Perhaps the Thread title was a mistake, I'm sorry if I misled people into thinking I wanted to make Agility as the soak stat, I mean any stat, can be explained to be used as soak in some way or other, so a character would choose a stat and that would then be used as soak

This would remove any stat focus on a particular stat allow people to build their character as they wished then soak could be handwaved away like the reasoning behind static target dice for attacks..

I'm really not trying to have Agility have more effect on combat, though I can definitely see why it should.. I'm more removing inconsistencies I see with the system (in my opinion of course), or strange choices. Why the system is very simulistic about Soak, and yet very narrative about combat target numbers..

The reality is that the rules system is balanced by way of making it necessary to not have one stat be more important than the other. Putting Star Wars and comparison to the movies aside, it is still a game system that could be adapted to any other setting. Every character has their strengths and weaknesses. That is why in the case of physical combat, you have to be careful to balance out your agility and brawn, deciding between being able to take certain types of damage or dish it out.

That being said, there is a huge difference between being hit and taking a hit. That is why the different careers use skills and talents that tend more toward one or another ability. The scoundrel, for example, isn't expected to be able to take a hit as well as a marauder. That is why the scoundrel's career skills lean more toward agility "aka, hit and run" and they have talents that make them harder to hit (ex. "Dodge" or "Side Step"). The marauder on the other hand, is built to take hits, as they are constantly in short/melee range. They are nowhere near as hard to hit as a high level smuggler, but have talents that increase their soak to compensate (ex. "Toughened").

At the same time, both of them use those same characteristics for their own ways of dealing out damage (Marauder - Brawn for up close and personal melee, Scoundrel - Agility for long range attacks, also allowing for aim and cover). In short, the characteristics work hand in hand with the career skills and talents. If you modify the special stats to work with a different characteristic, then you end up eliminating the entire purpose behind the careers and their different specialization trees.

That's how I see it anyway. I enjoy my house rules too, but I'm very careful when it comes to a core mechanic that "handshakes" with other core mechanics in the game.

Also to Agatheron: I think the intent with dodging in this game, as in real-life firefights and most other games involving guns, is you're not actually dodging the bullet once it's fired. You're dodging the shooter's aim before they pull the trigger. A person can't really dodge a bullet, let alone a blaster shot. They can get out of the straight line of effect. And I think Force users tend to predict where the shot will go, thus allowing them to put their lightsaber there in the second before the trigger is pulled. My view anyway.

I may not have articulated it that well, but that was my line of thinking when I made my post. Soak is primarily resolving ones ability to shrug off damage once it connects, rather than avoiding a shot altogether. In some respects the question should be asked, at what point in the game might a high agility confer defensive dice? So far the answer is "never" or rather only when it is enhanced by force-based abilities or talents.

Not to throw off the topic, but how fast do the bolts (energy, gas, what have you) travel? I'm not so sure that cat like reflexes are going to make a difference in "dodging" something traveling that fast. Logically speaking, they don’t help cats, as they tend to be on the loosing side of hunting.

People don't actually dodge bullets; they try to avoid the sights/targeting and thus the attack in the first place. Once the bullet is out of the chamber, nothing short of divine intervention is going to prevent it from making it’s target, thus where the talents come in.

That being said, I fail to see agility having a basis in combat as a defensive quality. The only exception being, if one were perhaps faster then other targets, maybe the opposing force targets them first. That “I don’t have to be the fastest, just faster then the slowest” concept.

You're not trying to avoid the bolt with soak, it's already occurred in the attackers roll. If anything a high agility would provide black dice to the attacking parties dice pool. But once you're hit, agility holds no weight. The soak is dealing with the damage itself and therefore makes the most sense to base off brawn, representing a physical proportion to the being.

I can see it playing a part in hand to hand, but again, the mechanics of FFG’s game are set up so that the hit has already occurred, and thus unavoidable. Soak plays it’s part after the fact.

Just my .02