Hi everyone,

I've been wrestling with something. A couple stat blocks for armors in the Rise of the Separatists sourcebook, like the Hotspot armor and the Cold Assault armor, grant boost dice to checks resisting certain environmental conditions. However, some stormtrooper armors in the Age of Rebellion CRB just flat remove setback dice. How should these qualities interact? Do the boost dice enumerated in the first example translate to removing setback dice, as in the latter? Or should I be calling for checks to avoid setback dice, thus giving both qualities a respective utility?

If the armor adds a Boost, you add a Boost to the dice pool. Boost and Setback don't cancel each other.

If the armor removes Setback, you remove Setback.

Here's an example: Relevant clone armor gives a Boost to resist environmental condition X, and the check is Average with 2 Setback. You roll both the Boost and the 2 Setback.
That same armor and check, now with an attachment that removes 2 Setback dice from environmental condition X. You roll only the Boost, because the 2 Setback have been removed.

As for what checks to call for, ignore the Setback removal when determining difficulty. Add Setback like you normally would. Then the character removes the appropriate number of Setback and adds the appropriate number of Boost.

I try to add Setback on most checks. I don't add Setback when it doesn't make sense or isn't called for, but I try to make sure there are Setback so that those talents/equipment have value if you've got 'em and are desirable if you don't. I also think it is good at fueling creativity and making a more interesting environment.

Yeah, I get the Boost/Setback interplay. I think I was looking to drill down on the base phenomenon that these respective qualities are meant to address, which seem identical narratively but function very differently with regards to the game mechanics.

I think that instead of unilaterally throwing Setback dice at my PCs, I could call for a Resilience or Discipline check to resist certain environmental conditions, then impose Setback upon failure. For example, if my PCs have been tromping across a frozen tundra for a couple hours, I could call for a Resilience check. A character wearing the clone cold assault armor would add Boost to the Resilience check, but would have to take their knocks if they fail. Meanwhile, a character wearing a thermal cloak would just roll their base Resilience stat, and even if they failed the check, they could still remove up to two Setback. As much as I don't like rewriting the rules too much, I feel like this is a reasonable reconciliation between the two qualities.

By the way, I think the reason the clone armors add 2 Boost is so that they are easily stackable with the attachments that remove 2 Setback.

15 minutes ago, gtgauvin said:

I think that instead of unilaterally throwing Setback dice at my PCs, I could call for a Resilience or Discipline check to resist certain environmental conditions, then impose Setback upon failure.

That's basically what I do. It is important to note that some equipment also reduces the difficulty, not just removing Setback. But there might also be Setback on the check to resist the cold, depending on the situation and conditions, and the equipment would remove those Setback as well.

20 minutes ago, gtgauvin said:

As much as I don't like rewriting the rules too much, I feel like this is a reasonable reconciliation between the two qualities.

What rule are you rewriting here? My brain is kinda on the fritz today, but I didn't see any actual suggested changes.

24 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

That's basically what I do. It is important to note that some equipment also reduces the difficulty, not just removing Setback. But there might also be Setback on the check to resist the cold, depending on the situation and conditions, and the equipment would remove those Setback as well.

Glad my solution has the P-47 imprimatur. I'm trying to train myself to use all the skills and roll lots of dice when GMing this game. I think too often, gear, talents and abilities get short shrift when checks are just made against a straight set of difficulty dice, without any setback or upgrades.

28 minutes ago, P-47 Thunderbolt said:

What rule are you rewriting here? My brain is kinda on the fritz today, but I didn't see any actual suggested changes.

I think 'rewrite' was the wrong word; more like embellish. But sometimes, one has to house-rule.