What are droids Power sources? How long do they last? How often do they require recharging?

I know C-3PO spoke of recharing in the movies at least once or twice... and Luke Plugged R2 in to recharge on Degobah?

It's a plot point, probably when they exceed their strain threshold.

Before our game even started, my droid player and I established that he has to be charged on a regular basis. For now, the party has not been without their ship, and we've been saying that each night, while everyone else sleeps, the droid charges up for a few hours. This is also time where the droid's internal maintenance and repair cycle is able to run at full capacity.

When the time comes, I would probably allow the droid to go two days without a charge - possibly a bit longer if he is very conservative with power usage. No heavy lifting, no long distance running, etc.

My assumption is that droids are probably designed to go no more than two days at normal usage for their intended use, but that's complete battery drain at that point.

As for recharging off the ship, I would think that there might be quick-charge stations scattered around in major cities, deposit credits & get power. While not completely ubiquitous, I would think that every town with a spaceport would have at least one.

I would also allow my droid player to recharge with something like a fusion lantern, although perhaps it would take a bit longer than normal.

Also, what Richardbuxton said. If the droid needs to run out of power for plot reasons, they run out of power. Or it's interrupted in some way. Losing power can be a great way to explain "losing consciousness" when exceeding strain threshold.

I consider droid power to be the equivalent of a biological eating and drinking. Use starvation rules if there is no power available, start treating it as starvation.

So Droid's, in the the star wars Galaxy, batteries are about as effective as Droid batteries here in RL :-) that works for me :-)

Doesn't Luke charge R2 on Degoba from a lantern?

I think in a game like this it makes sense to liken it to sleep, say a droid can go 24 hours at full power and after that goes into "low power mode" (i.e. akin to tired from lack of sleep). Whatever penalties you would apply to a normal PC would apply, maybe a Black Die to all checks until rested/recharged, with more black dice added the longer they stay awake/on? It's never come up in my games so this is off-the-top-of-my-head thinking.

Charging ports are probably fairly ubiquitous, anywhere that you might expect to charge your phone in real life could charge your Droid? So some Cantinas maybe but not all, but definitely in their base or hotels or whatever.

I believe that the EOTE core book entry for Fusion Lanterns explicitly mentions that charging droids is one of it's additional features. I'm AFB at the moment.

Was also watching Clone wars last night with my daughter, and in one episode, General Grievous of some one else kept marching his droids until they were all running out of power.

They get their energy from the power of SCIENCE.

They get their energy from the power of SCIENCE.

Hears Oingo Boingo in the back ground.

Use starvation rules if there is no power available, start treating it as starvation.

I'm curious. Where are the starvation rules? If not, that would be some pretty cool home-brew.

Also so I'm not hijacking the thread. Cheaply made droids have cheaply made batteries. The better the droid, the fewer times it has to charge.

This explains why battle droids need to recharge often.

Use starvation rules if there is no power available, start treating it as starvation.

I'm curious. Where are the starvation rules? If not, that would be some pretty cool home-brew.

There are not explicit rules for starvation, but check the Resilience skill. It covers lack of sleep, dehydration and starvation. Maybe set it up as:

Check every day for starvation/failure to charge

0 purple for 1 day without charging/food

Upgrade difficulty every day beyond first

Upgrade again for each full day of labor (including walking)

Add black for short, intense activity (such as combat)

Add black for harsh environments

Add blue for regular rest periods

Threat generates 1 strain (not healed without charging/eating)

Despair generates 1 wound

They get their energy from the power of SCIENCE.

Hears Oingo Boingo in the back ground.

I heard Thomas Dolby in my subconscious soundtrack.

I believe that the EOTE core book entry for Fusion Lanterns explicitly mentions that charging droids is one of it's additional features. I'm AFB at the moment.

It's also possible to build that fusion lantern into the Droid so it can potentially recharge itself indefinitely.

I believe that the EOTE core book entry for Fusion Lanterns explicitly mentions that charging droids is one of it's additional features. I'm AFB at the moment.

It's also possible to build that fusion lantern into the Droid so it can potentially recharge itself indefinitely.

And what an added bonus when a horrible crit is rolled against that fusion-powered droid!

And what an added bonus when a horrible crit is rolled against that fusion-powered droid!

What if the droid decides to commit suicide? Or maybe gets a Deity complex?

Let there be light?

I believe that the EOTE core book entry for Fusion Lanterns explicitly mentions that charging droids is one of it's additional features. I'm AFB at the moment.

It's also possible to build that fusion lantern into the Droid so it can potentially recharge itself indefinitely.

And what an added bonus when a horrible crit is rolled against that fusion-powered droid!

Fusion does not work that way.

I believe that the EOTE core book entry for Fusion Lanterns explicitly mentions that charging droids is one of it's additional features. I'm AFB at the moment.

It's also possible to build that fusion lantern into the Droid so it can potentially recharge itself indefinitely.

And what an added bonus when a horrible crit is rolled against that fusion-powered droid!

Fusion does not work that way.

Some people do not know this difference between Nuclear Fisson and Fusion ... as in Cold Fusion.

Fusion does not work that way.

Neither do space aeroplanes, death star lasers, plasma swords, blas...I can't believe we're having a pedantic discussion about space opera science. Since the reaction "rapidly ceases" but does not "immediately cease" I would imagine it would be fair to rule it however I see fit for my story - perhaps it's not a radioactive explosion, but a glorious boiling coolant explosion. If you're the dude standing next to the droid, you're not going to get hung up in semantics.

(I do know the difference between fusion and fission, and of course cold fusion. I did learn that fusion is considered considerably more safe, though, thanks. When I think of fusion, I think of our friendly neighborhood star. )

I treat Power Droids as walking batteries. They recharge droids, tools, and power packs with their internal fusion power source.

I guess I didn't really stress power on my droid players and assumed they would be able to power up just as easily as the meatbags went to the bathroom and ate. It would be a fun survival scene though.

Fusion does not work that way.

Neither do space aeroplanes, death star lasers, plasma swords, blas...I can't believe we're having a pedantic discussion about space opera science. Since the reaction "rapidly ceases" but does not "immediately cease" I would imagine it would be fair to rule it however I see fit for my story - perhaps it's not a radioactive explosion, but a glorious boiling coolant explosion. If you're the dude standing next to the droid, you're not going to get hung up in semantics.

(I do know the difference between fusion and fission, and of course cold fusion. I did learn that fusion is considered considerably more safe, though, thanks. When I think of fusion, I think of our friendly neighborhood star. )

To be fair, while "Star Wars" throws out more real science than it keeps it doesn't throw it all out and knowing the difference can be a valuable tool for an RPG group.

I don't think any of my players, even the one working on a masters in engineering, is going to throw a fit that the fusion lantern went boom instead of fizzle. Yes I do like my Star Wars as sciency as the next guy, but fun trumps realism. Then add this is future technology so who knows what might go boom in a "fusion lantern".

Droids pay 55-points for being a Droid. Part of this (~10-points) is not having to eat. Making Droids eat just screws them over more than they already are.

I would say that Droids need to get power, but at a much different scale than organics. Perhaps on the weeks or months scale, rather than daily. Any Droid would power up given the chance as often they have nothing better to do. Perhaps they power down while running maintenance programs, and may as well charge up at the same time.

You could go for Saga's rules. Every 100 hours in game you need to shut down and recharge. In my game, I usually hand wave these sorts of things.