I'd say near humans are mostly just Humans with different skin tones, etc. Use the human stats and spend one of your free ranks on Negotiate, maybe the other in Athletics repreesenting their flexibility. the rest is culture

I think that many of the various species - including the Chiss - can be done as near humans using the human stats.

That's kind of the whyI've been thinking they were never had stats written up in the earlier games as they were so close to humans it really didn't make a difference.

I'd say near humans are mostly just Humans with different skin tones, etc. Use the human stats and spend one of your free ranks on Negotiate, maybe the other in Athletics repreesenting their flexibility. the rest is culture

That might be the best way to go, and they way I was originally leaning. Can't really see any reason to give them an increase in their agility attribute. Mainly as it seems that for each species currently written up, the pattern is that if you increase a starting attribute by one, you decrease another one the same amount. In this case I can't really see one that would should go down.

I'm basically translating the d20 stats as closely as possible, but I see where you're coming from. How's this?

Brawn 3

Agility 2

Intellect 1

Cunning 2

Willpower 2

Presence 2

Starting XP 90

Wound Threshold 13 + Brawn

Strain Threshold 9 + Willpower

Special Abilities: Houk begin the game with one rank in either Deceit or Skulduggery. They still may not train either above two during character creation. Houk start the game with one rank in the Enduring talent and one rank in the Intimidating talent.

I think that's perfect, actually. .

I'm trying to come up with stats for a Mirialan ( http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Mirialan ), mainly so I can play as the same race as my current SWTOR character. Problem is that they have never been written up in any of the previous SW RPG versions and information is inconsistent at best.

Here is my first attempt at stats.

Brawn 2

Agility 2

Intellect 2

Cunning 2

Willpower 2

Presence 2

Wound Threshold: 10+Brawn

Strain Threshold: 10 + Willpower

Starting Experience: 100 XP

Special Abilities: Mirialan’s begin the game with one rank in negotiation. They still may not train this skill higher than rank 2 at character generation

Still feel like I need to add either an attribute increase or give them another special abilities. Any thoughts or suggestions>

Interesting. Maybe add +1 or 2 to their Strain Threshold to symbolize their natural connection to the force, even if they aren't force sensitive? I'm pretty sure that meditation and self-actualization is a big deal in Mirialan culture so I could see that being a thing. I'd also bump their starting XP to 110, which is the typical amount for people with 2s across the board.

Never thought about the strain angle. But that sounds like it might work.

Ewok bounty hunters are canon: Treek .

And I'm glad there are no Yuuzhan Vong in the menagerie (even though I know EotE is too early in the timeline for them to show up).

I want the Vong to be in the menagerie. The New Jedi Order is still my favorite Star Wars EU series and I loved how the Vong showed up and just whipped the galaxy... I loved how different their technology was and their race and how everything was biological and living. There has never been any good written Star Wars resource that really showed off just how cool this race is.

They are my personal favorite race. I liked how outside the Force they were. They were different and they really challenged the Jedi to think outside their little Force bubble and come to learn the Force in entirely new ways.

To each their own, I guess. For me this was when the EU "jumped the shark." And the Vong always seemed like a rip-off of the Borg. I do, however, see your point in including them in the Menagerie.

Are there any particular "rules" people are using for conversions (from RCR d20 or Saga Edition, for instance)?

Given the amount of conversions that I did, I can't really say there were any "rules" in the strictest terms that Cyril or I used. Frankly, a lot of the work was eyeballing prior RPG versions and comparing them to what we had for the EotE Beta and then putting together a set of stats that didn't offend our respective GM sensibilities.

Truthfully, there's a whole lot of guesswork given the small sample size (8 species) that we have to work with.

There's a few interesting submissions in this thread, and I'll be contacting the authors for permission to include them in the next (and likely final) update of the Species Menagerie.

I want the Vong to be in the menagerie. The New Jedi Order is still my favorite Star Wars EU series and I loved how the Vong showed up and just whipped the galaxy... I loved how different their technology was and their race and how everything was biological and living. There has never been any good written Star Wars resource that really showed off just how cool this race is.

They are my personal favorite race. I liked how outside the Force they were. They were different and they really challenged the Jedi to think outside their little Force bubble and come to learn the Force in entirely new ways.

Sorry, but I'm in the camp that thinks the Vong were one of the worst things to happen to the Star Wars franchise, so odds of the Unofficial Species Menagerie including them are about on par with Threepio being elected Supreme Chancellor of the New Republic.

Though to be far, a lot of my problem with the Vong was how they were handled in the initial books, mostly as they came off with a "supervillain of the week" vibe that had permeated most of the Star Wars EU during the time that Kevin J. Anderson was in charge of things. Later material, like the Invasion comic series, did a much better job with the species.

That and one of the major design goals for the USM was to have species that were truly viable options during the Dark Times and Rebellion Era, which at the time of the Beta were the "defaults" for when campaigns were set. Vong didn't really show up in any viable numbers until well after the Empire had fallen, and they're just too alien to really fit into the Star Wars galaxy until well after the events of Unifying Force.

Not saying people can't include the Vong as a PC species if they so choose, just that I won't be including them as a menagerie option any time in the near future. Sorry.

Edit: And besides, there's enough wierdness about them and their bio-tech gear that just having a half-page blurb in the Menagerie really wouldn't do them justice.

Since we're posting our ideas... here's my Taung entry I made for a player in my game.

The Taung

Species Abilities

· Wound Threshold: 14 + Brawn

· Strain Threshold: 8 + Willpower

· Starting Experience: 90 XP

· Special Abilities: Taung begin the game with one rank in Resilience. They still may not train Resilience above rank 2 during character creation

· Durable: Taung begin the game with one rank in the Durable talent.

Characteristic Rating

Brawn 3

Presence 2

Intellect 2

Cunning 1

Agility 2

Willpower 2

This isn't bad. However, I'm thinking maybe drop the Wound Threshold to 12+Brawn and bump their Strain Threshold up to 10+Willpower. Wookiees and Trandoshans each get plenty of extras (bonus to melee damage and built-in weapons) to justify having only 90 XP, extras that the Taung really don't have; Durable's nice, but it's not that nice. The fact they have a high starting Brawn is going to make them pretty beefy already in terms of absorbing damage, more so if they take combat-focused careers that offer a couple ranks of Toughened.

I'd say near humans are mostly just Humans with different skin tones, etc. Use the human stats and spend one of your free ranks on Negotiate, maybe the other in Athletics repreesenting their flexibility. the rest is culture

I agree that a most Near-Humans can be covered just as well using regular Human stats and then spending those non-career skill ranks on skills that fit the culture of that particularly Near-Human.

I almost did the same with the Chiss, but utlimately decided they were different enough to warrant a separate stat block. Nothing about the Mirilan, the Theelins, the Kiffar, or the Lorrdians really says that the need to be different from Humans in terms of game mechanics.

Since we're posting our ideas... here's my Taung entry I made for a player in my game.

The Taung

Species Abilities

· Wound Threshold: 14 + Brawn

· Strain Threshold: 8 + Willpower

· Starting Experience: 90 XP

· Special Abilities: Taung begin the game with one rank in Resilience. They still may not train Resilience above rank 2 during character creation

· Durable: Taung begin the game with one rank in the Durable talent.

Characteristic Rating

Brawn 3

Presence 2

Intellect 2

Cunning 1

Agility 2

Willpower 2

This isn't bad. However, I'm thinking maybe drop the Wound Threshold to 12+Brawn and bump their Strain Threshold up to 10+Willpower. Wookiees and Trandoshans each get plenty of extras (bonus to melee damage and built-in weapons) to justify having only 90 XP, extras that the Taung really don't have; Durable's nice, but it's not that nice. The fact they have a high starting Brawn is going to make them pretty beefy already in terms of absorbing damage, more so if they take combat-focused careers that offer a couple ranks of Toughened.

Interesting suggestions. On Wookieepedia, the Taung also have claws that are mentioned in several places. Would you say giving them the Claws ability would be too much, on top of the other changes you suggest?

Additionally/alternatively, I could give them the choice of putting that rank in Resilience OR Survival.

Threepio being elected Supreme Chancellor of the New Republic.

Anyone else read that and thought, "That'll be the Episode VII plot?"

No way. If anyone it'd be Artoo.

Interesting suggestions. On Wookieepedia, the Taung also have claws that are mentioned in several places. Would you say giving them the Claws ability would be too much, on top of the other changes you suggest?

Additionally/alternatively, I could give them the choice of putting that rank in Resilience OR Survival.

Lemme check real quick to see what I put together when creating the Taung for Galaxy at War...

Okay, I wouldn't give them claws, at least not on the level of Trandoshans, since from what I see in the artwork, Taung "claws" are more like really long nails, and would simply fall under a regular unarmed Brawl check.

I'm thinking the choice of Resilience or Survival would be good.

Interestingly, I did include some extra stuff regarding Taung and armor for the SWSE version, but with armor working the way it does in EotE, it's kinda irrelevant. I did give them a flat +1 to their Defense scores (much like the Zabrak had in SWSE), so I'm mildly inclined to set their Wound and Strain Thresholds to 11+(relevant Characteristic) to reflect they're tough both physically and mentally. Or, give them the a base of 12 and keep their starting XP at 90.

Somewhere in the Rogue Squadron books, they briefly had an Ewok pilot. He was the subject of an experiment onboard the..Lusayanka? it was iceharts super star destroyer.

I don't think he made it past the second book though.

he used extenders to operate the controls.

Somewhere in the Rogue Squadron books, they briefly had an Ewok pilot. He was the subject of an experiment onboard the..Lusayanka? it was iceharts super star destroyer.

I don't think he made it past the second book though.

he used extenders to operate the controls.

Okay, this I know. You're speaking about Kettch the Ewok. He was first mentioned in Wraith Squadron... as a joke made by Wes Jansen. This became a running joke when the Wraiths posed as the pirate group the Hawkbats, and Wedge took on the roll of Kettch, the Ewok who had been experimented on and taught how to fly (which was somewhat based on the actual background of "Piggy," the Gamorrean pilot in Wraith Squadron who had in fact been the subject of some Imperial experiments.

In the last book of Wraith Trilogy, a character finds the lab where Piggy had been brought up and encounters an Ewok who very very closely matches the story of Kettch (he does not join Wraith Squadron or Rogue Squadron).

Lemme check real quick to see what I put together when creating the Taung for Galaxy at War...

Okay, I wouldn't give them claws, at least not on the level of Trandoshans, since from what I see in the artwork, Taung "claws" are more like really long nails, and would simply fall under a regular unarmed Brawl check.

I'm thinking the choice of Resilience or Survival would be good.

Interestingly, I did include some extra stuff regarding Taung and armor for the SWSE version, but with armor working the way it does in EotE, it's kinda irrelevant. I did give them a flat +1 to their Defense scores (much like the Zabrak had in SWSE), so I'm mildly inclined to set their Wound and Strain Thresholds to 11+(relevant Characteristic) to reflect they're tough both physically and mentally. Or, give them the a base of 12 and keep their starting XP at 90.

Okay, so here's version 2.0.

Wounds 12+

Strain 12+

Durable Talent

1 rank in Survival OR Resilience

90 Staring XP

3 Brawn

1 Cunning

2 Others

Does that sound solid? I like the idea you brought up of them having a higher-than-average wound AND strain because they are hardy in every way, but I don't want to stick it just at 11 because I want them to be a little hardier than humans or chiss. Do you think that's fair or is that too strong?

Yeah my only comment on this was, the era should be post RotJ if you want to be cannon. The Ewoks were kind of "discovered" then. That said... who knows... there could have been random smaller contacts. Perhaps one accidentally stowed away on a vistiting ship 10 years ago...

Okay, so here's version 2.0.

Wounds 12+

Strain 12+

Durable Talent

1 rank in Survival OR Resilience

90 Staring XP

3 Brawn

1 Cunning

2 Others

Does that sound solid? I like the idea you brought up of them having a higher-than-average wound AND strain because they are hardy in every way, but I don't want to stick it just at 11 because I want them to be a little hardier than humans or chiss. Do you think that's fair or is that too strong?

Looks solid to me. If you don't mind, I'd like to include in the next update for the menagerie. If you'd like to be credited under your real name, just shoot me a PM with the information. Otherwise, I'll credit it under your forum handle.

Oh man! I'd be absolutely honored! Thank you!

My real name is listed under my profile information already. I have no problem with you using it!

I'll be sure to run any other races/content that I cook up around here too. Thanks!

My girlfriend wants to play a Talz sometime, so I think I'm going to work on an entry for them some time too.

Characters in EotE don't just have to be snugglers/ bouty hunters/etc. The explorer class would work pretty well for these little furry guys. I wouldn't discourage her being an ewok if that is what she really wants to do.

I think "snuggler" is a perfect career choice for a tiny furry thing.

Okay, here's Talz version 1!

Species Abilities

· Wound Threshold: 12 + Brawn

· Strain Threshold: 10 + Willpower

· Starting Experience: 90 XP

· Special Abilities: Talz begin the game with one free rank in perception or survival. They still may not train perception or survival beyond rank two at character creation.

· Environmental Adaptation: Talz may ignore one setback dice imposed by cold weather conditions or from darkness on all skill checks.

· Forager: Talz begin the game with the Forager talent.

Characteristic Ratings

Brawn 2

Agility 2

Intellect 1

Cunning 3

Willpower 2

Presence 2

Let me know what you guys think!

Arcona

Species Abilities

Wound Threshold : 10 + Brawn

Strain Threshold : 10 + Willpower

Starting XP : 90

Great Fortitude : Arcona downgrade the difficulty of Resilience checks made to resist the effects of any poison by two.

Scent : Arcona may remove all setback dice imposed due to concealment against a target that is within Short Range, and they do not suffer setback dice for poor visibility conditions when tracking.

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

Characteristic Rating

Brawn 2 Cunning 1

Presence 3 Agility 2

Intellect 2 Willpower 2

Besalisk

Species Abilities

Wound Threshold : 12 + Brawn

Strain Threshold : 10 + Willpower

Starting XP : 90

Special Abilities : Besalisks begin the game with one free rank in Survival or Resilience. They still may not train Survival or Resilience above Rank 2 during character creation.

Food Stores: Besalisks can go without food for up to eight days and water for up to three days.

Multidexterous : Besalisks add a boost die to all Coordination checks when engaged in a task requiring more than two arms and to combat checks when attacking with light weapons held in more than two hands.

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

Characteristic Rating

Brawn 3 Cunning 2

Presence 2 Agility 1

Intellect 2 Willpower 2

I love the Arcona entry, but for the Besalisk, I think it would be great if you gave them a mechanic that "Quad Wield." It would basically work like a mixture between Dual Wielding and Auto Fire, but with the limitation of only being able to use what you have in your hands. I know that could get a little broken if you have dudes wading in there dual wielding vibro axes and stuff, but if you have people playing Besalisks, they aren't going to like it if you tell them you couldn't hold a weapon in all four hands because they're gonna want to do that. XD. I mean, how cool would it be if you held four vibroswords? I'd be all for that. I could see such an ability replacing the Multidextrous ability, and perhaps you could nerf it further by reducing their strain thresholds or removing the food stores ability? As thematic as that is, I feel like people playing a Besalisk would much rather fight with all of their arms than not have to worry about food for a few more days. Besides, you could just kind of have that as a role playing thing without technical mechanics for it. Just my personal thoughts on it, though!

I believe that the Species guide (non-RPG book) stated that Besalisks can only coordinate two tasks at once, so four-weapon fighting would not be appropriate. However, they could attempt two-weapon weilding with weapons that normally require two hands.

It could get really OP really fast, and I'd be VERY hesitant to let players do it. But I would TOTALLY jump on that as a badass idea for a villain. In fact, I might just do that. .

As for the "Only two tasks at once," that's probably an average. I'm sure there are some out there who might have exceptional multitasking skills... like a bounty hunter looking to make a score on one of the PCs, for example... .

Having four arms shouldn't make duel wielding more possible, especially weapons that require two arms to wield. In fact the weapon wielded by the lower arms would be weaker as it would lack the same rotational punch that is driven from the legs through the hips into the shoulders of us lowly bipedal creatures. And if you tried to crosswield (upper arm to same or opposite lower arm) then they aren't really and better at duel wielding. They'd be better off with lighter weapons at close range. Shooting with the lower arms would suck as you couldn't bring the sights into line with the eyes, so you'd be shooting from the hip which really only works at very close range. And rifles would be out for two weapon shooting.