My books are in the mail so I thought I'd just ask.

Are characters who don't kill viable? For example a doctor who (won't walk into melee with his fists) always uses either knock out darts, stun grenades, or say the stun setting (guess he'd have to buy an ion blaster if he's facing temina...er assassin droids.)...this is assuming he just cannot run away . Likewise a social/face character who doesn't shoot to kill if the deal goes south (I mean kill everyone and no one will do business with you, unless you are playing team exterminator squad.)

Also I only have EotE Core, Fly Casual, and FaD on order...are they enough or does another book cover this approach in greater detail?

I'm guessing of course that a force-user can fall back on the "these aren't the droids you're looking for..." schtick...but this would be for a new character, non-force if possible, who doesn't have a huge budget for consumables.

Thanks in advance!

Yes, perfectly viable. Can probably get away with a character that doesn't fight at all .

Stun damage is the way to go, and many weapons only deal stun damage. Most blasters have a Stun setting, barehanded fighting can deal either lethal or stun damage. An important thing to remember, though, is that most enemies (adversaries) have only one stat to track for health, so it's up to the GM to specify that the enemy has been knocked out, not killed.

The only thing I can say about specific books is that it depends; Far Horizons has the most weapons that deal only Stun damage, I think. There is a talent (Stunning Blow?) that allows the user to deal stun damage with melee weapons.

EDIT: There is also a type of lightsaber and a lightsaber attachment (training lightsaber) that deals only stun damage. Keeping the Peace has a lightsaber crystal that basically acts as a better version of the training emitter. I forget which Force power deals strain damage, but there is one that can be used.

All blaster a are also available as "Stun Only"

Many many non lethal options in this system.

Also, exceeding a character's wound threshold doesn't mean death. Now for simplicity sake when I run the game, Mooks die when they cross the threshold, but if someone was making a point of trying to be non-lethal, I would work with them, the mooks are only incapacitated, not dead and so on.

Also, important thing to remember: blasters on stun are short range only.

Glop Grenades. Bola. Stun Grenades. Long range stun rifle. Shock Gloves. Stun module upgrades. Dart weapons and non lethal toxins. Net guns.

All manner of weapons using all manner of combat skills to inflict non lethal damage and impairing weapon effects. Not only are there options, honestly many of the options are more effective than simply trying to exceed wound thresholds or hope for a serious critical hit.

In our party of five we only have one guy who actually CAN fight.

That is our Assasin Bounty Hunter.

The others, myself included, don't even have any points in combat skills. We do have blasters though, for emergencies (wich as others pointed out come with stun settings).

We played for three sessions thus far in this campaign and only had two very small combat encounters.

For all other altercations we did all kinds of deception and negotiations or other shenanigans.

When a Bounty Hunter waited at our ship that we stole from his boss, we paid a passer-by to act as captain while we were hidden, wich worked out fine since we also altered the transponder signature on the ship.

So he knew that it was the ship he was looking for, but he couldn't start anything without getting rekt by starport secruity.

So yes, non-lethal is very viable. You can even run campaigns that are focused on not fighting very much at all.

Most blasters have stun setting and almost everything that has strain has a lot less than wounds, so stun is plenty effective.

In addition to all the excellent suggestions so far, I just wanted to mention the Field Sports Model 77 "Sandman" Air Rifle (Enter the Unknown, p39). Long-range poison dart weapon with Pierce 4. I LOVE this thing.

[...] a doctor who (won't walk into melee with his fists) always uses either knock out darts, stun grenades, or say the stun setting (guess he'd have to buy an ion blaster if he's facing temina...er assassin droids.)...this is assuming he just cannot run away . [...]

In addition to all the excellent suggestions so far, I just wanted to mention the Field Sports Model 77 "Sandman" Air Rifle (Enter the Unknown, p39). Long-range poison dart weapon with Pierce 4. I LOVE this thing.

I'll second the Model 77. I had a doctor who preferred to knock people out using it. It's an air rifle, so most customs agents scoffed at the weapon. No one really gave me a second look carrying it around. Much to their detriment.

One consideration with the Model 77 which makes it less than ideal is that it can't score a critical hit.

Probably not a big deal to most characters, but any with the Hunter or Lethal Blows talents should take note.

One consideration with the Model 77 which makes it less than ideal is that it can't score a critical hit.

Probably not a big deal to most characters, but any with the Hunter or Lethal Blows talents should take note.

Good point. Though as a GM, I would probably allow a PC to crit on a Triumph. On that point, RAW gets very sticky.

One consideration with the Model 77 which makes it less than ideal is that it can't score a critical hit.

Probably not a big deal to most characters, but any with the Hunter or Lethal Blows talents should take note.

Good point. Though as a GM, I would probably allow a PC to crit on a Triumph. On that point, RAW gets very sticky.

I think if someone is trying to make a non Lethal PC scoring criticals probably isn't what they necessarily want to do. Hunter is still good to have, since it provides a Boost die which leads to weapon effect activations.

One consideration with the Model 77 which makes it less than ideal is that it can't score a critical hit.

Probably not a big deal to most characters, but any with the Hunter or Lethal Blows talents should take note.

Good point. Though as a GM, I would probably allow a PC to crit on a Triumph. On that point, RAW gets very sticky.

I think if someone is trying to make a non Lethal PC scoring criticals probably isn't what they necessarily want to do. Hunter is still good to have, since it provides a Boost die which leads to weapon effect activations.

^ this. What would be the point or goal of scoring a crit on a non-lethal attack anyway? As 2P says, it's Boosts/Effects that should be the emphasis.

One consideration with the Model 77 which makes it less than ideal is that it can't score a critical hit.

Probably not a big deal to most characters, but any with the Hunter or Lethal Blows talents should take note.

Good point. Though as a GM, I would probably allow a PC to crit on a Triumph. On that point, RAW gets very sticky.

I think if someone is trying to make a non Lethal PC scoring criticals probably isn't what they necessarily want to do. Hunter is still good to have, since it provides a Boost die which leads to weapon effect activations.

Of course. I completely agree. I was just making it clear that it's not outside the realm of possibility.

^ this. What would be the point or goal of scoring a crit on a non-lethal attack anyway? As 2P says, it's Boosts/Effects that should be the emphasis.

Book touches on it, pg 218 in EotE. Crits can be helpful for taking out an extra minion and most critical hits do help out even if you treat them as temporary ones that only last for the encounter. So even if you're not trying to kill or seriously hurt the NPC, making them drop their weapon, increasing the difficulty of their checks, or getting the chance to trigger a second attack are all incredibly helpful, especially if the enemy is notably strong.

^ this. What would be the point or goal of scoring a crit on a non-lethal attack anyway? As 2P says, it's Boosts/Effects that should be the emphasis.

Book touches on it, pg 218 in EotE. Crits can be helpful for taking out an extra minion and most critical hits do help out even if you treat them as temporary ones that only last for the encounter. So even if you're not trying to kill or seriously hurt the NPC, making them drop their weapon, increasing the difficulty of their checks, or getting the chance to trigger a second attack are all incredibly helpful, especially if the enemy is notably strong.

If, you actually get a crit that helps and not one that hurts. Not to mention if you're using Advantages and Triumphs for scoring crits you're denying options for weapon effects. Activating Ensnare or Concussive effects are precise and the PC is in full control, they aren't subject to the winds of randomness on a crit roll.

If the notion is capture the professor to decipher an ancient Sith Tablet and you blind them with a crit, it becomes counter productive. If there were an option for triggering specific crit results maybe.

When it comes to non lethal though, use a Bola and roll a Triumph and you've got the premiere non lethal option. That's an absolute nut crusher of a non lethal option.

If, you actually get a crit that helps and not one that hurts.

Only crits that make sense would apply. If you're hitting with a stun weapon, it wouldn't make sense for a crit from a knockout grenade to maim or kill (unless maybe a Despair or two was also rolled), for instance.

I disagree. People fall down, hit their heads, and die quite a lot actually.

I disagree. People fall down, hit their heads, and die quite a lot actually.

"Congratulations, you have landed a tranquilizer shot on the target's eye. He isn't dead, but he will be in a coma for the foreseeable future."

"Your epic non-lethal blow has resulted in a concussion. The Professor is able to walk but cannot decipher anything more complicated than a bed for the next day."

I disagree. People fall down, hit their heads, and die quite a lot actually.

By that logic, simply knocking them out with stun weapons should risk killing everyone as well.

It's fine if you prefer Advantage/Triumph to be used towards more reliable item qualities, but the fact of the matter is the books support critical injuries from stun weapons and they can be perfectly viable and useful effects. And sure if the players/GM want to inflict a more deadly injury, they can and narrate it as being a direct/in-direct result of the attack, but if they player or GM find the attack to not fit the narrative, they can just as easily ignore the critical as happening altogether.

I disagree. People fall down, hit their heads, and die quite a lot actually.

By that logic, simply knocking them out with stun weapons should risk killing everyone as well.

It's fine if you prefer Advantage/Triumph to be used towards more reliable item qualities, but the fact of the matter is the books support critical injuries from stun weapons and they can be perfectly viable and useful effects. And sure if the players/GM want to inflict a more deadly injury, they can and narrate it as being a direct/in-direct result of the attack, but if they player or GM find the attack to not fit the narrative, they can just as easily ignore the critical as happening altogether.

You're incorrect, because the PC is in control of whether or not they land a critical hit and roll on the chart, but they aren't in control of the results of that roll. The notion of reliability is precisely what is being discussed here. It's about how to create a PC that is effective and non lethal, that kind of build requires both effectiveness, as well as control, which rolling on the crit chart falls short of on the second count with GM fiat intervention.

The book discusses it in the side bar on p. 218 EoE and suggests if a lethal result is rolled from the critical roll the PC can choose not to trigger the crit, but that leads right back to not being an effective means of stopping targets in a non lethal way.

You're incorrect, because the PC is in control of whether or not they land a critical hit and roll on the chart, but they aren't in control of the results.

"Of course. since these critical hits would have to be triggered by the players or GM, both parties can always decide that a critical hit would not make sense in that narrative, and choose not to trigger them."

You're incorrect, because the PC is in control of whether or not they land a critical hit and roll on the chart, but they aren't in control of the results.

"Of course. since these critical hits would have to be triggered by the players or GM, both parties can always decide that a critical hit would not make sense in that narrative, and choose not to trigger them."

Which means using a critical hit to stop a target non lethally is a bad option.

Thanks for the input!

So...do I need those supplements? (Far Horizons and Enter the Unknown) or is core/FaD good enuff?

I don't have the books yet so I do not know the sources if they weren't mentioned they are all in core correct?

I'm on a bit of a budget so I'd like to keep the $$$ minimal

F&D Core has Stun gloves. And the Stun Pulse attachment. And the rules for using any blaster with the Stun Setting quality to do strain damage (all cores have this third one).