Edit: disruptor pistol*

Yesterdays session was a blast for a couple of trigger happy player characters in my game! And by all means, it was fun for me too.

They ended up on the uninhabited(?) planet of Myrkr and when they got attacked by the wolf-monsters known as vornskrs.

Witt no law-enforcers or witnesses around, two of the three players finally got to use their restrected toys, a lightsaber and a disruptor pistol.

The thing is that the gunslinger/gadgeteer with the disruptor pistol has 6 in agility, 3 ranks in ranged light, lethal blows talent and jury rigged talent that reduce the crit advantage to 1.

So basically he had an effective +100% on critical hits with most of his hits, combining vicious 4 from the pistol with +10% from lethal blows + 10% for every advantage beyond the first that activates the crit.

This was of course very cool in the given combat encounter! But as a GM I want to know how I could protect my favourite NPC`s from this mostrousity in future.

I don`t really think this will be much of a problem as the weapon i s restricted and can only be used some places and can be hard to sneak in just anywhere.

But I`m curious, how do you guys deal with or counterweight these things and do you even feel you have to in a game like this?

Multiple ranks in the Durable talent for key NPCs is extremely useful for this kind of situation. The PCs can still crit them to death, it just takes more than one shot to do so.

Then there are defensive talents like Coordination Dodge; it doesn't matter how horrific the crits you can inflict are when you're not landing enough successes to hit in the first place.

A third, more in-universe way, is to signal clearly that people carrying terrifying weapons like disruptors tend to shoot straight to the top of the enemy's "to kill"-list. One of my players sometimes carry a disruptor pistol into combat, and when he does he automatically becomes the primary target for every NPC who can see what he's wielding. Nobody wants to be hit by a disruptor, so taking him out first is a perfectly logical tactic.

Lotsa targets that shoot back.

If it continues to be a problem then can have a conversation with him asking him to tone it down some, if it drawing away from the enjoyment of the rest of the group.

You can break his toy, by spend a Triumph to break it

You can have it stolen and let them go on an adventure to see if they can recover them.

If it continues to be a problem then can have a conversation with him asking him to tone it down some, if it drawing away from the enjoyment of the rest of the group.

You can break his toy, by spend a Triumph to break it

You can have it stolen and let them go on an adventure to see if they can recover them.

Hasn`t been a problem. They have mostly been on populated planets and haven`t used their forbidden toys before this session on a remote planet against non-sentients.

And most of the time my players avoid combat as they know they can go down from one or two hits too...

There's plenty of equipment options for challenging PCs available. PCs in this game can spool up their lethality dramatically, but because of the variety of ways to impact them, even advanced PCs tend to be squishy in one way or another.

Someone can have a high Soak, but weapon effects like Ensnare and Concussive ignore this.

They can have a lot of Wounds, but as a result they likely have a poor Strain pool.

Melee PCs can be devastating, but Bola and Jet Packs confound them.

Ranged focused PCs with high a high Agility, tend to be glass cannons and are usually 'one hitter quitters'.

To have a high Soak, Strain, Wounds, and lotsa Defense, is not an easy task xp-wise and even then, triggering a weapon effect like Concussive just isn't that tough.

Add in environmental battle field constraints like barrels of highly explosive stuff, innocent by standers, the need to be stealthy, etc, and it really isn't hard to keep PCs on their toes.

Thanks, guys. Does the durable talent exist innate in armor or attachement?

Thanks, guys. Does the durable talent exist innate in armor or attachement?

Pretty sure there's a single armour attachment in Special Modifications - it gives you a fist weapon, I can't remember its name - that includes one Durable mod. I think that's it.

But there's absolutely nothing that prevents you as the GM from simply assigning an NPC however many ranks of Durable as you feel is needed. NPCs do not follow the talent trees.

Thanks, guys. Does the durable talent exist innate in armor or attachement?

Pretty sure there's a single armour attachment in Special Modifications - it gives you a fist weapon, I can't remember its name - that includes one Durable mod. I think that's it.

But there's absolutely nothing that prevents you as the GM from simply assigning an NPC however many ranks of Durable as you feel is needed. NPCs do not follow the talent trees.

Sure, but what is fair? .. To compare, aree there any specs that have more than one durable on the talent tree? Fringer and bodyguard only has one, right? Are there any adversaries, nemesis I guess, with more than one rank in durable?

I'm AFB,but I believe the Marauder has at least 2 ranks. And most Nemeses are the equivalent odd multi-spec characters, so more than that would be okay on a physical-type Nemesis. I probably wouldn't go above 5 ranks, but it's not unreasonable for a tough guy.

I'm AFB,but I believe the Marauder has at least 2 ranks. And most Nemeses are the equivalent odd multi-spec characters, so more than that would be okay on a physical-type Nemesis. I probably wouldn't go above 5 ranks, but it's not unreasonable for a tough guy.

I thought so too, but marauder doesn`t have any durable talents on the tree. Two enduring though.

I'm AFB,but I believe the Marauder has at least 2 ranks. And most Nemeses are the equivalent odd multi-spec characters, so more than that would be okay on a physical-type Nemesis. I probably wouldn't go above 5 ranks, but it's not unreasonable for a tough guy.

I thought so too, but marauder doesn`t have any durable talents on the tree. Two enduring though.

According to Oggdude's Character Generator (mouse over a Talent to see where else it is found), five specialisations have two durable, Commando, Cyber Tech, Gunner, Marshal and Shii-Cho Knight. Archeologist, Bodyguard, Enforcer, Fringer and Heavy have one.

Keep in mind that NPCs don't have to be "fair". They just have to be balanced against the party. Since we don't have to make NPCs using standard character creation rules, there are no boundaries from adding Durable talents to your favorite adversaries. In truth, there are some within the books - I'm looking at you, Rancor! - who could use a couple ranks in Durable to make them more, well... durable.

The gm must be fair, or else she could rain rancors on them non stop.

Disruptor pistol you are lucky the disruptor riffle on an assassin/gadgeteer can easily roll +130 on a crit. The simple thing to understand is that disruptors and light sabers are THE MOST POWERFUL weapons in the game in terms of pure killing power. Simply because they can viscious and can have crit rates of 1.

Don't be afraid to give powerful NPC appropriate RANKS in adversary 1 +1 for each 100 xp the pc's have is reasonable. After that you can give them 3 ranks in durable for bruiser type or large enemies like hutts. You can create an armor template or mods with durable but be forewarned PC's will eventually get this stuff and durable is one of the most powerful anti death traits in the game even stronger then a couple wounds or a rank in dodge.

Normally wounds do not Kill PC's crits do and the same is true for big NPCs.

The main way of controlling whether disruptors are used is 1. The darth vader way. (no disintigrations). 2. Being on a highly controlled core world of rich outrim world where such weapons are not permitted. 3. Ruling that disintigration means you get no loot.

These are your main tools for dealing with it, but just accept these weapons are extremely lethal and bad guys are going to have to plan for their use.

Don't be afraid to give powerful NPC appropriate RANKS in adversary 1 +1 for each 100 xp the pc's have is reasonable. After that you can give them 3 ranks in durable for bruiser type or large enemies like hutts. You can create an armor template or mods with durable but be forewarned PC's will eventually get this stuff and durable is one of the most powerful anti death traits in the game even stronger then a couple wounds or a rank in dodge.

...

The main way of controlling whether disruptors are used is 1. The darth vader way. (no disintigrations). 2. Being on a highly controlled core world of rich outrim world where such weapons are not permitted. 3. Ruling that disintigration means you get no loot

1+1 Adversary for each 100 xp they have or have earned?

And durable in adition to that from the get go?

I didn't understand 2. The Darth Vader way..

1 + 1 adversary for each 100xp earned. Durable x3 from the get go for large enemies and bruisers don't give it to a slicer enemy but a heavy or a body guard type.

sure. These are just baselines for your average Rival. The nemesis of your story can be even tougher.

So remember the scene in empire where vader hires the body guards and orders boba fett not to use disintigrations. You can have a powerful employer state that they want them alive or they want the head etc, which means using disintigrations means they dont get paid and probably made a new enemey.

My assassin/gadgeteer has a modded disruptor rifle. It's a beast he nicknamed "Party Pooper". It is pretty freaking deadly and melted a nemesis pretty quickly in a recent fight.

The thing is, that rifle is like a target on his back. If he goes anywhere there is civilization he's going to be seen as a threat by everyone. Even criminals aren't going to want him in or near their establishments. So most of the time it stays on the ship. If he really needs to take it somewhere he tries to hide it but that's risky.

She isn't big or armored. She is a badass, very disciplined, force-sensitive ISB agent with enhanced brawl and resilience.

The PC's have earned close to 200xp now I think

If you are having her as a nemesis I'd suggest giving her adversary 3 and the sense tree combat side maxed. Go with pressure point talent and deadly accuracy so she can literally knock out a pc in 1 punch. Give her 3 ranks in durable and that should help a lot with her survivability.

5 upgrades to difficulty so even a short range shot is going to be 3 red. I would suggest she wears some form of armor with defense as well even if its light armor give her a 2 or 3 defense rating

Don't forget about squads from the AOR GM Screen. Add half a dozen minions in squad formation with your big baddie, and that disruptor hit gets assigned to redshirt #1 who is vaporized. Repeat as necessary. The minions go down quick, but it adds a round or two to a rival or nemesis, without making them outrageously tough.

Another thing to keep in mind is if it's causing problems don't have them. 36 years of playing D&D and I never awarded or received a vorpal sword in game because they are too goddamn powerful.

Don't forget about squads from the AOR GM Screen. Add half a dozen minions in squad formation with your big baddie, and that disruptor hit gets assigned to redshirt #1 who is vaporized. Repeat as necessary. The minions go down quick, but it adds a round or two to a rival or nemesis, without making them outrageously tough.

I don't have that. How does squads work?

All thats above, ill add one more idea:

A Nemesis with Supreme Armour Master: Once per round as an incidental suffer 3 Strain to reduce a Crit suffered by 10 per point of soak, combine with a high soak and you have a solution.

This isn't something to do all the time, but for a one off duel or a recurring personal Nemesis Bounty Hunter for this PC it would work wonders

All thats above, ill add one more idea:

A Nemesis with Supreme Armour Master: Once per round as an incidental suffer 3 Strain to reduce a Crit suffered by 10 per point of soak, combine with a high soak and you have a solution.

This isn't something to do all the time, but for a one off duel or a recurring personal Nemesis Bounty Hunter for this PC it would work wonders

Good catch! I forgot about Supreme Armour Master. That will get the job done as well.