Bonus Career Skills and Non-Career Specializations

Question asked by 2P51 :

When you buy a new specialization outside your career do you get just the bonus career skills for the new specialization as additional career skills, or the skills for the specialization and its parent career as well?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

You only ever get the bonus career skills from the specialization.

Navigating the Talent Tree

Question asked by bkoran :

( https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/108101-ffg-developer-answered-questions/page-9#entry2098059 )

I have a rules question regarding navigating Talent trees. F&D pg 136 says that you have to start at the top row and follow the paths down. But there is an exception for breaks in the path, which says you have to work your way down, around, and back up again.

As an example, I'm looking at the Niman Disciple, particularly the first Toughened for 10 XP. That looks to me like you would need to come down from Nobody's Fool, Niman, Sense, and Reflect, to go back up for Toughened. Correct?

Now since this creates a precedent for going back up on connecting paths, another player recently asked about whether or not you can skip links coming down and instead come back up later.

For example, Sorensu Defender looks like pretty much the entire tree is dependent on Sorensu Technique early on. Particularly if you were after Improved Parry there in the middle. But they do still connect if you came down with Defensive Stance (twice), past the Reflects, and back up to Improved Parry. To me, it sounds like cheating. The exception for going upwards seems pretty clearly meant only for breaks, and otherwise you must follow the paths downwards. But I figured I'd ask anyway. Thank you!

Answered by Sam Stewart :

As long as the you start at the “top” of the tree (the 5 xp row) and only buy talents in that row, or talents connected to talents in that row, you can navigate in any direction you wish. So with Soresu Defender, you can certainly go down the Defensive Stance route, over to Reflect, and work your way back up to Soresu Technique. You’ll find that the process takes much longer and is more expensive than simply going down from Parry, but it certainly is an option.

Recruit Universal Specialization

Question asked by Dakkar98

AoR Core Rulebook page 140: “Talents that are not ranked can only be purchased a single time. If a character is advancing through a specialization tree and reaches a talent without ranks that he has already acquired from another specialization tree, then he automatically purchases that talent on his new talent tree without spending experience points.”

There are four talents on the recruit tree that grant specific career skills (Basic, Tactical and Vehicle Combat Training and Well Traveled).

If you already possess the career skills that one of those talents grant you, must you pay the cost for that talent, or are you granted that talent without spending experience points?

For example, A Soldier Medic that takes recruit. Because he is already trained in Brawl, Melee, Ranged (Light), and Ranged (Heavy), he effectively already has the equivalent of both Basic Combat Training and Tactical Combat Training. Would he gain those Talents without spending experience points? Or would he still need to spend 5 experience points apiece for those talents?

I realize that he can always work his way down one pathway and work his way back up another to avoid spending experience points on talents that are unnecessary to him, but does he need to go to that trouble?

Brace

Question asked by FuriousGreg :

Can you use the Brace Maneuver to negate the Setback provided by Cover?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

NO.

Hired Gun Signature Ability

Question asked by 2P51 :

Can the Hired Gun's Signature Ability Unmatched Protection be taken as an out of turn Incidental in reaction to suffering damage? or do they have to take the ability before knowing if they will suffer damage?

Ansewered by Sam Stewart :

Hi 2P51,

Unmatched Protection may only be activated during the PC's turn, as it cannot be activated as an "out of turn" incidental.

Tinkerer Talent

Question asked by Lupex :

There has been some debate about the tinkerer talent (pg 143 core rulebook), can you add a HP to items that currently have 0 HPs or only to items that have 1 or more HPs?

Answered by Sam Stewart:
Yes, generally you can add HP to items that currently have 0 HP. As always, of course, the GM can say no to something really silly (such as adding a HP to a stick being used as an Improvised Weapon, or maybe adding HPs to most grenades, for example).

Question asked by 2P51 :

Can Tinkerer be used on starships?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

The Tinkerer talent refers to “one piece of equipment,” which implies personal equipment, aka not vehicles, starships, and other things too large to carry (and not generally found in Chapter V: Gear and Equipment of the Core Rulebook). However, if the GM wishes to let a starship or vehicle count as a “piece of equipment,” then it’s well within their rights to do so.

Jury Rigged

Question asked by Donovan Morningfire (Paraprhased) :

Can Jury rig be applied to the same item more than once with each rank.

Answer (Paraprhased):

Jury Rigged is a "one item per rank" talent. So each rank has to be applied to a separate item per the RAW.

Question asked by BradKnowles (Paraprhased) :

When using “Jury Rigged” to reduce the activation of auto-fire, does that reduces the cost of auto-fire for all activations, or just the first activation?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

If you use Jury Rigged to reduce the cost of activating the Auto-Fire quality, it applies to all activations of the Auto-Fire quality.

Quick Draw

Question asked by 2P51 Paraphrased ) :

Can quick draw be used more than once per round to draw multiple items?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Quick Draw may only be used to draw a single weapon or item. If one is duel wielding weapons, you may draw one as an incidental, and then draw one as a maneuver.

Two-Weapon Fighting

Question asked by Furious Greg :

There is some confusion on whether or not you can use the effect of jury rigged to decrease the cost of activating the second shot when using Two Weapon Combat. Could you please clarify.

Answered by Sam Stewart:

To be succinct; no. Jury Rigged cannot decrease the cost of activating the second hit when fighting with two weapons.

Dodge

Question asked by Dakkar98

Can Dodge (or Sidestep for that matter) be used in vehicle combat?

It seems to me that they cannot as they both refer to ranged combat checks, whereas Starship combat refers to making a combat check with vehicle weapons.

One of my players argues otherwise at least for the Dodge talent.

Answered by Max Brooke :

Dodge, Sidestep, Defensive Stance, and other, similar talents that make the character personally harder to hit do not make a vehicle that a character is piloting harder to hit.

Dodge’s full text, for instance, reads “When targeted by a combat check (ranged or melee), the character may choose to immediately perform a Dodge incidental to suffer a number of strain, then upgrade the difficulty of the combat check by that number. The number of strain suffered cannot exceed his ranks in dodge.”

When a character’s vehicle is targeted with an attack, the character is not the target—the vehicle is—and so the condition under which Dodge can be activated (“When targeted by a combat check, the character may…”) is not met.

Note that if a vehicle does fire directly upon a character, rather than on a vehicle the character is piloting, a character can (and almost assuredly should) use the Dodge talent to try to avoid being struck and likely incapacitated.

Durable

Question asked by AndreKeller :

"How do multiple ranks of the talent Durable work? I notice the talent says may, so I assume you can use it as a choice, and choose not to use it. If I have 3 ranks of Durable, and am critted with a result of 90, what happens?

A: Durable isn't an option and I suffer the crit result of a roll of 60.

B: Durable is an option and I may suffer the crit result of a roll of 90 or 60.

C: Durable is an option, and each rank may be activated or not discreetly, and I may suffer a crit result of 90, 80, 70, or 60.

Answered by Sam Stewart:

"Interesting question. Durable is a optional talent, although in most cases, activating it is going to be a good idea! However, when you choose to use Durable, you must reduce the Critical effect by 10 plus all ranks of Durable purchased. In other words, your option B is correct.

Question asked by 2P51 (Paraphrased) :

Can the Resolve talent be used to reduce the strain suffered by the Stim Application action?

Answered by Sam Stewart (Paraphrased) :

Resolve could be used to lower the Strain cost of Stim Application

Scathing Tirade and the Coercion skill

Question asked by Jamwes :

I play a Politico who uses the Scathing Tirade talent in combat. My GM and I have a question as to how Scathing Tirade interacts with the Coercion skill rules.

Scathing Tirade allows the user to inflict strain damage to enemies. The user can affect a number of enemies equal to the number of success and can deal additional damage per advantage. This is with a "Scathing Tirade" action, which uses a "Coercion check". The Coercion skill rules also have the ability to inflict strain on targets for successes, add targets for advantages, and even break the will of a target with a triumph.

The question is: how does Scathing Tirade interact with the base Coercion rules found in the skill description? Do they interact with one of the following interpretations?

1. When using a talent which gives an action, such as Scathing Tirade, only the text in the talent can be used. When Scathing Tirade is used, the only way to add targets is with success and the only way to deal more damage is with advantages, as depicted in the talent. All text in the skill description is disregarded when using a talent.

2. When a talent is used which calls for a skill check, the rules for the check found in the skill can also be applied. When Scathing Tirade is used, targets can be added with success per the talent and advantages per the skill, extra damage can be inflicted with advantages per the talent and successes per the skill, and the targets will can be broken with a triumph.

3. There is some other interaction between skills and talents that wasn't described above.

Answered by Sam Stewart:

Scathing Tirade is a separate and discrete action that follows the rules listed in it, and nothing else. The rules offered in the skills chapter are simply guidelines for using those skills if no other rules apply. They do not stack.

Master Merchant

Question asked by Desslok :

The Master Merchant talent for Entrepreneur says "when buying or selling goods, take 2 strain to buy for 25% more or 25% less" - does that apply to all transactions?

Of course it'll apply to the crate of blasters that our merchant will be selling on the secondary market, but what about one off items like "Oh, I just dropped my blaster off a cliff and I need a new one". Or big ticket items like ships? It seems to run counter to the theme of the character to buy things at a discount for personal use versus several crates that he's going to flip at the next port of call.

TL;DNR version: does Master Merchant apply to everything the Entrepreneur buys or just wholesale items only?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

It applies to everything he buys or sells, so long as the GM agrees (some situations may not allow for discounts no matter how skilled the merchant is).

Negotiation Skill and talents that affect it

Question asked by Dakkar98 :

First Application under the skill:

-Any time a character wishes to purchase goods or services, he must either pay the sellers asking price or utilize the negotiation skill.

Based on our interpretation of how the Negotiation skill is written, when buying, once an item is located based on its rarity, an opposed Negotiation check is rolled.

0 Success’s indicates you pay cost. Each success means a 5% discount on the cost. Each failure means a 5% increase on the cost.

When selling, an opposed Negotiation check is rolled. 0 Success’s indicates you don’t find a buyer, 1 success gets the character one quarter the base price of the item, increasing to one-half with 2 successes, and three-quarters with 3 or successes or more.

Wheel and Deal: When he sells legal goods to a reputable merchant or business, the character gains an additional 10% more credits per rank of Wheel and Deal (based on the original sell price of the good or item).

Master Merchant: Before making a check when buying or selling items, or undertaking or paying off Obligation, the character may choose to suffer two strain. If the check succeeds, he sells the item for 25% more than the base cost, buys it for 25% less, pays off one additional Obligation point, or undertakes one less Obligation point.

Say you are attempting to sell an item that has a base cost in the book of 1000 Credits (Armored Clothing).

With no talents 1 success gets 250 credits, 2 successes gets 500 credits, 3 or successes or more gets 750 credits.

If I am interpreting Wheel and Deal correctly, since it is based on the original sell price of the item, you would get an extra 100 credits for a suit of Armored Clothing per rank of Wheel and Deal you possess.

Master Merchant also refers to the base cost of the item. So, when you throw Master Merchant into the mix, you can suffer two strain before making the check to get an additional 25% of the base cost. In this case, 250 credits.

If I have a character that has Master Merchant and 2 ranks of Wheel and Deal, and I spend the two strain to utilize Master Merchant, and roll 3 successes on my check that I would find someone desperate enough to buy a suit of Armored Clothing that they pay 1200 credits (750 for 3 successes + 250 for Master Merchant +200 for 2 ranks of Wheel and Deal) for it?

With the Master Merchant Talent, if I am looking to buy a suit of Armored Clothing and spend the two strain before making the check, is it going to cost me 750 credits +/- 50 credits per success/failure?

Are each of these interpretations correct? Or is it supposed to be percentages of the Negotiated Price instead of the Base Price?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

Master Merchant and Wheel and Deal both work off the base price, so you calculate all the modifiers based on that, then add or subtract all the modifiers together (so your interpretation is correct). That’s why it’s called Master Merchant, after all!

Pressure Point

Question asked by Dakkar98

EotE Core Rulebook page 141: “When making a Brawl check against a living opponent, the character may choose to forgo dealing damage as wounds, instead dealing the equivalent damage as strain, plus additional strain equal to his ranks in Medicine. These checks cannot be made with any weapons, but this strain damage is not reduced by soak.”

Does all of the damage inflicted ignore soak, or only the damage added from the Medicine Skill?

Is it effectively: The attack gains X Damage and Pierce X where X equals his Ranks in Medicine?

Or is it, the attack gains (Medicine Ranks in Damage) and Breach?

I would imagine that since Anatomy Lessons is in the same tree that you can spend a Destiny Point to boost that damage, but what about Soft Spot or Targeted Blow?

Does Feral Strength still add damage to Pressure Point as well?

Does the Cortosis attachment on armor prevent the bypassing of the target’s soak?

Answered by Max Brooke :

Pressure point reads: “When making a Brawl check against a living opponent, the character may choose to forgo dealing damage as wounds, instead dealing the equivalent damage as strain, plus additional strain in equal to his ranks in Medicine. These checks cannot be made with any weapons, but this strain damage is not reduced by soak.”

Thus, whenever the Doctor makes an unarmed Brawl check against a living opponent, first determine how much damage the attack would inflict. As normal, this takes the base damage for Brawl checks (Brawn + Successes), plus an additional damage from relevant talents and abilities (such as Anatomy Lessons, Feral Strength, Targeted Blow, Soft Spot, Wookiee Rage, etc). Then, the character’s player may decide to use Pressure Point to convert all of this damage into strain and add additional strain equal to the character’s ranks in Medicine. Then, the sum total of the strain the check inflicts ignores the target’s soak.

Note that this is meaningfully different from having the Breach quality, because armor with the Cortosis quality only affects weapons with the Pierce or Breach quality. Anything else that ignores soak still ignores soak against armor with the Cortosis quality.

Combining Improved Parry and Improved Reflect with Circle of Shelter

Question asked by BarbeChenue :

Can you use Improved Parry or Improved Reflect with Circle of Shelter? Could you, for example, use the Threats/Despairs generated on a Hit against your ally to riposte back with a reflected blaster bolt or lightsaber hit, for instance?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

Yes you can use Improved Parry or Reflect with Circle of Shelter.

Surgeon, Rapid Recovery, Fine Tuning, Solid Repairs, and Physician

Question asked by RebelDave (Paraphrased) :

Must the roll succeed in order to gain the benefits of Surgeon, Rapid Recovery, Fine Tuning, Solid Repairs, or Physician?

Answered by Sam Stewart (Paraphrased):

The roll Must First SUCCEED before the effects of the Talent can be applied.

A Failed Roll means the Talent DOES NOT trigger.

Lightsaber Techniques

Question asked by dfn :

Assuming I have Niman Technique and then later get Defensive Circle, may I use Lightsaber (Will) for Defensive Circle? Assuming my only specialization is Ataru Striker, and I have Hawk Bat Swoop but DO NOT have Ataru Technique, is the check for Hawk Bat Swoop still Lightsaber (Agility)? Thanks!

Answered by Sam Stewart :

To answer your first question; no, you must use Lightsaber (Intellect) for Defensive Circle. To answer your second question, you cannot use the Hawk Bat Swoop action unless you have a talent that allows you to make a Lightsaber (Agility) check.

Mental Bond

Question asked by Edsel63 :
On page 89 in the Seeker: Pathfinder tree the Mental Bond talent is listed as working at up to Long Range. On page 147 the write-up for Mental Bond says it works at up to Extreme range.

So which is it? Long or Extreme?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

I’m sorry about the mistake! It should be at extreme range, not long range.

Defensive

Question asked by EliasWindrider :

Assuming that you have at least 1 rank in brawl, do your fists count as a brawl weapon for the purpose of satisfying the defensive training talent?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

As written, fists never count as brawl weapons. In this case, weapons would refer to items being wielded. However, if your GM wishes to rule that your fists count as weapons, that is certainly a reasonable house rule!

Powerful Blast

Question asked by 2P51 :

Does Powerful Blast modify just explosives/explosive weapons specifically, or does it increase the Blast damage caused by any weapon with Blast? For instance a modified weapon with a Spread Barrel, or any of the 'shotgun' style weapons?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Powerful blast applies to “explosives, explosive weapons, and grenades” so it would not increase the Blast damage caused by any weapon with Blast. Generally it’ll be grenade launchers, missile tubes, grenades, and set explosives. If there is a question as to what qualifies as an explosive weapon, then the GM is the final arbitrator.

Morality and Conflict
Question asked by Blackbrid888 :
Regarding the Force and Destiny rulebook and morality rules: Page 52 mentions some reasons on why a PC might not roll to resolve Conflict at the end of a session, such as the player being absent or the character being incapacitated. I seem to understand, but does this mean that a character has to actually be confronted with an event during a session where they stand to gain conflict, even if he does not gain any at all, before he would roll to resolve his conflict and gain morality, and in sessions where characters never gain conflict because they are never confronted with such a scenario crops up, they would not roll and gain any morality?

Answered by Sam Stewart :
A character should not roll to gain Morality if they had no moral choices to make (i.e. chances to gain Conflict) in a session. These chances to gain Conflict could have been concrete mechanical choices (i.e. the PC had a Force power and chose not to use Dark Side results to generate Force Points) or narrative choices (i.e. the PC chose to not murder someone or steal something). Arguably, these situations should always come up in the course of playing a regular game session, although it is always possible that a PC may spend the entire session locked in a workshop building a device, or maybe healing in a bacta tank. Of course, if the player is not present to play, then his PC should certainly not gain Morality.

Committing Force Die multiple times
Question asked by LethalDose :
The ongoing force powers allow characters to commit force dice to activate benefits. Is it possible to commit *more* force dice than is listed to receive the a greater benefit from the power? This, of course, provided the power does not explicitly forbid it. Example: A Jedi has Agi 2, Force rating 3, and Enhance with all of it's upgrades. Is it allowed for the Jedi, with a single activation of enhance's Agi control upgrade, to commit 2 (or all 3) of his force dice to said upgrade, increasing his Agi from 2 to 4 (or to 5, if all force dice are used). If not, is there *any* way for the Jedi to use Enhance's ongoing effects to increase either Brawn or Agility by *more* than one point.

Answered by Sam Stewart :
Unless the upgrade states otherwise, you may commit additional Force dice to increase the power. Thus, in your example, you may increase your Agility by as much as plus three, in the scenario you describe.
In a further response, he clarified that this is not considered multiple activations, but activating the effect once and triggering it multiple times.

Sense Force Power

Question asked by Donovan Morningfire :

For the Sense power, could a PC with both the Ongoing Effect Control Upgrades activate them with a single Action, or would each Ongoing Effect require its own Action? I could honestly see this going either way, though I'm leaning towards the "single action to commit Force dice to each Ongoing Effect.

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Each ongoing effect requires an Action to activate (and you'd need the Force Rating to activate both as well).

Sense while piloting

Question asked by Lathrop :

Would somebody piloting a starship or vehicle be able to use the Sense Control upgrade to upgrade incoming attacks against the vehicle?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

In answer to your rules question about Sense working while piloting vehicles; as written it would not work, since the attack targets the vehicle, and not the character. However, if the GM wanted to house-rule that it does work, I would limit it to particularly nimble and responsible vehicles; generally those with at least speed 3, and a silhouette no higher than 3.

The Move Force Power

Question asked by Josep Maria

There is any official response about "Force Push" power or it isn't created? It's a variant from Move?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Force Push, Pull, and Move are all the same thing in our game. Anything you could do with Push, you should be able to do with Move.

Follow-up Question asked by Josep Maria

How do you handle the "Knockdown" effect that we can see sometimes on the movies? Its cinematic or I miss something?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

If it's an opposed check, it would be something you could use Advantage to activate. If it's just a Force power check, then it's probably cinematic (if you're targeting minions or no-name rivals, whether or not they're knocked down probably doesn't make a huge difference either way).

Question asked by Awayputurwpn :
Is the Move power designed to allow the Force user (the one using the power) to fly? Barring that, can a Force user levitate something that he is standing on, and in *that* manner fly around? My take is that it allows the Force user to affect anything outside himself, but not his own body or things that he is standing on. That's what we went with, but I would appreciate any insight into the intent of the power's design!

Answered by Sam Stewart :
Move was actually left a little intentionally vague on that regard, because we wanted people to have the chance to come up with their own creative uses when necessary. So, to answer your question; yes, it’s not unreasonable that you could use Move to fly.

However, as with anything, there are some caveats and risks involved. First, you’ll be using pretty much all your concentration to keep yourself aloft, and moving very slowly. (In game terms, you’re spending at least an action every turn to activate the Move power, and move somewhere). In addition, once you’re aloft, failing that Force power check is going to have some very unpleasant consequences!

You could turn to the “Moving and Duration” sidebar on page 299 for some ideas on how to commit a die to stay hovering, rather than making a check every turn. However, if I was the GM I would be well within my rights to say that while you could “hover” in place by committing a die, if you wanted to actually move somewhere else, you’d need to make another check. In addition, if you keep trying to keep yourself aloft, you’re going to tire yourself out quickly, and start suffering strain (also covered in that sidebar).

In short, it is possible to Move yourself with Move. However, it’s difficult, slow, and potentially dangerous, which is why most Jedi use Enhance to get around, or just purchase an airspeeder!

Question asked by Kaosoe :

The book states that "if the player wants to use Move to throw multiple objects at multiple targets, he may do so using all the rules for hitting targets with the Auto-fire quality"

First question:

It's unclear to me if the autofire rules are used when throwing multiple objects due to activating Magnitude upgrades, or when trying to throw multiple objects without using the magnitude upgrades.

For example, if I am a force user wanting throwing a silhouette 0 sized stone at a 2 stormtroopers at short range. Would I...

1.) Use autofire rules and not bother activating the magnitude upgrade.

Or...

2.) Use autofire rules and still have to activate the magnitude upgrade.

Does this mean the PC can use the control upgrade to move two objects (assuming the necessary pips to activate any other upgrades for range and strength) as long as the difficulty is adjusted using the autofire rules? Or must the character also activate the necessary Magnitude upgrades as well

Second Question:

The Range upgrade says I can spend force points to increase maximum range at which he Force user can move an object. There is some disagreement between me and my players with what this means.

By default a Force user can move an object at short range. If I activate all three range upgrades, would my character be able to move an object that is starting at Extreme range from my character, or just move an object from short range all the way to extreme range if I want?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

To your first question, you would still have to activate Magnitude to throw multiple objects. So you’d have to spend all the Force points, and increase the difficulty, and target the most difficult target.

To your second question, range upgrades increase the range that you can start effecting objects.

Question asked by Blackbird888 :

I'm not certain how the Move power with some of its upgrades is supposed to work in some circumstances. Say a PC activates Move, along with the strength and range upgrades in conjunction with the control upgrade that allows them to hurl objects. They lift a silhouette 2 landspeeder and throw it a medium distance at a cliff face. What would the damage be, and how would it be applied? Would the damage be the landspeeder's silhouette multiplied by 10, or the cliff's silhouette multiplied by 10? In a similar case, how would damage be applied if the PC were to throw a silhouette 1 adversary at another silhouette 1 adversary within short range? Would both adversaries take damage, or just the struck adversary?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

In the first scenario, I would definitely say that the speeder takes damage based on its silhouette, not the cliff’s silhouette (it can be pretty hard to determine the silhouette of a cliff, after all, and if you’re dealing with an Everest sized mountain, it wouldn’t make sense for the speeder to take more damage than if it was slammed into a boulder the size of a house).

In the second scenario, although the RAW would be that only the target takes damage, I think it’s perfectly reasonable that both the target and the projectile would take damage. In this case, use the same damage roll for both of them.

Overwhelm Emotions

Question asked by Jamwes :
Is there "double-dipping" in EotE for talent Overwhelm Emotions and Force Power Influence Control upgrade for adding white pips to some skills? Overwhelm Emotions adds a Force Die per Force Rating while Influence allows an Influence Power check as part of the dice pool.

Am I correct with my understanding of how these work with Force Rating 1? If I roll a Coerce check I add a force die (from Overwhelm) as well as a power check (from Influence). The net result is a skill check with 2 force dice.

Answered by Sam Stewart:
No, you cannot "double dip" in this case. You must choose one or the other.

Question asked by Donovan Morningfire :

For talents that involve rolling Force dice, such as Overwhelm Emotions or Invigorate (AoR), can a PC spend a Destiny Point to convert any dark side points into light side points? My thought on this would be "no" given that for those talents, rolling dark side points has a specific effect and it's for a talent, not a Force power.

Answered by Sam Stewart :

No. This talent is somewhat unique in that it doesn't use Force Points, but the Light Side and Dark Side results on the die itself. Since it's entirely dependent on the results and no points are generated, you can't flip a Destiny Point to generate Force Points with Dark Side results.

Question asked by Kaosoe :

Concerning Overwhelm Emotions, can a character convert Lightside results to Darkside results in the same way described in the section on Force Powers?

Or is the option to convert Light - to - dark only available when using force powers?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Overwhelm Emotions is a special case, where you're not generating "Force Points" with the Force die off the results, but using the result itself. In any case, if you converted Light Side results to Dark Side results, the talent wouldn't work because the results can add success or failure, depending on the result and the check.

So short answer, no. It's not that the option is only available when using Force Powers, but it is not an option when using this talent specifically .

Misdirect on Droids

Question asked by Josep Maria :

Influence only works on living beings but, Misdirect seems to be able to project illusions. Those illusions can be perceived by electronic devices like cameras or droids?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

Misdirect, as written, can work on droids. However, if a GM wants to, he can certainly rule that it suffers from the same limitations as Influence. As for what Kanan and Ezra do in Rebels; the Force doesn't always follow hard-and-fast rules. Sometimes, it behaves in ways we would least expect it to!

Wording of power upgrades

Question asked by Arrakus :

( https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/108101-ffg-developer-answered-questions/page-8#entry1975719 )

After some digging I have found that there is a difference among the descriptions of Magnitude Upgrades, albeit a small one. The difference can be split into three groups:

- Ones with the word "additional" in it. e.g. Battle Meditation: Spend FP to affect a number of additional targets equal to Presence per rank of Magnitude purchased.

- Ones with the word "increase" in it. e.g. Move: Spend FP to increase targets affected equal to Magnitude upgrades purchased.

- And Warde Foresee which has neither "Additional" or "Increase" in it.

My question is, why the difference? If they are all suppose to function the same, then why change the wording?

- Are the Magnitude Upgrades with the word "increase" capped by the number of upgrades purchased?

- If so, then are the Magnitude Upgrades with the word "additional" capped by the number of FP spent times the number of upgrades purchased? Meaning the more FP spent on Magnitude than the more targets one can affect?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Both upgrades work the same, despite the difference in word use.

Triggering Qualities multiple times

Question asked by Moribund :

Which Item Qualties can be activated multiple times on a single combat check? Most don't say if they can or can't.

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Item qualities can only be triggered once per target, generally.

Stacking Armor

Question asked by Darth Poopdeck :

Does soak stack if you wear 2 different armors at the same time? Like a Catch Vest and a Nomad Greatcoat.

Answered by Sam Stewart:

Nope, you only get the mechanical benefit of one. However, if you really like the effect of the vest and the looks of a greatcoat, you can certainly get the thematic benefits of wearing a greatcoat over your vest, which presumably involves all of your PC’s friends saying how cool your PC looks.

Question asked by Dakkar98

know that you do not stack the benefit of soak from two different armors that you may be wearing (someone else already asked that).

If you are wearing a Smuggler’s trench coat over Laminate Armor do you get the best of the Soak and the best of the Defense?

For example, while wearing that combination of armors, do you have a Soak of 2 and a Defense of 1?

AoR Core Rulebook page 183: When worn, armor’s encumbrance rating is reduced by 3 points.

Do you reduce each set of armor worn by 3? Or do you add the 2 armors encumbrance ratings together, then reduce by 3?

For example, while wearing that combination of armors, is the character’s encumbrance from armor 1 ((4-3) + (3-3)), or 4 ((4+3)-3)?

Superior + Inferior Quality

Question asked by Blackbird888 :

Can the Superior customization attachment be applied to weapons with the Inferior quality? Does it remove that quality, or do you apply both? Related, and possibly just errata, but in Dangerous Covenants, it lists the arg'garok as having "Inferior 1". Inferior is not a ranked quality; is this intended to have Inaccurate 1, or is the "1" errata and it is intended to be Inferior?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

You technically apply both, but in most cases, they simply cancel each other out (specifically weapons, or armor that does not have defence). In these cases, it can just be simpler to remove both qualities from the weapon’s profile.

As to your second point, the “1” is an error, and will be corrected in errata and future printings

Cost of Mods

Question asked by Dakkar98 :

The wording concerning mods changed slightly from EotE to AoR. In EotE page 187, Section Installing Mods, paragraph 3, it says ... cost an additional 100 credits beyond the base cost. In AoR, page 199, same Section, Same paragraph, it simply states ... cost an additional 100 credits. I am of the belief that if you install, say an augmented spin barrel, and successfully activate all 4 mods that the total cost would be 2,150 credits, the attachment cost of 1,750 plus 400 for the 4 mods (4 x 100). The odd wording in EotE has raised the question as to whether the cost scales with each additional mod. Some interpret it that the cost for that attachment with all 4 mods would be 2,750, the attachment cost of 1,750 plus 1,000 for the 4 mods (1st mod 100, 2nd mod 200, 3rd mod 300, 4th mod 400). Which interpretation is accurate?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

Every mod you install costs 100 credits to do so. I agree that it could be worded slightly clearer, and apologize for the confusion.

Bacta Tank

Question asked by Yepesnopes :

The item "Bacta (full tank) listed under the Medical label of table 5-8 in the Edge of the Empire core rulebook. Is it the bacta tank (recipient) plus electronics plus the bacta liquid? or is it only the amount bacta liquid you need fill one of those tanks?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

The "tank" is just the fluid needed to fill a tank.

Hope this helps, and sorry the response has taken so long. We're pretty swamped with Force and Destiny's beta over here!

Blast Quality

Question asked by Darth Pseudonym :

Does the blast of a weapon benefit from that weapon's pierce or breach rating? If they do, it seems to make missile tubes amazingly dangerous, as even their blast effect on a miss would deal 10 damage with breach 1 (which makes the damage virtually unsoakable).

Answer

Yes, blast damage benefits from pierce or breach. Yeah, missile tubes are pretty scary with that, and that is probably warranted!

Question asked by Darth Pseudonym (Paraphrased) :

So is the blast quality intended to deal damage, which each target then soaks? Or does it directly cause wounds, as the text literally says, ignoring soak entirely?

Answered by Sam Stewart:
The blast quality deals damage and does not ignore soak.

Burn and Soak

Question asked by 2P51 :

Does soak apply to Burn effect?

Answered by Sam Stewart

Soak does apply to burn

Cortosis Armor and Sunder

Question Asked by Jegergryte :

I have a question concerning the Cortosis quality in the Star Wars RPG line. It states that weapons become immune to Sunder whereas armour becomes immune to Pierce and Breach. So, can you still Sunder an armour with the Cortosis quality?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Rules as written, that is correct. You can Sunder the armor with Cortosis.

Limited Ammo and Linked Quality

Question asked by HappyDaze :

How do Limited Ammo and Linked interact?

If a Proton Torpedo Launcher has Limited Ammo 8 and Linked 1, which (A or B) is correct?

A) It can fire 8 times, each launching 2 torpedoes. The launcher holds a total of 16 torpedoes with the Limited Ammo saying how many salvos are available.

***OR***

B) It can fire 4 times, each launching 2 torpedoes. The launcher holds a total of 8 torpedoes with the Limited Ammo saying how many torpedoes are available and that number divided by the number of linked launchers.

Answered by Sam Stewart :

B is correct. You could also specify that you're only firing one shot, and choose not to even try and activate Linked. As long as the GM says its alright, then you'd fire a maximum of one torpedo.

H-7 and the Superior Quality

Question asked by 2P51 (Paraphrased) :

Does the status for the superior quality of the H-7 include the +1 damage and automatic advantage already in the write up?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

"The +1 damage is included in the stats, but the automatic Advantage is not.

Heavy Repeating Blaster, and Setting it up

Question asked by Dbuntu :

I have a couple questions about the HRB and the Tripod attachment detailed on pages 162 and 193 respectively in the core rulebook.

The HRB text states that "Setting up a tripod weapon requires the crew (presumably the two-man crew the text states is required to operate the weapon) to spend three actions."

Read on it's own, that seems to indicate that a two man crew could spend a total of three actions between both of them setting up the HRB on a tripod. However, the text goes on to state, "The cost of the weapon includes a tripod such as the one found on page 193".

The tripod found on page 193 states, "Setting up a tripod takes two preparation maneuvers".

So if the HRB comes with such a tripod, exactly how many actions and/or maneuvers should it take to set up and be ready to fire?

Related question: The HRB comes with four hard points. Is the tripod included with the weapon using two of those hard points or does it have four additional hard points?


Answered by Sam Stewart :
In this case, the three actions spent amongst the crew (each one spending an action, or one spending three, or some variation thereof) include and supersede the two preparation maneuvers needed to set up the tripod.

Also, the tripod should occupy two of the hard points.

Burly and Hidden Storage

Question asked by Awayputurwpn :
1. Burly reduces the Encumbrance rating of any carried weapon (in addition to lowering the Cumbersome quality). Does this mean the weapon is now easier to hide on your person? For example, a Burly 2 character could potentially hide an Encumbrance 3 item on his person easily, treating it as an Encumbrance 1 item?
2. Hidden Storage—if the PC taking a talent is a droid, can such a PC make it so that he has Hidden Storage in his own chassis?
3. If yes to both questions up above, would Burly combine with Hidden Storage in such a way that (for example) a droid PC with Burly 3 and Hidden Storage 1 could hide a blaster rifle (Encumbrance 4) in the smuggling compartment in his own chassis? I can see how this would make narrative sense (big burly droid has lots of spare room to work with), but I wanted to get a sense of how the two talents are intended to work. Thanks in advance!

Answered by Sam Stewart:
The Burley talent is intended to specifically represent a character with some extra muscle and bulk who can more easily carry large weapons into battle; it doesn’t shrink the size of the weapon. While the scenario you describe does not violate the letter of the rules, it does go against their spirit, and a GM could reasonably disallow this.

Stacking Armor

Encumbrance and the Spacer’s Duffle and Military Backpack

Question asked by Furious Greg :
In the description it states: "For each point of Brawn the character is deficient, he must increase the difficulty of all checks made while using the weapon by one"

1) Does this mean only when the character is firing the weapon or at all times they are carrying the weapon? How is this supposed to work with the Spacer's Duffle or Military Backpack (***.2) neither being a weapon? What is the definition of "using" in this context?

2) Does the cumbersome quality stack and how would you deal with a character who wants to wear both a Backpack (C2) and a Duffle bag (C2), and use a Heavy Blaster Rifle (C3)? What if they had an additional HBR as a back up as well?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

"Using" is deliberately left up to interpretation of the GM and players, but in general should be "when one is actively utilizing the item or weapon for its intended purpose." So cumbersome would matter on a weapon when you're fighting with that weapon, not when it's in a scabbard or slung over your shoulder. Therefore, it would only increase the difficulty of combat checks. Otherwise, the weapon's weight and size is simply represented by encumbrance. Likewise, one would be "using" a backpack or duffle bag when they have it slung over their shoulder or on their back helping them carry things. So with these items, it would apply the increased difficulty to all checks made while the duffel or the backpack is on one's back.

As to Cumbersome "stacking," the penalties can stack, but the cumbersome ratings themselves do not. Let's say in your example that the character had a Brawn of 2. In that case, they would suffer no penalties for carrying the backpack or the duffle, but they would increase the difficulty of checks made to use the heavy blaster rifle once. (If he had another HRB slung over his back, he would be carrying it, and not using it, so the Cumbersome rating would not apply). However, if our character had a Brawn of 1, things get a lot more unpleasant for him. In this case, he would increase the difficulty of all checks once for carrying the backpack and once for the duffle (making an Easy Athletics check suddenly Hard!). In addition, any checks made to use the HRB would see their difficulty increase four times (once for the backpack, once for the duffle, and twice for the heavy blaster rifle).

In a case like this, I might suggest our character in question invest in a utility belt and regular backpack instead, and maybe a weapon harness for the heavy blaster rifle.

Encumbrance and the Heavy Repeating Blaster

Question asked by Happy Daze :
Can a single character with Brawn 5 carry and use a heavy repeating blaster in combat in the manner of a very large rifle (but using Gunnery skill)?

The weapon lists Encumbrance 9 and Cumbersome 5. The description of the weapon mentions that the weapon needs a second operator to handle the power coupling and generator. What are the Encumbrance values of the power coupling and generator? Are the power coupling and generator included in the Encumbrance 9 of the weapon or in additional to it?

The text description for the heavy repeating blaster indicates that the included tripod takes three actions to deploy. It also says that it works like the tripod mount attachment which takes two preparation maneuvers to deploy. Which of these is correct?

Answered by Sam Stewart :
The power coupling and generator are included in the encumbrance of the weapon. Most military units include a second operator to improve efficiency and help in moving the thing around and getting it set up quickly, since it's a heavy piece of machinery. The heavy blaster's 3 actions to get set up include and supersede the two preparation maneuvers required for setting up the tripod.

A/KT Shockrider Crash Suit and A/KT Wing Commander Armored Flight Suit

Question asked by Dakkar98

Both of these armors feature in the description the following Text:

“Thanks to its rugged construction and integrated armor, <Snip> suit reduces any strain received from Critical Hits dealt to the wearer’s vehicle by 1 (to a minimum of 1) and the flame-resistant coating reduces damage dealt to the wearer by fires and weapons with the Burn quality by 1.”

The only Critical Hit that I see that actually inflicts strain on a character aboard the ship is “10-18 Jostled: A small explosion or impact rocks the Vehicle. All crew members suffer 1 strain and are disoriented for one round.”

So, the protection from fires and the Burn quality I understand.

What exactly is the purpose of the other part? Since the minimum that can it be reduced to is 1 strain, and there is nothing that I see that deals more than 1 strain to the crew, what is the point?

Is there some other mechanic, that I might have missed, that applies additional strain to a character aboard a ship that has suffered a critical hit?

Answered by Max Brooke :

Although only one result specifically calls out inflicting strain on the PC, the fact is that many of the results, from Major System Failure to Major Hull Breach to Fire! could easily cause conditions that result in the PC suffering strain (such as Suffocation, or Threat from various checks to avoid being set ablaze, hit by shrapnel, and the like). At the GM’s discretion, the Shockrider Crash Suit and A/KT Wing Commander Armored Flight Suit’s benefits would apply to such effects.

Corellian Compound Bow

Question asked by Kaosoe (Paraphrased) :

Page 95 of Suns of Fortune lists The Corellian Compound Bow as using the skill Ranged (Heavy), but the alternate ammunition for the bow, the Stun arrows and Explosive Tipped Arrows, utilize Ranged (Light). Is this intentional? or is this a typo?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

Thanks for your question, and I apologize for the confusion. As it turns out, this is not an error, but reflects the very different ammunition types (and skills required to use them) in this unique weapon.

Firing a regular arrow from a bow relies a great deal on the user's physical strength, both to draw the bow and to keeping the draw taut while aiming and firing. Thus damage and accuracy are related to the user's strength, hence the Ranged Heavy skill and Cumbersome rating.

However, both explosive-tipped and stun arrows are very different from "regular" arrows. Each of these arrows replaces the low-tech broadhead tip of the arrow with a sophisticated payload. In the case of the explosive-tipped arrow, this payload is essentially a small frag grenade. In the case of the stun arrow, it is a stun-discharge "pad." Neither has the same aerodynamics as a regular arrow, and neither relies on the user's strength in the same way (in essence, as long as the arrow can be drawn enough to be fired, it doesn't matter how hard it hits the target; the explosive damage or stun discharge does all the work).

To reflect this, we used two different skills.

Of course, if you have a character who wants to make a habit out of using a Corellian compound bow, you could always invent a custom skill that covers both aspects of bow-use. Ranged (Bow) is certainly unorthodox, but fits into the reason custom skills exist in the first place. In this case, all three payloads for the bow would change to Ranged (Bow) for that character, and you and your GM could work together to determine which Ranged (Light) or Ranged (Heavy) talents would apply to your new skill. I'm certain that, given the other ranged options available, inventing this skill would not prove to be overly powerful.

DR-45 "Dragoon" Cavalry Blaster
Question asked by Dakkar98

Does it use attachments for Ranged (Light) weapons or Ranged (Heavy) Weapons or both?

If you could use its 3 HP for an Augmented Spin Barrel and a Fore Arm Grip for a potential for an Accurate 3 weapon, I'd be all over it. But, since it is a carbine I would assume that even if it can use Ranged (Heavy) attachments that it can't give it an Augmented Spin Barrel (even though it mentions it having a range-extending augmented spin barrel).

The fluff mentions it having the portability of a pistol with the range of a carbine. The portability I can see with it having an encumbrance of 1. Most pistols have medium range, as do all carbines (thus far). The Range is still only medium (again, even though it mentions it having a range-extending augmented spin barrel).

The only possible advantage that I see to this weapon is that if you rescue someone and you want to arm them, you have one weapon that can cover either skill.

Is there some subtle mis-translation of the fluff into the statistics of the weapon that I am missing?

Answered by Max Brooke :

Does it use attachments for Ranged (Light) weapons or Ranged (Heavy) Weapons or both?

Because it is essentially a rifle, it uses Ranged (Heavy) attachments as the default. However, at the GM’s discretion, it can be equipped with certain Ranged (Light) attachments that make sense. Additionally, if the GM feels that a certain Ranged (Heavy) attachment is inappropriate for it because it is a carbine (rather than a full-sized rifle), the GM should feel free not to allow those particular attachments.

Is there some subtle mis-translation of the fluff into the statistics of the weapon that I am missing?

The weapon’s statistics are correct as printed.

Grenades and Limited Ammo Quality

Question asked by Jamwes :

Are grenades "one use" only and you have to pay 50 credits for each frag grenade or do you have a supply?

My current understanding of the Limited Ammo rule is that when I purchase a frag grenade for 50 credits I'm purchasing a supply which requires a maneuver to draw out a new one after I've used the last one.

Answered by Sam Stewart:
Each grenade explodes after using them. When you purchase a frag grenade for 50 credits, you're purchasing a single grenade. If you're planning on throwing more than one, you'll need to purchase more than one.

Missile Tube and Pricing

Question asked by Happy Daze :

How much does it cost to reload the Missile Tube?

Does Prepare 1 on the Missile Tube require one preparation maneuver before each shot, or one preparation maneuver and then the weapon can be fired until it's empty (when it would need a reload maneuver followed by a preparation maneuver)

Answered by Sam Stewart :
It costs 500 credits to purchase a clip of six missiles for the tube.

Prepare states that it is a number of maneuvers that must be performed before each attack. Therefore, you must make a preparation maneuver before each shot.

Dueling Pistol

Question Asked by Osprey (Paraphrased) :

The description for the Dueling Pistol in Suns of Fortune says that they are “almost invariably” sold in pairs. Is the price listed in the book for one pistol, or a pair?

Answered by Sam Stewart : Although the description notes how they're generally sold, the price is listed for one pistol.

Modifying Equipment

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Although the description notes how they're generally sold, the price is listed for one pistol.

Question Asked by Domingo :
When modifying attachments, does the difficulty increase with each subsequent modification (i.e. Hard for the first mod, Daunting, for the second mod, Formidable for the third mod)?

Answered by Sam Stewart : Yes.

Followup Question Asked by Domingo : Assuming that the difficulty increase is cumulative, what is the procedure for the fourth mod? Are more difficulty dice added beyond five, are difficulty dice upgraded to challenge dice, or is the Impossible task sidebar followed?

Answered By Sam Stewart : The GM is the final arbitrator as to which procedure to use, but generally I recommend that the GM allow the player to make the check, upgrading the check once for each increase beyond Formidable.

Failing at modding attachments

Question asked by Evileyore :

The rules, EotE pg 187: "If he succeeds, he successfully installs the mod on his gear, and the item now benefits from the bonus provided by the mod. If he fails, however, the mod is not installed, and he may not attempt to install that mod again. If he failed and his check generated at least one [Despair], the attachment is also rendered useless by his tinkering.

The part I'm curious about is this line: "If he fails, however, the mod is not installed, and he may not attempt to install that mod again."

I have encountered two interpretations, I'll give an example:

PC buys a Balanced Hilt mod for his Vibro-Axe and installs it. The Axe gets the Accurate +1 Quality from the Attachment and has 2 Mods available. PC buys the first mod (100 creds) and tries to install the Decrease Encumbrance by 1 mod. He fails.

By one interpretation that Attachment can never have the Decrease Encumbrance Mod. It's a "ruined slot".

By another, the PC spends another 100 credits and tries again.

Which interpretation is the correct one?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

In your example, if he attempts to install the Decrease Encumbrance mod and fails, he may not attempt to install the Decrease Encumbrance mod again. He may attempt to install the Accurate +1 Quality mod, however.

In another example, let's look at the Augmented Spin Barrel. The Spin Barrel has two "Damage +1" Mods. If the PC attempts to install one Damage +1 mod and fails, he does not install that mod and may not install it again. However, he may attempt install the other Damage +1 mod.

Model 2 Wrist Mount Attachment

Question asked by Awayputurwpn :

When a blaster with this attachment is worn on a being's wrist, does the character consider the weapon to be "drawn?" More to the point, must the character take a maneuver to "ready" the wrist-blaster, or is it just always ready to be used once it's mounted on your wrist?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Your character does count as having the weapon out and ready if it's worn on his wrist, unless other circumstances (such as wearing a spacesuit over it!) would make this impractical.

Optical Camouflage System

Question asked by Dakkar98

“This attachment can be equipped on any type of armor, but it is nearly useless on laminate or plastoid heavy armor, which is often too bulky and loud to mask properly.”

What does this really mean? Should we only allow it to be applied to armors that have a base soak of 1 or less?

Answered by Max Brooke :

This means that the attachment grants no benefit to laminate or heavy battle armor, and other, similar types of armor at the GM’s discretion. Any armor that would logically make too much noise for the wearer to mask effectively gains no benefit from this attachment. While that includes many types of armor that has a soak of 2 or higher, it does not necessarily include all armor with soak 2 or higher. For more exotic types of armor not covered in the Core Rulebook, the GM must make a judgment call based on some combination of what makes the most sense and what will lead to the most fun for the group.

Remote DVI Activator

Question asked by MKX :

when a blaster with this attachment is worn on a being's wrist, does the character consider the weapon to be "drawn?" More to the point, must the character take a maneuver to "ready" the wrist-blaster, or is it just always ready to be used once it's mounted on your wrist?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

The range of the DVI Activator is 5 kilometers. Generally this will be close range in planetary scale, but may also count as short range in planetary scale at the GM’s discretion.

Vehicle Attachments

Question asked by HappyDaze :

Can starships have multiple installations of Attachments like Enhanced Carbon-Durasteel Armor or High-Output Ion Turbine?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Generally, no, they can only benefit from one of each type of attachment. Exceptions may be made for attachments such as weapons, however.

When to upgrade checks

Question asked by Josep Maria

I have another concept doubt about difficulty Upgrades. I'm aware that Talents, Fear and also space maneuvers Upgrades difficulty dices, also Destiny Points and some pieces of equipment but, what exactly can Upgrade diff a dice?

I readied 5 adventures, and apart those samples I mentioned, there were no Upgrades on difficulties BUT, a lot of that checks explained the option "If a Despair is rolled..."

So, from where Upgrades came? There use to be "usual"? Are upgrades a really hard exception to see?

The whole idea of upgrading the difficulty of checks is that it isn't always the default (which is one of the reason the Despair options are usually so terrible!) and requires the GM to use a Destiny Point to put the possibility into play. That way the GM makes the conscious choice to put the option into play (and thus has taken a moment to think about the potential consequences to the player!).

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Generally, we want to avoid creating a situation where the player rolls a Despair, and the GM and player suddenly both realize that something awful has happened to the player that neither of them wanted. This way, the GM has made the choice to introduce that complication, and is ready to deal with any potential consequences.

For example, I was running a prison break adventure during GenCon, and Despairs rolled during the break meant the alarm went off and the escape was discovered. Therefore, I usually held off from upgrading the difficulty of the checks until half-way through the adventure, when I knew the PCs had recovered their gear and were in a good spot to deal with this added challenge.

That being said, Despair can always show up in Opposed checks, or certain checks such as pilot checks or checks against Adversaries. Generally, in those situations we have options for Despair that are bad, but not completely game-changing (running out of ammo on a blaster is bad, but not crippling for a PC).

Exceeding Wound Threshold and Suffering Critical Injuries

Question asked by Yoshiyahu ( https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/108101-ffg-developer-answered-questions/page-7#entry1694683 ):

According to the Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook, page 215, "When a PC suffers wounds greater than his wound threshold, [...] [He] immediately suffers one Critical Injury." Additionally, on page 158, we are told that Advantage can be spent to trigger a Critical Injury multiple times, but each subsequent use of Advantage for this purpose results in +10 being added to the Critical Injury roll. Finally, according to an answer by Mr. Sam Stewart to another question regarding Critical Injury rolls, "Criticals are generated on a "per hit" basis. So if you've got multiple hits, you can have multiple crits, just one per hit."

My question is this: If a PC or NPC spends Advantage to trigger a Critical Injury, and the attack that generated the Advantage results in the target exceeding his Wound Threshold, does the target receive one Critical Injury at +10, or two Critical Injuries (the second at +10)?

In a related question, if a PC or NPC receives a number of wounds that cause his total number of wounds to exceed his Wound Threshold, he suffers one Critical Injury. If he receives additional wounds after exceeding his Wound Threshold, does he receive an additional Critical Injury? Is the Critical Injury only applied when the Wound Threshold is initially exceeded, or each time wounds are suffered after the Wound Threshold has been exceeded?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

During Step 4 the character chooses to spend Advantage or Triumph to activate the critical injury. If he activates it multiple times for a single hit, he’ll just be adding +10 to each roll. However, during that stage, he does not resolve the critical injury. He has just declared his intent to do so, essentially.

Then, during Step 6, the character resolves damage. At this point, he also resolves the critical injuries. If the damage would cause his wounds to exceed his wound threshold, the rules indicate his target suffers a critical injury. Since you can only suffer one critical injury per hit, this just “stacks” in with the critical injury he’s already activated. So if he spent three Advantage to trigger a crit once, and he incapacitated his target, he’d be inflicting one critical injury at a +10. If he triggered the crit rating twice, it would be at a +20.

To your final question; rules as written a character would not suffer a second critical injury if the character takes more damage and is already incapacitated. However, since the character is incapacitated and cannot defend himself, the GM would be perfectly within his rights to allow the second hit to inflict an automatic critical injury, or any other nasty effects depending on the circumstances. If the character is being shot at point blank range while lying helpless on the ground, for example, the GM could simply skip the critical injuries altogether, and proceed directly to complete, unrecoverable death.

Note, if you are the GM, and it is one of your player characters who is in this situation, do not do this to your player and his character.

Critical Injuries and Minions
Question asked by Braendig :
When hitting a minion group with enough advantages to activate a critical on a weapon twice, should the player choose to activate both critical effects (the initial critical and the second for +10 to the critical result), how many minions should be eliminated from the group?

Answered by Sam Stewart :
Since you can only inflict one critical per hit (the “second” that you mention is just enhancing the ability of the original critical, and is not actually a second critical hit in its own right), activating a critical multiple times on a weapon that only inflicts a single hit would not eliminate any additional minions from the group.

Advantages and Triumph in Initiative
Question Asked by Colgrevance :
1. When using advantage as a tiebreaker in initiative checks, do I have to "spend" it, meaning I cannot use it for other effects (e.g., recovering strain)?

2. If the answer to the above question is "yes", is this spending of advantage mandatory or could I let someone else gain the initiative (assuming I only win on the tiebreaker) to spend my advantage for other effects?

3. If the answer to question no.1 is "yes", there are bound to be timing conflicts - how are those resolved? E.g., assuming I keep my advantage to win ties, and the GM then announces that he uses his advantage for other effects, can I then revoke my decision and use advantage differently?

4. Why does tiebreaking (and using advantage, if the answer to question no.1 is "yes") work differently in initiative and other competitive checks? This means you have to remember two different tiebreaking mechanisms - wouldn't one solution work for both cases? I'd greatly appreciate any answers/insights you could give in this matter!

Answered by Sam Stewart :
The best way to think of initiative is as a unique check that is just being used to determine turn order. So Advantage in the check is automatically used to determine tie-breakers when it comes to order, and cannot be used for anything else.

The only result that doesn’t have a predetermined role in an initiative check is the Triumph result (although it still also counts as a success as per normal rules, so it does add to your success total). It is the GM’s prerogative to decide whether he or she would prefer the Triumph result not count for anything in an initiative check (which is consistent with the Rules as Written), or whether they’d rather let the players do something special with any Triumph results. In my own game, I have let players (and NPCs) take a single maneuver before combat begins if they get a Triumph, representing their incredibly highly honed reflexes. It’s enough to get a weapon out, aim, or take cover before the shooting starts.

When to heal critical injuries

Question asked by 2P51 (Paraphrased) :

Must you wait a week after suffering a critical injury, before a medicine check can attempted to recover from it. Or can a doctor or medic attempt the check immediately after suffering the critical injury?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

The latter; the medicine check may be attempted immediately, then if failed, attempted again after a week has passed.

Stacking Defense
Question asked by Braendig :
3 Brawn
Sentinel: Shien Expert
1 Rank Defensive Training
Wearing Armored Robes
Wielding a Riot Shield (Left Hand) and a
Shoto Lightsaber with a fully Modified
Lorridian Gemstone and a
fully Modified Curved Hilt ? And why? How would the various defenses stack?"

Answered by Sam Stewart :
Ranged Defense 2
Melee Defense 3

The modified lightsaber would be the source of the defense, because it has the highest ranged and melee defenses. The shoto lightsaber has no innate defense, but the Llordian Gemstone comes with Defensive 1. Its mods allow you to increase the weapon’s defense. Same goes for the curved hilt, its mods also allow you to increase the weapon’s defense.

All of the other defensive sources are from different items, and do not stack.

Question asked by KommissarK :

The Defensive talent is worded as:

"Defensive (passive): Defensive weapons are particularly good at fending off incoming melee attacks. A character wielding a weapon with the Defensive quality increases his melee defense by the weapon’s Defensive rating."

The Deflection talent is similar, but for ranged defense. When it says it "increases his melee defense," how does this interact with a character?

I understand there can only be one source of a ranged/melee defense rating in effect, but this "increase" wording seems to indicate that it is there to work around the "one source" limitation.

If my character is wearing armored clothing (defense 1), and I am wielding a Defensive 1 weapon, does this mean that I have melee defense 2, ranged defense 1? Or, when it says "increases his melee defense" is that speaking specifically of the character, and as such its a choice between the -character's- melee defense of 1, or the armour's melee defense of one?

How does this work with dual wielding? If I have a weapon with Defensive 1 in one hand, and Deflection 2 in the other hand, do I have a total of ranged defense 2 and melee defense 1, or is it only one or the other (i.e. does a weapon need to be selected as the "primary")? How does this work if stacking the same quality and dual wielding? Defense 2 on both weapons. They're both "increasing" the same target melee defense value (either my armor or my character, as per above answers), so it doesn't seem to violate the multiple sources principle.

Or is the increasing terminology incorrect and the weapon with the deflection/defensive property actually just "gives" a ranged/melee defense rating.

Answered by Sam Stewart :

We are currently re-evaluating how personal scale defense works in the game, and may have a more comprehensive answer in the future. So at this point, we cannot answer your question.

Aiming
Question asked by 2P51 (Paraphrased) :
How man rounds can a character spend aiming. What would the maximum benefit be? And can you aim across multiple rounds?

Answered by Sam Stewart :
You can only put a maximum of two maneuvers into the Aim maneuver, so you are only ever going to get +2 Boost dice. You can spend the prior round aiming, in which case any additional maneuvers, actions, or damage you suffer that exceeds soak is going to cancel that bonus.

Initiative

Question asked by 2P51 :
Can spare Advantages or Triumphs generated during an initiative check be used for options other than what's listed under Cool and Vigilance? For instance the options listed under the combat check table.

Answered by Sam Stewart :

There are no “spare” Advantages in an initiative check, because they are directly used to help determine initiative (as another example, if you score four successes on a check and your opponents only score one success, the three successes you beat them by are still not “spare”).

However, with Triumphs, you have a little more leeway. Although they can also be used as a tiebreaker, generally Triumphs are rare and important enough that the GM can do something special with them. In my personal game, I tend to allow my PCs to take an extra maneuver before combat begins, for example.

Vehicular Maneuvers as Actions

Question asked by Jegergryte :

My questions concern pilot (planetary/space) checks.

1) As vehicle movement is a manoeuvre and doesn't normally require a check unless there's some sort of terrain or navigational hazards, I wonder if the Fly/Drive manoeuvre is "upgraded" to an action when speed, silhouette and terrain enters the equation. Or if such a pilot check is exempt from the skill check = Action convention?

2) This is sort of based on a negative response on the above, that manoeuvres stay as manoeuvres: Does the navigational hazard rules, either setback dice and/or the speed/silhouette rules, also come into play with other manoeuvres that involve movement, like evasive manoeuvres? Stay on target? Accelerate/decelerate? Punch it!? Basically any pilot only manoeuvre which in some way entails ship movement, whether relative to other ships or not.

3) Would it be within the intentions of the rules to add terrain modifiers, setback dice only (or silhouette or speed as upgrades too?), to the Gain the advantage action?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

To answer your first question, generally you would “upgrade” the maneuver to an action when piloting is something crucial to the plot, such as piloting through terrain. In this situation, a GM might have the vehicles in question make piloting checks on the first round, then have a chance to shoot one another on the second round (which would also give advantage to the PCs who have the Master Pilot talents). However, if the GM wishes to handle this differently, he is of course free to do so.

This should answer your second question. As to your third, it would absolutely be within the intentions of the rules to add terrain modifiers in the form of Setback dice to the Gain the Advantage action, or any other piloting action that might come up (it could conceivably be added to the Copilot action, for example).

Question asked by Jegergryte :

I guess the following rationale is tied to this quote "In this situation, a GM might have the vehicles in question make piloting checks on the first round, then have a chance to ...": Would a fair interpretation then be that when entering a hazardous area one is required to make a piloting check, which then allows manoeuvres and actions to be performed by the pilot until the end of the next round without further pilot checks (barring moving out of/through the area and using Gain the Advantage)?

So, for instance:

I'm flying my YV-545 into a 2 setback dice asteroid field terrain using the fly/drive manoeuvre, this then becomes an action and I make a piloting check.

I could then, for two system and character strain (or the copilot could so that it only requires 2 system strain) perform an Evasive Manoeuvre without this requiring a check (or of course the copilot could attack any targets)?

The second round I could perform a Stay on Target manoeuvre and then attack, or accelerate or evade without requiring a pilot check, even when within the hazardous terrain?

The third round then, it seems if I take you very literally, would require a pilot check, whether I'm moving out of the area or still within the area as long as I'm moving, which of course I am, since I haven't decelerated to 0 speed.

And one last question concerning Gain the Advantage. Am I being too literal when I interpret that Action to only apply to the Pilot (as the wording specifies), or should it also apply to any and all gunners aboard the starship? Considering the attack will happen in one round (unless you have the Master Pilot talent), the gunners cannot this round pick and choose defensive zone, unless the Pilot has to pick zone now - which opens for the defending starship to move angle deflector shields in between this action and the pilots attack action next round (if the target fails or cannot perform Gain the Advantage).

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Your interpretation of flying through difficult terrain is a fair one. Spending the first round making a piloting check, while performing evasive maneuvers as a maneuver that does not require additional checks, is completely reasonable (after all, your ability or inability to fly through the asteroid field has already been determined, so there's no reason to check it twice in a round). Then in the second round, as the GM has already established that you're flying through terrain, you could fly and fight as normal.

Whether you needed to make another piloting check during the third round is really up to the GM. If the situation is fairly dire (such as the Millennium Falcon flying through the Hoth Asteroid Field) then the GM could require multiple piloting checks to reinforce the idea that just staying in the asteroid field is extremely dangerous. However, if the encounter is over, and the GM feels that there's no need to keep testing, he can simply have one piloting check be enough.

The important thing in this situation is to remember that you don't always need to stick with the rules, when doing so could result in a tedious or even ridiculous encounter. If the GM and players like the idea of lots of piloting checks (which increases the odds of failure) then by all means, have them test often. If the GM and players feel that this is slowing down the combat too much, then maybe one piloting check the first time the pilot enters the terrain is enough.

To answer your final question; RAW does state that the pilot is the one who benefits from Gain the Advantage, however the GM would be well within his bounds to rule that gunners (especially gunners in a two-seater Y-wing, for example) benefit from it as well.

Minion pilots, ships, and system strain.

Question asked by Lupex :

Do starship minions still have system strain? If the answer is no, how can they ever do two starship Maneuvers? And an additional question, can you exchange a starship action for a starship maneuver?

Answered by Sam Stewart:
Starships would be piloted by minions, but they would not be minions themselves. So starships have system strain, even when piloted by minions. However, generally a starship piloted by a minion cannot perform two starship maneuvers unless the minion downgrades their action into a maneuver. If he does so, the second maneuver can also be a starship maneuver.

Remember, the starship itself isn’t an NPC, it’s just a complex tool. It’s the pilot inside that follows the rules for NPCs.

Starchip Sensors and Comms

Question asked by Dakkar98

On page 239 it describes Sensors and Comms, and state that Comms have a range equal to that of the sensors.

Is it always tied to that or just initially, and does that work both ways?

If you purchase the Upgraded Comms array attachment does that also increase the range of the ships sensors?

Or is it just supposed to be the Comms?

If you have a weapon with a range greater than your sensors can you not target things outside of your sensors range, or can you and there is just a penalty (Upgraded or increased difficulty, or setback dice)?

Example: YT-2400, Sensors: Short, Upgraded turrets have heavy laser cannons with advanced targeting arrays with sniper shot. Do you have to use the sensors in active mode (to boost them to medium range in a single arc) to be able to utilize the sniper shot mode to hit targets at medium range (in that arc)?

Answered by Max Brooke :

Starship Sensors and Comms On page 239 it describes Sensors and Comms, and state that Comms have a range equal to that of the sensors.

Is it always tied to that or just initially, and does that work both ways

Increasing the range of a vehicle’s comms does not increase that of its sensors. However, increasing that of its sensors would increase that of its comms.

If you have a weapon with a range greater than your sensors can you not target things outside of your sensors range, or can you and there is just a penalty (Upgraded or increased difficulty, or setback dice)?

Example: YT-2400, Sensors: Short, Upgraded turrets have heavy laser cannons with advanced targeting arrays with sniper shot. Do you have to use the sensors in active mode (to boost them to medium range in a single arc) to be able to utilize the sniper shot mode to hit targets at medium range (in that arc)?

Sniper Shot already includes an upgrade to the difficulty of the check, which reflects the difficulty of firing beyond optimal range. Further, keep in mind if something is outside of the sensor range of a ship, those aboard the vessel frequently do not know that it is there to shoot at it.

However, if they do end up in a situation where they are attempting to fire at something they cannot “see”, without the aid of Sniper Shot or a similar ability, the GM is certainly encouraged to add a number of setback dice to the check to reflect the negative circumstances (in this case, the inability to see the target).

Evasive Maneuvers for the Gunner

Question asked by Yepesnopes (Paraphrased) :

Evasive maneuvers is clear:

"Executing Evasive Maneuvers upgrades the difficulty of the dice pool once for all attacks made against the ship (...)

(...) Executing Evasive Maneuvers likewise upgrades the difficulty of the dice pool once for all attacks made by the ship (...)"

but on the other hand Gain the advantage:

"(...) If the check succeeds, the pilot ignores all penalties imposed by his own and his opponent's use of the Evasive Maneuvers starship maneuver until the end of the following round.(...)

(...) In addition, the pilot also chooses which defense zone he hits with his attack . (...)"

Does that mean that the gunners of the YT-1300 do not get any benefit from the pilot's Gain the Advantage action?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

Actually, any shooting from the ship that has "gained the advantage" benefits from this action, including that of gunners.

Hard Points and Ship Weapons systems

Question asked by Yepesnopes :

In the core book, on page 271, it says "Hard Points Required: 0 if replacing an existing weapon system. 1 if adding a new weapon system. Weapon systems combining two or more weapons always cost 1 hard point, even if replacing an existing weapon system."

I am confused by the last statement.

1st question. If my ship comes by default with a Medium Laser Cannon, and I want to use the Upgrade Weapons attachment to replace the Medium Laser Cannon by a Two Medium Laser Cannons with the Linked 1 quality. Ho many HPs does it cost?

2nd question. If my ship comes by default with a Two Medium Laser Cannons with the linked 1 quality, and I want to use the Upgrade Weapons attachment to replace them by a Two Concussion Missile Launchers with the Linked 1 quality. Ho many HPs does it cost?

3rd question. If my ship comes by default with a Two Medium Laser Cannons with the linked 1 quality, and I want to use the Upgrade Weapons attachment to replace them by Three Concussion Missile Launchers with the Linked 2 quality. Ho many HPs does it cost?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

1. 1 Hard Point.

2. 1 Hard Point.

3. 1 Hard Point.

Damage Control

Question asked by Venthrac (Paraphrased) :

How does the Damage Control action work. Does it just repair one hull truama on a success or one hull truama per success. Can you use it more than once? What about for system strain?

Starship Repairs.

Answered by Sam Stewart:
The amount of hull trauma Damage Control repairs is equal to the number of successes scored on the check, in the same fashion as a medicine check. If used to repair system strain, it is also equal to the number of successes scored on the check.

To your second point, technically you'd have to make repair checks to fix system strain until repaired. However, with enough "narrative down time" the GM can certainly rule that you fix it without making checks. After all, you'll be able to fix it eventually anyway; it's only interesting to track if you are going to be quickly thrust into another combat encounter or chase.

Personal-Scale Talents and Startship Combat

Question asked by Lupex :

You said the sniper shot talent doesn't work in starship/vehicle combat, however the Advanced Targeting Array attachment has Innate Talent (Sniper Shot) as a Modification Option, is this correct?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

To answer your other questions; generally the Sniper Shot Talent shouldn't be used in Starship combat, but in that particular instance, it can be. I apologize that it's not called out, though, I can certainly see the confusion. However, yes, the idea is that in general, the Sniper Shot Talent shouldn't be used with starship scale weapons (because the ranges are that much bigger) but that mod should let you if you get it. I should add, if you'd like your players to use Sniper Shot in Starship Combat, it shouldn't break the game to let them do so. It does decrease the viability of starfighter dogfights, however (when the PC can shoot their opponents before they get in range, it may take some of the challenge out of dogfighting), so just be aware.

Closing Range Bands in Planetary Scale

Question asked by Lupex :

You answered a question about slow ships and long range but it still isn't clear how many manuevers it would take a slow ship to move toward something that is at long range (so from long to medium) or away from something?

Answered by Sam Stewart:
If you're talking about a Speed 1 ship, it's going to take them 2 maneuvers to move to short range with whatever's in short range. At that point, the long range target is now in medium range of them. Next turn, they can continue to slog slowly forward, spending two maneuvers to move one range band, and now the target's in short range. Finally, the next turn allows them to close the distance. The same principle holds true with faster ships, they just take less time to close the distance."

Question by Lupex :

Sorry but I'm still a bit confused about the ship range, so it basically takes a speed 1 ship 2 Maneuvers to cover one range band?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

Glad to hear that clears things up a bit. In regards to your confusion of ship range, yes, it does take a speed 1 ship (or a ship moving at speed 1) 2 maneuvers to cover one range band. It's a really simple way of looking at it. If you were speed 2-4, it would take you two maneuvers to move to medium in one turn, then you'd be within short range, and it would take you one maneuver next turn to move to short. (Or you could spend one maneuver that turn to close one range band, one maneuver next turn to close one range band, and one maneuver in the third turn to close one range band).

Executing Vehicle-scale Maneuvers Twice

Question asked by Ceodryn :
1) Can personal combat maneuvers be doubled and stacked by a character during his turn? What about space combat maneuvers?
For example,
Can "guarded stance" be executed twice?
Can "evasive maneuvers" be executed twice?

2) Can "evasive maneuvers" and "stay on target" be executed by a Pilot during the same turn?

3) Are Co-pilot meant to be able to execute all the Pilot Only maneuvers?

For example, a Pilot executes fly/drive, then the Co-pilot executes fly/drive as well. The ship will however gets 2 strains.

Answered by Sam Stewart:
1. Yes, in some cases personal and space combat maneuvers can be "stacked." There are, of course, certain limitations (PCs must obtain the additional maneuver by suffering strain or downgrading their action, and starships must be below a certain silhouette and must suffer system strain). Also, it depends on the maneuver. However, in the cases you list, both can be stacked.

2. Yes, although that's quite tricky flying! In practice, performing both maneuvers basically keeps the odds of success or failure roughly the same (within a few percentage points of original odds of success, discounting other factors), while heightening the chance for a Triumph or Despair.

3. No. Pilot Only means that the person flying the ship is the only one who can do it. That's not the co-pilot (if he was flying, he'd be the pilot, after all).

Increasing Defense Zone limits

Asked by Ghostofman

Vehicle defenses (typically provided by shields) are limited to 4 points in any given zone. (EotE CRB pg 228)

Talents like Defensive Driving increase a vehicles defenses in all zones.

Is Defensive Driving intended to allow you to exceed the 4 point cap or is 4 intended to be a hard cap?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

The limit of 4 is intended to be a hard cap.

Loronar E-9 Explorer

Question Asked by HappyDaze :

Should the "turret-mounted medium laser cannon" on the Loronar E-9 Explorer (from Enter the Unknown) have the Linked 1 quality? If so, should they then be called "turret-mounted twin medium laser cannon"?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

The starship profiles are correct, even if their names are a bit off. So yes, the laser cannon should be linked, and no the concussion missiles do not have Slow-Firing.

YV-929 Light Freighter

Question asked by HappyDaze :

Should the concussion missile launchers on the YV-929 (from Dangerous Covenants) have Slow-Firing 1?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

The starship profiles are correct, even if their names are a bit off. So yes, the laser cannon should be linked, and no the concussion missiles do not have Slow-Firing.

Strain and Second Maneuver

Question asked by Dakkar98

During combat, each character gets to perform one maneuver and one action by default. However, if one wanted to gain a second maneuver on the same turn, the Rulebook mentions that this can be achieved most commonly either by downgrading the action (thereby losing it) or by voluntarily suffer two strain. Are these two options mutually exclusive?

For example: if a player chooses to voluntarily suffer two strain for a second maneuver, is the character still able to perform their free action, thereby allowing a character to perform up to (a maximum of) two maneuvers, plus the default action, in any one turn?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

You are correct, you can suffer two strain and gain two maneuvers in a turn, plus one action. You cannot perform more than two maneuvers in a single turn, however.

Cool or Discipline to recover strain

Question asked by GM Knowledge Rhino :

On page 220 of the Edge of the Empire Core Rule Book it lists a rule about strain recovery. The text reads "At the end of an encounter, each player can make a Simple (-) Discipline or Cool check. Each Success recovers one strain. There is some debate if this means the advantages / triumphs mean nothing in this check (like an initiative check). Is this true?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

That is correct; only successes matter for this check (although the GM is welcome to come up with other benefits for large numbers of Advantage or Triumph)

Blast and Minions

Question asked by Darth Pseudonym :

Should a group of minions be treated as a group of individuals who happen to share one wound pool, or as a single entity?
That is to say, if a blast goes off in the middle of a group of minions
-- should each minion, individually, take the blast damage, soak it, and apply the remainder to their shared pool, or
-- does the group as a whole get hit by the blast, take the damage, soak it once, and then apply the remainder (and if so, then does the group being the primary target exclude the group from being affected by the blast)?
Or is there some other methodology?

Answered by Sam Stewart:
The first option would be more thematically appropriate. That being said, if the minions were particularly spread out (if you had a group of four with two each behind two separate barricades, for example), I'd rule that some of the minions couldn't be hit by the blast damage. It does make grenades quite effective against minion groups; but that's sort of the idea in any case.

Question asked by Venthrac :
How does blast damage work against minions?

Answered by Sam Stewart:
How blast damage works against minion groups depends on whether the minions are engaged with each other or not. If a group of minions is spread out across a room, and I throw a grenade at one, then the Blast quality cannot affect the group. In that case, the grenade deals direct damage to the minion group's combined wound threshold (if it deals 9 damage, and the minion has a soak of 3 and wound threshold of 4, then one minion drops, and the group still has two additional damage. This may represent random flying shrapnel, but could just as easily represent the stress of seeing a comrade killed).

If multiple minions are engaged with each other, then the damage from the Blast quality can do damage to as many additional minions as are engaged with the first minion. (Grenade hits a three minion group who are all engaged with each other. The grenade deals 9 damage, plus 7 blast damage, against the same minions as described earlier. Since the blast damage hits each individual separately, they apply their soak to it in every case, but the damage is still enough to wipe out the entire minion group with 2 damage left over).

All in all, grenades are a great way to take out tight clusters of faceless mooks; as they should be.

Stacking Boost Dice

Question asked by Talley Darkstar :
Player A rolled 2 Successes along with 4 Advantages, he gave the 4 Advantages as 2 Boost Dice to Player B . With the 2 Boost Dice, Player B Aimed for his Maneuver and then shot, so the player ended up having 3 Boost Dice to his shooting roll in addition to his regular dice roll of 1 Ability Die and 2 Proficiency dice.

My overall question is, is accumulating that many Boost Dice manipulating the system or is it as what is intended through the rules?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

I don't really see the situation as against the rules. Advantages (and what you spend them on) are meant to be somewhat nebulous, so that the advantages (lowercase) they give to the players make sense to the narrative at the time. I'd say the more important part is that the narrative reason for adding those Boost dice was something that made sense and was fun given the situation.

If Player A did this while his character drove the target out of cover and into the open with sustained gunfire, shouting to player B "Take the shot!" and player B slowly but surely lined up his blaster, took a deep breath, and fired, then I'd say that sounds pretty interesting, narrative-wise.

The only thing I'd caution against is if your players are always defaulting to Boost dice because they can't think of anything else to do. The first shot could have also triggered a critical hit on the target for example, or any number of other options found in Table 6-2 on page 206. But there are plenty of options that aren't on the table, especially for 4+ Advantages. If you find your players defaulting to tons of Boost dice, next time suggest "well, you can do that....but instead, you could just knock the rival off the gangplank and send him plummeting to his doom/hit the fire extinguisher next to him and cover all the enemies with foam (and give them some Setback dice)/create an opening to grab an incapacitated ally and drag him to safety/attract the attention of a local police patrol, giving the group a distraction to escape.

Stacking Cover

Question asked by Lupex :

On page 213 the rules for cover state they you increase a characters defense by 1, however pg 202 states that cover grants ranged defense of 1, which is correct?

Answer
The cover action (page 202) is correct

Follow up question by Lupex :

Do you mind if I ask why the change from the Beta?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

The reason we changed defense slightly is we wanted to balance defense with, on the one hand, being useful to the players and allowing them to increase it, with, on the other hand, avoiding really bloated dice pools. We ret-conned the change in the Beta after we decided (post-Beta) to make Sixth Sense and Superior Reflexes not Force talents (leaving them potentially open to more characters in the future). Now armor and cover don't stack, but the "defensive" talents do."

Aiming

Question asked by Dakkar98 :

Aiming to target a specific item carried, or a specific part of the target. I understand how it is written. The question concerns whether or not you can target a specific item, or a specific part of the target without taking a maneuver (or two to aim). Is it outright impossible to target a specific item, or a specific part of the target unless you have at least the one maneuver to spend or is the base difficulty without using a maneuver for targeting 3 or 4 setback dice, or 1 or 2 upgrades instead of setback dice? What are your thoughts?

Thus far we have been allowing the successful targeting of a specific body part to allow a roll on the critical hit table of 40 or less (reroll if higher) that is not an actual critical hit. We did this based on the option to allow the spending of 3 advantages in a similar manner. Is that close to what you intended?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

It isn’t possible to target a specific body part or item without spending at least one maneuver to aim. As for the effects of targeting specific body parts, these are generally narrative in nature, and thus we leave them up to the players and GMs to decide. If you want to put a specific mechanical effect on it you’re more than welcome to, but the intention is to allow for “shooting the bad guy in the kneecaps,” where the damage probably still incapacitates a target, but the player can narrate that it wouldn’t kill them.

Two-Weapon Fighting

Question asked by OggDude :

I have a question about two-weapon combat. In many cases, certain skills or certain weapons will have various modifiers applied to them, such as boost dice, setback dice, or the ability to remove setback dice. How are these applied when you use two-weapon combat?

Example 1: You're shooting two blasters. One of them has the actuating module, while the other one doesn't. For the first weapon, you add a setback die to all attacks, but not for the second weapon. How would this apply if 1) the first blaster is your primary weapon, or 2) the second blaster is your primary weapon? Or does it matter?

Example 2: You're attacking with both a vibroknife and your fists (unarmed). The first uses Melee, the second uses Brawl. For whatever reason (talent, weapon mod, etc), your vibroknife attack removes a setback, and your unarmed adds a boost. How would these features be applied, again, with 1) the vibroknife as your primary, or 2) unarmed as your primary?

The same question could go for multiple modifier dice. If one attack adds 2 boosts, and the other adds 1, which applies? If one adds 2 setback, and the other 1 setback, which applies? Or maybe there's a combination of boosts, setbacks, and the ability to remove setbacks, divided out in different numbers between the attacks. How are these situations resolved?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

The weapon used sets the pool. The second weapon is only used if you gain two Advantage to trigger the second hit. So only the first weapon sets the pool. So if the second weapon has penalties or bonuses that would affect the pool, such as adding Boost or Setback dice, these would not apply. However, if the second weapon has penalties or bonuses that are applied after the pool has been rolled, then those penalties or bonuses do apply if you trigger the second weapon to hit. So If your second weapon is Accurate, you won't get Boost dice. But if your second weapon has a laser sight that gives you an Advantage on a successful attack, then if you're successful and you trigger the second hit, then you gain the additional Advantage as well.

Question asked by Yepesnopes :

Does a character wielding two Ryyk Blades (or two superior vibro swords) gain automatically two advantages with his melee checks? or just one?

Does he gain 2 points of melee defence (one per weapon) or just 1?

Answered By Sam Stewart :

Just one advantage, and just one melee defense.

Question asked by Jegergryte (Paraphrased) :

... <Note from the editor, not sure what Jegergryte asked specifically>...

Answered by Sam Stewart:

1) You can use Brawl weapons with two-weapon fighting.

2) Brawl is intentionally open to interpretation, but yes you can use it with the two-weapon fighting rules as a kind of "flurry of blows". Sam does point out the increased chance of failure doing this however.

3) Therefore you can also use two-weapon fighting for a knife and fist/foot attack.

Question asked by Archon007 :

Help understanding two weapon fighting. If I am using 2 blasters damage 7 and roll 3 successes with 2 advantages trigger my second weapon, does the 3 successes add damage to both blasters (10 damage for each hit), or just the first blaster, or do I split the successes up?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

To answer your question, the three successes would add +3 damage to both hits with blasters, the same as blast damage, auto-fire, and linked (or any ability that lets you generate multiple hits with one attack). Dual-wielding blasters is more difficult, but the tradeoff is you can do some serious damage to a person.

Multiple Critical Rolls with Autofire

Asked by 2P51 :

Can you roll multiple critical hits with a single attack, if the attack lands multiple hits, ie, you get 3 hits on an auto fire attack and theoretically have enough advantages for 3 critical hit results.

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Criticals are generated on a "per hit" basis. So if you've got multiple hits, you can have multiple crits, just one per hit.

Stacking of Cybernetics

Question asked by Braendig :

Do Cybernetics stack? If a character were to purchase two +1 agility cybernetic arms, would their agility be increased by 2? What if it were an arm and a leg? Do +1 brawn cybernetics -also- increase the number of cybernetics capable of being implanted on a character? If so, then they're essentially "free" cybernetics -- character starts at 2 brawn, 2 cybernetics available. Add 1 brawn from cybernetics, now brawn 3 with 1 implant, 2 cybernetics available.

Answered By Sam Stewart :

Bonuses from multiple cybernetics do stack, to the maximum bonus of 7 for characteristics, and 6 for skills. +1 brawn cybernetics also increase your cybernetics cap.

Question asked by Bishop69 :

I'm looking for some clarification on cyberware. In an earlier 'question to the developers', you stated that "multiple cybernetics DO stack, to the maximum bonus of 7 for characteristics and 6 for skills." However, in the EotE Core Rulebook, under cyberarms, it states the following: "If a character replaces both arms with cybernetic enhancements, he must use the same model, as they are designed to work in tandem. However, the modifiers from both arms do not stack." Specifically - if a character expends two cybernetic slots to install two +1 Agility arms, does the character receive the bonus from both arms and increase Agility by +2? Thanks for the great game, and your answer.

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Cybernetics that have to be bought in tandem (or otherwise must be designed to work together to provide benefits) do not stack with themselves. However, they would stack with some other cybernetic that is entirely different, but provides the same mechanical bonus. So a cyberarm with +1 Brawn would not stack with another cyberarm, but it might stack with a cyber-heart that also provided +1 Brawn.

Follow-up Question asked by Bishop69 :

So, a pair of +1 Agility arms only nets a character +1 Agility, and per RAW, that character cannot install a +1 Agility Arm and a +1 Brawn arm.

But, +1 Agility Arm(s) DO stack with +1 Agility Legs. Is that right?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

That is correct.

Follow-up Question asked by Bishop69 :

What about the case of a droid who wants to install multiple arms - say a total of 4 (two pairs)?

Would you suggest capping the total Agility at +1, or allow two pairs of arms to provide a total Agility bonus of +2? or perhaps something else, equivalent to the Xexto Racial Bonus?

Given that this would chew up 4 of a droid's 6 cyber slots, it feels like they should get something back for the investment

Answered by Sam Stewart :

Hm, that one’s total house-rule territory, so nothing I say here would be in any way considered an “official ruling.” But if I was running the game, giving the droid the Xexto or Besalisk species bonus makes sense to me.

Follow-up Question asked by SEApocalypse :

What about using 4 blasters together or 4 lightsabers, is this just like dual wielding? (after all, 4 arms are natural for those who have them). Can you trigger 4 hits when you have a blaster in each hand and roll just enough advantages? General Grievous build with 4 light sabers confirmed? Pong Krell style fighting possible?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

There are no rules for quad-wielding specifically. However, you could extrapolate the rules for dual wielding out to handle 3 or 4 weapons. In that case, you would follow all of the same rules, but you would be able to trigger up to 4 hits total. This would be a house-rule, of course, and would therefore be subject to your GM’s approval. (It would also require 8 advantage to get all four of those hits).

Correllian Humans

Question asked by Blackbird888 :

Quick question regarding Corellian Humans found in Suns of Fortune: they start with a rank in Planetary Piloting or Space Piloting, and they have the ability to train Piloting to rank 3 during character creation. Can they train BOTH Piloting skills to rank 3, or only the one they choose to get a free rank in?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

The can train both ranks to rank 3.

Obligation
Question asked by 2P51 (Paraphrased) :
When taking on additional obligation during character creation, can the options only be purchased once? Or can you receive the same benefit multiple times.

Answered by Sam Stewart :
Yes, it means that you could take each of those options once. However, from a practical standpoint, you also cannot take more additional Obligation than your starting Obligation. If you refer to Table 2-2, you’ll see that the maximum total additional Obligation you could take is 20, and that’s only if there are two PCs in the game. So there is no scenario in which you could take +15 XP and +3500 credits.

Homestead

Question asked by Desslok :

Lets assume that the party has a business (in this case, a bar), and they've invested in the upgrade where they're actually turning a profit every month. Does the Entrepreneur talent +10% Wheel and Deal bonus have any effect on that monthly profit?

The player is selling, but its only in an abstract sort of way. It's a "This is how many drinks we sold over the month" instead of one "You can have this crate of blasters" transaction.

Answered by Sam Stewart:

That's a decision I would leave firmly in the hands of your GM, although if the amount of money isn't ludicrous (and I don't think it would be), I wouldn't have a problem with it at my table. It certainly makes sense that an Entrepreneur (or Trader) is good at selling things!

Master Merchant when purchasing a homestead

Question asked by Dakkar98 :

When you are purchasing a business or homestead using the rules presented in Far Horizons, can you use Master Merchant to reduce the 50,000 credit price by 25%? Can you use it to reduce the Obligation by 1?

Could you suffer 4 strain to both reduce the cost by 25% and the Obligation by 1?

Can you use it to reduce the cost of the upgrades? Can you use it to reduce the obligation gain of the upgrades?

If so, is the minimum Obligation gained 1 or 0?

For the homestead, I noted that you are limited to purchasing 3 of the 4 available security upgrades. Is there anything to stop someone from purchasing every security upgrade except the security droid, then going out and purchasing the security droid separately for it's 9600 price tag (7200 with a successful use of Master Merchant)?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

To the first part of your question; you would only be able to use Master Merchant once since the purchase of a Homestead is one purchase. Master Merchant may be triggered once per acquisition, so you could only suffer 2 strain to reduce the cost or the Obligation, but not both.

When you purchase upgrades, these are additional purchases, so the same rules apply. You can reduce the Obligation, or the cost for each upgrade, but not both.

And yes, you can find a security droid and purchase it, although finding it requires you to use all the usual rules for finding and buying something. Taking it as a homestead upgrade does not.

Followup Question asked by Dekkar98 :

Is there a minimum obligation increase when using Master Merchant to purchase an upgrade for a business or homestead?

Some of the upgrades for a homestead or business are x credits or +1 obligation (NPC Ally or Landing Bay for a homestead, and special orders or wholesale prices for a business).

For those upgrades can you only use Master Merchant to reduce the credit cost by 25%, or could you choose take on the obligation and use Master Merchant to reduce it to 0 or is it a minimum of +1 obligation?

Essentially, going the Obligation route could you use Master Merchant to convince someone that it is in their best interest to help your business or homestead, by applying x upgrade and have the obligation increase actually be +0?

Answered by Sam Stewart :

RAW, you could potentially reduce it to 0 Obligation. However, the GM would be perfectly within his rights to argue that you can’t take on no Obligation for those upgrades. After all, the +1 Obligation also represents the time and resources (and upkeep) you have to spend on the upgrades, not just the money.

So overall, I’d say it depends on your GM. If you come up with a good narrative reason for it, then it’s fine. But if the GM says “no” then I think he or she has a good basis for that.

Errata in future book printings

Question asked by Venthrac (Paraphrased) :

Will the latest printed copy of the Star Wars Roleplay game core rule books include any errata or rules clarification?

Answered by Sam Stewart:

We endeavor to include the most up to date errata in all subsequent printings of books, although obviously there is some lag time between beginning the publishing process and release. As long as the errata was released before we began reprinting, it should be included.

Combat Difficulty Design
Question asked by Josep Maria :
I understand that game is focused on cinematic style, thing that I enjoy so much. You should see my player and me every time we roll looking exited ot the dices waiting that the result tell us an awesome story XD Its and incredible sensation that we forgot long time ago. Mechanics isn't just only the way, with Edge is also the STORY! Sorry my question XD

I told you before, but I love the concept that a character gets incapacited/killed just with only 1-4 shots (generally). No more HP200 barbarians or elite soldiers with d12 XD

But also I have to say that hit% seems so high. I understand that every combat roll can be easily a movie scene about 1-3 minutes long, but hit% seems so high.

In general therms a "pseudo Boba Fett" can be hit easily by a pack of Storm Troopers because he only is a 2-3 Purples and above 2-3 Setbacks.

Force Sensitives can stand a bit more thanks to Sense Commit upgrades (that can be stacked?) but the difference doesn't seems so much higher.

I know that spending Strain with Dodges, Side Steps and other talents you can gain some upgrades. Also there is the armor/cover bonuses, but, in general therms (based on a forum sample XD) naked uncle Lars and naked pseudo Boba have the same defense. Get more than 2 Dodges is pretty difficult to achieve, so Boba would be (paying 2 Strain) 2 Reds instead 2 Purple. He would be hit but would get more Threats.

I'm seeking for some point of view to understand if there is any reason to this. Not a mechanical reason, a CONCEPT reason.
Mechanics are almost pretty clear (only there a are a few confusing things like the Commit one), but in generals therms is pretty clear,so, probably I need some designers concept point of view to interpretate that situations. I'm wrong?

Thanks again for all to your team and yourself, and please continue creating those awesome things.

Answered by Sam Stewart :
As far as your question goes, conceptually there were several reasons why we made combat values static numbers, although as you point out, there are quite a few mechanical reasons why we did so as well! However, as per your request, I won't delve too deeply into the mechanical reasons.

Conceptually, the dice system fits our vision of combat, because we see Critical Injuries as proper injuries, and wounds more as wear, tear, minor cuts, bruises, sore muscles, grazes, and minor burns. Basically, wounds are being battered, but Critical Injuries are the actual injuries that can put you on your back.

So by keeping the difficulty of combat checks simple, we acknowledge that it may not be too hard to get hit, but being hit isn't the same thing as being badly injured. Being hit more easily also creates interesting choices and combat dynamics. If a PC gets injured, the player has to decide whether to spend his next turn getting to cover, using a stim pack, or taking the riskier approach of continuing to fight and hoping to overcome his opponent.

Another conceptual reason is that we wanted basic combat rules to be simple and intuitive, while complexity would be added as PCs grew in ability. A PC's first combat will probably be fairly simple; allowing him to learn the basics of how to fight. Then, as he starts purchasing talents such as Dodge, Side Step, or Sixth Sense, he can introduce them to subsequent combats.

Q: Do missile tubes come preloaded with 6 missiles?

A: Yes, all the weapons come preloaded with ammo.

Q: How much do missiles cost? (Referring to buying reloads for the missile tubes.)

A: 100 to 200 credits, depending. The missiles should all be highly illegal, however.

Q: If a droid with cybernetic enhancements is hit with an ion weapon, do the cybernetics stop working as described on page 173? Or do they simply suffer the normal droid effects of such attacks?

A: Per the RAW, the cybernetic would stop working, as well as the other effects that the ion

weapon would have.

Q: How do jetpacks work exactly? Does a character flying a jetpack operate at the planetary scale for movement speed, or at the personal scale?

A: It depends on the situation. In personal combat a character moving via a jetpack will operate at personal scale. Because of the jetpack's great speed, in personal scale it might allow a character to get from extreme range all the way to short range in possibly one maneuver, if the GM thinks that makes sense. If that same jetpack-flying character is chasing a vehicle such as a speeder, however, then it might operate at planetary scale. It basically takes GM adjudication. No pilot check is necessary if the player is simply moving from point A to point B and there are no consequences for failure. A check might be warranted if there's terrain or other risks involved in flying the jetpack.

Q: Why does the weighted head attachment, which is the only attachment for bludgeoning weapons, require two hard points when none of the bludgeoning weapons in the book have any hard points?

A: Per Sam: "Some of the things we did in the book, we did... with forward compatibility in mind. Just because the attachment may not work with any of the weapons we have right now, that's definitely not going to be the case later on."

Q: The Inventor talent grants a benefit "When constructing new items...." Where can I find the rules for item construction? They don't appear to be in the core rulebook.

A: Basically, see previous answer. This is more forward-compatibility stuff.

Q: If I buy a rank in a non-career skill and it later becomes a career skill, do I get refunded the additional "out of career" cost I paid when I purchased that rank?

A: No, you do not get a refund. You are better off buying the specialization first and then putting ranks into its skills afterward.

Q: [insert question about whether the talent tree layouts, including specific link placements, have any errors, or is everything in the book as intended.]

A: The talent tree layouts you see in the core rulebook are all as intended. There are no layout errors or incorrectly-placed links. This includes the Slicer specialization tree.

Q: [insert question about whether a change from the final beta update to the release of the core rulebook was in error, or was intended, such as the change to the Twi'lek's starting wounds value .]

A: Where there are conflicts between the final beta update and the core rulebook, the core rulebook is correct in all such cases. Mentions of the Surveillance skill, however, are errors and not intended.

Q: Since initiative checks are Simple (i.e., no difficulty) skill checks, can Advantage and Triumph (or Threat and Despair, if the GM upgrades the check's difficulty somehow) generated by initiative checks be spent as normal?

A: Yes, but with the caveat that since Advantage is the tiebreaker for initiative, it's best to leave it as is. Triumph could be spent to maybe get the drop on someone or get in a free maneuver either before combat begins or during the first round.

Q: By rule, the benefit of the Aim maneuver is lost if the character takes damage. If a character voluntarily suffers strain to take an additional maneuver on his turn, would the strain loss count as damage that cancels the bonus from Aim?

A: When a character voluntarily suffers strain to take an additional maneuver, that is not considered "taking damage." Therefore the answer is no, this does not nullify the bonus for aiming.

Q: Can you hold an action in Edge of the Empire?

A: There is no rule as such for this. A character who wishes to act later should simply take a later slot in the initiative, but there is no rule for acting "just before" an enemy does something. The GM might call for an opposed roll in such a circumstance if he deems it appropriate, perhaps using Cool to resolve a pistol duel, for example.

Q: The rulebook states that different sources of defense don't stack. Is this referring to different sources of personal defense, such as multiple layers of armor, or to any sources of defense, such as armor and cover.

A: Unless a source of defense specifically states that it stacks with other sources of defense, then it does not stack. Armor and cover, for example, do not stack; a character can only benefit from one of these sources of defense at a time.