I have been noticing a trend in the past few sessions of our game and that is that the vast majority of the rolls in the game are being generated by two characteristics: Agility and Intellect.

I know this has been brought up in one aspect before and that is the dominating presence of Agility as a combat characteristic so I don't want to beat a dead horse here, I have no problem with agility in what it does right now, it is good for shooting guns and flying ships I am not trying to re-invent the wheel there. However I do believe that some of the other characteristics are a little under-utilized.

Brawn is a difficult one to make any changes to as it has a fairly small niche, however Willpower and Presence I feel could have a greater impact within the game.

Presence to me feels like a perfect characteristic for a skill like Streetwise. While Underworld has to do with knowledge of the underbelly of society and Perception fits well with cunning in observing what is happening around you but Streetwise seems to be a Presence skill it is all about dealing with people, and Presence is the stat that governs many person to person interactions. Granted the description would have to be tweaked slightly but this would put a little more diversity into some of the more commonly used information gathering skills and create for a wider variety of characters who can succeed in these different areas.

Similarily if a skill like Medicine could be folded into Willpower, where it took the iron will of an individual to perform the neccessary procedures to save the life of an individual under the duress of a combat situation, much like the stress of the medics in a movie like Saving Private Ryan. This would widen the usefulness of the Willpower characteristic and make it slightly more desireable for some more classes rather than a characteristic that is often overlooked.

Just a few ideas to balance the game a little more rather than making it one where Agi/Int characters rule the galaxy.

I think its good to show that there's concern about these issues and support for getting them changed. Thanks for a fresh post on this.

-WJL

Right, I've been testing mixing and matching a bit last session.

One of my players, an assassin, had already stealthily moved through the room towards the unknowing Stormtrooper sergeant using stealth/agility. I then let her perform a stealth/cunning to ambush/sneak attack (as part of the manoeuvre to move into engaged range) - I had called for no initiative as this was meant to be a more cinematic and fluid scene. This test is done immediately before a melee/cunning combat check - she's using assassin style weapons like garrotte and zenji needles - which received 1 boost die per 2 advantages from the stealth/cunning sneak attack check.

Its not very elegant I know, but its was improvised on the fly to show how description and roleplaying from the players could benefit or change the stat/skill relationship. It worked very well. I could even see cunning being used as part of the initial grappling attempt - particularly when using a garrotte.

As for your streetwise/presence suggestion - yeah, sure, in some situations I would agree, but I guess this depends on the approach of gathering information and dealing with people, sometimes its not so much about a winning smile, but of actual or virtual leverage, bravado and strategic blackmailing and more. A generic streewise roll I would expect cunning, but if deciding to role play these encounters for info and stuff, I would use coerce, negotiate, deceit and charm as skill according to the players' actions. Streetwise could easily be just the knowledge and skill at finding the seedier parts of a city/planet/moon - when gathering info I do agree that presence could be the preferred characteristic.

Your taken on battle field medicine is nice - I'll remember that, the medic won't be happy. I might let her roll a discipline check before going on with her tasks if she insists

In terms of the OP, I really like the presence streetwise example you gave. I've had difficulty with the streetwise vs knowledge (underworld) split and putting streetwise with presence helps clarify the difference to me. Not sure about the medicine willpower example, but it is an interesting idea.

I agree that there are some things that need to be addressed. for example wookies have a 1 will. Coerce fuctions off of will, and intimidation checks are done through this skill.

It seems odd that an average wookie is less intimidating than a twilek or a bothan.

Sirkamina said:

I don't know. For the only example of wookie intimidation in the movies, it isn't Chewbacca doing the intimidating, it's *Han*. (Chewie is just providing some boost dice by acting along.)

Sure, an angry wookie charging at you with a vibro-axe is terrifying, but that's not intimidation, it's combat.

That said, Coerce really seems more like a Presence thing, with a WIll-based skill used to counter it.

cparadis said:

Streetwise is knowing how to act, and how the underworld acts, and being able to blend in or stand out as needed at the right times. It won't tell you who that particular Hutt is, but it will tell you how to make a deal with them.

Knowledge (Underworld) is what you use to remember the right name, how you know what obligation the particular boss you're dealing with has, and who to call for help. It will also let you know what else the guy you found using streetwise might supply.

For example: Falcon' s down on Tatooine. Falcon needs to buy more parts for his battlemechwarbot droid. He wants, specifically, an assassin droid brain unit. Streetwise will find him a supplier, and let him make the deal. Knowledge (Underworld) is what he uses to know how to nudge the guy to not report it to the Impies nor Jabba, and Negotiation or Streetwise can be used to apply that knowledge…

The Knowledge should be used mostly as a helper/enabler.

Example: Falcon wants to know who he's buying from. He uses knowledge to know where this guy fits in the local hierarchy… So, when the guy gets nervous, Falco can reassure him that things are approved by the boss (tho', if they aren't, that might need a deceit roll). Or he can use it to know the guy's wife's, mistress's, and kids' names, so he can use Coerce to get the guy to cooperate.

Streetwise also is used to avoid people feeling that you're out of place…

Example: Falcon finds the guy, and starts working the deal. On his initial streetwise, he can find the guy, and do business. But that threat rolled and unresolved means something isn't right the guy's a known impie snitch. So Falcon breaks out his Knowledge (Underworld) and, getting a huge pile of success, comes up with the guy's family details, including the pregnant wife. So Falcon coerces the guy with a mental nudge, and some coercion. On his way out, he uses streetwise to make certain that he's not notable to the locals, knowing just how to walk to avoid their notice. If he wants to make certain he's not being followed, that would be perception. Since Falcon fails the streewise on the way out, and has a threat, to boot, on his way back to the ship, someone notices and reports his lightsaber, and that he stopped and talked to a local gun runner, and went to docking bay 56…

(Falcon was a friend's PC in a WEG SW2E game I ran. Failed Jedi template. He'd be a smuggler-thief, with the force sensitive and influence trees opened skill wise in EOTE)