I have a player interested in joining my Edge of the Empire group, and his character concept is an astromech or other utility type droid. However, he doesn't want to buy a blaster pistol or anything, instead using the droid's onboard tools and such to fight enemies and use the environment. I'm sort of a noob GM, all told, and so I'm sticking as much to the rulebook as possible. However, I think his concept is pretty cool and I wanted to see if I could adapt some existing wepons or figure out some new ones, with you guys' help.

He wants to focus on nonlethal weaponry that could easily be "reskinned" as tools an astromech or utility droid would reasonably have. Here's what I've got so far:

-Looking at the stat block for the astromech and maintenance droids in the Core Book, their default weapon is an arc welder that is functionally similar to Shock Gloves for humanoid characters (does 3 stun damage on a successful hit)

-Reskinning the net/bolas as a detachable tow cable/grappling hook or adhesive gun.

That's all I've got just looking at the book's options. Are there any fanmade weapon lists, or can you guys who are better at making new weapons/items suggest some nonlethal/utility "weapons" he can use?

• He could easily justify brass knuckles and/or a combat knife in the tools but I'd make him either pay for those or risk using less sturdy tools that may be damaged by combat usage.

Give him Shock Gloves and let him use Agility for brawl. That basically amounts to that little shock prod that R2 used in the movies .

You could also alow him to use Mechanics to plug into enemy droids and use Mechanics checks as combat checks or something. Or, he could hack into computer consoles and cause other haywire stuff to happen, like triggering alarms, fire supression systems, lights, or security droids/turrets that help the party (unless he gets a despair, of course!)

Give him Shock Gloves and let him use Agility for brawl. That basically amounts to that little shock prod that R2 used in the movies .

You could also alow him to use Mechanics to plug into enemy droids and use Mechanics checks as combat checks or something. Or, he could hack into computer consoles and cause other haywire stuff to happen, like triggering alarms, fire supression systems, lights, or security droids/turrets that help the party (unless he gets a despair, of course!)

I don't recommend allowing Agility with the Shock Gloves. If he wants to fight with Agility, get a Holdout Blaster - he can even get one limited to Stun Damage for half cost. I also don't recommend allowing Mechanics to be used as a combat skill. That opens up the door to using Medicine as a combat skill, and that's a slippery slope that's all sorts of bad news.

I do endorse the ideas of having fun with hacking (especially if he's a Slicer).

I would suggest giving him nothing as a weapon unless he pays for an equivalent "tool" for his arsenal. Why give one player something for free that you would not give to the others?

If you insist upon free equipment, I would suggest using the improvised weapon rules.

how about a gas spray that can knock someone out? I can't think of what this would take the place of besides something that does stun damage.

I would suggest giving him nothing as a weapon unless he pays for an equivalent "tool" for his arsenal. Why give one player something for free that you would not give to the others?

If you insist upon free equipment, I would suggest using the improvised weapon rules.

Well for one, if he's an astromech, I don't suspect they typically carry cash on them. I could see it for a protocol droid maybe, but not an astromech. I can see what you're saying, but to offset the fact that he's unlikely to be carrying money when he's found by the party, I'm willing to give him a set of repair tools and something similar to that Arc Welder I mentioned right out of the gate, his "starting equipment budget" instead representing what his former owner spent on upgrades and the like.

However, whether I let him have freebies or not, I still need some ideas for weapons or tools he could either have or "purchase"

I would suggest giving him nothing as a weapon unless he pays for an equivalent "tool" for his arsenal. Why give one player something for free that you would not give to the others?

If you insist upon free equipment, I would suggest using the improvised weapon rules.

Well for one, if he's an astromech, I don't suspect they typically carry cash on them. I could see it for a protocol droid maybe, but not an astromech. I can see what you're saying, but to offset the fact that he's unlikely to be carrying money when he's found by the party, I'm willing to give him a set of repair tools and something similar to that Arc Welder I mentioned right out of the gate, his "starting equipment budget" instead representing what his former owner spent on upgrades and the like.

However, whether I let him have freebies or not, I still need some ideas for weapons or tools he could either have or "purchase"

You could still limit his starting gear based on a starting budget and what he can "afford", even if it's not represented by the fact he's physically carrying money into a store. It's basically just a way to balance starter characters.

Well obviously his starting gear needs to be limited, but anyway, BACK TO THE DROID TOOL IDEAS!

From wookiepedia...

The droid's outer shell concealed an array of tools beneath its streamlined durasteel exterior. Each R2 came equipped from the factory with two manipulator arms, an electric arc welder, circular saw, computer scomp link arm, VicksVisc holographic recorder/projector unit, internal cargo compartment, and a general-use fire extinguisher. IA, taking a page from Corellian ship-builders, made the droids easy to upgrade and modify. The company offered a variety of after-market packages, but industrious owners also managed to equip R2s with such eclectic items and accessories as underwater propellers, laser pointers, jet thrusters, remote sensor limpets, and inflatable life rafts. This adaptability made the R2 units particularly popular among tech-heads, who often would have running competitions over who could outfit the most eclectic droid.

My god...a circular saw? That would be nasty in combat. Vibro ax stats for that thing (pierce and sunder).

The arc welder could be given shock glove stats.

Sounds scary, but at the same time, melee weapons on a droid that is likely to have little to no brawn.

I don't think it would be obscene to eventually equip the droid with a built in holdout blaster either. Short range and weak, but does give the droid some flexibility in combat.

Make him a Gonk droid for kicks and giggles. A heavy modified adventuring gonk droid.

For the guy I had in one game that wanted to play an R2-series astromech, I simply gave him the arc welder as a "default weapon" so long as he purchased a tool kit. For the circular saw, he purchased a vibroknife as a built-in weapon, citing it as part of the tool kit and that the extra cost was giving it a secure mounting. That zap thingy that Artoo used against Salacious Crumb in RotJ could either be the arc welder or it could be a hold-out blaster that's restricted to stun damage and again just reskinned as being some type of tool or another.

Despite what Hollywood shows you in the movies, most power tools make for lousy weapons, with chainsaws being one of the biggest offenders. So in that light, I wouldn't really give the astromech too much in the way of free weapons just for taking a tool kit.

For the guy I had in one game that wanted to play an R2-series astromech, I simply gave him the arc welder as a "default weapon" so long as he purchased a tool kit. For the circular saw, he purchased a vibroknife as a built-in weapon, citing it as part of the tool kit and that the extra cost was giving it a secure mounting. That zap thingy that Artoo used against Salacious Crumb in RotJ could either be the arc welder or it could be a hold-out blaster that's restricted to stun damage and again just reskinned as being some type of tool or another.

Despite what Hollywood shows you in the movies, most power tools make for lousy weapons, with chainsaws being one of the biggest offenders. So in that light, I wouldn't really give the astromech too much in the way of free weapons just for taking a tool kit.

Exactly. To give a demonstration of this, take a full-sized wall-socket circular saw, and instead of doing a slow, smooth push into the side of a 2x4, try just shoving it in as fast as you can. Watch how it seizes up almost immediately. Sure, it'll hurt, but it won't dismember the same way something purpose-built would, and it'll be a *lot* more awkward to use as a weapon than something that was purpose-built.

I never understood the idea of the chain saw as a weapon during the zombie apocalypse. Even at its best, it is loud, and it requires fuel. So if you have it ready to use, you'll need it because even the idling noise will draw every Zed in 3 counties right to you.

I never understood the idea of the chain saw as a weapon during the zombie apocalypse. Even at its best, it is loud, and it requires fuel. So if you have it ready to use, you'll need it because even the idling noise will draw every Zed in 3 counties right to you.

Chainsaw simply falls under "rule of cool" in movies, even though it's completely impractical as a weapon, even against something as soft as human flesh. But the sound alone is certainly impressive, at least from the viewpoint of the audience watching the action from the safe side of the screen.

I saw somewhere that some people considered allowing any melee or brawl weapon of encumberance 1 or less to use Agility instead, so using that idea is where I conceived the brawl = Agility thing if they wish. But if you don't want to do that, you don't need to XD.

I saw somewhere that some people considered allowing any melee or brawl weapon of encumberance 1 or less to use Agility instead, so using that idea is where I conceived the brawl = Agility thing if they wish. But if you don't want to do that, you don't need to XD.

From what I've seen, Agility is a very attractive characteristic. Almost every PC I've seen (5/6) raised it to 3 or higher during character creation. It covers a great many of the heroic actions and I feel that putting close combat (brawl and melee) into it - even with a limited selection of weapons - makes players invested in Brawn feel cheated. Making an exception for the lightsaber is something I can accept, but I'm not interested in seeing that exception expanded.

Well, keep in mind that the only things it would apply to are knives, vibroknives, and simple brawl weapons and fists. And you would NOT add your Agility stat to the damage. You would still be adding your Brawn to it. It is obviously an optional idea; but it is one that I like and I'm sure my PCs will enjoy, especially since I think that even a wily and agile Twi'lek smuggler should still be able to hurt someone with a vibroknife pretty reliably.

Well, keep in mind that the only things it would apply to are knives, vibroknives, and simple brawl weapons and fists. And you would NOT add your Agility stat to the damage. You would still be adding your Brawn to it. It is obviously an optional idea; but it is one that I like and I'm sure my PCs will enjoy, especially since I think that even a wily and agile Twi'lek smuggler should still be able to hurt someone with a vibroknife pretty reliably.

Within the RAW, this can be accomplished by simply training to higher skill levels of Brawl and/or Melee to compensate for a low/average Brawn. It would still be better to back these skill levels with a good Brawn, but once the skill level is at 3+, you can still reliably hit even if your Brawn is low/average.

I might look over some footage of R2 from the movies to get some ideas. Heck, maybe when the crew gets a decent cash flow, I'll let him install jet boosters lol

I agree that power tools may not make the best weapons realistically....but we're playing a scifi roleplaying game here folks. These are high tech power tools with sharper cutting blades and such.

Yes, power tools are weapons only in the movies, but that is what you are supposed to be creating here.

Having an R2 unit disabling weapons and armor with his little circular saw would be awesome in gameplay.

Well for one, if he's an astromech, I don't suspect they typically carry cash on them. I could see it for a protocol droid maybe, but not an astromech. I can see what you're saying, but to offset the fact that he's unlikely to be carrying money when he's found by the party, I'm willing to give him a set of repair tools and something similar to that Arc Welder I mentioned right out of the gate, his "starting equipment budget" instead representing what his former owner spent on upgrades and the like.

However, whether I let him have freebies or not, I still need some ideas for weapons or tools he could either have or "purchase"

Just remember that RAW every character starts with 500c to purchase upgrades/gear/stuff. I wouldn't eliminate this, as it disadvantages him. A toolkit would be most appropriate for him, but just take the cost out of his starting funds. If the player chooses to abandon his money, well that's his fate. He'll need some cash just to survive, (like repowering and healing damage).

My god...a circular saw? That would be nasty in combat. Vibro ax stats for that thing (pierce and sunder).

The arc welder could be given shock glove stats.

Sounds scary, but at the same time, melee weapons on a droid that is likely to have little to no brawn.

Return of the Jedi, when the party gets caught in the net trap, R2 uses a small circular saw to cut through the netting. It looked to be about the size of a dremel tool, maybe an inch or 2 tops in diameter, so not a very good weapon even in the best of circumstances.

I might look over some footage of R2 from the movies to get some ideas. Heck, maybe when the crew gets a decent cash flow, I'll let him install jet boosters lol

Always a good idea, but remember that R2 is only one example of a droid. Make sure to read the section on droids and the varying classes. Most of them have restriction on their actions, I believe something is referenced to the effect that certain classes are required to follow orderes issued to them from organics, as long as it doesn't hurt other organics/contradict standing orders from their owner/employer. By definition your player characters should be free droids, allowed to make their own decisions. Depending on the planet, this may or may not be a crime, much less allowed.

Well obviously his starting gear needs to be limited, but anyway, BACK TO THE DROID TOOL IDEAS!

I would go with the following. Have him/her purchase a tool kit, then with remaining credits purchase the stun gloves (reskined as the arc welder) If the player decides to take additional obligation for more capital, you could steer them towards the nuero paralytics as a spray weapon which would be interesting. You could also steer him towards ion weapons, skined as some sort of .. "deflector dish overload"?

If he actually wanted to use the toolkit as a weapon, that would be in improvised weapon check. Weapons are purposebuilt for a reason. Now if he wanted a weapon that also functions as a tool, well... sky's the limit.

My god...a circular saw? That would be nasty in combat. Vibro ax stats for that thing (pierce and sunder).

The arc welder could be given shock glove stats.

Sounds scary, but at the same time, melee weapons on a droid that is likely to have little to no brawn.

Return of the Jedi, when the party gets caught in the net trap, R2 uses a small circular saw to cut through the netting. It looked to be about the size of a dremel tool, maybe an inch or 2 tops in diameter, so not a very good weapon even in the best of circumstances.

Think about it just a bit. that seems small, but a 2 inch deep slicing cut to someone's skin would be brutal. Even an inch would be massively damaging. If you take the scifi suspension of disbelief to explain that the thing doesn't jam (high speed, or type of material or whatever), then the rotating blade could be far deadlier than a simple blaster shot.

A quick swipe could leave an inch deep gash over several inches of flesh flaying someones armor or leg wide open. The amount of damage and pain from that would be intense.

Beyond that, much like with the rope, giving it the ability to sunder weapons/armor would be very cool.

Think about it just a bit. that seems small, but a 2 inch deep slicing cut to someone's skin would be brutal. Even an inch would be massively damaging. If you take the scifi suspension of disbelief to explain that the thing doesn't jam (high speed, or type of material or whatever), then the rotating blade could be far deadlier than a simple blaster shot.

A quick swipe could leave an inch deep gash over several inches of flesh flaying someones armor or leg wide open. The amount of damage and pain from that would be intense.

Beyond that, much like with the rope, giving it the ability to sunder weapons/armor would be very cool.

I could see that. Frankly, if the player wanted to reskin a Vibroknife into a circular saw, then I'm all for it. As long as he pays for it, I see no problems.

I think I've got a good basis now, at least for his starting equipment. As for following orders, I think he said he wanted to play a droid like an R5, specifically so he could be surly and unpleasant Oh he'll still help the party, sure. But it'll be reluctant and mostly with an attitude of "stupid meatbags, fine I'll bail you out of trouble again". Should be pretty hilarious.

Shock gloves for an arc welder, and vibro knife for the circular saw sound good to me. A vibro axe on an astromech is going to be very noticeable.

Chainsaws can do very nasty damage to people. The issue is that they are clumsy as all hell, you are as likely to damage yourself as your enemy if you start swinging one around in combat. Circular saws, without the guard would probably be effective, if you made contact. Grab a steak or a roast and see what they do, I suspect they won't bind as much as in a 2x4. Again the issue is that they are not balanced or designed for combat, so actually effectively hitting your opponent, while not hitting yourself is going to be tough.

A construction droid with a pneumatic nailer would have a nice slug thrower equivalent as a projectile weapon.