Help folks,

I think i have been doing minion shooting wrong.

in this example , i have 4 storm troopers.

Storm troopers base stat in Range Heavy is 3 Green because of agility(CRB404).

So when using them in a group of 4

Does this mean now they have 3 ranks in Range heavy so i am rolling 3 Yellow???

Yep, every extra minion after the first, adds a Rank if its a group skill.

So, is attribute, Agility in this case 3, and there are 4 troopers (1+3 additional ones) the result would be 3 Proficency dices. Not sure if I explained it properly.

The reason i ask is i did this with two minion groups of Storm troopers last week, and literally mopped up my party.

At first i thought i was doing it like above , then i started to second guess myself because i critted two players in a row with Triumphs, but.. wow.. thats really dangerous.

the combat was at close and medium range...the stuff below were the average pools not counting incidental Boost and setback awards. K's are environment and cover.

(k=black)

So close was YYYPKK

Med was YYYPPKK

I hit more thank half the time, was i lucky or was a pair minion groups of 4 (8 total) troopers to much for a party of 4??

YYY is a pretty decent dice pool, so it's no surprise. If your players are low XP it's worth it to use smaller minion groups. Two groups of 2 means a dice pool of YGG...yes, you get an extra shot, but you lower the chances of Triumphs and Advantages that can be used to crit.

Here the short version that I've got with Sam S:

- Use not so more than 3 minions per pack.

Even with "just" 3 minions, numbers and % to hit are pretty high. In Edge uses to be easy to impact, but, remember that the last track of the Wounds doesn't mean "death" (probably captured or mission failed yes) but you are not dead.

Criticals are the true danger here, so, if want to prevent your players from "insta-kill" (only your grace and some talents like the one from the Medic) can stop or prevent that.

Difficulty dices have lower chances than Positive ones (only Difficulty wins Ability about Advantage vs Threat) and also difficulties uses to be lower than skill pools.

A basic minion would have between 2 and 3 to Agility. Usual combat range that we se in movies/series is Difficulty 1 or 2. Cover can add 1 extra Setback and Armors can help a bit. Also some maneuvers but remember that some values doesn't stack (The difference between "Add and Gain" on Defense).

Also to positive you can also add Boosts from aim and from a Leader ability like the ST Lieutenant. Even if you don't use all those "positive benefits", 3 Green dices stills win (or use to based on %) 2 Purple. Even 2 Green still beat up 2 Purple. http://maxmahem.net/wp/star-wars-edge-of-the-empire-die-probabilities/

Final conclusions:

- Stupid minions with no tactics.

- Groups no bigger than 3

- PC's should Cover or use some armor.

- Bring some Stimpacks

- No heavy weapons when its factible (thanks Braendig )

EotE is -very- weapon-centric at low XP values. If the enemies have a weapon with a base of 8 or 10 damage, they can easily drop non-combat starting players in one shot if they roll well. In two shots, they can drop almost anyone.

Storm Troopers aren't the issue, it's the weapon they're using. If you replace the weapons with blaster pistols, you'll be able to have the same number of troopers engage and make it a much more even (and interesting) fight than you would if they were armed with blaster rifles.

Conversely, once the party overwhelms those Storm Troopers and has the blaster rifles, now you're facing the other side of the coin in that the Storm Troopers are getting dropped left and right.

If you want to avoid situations like this, avoid Ranged (Heavy) weapons for the first few sessions (and stay away from Gunnery-based weapons for a good while).

I totally see that weapon dichotomy now.

As for the party they were mid 200's in XP.

I was not pulling any punches when it came to them as i know they waste other encounters. I did not figure a minion encounter would go so one sided.

As for the party they were mid 200's in XP.

Just a note on that, one of the difficulties in this game is that 200XP doesn't mean the same thing in every party. If the party goes for depth instead of breadth, they will excel in their chosen areas and suck in others. If they go for breadth it means they are decent at more areas, but don't excel in any. That can make scaling adventures much more difficult.

As for the party they were mid 200's in XP.

Just a note on that, one of the difficulties in this game is that 200XP doesn't mean the same thing in every party. If the party goes for depth instead of breadth, they will excel in their chosen areas and suck in others. If they go for breadth it means they are decent at more areas, but don't excel in any. That can make scaling adventures much more difficult.

Also, many of the defensive abilities (Side Step, Dodge, Defensive Stance, Toughness, Enduring, etc.) exist on combat-focused trees that, at 200xp, many non-combat-focused characters still don't have the XP to branch into even if they're interested in broadening their abilities rather than deepening them.

I totally see that weapon dichotomy now.

As for the party they were mid 200's in XP.

I was not pulling any punches when it came to them as i know they waste other encounters. I did not figure a minion encounter would go so one sided.

I would have expected a 200XP party to fair a little better if they had comparable equipment, but to be honest, I think it sounds about right. And no, don't pull your punches - they're being shot at by eight well-trained and disciplined soldiers with good quality imperial weaponry. I don't care what galaxy you're from, that's got to hurt.

Stormtroopers may go down fairly easily compared to our heroes, but you don't laugh once a good number of them start firing back. It's actually quite refreshing after Saga that it doesn't take 3,152 Stormtroopers to be a threat to higher level characters.

It's worth noting it's almost impossible to kill a PC with the first Crit. The fourth or fifth, however, it becomes a real threat.

If you find yourself rolling an inordinate number of triumphs/advantages, you can always spend them on other things. Destroying PC gear is always a fun option (and helps them "keep them hungry")

Edit:

Just in case anyones curious, twenty stormtroopers (five groups of 4) using thermal detonators to breach an entire wall of an apartment, than rushing in and blasting everything in the room will put criticals on nearly all the PCs and leave them with almost at wound threshold or over. In about a round. Even if the inquisitor is just watching.

I totally see that weapon dichotomy now.

As for the party they were mid 200's in XP.

I was not pulling any punches when it came to them as i know they waste other encounters. I did not figure a minion encounter would go so one sided.

The system can be misleading in regards to xp. As a general rule, if one gets into a shootout with two fire teams of well trained and equipped soldiers, then it behooves one to have some skills and gear of one's own.

My first character ever was given 200+ XP over character creation because I was joining a campaign in progress. The very first game, we finally see some combat. The leader of the adversaries picks my big hairy Wookiee head and takes a shot, except their guns were set to stun. Even with Soak, my Wookiee was unconscious after the first shot of the combat. 4-5 ranks of grit later and he fares a bit better .

It happens. It just depends on the circumstances. Non-combat PCs, even 300 XP in, are going to fare much differently than combat oriented PCs.

Your GM one-shot knocked you out on the first round of your first combat in your first time playing this system?

Hoo boy...

Your GM one-shot knocked you out on the first round of your first combat in your first time playing this system?

Hoo boy...

Your GM one-shot knocked you out on the first round of your first combat in your first time playing this system?

Hoo boy...

I don't think he realized A) His gun was going to do 13+ strain damage, and B) My Strain Threshold was 9. I'm pretty sure had the shot done 1 less damage, I would have still been up. I was able to loot the guy's body for a Vibro-Ax once the rest of the party took them down. I had been weaponless (I was a noob and spent my 500 starting credits on a general purpose scanner).

Ah..... Good times.