So, being somewhat new to the game, I'm still a tad bit confused by minion groups and how they take damage.

Lets take the humble 5-man stormtrooper squad. When grouped up they have a combined pool of 25 wounds, an individual treshold of 5 and soak 5. If a rebel scum heroic freedom fighter blasts the squad for 6-10 damage, they're mostly fine, since damage after soak has not exceeded the individual treshold of any one of them, so just note down the damage and move on. So far so good.
If the damage from an single hit reaches the 11-15 band, one trooper will actually go down, that much is also clear.

So, what if damage from a single hit reaches 16+? Can you take out multiple minions with a single hit? If not, is excess damage wasted?

What about critical hits? A crit is pretty much instant death to a minion, so what if you score enough damage to kill one AND crit? Is the crit "wasted" or do you take out another minion in the same group?
What about multiple hits? Autofire and Blast are pretty straightforward, but Linked and Two-weapon combat applies hits to the original target. Are a group of minions the same target?

The thing to realize is that an "Attack" in this system represents a series of individual attacks over the course of the round. Its not merely shooting once. It might be taking multiple shots with your blaster pistol from behind cover, it might be making a single well aimed shot; whichever it is, all that really matters is its overall effect is equal to the result of the dice.

A "round" in the SW RPG could easily represent a couple seconds, to a couple minutes. The actual definition of an round's length is that it long enough for a character to do something interesting. This isn't Pathfinder where a round is explicitly 6 seconds.

Consider that the detention center shootout as the heroes escape in ANH could probably have just been depicted as about a 2-3 round combat, the characters fleeing after the escape route is created by Leia. But despite being 2-3 rounds, you saw each character shoot numerous times, and many minion STs dead.

Admittedly, its been a long time since I've had a chance to play this system, so I'm not confident to make exact statements of how it works. I've always been under the impression that:

-1 crit = dead minion (subtract the wounds from the group total). And yes, that crit and damage are applied on their own, so easily could be looking at multiple dead.

-Each interval of lost minion health = 1 dead minion, i.e. if each minion has 5 wounds, and the group suffers 6 wounds after soak, then the group has lost 1 minion. If it suffers 11 wounds, it has lost 2. If it suffers 2 wounds in one attack, and 4 wounds later, it has suffered 6 total, and has lost 1 minion. And yes, groups of minions are the same target, its really supposed to make the game go quicker, not bog you down in tactical dice simulator.

KommisarK is entirely correct.

1. Yes, a combat check with sufficient damage can drop 2 or more minions.

2. A critical injury inflicted on the minion group insta-kills one minion, in addition to those downed by wounds. Note, however, that unless you score multiple separate hits (through for example auto-fire or two weapon fighting) you only drop one minion with a crit, so there's no point in stacking modifiers on it (triggering crit multiple times to get +10, +20 and so on).

3. A group of minions count as the same target for purposes of two-weapon fighting, so you can score a second hit on the same group causing even more damage.

Over time, as your player characters get stronger, using minion groups can get a little underwhelming. The action economy is badly skewered in favour of the PCs, unless you have a silly amount of minion groups. At some point you're going to want to use rivals instead of minions, particularly for those fights where you want your players to feel challenged.

The way I like to explain it is like this:

It is importnt to remember that in this system you do not roll attacks.. You roll combat checks, which represent the sum total of your attempts to hurt a foo' throughout the round. And seeing that rounds are described as being "roughy a minute" in duration, that is most definitely not a single swing of the glowstick, nor a single pull of the trigger. Each combat check, especially with a blaster, is likely between four and five actual shots fired, at minimum.

Onceyou have that idea in mind, taking down multiple Minions with a single action is no longer that difficult to grasp. If each time you roll to shoot at that squad it represents up to a dozen baster bolts flying, the end result of "three minions died" makes perfect sense: you shot 12 times and hit three or four of them (that second guy took a couple shots to down, you see).

So, as for your questions:

1: Yes, if after soak you deal 11 damage, you have taken down 2 Stormtroopers. If you deal 16, it's 3, 4 at 21, and the entire squad at 26;

2: Critical hits specificcally increase the damage dealt by the wound threshold of a singe Minion in the group. So, taking your example, before soak you dealt 16 damage, leaving 11 after the squad's 5 soak. But you then spend your Triumph to deal a crit, and you add back additional wounds equal to a single Trooper's threshold (5), increasing your damage to 16. So, because that's above the third Trooper's threshold, that crit enabled you to take down 3 Troopers instead of 2! Additional crits don't actually help here*, unless...;

3: You have multipe hits! The Linked and Auto-fire qualities, as well as two-weapon combat, can allow you to damage the target (in this case, the squad) multiple times. Each hit work exactly the same way: you calculate your damage, subtract soak, and then spend Advantage/Triumph to crit or use qualities as normal. If you have multiple hits, you can cit multipe times, greatly increasing the number of Minions you can slaughter.

* A new houserule I'm trying out is this: when citting a Minion group, the crit deals wounds equal to a single Minion's threshold, as normal, plus 1 for every +10 your crit roll would normally get. So each rank of Vicious, Lethal Blows, and extra crit activation is worth +1 damage. So far it's worked pretty well, but more testing is required.

That clears things up. I'm quite used to the "one attack represents several" from other systems, but it got a little confusing here with rules for multiple hits and such things.

Of course, If you really wanted to, you could probably mess with immersion a bit by using something like a bow that somewhat explicitly fires a singe projectile (Limited ammo 1) to take out multiple minions. Now, actively going around looking for game or immersion breaking 'sploits is admittedly a somewhat d*ckish thing to do (I can't help it, it's the game dev in me!) but now I have this mental image of a archer who specializes in lining up shots to skewer multiple opponents.

A shish-kebarcher if you will.

That clears things up. I'm quite used to the "one attack represents several" from other systems, but it got a little confusing here with rules for multiple hits and such things.

Of course, If you really wanted to, you could probably mess with immersion a bit by using something like a bow that somewhat explicitly fires a singe projectile (Limited ammo 1) to take out multiple minions. Now, actively going around looking for game or immersion breaking 'sploits is admittedly a somewhat d*ckish thing to do (I can't help it, it's the game dev in me!) but now I have this mental image of a archer who specializes in lining up shots to skewer multiple opponents.

A shish-kebarcher if you will.

Reminds me of the scene in the beginning of Deadpool where he headshots 3 guys with one bullet.

Alternatively, when I started out in this System and was still getting used to its narrative strengths a player of mine had such a wonderful roll that I described his single blaster bolt ricocheting around the room, killing multiple Rodian goons.

4 hours ago, penpenpen said:

That clears things up. I'm quite used to the "one attack represents several" from other systems, but it got a little confusing here with rules for multiple hits and such things.

Of course, If you really wanted to, you could probably mess with immersion a bit by using something like a bow that somewhat explicitly fires a singe projectile (Limited ammo 1) to take out multiple minions. Now, actively going around looking for game or immersion breaking 'sploits is admittedly a somewhat d*ckish thing to do (I can't help it, it's the game dev in me!) but now I have this mental image of a archer who specializes in lining up shots to skewer multiple opponents.

A shish-kebarcher if you will.

Again, the thing to recognize is that it just means that the attack was able to produce a result equal to what the dice say. It may be the archer shot a particularly sensitive power conduit which caused an overload and that took out the minions, or even that the wound inflicted by the archer was so alarming that it forced a minion out of cover and they were promptly gunned down by some other shooter. This is a highly narrative system, and there isn't really a need to rigidly state what an action is before hand, but rather to narrate what the action did from the dice pool results.

5 hours ago, penpenpen said:

That clears things up. I'm quite used to the "one attack represents several" from other systems, but it got a little confusing here with rules for multiple hits and such things.

Of course, If you really wanted to, you could probably mess with immersion a bit by using something like a bow that somewhat explicitly fires a singe projectile (Limited ammo 1) to take out multiple minions. Now, actively going around looking for game or immersion breaking 'sploits is admittedly a somewhat d*ckish thing to do (I can't help it, it's the game dev in me!) but now I have this mental image of a archer who specializes in lining up shots to skewer multiple opponents.

A shish-kebarcher if you will.

Also, and this is just me, but I found it helps teh narrative if you use grouping as a kind of cheat instead of a feature.

What I mean is, when you design an encounter set your minion groups up as if they were one character each. Always engaged, and operating one, and each group built to perform a function. That way you can kinda manage them more clearly in your head (3 minions with a total WT pool of 15 is roughly like a single 15 WT rival) and also avoid awkward narratives from spread out group members (My wookiee vibro-axes these two stormtroopers over here, and that third one on the catwalk just jumps off and commits suicide because he sees all hope is lost).

17 minutes ago, Ghostofman said:

(My wookiee vibro-axes these two stormtroopers over here, and that third one on the catwalk just jumps off and commits suicide because he sees all hope is lost).

To be fair, that'd be my reaction to a Wookie with a vibro-axe as well. Especially if it was modded.

6 hours ago, RicoD said:

Reminds me of the scene in the beginning of Deadpool where he headshots 3 guys with one bullet.

Or Indy on the Tank in Last Crusade looking surprised at killing three Nazis with one shot from the Luger.

3 hours ago, KommissarK said:

Again, the thing to recognize is that it just means that the attack was able to produce a result equal to what the dice say. It may be the archer shot a particularly sensitive power conduit which caused an overload and that took out the minions, or even that the wound inflicted by the archer was so alarming that it forced a minion out of cover and they were promptly gunned down by some other shooter. This is a highly narrative system, and there isn't really a need to rigidly state what an action is before hand, but rather to narrate what the action did from the dice pool results.

I know, I know. Since I've had a fairly solid background in tabletop wargames as an aside to RPGs, it has influenced how I read and write rules. I tend to err on the side of the least generous interpretations.

...still making the Shish-kebarcher though.

Just now, penpenpen said:

I know, I know. Since I've had a fairly solid background in tabletop wargames as an aside to RPGs, it has influenced how I read and write rules. I tend to err on the side of the least generous interpretations.

...still making the Shish-kebarcher though.

With an epithet like that, I think you're morally obligated to make it, now.

You could also design a minion group like they've suggested with an individual or two minions stated out who could become the casualties of that wookie but still keep the math simple and the game mechanics flowing quickly.

5 hours ago, Benjan Meruna said:

With an epithet like that, I think you're morally obligated to make it, now.

As it turns out, bows are terrible weapons for mowing down minions with mediocre damage and a terrible crit score. Nevertheless I present to you:

The Shish-Kebarcher
Rodian Seeker (Hunter)
Brawn 3, Agility 4, Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Willpower 1, Presence 2
Skills; Survival 2, Vigilance 1, Ranged (Heavy) 2, Stealth 1
Talents: Hunter

5 xp to spare

Knight-level upgrade:

Skills: Ranged (heavy) raised to 3
Talents: Expert tracker, Keen-eyed, Soft spot, Dedication (Agility 5), Intuitive Shot, Force rating +1, Sixth Sense

Weapons: Longbow with superior mod.

My first choice for race was a besalisk, due to their natural brawn score of 3 and 2 free maneuvers (reload + aim, every round with no strain) but crappy Agility and Cunning as well as low base xp made it too much of an uphill battle. Of course, this build would be tons more deadly with a blaster rifle, but the Shish-kebarcher believes in fair play as he sneaks up behind you and shoots you in the back.

Anyone up for making the Ascian Skewerer, capable of turning groups a minions to mush using only his single trusty throwing dagger? Considering the low crit rating it might even be a viable build!

Ranks of True Aim would really help that build.

A dagger staggerer? Oooooo!

I got a Verpine gunslinger, who might need a knife set for the silent killing jobs.

16 hours ago, penpenpen said:

As it turns out, bows are terrible weapons for mowing down minions with mediocre damage and a terrible crit score. Nevertheless I present to you:

Suns of Fortune has a Corellian Compound Bow, which I'm pretty sure is much more powerful. I would throw out the rule of using different skills for different ammo, though.

On 2017-01-25 at 2:43 AM, bradknowles said:

Ranks of True Aim would really help that build.

Yeah, but I limited myself to knight level and couldn't really fit another specialization in. Feel free to toy with it though!

18 hours ago, The Grand Falloon said:

Suns of Fortune has a Corellian Compound Bow, which I'm pretty sure is much more powerful. I would throw out the rule of using different skills for different ammo, though.

Damage and crit is the same, but the corellian bow trades long range for knockdown, and since knockdown doesn't kill minions...

So... imagining a minion group where the threshhold is 10 wounds, no soak, lots and lots of minions.

A gunslinger with two pistols lands two hits, each doing 10 damage (20 damage total), and manages enough advantage to trigger two crits.

How many minions die? Not one, even though two weapon fighting usually just hits one target, because the minion group *is* a target. You did enough damage to kill two minions... do the two crits kill two more?

25 minutes ago, Genuine said:

So... imagining a minion group where the threshhold is 10 wounds, no soak, lots and lots of minions.

A gunslinger with two pistols lands two hits, each doing 10 damage (20 damage total), and manages enough advantage to trigger two crits.

How many minions die? Not one, even though two weapon fighting usually just hits one target, because the minion group *is* a target. You did enough damage to kill two minions... do the two crits kill two more?

3 minions will die. If the wound threshold is 10, then one minion dies on the 11th point of damage and another every 10 points after that. If the gunslinger does 20 damage then one of the minions is one point away from death. The gunslinger can also kill two more minions with crits, provided there are enough advantages to trigger a crit on each of the two pistols. You can only score one crit per weapon, so if the gunslinger got 6 advantages and had weapons with crit ratings of 3 and 4, then only one of the weapons could have a crit triggered.

31 minutes ago, Genuine said:

So... imagining a minion group where the threshhold is 10 wounds, no soak, lots and lots of minions.

A gunslinger with two pistols lands two hits, each doing 10 damage (20 damage total), and manages enough advantage to trigger two crits.

How many minions die? Not one, even though two weapon fighting usually just hits one target, because the minion group *is* a target. You did enough damage to kill two minions... do the two crits kill two more?

Well, for the first hit you deal 10 damage and - no minion dies, because the first minion is down when the group has 11 wounds.

Then the gunslinger chooses to deal a crit on this first hit, adding 10 points of damage to the minions' wounds. They are now at 20 wounds, so one minion is down. Second hit adds another 10 wounds (30 total), therefore 2 minions down. The gunslinger chooses to activate a crit on the second hit, adding another 10 wounds. So now the minions have a total of 40 wounds and 3 of them are down (or possibly dead, GM's decision)

May the reloads be with you

Fred

And Dafydd was faster ...

25 minutes ago, GM Fred said:

Well, for the first hit you deal 10 damage and - no minion dies, because the first minion is down when the group has 11 wounds.

Then the gunslinger chooses to deal a crit on this first hit, adding 10 points of damage to the minions' wounds. They are now at 20 wounds, so one minion is down. Second hit adds another 10 wounds (30 total), therefore 2 minions down. The gunslinger chooses to activate a crit on the second hit, adding another 10 wounds. So now the minions have a total of 40 wounds and 3 of them are down (or possibly dead, GM's decision)

May the reloads be with you

Fred

And Dafydd was faster ...

Thank you, your analysis was cogent.