Two Weapon Fighting - did I get that right?

By MaddockKrug, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

Hi there,

on the Order 66 Forum someone raised the question about a situation like this one:

A character with Ranged (light) 3 (rank2) wants to shoot with two Light Blaster Pistols; the primary gun has an Accuracy of +2.

Am I right that the skill-roll would let you start with this dice-pool on Medium Range?
1 Ability + 2 Proficiency + 2 Boost + 3 Difficulty Dice

I tried to apply the rules from the CRB (pages 210, 211 (two-weapon combat); 154 (accuracy); 205(range)) accordingly; but I am not 100% certain that I got it right. Could anyone here please verify or falsify my result? Thank you.

Best wishes!

Mad

edit: correction for considering the +1 raise for difficulty due to medium range plus two weapons using the same skill

Edited by MaddockKrug

I used to think primary weapon had to be the lesser but reviewed it and had just misread the rule. Seems like you're fine with your dice pool.

Edited by 2P51

I thought the weapons had to be the same. i.e. the same weapon mods would be required. (I could be wrong...)

I used to think that as well but in the case of the word characteristic I think they mean attribute, in the event you are using a melee weapon and a ranged weapon I believe.

Your dice pool looks correct. Although I'd like to know where the 2 accuracy comes from for side reasons.

Your dice pool looks correct. Although I'd like to know where the 2 accuracy comes from for side reasons.

Thank you and all of you verifying my maths and rules-application.

As for the Accuracy 2 I have just quoted the orighinal question. The major concern of the original poster on the O66Podcast was that the two-weapon combat method would totally neglect the Accuracy available for only one of the two weapons. He has thought this because he understood the two-weapon combat in that way that the dice-pool was based on the weapon with the lesser chance of successfully hitting. But I told him that two weapon combat is based on skill and characteristics, and not one weapon qualities.

To cut things short: I did not double-check, if it is possible to give a Ranged(light) weapon an Accuracy of 2. To me this looks like D&Ding SWEotE ... aka minmaxing ...

Best wishes!

Mad

I thought the weapons had to be the same. i.e. the same weapon mods would be required. (I could be wrong...)

I used to think that as well but in the case of the word characteristic I think they mean attribute, in the event you are using a melee weapon and a ranged weapon I believe.

Hi.

I understand the rules of two-weapon combat in that way that the only limitation is this: each weapon must be of such a built that it can be reasonably used with a single hand - thus you may combine a melee weapon and a Ranged(light) weapon. The drawbacks are more seriois, though, than what you have with two somewhat identical or similar weapons, because instead of dificulty +1 you have difficuilty +2, and the worse skill ranks and characteristics of the involved skills get applied. Kind of challenging would be the question: would it be possible to strike an engaged target while simultaneously shooting another one within short or medium range?

The rules don't specify about one or two targets and with the minion rules I would say you probably could, provided there aren't any range issues with the weapons in question.

.......
Kind of challenging would be the question: would it be possible to strike an engaged target while simultaneously shooting another one within short or medium range?

I interpret the last line on p210 "Finally, he determines his target" to imply you're only going for one target.

Plus, here are some other things to consider...
*each weapon can only attack one target (damage multiple, yes; attack multiple, no)
*you must declare which target you're attacking
*different targets could have different ranges or setbacks (ie cover or prone), creating a different dice pool for each
*you can only activate the use of the second weapon if the initial declared attack succeeds and generates enough advantage
*the second weapon (if successfully activated) is considered an automatic hit

If you were able to automatically hit a second target based on the attack results against a first target, I think that would open too much possibilty for loopholes. If the first target is standing in the open and rolled threat his previous turn (giving a +1 boost to whoever attacks him next) and is hit, you could auto hit his buddy with the second weapon even though he has generated no threat and is prone (no boost, +1 setback). While the range and difficulty would be the same, the boost/setback dice +/- 1 can really change the outcome.

However, I guess the other way of thinking about it would be if you're using two ranged weapons, firing both could be seen as an autofire attack with one weapon. Autofire can damage others around a target.


I guess yet another way of thinking about it could be that when the CRB says "more difficult" or "higher/highest difficulty" in reference to attacking a target, it could be implying that you should consider not only the range and weapon difficulty, but also the boost/setback inclusion towards a target as well. In which case, when using autofire with the intent of hitting multiple targets, you always need to attack the target least likely to be hit (with most difficulty and setback / least boost) - and that theory could also transfer to hitting multiple targets with a multiple weapon attack.


All that long-winded description in mind... Just say it's GM's choice. It would be real easy to say "yes" or "yes, but," especially if a player wants to damage multiple targets and goes for the more difficult to hit as the primary target.

.......

Kind of challenging would be the question: would it be possible to strike an engaged target while simultaneously shooting another one within short or medium range?

I interpret the last line on p210 "Finally, he determines his target" to imply you're only going for one target.

Plus, here are some other things to consider...

*each weapon can only attack one target (damage multiple, yes; attack multiple, no)

*you must declare which target you're attacking

*different targets could have different ranges or setbacks (ie cover or prone), creating a different dice pool for each

*you can only activate the use of the second weapon if the initial declared attack succeeds and generates enough advantage

*the second weapon (if successfully activated) is considered an automatic hit

If you were able to automatically hit a second target based on the attack results against a first target, I think that would open too much possibilty for loopholes. If the first target is standing in the open and rolled threat his previous turn (giving a +1 boost to whoever attacks him next) and is hit, you could auto hit his buddy with the second weapon even though he has generated no threat and is prone (no boost, +1 setback). While the range and difficulty would be the same, the boost/setback dice +/- 1 can really change the outcome.

However, I guess the other way of thinking about it would be if you're using two ranged weapons, firing both could be seen as an autofire attack with one weapon. Autofire can damage others around a target.

I guess yet another way of thinking about it could be that when the CRB says "more difficult" or "higher/highest difficulty" in reference to attacking a target, it could be implying that you should consider not only the range and weapon difficulty, but also the boost/setback inclusion towards a target as well. In which case, when using autofire with the intent of hitting multiple targets, you always need to attack the target least likely to be hit (with most difficulty and setback / least boost) - and that theory could also transfer to hitting multiple targets with a multiple weapon attack.

All that long-winded description in mind... Just say it's GM's choice. It would be real easy to say "yes" or "yes, but," especially if a player wants to damage multiple targets and goes for the more difficult to hit as the primary target.

Just ... WOW! This is very interesting and a revelation about the complexity of this game ...