I'm still new to the FFG Star Wars RPGs, so maybe I've missed something. Are there any rules for area effects? I see rules for blast and grenades, but what about something that isn't necessarily explosive? For example, let's say there's some falling boulders that will hit the whole party, or someone in a small vehicle attempting to ram into the party; how would this be done in the rules?

Give the falling rocks blast and use the collision rules for ramming easy peasy.

For the falling rocks, what I might do is instead make every party member that might be affected by the avalanche roll a check to avoid damage. The rocks aren't "attacking," they're not even sentient! so it's more on the characters to get out of the way, rather than on the rocks to hit the characters. Then, everyone in the area makes a check, and if they fail they take damage from having giant rocks fall on their head.

For the collision, since you've got a vehicle trying to hit a gang of soft meatbags, I'd have the pilot make a Piloting check as a combat check, with the base damage being the speed of the vehicle (multiplied by 10 against personal scale, as normal), and give it any reasonable weapon qualities, such as Blast (to hit more than one target) and Knockdown, 'cause...you know.

I'll admit to not being up on my collision rules, so it's entirely possible that those might replicate this better, but from memory I seem to recall them being good for vehicle/vehicle collisions, which are generally mostly fair, and not so good for vehicle/person collisions, which are generally not.

47 minutes ago, Absol197 said:

For the falling rocks, what I might do is instead make every party member that might be affected by the avalanche roll a check to avoid damage. The rocks aren't "attacking," they're not even sentient! so it's more on the characters to get out of the way, rather than on the rocks to hit the characters. Then, everyone in the area makes a check, and if they fail they take damage from having giant rocks fall on their head.

For the collision, since you've got a vehicle trying to hit a gang of soft meatbags, I'd have the pilot make a Piloting check as a combat check, with the base damage being the speed of the vehicle (multiplied by 10 against personal scale, as normal), and give it any reasonable weapon qualities, such as Blast (to hit more than one target) and Knockdown, 'cause...you know.

I'll admit to not being up on my collision rules, so it's entirely possible that those might replicate this better, but from memory I seem to recall them being good for vehicle/vehicle collisions, which are generally mostly fair, and not so good for vehicle/person collisions, which are generally not.

Do you think a contested Piloting vs Athletics/Coordination would be more appropriate for the collision situation? I mean the meatbags have as much chance to avoid the damage as the falling rocks. Have them each make the check vs the Piloting pool, and see if they are able to dodge out of the way.

It's a puzzler, but I think I would go with just a standard Piloting check as a combat check, and here's why:

1) As opposed to the rocks, which are non-sentient and just acting in accordance with gravity and momentum, the vehicle is being guided by an intelligence in an attempt to strike the targets. This means that the vehicle is going to swerve to try and hit the most targets, depending on how they scatter, and can adjust for how they move.

2) The targets can apply their Defense and any defensive talents they wish to the strike, as they work to avoid the collision the same way the driver is working to achieve a collision, so they're not out a means of defense. Plus, it's hard to avoid a speeding vehicle that's trying to hit you, even at boring old Earth-speeds.

3) I would have the difficulty be set based on a normal Piloting check, meaning 1/2 Speed and Silhouette being combined like a skill check. So the faster the faster the vehicle is going (and therefore the more damage it'll do), the harder it is to hit, as a tiny adjustment of the drive-stick will cause the strike zone to swerve wildly, but this balances out the damage increase.

My personal take, though. Others are encouraged to find what works for them!

5 minutes ago, Absol197 said:

1) As opposed to the rocks, which are non-sentient and just acting in accordance with gravity and momentum, the vehicle is being guided by an intelligence in an attempt to strike the targets. This means that the vehicle is going to swerve to try and hit the most targets, depending on how they scatter, and can adjust for how they move.

Right, and to me, the mechanic reflection of the vehicle swerving and trying to hit them, is the Piloting dice pool the people trying to not be hit would have to roll against. I mean, if it's an Ace Pilot with a dice pool that would translate to a 2 purple, 3 red pool, that's going to be REALLY hard for anyone who isn't equally skilled at GTFO'ing from danger to beat. Which would translate in the narrative as "You try and dive out of the way, but the pilot apparently played a lot of GTA 27 (Galactic Theft Auto), and kicks the tail end around and hits you! Take *insert damage*"

2&3

I guess it depends on which group is the PC's. If it was PC pilot hitting a group of minions for example, I'd just have them do a piloting check and be done with it. Number of suxx rolled = minions smooshed. But if it's an NPC pilot driving into the party, I think I'd prefer to have them contest the roll. That way, they each get a chance to dodge entirely.

Entirely reasonable. I'll admit that I have tested neither option, and so have no experience with this scenario. I think both methods have benefits and drawbacks, and can't really argue anything more than what I have because of my lack of experience.

I still like the "combat check" option better, because of the general trend of the system being actor agency (the person actively doing something is the one who rolls), but I can also see why your option might work better in certain situations, especially for groups where the pilot isn't necessarily aiming for one person in particular, but the mass of people. Who would you choose as the primary target for the combat check, in that case?

So, *shrug* . We've presented the two options, let the OP choose which they prefer!

Thank you, everyone! This gives me a lot to think about.

I agree that making the falling rocks an athletics/coordination check may be the best option. It makes sense to use your skills to avoid hazards like this.

For the vehicle ramming into a party, I like both ideas presented. While reading your answers, I tried to consider the collision rules (which, I agree, are probably best for vehicle/vehicle and not vehicle/person) and the silhouette of the vehicle. I think both ideas work well, depending on the circumstance. I think that a vehicle with a silhouette of a smaller size (in relation to how spread out the players are) with a pilot would use his skill for combat. Alternatively, someone untrained in the pilot skill, a vehicle with a very large silhouette (in relation to player spread), or simply someone only attempting to use the vehicle for speed and ramming with little regard for maneuvering, may be best represented with a skill check to avoid the vehicle.

For example, if a scout trooper on a speeder bike were to try to run through closely grouped players, I think using a combat check with the pilot skill would work best. The scout trooper would be able to use their piloting skill and the maneuverability of the vehicle to attempt to hit more players.

If the players instead found themselves in a storage warehouse and an enemy attempted to use an automated forklift to ram into the party, I may consider using a skill check. Unless that enemy had a decent piloting skill and was attempting to do more than ram the forklift at top speed in one direction, it seems more like a hazard to be avoided.

In a scenario with a skilled pilot using a much larger silhouetted vehicle that can hit all party members at once, a skill check may still be best. Unless the pilot's goal was something other than ramming directly into a large area at high speed, their pilot skill would probably do little to ensure more targets were in the attack spread.

What are everyone's thoughts on this?

9 hours ago, Absol197 said:

For the falling rocks, what I might do is instead make every party member that might be affected by the avalanche roll a check to avoid damage. The rocks aren't "attacking," they're not even sentient!

Oh, keep telling yourself that avalanche was a freak accident. That howling coming down the valley is surely just the wind, too. The constant sensation of being watched is merely paranoia.

16 hours ago, strangerous said:

If the players instead found themselves in a storage warehouse and an enemy attempted to use an automated forklift to ram into the party, I may consider using a skill check. Unless that enemy had a decent piloting skill and was attempting to do more than ram the forklift at top speed in one direction, it seems more like a hazard to be avoided.

.....you did NOT just give me a relevant excuse for this link did you? DID YOU?!

You did...and I thank you for it.