OK team - one more droid question.

Naturally, now that the attachment question has been ironed out (thanks for all of the responses on that, and the consensus...), a new question has risen.

How would you handle a droid with 4 arms?

We have a pretty good template with the Xexto and the Besalisk, so no worries on how to handle it mechanics-wise, but what about XP?

Both races start with 85 XP, but some of that is other abilities and the points spread for stats, so what's the general opinion on the actual cost of the ability?

Also, (and here's the big one) would you allow a player to start with multiple arms (with no extra maneuver - it's a narrative 'ability' only) to then pay the XP cost after character creation - perhaps narrated as a software update at some point?

What about a standard bipedal droid chassis that gets modded down the road? There's no good reason a droid couldn't do that that I can think of... other than cost.

Thanks for the input...

Cybernetic slots is what I'd do.

So... 1 cybernetic slot for an additional pair of arms? (I rule that 1 slot = 1 pair of arms, 1 slot = 1 pair of legs, etc... basically, 1 slot = 1 bonus)

Whatever works, I'd just use the RAW. Arms can be installed separately but legs are a pair.

If they’re “synthflesh” arms (i.e., no benefit in strength or agility or any other attribute over their “natural” arms), then I’d be inclined to have the player spend the monetary cost and one cybernetic slot for the pair of additional arms. They might look something like Professor Huyang — see http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Huyang/Legends

Or maybe a Construction Droid Foreman — see http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Construction_droid_foreman

If these are arms that are stronger or more agile than their “natural” arms, then I’d be inclined to have the player spent the money and two cybernetic slots — building General Grievous should be difficult and expensive to do.

brad - to be clear on what you're suggesting -

for one set of arms, granting +1 Agility: 1 cybernetic slot

for 2 sets of arms, granting +2 Agility, plus you have 4 useful appendages, equivalent to the Xexto racial : 2 cybernetic slots

or

for 2 sets of arms, granting no Stat bonus, but conferring narrative bonuses (you have 4 useful appendages, equivalent to the Xexto racial): 1 cybernetic slot

correct?

(this is the way I'm inclined to go, by the way... although it seems like there should be some other cost - either XP or $. Maybe I'm overthinking it. Droids need some love, after all...)

for 2 sets of arms, granting no Stat bonus, but conferring narrative bonuses (you have 4 useful appendages, equivalent to the Xexto racial): 1 cybernetic slot

correct?

If there is no stat bonus, but the result is that they get two extra arms out of the deal (equivalent to the Xexto), then yeah — I think I’d be inclined to only charge them one cybernetic slot.

(this is the way I'm inclined to go, by the way... although it seems like there should be some other cost - either XP or $. Maybe I'm overthinking it. Droids need some love, after all...)

Well, they’d still have to pay for the cybernetic arms, which would be something like a thousand credits each — right?

Is that not enough of an additional disadvantage?

I think handing out the xexto racial when they have 4 arms is good enough for the second set. I don't think you need to add another Agility bonus on top. That racial is one of, if not the best, racial imo.

Haven't heard of multi-limbs yet. Sounds like they get an extra maneuver? Could you imagine a multi-limbed politico with Supreme Scathing Tirade and a stun grenade? Multiple groups of minions down in one turn!

Thanks for the feedback, all...

The Xexto are hit pretty hard for that ability, somewhere between 30 and 40xp, perhaps a droid could use a Cyber spot and 25xp at character creation to be multi limbed. They can also only benefit once from the regular Cybernetic arms upgrade.

The Xexto are hit pretty hard for that ability, somewhere between 30 and 40xp, perhaps a droid could use a Cyber spot and 25xp at character creation to be multi limbed. They can also only benefit once from the regular Cybernetic arms upgrade.

Yes, to get the bonus, you need to swap out all the arms.

There are droid, other then Grevious, that have multiple arms. There is one that the Jawas are showing to the farmers in episode 4, the Imperial Probe Droid and one of the medical droids either on Hoth or on the Rebel fleet from episode 5.

There are droid, other then Grevious, that have multiple arms. There is one that the Jawas are showing to the farmers in episode 4, the Imperial Probe Droid and one of the medical droids either on Hoth or on the Rebel fleet from episode 5.

I was thinking about the FX-7 Medical Droid and others like that, but those tend to be much smaller arms with dedicated tools at the end of each arm, not a number of multi-purpose arms, each of which can use a variety of tools.

In the case of droids with a larger number of arms with dedicated tools per arm, I wouldn’t increase the cost, or require them to buy cybernetic arms. They’d just have a bunch of tools built-in, each of which comes with its own dedicated arm.

Another example would be Astromech droids — R2 had a number of additional “arms” that held tools like a small circular saw or a fusion cutter, but I would treat those more like integrated tools with dedicated arms as opposed to separate arms that can hold tools.

On the other hands, most of the droids who do have integrated tools with dedicated arms are also not the types of droids most players would be likely to want to play.

My explanation on how I would handle a player with a droid PC that wants multiple arms was intended to cover the case of general-purpose additional arms, like Professor Huang or General Grievous, as opposed to droids like the FX-7 or R2-D2.

But you do bring up a good point. Thanks for mentioning that!

I have a player in my campaign who wanted to have a droid with 6 arms. I let him have it narratively. If he wants mechanical benefits from it he's gonna have to pay the price of the cybernetics. Might even consider the letting him pay the exp to buy the additional limb trait.

Haven't heard of multi-limbs yet. Sounds like they get an extra maneuver? Could you imagine a multi-limbed politico with Supreme Scathing Tirade and a stun grenade? Multiple groups of minions down in one turn!

4 arms? Just flavour it and maybe give boost and setback dice like you would other flavour aspects of a character, like size, looks and background. I played an astromech and it was not, mechanically, any different from other droids, but actions got flavoured differently in the narrative.

I seem to have the minority view here, but the books are pretty specific about the droid 'species'. They are very customisable (and frequently munchkinised because of this) but there's nothing there that says you can buy the special abilities of other species with XP. It states clearly what cyberware they can have and how it affects them.

As RodianClone says above, this kind of thing is best dealt with mechanically using black or blue dice for specific tasks (just like you can do for any species).

It seems wrong to take away the special abilities of certain races (particularly the better racial abilities like Xexto). I certainly wouldn't allow mechanical advantages for a fluff upgrade.

I've been thinking about how to handle this at my table quite a bit, and I've completely come around... right to where Maelora and Rodian are sitting.

It's a droid - they can buy and install cyberware or prosthetics to get customized. Heck, if the player decides to put on 6 arms and 4 legs, go for it. They either add standard cyber bonuses or they don't, and like some gear, they might add a blue or two in certain circumstances. Period. If the player wants to spend their cyber slots on a bunch of +1 Agility Arms, that's their prerogative. They can't go past +7.

No need for the Racials to get added in. Plus, that way each race gets it's own place to shine - including droids.

K.I.S.S.

Rules as Written can handle this just fine...

Anyway... I appreciate all of the feedback and thought people have put into this. Thanks for walking me through the thought process to come back to the core rules (LOL).

I'm impressed; you seem to have a great grasp of the game and the concepts behind it and I'm sure you'll be fine with however you want to play it

Actually one of the things I love about the game is that it's not like D&D3.5 and doesn't try to have a 'rule for everything'. The dice are great tools for - say - giving bonuses for various species. Angry wookiee flexes muscles and roars? Blue dice for intimidation. Wookiee wants to be an exotic dancer in the Neutron Pixies? Hey, I just found a use for those 20 black dice I have lying around!

I'm impressed; you seem to have a great grasp of the game and the concepts behind it and I'm sure you'll be fine with however you want to play it

Actually one of the things I love about the game is that it's not like D&D3.5 and doesn't try to have a 'rule for everything'. The dice are great tools for - say - giving bonuses for various species. Angry wookiee flexes muscles and roars? Blue dice for intimidation. Wookiee wants to be an exotic dancer in the Neutron Pixies? Hey, I just found a use for those 20 black dice I have lying around!

And you are obviously a being of exceptional wit and beauty, since we are in agreement on what an impeccable grasp of the game I have...

In all seriousness though...

I have to agree. I think the real strengths of the game are its flexibility, the rules-lite approach, and the dice mechanic. They combine into the best system I've come across in 35+ years of gaming.

And the members of this forum. Let's be real.

And you are obviously a being of exceptional wit and beauty,

Exceptional wit? Yeah, comes with 30+ years of GMing. I could do stand-up comedy if I wanted.

Beauty? I dunno, I'm not hideous, but I still get spooked by the washed-out old gamer lady who looks back at me from the mirror sometimes.

But yeah, seriously, it's nice to see a 'new' player/GM who knows when to put the brakes on their ideas, who considers all advice and seems to have a good grasp on the underlying concepts of the game.

We had a whole spate of people who came in wanting to start off characters with 5 or 6 in every stat, and when we advised why that would break the game, they said they were gonna do it anyway... despite coming onto a forum and asking for advice.

Don't get me wrong; I can break Rules As Written. I just try to give careful consideration to the consequences of doing so.

Well... I'm going to have to step back from my earlier position of just letting a droid slap as many arms and legs on as they want and calling it good with the standard cyber bonuses... sort of. RAW seemed a little unclear as far as that went, and the Ask the Developers sticky just added to the confusion - and so... I asked the Devs. Cuz that's what you can do, evidently...

Below is a transcript of my conversation with Sam, who was amazingly quick to respond to my questions, and super nice about it as well... and all this on 5/4... when you'd expect them to be more than a little busy.

Rules Question:
I'm looking for some clarification on cyberware. In an earlier 'question to the developers', you stated that "multiple cybernetics DO stack, to the maximum bonus of 7 for characteristics and 6 for skills." However, in the EotE Core Rulebook, under cyberarms, it states the following: "If a character replaces both arms with cybernetic enhancements, he must use the same model, as they are designed to work in tandem. However, the modifiers from both arms do not stack." Specifically - if a character expends two cybernetic slots to install two +1 Agility arms, does the character receive the bonus from both arms and increase Agility by +2? Thanks for the great game, and your answer...

Sam Stewart

Sam Stewart

Hm, that one’s total house-rule territory, so nothing I say here would be in any way considered an “official ruling.” But if I was running the game, giving the droid the Xexto or Besalisk species bonus makes sense to me.

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So there we have it folks... That's what you should do with your wanna be Grevious droids...

Again - big props to Sam for the quick and friendly responses. One more reason to love FFG .

EDIT - adding this to the sticky...

4 lightsaber combat sounds like breaking the system. Let's do this.

I wonder if you could do that with Repli-Limbs? Or do you need the advanced systems to be able to control and coordinate them?