The Complete Species Guide

By Yaccarus, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

2 hours ago, Yaccarus said:

Yep.

Lucky that I looked at this thread when I did, I was about to do it myself :P

Edited by tiederian
Misquote

Is there player stats for the Dowutin please?

latest?cb=20160123130323

I have a challenge for you once Solo: A Star Wars Story comes out on DVD (Or you can see it out of theatre by other means)

[Tiny Spoilers for Solo]

The challenge is to name (if you can't find a canon name for the species) and stat every single alien species you can get at least a pretty good look at in the movie.

There's quite a few unknown species (to me at least) in the movie, I can remember at least 4 at Lando's sabacc table when they first meet him.

Key locations to find these kinds of species would probably be Dryden's Yacht, Lando's sabacc tables, the one at the beginning when they meet him (also try and look through the bar where said sabaac table is located) and the table at the end of the movie when Han wins the Falcon from him, and the mine on Kessel ran by the Pyke Syndicate.

Bonus points if you can find the names of the native species of the mud planet Han fought for the Empire on and the snow planet Han and Beckett robbed the train on and then stat the native species of said planets.

More bonus points for statting Moloch's species, Rio Durant's species (if they arent already I wouldnt know), and the species of the Pyke Syndicate.

As I said, it's a challenge, but it'd be really cool if you did it :)

Edit: Saw you said you already satted the Pykes so you already have earned yourself a few bonus point :3

Edit 2: Also if you need help I’d be happy to try and stat some species. I just took a look at your possible species list and even if you didn’t take on what I’ve said here you still have a ton of stuff to do. I’m sure I’m not alone in offering help so if you need it I’m quite sure there are some people who would offer it to you.

Edited by MiracleDev
12 hours ago, Ogrebear said:

Is there player stats for the Dowutin please?

latest?cb=20160123130323

Those guys look a lot like the Zexx from Tales of the Jedi .

While sending everything into the CharGen, I also came across (you guessed it) a lot of errors.

The biggest recurring issues that I have found:

  • Incorrect plurals for the species names
  • Numbers written out instead of with the symbol ("two" instead of "2") in the stats section
  • Descriptions written out as singular instead of plural ("Medical Background" instead of "Medical Backgrounds") in the stats section

I've uploaded a v4.1 that has these changes. It also includes

  • Stats that more resemble those from recently released species. (Skakoan, Thispiassian, Vurk) (No changes to Bith. FFG did not do a good job statting them.)
  • Khommite, Mantellian Savrip, Ongree, Pyke, Srakan, Yevetha
On 2/7/2018 at 11:35 AM, Kualan said:

I am considering transferring the data from the guide into a custom dataset for Oggdude's Character Generator - not sure if I'll find the time to do this just yet but if it comes around are you happy for me to share it with folks?

Well, that's done now...

I still owe you Yinchorri, don't I?

On 6/7/2018 at 9:37 AM, MiracleDev said:

Bonus points if you can find the names of the native species of the mud planet Han fought for the Empire on and the snow planet Han and Beckett robbed the train on and then stat the native species of said planets.

The mud planet that Han was fighting on was Mimban (from Splinter of the Mind's Eye fame). According to Star Wars Legends, two species, the Mimbanites and the Coway, are native to Mimban.

8 hours ago, mjacobson said:

The mud planet that Han was fighting on was Mimban (from Splinter of the Mind's Eye fame). According to Star Wars Legends, two species, the Mimbanites and the Coway, are native to Mimban.

Should I add those guys? The only full images for either of them are black and white line drawings.

All I can say is that if I start including line drawing only species, that might open up a Pandora's box of work.

The scary thing isn't that I've 60+ species that need doing.

The scary thing is that I'm adding them way faster than I'm doing them.

3 hours ago, Yaccarus said:

Should I add those guys? The only full images for either of them are black and white line drawings.

All I can say is that if I start including line drawing only species, that might open up a Pandora's box of work.

There are full colour pictures and canon info in the Solo: A Star Wars Story Visual Guide

Yaccarus,

I think I'm speaking for a large portion of us by saying that there would be no upset at all in you drawing a line to finish what you have before too many submissions and requests are submitted. After all, as you said, just the surface scratching of black and white is Pandora's box. You've done so much to enhance our game, and with your coming additions, I personally am beyond ecstatic and I know I'm not alone. Thus, do only what you can and draw the line where you will. There are always later versions for coming years ahead.

Your stats make perfect sense and add incredible flavor where it was desperately needed. My players consider them gospel.

Thank you again.

Yaccarus, I am so blown away.

A triumph as I expected..

Your work with Sephi is outstanding.

I can't thank you enough.

So Yinchorri and Sarkans are both cold-blooded reptiles with 312231. Coincidence?

On 6/14/2018 at 6:12 AM, Yaccarus said:

Should I add those guys? The only full images for either of them are black and white line drawings.

All I can say is that if I start including line drawing only species, that might open up a Pandora's box of work.

The Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide by Pablo Hidalgo has pictures of a race they call the "Mimbanese" or "Mimabanians". They are red-skinned aliens, which means they are not the "greenies" from the Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mimbanese

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Iasento

Edited by mjacobson
added links
4 minutes ago, mjacobson said:

The Solo: A Star Wars Story The Official Guide by Pablo Hidalgo has pictures of a race they call the "Mimbanese" or "Mimabanians". They are red-skinned aliens, which means they are not the "greenies" from the Splinter of the Mind's Eye.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/186wIcyjsOhnSlaeUovSfSNisWwLD-sElwohk6v4o8Yg

9 hours ago, Yaccarus said:

I absolutely love your guide, but the strict adherence to Legends is the only thing I don't care for. In my Star Wars there is a place for all species, (canon, legends, homebrew) the more the merrier. I will continue to use and enjoy, and greatly appreciate the love you have put into this project, I will just add more of my own as the wonderful movies keep giving us more. Thank you Yaccarus.

I just went through your guide yesterday and am very disappointed with the Zeltrons. I much prefer the version of them in the USM. First, there's a huge problem with simply applying the same "pheremone" feature as the Falleen; that being that the reason why Falleen are required to suffer Strain to activate their pheremones is because they have conscious control over how potent they are. Falleen have to consciously activate their pheremones. By contrast, Zeltrons' pheremones are always active; their pheremones are released constantly without conscious control; the particular type being dependent solely upon what mood the Zeltron is currently in. No matter what, though, Zeltrons don't have any conscious control about how much Pheremone they give off . As such, they always have a bonus to their Charm, Deception and Negotiation checks. Second, the idea that despite their empathy, they are still more susceptible to deception is hogwash . Zeltrons' empathy makes them very resistant to deception. As such, the stats below from the USM are far more accurate:

Brawn 2, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 1, Presence 3

Wound Threshold 10 + Brawn

Strain Threshold 10 + Willpower

Starting XP: 90

Special Abilites: Zeltrons begin the game with one free rank in Charm. They may not train Charm above Rank 2 during character creation

Empathy: Add one Setback to all incoming Charm or Deception rolls that target the Zeltron.

Pheremones: Zeltrons add one Advantage to all Charm, Deception, and Negotiation rolls.

So, your thoughts on Zeltrons did inspire me to reconsider things a bit; I didn’t really like that profile to begin with anyway.

Subconcious pheromones are an interesting point, I agree to remove the strain penalty. However, I do want to keep it consistent with Falleen in that it’s an upgrade and not an advantage. Anyway, the effect of it on Deception is what puzzles me. If the pheromones are subconscious, then they wouldn’t help a Zeltron be persuasive. If anything, they would betray their true duplicity. I would argue that they would upgrade the difficulty of Deception checks. However, Dejah Duare did deceive Jax Pavan, so I was tempted to offer that Zeltrons could remove the penalty for strain. However, I remember that Pavan would telekinetically push pheromones away, so I suppose that her successful Deception had nothing to do with pheromones.

I’ll keep the increased strain threshold because they are typically in good shape, have excellent metabolisms, have a good tolerance for alcohol, and need stamina for... you know.

The telepathic ability should cover what you need for making it hard to do social checks against them. Just like with Gotal, I’ll leave the benefits of sensing emotions a situational thing that is up to the GM.

I also realized that the idea of suffering strain for telepathy doesn’t make much sense, and that it also doesn’t make sense for Gotals or H’nemthe. So that’s changed.

I think that Cunning can go up to 2 with the pheromones being less valuable and the need for increasing XP being reduced.

Edited page: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W2mOqXsH07fMTSbyp6IpiC86-Np0zalBS40feAfd_Rk

21 hours ago, Yaccarus said:

So, your thoughts on Zeltrons did inspire me to reconsider things a bit; I didn’t really like that profile to begin with anyway.

Subconcious pheromones are an interesting point, I agree to remove the strain penalty. However, I do want to keep it consistent with Falleen in that it’s an upgrade and not an advantage. Anyway, the effect of it on Deception is what puzzles me. If the pheromones are subconscious, then they wouldn’t help a Zeltron be persuasive. If anything, they would betray their true duplicity. I would argue that they would upgrade the difficulty of Deception checks. However, Dejah Duare did deceive Jax Pavan, so I was tempted to offer that Zeltrons could remove the penalty for strain. However, I remember that Pavan would telekinetically push pheromones away, so I suppose that her successful Deception had nothing to do with pheromones.

I’ll keep the increased strain threshold because they are typically in good shape, have excellent metabolisms, have a good tolerance for alcohol, and need stamina for... you know.

The telepathic ability should cover what you need for making it hard to do social checks against them. Just like with Gotal, I’ll leave the benefits of sensing emotions a situational thing that is up to the GM.

I also realized that the idea of suffering strain for telepathy doesn’t make much sense, and that it also doesn’t make sense for Gotals or H’nemthe. So that’s changed.

I think that Cunning can go up to 2 with the pheromones being less valuable and the need for increasing XP being reduced.

Edited page: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W2mOqXsH07fMTSbyp6IpiC86-Np0zalBS40feAfd_Rk

Releasing pheremones in and of themselves is not an indication of duplicity, particularly since Zeltron pheremones are always active. Fallen have full contol over their pheremones, and in the D20 RCRB version could consciously increase the amount of pheremones they release. Zeltrons did not have that option. What's important, from the canon, and previous game sources, the Zeltron's pheremones do help immensely with all Charm, Negotiation and Deception checks. That's why the writers of the USM gave them one automatic Advantage to all three skills. It's a good benefit, though not as good as upgrading the ability of the check, or granting automatic Successes to the check. Upgrading the ability of a check is a huge benefit. This is why Falleen have to suffer Strain to use their Pheremones (they also change their skin color at the same time, another reason for the Strain cost). Granting a single automatic Advantage to those same three skills is not as much of a benefit as automatically upgrading the ability of the check. Also, the pheremones do not make deception harder, nor should they . That's because Pheremones aren't typically able to be detected by smell, at least not human level smell. They affect an individual on a subconscious level. and specifically make a Zeltron appear more attractive and likable. This most certainly would affect not only Charm checks, but also Negotiation and Deception . You're more likely to give someone you like a better deal, and you're more likely to believe someone you like as well.

It takes very finely tuned olfactory senses to actually smell a pheremone. And remember, they're Empaths , not Telepaths. Empaths read emotions, Telepaths read thoughts. This is why it is hard to deceive Zeltrons. Even though they can't read exactly what you're thinking, they can immediately pick up your emotional state, hence the setbacks inflicted on people trying to use Charm, Deception and Negotiation against a Zeltron. It's very hard to get the better of someone who knows what you're feeling.

My point is that Zeltrons and Falleen are two completely different species, with completely different abilities and personality types. Falleen are cold and calculating; deliberately using their pheremones to get the better of their marks. Zeltrons are "free love" empaths, who seek pleasure (both giving and receiving), who make excellent scoundrels, gamblers, and entertainers.

I would argue that pheromones should upgrade Charm checks, as in that case, they do exactly the same thing as Falleen pheromones: make the PC more likable.

I guess I can see what you mean with the Deception and Negotiation, though.

I still feel that the exact benefits of knowing emotions are circumstantial and may vary based on situation. It probably makes them harder to target via social check, but the extent to which it does that isn't set in stone.

Also, you really like bold.

4 minutes ago, Yaccarus said:

I would argue that pheromones should upgrade Charm checks, as in that case, they do exactly the same thing as Falleen pheromones: make the PC more likable.

I guess I can see what you mean with the Deception and Negotiation, though.

I still feel that the exact benefits of knowing emotions are circumstantial and may vary based on situation. It probably makes them harder to target via social check, but the extent to which it does that isn't set in stone.

Also, you really like bold.

Given how powerful an Upgrade is, I consider it too unbalancing. That powerful benefit is why Falleen pheromones require a Strain cost to use. Zeltron pheromones aren't as powerful as full strength Falleen pheromones. It's the difference between a light mist and a deluge . Zeltron pheromones are more subtle , like a feather brushing against your cheek. Full strength Fallen Pheromones hit you over the head like a two-by-four . As such, given the fact that they're always active, but not as strong, the "boost" shouldn't be as powerful. Hence why the USM only gave them a single automatic Advantage. It's a lesser bonus than a full on upgrade to the check. As the Wookieepedia page for pheromones says:

Quote

Pheromones were substances exuded by some life forms that could influence the behavior of others. The Zeltrons secreted soothing pheromones that also made people find them likable or attractive. [1] The Falleen used theirs to attract mates for sex. [2]

Whatever the case, I feel that the benefit to Charm should be greater than the benefit for Negotiation and Deception.

When you consider that the pheromones specifically help them be more attractive, that's going to do much more for Charm than it would Deception or Negotiation.

20 minutes ago, Yaccarus said:

Whatever the case, I feel that the benefit to Charm should be greater than the benefit for Negotiation and Deception.

When you consider that the pheromones specifically help them be more attractive, that's going to do much more for Charm than it would Deception or Negotiation.

The difference is how and what pheromones are being released Zeltron pheromones simply make them more likable , not just sexually attractive. This applies to all three skills, but are more subtle in their effects. Falleen Pheromones are much more powerful , and deliberately used, not to simply make someone like them, but to consciously manipulate and/or control the target. That's the difference. That is why Falleen pheromones grant a full upgrade to ability checks and require a Strain cost, whereas Zeltron pheromones only grant a single Advantage in the USM. The only other option I could see is having Zeltron pheromones grant a single Boost die to Charm, Negotiation and Deception. Either way, I prefer the USM version of them.