Creating Lasat as a PC species

By PinnacleOfJimbo, in Star Wars: Age of Rebellion RPG

So, I'm trying to come up with a stat block for a PC Lasat species. I'm hoping that a future supplement book will include them, but for now, here's what I have come up with:

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Species: Lasat

Brawn: 3

Agility: 3

Intellect: 2

Cunning: 1

Willpower: 2

Presence: 2

Wound Threshold: 10 + Brawn

Strain Threshold: 10+ Willpower

Starting XP: 90 XP

Special Abilities: Lasat begin the game with one rank in Athletics and Coordination.

Strong Odor: Lasat suffer one Setback die on any Charm or Negotiation checks they make.

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I have never made a custom species before. Not sure if I'm on the right track. I just thought it would be cool to play a Lasat so I made this up. Any comments or suggestions would be awesome.

The 3 on Brawn AND Agility is very overpowered without a 1 in another characteristic...just eyeballing it, you could reduce Presence by one I suppose.

I don't know any Lasats other than Zeb, so I'm not sure what a baseline for a heroic Lasat would look like :) But he is certainly not Charming.

I also might simplify it a bit...take away the free rank in Coordination and the Setback to Negotiation. Simpler = better, most of the time. Don't try to do too much with your species blocks.

We took a stab at it in the Rebels source book. It was definitely something we debated a bit because it was unclear if Zeb was the typical Lasat or something a bit extraordinary:

http://www.rpg.buzz/

That's awesome! Reading through the Rebels source book now. Very cool.

Have you thought about giving them the option of increasing either Brawn OR Agility instead of both?

So they can either be very agile or very strong thereby giving a bit of variety to the species?

Here's my take on the Lasat

http://jedimorningfire.blogspot.com/2015/06/karabast.html

I agree with the others that the OP's stat block is way too good, especially for a "combat species" since it naturally has a high Brawn and Agility. I went with Brawn 3 because Zeb was fairly burly, and while we've seen a couple more Lasat, one was an ancient crone and the other was also pretty burly, so I still think Brawn 3 is a good fit.

I like Donovan's stat block a lot, but I'm still really attached to the idea of giving the Lasat an odor setback. I feel like it adds some good flavor to the species.

I assumed that was Ezra being an a%&e but why not?

There are animal species that rely on scent and some that use a strong odour for various purposes (attracting a mate or ward off a predator for instance) but is there a canon reason for it?

Not sure. No mention of the other two Lasat smelling bad in Legends of the Lasat.

Like others have said, it's difficult to know what is a Lasat trait, and what is unique to Zeb. I guess I just think it's fun.

My initial reaction is to re-skin the Wookie stat block.

Yeah, I also figured Ezra's comment about Zeb's "odor" was part of the brotherly-bickering the pair of them engage in as part of their friendship.

Also, a setback die on social skill checks really isn't much of a detriment, since a combat-focused Lasat PC isn't going to be that fussed about it, while one that wants more of a social bent can very easily snag talents that negate that setback die.

It seems to be something that Zeb definitely has, rather than just bickering ammo.

At one point he's in a crate and bursts out gasping saying "Have you smelled me?"

Still could be just him though.

Do they smell any worse than Wookiees? Worse than Hutts? None of those other smelly species have mechanical effects from the stink.

Do they smell any worse than Wookiees? Worse than Hutts? None of those other smelly species have mechanical effects from the stink.

Yeah, if there's any "musk" to a Lasat, best to leave it as an role-playing thing rather than make it a hard-coded part of the species. Maybe have it crop up as a setback die on social checks from time to time much the same way a GM might assign a setback die due to a Human PC showing up at a fancy suit&tie event in the SW equivalent of a polo shirt and khaki pants.

I agree with Dono. I think gamers might have issues with being forced to play their character with body odor issues.

Edited by kaosoe

I agree with Dono. I think gamers might have issues with being forced to play their character with body odor issues.

If only for the notion of reinforcing a stereotype about gamers that most gamers are actually quite good about avoiding.

Also, an ability for your consideration - prehensile feet. Zeb was pretty nimble with his toes in that one with Kallus on the ice planet. Plus the weather didn't seem to bother him as much as it was bothering the human.

Edited by Desslok

I asume that every Edge of the Empire character has a certain odeur and thast the people in the outer rim don't really care.

Also, an ability for your consideration - prehensile feet. Zeb was pretty nimble with his toes in that one with Kallus on the ice planet. Plus the weather didn't seem to bother him as much as it was bothering the human.

This system doesn't usually give mechanics for relatively minor abilities. Consider the lack of infrared vision on the Trandoshan and Sullustan, the lack of climbing claws on the Wookiee, Mon Calamari not becoming dehydrated any faster than anyone else in arid environs, etc. Many of these were mechanically represented in earlier versions of SW RPGs, but this one seems to focus on keeping species simple.

Also, an ability for your consideration - prehensile feet. Zeb was pretty nimble with his toes in that one with Kallus on the ice planet. Plus the weather didn't seem to bother him as much as it was bothering the human.

I think a free rank in Athletics covers Zeb's displayed climbing prowess pretty well, especially if taken in the light that other PCs get to do "over the top" stuff like Hera making a Silhouette 5 freighter fly like it's Silhouette 4, Sabine storing her explosives in hammerspace, and then the two Jedi dicing up things with their lightsabers that generally per straight RAW they really shouldn't be chopping up.