We have this slicer in our group. She's well adjusted, the character is usually fun to be around and her player is also great. This is neat of course. Yet no one, not even herself really knows what to do with her during combat. Let me give you a rundown:

She's a Slicer, ridiculously proficient in her craft, a somewhat cynical hacker chick that tends to stay away from people she doesn't know. Not a psycho, not a killer, more of a specialist. Nothin too weird. What I'm really trying to ask is: how could she be utilized more effectively during combat? Of course there is the prominent "You need to escape but the doors are locked; protect her"- scenario. Also you could always have her close a door herself, turn on the fire extinguishers or whatever. It feels kind of uninspired at this point. Also what if you're in a forest?

How do you guys utilize your slicers in combat? If she is shooting, she's taking cheap shots from behind cover for now, but that's not doing too much good to be honest. I've talked to her about drones in a somewhat 'Shadowdrun'-inspired fashion once, but she didn't really show much interest. Not that there is no future to that idea.

Often times she'll just hide, which isn't supid, but she'll probably get tired of that after a while.

The point is: What could the group do to help her be more effective/creative, for her own and others sake. I like her and don't want her to get bored and abandon the character. We had good PC-interaction focussed sessions, but combat comes up again and again of course.

As always I realize that there are combat centered characters as well as those that excell outside of it. That is absolutely fine. I'm not asking you to rewrite this character (as it isn't even mine). I ask you to help me being able to help her.

Up to now she's not really distraught about her virtual focus. Hell, she does not even seem to be openly concerned about this. Of course I don't want to invent an issue. I just want to be able to suggest some things if she'd ever come to that conclusion.

BTW: She's skilling to be proficient in Artillery, which has helped in those rare situations (up to now) we've been in space. Could she use that through drones? Are there even drones within the system? I don't even know.

If she's got a good intellect giver her the medic duties. Get some Mechanics skill ranks and mod a gun to the point where she can be more effective. She has to take the steps though.

I've found an accurate gun and a point or two in the skill for the gun was usally enough hit most things.

Maybe i'm just more willing point blank people than others.

High int? Use knowledge to freak out or hit nerves when talking to enemies, lay them out with strain!

Does she have deception? Bluff and say they are surounded or make them run away...

Computers? Hack into droids or vehicles, activate old restraining bolts, set off alarms, destroy enemy comms, have enemy comms deliver high pitch noises or false messages.

Edit: or include challenges for her skill set in your combat encounters. But first of all, I`d let her be creative and find ways to contribute without using combat skills.

You don`t have to fight to be useful in a fight!

First options that pop into mind:

Assist others to add boosts dice.

Take a page from shadowrun and stay safe in the ship while using remote controlled droids to acompany the team.

Take a specailty and learn to shoot.

Take a soecialty and learn to heal people.

If she has gunnery, get her a Sidewinder. Then you'll hate her in combat as much or more than the rest of the party.

Now and again there could be some equipment that could assist, but the players are locked out. Environment controls on a ship. Cranes and conveyors in a factory. How about opening that door you know the one that is blocking the players escape?

Ask her to make a perception test as her first action in combat, then depending on the dice results give her something or not.

Hopefully at some point you can start to inject little opportunities for her to leverage. Not every time, that it becomes a foregone conclusion, but often enough that she isn't left out taking pot shots every game.

"You enter a work shop, there are large steel beams forming the ceiling, and these have a lifter that can run around the room. There are many machines on the floor, their purpose unknown to you. Robotic arms lie idle at the moment. To the left of the room you see a steel ladder that goes up to a gantry, it looks like there are control units for the lifter and robots. About 40m away are some of the "bad guys" and they are talking between themselves. I would consider them at Medium range at the moment, they haven't discovered you and continue talking. Between the robots and machines you have plenty of cover."

Have a character like this in my group. A bothan that is far more interested in learning (an archaeologist)... particularly secrets of the "Censored by the Empire" variety. He has a very low Brawn, no combat skills to speak of... and was very aware of what this might mean in combat. There have been a few where he's hidden until he can be Gunga Din, essentially - with stimpacks rather than water, usually.

When he can make himself useful, its usually with some sort of technical help... flying a remote over the scene to provide overwatch is typical. Even in starship combat, he's typically a support character - co-piloting, astrogating, playing secondary mechanic... but he's having fun so I'm not complaining and neither is he.

I think, if your player chose to play this kind of character, she's probably having fun with it even if it means not being a big participant in combat scenes. You don't mention whether or not you've talked to the player. You might be assuming there's a problem when, from her perspective, things are proceeding just as she imagined them. She may be content knowing tat she slices and when she can slice, the focus is on her abilities so she's willingly handing over all potential spotlight time to her (ic and rl) companions during combat. If you start nudging her to be more effective in combat, you might actually be causing a problem if you don't discuss it with her first.

You don't mention the player's gaming experience. If she's a new player, she might not have known what to expect. Then again, if she's got some experience playing RPG's, then I'd expect that there's no problem here at all... but just telling her your concerns might be reassuring, too. I know I wouldn't mind my GM asking me to reassure him that I was having a good time with the choices I've made for my character.... if I wasn't the Forever GM and I actually got to play a PC from time to time, that is.

The best way to do this is to pick a weapon she likes and put a point or two into it's skill. That's all you need.

If for whatever this is something the player is just not willing to commit to (because reasons), there is some specialized comm gear in the books, specifically a jammer and some other things I can't think of off hand. Regardless, if the enemy is using helmet comms (like Stromtroopers) monkey their comms till their ears are bleeding. Try fighting while that's happening.

And if she's using Gunnery, vehicle mounted weapons are freaking evil.

plenty of good advice here already.

the more high tech-stuff enemies use, the more useful a skilled and imaginative slicer would be. the example of jamming coms to hurt enemies is a good idea of how that might work. so if you want to make her more prominent in combat, you might want to add more high tech baddies. generally think about including options for her character in fight scenes. there have been some good examples already, like cranes or conveyors that she might take control of to help the party or confuse/hurt enemies.

if she is already putting xp into using artillery - why not simply give her some? gunnery is not only for space combat.

a smart character could gather intel on the enemies or the battlefield, assisting the other members of the group. on a basic level this would be only fluff, a little roleplaying and the assist bonus, but you could let the additional options for crewmembers in space-combat inspire you. most of those could be used for "mundane" battles as well, if she has the right equipment (and lets be honest, a skilled slicer will have topnotch gear. ).

healing has been mentioned and with high int she could easily make a good medic, something every party needs.

Here are some of the things that have happened in my campaign for non-combat PCs when the fighting begins:

• Hacking into security turrets and turning them onto the enemy.
• Engaging in a battle of wits with an enemy hacker for control of the base mainframe.
• Hacking into life support and affecting temperature and/or gravity in the PCs favor.
• Spoofing the sound of an aquatic predator to scare a big fish away ("there's always a bigger fish!").
• Hacking into a loader droid and converting Computer Skill into Brawl Skill while in control of the droid.
• Smashing through communication jamming to call in nearby allies gained through previous missions ("send in the cavalry!").
• Hacking into the control center and splitting the enemy forces by shutting blast doors in their way as they try to converge on the party.
• Controlling a giant mechanical arm in an engineering bay to grab a friendly NPC from a much stronger Big Bad.

There are tons of possibilities ! Have some ready beforehand, but also brainstorm with your player during the encounter. Encourage creative solutions, and she'll start coming up with her own before long.

Up to now she's not really distraught about her virtual focus. Hell, she does not even seem to be openly concerned about this.

If she's not concerned then I'd second the notion of the Accurate gun, maybe modded with gear that gives even more accuracy mods. A player in my campaign is in a similar boat...but even with Agility 2 and no skill ranks, an accurate blaster with two maneuvers of Aim hits most of the time. It helps that he's the face though, as Improved Inspiring Rhetoric can be pretty potent. Is she interested in a Leadership role?

If you wanted to emphasize it, maybe make it part of the game. Have them in a situation where they can't get hired or do a job unless they're all up to a certain capability. Maybe let the job "dangle" out there until they meet the requirements...but don't just focus on combat, maybe include some other aspects like stealth, knowledge, etc. Then offer the Recruit spec for "free" (giving the other players something equivalent) to train up for it.

Listen to the List Strikes back episode of the Order 66 Podcast. I would tell you what is in it... But I never Listen.

There are a lot of good ideas in here. Thanks!

I'll definitely use some of these if she'll ever ask. Not enitrely shure what her character progress is going to entail, so maybe she has already planned something.

I did talk to her about combat once (when I mentioned drone-like options) but there wasn't much of a response. I'm really not trying to force her to do anything. Just don't want her to sit in cover for an hour while the rest of use burn the place down. But with a couple of these options she won't have to of course.

I'm a bit confused about the boost dice: Imagine her being in cover in let's say middle distance to the next PC. How could she add dice? Encouragement? That feels kind of a handwave solution though..

I mainly ask about the whole ordeal because other players mentioned that we "should all think about what our options in combat are." That out of context does sound kind of mean and like it wants to force a change but it really wasn't meant that way, they just don't want her to get bored either. Social dynamics within the group are pretty good in real life, those guys have been playing other stuff together for quite a while and I just joined trough two of them for EotE.

She sometimes thinks about her actions for a long time and then just.. stays in cover. This is of course partly the GM's responsibility; he could give her more stuff to play with and I'll tell him about some of these suggestions (I may should have mentioned that I'm not the GM right now).

I'm not much of an experienced player. Did this and that with D&D and Pathfinder, but nothing similiar to Star Wars. Dabbled a bit in Shadowrun but never got around to actually playing it. She on the other hand has done far more time on this. Though mostly fantasy stuff if memory serves.

It's not that I don't trust her to make it on her own, I'm just trying to be helpful despite small expertise.

i don't really think that a noncombative character is really a problem in ffg star wars, cause fights are over quickly anyway. it can be appropriate for a character to simply hide when the beams start fyling. nothing wrong with that. if the player wants to do more in combat, i hope this thread has given you some ideas.

i don't really think that a noncombative character is really a problem in ffg star wars, cause fights are over quickly anyway. it can be appropriate for a character to simply hide when the beams start fyling. nothing wrong with that. if the player wants to do more in combat, i hope this thread has given you some ideas.

Yes! FFG is not a combat focused game or heavy on te tactics, like DND and Pathfinder, like OP mentioned he had experience with.

Combat is a part of it of course and a helpful tool, but you don`t even get xp for defeating an enemy, so you can run, talk, hide, deceive and so on..

You can take the narrative and tell the story within the combat and be helpful without using any combat skills at all. You can flip destiny points, suggest outcomes and escapes,

point out flaws or even negotiate with the enemy, mid-combat. If you want you can even have enemies take strain for "social attacks".

Listen to the Social Engineering episode of the Order 66 Podcast to get some alternatives to combat and social encounter and "social combats"(about 30 minutes in).

It can also sound like the player is a bit shy, using a long time to think and then just stays in cover. Don`t push her, but pat her back and incourage her ideas as much as you can.

It is also ok to help eachother out, out of character, with what characters might do and come up with in a situation.

Good luck!

If the player wants to use her Computers skill in combat, there are ways to do so - use a GP scanner to find the enemy's comm frequency and start trolling them with Deception checks, or just jam their communications with a comm jammer. But this kind of thing is always going to be slightly limiting; a better option in the long term would be to pick up another specialization.

My group's Slicer took the Politico tree and maxed out first Inspiring Rhetoric and then Scathing Tirade. He never fires a shot in combat (the only modification he's done to his blaster is to paint it green, because reasons). He does a great job as a support character in combat and still aces any computers they come across.

I'm a bit confused about the boost dice: Imagine her being in cover in let's say middle distance to the next PC. How could she add dice? Encouragement?

One thing about the dice odds, at a basic level with roughly even dice pools, they tend towards success + threat, or failure + advantage. So even if she takes a shot and misses, the advantages can be used to pass boost dice around, narrated as flying shrapnel, blown cover, etc.

She sometimes thinks about her actions for a long time and then just.. stays in cover. This is of course partly the GM's responsibility; he could give her more stuff to play with and I'll tell him about some of these suggestions (I may should have mentioned that I'm not the GM right now).

Yeah, it's definitely on the GM to move things along. It's more helpful to everybody though if she shoots at something...anything!... (either doing damage or generating boost dice) rather than staying under cover, so he should suggest she just shoot at the nearest opponent.

Though some players are reluctant to see *any* damage at all to their characters though, maybe that's her motive...because if she pops up to shoot she can be shot at.

Watch the movies and television shows paying close attention to R2-D2 (and the psychopathic droid, Chopper). They are examples of what a non combat character can do.

Also, encorage the player to spend destiny points to put in slicable objects on a battlefield. The GM doesn't have to be the only one that can populate a scene with interactable objects. Any player can do it.

But, some examples for slicables:

Crate of old b1 battledroids to activate (or droideka).

Datapad from enemy cointaining intel/secrets/loot store house

Heavy weapons with dna locks the boobytrap when the enemy sees them.

Console to monitor enemy movement in a big warehouse/ship.

Remember, the unlike other systems, this game can work really well by splitting the party. It takes some work, but if the rest of the party causes a distraction, the slicer can go about their business unmolested. The same goes for flying a ship while the party is on the ground, or a assaulting a bunker while someone has a duel in a throne room. When doing this, think of going between the scenes in a movie and fading between them. The way initiative works in this system makes it easier. Characters can roll different skills for initiative. Think outside the standard rpg mentality box. Split the party!

I'll second splitting the party. I have a lot of questions that I'm not seeing answers for in the original post: How big is the group? What are the other PCs like? How does combat typically run?

In my experience, there are two types of combat encounters: winner take all (where you fight until one side has no HP or Wounds or what-have-you left) and "missions" (where the encounter is based around an objective other than just defeating the other side). In the Star Wars movies and TV shows, this objective often seems to be "running away"...

A character like a slicer is likely to excel at mission-based encounters (which are typically more interesting anyway, in my opinion), and that might also breathe new life into the other characters, if they have a wide enough range of skills to support such encounters. Heck, if it's fun enough for the slicer, you might find other characters actively forgoing their weaponry...

We just did our first session in my new Firefly campaign (but using the Edge of the Empire rules) and there was a great example of mission-based combat that I can share.

First, a little set-up - after ten years (on and off) of a Star Wars campaign using the various d20 editions, I decided to switch to something new. It's probably no surprise that over the course of a decade, my players had become very, very powerful in combat, so near the end, encounters were often a brutal affair if "fight til they have no HPs left!" To some extent, this has been made even worse by the fact that we've been alternating campaigns between Star Wars and two different 4E D&D campaigns. So it was not a huge surprise that the same players who game me two Jedi Guardians, a two-fisted gunslinger, and a Zabrak melee master opted to come up with a mechanic, a slicer/knowledge guy, an entrepreneur/jack of all trades, and a pilot (on the last two of whom have ANY ranks in combat skills).

Early in the session, I was gratified to see that the tone of the campaign was indeed very different than what we're used to: the Pilot and Mechanic were guarding some goods when confronted by a named NPC brawler type (Rooster) and three mooks. In any of the WotC campaigns, combat would likely have ensued, but here, the Pilot immediately assessed that they were outnumbered and he and the Mechanic slunk off, leaving the goods behind.

Unfortunately, they realized soon thereafter that they needed the goods to get out of their current situation, so, knowing where Rooster was headed with the goods (which were loaded in crates training being a "mule," or small all-terrain card), the Pilot and Mechanic decided to try to set up an ambush. It played out like this:

Smiler (Pilot) and Swindon (Mechanic) arrived at the airlock for Rooster's ship and Smiler asks if there's any place they can hide. Sure, there's a supply closet across the hall. What's in the closet? I had previously established that the space station they were on was a stopover for ship repair, so I said "Nothing much right now. It's where the mechanic would leave his stuff if it took him a few days to repair a ship."

Is there a sink? Sure; why not? Knowing that they can't damage the mule (because they need it to lug the goods away if they're successful), the Smiler and Swindon decide to try shocking the heck out of the opposition. Smiler starts spraying water on the floor, while Swindon sets about using what little there is in the closet to mess with the light figure and create a cable with a live charge and the end.

The bad guys arrive, and Smiler jumps up on a cabinet and throws the cable. For better or worse, a bunch of stuff happens: all the mooks are temporarily stunned (not fully taken out, though, because the threat of them recovering creates a ticking clock to keep pressure on the players). The cable shorts out, bringing the local power down, too, so now the emergency lights come on and sirens start blaring. And Rooster, who was driving the rubber-tired mule, is fine... but also very, very annoyed.

Smiler throws himself at Rooster, but Rooster is bigger, younger, and stronger and has the advantage ("casting" for the two characters was "old Bruce Willis" for Smiler and Dave Bautista a la Riddick for Rooster). As the two of them brawl, Swindon tries to skulk around the edge of their fight and get into the driver's seat of the mule. It took a turn or two, during which the fist fight was largely inconclusive (mostly because of mediocre roles).

With Swindon behind the wheel, Smiler how has to disengage from the fight with his hide intact. Knowing that his chances of landing a TKO on his larger opponent are very slim, he throws the crowbar he was carrying at Rooster's face. It cracks him in the nose, but also throws him on the hood of the mule. He drags Smiler with him.

Swindon starts the mule and they tear off as the mooks are starting to groggily rise. Smiler and Rooster are know fighting on the hood of the mule (which is not cool for Swindon, who is something of a coward), but now Smiler has the advantage -- he doesn't care about beating Rooster, he just wants him off the mule. With a push and a twist, he manages to slide Rooster off the side of the vehicle, and Smiler and Swindon take off to safely, leaving behind a fuming Rooster, who yells that this isn't over!

Now, if you look at the encounter, you'll notice that Smiler, the actual combatant, really did very little. The majority of the key actions taken toward the objective (stealing the mule and escaping) were taken by non-fighter Swindon. I mean, yes, Smiler WAS essential in that he distracted Rooster to let Swindon make his move, but it was fast-paced and mission-based, and both players were equally satisfied.

Side note: I think the encounter took less than 10 minutes, primarily because it was the first major die-rolling we did in a completely new system. For comparison, it would probably have taken twice that in WotC's Star Wars, and at least 90 minutes in 4E. Okay, I exaggerated... but not by a heck of a lot.

Characters with high intellect can identify enemy equipment in battle, and pass along boost dice based on that knowledge. With a successful knowledge check, the slicer could figure out how much damage a weapon does, what its critical rating is, and if it had any special characteristics. With advantage, the slicer could remember that, say, shots from this blaster tend to pull a little to the left, or that it overheats if fired consecutively for too long.

"Defeat all enemies" isn`t even necessary the goal of every combat in this system:) Shooting at the stormtroopers is just a distraction and cover-fire when you are trying to get onboard the Millenium Falcon.

And once in a while -one skill roll combats- are ok, it`s even an alternative rule in the CRB. Knocking out a guard or two shouldn`t have to be a combat encounter.

Yup, along those lines, I also allow Xenology checks to pinpoint possible enemy vulnerabilities. For instance, I had a mission with vornskrs, and our little Drall with a big brain soon had the team shooting for the creatures' tails.

"The Stormtroopers are pressing hard, laying down some serious covering fire, keeping everyone pinned. The slicer takes a look at their gear, then gets an evil mischievous grin. She quickly starts tinkering with her comm unit, then looks at the approaching troopers, savagely pressing her 'Transmit' button. The troopers stop and clutch at their ears, some dropping their blasters, as a high-pitched shriek rips from their earpieces. The slicer smirks and makes a remark about turning the volume to 11. What do you do?"

More alternative combat:

Player 1: I use Survival to lead the pirates to a hidden sinkhole I know is out hwere in the desert. Down they go!

- Success and Despair-

GM: A monster comes out of the hole and eats the pirates. You guys have one free round to think, attack, hide or run

Player 2: "I use Xenology to communicate and attract the local watchers on the hill to help us, they look like hunters. My Xenology means I can understand and duplicate the signs they make with their hands!

- Success and Threat-

GM: The local hunters on the hill recognizes your cultural calling signs and all storm down the hill to help you and to chase the monster away. The threat is that now you owe them a favour.