Most of the marauder "skills" say Melee or Brawl in there description, would they work if someone used a Lightsaber? Our GM made a skill called Lightsaber and I was just wondering if everyone thought the Marauder skills could be used with it(Frenzied Attack and such)

Personally i'd just treat it as a melee weapon and have never felt the need to see to give it own skill.

I mean if your not some kind of precognitive, its just a very expensive, very choppy, bonk stick.

How I'd interpret it, is that they don't apply to lightsabers. It is a melee weapon, but lightsabers use the lightsaber skill. If you look at most of the talents in marauder, they specifically say "Brawl or Melee check", not Brawn. Knockdown for instance, you can use a triumph to knock a target prone when doing a melee attack - not a Melee check, or a Brawl check, just any melee attack.

And also, a lightsaber does a flat 10 damage, not influenced by the wielder's Brawn. I suspect that when Force and Destiny hits the shelves there will be a whole separate slew of talents that modify lightsaber stats, rather than a recycling of old ones like the ones in the Marauder specialization.

its just a very expensive, very choppy, bonk stick.

...that you could easily, accidentally kill yourself with.

I'm glad it's its own skill. Safely handling those things would require way more concentration (or, y'know, ESP) than more mundane weapons.

Most of the marauder "skills" say Melee or Brawl in there description, would they work if someone used a Lightsaber? Our GM made a skill called Lightsaber and I was just wondering if everyone thought the Marauder skills could be used with it(Frenzied Attack and such)

As a stop-gap, the EotE Marauder talents seem like a fine way to represent the more aggressive lightsaber styles, if that's what you're trying to model. Both Donovan Morningfire and DarthGM have done some excellent work you may want to check out, too.

Most of the marauder "skills" say Melee or Brawl in there description, would they work if someone used a Lightsaber? Our GM made a skill called Lightsaber and I was just wondering if everyone thought the Marauder skills could be used with it(Frenzied Attack and such)

Per RAW, the answer would be a resounding "No."

Most of the Marauder's melee-centric talents specify the Brawl and Melee skills for a reason, and there's a similar reason that lightsabers will (probably) have their own specific once Force & Destiny comes out.

That reason is actually two-fold. The first part is game balance, as the lightsaber is a very powerful weapon, pretty much assured to blow right through the target's Soak Value thanks to the Breach 1 quality as well as inflict some nasty injuries thanks to it's low Crit Rating. A Marauder is built entirely around being a melee monster, and having that spec's talents apply to lightsabers as well just makes the spec that much more powerful.

The other reason is more of a narrative one, in that lightsabers are (supposed to be) rarer than a four-leaf clover decorated with hen's teeth. Most people aren't going to have any clue as to how to proper wield such a weapon, as the folks that specialized in them (Jedi) are by and large extinct during the Rebellion Era.

I also think Krieger22 is on to something, in that any Jedi-based specializations introduced with F&D will probably include talents to make a character more capable with a lightsaber, possibly having their own variants of things like Frenzied Attack or Feral Strength that apply solely to lightsabers. From a narrative-based view, it helps reinforce that being a Jedi is to stand a breed apart from the average cantina brawler in terms of combat skill, as the Jedi has trained to become quite good with a very difficult-to-master weapon where the brawler is quite good with more common varieties of weapons. After all, in our real world, anyone can pick up a baseball bat and be a credible threat in a fight, but not everyone can pick up a rapier or broadsword and still remain a viable threat; the bat doesn't require much special training, where the sword does if you want to do more than look like a fool using it.

Personally i'd just treat it as a melee weapon and have never felt the need to see to give it own skill.

I think the point of it being a separate skill is (1) prevent lightsaber twinkery in a game that is explicitly not designed around Jedi; (2) swinging around a weightless, massless melee weapon with an omnidirectional edge is going to be different from either throwing a punch or swinging even a light double-edged weapon like a knife or cracking a whip.

I'm waiting for the complaint thread about not being able to hurt the marauder, and yet he keeps breaching ship hulls and killing everything....

"Look! They are still coming through!"

Most of the marauder "skills" say Melee or Brawl in there description, would they work if someone used a Lightsaber? Our GM made a skill called Lightsaber and I was just wondering if everyone thought the Marauder skills could be used with it(Frenzied Attack and such)

Per RAW, the answer would be a resounding "No."

Most of the Marauder's melee-centric talents specify the Brawl and Melee skills for a reason, and there's a similar reason that lightsabers will (probably) have their own specific once Force & Destiny comes out.

That reason is actually two-fold. The first part is game balance, as the lightsaber is a very powerful weapon, pretty much assured to blow right through the target's Soak Value thanks to the Breach 1 quality as well as inflict some nasty injuries thanks to it's low Crit Rating. A Marauder is built entirely around being a melee monster, and having that spec's talents apply to lightsabers as well just makes the spec that much more powerful.

The other reason is more of a narrative one, in that lightsabers are (supposed to be) rarer than a four-leaf clover decorated with hen's teeth. Most people aren't going to have any clue as to how to proper wield such a weapon, as the folks that specialized in them (Jedi) are by and large extinct during the Rebellion Era.

I also think Krieger22 is on to something, in that any Jedi-based specializations introduced with F&D will probably include talents to make a character more capable with a lightsaber, possibly having their own variants of things like Frenzied Attack or Feral Strength that apply solely to lightsabers. From a narrative-based view, it helps reinforce that being a Jedi is to stand a breed apart from the average cantina brawler in terms of combat skill, as the Jedi has trained to become quite good with a very difficult-to-master weapon where the brawler is quite good with more common varieties of weapons. After all, in our real world, anyone can pick up a baseball bat and be a credible threat in a fight, but not everyone can pick up a rapier or broadsword and still remain a viable threat; the bat doesn't require much special training, where the sword does if you want to do more than look like a fool using it.

it would be true except lightsabers are listed under the melee weapons so untill F&D much of mauraders skills will transfer to it unless they make seperate rules.

it would be true except lightsabers are listed under the melee weapons so untill F&D much of mauraders skills will transfer to it unless they make seperate rules.

They're listed under melee weapons but their skill is listed as light saber, so the only talent that would work for marauders is Lethal Blows.

it would be true except lightsabers are listed under the melee weapons so untill F&D much of mauraders skills will transfer to it unless they make seperate rules.

Except that's the point of this thread - we don't have a specific ruling from the makers, which is why there's a debate.

And besides, by the logic that "Melee weapons can use Marauder talents" it's like saying the mines in Age of Rebellion can use talents for Range Light/Heavy - despite using Mechanics. Sure, the mines are listed under Ranged Weapons, but they obviously don't benefit from stuff like Point Blank.

Besides, in the Lightsaber description, it specifically says, " ... Lightsabers require the Lightsaber skill to use ... not an option ... must be used untrained ... this is deliberate". So I'd say that no, talents that give boosts to Melee skill checks do not apply to lightsaber use. Talents that affect Brawn or Agility, sure; but Melee specifically, as a skill, no.

It actually says in the actual melee weapons chart skill required, light saber.

yeah looked it up thats true cant add awsome to already awsome weapon

I wouldn't say that, Lethal Blows would make it fairly ugly on crits. In addition Intense Focus doesn't say you have to have a particular skill to be able to use it, so theoretically that would be at least one upgrade to a check. Hunter would add more crit buffs to combat against beasties. Targeted Blow or Anatomy Lessons would allow you to buff the damage for a Destiny Point. So there are still ways to buff light sabers pre-F&D.

It actually says in the actual melee weapons chart skill required, light saber.

I'm not saying you should (I like having most of Star Wars devoid of Jedi and their ilk), but couldn't you get the skill through Well Rounded (Colonist:Politico/Scholar, Explorer:Archaeologist)?

Of course. Humans can also start with one of their free skill ranks in it too.

Of course. Humans can also start with one of their free skill ranks in it too.

"I was raised by wild Jedi. They're shy creatures, but loyal."

Hi all,

I suppose so, but I would require some reasonable justiication before allowing it to be learned.

Cheers

Simon B

I'd hope nobody tries it, but it's nice to a flex against the boundaries of the rules, now and again.

Plus it's easily shut down by the GM saying, "Point to the skill definition and you can take it".

I don't see why a Maualder wouldn't get to use their talents on a lightsaber. Fundimentally it's the same as swinging any weapon, once you conpensate for the lightness of it. Infact it's probably superior once you get over the fact that strength means very little with a blade that can cut through nearly anything, so you can focus all your efforts on inflicting the most visious wounds possible, even with little formal training, that only helps you to take advantage of the more advanced applications, such as defensive fighting, blaster bolt deflection, that would likely be in the Force book. It also allows you to argue self harm if a dispair is rolled.

The only issues that prevents it from being the most broken thing ever is that wielding a lightsaber in a empire dominated setting is asking for trouble from powers more dangerous then a lightsaber. I can't see a machanical reason why a maraulder can't melee, since a lightsaber makes anyone incredably dangerous (easpically to associates).

Because talents like Frenzied Attack and Feral Strength say they augment Brawl and Melee specifically and a light saber doesn't use a Brawl or Melee check, it uses a Light Saber skill check. It's the same as asking why can't you use Frenzied Attack with Ranged(H).

Does a lightsaber officially use a separate skill? I honestly haven't really read over much of the lightsaber or Force stuff in general since no one in my group uses any of it.

It does in the weapon list. Does it in the NPC section?

The CRB talks about it on p.167 and under the melee weapons chart, 5-6, p. 161, under the skill column in the chart for light saber it lists lightsaber as the skill required.

It actually says in the actual melee weapons chart skill required, light saber.

I'm not saying you should (I like having most of Star Wars devoid of Jedi and their ilk), but couldn't you get the skill through Well Rounded (Colonist:Politico/Scholar, Explorer:Archaeologist)?

This is plausible but I think I would require it be Well Rounded from only the Scholar or the Archaeologist, not the Politico or the Medic.