This is my first pass at a battle droid hero for Imperial Assault campaign. Inspirations were K2S0 from Rogue One, the HK Assassin droids you get as allies in the Knights of the Old Republic games, and Federation heavy battle droids from the prequels.

Please let me know what you think, if he seems interesting and balanced. And if you have any name recommendations those are welcome as well!

Imposing figure for 1xp seems to be really good - you can weaken any 2 Imperial figure's without restriction (ex. activate Battle Droid first, double move then weaken the 2 Royal Guards)

I'd probably change it to:

"within 3 space" -> "adjacent"

"2 small" -> "a small figure with figure cost <= threat level"

"end your activation" -> "start of your activation" (gives Imp a way to work around it since Rebels always go first each round)

or any of combinations of the above

Guns Blazing I'd probably change it to something on-par with Jarrod from HotE because apparently designers have noticed giving unrestricted attacks can be OP in late-campaign

Integrated System might have the same problem (might be abused by attachments)

Jarrod's 4xp card:

The rest looks pretty balanced

I like this quite a bit. I think it looks solid.

-Overcharged is great.
- I agree that Imposing Figure is a tad strong, because it can be used offensively. Only 1 unit is probably fine.

-For Compensation Stabilizers, I think you should remove the exhaust from the middle option. But add a limit once per round restriction to all 3 options. This would further reinforce the theme of requiring 2 different weapon types.
-I think Integrated Systems is fine too, and helps offset the fact that you want 2 weapons. It essentially gives an extra mod slot but I think that is fine.

-Wrist Rocket is great.
-Defensive Turret seems a bit on the weak side to me.

-I think Guns Blazing is fine, requiring a another target and another weapon is fairly restricting. It is very similar to Verena's Combat Mastery skill and that is only 1 strain so I think this should also be 1 strain. I think the wording is off tho.
-Enhanced Exoskeleton is okay, but I am not sure I would buy it.

I do also feel that it should maybe be 4 endurance, especially if you make Guns Blazing 1 strain.

Integrated systems looks awesome, easily my favorite in this set.

I have a different suggestion for Imposing figure, though. Turn it into “At the end of your activation, take up to two strain tokens. For each token taken choose one figure within x spaces, the chosen figure(s) become weakened.”

That way you still get the timing advantage, but with a fair cost.

I do have to disagree with @Deadwolf on the Defensive Turret. It’s an automatic damage that’s hard to avoid. It’ll cause some tough decisions for the IP.

for me the combination of the starting gun and superior targeting are too powerful too early.

Red and Green is bad enough on a starting weapon but combined with the ability to force a defensive reroll.

Without actually doing the maths I suspect we are talking 5 to 7 dmg against a black dice with no equipment or XP round 1.

At 12xp and DXR with tactical display , overcharged ,compensating stabilisers, integrated systems, wrist rocket and guns blazing.

I calculate that at about 5-6 for each dxr shot +3 for the wrist rocket and a 2nd shot with starter gun another 2-3 for 1250 spent on gear.

So somewhere in the region or 14-18 dmg (with 3 of that unavoidable) per round vs a black die with average gear on possibly 3 separate targets (enough to probably wipe a full E storm trooper squad).

Note this is without even buying a second gun and attachment.

The starting weapon is fine. Because it does not have surge. At RG it has 37% chance of 3 dmg. Gaarkhan's weapon has 38% of 3 dmg. So if you are not at range 1, it is actually somewhat weak

The defense reroll is strong but no more powerful than some other starting abilities.

37% of getting 3 dmg is fine except you can force a reroll.

So you shoot at 2 different storm troopers and chances are forcing a reroll will be the difference between killing one of the 2

Wrist rocket will almost certainly finish the second.

Very very few characters can reliably kill 2 storm troopers round 1.

4 hours ago, domiuk said:

37% of getting 3 dmg is fine except you can force a reroll.

So you shoot at 2 different storm troopers and chances are forcing a reroll will be the difference between killing one of the 2

Wrist rocket will almost certainly finish the second.

Very very few characters can reliably kill 2 storm troopers round 1.

Rerolling an enemy defense die isn't as good as you think it is. On a black die, you would only use it on a 2 or 3 block typically. On a 2 block, you only have a 50% chance of bettering your damage and 1/6 chance to worsen it, a pretty bad deal for 1 strain. Obviously really good against a 3 block result or a dodge, but they only come up so often. So yeah, I think it is perfectly fine.

On 10/28/2017 at 2:15 AM, ricope said:

Imposing figure for 1xp seems to be really good - you can weaken any 2 Imperial figure's without restriction (ex. activate Battle Droid first, double move then weaken the 2 Royal Guards)

I'd probably change it to:

"within 3 space" -> "adjacent"

"2 small" -> "a small figure with figure cost <= threat level"

"end your activation" -> "start of your activation" (gives Imp a way to work around it since Rebels always go first each round)

or any of combinations of the above

Guns Blazing I'd probably change it to something on-par with Jarrod from HotE because apparently designers have noticed giving unrestricted attacks can be OP in late-campaign

Integrated System might have the same problem (might be abused by attachments)

Jarrod's 4xp card:

The rest looks pretty balanced

For Imposing Presence, I agree it might be too strong. I like the suggestion of limiting it to figures less than or equal to the threat level, so you can't wreck anything too strong with it.

Guns Blazing I agree is very strong; I think the 2 weapon and 2 different target limitation, as well as the high strain cost, helps make it more balanced, but it can get extremely powerful. Maybe there's some way I can restrict it further to keep it from scaling to strongly into the late game.

For Integrated Systems - I think it probably can be "abused," but the net benefit you get from it might end up being on par with an ability of its cost. I might make it 3XP and make the secondary effect (currently +2 HP) a little better.

On 10/28/2017 at 4:02 AM, Deadwolf said:

I like this quite a bit. I think it looks solid.

-Overcharged is great.
- I agree that Imposing Figure is a tad strong, because it can be used offensively. Only 1 unit is probably fine.

-For Compensation Stabilizers, I think you should remove the exhaust from the middle option. But add a limit once per round restriction to all 3 options. This would further reinforce the theme of requiring 2 different weapon types.
-I think Integrated Systems is fine too, and helps offset the fact that you want 2 weapons. It essentially gives an extra mod slot but I think that is fine.

-Wrist Rocket is great.
-Defensive Turret seems a bit on the weak side to me.

-I think Guns Blazing is fine, requiring a another target and another weapon is fairly restricting. It is very similar to Verena's Combat Mastery skill and that is only 1 strain so I think this should also be 1 strain. I think the wording is off tho.
-Enhanced Exoskeleton is okay, but I am not sure I would buy it.

I do also feel that it should maybe be 4 endurance, especially if you make Guns Blazing 1 strain.

Thanks!

For Compensating Stabilizers: I like the idea of limiting each one to once-per-round, but I don't know if I could fit that on the card. I'm going to reduce the accuracy bonus for pistols to 2 (maybe even 1), and change the reroll effect for Heavy weapons to 1 die. I think that will make all of the abilities a little more reasonable for a 2XP card.

Integrated Systems either gives an extra mod slot (for a mod you need to exhaust) or lets you double down on a non-exhausting mod when you use Overcharged and Guns Blazing. Based on that I might need to move it to 3XP and bump up the secondary ability power by a bit (not sure what's a little better than 2HP; maybe just 3HP? For 3XP that might be okay).

Defensive Turret is a big question mark for me. In some ways it seems really strong, but it might be easier to play around it than I think. So I don't know; I need to do some playtesting.

What's off about the Guns Blazing wording? I wasn't quite sure how to word it. And I made it 2 strain because I think 2 ranged attacks is a bit stronger than a melee attack and a ranged attack. You just have a lot easier time positioning for it, and I think making it cost an extra strain is probably a reasonable cost for that.

Yeah, for Enhanced Exoskeleton I kind of wanted to give a more defensive off-build for him, maybe focusing on Imposing Presence, Enhanced Exoskeleton, Wrist Rockets and a shorter-ranged weapon. But you're right that it's probably not as effective as just making him a glass cannon.

Nice! Looks like Mister Bones got further upgraded!

One more try to convince you the droid is way overpowered.

The droid has no weakness.

Immune to effects is very powerful.

Reroll of defence is very powerful, ruins a white die.

Guaranteed damage from wrist rocket is extremely powerful.

Starter gun is very powerful with high damage and the ability to restore health against easy targets.

Single target damage is excellent and high teens damage is perfectly possible every round. (+1 damage card,+ surge card and an extra attachment is too much)

Multi target is even better with the ability to attack 4 separate targets!

16 health in laminate is good as well so not even a glass cannon.

None of the abilities are overwhelming on their own but the entire package is way too much.
He needs to be weak in some area and really should not be good at both single and multi target.

I'm sorry, but you are making statements and not providing any reasons/evidence (like real math) why you think so.

- Does any hero have a "weakness"? I'm not sure what you are expecting.

-The only thing the droid is immune to is medical cards, and those are beneficial.

-Rerolling enemy defense die is only good vs 3 block and dodge results, otherwise it is 1 strain for a 50% chance at a better result. Good but not insane.

Wrist Laser (as in the blue die) is not guaranteed damage. It averages 1.33 dmg. That is fine. Wrist Rockets can make it guarantee damage but that is 3xp.

The damage calculator disagrees with you on the starting weapon. Without a damage surge, it is actually quite weak unless in range 1, then it is average.

I have spent a lot of time on the damage calculator and playing the game I can tell you that doing double digit damage is rare even for the strongest single target dmg characters. He has nothing even remotely close to Mak's No escape for single target dmg. It is mediocre at best and will be nowhere close to double digit damage.

Its multitarget damage is good as that is the point but again, no stronger than other multi dmg characters such as Verena. He can onky get 3 attacks since you can only use Guns Blazing once...

Laminate armor can be used on all heroes and by that logic many heroes can reach 16 HP. 16 HP with a static block is quite tanky, but he gives up a bunch of dps for that.

17 minutes ago, Deadwolf said:

I have spent a lot of time on the damage calculator and playing the game I can tell you that doing double digit damage is rare even for the strongest single target dmg characters. He has nothing even remotely close to Mak's No escape for single target dmg. It is mediocre at best and will be nowhere close to double digit damage.

For me this is the key I absolutely agree with you double digit single target dmg is rare.

Give this guy a DXR and tactical display at a perfectly reasonable 1250 credits

He gets +1 dmg first shot and he has 2 guaranteed surges one from tactical display one from his rifle card.

DXR with a guaranteed surge for me shows 67% chance of 6 +1 so 6-8 first shot then 5-7 for the second or 13 + the likely 3 from wrist rocket is 16 damage.

The fact that he can force a reroll on either of the defence rolls is just extra icing.

Now when you consider he could also have another shot at something else with a different gun....

24 minutes ago, domiuk said:

For me this is the key I absolutely agree with you double digit single target dmg is rare.

Give this guy a DXR and tactical display at a perfectly reasonable 1250 credits

He gets +1 dmg first shot and he has 2 guaranteed surges one from tactical display one from his rifle card.

DXR with a guaranteed surge for me shows 67% chance of 6 +1 so 6-8 first shot then 5-7 for the second or 13 + the likely 3 from wrist rocket is 16 damage.

The fact that he can force a reroll on either of the defence rolls is just extra icing.

Now when you consider he could also have another shot at something else with a different gun....

Well when I said double digit damage is rare, I meant in a single attack.

Doing double digit damage in a single activation is common. Some characters can even do it easily in tier 2.

But i will give you one point, in that upon rereading Wrist Rockets. It does seem too strong. 1 dmg plus red die for 1 strain is a little too good.

Yeah, Wrist Rocket is incredibly powerful, especially for only 3XP.

Wrist Laser , though, I really like. Honestly, with a single damage being a likely outcome and costing one strain, it's a bit of a gamble for the Rebel. But, with a well chosen target, it could be a fantastic Vinto-esque way of taking down an enemy's last health without wasting an action, so I think it's both viable and balanced.

I agree that Wrist Rockets is too strong. It ends up being about 2 extra damage for no additional cost, which is too high for a 3XP. 3XP basically give you a flexible 1 damage at no cost, or a conditional 1.5 damage, or a flexible 1.5 damage at a cost. Since he's already so strain heavy I don't want to increase the cost, so I think a more balanced version would be:

The damage still needs toning down.

I suggest that +surge on a rifle is way too much on compensating stabilisers this combined with the extra attachment and +1 dmg is pretty much +5 damage a turn.

Even with your toned down wrist rocket you have 7 damage before you have rolled a die.

Updated abilities based on feedback (from here and BGG):

I changed Imposing Figure to 1 small hostile figure (might further change that to a figure less than or equal to the threat level, and add some other small effect), reduced Compensating Stabilizers to +2 Accuracy and 1 Die reroll, reduced Defensive turret to 2XP (and made it an exhaust, but easier to trigger), and increased Integrated Systems 3XP.

Aside from maybe modifying Imposing Figure to figure costs <= the threat level (so you can't intimidate Vader ) but get some other benefit or option, I think I might change the Rifle effect of Compensating Stabilizers to reduce the power level a bit. Maybe I will make it on declare, or let you use it multiple times but change it to "+1 Surge, -1 Damage" (though that seems to be copying Drakotta a bit...). Any ideas for either of those?

I also had a thought about Guns Blazing - I might change it to:
"Double Action (and maybe 1 strain?): Move up to a number of spaces equal to your speed, then perform 2 ranged attacks. Each attack must have a different weapon and target."
That gives it the same action economy without letting you do 3 attacks total during your activation, and gives him a little bit of mobility. It also probably evokes the idea of "running in guns blazing" a little better. My only worry with that is that, once you get that ability, you would probably just do that every activation you could, which might not be that interesting.

I think the problem with compensation stabilizers is the disparity. The rifle bonus is considerably stronger than the other 2. And the surge would combo very strongly with Plasma Cell and it would make him hit really hard with tier 3 weapons. What about a simple Pierce 1?

I dont mind the idea of changing Guns Blazing to a double action with move. However, I think you should remove the different target restriction, but still keep the different weapon restriction. Especially if you keep it 2 strain.

I like the idea of switching Integrated and Turret. But honestly, i think Turret is really bad now, 1 damage per turn that isnt guaranteed isnt good. Honestly i like the previous text for 2xp. Yes, free damage but it is controlled by the imperial player, and it is damage done after the figure activated.

Also, how were you planning on allowing him to get his reward? Are you also creating a mission?

46 minutes ago, Deadwolf said:

I think the problem with compensation stabilizers is the disparity. The rifle bonus is considerably stronger than the other 2. And the surge would combo very strongly with Plasma Cell and it would make him hit really hard with tier 3 weapons. What about a simple Pierce 1?

I dont mind the idea of changing Guns Blazing to a double action with move. However, I think you should remove the different target restriction, but still keep the different weapon restriction. Especially if you keep it 2 strain.

I like the idea of switching Integrated and Turret. But honestly, i think Turret is really bad now, 1 damage per turn that isnt guaranteed isnt good. Honestly i like the previous text for 2xp. Yes, free damage but it is controlled by the imperial player, and it is damage done after the figure activated.

Also, how were you planning on allowing him to get his reward? Are you also creating a mission?

I agree that the bonus for the rifle is stronger than the other two - that's why I suggested reducing it in my previous post . Pierce 1 might work balance-wise, but I'm trying to evoke the "compensation" theme by making up for the weaknesses of each weapon type, and as far as I could tell the weakness of rifles is low surge results. So maybe change it to "exhaust when you declare an attack with a rifle to apply +1 surge" to make it more balanced.

I don't think I'd keep guns blazing at 2 strain if it was a double action. I'd probably reduce it to 1 strain, so the 2 targets restriction would probably still be appropriate. But I'm not sure I like it at 2 actions; it's pretty limiting.

Yeah, I still don't know quite what to make of Defensive Turret. It really just needs some playtesting I guess.

As for the reward, I may make a mission for him (though I have no experience with that, so it would be hard to balance), but until then I'll just play a different side mission and give him his reward instead of whatever the mission reward was.

The balance discussion has been interesting, but I think the most important bit is whether or not the pictured miniature exists in the correct scale, and if so, where can it be purchased?

I honestly think the droid is simply too powerful.

DEFINITELY add the part about the threat to the Intimidate ability, maybe even can't use it on anything with a cost equal to the current threat -1 (so it caps at a threat of 5).

He needs something that makes him significantly weaker. Significantly. Right now, I'd say he would be literally the best Hero in the current game in terms of single target damage and multi-target damage versatility.

Maybe even make him even more "combat droidy", I remember back in SW Saga Edition which was also a grid-based star wars game, Droids couldn't make mechanics checks on themselves without a penalty unless they had a feat.

Maybe add another sentence under the Mechanical header that says something along the lines of you cannot use the rest action. twice per round, any adjacent Hero may make an insight check and spend an action; on success you heal strain and then damage an amount equal to your Endurance just like if you rested, on a fail, nothing, but that Hero gets their action back and can do something else. Then, replace one of his 4xp cards with an ability called "Heuristic Processor" which lets him rest, but each time he rests he reduces the number of times a player can make an insight check to remove his strain/damage by 1. Or maybe make it so his resting ONLY removes strain until he purchases the 4 exp card and in order to recover damage other Heroes have to repair him.

Currently I wouldn't let this droid hero participate in any game of mine unless it's player agreed to give the Imp player two class decks and a bonus 1xp each mission.

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