Last night we had someone try and rig an airlock with some mining charges to blow up. I though I had seen something like that in the Rebellion book - but came up dry. None of the skills would even come close - so I just said, "Ah screw it - roll your smarts and just call it good". But if it comes up again, what do other folks use to blow up bridges and airlocks and buildings and the like?

Skulduggery, dude. All sneaky stealthy stuff is skulduggery. You could have them roll mechanics to have it rig to a door as it opens, or computers to go off as they log in or something, though. Skulduggery would probably be needed there too, to hide it and rig it properly.

AoR lists mines and such as gunnery.... Which I agree is odd, but that's what they list.

That's weird....

A mine I could see as gunnery I suppose, though I still stand by a stealth or skulduggery check, something.... A land mine on the floor of a starship kinda stands out. But a rigged bomb? Doesn't quite sound right. Oh well, suppose it depends on how they go about it and the GMs judgement.

I dont really see setting up explosives as requiring agility, so gunnery makes no sense. Its more of a intense focus job, so either discipline or cool would make sense to me.

A bomb technician without discipline isnt around for very long!

Neither is one with ADH-did you see that squir-*explosion*

Depends on the explosive and what you are doing.

But a trap would be skuldudgery

Shaped charge would be more mechanics.

Blowing the Sith out of something is gunnery

Depends on the explosive and what you are doing.

But a trap would be skuldudgery

Shaped charge would be more mechanics.

Blowing the Sith out of something is gunnery

That's a pretty reasonable way of looking at it (although AoR rules tend to diverge a little) - I used similar rules for demolitions in a set of items included in my recent module (Skulduggery for explosive traps and Mechanics for demolitions charges). I think that the best part of applying these skills is that it allows for some traditionally non-combat characteristics (Cunning and Intellect) to directly contribute to combat scenarios in an easy way (if, of course, such items are used for combat).

I believe that mines in the AoR Beta were changed to Mechanics.

Yes, I think HappyDaze is right. The latest beta update replaced Gunnery with Mechanics.

Personally I'd do it much like Kinnison said. If you're placing a "straight-up" explosive to blow something up with maximum damage, use Mechanics. If you want the explosive charge to do something special (like having a computer blow up when someone uses the keyboard) you go with Skulduggery.

If Gunnery is a catch-all for heavy weapons as it is in EotE, then using it for Demolitions makes some sense.

Mechanics probably makes sense too, since it requires a similar skill-set.

I think demolitions really aught to be its own skill though, using agility or intellect (Dexterity is crucial when it comes to bombs, though so is intelligence) for the roll. Reason being, it doesn't really fit under any other skill.

I've been playing with the idea of making a Demolition skill myself. The problem is, what specializations/careers should it belong to, and which skill should it replace in those specializations? Using Gunnery, I feel, is completely inappropriate - there are absolutely no similarities between planting an explosive device and firing a heavy cannon. Even Cool would be a more appropriate skill than Gunnery.

I've been playing with the idea of making a Demolition skill myself. The problem is, what specializations/careers should it belong to, and which skill should it replace in those specializations? Using Gunnery, I feel, is completely inappropriate - there are absolutely no similarities between planting an explosive device and firing a heavy cannon. Even Cool would be a more appropriate skill than Gunnery.

Considering that Doctor doesn't get Cybernetics (introduced in Beyond the Rim) as a Career skill, there's no absolute reason that any of the existing Career or Specialization options need to have Demolitions as a Career skill.

Ive used mechanics for planted explosives myself but if there would be a custom skill id add it would definetly be Demolitions.

Well a Demolitionist is coming out as a Specialization for Hired Gun in Dangerous Covenants. So maybe there can be something extra there.

I've been debating between Mechanics or creating a Demolitions skill for the creation and proper usage of explosives. As we don't really have craft rules, it becomes a bit wonky.

Last time a player even considered blowing something up like that, I called for a Mechanics roll to use the tools on hand to create a small explosion. It seemed to work out for us, but it wasn't a trap like you used (which I agree is Skullduggery all the way).

Unless they actually come out with an actual Demolition skill, I would make it a talent that allows for the making of explosive devices using Mechanics. I don't think that just anyone with mechanics should be able to do it without some investment. But I could definitely see the place for a separate skill.

I've been playing with the idea of making a Demolition skill myself. The problem is, what specializations/careers should it belong to, and which skill should it replace in those specializations? Using Gunnery, I feel, is completely inappropriate - there are absolutely no similarities between planting an explosive device and firing a heavy cannon. Even Cool would be a more appropriate skill than Gunnery.

I think you are considering the issue from a traditional/simulationistic perspective when EotE is a narrative game. The question isn't what is realistic or even credible but what makes sense story wise.

Unless your campaign is very focused on blowing up stuff there will likely not be enough demolitions to require it's own skill. Mechanics works well enough for this I'd say. Better to handle it through talents and the normal dice resolution imho.

Unless your campaign is very focused on blowing up stuff there will likely not be enough demolitions to require it's own skill. Mechanics works well enough for this I'd say. Better to handle it through talents and the normal dice resolution imho.

A few of my players have read the X-Wing books, specifically the Wraith Squadron based novels. When they see Kell Tainer being the demolitionist, they want to find some way to introduce that into the games.

Most because if it worked in canon, they want to see it translated to the game.

Unless your campaign is very focused on blowing up stuff there will likely not be enough demolitions to require it's own skill. Mechanics works well enough for this I'd say. Better to handle it through talents and the normal dice resolution imho.

A few of my players have read the X-Wing books, specifically the Wraith Squadron based novels. When they see Kell Tainer being the demolitionist, they want to find some way to introduce that into the games.

Most because if it worked in canon, they want to see it translated to the game.

I am unfamiliar with Wraith Squadron but how about coming up with a more detailed modification on the difficulty and deciphering the roll?

Meaning you could make a table together with your players:

Start at average.

Not enough time +1 difficulty.

Improvised explosives +2.

Ready made (C4+detonator) -1.

Needing to bring down something huge +1.

Needing a very focused charge with minimum collateral +1.

Etcetera.

Make another table for successes, advantages, threats and so on.

If you base the check on Mechanics none of this will actually change or add any rules. Depending on your players it will give them enough grain to play around with. Also remember/never forget that no matter the rules the story should help give the players what they want (even if they have to fight for it). Meaning that a simple game mechanic might suffice if you create really cool scenes while the best mechanics will have a hard time carrying a bad scene. Imho/ymmw

I was thinking about it, orginally I wanted to create a new skill, but then I started to understand that in this system one skill can be used for completely different purposes. Mechanics is alrady IMO overloaded with possibilities, so I have chosen a Cool skill, as you have to keep your nerves when playing with that stuff.

The attribute will be Intelligence. The skill depends on the kind of explosives:

- Setting an explosive - Cool (cause it is easier to set something then to disarm IMO)

- Disarming an explosive - Computers (electronic clock or something) or Coordination (some cables to cut), but you could also use Cool for everything.

I was thinking about it, orginally I wanted to create a new skill, but then I started to understand that in this system one skill can be used for completely different purposes. Mechanics is alrady IMO overloaded with possibilities, so I have chosen a Cool skill, as you have to keep your nerves when playing with that stuff.

The attribute will be Intelligence. The skill depends on the kind of explosives:

- Setting an explosive - Cool (cause it is easier to set something then to disarm IMO)

- Disarming an explosive - Computers (electronic clock or something) or Coordination (some cables to cut), but you could also use Cool for everything.

Of course, that does create some oddities, such as the skill being used for demolitions (Cool) being a career skill for doctors but not for most of the combat specializations.