I am planning a new campaign where the party will be investigating rumors of an abandoned secret base left over from the clone wars. This base will have been used as an experimental cloning facility. Part of the facility will include a training area with several battle droids which happen to also be linked into the security system... they will be activated by any despair rolls in the base.

The core rule book include stats for the basic b1 battle droid but I also wanted to include a droideka or two. I have come up with a set of stats for this droid and ran them through a mock battle with 4 base characters. The first battle had the pcs winning easily while the second they were annihilated. This makes me nervous because i want the battle to be a challenge, not a massacre or too easy. the variance has to do with the concept of "Mobile Torrent" which I created. this allows the droideka to activate its personal shield when stationary but not while moving as seen in the movies and TCW.

I wanted to get others opinions on the stats I'm using or better ways to handle this droid as well as any other ideas for things that could be included in the base, or clues which can lead to the base.

Droideka

Brawn 3 agility 5 int 1 cun 1 will 2 presence 1

wt 14 st 13

soak 6 defense m0/ r3* *ranged defense 1 when moving

2 x light repeater riffle damage 11 crit 3 autofire cumbersome 4 pierce 1

Skills Ranged (Heavy) 3, Vigilance 2, Cool 2

droid traits, mobile torrent

Mobile Torrent: while moving this unit loses 2 ranged defense and cannot use its weapons, as a move action this unit may position itself in tripod configuration activating its shields and allowing the use of its two light repeater riffles. while configured in torrent mode the droid is fully able to wield both weapons talking no penalties for encumbrance, though it still takes the normal penalties for using autofire.

Are you sure nemesis is appropriate? Wouldn't rival, or even a beefy minion be more fitting to the fluff?

Firing two autofire weapons is a little redundant, just stat it as a single weapon and always use autofire.

The light repeater is a pretty nasty piece of work,have you considered something a little lighter like the heavy rifle? It would also fix the cumbersome issue...

Nemesis, Soak 6, Agility 5 and Ranged 3 and equipped with autofire? No wonder it was murdering your test players...

I think if you ditch mobile torrent (pro tip: make sure existing rules fail before trying to write new ones), and bring it more in line with existing enemies and gear you'll end up with something more sane that's still a tough nut to crack.

Try a rival with brawn 2 and agility 2, laminate armor and a personal deflector shield, and a heavy rifle. Add adversary 1, and brace to make it interesting. Ranged heavy 1 or 2 should do, though I suppose you could go to 3 if you wanted.

I don't think the shield going up and down is really needed, but if you insist, just have it come down whenever the droid takes two move maneuvers in the same round.

Are you sure nemesis is appropriate? Wouldn't rival, or even a beefy minion be more fitting to the fluff?

I'd go with Nemesis. No way it's a minion, you risk a lot facing one. Droidekas can drive off Jedi Masters, and it takes a lot of maneuvering to take one down. The shields are basically impenetrable to anything less than vehicular weapons, and I'm not sure the EotE shield mechanic (setback dice) does them justice, the shields should be treated more like armour. Droidekas aren't particularly smart or aware, but they usually don't need to be. The Onderon TCW arc goes into pretty good detail.

Are you sure nemesis is appropriate? Wouldn't rival, or even a beefy minion be more fitting to the fluff?

I'd go with Nemesis. No way it's a minion, you risk a lot facing one. Droidekas can drive off Jedi Masters, and it takes a lot of maneuvering to take one down. The shields are basically impenetrable to anything less than vehicular weapons, and I'm not sure the EotE shield mechanic (setback dice) does them justice, the shields should be treated more like armour. Droidekas aren't particularly smart or aware, but they usually don't need to be. The Onderon TCW arc goes into pretty good detail.

If a gear-based shield doesn't seem to work though, I agree we may have to go for a low WT nemesis so it can have the resources to run a strain-for-soak-boost talent. (Which I really don't want to do, but the more I think about it the more probable it feels)

IF they are not the specifically built Jedi-Hunter Droidikas they should be Rivals.

How about the following profile:

Brawn 3 agility 4 int 1 cun 1 will 2 presence 1

wt 14 st 13

soak 7 defense 1/3* *ranged defense 1 when moving, 3 when stationary

2x Blaster Rifles

Ranged (Heavy) 3, Vigilance 2, Cool 2, Adversary 1

Droid

Bit less attack, bit less damage, but tougher and harder to hit. Still nothing to be trifled with.

If it were not for plot reason then in Episode I Qui-Gonn and Obi-Wan would have just levitated them around and played Billard with them.

If it were not for plot reason then in Episode I Qui-Gonn and Obi-Wan would have just levitated them around and played Billard with them.

That "plot" reason is sustained throughout TCW. The only one who can deal with them is Mace, even Yoda has to back off. Mechanically, handling the barrage requires too many Force dice to be committed to defence to be able to do anything else. Or perhaps the shield interferes...

IF they are not the specifically built Jedi-Hunter Droidikas they should be Rivals.

Where's the difference spelled out?

I think (since i'm AFB) in the Clone Wars Campaign book for Saga Edition. The Jedi-Hunters had some upgrades like improved stabilizers, better leg servos to deal with fall damage, and an upper torso that could rotate 360° so it could fire in every direction.

Those upgrades were made because the Jedis used to simply throw them up/around with Move Object.

Hence the name.

I didn’t realize there were droidekas specifically designed to go after Jedi. That could be an important point as the secret facility I designed was working on making force sensitive clones. A few were designed but they all went crazy within the year. The facility itself was mostly abandoned when a battle in a nearby system required backup. only one ship of personnel survived the battle but when it returned to base it had a reactor leak and the remaining personnel were killed by... poison gas or radiation... something. That is how the base has remained a secret and will still have most of its equipment and defenses online. The idea is that the players will end up selling the equipment to the rebels at a very reduced price and maybe get a few upgrades themselves. Since the facility was trying to train force sensitive clones it makes sense for the droidekas to be these improved Jedi killing droidekas.

Simply put though, I think the stats above are already underpowered for what they should be based on the movies and TCW, but they are what is necessary for the campaign.

On a side note the only "survivor" of the facility will be one "Jedi" in stasis. Depending on how the encounters go they may be able to get training in the use of the force and have access to training on the force sensitive exile or force emergent talent trees through this Jedi. Or if they do something really stupid it will be a precursor to the Emperor's hand in there that will try to kill them. That decision won’t be made until the encounter.

This was supposed to be the first half of my post above but I had soem trouble and only posted the last half by mistake.

Thank you all for your help, I think I am going to adjust the stats slightly. I had forgoteen all about the adversary option and will include that, special thanks to Ghostofman for that one. I also like the idea of lowering the firepower of the unit. I was considering the two blaster rifles like segara82 two recomended last nite and think i will go that route. it is not teachnically an auto fire weapons but with two of them there will always be at least two shots.

The new stats im condidering are listed below.

How about the following profile:

Brawn 3 agility 3 int 1 cun 1 will 2 presence 1

wt 14 st 13

soak 5 defense 1/3* *ranged defense 1 when moving, 3 when stationary

2x Blaster Rifles

Ranged (Heavy) 3, Vigilance 2, Cool 2, Adversary 1

Droid, Targeted blows, x2 Lethal Blows

As RAW, you can't dual-wield blaster rifles, so if you choose to do so, remember to increase the difficulty and maybe even upgrade it once to compensate for it. Also, a Droideka is pretty big, maybe on the lower end of a Silhouette 2 creature?

As RAW, you can't dual-wield blaster rifles, so if you choose to do so, remember to increase the difficulty and maybe even upgrade it once to compensate for it. Also, a Droideka is pretty big, maybe on the lower end of a Silhouette 2 creature?

NPCs don't follow RAW.

And if a wookiee is sil 1,a destroyer certainly is as well.

As RAW, you can't dual-wield blaster rifles, so if you choose to do so, remember to increase the difficulty and maybe even upgrade it once to compensate for it. Also, a Droideka is pretty big, maybe on the lower end of a Silhouette 2 creature?

NPCs don't follow RAW.

And if a wookiee is sil 1,a destroyer certainly is as well.

Actually, they do follow RAW. They don't follow the PC-specific rules for building them (unless you really want to), but otherwise they are subject to the same rules of the game as every other character.

And you can dual wield blaster rifles...if they have Pistol Grip Attachments (bit you might as well go with carbines for such things).

The Droidekas in the movies and shows all have two weapons. Wookiepedia says the weapons are blaster cannons with the later models having two blaster cannons and an ion cannon. Since these are all planetary scale weapons it lends credence to them having a silhouette 2. I purposefully down graded the weapons to local scale as I wanted it to be possible for a group of characters to survive an encounter. That is the same reason why I down graded the weapons to blaster rifles which are not autofire weapons. I figure two shots a round is close enough to auto fire. I do not recall any instance in the movies where the droids fired at two separate targets at any one time so when I play the unit the fire will always be at one target, keeping with both what I have seen in the movies, the feeling of the autofire weapons, and what I read about them being designed as mobile torrents.

I appreciate all the comments, I will consider increasing the silhouette two 2 but I'm not sure it will make a huge difference. The two weapons will be mounted to the droid so the will not have pistol grips, but for a droid being attached is pretty much equivalent.

I am hoping that the players will find a way of deactivating the security system or completing the mission with out a direct engagement with the droideka as the equipment in the base will be the primary loot. I imagine them selling it to the rebels or to arms dealers at a fraction of what it is actually worth.

On that note though what do you all think that the value of a droideka should be? there is a price in the manual for the b1 droid but not for the b2 or the droidekas.

In the old Sage Edition a Droideka cost aroudn 21k. Still seems appropriate.

Are you sure nemesis is appropriate? Wouldn't rival, or even a beefy minion be more fitting to the fluff?

I'd go with Nemesis. No way it's a minion, you risk a lot facing one. Droidekas can drive off Jedi Masters, and it takes a lot of maneuvering to take one down. The shields are basically impenetrable to anything less than vehicular weapons, and I'm not sure the EotE shield mechanic (setback dice) does them justice, the shields should be treated more like armour. Droidekas aren't particularly smart or aware, but they usually don't need to be. The Onderon TCW arc goes into pretty good detail.

Actually, the Onderon arc shows that they can be killed by a slow-moving explosive tossed into their shield radius. While they aren't exactly easy to kill, this still makes them extremely vulnerable. I'd say make them Rivals, then give them Personal Deflector Shields and call it good. Making them Nemeses seems overboard for a droid with such a huge Achilles' Heel.

Actually, the Onderon arc shows that they can be killed by a slow-moving explosive tossed into their shield radius. While they aren't exactly easy to kill, this still makes them extremely vulnerable. I'd say make them Rivals, then give them Personal Deflector Shields and call it good. Making them Nemeses seems overboard for a droid with such a huge Achilles' Heel.

Yeah, key word is *inside*. A personal deflector shield doesn't remotely convey that flavour. It gives 2 setback, meaning you can take one out with a holdout blaster if you're good enough. But nobody is ever seen penetrating those shields with anything less than a vehicular weapon, or a rocket. Otherwise, getting something inside those shields takes careful aim and timing, good planning, or sheer dumb luck.

Just because EotE usually uses setback dice to deal with the concept of shields doesn't mean that is applicable in every case. It certainly isn't here. Just MHO, but I wouldn't spring a droideka on any group without making that the centrepiece of the encounter. If the players want to hide and take potshots with their blasters, they aren't going to do anything to it...at all! They are going to have to use stealth, trickery, resourcefulness (like using the last rocket to collapse a cliff wall), or impeccable timing on a thrown grenade, to deal with it.

As RAW, you can't dual-wield blaster rifles, so if you choose to do so, remember to increase the difficulty and maybe even upgrade it once to compensate for it. Also, a Droideka is pretty big, maybe on the lower end of a Silhouette 2 creature?

NPCs don't follow RAW.

And if a wookiee is sil 1,a destroyer certainly is as well.

Actually, they do follow RAW. They don't follow the PC-specific rules for building them (unless you really want to), but otherwise they are subject to the same rules of the game as every other character.

And you can dual wield blaster rifles...if they have Pistol Grip Attachments (bit you might as well go with carbines for such things).

The Forsaken Jedi doesn't follow the force power rules, and several others seem to ignore enc.

NPCs in this game are a bunch of dirty cheaters, its a mechanic to help rules monkeys feel better when the players blast them to atoms.

The Droidekas in the movies and shows all have two weapons. Wookiepedia says the weapons are blaster cannons with the later models having two blaster cannons and an ion cannon. Since these are all planetary scale weapons it lends credence to them having a silhouette 2. I purposefully down graded the weapons to local scale as I wanted it to be possible for a group of characters to survive an encounter. That is the same reason why I down graded the weapons to blaster rifles which are not autofire weapons. I figure two shots a round is close enough to auto fire. I do not recall any instance in the movies where the droids fired at two separate targets at any one time so when I play the unit the fire will always be at one target, keeping with both what I have seen in the movies, the feeling of the autofire weapons, and what I read about them being designed as mobile torrents.

I appreciate all the comments, I will consider increasing the silhouette two 2 but I'm not sure it will make a huge difference. The two weapons will be mounted to the droid so the will not have pistol grips, but for a droid being attached is pretty much equivalent.

I am hoping that the players will find a way of deactivating the security system or completing the mission with out a direct engagement with the droideka as the equipment in the base will be the primary loot. I imagine them selling it to the rebels or to arms dealers at a fraction of what it is actually worth.

On that note though what do you all think that the value of a droideka should be? there is a price in the manual for the b1 droid but not for the b2 or the droidekas.

Don't take the weapon listing on wookieepedia as able to directly translate to the game. Remember it an amalgamation of all the movie and EU shoved together by fans. "Blaster cannon" is a catch all term regularly used in EU to ID a blaster weapon with no clear type, and should not be taken literally when starting something out.

If you want to adjust the sil of something don't base it on the weapons it carries based on a wookieepedia entry,base on the game effects the change will have. In the case of sil, it will effect things like how they interact with shooting rules and other things. So... Is that what you want? Why?

The Forsaken Jedi doesn't follow the force power rules, and several others seem to ignore enc.

Re: Forsaken Jedi - Are you sure about that? The designers have said that they are using talents/skills/powers as yet unpublished, or at least shorthand versions of them.

Re: Encumbrance - They only ignore it if the GM doesn't enforce it. I didn't see anything actually saying that they ignore Encumbrance.

The fluff for personal deflector shields imply they are a lower power to prevent covering an organic user with lethal doses of radiation. If you think the shields should be stronger than RAW you could justify it by saying a droid can sustain using a stronger shield.

I think the normal deflector shield stats and a couple of ranks in Adversary gets the job done though.

The fluff for personal deflector shields imply they are a lower power to prevent covering an organic user with lethal doses of radiation. If you think the shields should be stronger than RAW you could justify it by saying a droid can sustain using a stronger shield.

I think the normal deflector shield stats and a couple of ranks in Adversary gets the job done though.

Depends what "job" you want it to do. If you want it to be just another pingable target, fine, but that doesn't convey the flavour of having to deal with a droideka. It's something else entirely.

An attack roll is more than just a single attack, it's potentially a minute's worth of action. Succeeding a difficult check can be played off as exploiting one of the droid's multiple design flaws if you're narrative enough with it.

You might want a more complicated encounter, and that's fine too. Whatever works best for your game. I want to say incorporate some aspects of vehicle scale combat, the shields are supposed to be powered by a starship-class fusion generator, but I can't actually think of a good way to do this.

If you must have a mechanic, a good way IMHO is to make it immune to anything less than Breach 1. Simple. But I think instead it's better in the cases of overwhelming opponents to get the players to vary their approach. Again, MHO, but if a GM allowed me to shoot a droideka to death with a standard blaster rifle, I'd feel cheated.

I'll give an example of what I mean, since last game I did unleash a droideka on my players. I barely gave it stats, because there was no way I was going to make them face it directly, in fact if they had chosen that response I had other events lined up to mitigate it.

Luckily, even though my players aren't SW fans really, they knew what the "bubble droids" were like, so when it popped out of its container and completely obliterated the Imperial contact they were haggling with, they knew it was time to scram. What ensued was a high speed chase down an abandoned subway system. Once it was in wheel formation they could shoot it: Soak 8 because of the linear alignment...yes I know alignment isn't usually accounted for, but given the conditions that was the only angle available and it made a good narrative; plus a couple of setback for dark and fast-moving conditions. And of course it was gaining on them. A Triumph by one shooter caused a pipe to burst next to the droideka sending it careening side to side and ending up spinning like a penny on its edge, which gave the party a slight reprieve, but they could soon hear it coming again. At a junction in the tunnels, a Perception roll failed (so they had to pick direction randomly, and at some point they were going to run out of track), but they still got a Triumph, so the PC "noticed" the ceiling had been patched here, so another player shot it out leaving a debris field behind them. This could have taken out the droideka if I hadn't flipped a DP and got a ridiculous success on its Athletics roll to jump it all. Finally the players resorted to retreating back one train car and shooting out the coupling. They veered left while pushing the last car right (it's floating, after all), and the droideka, being dim, followed the loose car into the wrong tunnel to a cataclysmic and explosive end.

First, I found their inventiveness in dealing with it refreshing, once again a testament to how EotE really pulls people out of their preconceptions. Second, the illusion is maintained: you do not *$&% with a droideka.