanced Melee Weapons in place of Rifles at 1st-level; I'll note the character does NOT multiclass later to get rifles but does multiclass and picks up another melee weapon which is what the build is currently using because I can't find an appropriate AMW that'll do what I want it to do.  Why are reach weapons so poorly labelled...

I'd rather not worry about 1st level feat substitutions.  I know that can limit initial flexibility, but it can make it confusing to determine what a character's starting feats are and where they got them from.

Out of curiosity, what are you looking for in an advanced melee weapon?  I can see you are interested in reach, of which there are a few advanced melee (shock whip LECG page 62, static pike WAR page 37), a few exotic (neuronic whip FUCG page 200, amphistaff SECR page 121), a couple lightsabers (lightsaber pike and dual-phase lightsaber), as well as a single simple example (wan-shen JATM page 54).  Several of these weapons allow for stun damage, and the shock whip allows for grabs (or grapples with the Trip feat).  What all are you looking for?

As you counting Melee Defense as "Fight Defensively" with regards to certain feats/talents and if so at what level?

Wary Defender (CWCG page 32), Resolute Stance (UKN page 28), and Defensive Acuity (LECG page 27) are the specifc feats and talent I know use defensive fighting, but there may be others.  There is no level limit that I wanted to impose, simply to give choice to people who pick Melee Defense some options about other useful feats that I would houserule with it.