Sith Pureblood

B: 2 A: 2 I: 2 C: 2 W: 3 P: 1

Wound Threshold: 11

Strain Threshold: 10

Starting XP: 100

Special Abilities: Sith Pureblood begin the game with one rank in Knowledge (Lore).

They may not train Knowledge (Lore) above rank 2 during character creation.

They also start with one rank in the <BLANK> talent.

I am trying to decide between Prey on the Weak and Intimidating: the former fits their warlike origins well while Intimidating encourages use of Coercion, which can easily cause Conflict.

I could see many skills working depending on one's point of view: Resilience goes well with surviving on an inhospitable planet, which can also be reflected with the higher Wound Threshold; Discipline fits their affinity for the Force, which seems redundant after giving them 3 Willpower; I liked Knowledge (Lore) as was suggested above because of their advanced knowledge of Force secrets.

This is a great homebrew of the race. Personally I would suggest Prey on the Weak as the talent. The Knowledge (Lore) bonus and the opportunism of Prey on the Weak will help differentiate Sith from the Zabrak which have the same array, but still emphasize the militarism and viciousness of the Sith. Prey on the Weak also still pairs well with Aggressor.

As for Miraluka, I agree that no Force Rating, Force talents, or Farsight is needed to represent their ability to see with the Force and the inherent sensitivity that represents. A rank of Keen Eyed goes a long way to represent to supernatural senses. "Blinding" a Miraluka would not be a direct eye injury so much as as causing debilitating or distracting wounds to the head. Thankfully this system is great at not being restrained by the specific and allowing different fluff to represent what happens. Like the Iktotchi, a watered down narrative version of a Force power isn't out of hand, but as with Iktotchi I think it should have some mechanical effect. Perhaps something like Miraluka can see around and past obstacles better than physical sighted creatures (at GM discretion), allowing such things as reading a monitor that is blocked by a body or a pillar but not fully covered, and always reducing setback on attack rolls granted through cover by one.

I agree with this idea. I might even give 2 ranks fo keen eyed to represent it better, with an accordingly reduced starting xp. Also a Miraluka might be vulnerable to a cleverly narrated use of Suppres.

I too am looking at making Sith Purebloods for my game. I'm going with this:

2/2/2/2/2/2

WT: 11+B

ST: 11+W

Starting XP: 110

1 free rank of Coercion or Deception

Edit: I did consider dropping both WT and ST to a base of 10+ and giving 1 free rank of Coercion and Deception. Still looking at this possibility.

5 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

I too am looking at making Sith Purebloods for my game. I'm going with this:

2/2/2/2/2/2

WT: 11+B

ST: 11+W

Starting XP: 110

1 free rank of Coercion or Deception

Edit: I did consider dropping both WT and ST to a base of 10+ and giving 1 free rank of Coercion and Deception. Still looking at this possibility.

I would honestly consider giving them a Cunning of 3 and dropping something to 1.

You can have Miraluka start with fr 1, just set xp at like 50

1 hour ago, TheShard said:

You can have Miraluka start with fr 1, just set xp at like 50

But then you are hosed if you want a miraluka that is not a force user. Leave the force rating for the force careers or unispecs.

5 hours ago, Kael said:

I would honestly consider giving them a Cunning of 3 and dropping something to 1.

The issue is that, IMO, they really don't differ significantly from humans in anything to warrant a 3 or a 1 as a starting value in any Characteristics.

However, I have decided that I like the idea of both skill increases along with the slightly higher WT (but not ST), so I will be going with the following final version:

Sith Pureblood

• Brawn: 2
• Agility: 2
• Intellect: 2
• Cunning: 2
• Willpower : 2
• Presence: 2
• Wound Threshold: 11 + Brawn
• Strain Threshold: 10 + Willpower
• Starting Experience: 110 XP
• Sith Purebloods begin the game with one rank in Coercion and one rank in Deception. They still may not train Coercion or Deception above rank 2 during character creation.

I would consider lowering the Presence to 1. Based on how they appeared in comics and novels I think there are grounds to think they were a cunning race. But also their use of the darkside a lot could justify a Willpower of 3 instead of Cunning of 3. Willpower of 3 would be a good way to satisfy people's desire to have some touch in the darkside of the Force. That away those that become Force users have an edge up on using the Force.

So? I think with this species they would automatically be culturally inclined towards force use as natural force users. The mechanic's fit the to.

40 minutes ago, Kael said:

I would consider lowering the Presence to 1. Based on how they appeared in comics and novels I think there are grounds to think they were a cunning race. But also their use of the darkside a lot could justify a Willpower of 3 instead of Cunning of 3. Willpower of 3 would be a good way to satisfy people's desire to have some touch in the darkside of the Force. That away those that become Force users have an edge up on using the Force.

I don't think that extensive use of the Dark Side is a good reason for a high species-average value for Willpower. Also remember that all of the Sith Purebloods you are referencing were part of the Order of Sith Lords, so a high Willpower likely comes from that rather than being inherent. If we saw the "other guys" among the Sith Purebloods--including those that are not Force-sensitive or that are unlikely to pass the Sith tests, we would see a more natural range of Willpower for Sith Purebloods.

I really see them as near-humans, but with less skill versatility and more focus on the skills that lead to success in the Sith Empire: Coercion and Deception.

18 minutes ago, TheShard said:

So? I think with this species they would automatically be culturally inclined towards force use as natural force users. The mechanic's fit the to.

It's called game balance.

11 minutes ago, HappyDaze said:

If we saw the "other guys" among the Sith Purebloods--including those that are not Force-sensitive or that are unlikely to pass the Sith tests, we would see a more natural range of Willpower for Sith Purebloods.

Yeah but in general aren't all species stats in general based on a handful of characters we see? More so when we consider some that are getting stats haven't had real character development outside of being onscreen extras?

It wouldn't unbalance the game if picking that species locked you into FaD careers. Staying with Fr1 but taking a serious hit to starting xp would work. In general I agree PC career choices shouldn't be railroaded but I think because of the species history it makes sense in this case.

26 minutes ago, TheShard said:

It wouldn't unbalance the game if picking that species locked you into FaD careers. Staying with Fr1 but taking a serious hit to starting xp would work. In general I agree PC career choices shouldn't be railroaded but I think because of the species history it makes sense in this case.

Yes because railroading a PC at character creation is such a great idea. Locking a species into F&D careers is also bad for balance.

So if we go with "maximum game balance" then Sith Pureblood should just be a near-human using the human species mechanics with only the cosmetic differences to distinguish them. Considering that I feel Corellians and Mandalorians should never have been written up as distinct species, that may just be the way I go.

On 3/10/2017 at 3:02 PM, TheShard said:

You can have Miraluka start with fr 1, just set xp at like 50

On 3/10/2017 at 4:53 PM, mouthymerc said:

But then you are hosed if you want a miraluka that is not a force user. Leave the force rating for the force careers or unispecs.

On 3/10/2017 at 9:52 PM, TheShard said:

So? I think with this species they would automatically be culturally inclined towards force use as natural force users. The mechanic's fit the to.

The Shard is correct on this. The Miraluka were established in the original fiction as all being Force sensitive. They had to be because that is how they perceived the world. They literally saw through the Force, not with eyes. That does no mean that they should all be required to take a Force using class, but the established facts are there. All Miraluka were Force Sensitive by nature , and all had at least the basic Farsight power as their means of sight.

If I wanted to play a brawn1 race I'm almost certainly not going to make a brawler unless the RP value is why I'm doing it. The same would hold true of of having FR1 to start. I said I normally agree that if at all possible, species shouldn't be designed in a way that locks in career choices... However every career a Miraluka would have would be a FaD career because they'd naturally be using the force, just anotger species would see. The RP in this case fits the mechanics... It is an unusually exemption to the not railroading rule.

So, I'm looking at the stats for the Kissai and the Massassi (two subspecies of Sith purebloods) from the Knights of the Old Republic Campaign Guide, and here's what I came up with.

Version 1: Sith Pureblood w/ subspecies options.

Quote

Brawn 2, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 1, Willpower 3, Presence 2. Wound = 11 + Brawn. Strain = 11 + Willpower. 90 XP.

• Vigilance 1
• Subspecies
  • Massassi: Survival 1
  • Kissai: Negotiation 1
  • Optional: Zuguruk: Mechanics 1

Notes : Both species in KOTOR Campaign Guide have a low Wisdom, and comparing the description for Wisdom in the Saga CRB sounds like Cunning. The Willpower just seems like a good choice. The Zuguruk are described in Book of Sith, which I don't have, so I'm only conjecturing based on what the Wook says.

Version 2: Individual species.

Quote

Kissai:

Brawn 2, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 1, Willpower 2, Presence 3. Wounds = 10 + Brawn. Strain = 12 + Willpower. 90 XP.

• Vigilance 1 and Negotiation 1.

Massassi:

Brawn 3, Agility 2, Cunning 1, Willpower 2, Presence 2. Wounds = 12 + Brawn. Strain = 10 + Willpower. 90 XP.

• Vigilance 1 and Survival 1.

Zuguruk :

Brawn 2, Agility 2, Intellect 3, Cunning 1, Willpower 2, Presence 2. Wounds = 11 + Brawn. Strain = 11 + Willpower. 90 XP.

• Vigilance 1 and Mechanics 1.

Everyone can be Force sensitive except droids. No restrictions. The devs design all races to be usable with all careers and specs (with the obvious droid exception). You will not see one race coming with a Force rating or any ability which is Force centric I would dare say. There is no amount of xp cost that would account for the ability to take any Force spec no matter which career you start with, unlike other races. That is a huge plus. you want to do so for your home games have at it, but the devs won't being doing anything like that.

5 hours ago, Blackbird888 said:

Version 1: Sith Pureblood w/ subspecies options.

I think Cunning is a bad stat to lower to 1. Based on what we know of Sith society I'd expect that be the one thing that would be at least 2 if not 3. Have you considered lowering Presence instead?

51 minutes ago, mouthymerc said:

Everyone can be Force sensitive except droids. No restrictions. The devs design all races to be usable with all careers and specs (with the obvious droid exception). You will not see one race coming with a Force rating or any ability which is Force centric I would dare say. There is no amount of xp cost that would account for the ability to take any Force spec no matter which career you start with, unlike other races. That is a huge plus. you want to do so for your home games have at it, but the devs won't being doing anything like that.

I will never get people's insistence on creating the Miraluka in such a way as to have them unbalanced and cheesy. All in the name of what exactly? Not sure. But no matter how often their Force sight could be represented without giving them an unbalancing mechanic people stll insist that it's the way to go. I'm glad the devs don't take these things so literally and have found creative ways to represent flavor without breaking mechanics (like they did with Hutts)

I'm so happy I decided that Miraluka simply do not exist in my Star Wars. There is nothing about them that I like and nothing about not having them that I will miss.

7 hours ago, Kael said:

I think Cunning is a bad stat to lower to 1. Based on what we know of Sith society I'd expect that be the one thing that would be at least 2 if not 3. Have you considered lowering Presence instead?

Again, basing them off the stats from KotOR Campaign Guide, Wisdom was the only stat among both that was low (the Zuguruk are not covered), and the description of Wisdom matches up with Cunning. Generally, I'm following the principle of less is more with species creation. Also, on revision, I'd replace the Zuguruk's Mechanics with Education.

Speaking of Miraluka, I conjured up some stats on another thread arguing over giving Miraluka a Force rating (still a bad idea), but here's a slightly tweaked version:

Brawn 2, Agility 1, Intellect 3, Cunning 2, Willpower 2, Presence 2. WT = 10 + Brawn. ST = 10 + Willpower. 95 XP. Discipline +1.

• Force Sight: Despite being physically blind, Miraluka are capable of seeing through the Force. They may see normally at up to short range, and can ignore the effects of total darkness and other environmental conditions that obscure vision. However, anything that disrupts the Force may temporarily disable this ability, at the GM's discretion.

7 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

I'm so happy I decided that Miraluka simply do not exist in my Star Wars. There is nothing about them that I like and nothing about not having them that I will miss.

Heh heh. Kind of like me and Mandalorians.

On 3/10/2017 at 10:55 PM, HappyDaze said:

So if we go with "maximum game balance" then Sith Pureblood should just be a near-human using the human species mechanics with only the cosmetic differences to distinguish them. Considering that I feel Corellians and Mandalorians should never have been written up as distinct species, that may just be the way I go.

FFG made the mistake of conflating species and culture into a single notion of "RPG race".

For Sith Pureblood: I still like Willpower 3 because they impose their will on others through coercive means, not diplomacy. Furthermore they have a very ordered society and high amount of Force users (Discipline) and they have to maintain constant Vigilance to avoid being stabbed in the back.

For Miraluka: I would not give them a Force Rating of 1. Seeing through the Force means that the flavor of their perception is narrated as a sort of sixth sense and allows them to function normally while lacking physical sight. Having a racial Force rating of 1 would mean literally every single member of their species could train in the use of the Force and take Force powers, which I do not think makes sense otherwise the Jedi ranks would've been filled with members of their race more so than any other. I agree that they should ignore darkness, smoke, fog, etc. which already has a mechanical existence in this game and would be the same as, say, scanner goggles: -2 Setback imposed on Perception/Vigilance due to environmental effects. Crits (such as Blinded) are still effective because a blow the the correct portion of the brain would hinder their ability to 'see'. A rank in Discipline seems fitting.