So I ran my first game on Sunday. It was a little messy on my end but the players had fun so thats what matters.

However I'm pretty confused on NPC combat checks. I have their stats in the module but it doesn't list their skill ranks... So what do I use as the second number to figure out the number of dice to roll and how many to upgrade? I understand how this works on the PC side but not the NPC side when I don't have their skill ranks to reference...

What do I do?

Thanks!

No skill ranks means you just use the root characteristic to determine dice pool size in green dice.

Were they NPCs minions? For full detail on how to use Minions, see "Minion Rules" on page 390.

Basically minions do not have skill ranks, they have a set of skills that are considered "Group Only" skills.

Minions are meant to be grouped up and attack as if they were a single enemy. For every minion there is left alive in a group beyond the first, that is how many times the ability dice get upgraded into proficiency dice.

So to put it another way. Take the characteristic of the skill check for the minion group, and the number of minions minus 1, the higher of the number tells you how many green dice, and the lower of the two numbers tells you how many of those green dice are turned into yellow dice.

No skill ranks means you just use the root characteristic to determine dice pool size in green dice.

Ah, so if it's just a 2 (for example), I just roll 2 green dice and add the difficulty dice and that's my roll basically? (Unless of course I flip some destiny points to upgrade dice)

Thanks btw!

Yes, although kaosoe also points out Minion rules. Don't know if we are talking Minions or Rivals or Nemeses. YW also.

Were the NPCs minions? For full detail on how to use Minions, see "Minion Rules" on page 390.

Basically minions do not have skill ranks, they have a set of skills that are considered "Group Only" skills.

Minions are meant to be grouped up and attack as if they were a single enemy. For every minion there is left alive in a group beyond the first, that is how many times the ability dice get upgraded into proficiency dice.

So to put it another way. Take the characteristic of the skill check for the minion group, and the number of minions minus 1, the higher of the number tells you how many green dice, and the lower of the two numbers tells you how many of those green dice are turned into yellow dice.

This is also fantastic info, thank you! In this situation they were 3 individual characters but this is great info for the future . Thanks!

Rivals and Nemesis have Skill Ranks and upgrade checks in the same way that PCs do. Minions don't have Skill Ranks in the same way and their pool upgrade mechanics are different, as kaosoe pointed out.

No skill ranks means you just use the root characteristic to determine dice pool size in green dice.

Ah, so if it's just a 2 (for example), I just roll 2 green dice and add the difficulty dice and that's my roll basically? (Unless of course I flip some destiny points to upgrade dice)

Thanks btw!

Edit: actually I think I just misread your post. Carry on!

As I prepare to run EotE for the first time this Sunday, I need some clarification on this minion mechanic. When it says that minions attack as groups, I understand that gain ranks in a skill, such as ranged (light) by having multiple minions all gathered together using that skill. What I am confused about is that it says they only attack once. So if I have a group of four players and four minions, each player gets to attack the minion group once per round, but the entire minion group only gets one attack back per round? Am I understanding this correctly?

Yup. If you group them to take advantage of the minion rule. You can always split them up, they just get no skill ranks on their rolls and they attack, and are attacked, individually.

Great, thanks for the quick reply. So I can have them fight individually in the group, but be easily disposable, or have them be a little tougher, hit one of the players here or there, but get less attacks. Great.

NP. Enjoy.