Hello all,

in our new campaign one of the players wants to play a super tactical droid that survived the clone wars. to realise his concept he is going for droid specialist and seperatist commander and wants to build/find/obtain droids (most likely minions) that he can command in battle and use his leadership skills on (he is probably not going to be much of a fighter himself).

We (the other players) like the concept but we're unsure how to implement this playstyle. are there any rules for controlling minions or npcs? would he have to use maneuvers/actions every turn to give them commands?

Spontaneously I'd say he needs to give them orders when the former order was executed. maybe if he manages to craft and program a very strong droid (like advanced bombat chassis pg 80 in special modifications), those droids could be considered widely autonomous and not in need for constant commands?

I'm not really sure how to handle it. I also couldnt find another thread discussing this topic in my very brief search. thanks in advance for your input!

There are rules for commanding squads, I believe an early iteration was in the gamemaster's shield. Google "age of rebellion squad rules" and you'll get quite a few hits. Here are also a couple of threads:

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/246416-squadsquadron-rules/

https://community.fantasyflightgames.com/topic/109944-gm-screen-squad-rules/

The squad rules are pretty suitable for a campaign I think because they aren't overpowered. The PC is the driving force behind their squads abilities, but they can't really turn a PC from a normal character into a god-like death machine. If that's what your player wants, he needs to be disabused of that notion

The Lead By Example sourcebook also has Mass Combat rules where leadership and other skills can be used to control large armies. That would certainly be a nice "end game" to aim for.

Here're my thoughts on how I'd handle it:

• Minions: The droids are able to operate independently to pursue orders issued by the character (attack this target, advance on this position) and are controlled by the GM (who is in control over how independent they are). In circumstances where they lack commands to the contrary, they will likely just attack the nearest hostile target. The PC can spend a Maneuver to change their orders (might be an action and check in some circumstances) or to take control of one of the groups himself (meaning the player gets to take their turn rather than the GM). He can spend an action and make a Leadership check to control multiple groups (I'd say 1+net Success, so minimum of 2 on a successful check).
• Rivals: These operate with more independence and creative thought, but the PC has the same Maneuver/Action options available to him (at GM discretion, they may operate like Nemesis).
• Nemeses: These operate independently. The PC can order them around, but the GM always has control over their actions.

Setting difficulties isn't the easiest to do for Leadership, so I'd say base of Average. At Medium range without a comlink, increase the difficulty once. Always add appropriate Setback for conditions. If the character and his targets have comlinks, he can ignore the range limitations/difficulty increases.

The squad rules are okay, but not great for what you're looking for. I still recommend using regular NPCs for this, otherwise the only person able to attack is the PC who is specifically not good at combat.

I'd treat this group of droid minions as I'd treat a bonded pet (I have a mando BH player with a Vornksr).

I believe you can give orders with a maneuver (I then let the PC to play out that with an out of turn activation of the NPC group - not sure it's RAW, but made sense at the time) or the pet can activate at the end of the turn (if noone ordered it around - still controlled by the player)

Also, as mentioned previously the squad rules are very detailed, though they are mainly for meat shield (probably designed for NPCs), but it has it's uses.

11 hours ago, Rimsen said:

I'd treat this group of droid minions as I'd treat a bonded pet (I have a mando BH player with a Vornksr).

I believe you can give orders with a maneuver (I then let the PC to play out that with an out of turn activation of the NPC group - not sure it's RAW, but made sense at the time) or the pet can activate at the end of the turn (if noone ordered it around - still controlled by the player)

Also, as mentioned previously the squad rules are very detailed, though they are mainly for meat shield (probably designed for NPCs), but it has it's uses.

I would agree with treating a minion group like a bonded animal. I would also leave the control of the minions largely to the player, with some instruction from the GM based on their stats (Battle Droids are not known for their brilliance). It's a personal peeve of mine when a player wants to play a "pet class" or a "summoner type" and then dumps the duty of the creatures on the DM. If the player isn't roleplaying them appropriately (ie: far more tactical than their stats and description would indicate is the usual issue) that's when a GM can step in, but otherwise, the "pets" are a class feature or a weapon and the players use their class features and weapons, not the GM.

We acquired a team of 6 B1's... yeah, give the player a team of droids and just watch that money pit eat up the credits for repairs - we used the B1's to guard the ship along with a competent npc or took it in turns as PC's..

5 hours ago, ExpandingUniverse said:

give the player a team of droids and just watch that money pit eat up the credits for repairs.

IIRC, in this game, droids heal naturally at the same rate as living beings. Sure, you use Mechanics rather than Medicine to patch them up, but it's not really all that costly unless droids are actually destroyed and need to be replaced. Generally though, it's not at all like running a rigger in Shadowrun where you risk several drones each valued at 10kY-25kY on jobs that pay the entire group half that amount.