So this past weekend, our session went rather poorly, and in part it was because all of the combat encounters were completely dominated by one character. He is a Merc Soldier / Commando with a couple ranks of True Aim and a light repeating blaster. He literally killed the entire opposition in one combat check for one of the encounters. The other characters can't hold a candle to this guy's combat power.

It seems like this often happens, at least I have seen complaints about Auto Fire and True Aim in other threads. How can I craft combat encounters such that they challenge a combat-focused character but don't leave e.g. our Ace/Pilot completely out of it? Heck, even our Demolitionist with Grenade Launcher can't compete with this guy.

Are there any house rules for Auto Fire that tone it down without completely nerfing it? I'm already using a house rule where True Aim takes 1 strain per rank used, but it doesn't really help when one use of True Aim kills everything in sight.

The core rule book highly encourages GMs to be creative with the setting of combat encounters in order to avoid this exact problem. If your NPC opposition is clustered together like a group of goblins in a dungeon, Auto Fire and True Aim will end them instantly.

In order to both provide the Commando with a challenge and to give the other players an opportunity to participate in combat, NPCs need to be at different range bands, in different levels of cover (or elevation), and NPCs may need to be held in "reserve." Take a look at a classic Western movie climax: the lone drifter engages in a gun fight with the evil gang of cattle rustlers. Those bad guys aren't just standing on the street with their six-shooters in hand, they're on roofs, inside rain barrels and under the saloon walkway.

Something else to keep in mind is that FFG SW isn't the kind of game where you throw in a simple combat-based random encounter to pad out the length of the game. It has to have narrative merit. If you reduce combat to simply throwing the PCs' dice pools at the NPCs' unmodified dice pools, it's going to be short and boring.

Keep in mind, too, where the different combat encounters are taking place. There are a lot of places where characters shouldn't be allowed to carry light repeating blasters.

-Nate

Also, light repeating blasters are typically very restricted in most civilized areas. Local authorities, will usually harass or detain people that carry them in town. Also, make use of Threats and Dispares to damage the weapon. Have enemies come in from multiple vectors so they cannot all be shot at once. If the player does not have extra reloads (either the items or the talent) 3 threat or a dispare will prevent him from shooting.

I use the houserule one shot total, to include the initial hit, allowed per rank of Brawn with an unsupported Auto Fire weapon. They're still lethal but no absurd # of shots. That limits the number of separate target groups that can be hit, then it's just a matter of deploying the groups spread out. It's also very simple to implement.

I'm also a proponent of PCs aren't going to be able to carry support machine guns into many places because people aren't stupid.

You're not saying anything about what kind of opposition the players faced, so it's a bit tricky to give specific advice. Here's the best I can come up with, though:

1) Don't use minions. When the players are packing that kind of hurt, it's time to make everyone at least a rival.

2) Assign defensive talents to NPCs. Adversary, Dodge, Side Step, Defensive Stance, Coordination Dodge, Heroic Resilience, and so on.

3) Give proper gear to NPCs. Let them have decent soak (5+) and at least 2 Ranged Defence.

4) Play the NPCs smart. In this case, have a melee-specced NPC get up close with the "problem character" and stick to him like glue. Use Pin, or a weapon with the Ensnare quality to prevent him from opening the distance and maul him to death with a vibro-axe.

You're not saying anything about what kind of opposition the players faced, so it's a bit tricky to give specific advice. Here's the best I can come up with, though:

1) Don't use minions. When the players are packing that kind of hurt, it's time to make everyone at least a rival.

2) Assign defensive talents to NPCs. Adversary, Dodge, Side Step, Defensive Stance, Coordination Dodge, Heroic Resilience, and so on.

3) Give proper gear to NPCs. Let them have decent soak (5+) and at least 2 Ranged Defence.

4) Play the NPCs smart. In this case, have a melee-specced NPC get up close with the "problem character" and stick to him like glue. Use Pin, or a weapon with the Ensnare quality to prevent him from opening the distance and maul him to death with a vibro-axe.

I wholeheartedly disagree with this, expect 4 i merely disagree with the example.(Better just pepper them with stun grenades)

Increasing soak will only make the non repeater blaster wielders MORE useless.

And use MORE MINIONS break them down into mini squads of 4-5 and use 3-4 of them. And remember to space them out, put them out of short range (move to cover).

You can always have the bad guys constantly gang up on the combat monster with the LRB, and pretty much completely ignore everyone else. That would allow the others in the party to do other things, while the combat monster has to deal with a lot of targets coming at him from all different directions and ranges.

Like, the Mechanic/Slicer in the group could find a machine or device nearby that could be hacked and repurposed to fight the enemy. That could be anything from a Binary Load Lifter droid to a speeder to an AT-AT Walker, or whatever.

The Demolitionist in the group could be given time to set up his charges to blow the bridge up, or whatever else his target might be.

If it is done right, the end result could be that each member of the party could be allowed to shine at doing what they do best.

I never said that you should make ALL NPCs like that. Just enough of them to challenge the combat monster.

The problem with minion groups is that each time they get hit, they get worse at what they do. A single rival or nemesis is just as effective whether he has 0 wounds or is just on his threshold. And there's also the ridiculousness of the PCs slaughtering 50+ people every time there's a shootout.

Yeah, I gotta take the mea culpa to some extent, because I didn't really bother to set up much of a scene to make the fights interesting. The "big" fight happened in a necessarily pretty open area (huge moon pool leading to ancient Jedi refuge deep in the Naboo planet core). I should have moved it inside, where we had established there was lots of cover and stuff. Still, 1 setback for cover ain't gonna do anything.

In the most egregious encounter of the night, he killed 4 people on speeder bikes as literally the first combat check of the encounter (we did Pilot rolls before that since it was a chase). He targeted the minions, but I let him use an Auto Fire hit to hit the Rival who was leading the group. That was not correct, since the rival would have had at least one rank of Adversary. Outcome would have been about the same, though. At least he wouldn't have gotten them all in one go.

I like 2P51's Auto Fire rule, think I will use that, thanks!

Having a couple "tiers" of badguys is what I was thinking. Some for the light repeater to shoot at, and some for the rest of the party.

And yeah, there are times when I make sure he can't carry the LR, but I feel like I gotta let him use it some times or why have it? It's definitely his 'baby' and we've mined it for some hilarity in the past. Like with a dianoga made him drop it into a couple feet of murky water and he couldn't find it again! That was great.

Maybe what I need to do is give the rest of the party better weapons too. That way I could pump up the enemies' soak and everybody could still do some damage.

Thanks for all the suggestions and thoughts, guys!

Even when he can take the repeater, be sure to consider what it's like to have a repeater in that situation. An example I like to give is if the op is in a jungle, add 1 setback to rifles and 2 to anything bigger to represent how his weapon is catching on all the dense vegetation. This is also nice as you can do things like equip the opposition with carbines and smaller so you never have to remember to apply that setback yourself.

Always remember, a weapon is a tool; take the right tool for the job.

I like 2P51's Auto Fire rule, think I will use that, thanks!

Can't take credit. Don't remember who, but it was someone on the forum here.

Use the Force.... Reflect, Adversary and Move.

Really exposes the one dimensionality of characters that rely solely on autofire and big guns...

Or don't give him anything to shoot at.... Out-range him, use traps, vehicle-scale weapons, anything that requires them to think their way out of a situation rather than shoot their way out....

Unending lines of minions come to mind.... Waves of geometrically progressing groups of Stormtroopers...

Create situations where the group can't just kill everything willy nilly. In one of my adventures, the team visited Corfai to help a noble sympathetic to the Rebellion funnel money to the cause. Her public persona necessitated spouting Imperial propaganda to throw the ISB off. Unfortunately, only a few in the Rebel chain of command knew the noble's true loyalties. Some of the rank and file decided to take things into their own hands and take her hostage. These guys were allies, so the team had to figure out a way to defuse the situation and keep everyone alive.

In another adventure, the team had to solve a mystery in a remote mining colony. They were free to carry around whatever weapons they wanted, but the more dangerous they looked, the more frightened the inhabitants were. The team had to make a choice between packing major heat or trying their best to blend in.

As long as you include consequences for your group's actions, things balance out. Your Jedi wants to openly wave around his lightsaber and cut Imperials down in broad daylight? Now he has a bounty on his head and the interest of Inquisitors via added Obligation. This isn't a punitive action, but one that adds to the overall narrative of the game.

In the most egregious encounter of the night, he killed 4 people on speeder bikes as literally the first combat check of the encounter (we did Pilot rolls before that since it was a chase). He targeted the minions, but I let him use an Auto Fire hit to hit the Rival who was leading the group.

What sort of penalties did you assign to him shooting at the drivers of the bikes? Remember, while they have low Hull Threshold, Bikes are still vehicles and divide the damage by 10 dropping fractions. Also, if the bikes were moving did you modify the difficulty for them being moving targets.

When this comes up in my games, I add at least 2 setbacks and auto upgrade the difficulty by 1 for shooting at the driver. So with autofire, it is a base difficulty of RPPBB at medium range.

Why do the others have to compete with the combat monster? Do the others compete with the tech in fixing things? Do the others compete with the pilot for piloting?

Like several of the others have said here, you have to plan for the combat monster to be a monster in combat and make the encounters accordingly. Sometimes you have to make it so that he get to mow down a crowd of stormtroopers. Sometimes you have to make it so all he has is a Noisy Cricket, Then to screw with him have that dark Jedi reflect every thing the combat monster throws at him.

But you do have to arrange things so that others get something to do. Have a new opponent show up after the combat monster goes, one made for the others to fight. It takes some planning, and actually mandates some planning to make the encounters work, but that is also true for all the other portions of an adventure

Maybe curtailing the action isn't the right approach. Your player put together this character to grind through minions, so why not indulge it? A little ultraviolence never hurt anyone but the innocent bystanders killed by Despair's ugly head..and when you grant your minions Adversary 1 (this actually played really well at my table) you have a great chance for mayhem and dire consequences in every shot. Certain people will start to notice things like that.

One can factor this into combat encounters pretty easily, if the minions (rightly) only shoot at the most ridiculously dangerous gunner in the room and B.A. shoots only at them, it leaves the rest of the encounter open just like any other encounter. The slicer slices the systems, the sniper snipes, and the heavy lays waste to mooks. The players made characters to do the things they want to do.

I would suggest that you have Rival NPCs and use the Squad rules.

Have 2/3 three minions attached to your Rival. Then the squad rules mean that each hit kills a minion attached to your Rival.

You just remove 1 minion for each hit, regardless of damage dealt.

So, in this instance, it sounds like you set up a combat encounter that allowed the Commando to go hog wild without any real difficulty and without consequence. Auto Fire and True Aim weren't the problem and I don't see why you need to nerf them.

On the other hand, if other PCs didn't get to shoot anyone, so what? That was the exact situation where a Commando's abilities combined with the right equipment were in perfect synchronicity. FFG SW is a narrative game. It's not a tactics-heavy game like D&D where a bard having little to do in a combat encounter is going to result in a bored player. Combat is (usually) resolved incredibly quickly, not in 30-60 minutes. Like D&D. In my game on Saturday evening, the longest combat encounters maxed out at three dice rolls per player in the four hour session. More dice rolls were made in order to gain knowledge or overcome a technological difficulty.

I've found that combat encounters are almost never the memorable events of any role-playing game. It's the character-to-character interplay.

I'm going to reference the free, online checklist from "The List," from the Order66 podcast, to which I never listen.

A Quick Checklist for Solid Encounter Design in the Edge of the Empire RPG

1. Keep it LONG. Make sure your encounter area has room enough for 2 characters to be a Long Range Band from each other.

2. Versatile Success. Devise a way to complete the encounter without resorting to combat.

3. Cover. Creates, statues, machinery - be creative ! Put cover all over, next to wall and in open areas.

4. Elevation. Go for cinematic - but make sure it's accessible.

5. Creative Terrain. Spilled supplies, oil slicks, standing water, toxic sludge, fire, distorted gravity - make it memorable!

6, Skillful Action. Ensure combat skills aren't the only skills that can be used in combat. Leverage your encounter set pieces.

7. Triumphant Despair. Plan out possible Triumph and Despair results ahead of time, using unique qualities of the encounter area.

Generally, for auto-fire weapons I make the player declare how many extra hits they want to attempt, then upgrade their roll that many times. This will introduce some Despairs into the mix without you having to constantly burn Destiny points just for that one guy, and you can use them to jam or make the gun run dry, introducing narrative tension into what used to be cakewalks.

Also, don't be afraid to have a melee master join after the initial volley, jumping off a rooftop into melee, using the character's cover to keep him from backing away.

I like 2P51's Auto Fire rule, think I will use that, thanks!

Can't take credit. Don't remember who, but it was someone on the forum here.

Was it something that came up in the Linked Minions Are Awesome thread?

Which you might want to check out, Furious - we go on about making minions better with a couple of minor houserules.

I like 2P51's Auto Fire rule, think I will use that, thanks!

Can't take credit. Don't remember who, but it was someone on the forum here.

Was it something that came up in the Linked Minions Are Awesome thread?

Which you might want to check out, Furious - we go on about making minions better with a couple of minor houserules.

It wasn't that thread, it was an older one, but it might've been mentioned there. Just can't remember whose idea it was.

Just few thoughts. Does it have to be combat encounter (can you challenge the PC with other kind of encounters)? Can you give other type of encounters for other characters to shine on? Maybe combat encounters are your "combat monsters" moment in spotlight. Is it problem if other PCs have their spotlight time in other kind of encounters? Everyone needs to have his time in spotlight, but not in every encounter. Are you unconsciously encouraging combat monster, by keeping most encounters combat oriented? Generally I'd say that if one PC controls all combat encounters and enjoys it, add encounters which cannot be won by combat skills. Keep enough combat encounters in game to keep combat monster player happy, and bring enough other encounters there to keep others also happy. If all characters are combat oriented, but one dominates, then talk with your group. Do they think this is a problem? Do they see good ways to handle this problem?

And if you really want to take combat monster down, then remember that most professionals try to eliminate most dangerous threat first. So your combat monster would probably be target number one always. And depending on who he kills, he might have a nice mugshot with hefty bounty given to local bounty hunters. And if they are no match, then there will be others as his name spread around. Large bounty would also make life otherwise hard, because it he is generally recognised, then people may want to have nothing to do with him, because of possibility of being associated with him. Remember how most wild west gun slinger died. Rarely at old age while sleeping. Often shot at back by some younger punk who wanted to make his name famous. You may not have to actually kill the PC, maybe reminding player about these things will guide his actions.

But, at first I'd try to find out how players feel about combat monster and their spot light time. If there is a problem then I'd talk about possible solutions (one possibility being other characters get more non combat encounters.

And I think FFG SW is not very good and balanced tactical combat simulator. It's more story oriented game.

Wild idea: make rest of the campaign, or part of it, about (potential or certain) demise of the combat monster. Talk to him and plan together his story arch (either his character dies or retires at the end if he wins). Give your combat monster a change to make the ultimate sacrifice to save other PCs (this might actually work without mutual planning) . Then play it through. If other player don't know you two planned this, his death might insanely dramatic. I have noticed that when player feels he is controlling his character to planned death he will take it million times better than is GM just kills him of. Some of our best campaign moments in Exalted where when characters knew they where walking to almost certain death, but it was their decision, and nicely completed the arch.