Hi All,

I am about to start my Edge of the Empire Campaign, and one of my players has come up with an excellent back story for his character which has posed a small problem.

The campaign is going to be set 2 years after Order 66 was issued. His character, who was once a Clone Commando, was part of a sect which found out about the "tumor" in each of the Clones (as per Clone Wars Series), and developed their own drug (highly addictive) which disables the tumor from "spreading". It was not until Order 66 was issued that his Squad realised what was going on, and started asking why they weren't affected. There were several squads who were part of this sect which, at the time Order 66 was issued, has been spread out across the galaxy (possibly at the behest of Palpatine who foresaw what was going on, and so minimised the risk). The commando Unit was discovered not following the Order and so was set upon by other Clones. The player character's squad also had a Jedi and their Padawan travelling with them at the time, and he was given orders to stay with her until they dealt with the problem. The squad was overwhelmed and player character and the Padawan fled, finding assistance in the form of a smuggler (one of the other PCs). A fire-fight ensues, and the group blast off.

The problem that I have is that Commando Armour is potent, and secondly there are no stats for them. I have taken that the stats are that of powered armour. However, that's 5000cr worth of gear which seems a little unfair compared to the rest of the team.

Could I just hand wave that (after all, I'm giving the Padawan her own lightsaber) and give a bonus to each character's starting credits? Have people tried this and found it too unbalancing?

Could I apply some type of penalty for the armour being damaged? Where are rules for using damaged armour?

Any offer of advice or assistance would be great.

Well one thing to do is give the others appropriate gear of similar value.

Does the padang have her lightsaber?

As mentioned above, yes she will be.

Well she has an item worth 10k. He has an item worth 5k. So he is 5k short ant everyone else is 10k short. In knight level play everyone gets 10k stuff and 150 after char gen. Which is what it sounds like you have going.

So my advice is give everybody 150 xp after character creation and 10k creds to spend or some items of equal value (for the smuggler it could be a ship with 10k creds worth of attachemments alredy installed.

Is the jedi travelling with the padawan another PC or not? He could be a mentor for her and the group, otherwise there can be some balance issue with the xp as the kinght is supposed to be more experienced than the padawan (or you could give him the same xp but ask him to go for a higher force rating, instead of saber skils?

I would say that the armor in laminate per the core rule book. The Stormtrooper armor is in that description.

Agreed, that should cover the clone armor well enough. Alsothe cloen commando could be given some tricked out weapons to offset the disparity with a lightsaber.

Add attachments to the armor, but need to pay and roll for upgrades to the attachments.

Katarn-class commando armour =Heavy battle armour with comm system, enhanced optics suite, superior armour customization, vacuum sealed, and built-in vibro-blade. Value 13 000 cr in equipment an attachments; 100 000 cr on black market.

DC-17m Interchangeable Weapon System =Blaster rifle with interchangeable marksman barrel with telescopic sight and grenade launcher. Can only be used as one system at a time. Maneuver to change for trained, Action for untrained. Value 4500 cr.

If you mean that the armor has the attachments alredy isntalled but you need to roll to install mods i agree.

As for paying, i'd give the armor is already worth of at least 8000 creds, leaving another 2000 for weapons and assorted stuff. In my view you give the player 10k worth of gear instead of the free money to spend. I think it's reasonable since the character is a very specific one , ie. Clone commando.

As for the armor my best estimate to resemble a movie clone commando armor is this:

Protector 1 combat armor with :

• Vacuum sealed
• Multi Band comlink
• Integrated targeting computer
• Prax Arm Vamblade

The total cost of the armor and the attachments is 8700 credits, leaving some for buying customized weapons.

I see that mouthy merc alredy beat me to the armor description. But my version is cheaper and affordable at start, even if slightly less powerful.

I'm always a fan of getting something you can afford and reflavor it until you get the thing you need.

Well kaose, my version of the clone armor is perfectly affordable for a Knight level starting character.

Also if you make some fluff about "losing" the sniper and grenade launcher attchments for the DC-17 rifle, you get a fully geared Clone Commando at start. And the rifle can be brought back to full versatility later.

I guess the other concern is that we have never actually played Edge of the Empire (although played many years of Star Wars D6, D20 and SAGA). This system is vastly different, and I don't want to overwhelm my players and course me as a GM.

I have played my first session last week. it's lots of fun but requires some imagination as you have to invent that advantages, thretas, triumphs and despair do. Also describing actions helps a lot to make the action feel more real and stisfaying for the players. The system is based on storytelling and describing actions more than rolls so if you and your players work to describe their actions and make them feel cinematic it will be ok. In short ask them to describe their actions as if they were seeing film scenes.

Here is a video of actual play, i hope it helps you get to know the system

I've watched (and met) the Dice Stormers - well some of them anyway. I've got a bit out of their games which has been helpful. I'm up to Episode 12 now of Order 66 which has been a god-send.

I've been GMing since 1987 when SW d6 came out and a very extensive SW Campaign (The Moon Swing Chronicles) for 7 years. More recently, I've been running Pathfinder. I always try to be as descriptive as possible, but the rules now just get in the way. EotE is my next foray into SW role playing, and I want to get it right.

Thanks for the suggestions thus far

Where is the Protector 1 armour from?

Or you could do what we did in our game. So I build my character's back story to include a astromech (since she cant fly the ship for crap) - and nobody thinks anything of it, because Star Wars. They're like swiss army knives - they're everywhere and everyone has one. Half way though the game, someone says - "wait, why do we have a droid? We cant afford bus fare?"

"Geeze - you're right" we all go. So we quickly came up with a way to remove the droid from the game until I can afford it and keep the narrative going - a stray blaster shot disabled it, and the extensive repairs will run several grand. Until then, he's off-line.

Couldnt something similar happen here? They get cornered on a world with the Imperials closing in. They have to go undercover to escape - but the armor clearly marks him as an enemy, so he has to ditch it. Later, when the characters are more solvent, he finds a mint on card set at a pawn shop (or something) and can pick it up.

If you mean that the armor has the attachments alredy isntalled but you need to roll to install mods i agree.

As for paying, i'd give the armor is already worth of at least 8000 creds, leaving another 2000 for weapons and assorted stuff. In my view you give the player 10k worth of gear instead of the free money to spend. I think it's reasonable since the character is a very specific one , ie. Clone commando.

As for the armor my best estimate to resemble a movie clone commando armor is this:

Protector 1 combat armor with :

• Vacuum sealed
• Multi Band comlink
• Integrated targeting computer
• Prax Arm Vamblade

The total cost of the armor and the attachments is 8700 credits, leaving some for buying customized weapons.

I see that mouthy merc alredy beat me to the armor description. But my version is cheaper and affordable at start, even if slightly less powerful.

I can agree with this or the Heavy Battle Armor to a point. What is the era that the OP is playing in? Would it make sense that if it around the time of 1 BBY that the Laminate Armor Modified with what you have listed above due to Clone Commando Armor being termed as obsolete or the Empire saying we like this armor and we are going to issue to all stormtroopers? To me Clone Commando Armor is in the past and stormtrooper armor would be the equivalent hence my statement.

As far as attachments are concerned. Thats what it is an attachment, I can by a comm unit and attach it to my armor, to modify the attachment, I need to collect the items to modify it and the credits and make my ability roll.

Not trying to cause problems, when it comes down to it this is a roll playing game and if the GM approves then ok. It fits

The Protector 1 armor comes from Dangerous Covenant (as are the other attachements), it's a heavy battle armor that costs 5500 credits has 4 encumbrace and 3 hard points. If it's easier, you can use the normal heavy battle armor, it is good enough.

I have a suggestion for the smuggler's ship: YT-1300 with High Output Ion Engine, Reinforced shield generator and smuggling compartment. It totals at 10300 credits and uses 4 out of 6 hard points.

This way both the commando and the smuggler have been given equal amount of gear to the padawan's lightsaber.

Who else is in your group?

Osprey, from what i understood the camapaing is set 2 years after order 66, so it should be 17 BBY, and so the clone troopers are still in service a form the new Imperial Army. So recreating the Clone Commando armor is ok for me.

I chose the heavy battle armor, beacuse reading the Katarn Armor entry on Wookieepedia i guessed that the commandos have a better version that infantry clones. Normal infantry clones wear laminate armor, i believe.

All the stuff i added to the armor are attachments. To add mods of course the player would ahve to follow the rules: pay and roll.

Lareg, I can agree with what you are saying, I am in the same situation almost as the OP where the rest of the party are playing Knight Level and it was suggested to me to up grade my armor and weapons and stuff with bonus cash. That's why I put what i put in the last sentence of my post.

I do agree that heavy battle armor fits the description of the Kartarn armor. But then again FFG website states "Set just after the destruction of the first Death Star, the Edge of the Empire Roleplaying Game focuses on the grim and gritty portions of the Star Wars universe. Characters exist in places where morality is gray and nothing is certain, and the game’s focus is on those that live on the fringes of both the galaxy and its society." Also when reading the book "Order 66" towards the end when the 2 clone squads get separated it says the ones that end up forced with the 501st are changing their armor.

I am not nor will I ever argue the fact that it is the player's choice and the GM's approval.

see

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/113770-eote-recruitment-friday-evenings-7-10pm-mst-7gmt-google-hangouts/

I'd say give the commando and the other characters more starting credits offset by their Obligation from the Empire hunting them. The extra credits can be put towards whatever armor build the player feels would define an elite clone trooper.

My suggestion for a clone trooper would be laminate armor with modifications from that extra credits. The superior quality is one I'd certainly suggest.

Well Midnight, if the game starts at Knight-Level, as it seems by the padawan having her own lightsaber, the 10k credits to the other players are mandated by the dveloper's suggestions. Obligation has no impact on it, but yo ucan certainly use it to add even more credits.

Personally i think that a basic lightsaber is a rather balanced weapon as starting weapon, compared to normal blasters, so i don't see it as a gamechanger even in a starting level campaign, but i can guess the other player could get hung up on the 9300 credits price of it. In other words imo the game works fine even giving a starting player a basic lightsaber.

Osprey i see your problem, but imo you can avoid the rolls by simply buying the attchments , by RAW you roll only when trying to install mods into an attachments, but the attachment requires no roll, it's plug and play.

As for the setting, i imagine it's easy to adapt it to a slightly earlier era, and the dark times are similar enough to the post battle of Yavin setting, actually since the Empire has not yet solidified his hold on the outer rim and the ex sepratists locations, it would be much easier to stage a campaign in, rather then say, the Rebels timeline.

As for the clone armors, those clones in the book were they infantry clones or full clone commandos? the Clone Commando's armor was different from normal infantry armor,

In any case i think that a Laminate Armor with Superior customization wouldn't be that inferior to Battle Armor, so it works either way.

Lareg, I thought I was answering a question about the attachment vs mods, so I think you and I agree about that fully.

As far as the commandos for the "Order 66" book, it was the Republic Commando book series based of off the old "Republic Commando" game that is EU and was out well before the TCW. The description given about the mods by the poster that posted about the armor is exactly how the armor was set up in the game and in the books. The game features Delta Squad and the books feature Delta, and Omega Squads and a squad of Null-ARC. Omega Squad, and the Null-ARCS were trained by Kal Skirata, and Delta trained by Walon Vau. All of this is why I asked what era the OP was playing in.

TCW tv show came out about the time the 5th book came out and there was supposed a 6th book coming out but Karen Traviss had a disagreement about the TCW versus her books and refused to write the 6th book. Its a shame really, cause the books were really good (probably my favorite) so if you could find them I would read them if I were you.

I want to correct myself, originally I stated that the armor change was in "Order 66" but was in fact the 5th book titled "Imperial Commandos: 501st"

The link to the game description:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Star_Wars:_Republic_Commando

The link to the books:

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Republic_Commando_series

Thanks for anwering, i never read any of those books so i didn't know anything, beside wookiepeedia.