I would give droids automatic free focus actions.

They'd have to have really lousy stats before such a thing would be remotely balanced. I mean like 2 Hull, no shields, 2 attack and 1 evade lousy.

True, that's why I said "if anthing" i would give them free focus. What I mean to say is, I wouldn't eliminate for droids because they are focused, just by their nature, and because focus is hard wired into the design of the dice odds. Also you're right, free focus actions would mean their base stats would have to be low. I guess it could go the other way, give them higher base stats but remove the focus action, that might be more balanced. I'm more inclined to leave focus as is but give droids a way to mitigate stress. I just don't see a ship without a focus action being very good.

I would give droids automatic free focus actions.

They'd have to have really lousy stats before such a thing would be remotely balanced. I mean like 2 Hull, no shields, 2 attack and 1 evade lousy.

True, that's why I said "if anthing" i would give them free focus. What I mean to say is, I wouldn't eliminate for droids because they are focused, just by their nature, and because focus is hard wired into the design of the dice odds. Also you're right, free focus actions would mean their base stats would have to be low. I guess it could go the other way, give them higher base stats but remove the focus action, that might be more balanced. I'm more inclined to leave focus as is but give droids a way to mitigate stress. I just don't see a ship without a focus action being very good.

Well, that's really the point of droid ships in most of Star Wars fiction. They are NOT very good. They are cheap and numerous. They often even have good stats (good guns, good armor, good maneuverability), but are STILL not very good.

I wouldn't get hung up on the word "focus", because it can have a lot of different meanings. And the meaning in X-Wing is very much NOT what you are meaning when you say droids can "focus". In X-Wing "focus" is the ability to adapt and multi-task, putting off decisions until later at the expense of specialization. You may notice this is the exact opposite of the kind of focus droids and computers are good it, which is to say focusing on a single task to the exclusion of all else.

Evasion and Target Lock are both more "focused" actions than Focus. In real life one can "focus" on not getting too "focused". The word has lots of meanings. Some of them would apply well to droids. Some wouldn't.

Since in the game Focus means not focusing, I would argue that to represent a droids ability to focus and tendency to develop tunnel vision, they should not get a Focus action, because they are too focused to Focus.

Whelp, I've done it. I over used the word. The word focus no longer has any meaning in my brain and looks alien to me when I see it on the screen.

I guess it could go the other way, give them higher base stats but remove the focus action, that might be more balanced.

Which is exactly what I just said the idea of not giving droids the focus action is meant to represent

I would give droids automatic free focus actions.

They'd have to have really lousy stats before such a thing would be remotely balanced. I mean like 2 Hull, no shields, 2 attack and 1 evade lousy.

True, that's why I said "if anthing" i would give them free focus. What I mean to say is, I wouldn't eliminate for droids because they are focused, just by their nature, and because focus is hard wired into the design of the dice odds. Also you're right, free focus actions would mean their base stats would have to be low. I guess it could go the other way, give them higher base stats but remove the focus action, that might be more balanced. I'm more inclined to leave focus as is but give droids a way to mitigate stress. I just don't see a ship without a focus action being very good.

Well, that's really the point of droid ships in most of Star Wars fiction. They are NOT very good. They are cheap and numerous. They often even have good stats (good guns, good armor, good maneuverability), but are STILL not very good.

I wouldn't get hung up on the word "focus", because it can have a lot of different meanings. And the meaning in X-Wing is very much NOT what you are meaning when you say droids can "focus". In X-Wing "focus" is the ability to adapt and multi-task, putting off decisions until later at the expense of specialization. You may notice this is the exact opposite of the kind of focus droids and computers are good it, which is to say focusing on a single task to the exclusion of all else.

Evasion and Target Lock are both more "focused" actions than Focus. In real life one can "focus" on not getting too "focused". The word has lots of meanings. Some of them would apply well to droids. Some wouldn't.

Since in the game Focus means not focusing, I would argue that to represent a droids ability to focus and tendency to develop tunnel vision, they should not get a Focus action, because they are too focused to Focus.

Whelp, I've done it. I over used the word. The word focus no longer has any meaning in my brain and looks alien to me when I see it on the screen.

As for droids in star wars fiction, the only ones I'm familiar with are the Prequels/Clone Wars movies and cartoons, and IG-88. I could see the mass produced separatist droids being worse than human pilots, but something like IG88, one of the most feared and long-lived droids in the galaxy, should be as good or better than the humans its been hunting for years. These differences are best represented in base stats and pilot skill, rather than actions.

I would disagree on only the mechanical effect being what matters, not the way it's flavored. To me, and most people I think, flavor and representing flavor are hugely important in making a fun game. The flavor of the game enhances the rules and the enjoyment we get out of them beyond what the rules by themselves provide. Many games with excellent mechanics are lost by the wayside because their flavor is dull and uninspired, or doesn't match the rules. 40k is not popular because it has good mechanics, after all.

A huge reason I love this game is because it hits the flavor so well. It FEELS like the old X-Wing and Tie Fighter games I loved, and it FEELS like Star Wars. The Empire feels like the Empire, and the Rebellion feels like the rebellion. There have been many Star Wars games that were totally forgotten, and many of them were good, because the flavor was just a thin veneer instead of baked into the rules. It's a big reason I love the Edge of the Empire game as well. The rules are good, but more importantly, they make the game feel like Star Wars.

The ships in this game are not just a veneer. The tie feels like a tie, the bomber like a bomber. This is not just incidental. It's important to enhancing the game. Put the interceptor on a bombers base and the game is less fun, no matter how well it is done mechanically.

If droids were introduced to the game, I would want them to feel unique. You would want to strongly differentiate them. From a fluff perspective the differences are obvious: droid armies (not individuals) may be low quality or high quality. But they lack initiative, luck, and adaptability e.g. a range of intangible and difficult to quantify attributes. In my opinion this perfectly represented by the Focus action. Now, there very well may be other ways to differentiate them just as well. That's fine. I only content that removing focus from droids would be one way that I fell would work well and reflects the general fluff about droid armies in Star Wars.

I agree that there are unique pilots like IG-88 that are the match of experienced biological pilots, but we aren't really talking about an army of IG-88. Droids like "him" are exceptional, and should be represented as unique pilots with unique abilities and upgrade bars.

Does that mean he should have focus if he appears in the game? Not sure. Consistency could be nice and flavorful. Maybe he could have an ability that makes up the difference, so he still feels like a droid but is just as capable as other skilled pilots. On the other hand, I also wouldn't have a problem with just giving him the focus action to make him feel more competent and powerful.

Like I said, not saying it's the only or best way to represent droids. Just saying I think it works well, and personally I think it makes a lot of sense to not give focus actions to droids if you introduce droid pilots.

I guess it could go the other way, give them higher base stats but remove the focus action, that might be more balanced.

Which is exactly what I just said the idea of not giving droids the focus action is meant to represent

It really doesn't even matter, I doubt we'll see any other droids besides IG88, and I wouldn't bet on that happening anyway.

Well, we already know that Dash Rendars droid is going to be a pilot for the 2400.

I would disagree on only the mechanical effect being what matters, not the way it's flavored. To me, and most people I think, flavor and representing flavor are hugely important in making a fun game. The flavor of the game enhances the rules and the enjoyment we get out of them beyond what the rules by themselves provide. Many games with excellent mechanics are lost by the wayside because their flavor is dull and uninspired, or doesn't match the rules. 40k is not popular because it has good mechanics, after all.

A huge reason I love this game is because it hits the flavor so well. It FEELS like the old X-Wing and Tie Fighter games I loved, and it FEELS like Star Wars. The Empire feels like the Empire, and the Rebellion feels like the rebellion. There have been many Star Wars games that were totally forgotten, and many of them were good, because the flavor was just a thin veneer instead of baked into the rules. It's a big reason I love the Edge of the Empire game as well. The rules are good, but more importantly, they make the game feel like Star Wars.

The ships in this game are not just a veneer. The tie feels like a tie, the bomber like a bomber. This is not just incidental. It's important to enhancing the game. Put the interceptor on a bombers base and the game is less fun, no matter how well it is done mechanically.

If droids were introduced to the game, I would want them to feel unique. You would want to strongly differentiate them. From a fluff perspective the differences are obvious: droid armies (not individuals) may be low quality or high quality. But they lack initiative, luck, and adaptability e.g. a range of intangible and difficult to quantify attributes. In my opinion this perfectly represented by the Focus action. Now, there very well may be other ways to differentiate them just as well. That's fine. I only content that removing focus from droids would be one way that I fell would work well and reflects the general fluff about droid armies in Star Wars.

I agree that there are unique pilots like IG-88 that are the match of experienced biological pilots, but we aren't really talking about an army of IG-88. Droids like "him" are exceptional, and should be represented as unique pilots with unique abilities and upgrade bars.

Does that mean he should have focus if he appears in the game? Not sure. Consistency could be nice and flavorful. Maybe he could have an ability that makes up the difference, so he still feels like a droid but is just as capable as other skilled pilots. On the other hand, I also wouldn't have a problem with just giving him the focus action to make him feel more competent and powerful.

Like I said, not saying it's the only or best way to represent droids. Just saying I think it works well, and personally I think it makes a lot of sense to not give focus actions to droids if you introduce droid pilots.

Well, we already know that Dash Rendars droid is going to be a pilot for the 2400.

We do?

This is actually two questions:

Is Focus to powerfull point-wise?

Is Focus boring because it used too often?

The first question is a no!

According to my simulation program the cost for a modification that gives you the Focus action, when you already have a two or three other actions on your action bar should be around 3-4 points, depending on the Agility of the ship lacking this action. (No ship types at the moment, but I can simulate the lack of it.) That means that it is a powerful ability, but not OP. Especially since every shiptype has it already.

The second questions is a yes. It is a go-to action when in doubt, and you lose very little efficiency if you use it exclusively (even though you have other actions on your action bar). Since it is so versatile it is a little boring. But then again some calculations as to how and when you should spend the Focus Token can be pretty tricky. So I give kudos to the design team for creating a filler action and then make offensive and defensive actions that are only slightly better if used properly.

My guess is that there are alot of people out there that use the Focus tokens unwisely. Especially if they use alot of ships with high PS. :-)

Modification (cost 2-4?): When taking an Evade action, increase your Agility by 1 when attacked at range 2. (Small ships only)

How about this:

Modification 3 points: When taking an Evade action, you may recieve 1 stress token to assign a second Evade token to your ship.

It's simmilar to recon specialist in cost and function, but has the negative addition of stress to balance its guaranteed evade against recon spec's chance of evade.

Focus is just fine as it is. Yes it can be used for defense, but is more effectively used for offence. The reason I say this is because you may only spend your focus once. You may end up defending against multiple attacks, but will only attack once per turn. Focus is also not a sure thing. Whether defending or attacking focus is not a sure thing. You may not roll a focus result in which case it won't do anything.

Modification (cost 2-4?): When taking an Evade action, increase your Agility by 1 when attacked at range 2. (Small ships only)

How about this:

Modification 3 points: When taking an Evade action, you may recieve 1 stress token to assign a second Evade token to your ship.

It's simmilar to recon specialist in cost and function, but has the negative addition of stress to balance its guaranteed evade against recon spec's chance of evade.

I think that might be too powerful. Going 1 vs. 1 against a ship with this capability would be near impossible to defeat. A ship with Gunner might have a chance but even then it would be a steep uphill battle.

Yes it would be very strong in a 1v1 exchange but under focused fire from more ships it would fail.

I'm fine with how the basic actions work actually. I'd rather add a way to reroll defense dice how TL works for attack.

Chris R that statement is just wrong. Focus should be mostly spent on defense if your agility and attack are equal or agility is higher. If your attack is higher it might be better spent on offence, but usually only if you get more than one eye or you are pretty sure this ship will not be the target of several attacks.

Your argument that there is only one attack and more defense rolls and that should make the attack more important is backwards. You want to make sure your focus is spent, and spent well. On defense you know what you need to roll and if you are the target of focused fire you will get to roll until you can use it. On offence one eye might not be worth it, two probably, three always. The best of both worlds are a low PS, so you can see if you need it on defence first, if not you still have it for your own attack.

Chris R thait ia st statement is just wrong. Focus should be mostly spent on defense if your agility and attack are equal or agility is higher. If your attack is higher it might be better spent on offence, but usually only if you get more than one eye or you are pretty sure this ship will not be the target of several attacks.

Your argument that there is only one attack and more defense rolls and that should make the attack more important is backwards. You want to make sure your focus is spent, and spent well. On defense you know what you need to roll and if you are the target of focused fire you will get to roll until you can use it. On offence one eye might not be worth it, two probably, three always. The best of both worlds are a low PS, so you can see if you need it on defence first, if not you still have it for your own attack.

1. When using Focus defensively, you will know the exact results it will achive. When used for offense it is still at the mercy of the unknown defense dice. This means there is a possibility of wasting the Focus token if your opponent rolls well.

2. Since offensive dice have more hits, the eyes account 33.33% of the hits. Focus' used on defense account for 40.00% of the evades. Ultimatly to me, this means Focus' on defense are a little more valuable than offense.

However, we all do know that X-wing can be highly situational. And there are certainly plenty of times that the gamble of using an offensive Focus is worth it. But, as a general rule in life I believe it is usually better to know what you are getting before you pay or invest for it.