Easy Droid Creation [Star Wars d6]

 A brief note, a system I came up with for easily designing droids in Star Wars d6:

 Invert character creation.

Normal characters have 18D in Attributes and 7D in skills, with no more than two dice added to a given skill; Droids have 7D in Attributes, and 18D in skills, but we'll increase their skill maximum to 4 dice. This means they'll be kind of OK at one thing, but can really drill down in a couple core functions.

 For example, a protocol droid would be

1D Dex

2D Knowledge
Alien Species +3D
Bureaucracy +2D
Cultures +3D
Languages +4D
Planetary Systems +1D

1D Mechanical

1D Perception
+3D Persuasion

1D Strength

1D Technical
+2D Computer Programming ("My first job was programming binary load-lifters")

He's outstanding at Languages (he's familiar in over six million forms of communication, after all), but he knows alien species and the cultures, his time as Padme and Leia's protocol droid has made them familiar with Bureaucracy, as well as Persuasion (he's gotten better at telling stories).

 ***

An Astromech might be

1D Dexterity

1D Knowledge

1D Mechanical
+4D Astrogation
+2D Sensors
+1D Space Transports
+1D Starfighter Piloting

1D Perception

1D Strength

2D Technical 
+2D Droid Repair
+4D Space Transports Repair
+4D Starfighter Repair

***

 On top of this, you'd add equipment, which would mostly be internal tools. 

Tirolian Space: Destroid Tomahawk Chassis

  Soon after the crash of the Robotech battle fortress on Aelois III, the human inhabitants of that planet began to reverse engineer and experiment with the technology. One of the first devices they produced was the Tomahawk frame of what became known as “Destroids”; large, bipedal, walkers designed to engage the gigantic Zentraedi on their own terms. In Aeolian fashion, this basic frame was outfitted with different weapon systems and accessories to serve different functions, and then given distinct names… the Anti-Aircraft platform known as the “Defender”, the missile boat referred to as “Phalanx”, and the multi-function assault platform, the eponymous “Tomahawk.”

As with the later battloids of the Southern Cross army, while these Destroids used a common frame, they were not capable of rapidly changing between roles; one could not easily turn a Defender into a Tomahawk, or a Tomahawk into a Phalanx. Doing so required significant engineering and sensor upgrades.
While largely humanoid in shape, the Tomahawk frame has one critical feature lacked by the more maneuverable Valkyrie battloids: the torso can turn 360 degrees easily and rapidly; thus, while the weapons may appear to be limited to the front arc, they are, in fact, all turret-mounted.

 

Destroid Tomahawk Frame

Craft: Various Designations depending on specific design

Type: Non-Transformable Battloid

Scale: Starfighter

Skill: Walker Operation

Crew: 1

Crew Skill: All skills typically at 4D

Cargo Capacity: 60 kilograms

Consumables: 1 day

Cost: 180,000 (new), 145,000 (used), both prices are black market value

Move: Depends on the loadout; the Phalanx is 25, the Tomahawk is 30, and the Defender is 35

Body Strength: 3D

 

Weapons and Equipment:

Defender:

M-996 78mm Anti-Aircraft Auto-Cannons (2)

Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 10-300m/8km/16 Km
Space Range: 1/10/25
Damage: 5D per weapon; can be combined in groups of two or four, for 6D or 7D damage, respectively
Ammo: Each cannon can fire 60 times without reloading; reloading takes significant time and crew support.

 

Some versions have their auto-cannons replaced with the primitive laser weapons of Tirolian Space; those do not have an ammo rating, but reduce the damage to 3D per weapon (3D+1 or 4D+1 when fire-linked), and the range to half.

 

 

 

Tomahawk

HPC-155 Heavy Particle Acceleration Cannons (2)
The Heavy Particle Cannons are mounted in place of forearms or hands.

Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 10-300m/4km/8 Km
Space Range: 1/5/15
Damage: 3D+1 per weapon; can be fire-linked to do 4D damage

 

TZ-IV Gun Cluster

The gun cluster  combines several anti-personell and anti-armor weapons into a single package. Unlike the other weapons, these are all Walker-scale weapons, rather than Starfighter-scale. Each Tomahawk has two such clusters, mounted on each shoulder.

25mm autocannon   

Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 5-100m/400m/600m
Damage: 3D+1
Ammo: 20 shots (each)

14.5mm laser
Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Range: 5-100m/800m/1200m
Damage: 2D

Flame-thrower

Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 4D
Range: 5-50m/600m/180m
Damage: 2D+1
Ammo: 10 shots (each)

Grenade Launcher
Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 1D
Range: 5-100m/250m/500m
Damage: 8D+1
Ammo: 8 shots (each)

 

MDS-L-12 Multiple Launch Missile Pod (2)
Like the Gun clusters, the MDS Multiple Launch pods are Walker-scale weapons, designed for engaging tanks and speeders. One is mounted on each shoulder, near the chest.
Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Starship Gunnery

Fire Control: 2D
Range: 5-100m/250m/500m
Space Range: 1/3/5
Damage: 7D
Ammo: 10 shots (each)

 

 

MDS-M-6 Air Defense Missile Launcher
Mounted in a pod above the right shoulder, the MDS-M-6 is designed as an anti-starfighter weapon.

Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Starship Gunnery

Fire Control: 2D
Range: 30-100m/300m/700m
Space Range: 1/3/5
Damage: 8D
Ammo: 6 shots

 

Phalanx

The Phalanx mounts only one weapon system; massive barrels of long-range missiles, designed as anti-starfighter weapons. This variant is rarely used; it is often more efficient to mount smaller numbers of missiles on more platforms, but in the early days of the First Contact War between the Aeolians and the Zentraedi, limited numbers of pilots and platforms, faced with massive numbers of Zentraedi soldiers, made Phalanx-style large capacity launchers an effective use of resources.
The Phalanx has another advantage, and that is of multiple actions. Each round, up to four actions may be made, two per missile pod. These may be used to target one or multiple targets. Additionally, the parallel arrangement of missiles allows the Phalanx to fire a large amount of missiles at once; they may fire up to ten missiles per action.

MDS-H-22 Long range missile launchers (2)

Fire Arc: Turret
Skill: Starship Gunnery

Fire Control: 2D
Range: 30-100m/300m/1000m
Space Range: 1/5/10
Damage: 9D
Ammo: 22 shots

 

Star Wars d6 Life Path System

Hey, another thing I found when cleaning up old files!

The Life Path Character Creation System


Step 1) 1D in all attributes

Step 2) Upbringing: 6D in Attributes, 1D in skills. Equipment: Something cheap but useful. May include weapons or tools. Example: Sporting Blaster, Survival Pack, Medkit

Step 3) Education: 4D in Attributes, 2D in skills. Equipment: Something relatively expensive; good armor, a speeder bike, a droid, a heavily leveraged space ship.

Step 4) Early Career: 2D in Attributes, 4D in Skills. Equipment: Something useful, frequently a weapon.

Step 5) Buy and Sell equipment. Take 250cr as a base. Sell redundant background equipment for 100% of book price.

Now, your choices may make your attributes fail to meet species minimums. That's tough luck, unless some of your choices cause an attribute to exceed species maximum. Any pips or dice which exceed species maximums must be applied to any attribute failing to meet minimums, or wherever you like, if your species minimums have been met. Likewise, choices may exceed the 2D skill limit. In that case, you may apply them to other skills, or use them to acquire specializations.

Some samples are below; more will be added as I get the time and inclination.

Upbringing

Hutt Space
*1D+1 in Dexterity, Perception, and Strength, and +1 in Knowledge, Mechanical, and Technical.
*+1 in Brawling, Brawling Parry, and Pick Pocket.
*Equipment: Knife, 100cr

Jedi Youngling
 *1D Knowledge, Perception, Dex. 1D Control. +2 Mechanical, Technical, Strength
 *1D Willpower
 *Equipment: Medpac

Outer Rim
 *1D+1 to Perception, Dex, and Strength, and +1 to Knowledge, Mechanical, and Technical.
*1D Stamina
*Equipment: Macrobinoculars, Knife

Education

Jedi Padawan
 *+1D Dexterity, Knowledge. 1D Sense. +1 Strength, Perception, Mechanical
 *1D Lightsaber, 1D Control
 *Equipment: Lightsaber, astromech or protocol droid

Rural
*+1D to Str, Mech, and Tech, +1 to Knowledge, Perception, Dexterity
*+1D Blaster, 1D Repulsorlift operation
*Equipment: Sporting Blaster Rifle, Landspeeder or Speeder Bike

Speeder Thief
*+2D in Mechanical, +1D in Technical, and +1D in Perception
*+2 on Repulsorlift Operation, +2 Streetwise, +1 in Bargain and Security
*Equipment: Blaster Pistol or Hold-out Blaster, Speeder Bike

Early Career

Imperial Navy Crewman
*1D in Knowledge, 1D in Technical
*1D in Blaster, 2D in Capital Ship Repair, and 1D in Sensors
*Equipment: Commlink, Blaster Pistol, Imperial Uniform, Blast Helmet

Jedi Knight
*1D Alter, +1 Strength, Knowledge, Perception
*1D Lightsaber, Sense, Alter, Control
*Equipment: Lightsaber

Late-blooming Jedi
*1D in Control and Sense
*1D in Lightsaber, Starfighter Piloting, Starship Weapons, and Control.
*Equipment: Lightsaber (or 1000cr)

Updated Savage Star Wars Force Rules

So, been a while since I touched this. As I was just considering getting back into it, I joined a Facebook group for Savage Star Wars, and discovered the MASSIVE amount of work put into it by Christopher Leiby, which more or less removes the need for me to continue on it. No need to reinvent the wheel, especially when it looks to work so well.

However, I'm not a particular fan of his Force system; it has 3 arcane backgrounds of Lightsider, Darksider, and Force Adept, but you switch between them and just feels a bit messy to me. However, my old force rules were as clumsy and random as a blaster, so I spent a bit of time reworking them. I like this version a lot better; it makes Dark Siders very difficult opponents, but limits their flexibility. You can flirt with the Dark Side, and people who are touched by the Force (Lucky) can go a bit further... but once you go too far into the Dark, it becomes even more seductive to stay there.

The Force

Arcane Background: Force Sensitive
Arcane Skill: Force
Beginning Powers: 3
Power Points: No Power Points Rule

The Force skill can also be used to perform minor Telekinesis; it has a strength of d4, and a duration of only 1, but otherwise functions like the Telekinesis power.


***
Rules Summary:
    *Instead of using Power Points, characters with the Force Sensitive Arcane Background simply choose the power they want to activate and make a Force skill roll. The penalty to the roll is the power’s total cost in Power Points (base cost plus all Modifiers), divided by 2, then rounded up. Casting protection (1 point) with More Armor (+1) and the Hurry modifier (+1), for example, has a cost of 3 Power Points. Half rounded up is 2.
    *Success means the power activates as usual. A raise grants any additional bonuses stated in its description.
    *Critical Failure results in Backlash (SWADE, page 151).
    *Maintaining Powers: Characters can maintain those powers that allow it as long as desired, but each one maintained inflicts a −1 to all further arcane skill rolls.

    *Power Preparation: A caster may prepare powers by concentrating for an entire round (no movement or other actions and must not be Shaken or Stunned). If successful, he ignores 2 points of penalties on all powers cast on his next turn. If he does not enact any powers on his next turn, the preparation is lost.
***


The Lure of the Dark Side

In addition to the regular Bennies (called “Force Points”) available to all characters (even those who are not force sensitive), each character in Savage Star Wars may claim, at will, a Dark Side Benny. By calling on their anger and their hatred, they may access the Dark Side and use that Benny. Only one Dark Side benny may be used for a given trigger; you cannot call on Dark Side bennies to continue soaking a wound indefinitely, but you could call upon the Dark Side to soak a wound, reroll your attack, then call upon it again to reroll your damage, and soak damage from a new attack. Dark Side Bennies spent in pursuit of Dark Side aligned emotional hindrances (qv Arrogant, Bloodthirsty, Mean, Ruthless) receive a +2 bonus on the roll.

However, Dark Side Bennies are not spent, they are gained; at the end of a session, the number of Dark Side Bennies a character has accumulated should be noted on their character sheet as Dark Side Points. When a character has more Dark Side Points than bennies with which they begin a session (more than 3 for most characters, 2 for the unlucky, 4 for the lucky, etc.), they must make a Spirit roll. Success on that roll means they have resisted the lure of the Dark Side, and do not have to roll again until they gain more Dark Side Points. Failure on that roll results in the removal of all Dark Side points, and the Dark Sider (minor) hindrance. Failure by someone with the minor hindrance results in the removal of all Dark Side Points and the Dark Sider (major hindrance); if they have the major hindrance, they gain the Lost to the Dark Side hindrance. A raise on the Spirit roll results in the removal of a Dark Side Point, though subsequent raises on that roll will not remove more points. A strong enough spirit can stay on the edge of a long time, but when they fail, they begin to lose connection to the Light.

Characters who use the Dark Side can be very difficult to face, as they will reroll MANY rolls. If they don’t care about their Dark Side Point total, practically any roll can be rerolled once. They lose, however, the ability to reroll a reroll; to spend multiple bennies on a single Soak roll. Someone with a very high Spirit might flirt with the Dark Side, trusting in the strength of their will to resist the lure; but failure always happens.

After each advance, reduce the number of Dark Side Points by 1. Alternatively, an advance can be used to remove all Dark Side Points.


***
Note to the GM: I find it effective to give players receiving a Dark Side Point a physical token of their Dark Side point; I use red poker chips, with normal bennies being blue poker chips. An additional advantage of this is the ability to provide the lure of the Dark Side; play with a Dark Side Point token during tense moments. Remind the players, particularly after a Critical Failure, that they can spend a Dark Side Benny, if they want.

***


New Hindrances
Dark Sider (Minor, Major)
Those with the Dark Sider hindrance have begun to succumb to the lure of the Dark Side. As a minor Hindrance, they begin one less benny per session, making it easier to fall to the Dark Side. A major hindrance, they have two less bennies per session, with a minimum of one benny per session.

You may have the Dark Sider hindrance and Lucky, or other effects that boost the number of bennies (such as being Young), at the same time. You may not have Dark Sider (minor) and Dark Sider (major) at the same time; gaining the major replaces the minor.


Lost to the Dark Side (Major)
Prerequisite: Dark Sider Major Hindrance

Those Lost to the Dark Side have perverted the Force for selfish ends. As such, they no longer receive bennies at the beginning of a session. They may continue to call upon the Dark Side as normal.


***
Design Note:
Bad Luck in SWADE is a Major Hindrance; Minor Dark Sider has much the same effect, but is only a minor hindrance. This is for several reasons; first of all, Dark Sider can be taken with Lucky, making it a less severe consequence. However, this is also to provide a path back to the Light; someone with Dark Sider (minor) can return with a single advance, someone with Dark Sider (major) can return with two, with the minor hindrance remaining after the first one. Those lost to the Dark Side will take four advances to return; a significant amount of effort.)

***

And, while I don't want to go TOO far down the rabbit hole of redoing Christopher's work, I also like my Wookiee (corrected, at his observation) a bit better.

Wookiee
Pros: Strength and Vigor start at d6 (4), Claws (Str+d4 Damage) (1), Environmental Resistance: Cold (1), Size +1 (1)
Cons: Big -2, Cannot Speak -1, Code of Honor -2 (Wookiee Code of Honor includes the prohibition on using claws as weapons, as well as the idea of the Life Debt)

Mawg of Druidia [d6 Star Wars]

(a serious work full of silly references)

The Mawg are a race of semi-canine humanoids from the Tatoyo System, inhabiting planet they call Druidia (Tatoyo-3). They are moderately integrated with the galaxy at large, with a belief system somewhat resembling that of the Ithorian conception of the “Mother Jungle”; they consider Druidia to be a living planet, and attempt to live in harmony with it. As such, modern Druidia has very little galactic-level technology on its surface, relying on space elevators and a few, limited, landing facilities, with most of their industry being located in orbit. Many Mawg live out their lives upon Druidia, but even those have a basic familiarity with tech; they are not technologically deprived, like the Ewoks, simply somewhat reticent to make use of extensive technology when other solutions are available.
Physically, the Mawg tend to be a hair under two meters and about 100kg, with extensive body hair (except for their face, neck, and the palms of their hands), meter-long, non-prehensile tails, and expressive ears on the top of their heads. Their feet are plantigrade, and they often wear shoes when not on Druidia. They lack either claws or significant, biting, teeth. Some believe Mawg are near-humans, possibly the result of genetic manipulation in the distant past, granting the species the traits of some local canines, but this is not confirmed (and the Mawg themselves do not believe it; for them, they were raised upon Druidia, by Druidia).

The Mawgs are led by a caste of ennobled priests, with a hereditary “King of the Druids” as their head of state. All their leaders must be sensitive to the “Spirit of Druidia” (known in the galaxy at large as the Force), and exceptional ability with the Force can ennoble a Mawg of any social order (simple Force sensitivity does not automatically ennoble one, however). Those born to the noble caste without sensitivity to the Force become members of the bureaucratic class. As a result of this, the Mawg also have a bent towards mysticism; those without Force sensitivity often seek to gain it, and those with Force Sensitivity seek to learn to “commune with the Spirit of Druidia” and learn Force powers. Many teachers of both exist within Mawg society, of varying ethics and efficacy, and while almost all Mawgs revere Druidia, their approaches to her worship vary considerably, from the meditative to the ecstatic.

Mawg
Dexterity 2D/3D+2
Knowledge 2D/4D+1
Mechanical 2D/3D+2
Perception 2D/4D
Strength 2D/4D+1
Technical 2D/4D

Special Skills:
Mawg may also learn the Thrown Weapons and Primitive Construction skills of the Ewoks.

Special Abilities:
Superior Senses: Though Mawg are not particularly Perceptive creatures, they do have impressive senses of smell and hearing; they may add +1D to search rolls when smell or hearing are relevant (Gamemaster’s discretion).

Story Factors:
Tied to Druidia: While Mawg have a generally galactic-level of technology, they do not travel extensively outside the Tatoyo system, and their religious beliefs mean that many return to Druidia frequently. While it does not have a precise mechanical effect on non-Force users, a Mawg who has not returned to Druidia within a standard year will frequently find themselves homesick, unless they can connect with other Mawgs, which lessens the effect.

Mawgs and the Force
The Mawg conception of the Force is of something that emanates from Druidia herself, and suffuses the galaxy; to a Mawg Force-user, the Force is the spirit of Druidia, and long separation from Druidia makes use of the Force more difficult. Mawg force-users are known as Druids, and they are under the rule of the King of the Druids, just as the civil society is.

Beginning study of Druidism starts with Sense, and the Sense Force power, followed by Life Detection. These powers must be mastered by a Druid before others will be taught. Sense is followed by Control, which always begins with Concentration, then Emptiness. One must feel the Spirit of Druidia, and how she flows in life, and then to clear one’s mind and feel her flowing through you. Despite this, some of the Druid’s most impressive powers are based on Alter. Three of note are Call Lightning, Control Winds, and Wind Buffet, described below.

Proximity to Druidia plays a role in the Mawg’s use of the Force; unsurprisingly, as they consider Druidia to be the source of their power. Direct contact with the planet of Druidia (including both land and sea, and within the atmosphere) adds +1D to all Force Skills. Being in the Tatoyo System results in no modification to Force Skills. Leaving the Tatoyo System, however, causes the connection to Druidia to slowly degrade. For every standard month a Druid is away from Druidia, their Force skills will suffer a -1 penalty, capping at -2D.

Druids can combat this through several methods. Many will carry the soil of Druidia with them, with each kilogram of soil providing an additional month of connection (provided the Mawg can touch and interact with the soil regularly, and the soil is kept “living”, such as growing a plant from Druidia). As the soil itself is separated from Druidia, it, too, loses connection. It does not die; barring other circumstances, it remains viable soil; but it loses the ability to offset the Druid’s loss of connection. Druids may also slow the loss by communing with other Mawgs; spending at least six hours in close proximity and fellowship with other Mawgs will erase 1 point of penalty, but only if the Druid’s current penalty is -1D or above. Return to the planet of Druidia will heal this rift in time, reducing the penalty by 1 point per standard week, or by 1 point per standard hour if spent in emptiness. If limited to the Tatoyo system, the penalty reduces by 1 point per standard month, or 1 point per standard week if spent in emptiness.

Druidic Powers
Call Lightning
Alter Difficulty: Difficult in actively stormy conditions; Very Difficult if no storm is present, or the target’s Dodge roll, whichever is more difficult.
Required Power: Absorb/Dissipate Energy, Sense Force

By reaching out to the Force, the Druid can create a connection between a target and the primal power of the skies. This connection serves as a conduit, discharging a lightning bolt upon the target, which inflicts damage equal to the Druid’s alter skill. Armor provides is usual energy protection against this power, but droids are at -1D to resist it.
This power requires an open path to the sky and, unlike Force Lightning, does not necessarily result in a Dark Side Point.

Control Wind
Alter Difficulty: Difficult in a natural setting; Very Difficult in a ship or closed building
Required Power: Sense Force
This power may be kept “up”.
The Druid touches the Spirit of Druidia, asking her to redirect the winds over a large area. Outdoors, the wind is redirected in a direction of the Druid’s choice within 100 meters of the druid, changing the wind speed by kilometers per hour equal to the Druid’s alter roll. If the Druid is directly opposing a wind, those winds are reduced; if aiding a wind, or changing its direction by less than 90 degrees, the winds are increased. Many Druids working in concert can significantly alter the course of a storm, though they do not do so anymore; modern knowledge of weather patterns shows that such manipulation can have deleterious effects.
When inside, the power's area of effect is limited to three meters, and the alteration can be no more than 1 kilometer per hour unless a significant unnatural wind is present (such as in a wind tunnel). When the power is no longer kept up, the wind strength and direction returns to local conditions

Wind Buffet
Alter Difficulty: The opposed Strength or control roll of the Target
Required Power: Control Wind, Sense Force
Wind Buffet is a more limited form for Control Wind, providing a blast of air directly at a target. While not enough on its own to damage a person, it can slow their progress or knock them down.
The target opposes this power with either Strength or, if they have force powers of their own, Control. Armor provides no defense against this, and certain clothing (such as a poncho) might provide penalties to resist the wind. The Druid’s own Alter is rolled as if it were damage, but no damage is directly inflicted. Instead, a result of Stunned means that the target is unable to move against the force of the wind this turn, though they may move back or to the side. If the result is Wounded, the target is knocked prone. If the result is Incapacitated, the target is knocked prone and back a number of meters equal to the Druid’s Alter dice, while Mortally Wounded or killed will knock them prone, and back a distance equal to the Alter roll. Again, no actual damage is inflicted by the wind; the levels of damage are only used to determine the effect.

Talents for D6 [d6 Star Wars]

Initially designed and written for Star Wars D6, this also will work for other D6 games, such as Space, Fantasy, Adventure, and Zorro.

Talents add +1D to tests with a certain skill specialization. Talents apply to a specialization, not a skill; you don't have a Talent with Space Transports, you have a Talent in Space Transports: YT-1300 or Space Transports: All-Out or Space Transports: Dodge; the last two aren't usual specializations, but they work for talents.

Humans begin with 2 free talents; anyone (including humans) may spend 1D of skill dice to begin with 2 (additional) Talents. In play, Talents cost 5 CPs per talent. Talents do not require a teacher; they are a natural ability (that may have been latent until now). If a player has 5 CPs, they may acquire a Talent at any time, with the Game master's permission. Talents are a bonus; they do not increase the cost to improve a specialization, as they do not increase the rating of the specialization.

You may have only one talent per skill, but you do not need any training in the skill to make use of a talent. You may have no more talents in a single attribute's skills than dice in that attribute (so, if you have 2D+2 Dexterity, you can have 2 Dexterity skill Talents; if you increase it to 3D, you can learn another Talent.)

Force Powers and Advanced Skills: Beginning characters may not have Talents in Force Powers (other other Metaphysical skills, depending on your system) or advanced skills; these must be acquired in game. You may have only a single talent per Advanced skill. You may not have talents in the Force Skills, themselves. A talent with a force power applies +1D to the use of the power; you may have no more talents in powers associated with a single Force Skill than dice in the Force Skill. Talents with Force Powers that rely on multiple skills (q.v. Lightsaber Combat) require only 5 CPs, like other Talents, but count against the limit of both Force Skills.

Han Solo, Jedi Knight

So, a year ago, I bought Amazing Tales to play with my kids, but never quite got around to it until today. My wife and daughter were taking naps, and the Boy wanted someone to play with, I broke out the book and set up a couple short games with him.


Now, bear in mind, he's 5. So, he doesn't read much, yet, though he's good with letters that aren't written in Daddy's horrible handwriting, and he's good with numbers, so Amazing Tales works great. Your character is defined by 4 skills, that you make up on the spot, to determine what you can do well. Roll a 3 or above and you succeed. I added the rule that you couldn't use the same skill twice in a row.


For example, in the first game, we played a bit of Beowulf (I have an adaptation I've been reading him since he was 2). His skills were "Great at fighting!" with a d12, "Lots of loyal knights!" with a d10, "A Big shield to protect everyone!" with a d8, and "Healing powers!" with a d6. The second, we played Peter Rabbit and the quest to get some rabbit tobacco without getting caught by Mr. McGregor or the cat. His skills were Running (d12), Hiding (d10), Digging (d8), and Climbing (d6) (I defined the skills, he did the numbers, this time).


After that, though, he wanted to tell the story. And he decided it would be about Jedi Knight Han Solo. My skills settled on "Lightsaber", "Blaster", "Awesome Ship", and "Force Powers", at d8, d10, d12, and d6, respectively. When it started, JKHS was fighting a bunch of stormtroopers and "Dark Vader". He was bit unimpressed by my favoring the blaster and the ship over cutting Darth Vader's head off with a lightsaber (he saw the Dark Side Cave scene in ESB and was obsessed with rewinding it and watching it again), and eventually wound up telling me what I was doing (which involved jumping down off the ship and cutting Darth Vader's Head off with a lightsaber) and letting me roll dice.


But my boy's first GMing experience happened on his 3rd game, when he was 5 years old, and it was a Star Wars game.

Mandalorian Armor and its Stages [d6 Star Wars]

"Mandalorian Armor" covers a variety of different concepts. At its core, it is battle armor with distinctive styling, most notably the T-shaped visor on the full blast helmet, usually paired with a cuirass, pauldrons, vambraces or gauntlets, boots, and cuisse (thigh protectors). Ideally, this armor will be made of beskar, but that has become rare and valuable, and so relatively few suits will be made out of the metal. Such suits are usually unpowered, but may mount a variety of accessories and built-in weapons, according to the tastes and credit balance of the individual Mandalorian.

"Beginner" Mandalorian Armor is a blast helmet and a blast suit; approximately 800 credits, it provides +1D protection against physical attacks, and +1 against energy, while providing coverage to the entire body. This version lacks significant plating (there is no cuirass, but densiplast strips are used to deflect blows). The suit is typically about 800 credits.

A full suit of Mandalorian armor (with a cuirass, pauldrons, vambraces, and greaves made of densiplast or similar common materials, layered over the traditional blast suit) protects the head, torso, arms, and legs, and provides +2D protection against physical attacks and +1D against energy attacks, and provides no dexterity penalties. It costs 1500 credits for a full suit, plus 500 credits for the underlying blast suit; a helmet can be had for approximately 500 credits.

Beskar is a particularly rare metal, smelted by Mandalorian metallurgists, which greatly increases the protection of armor. Any part of the body with beskar plating increases to +4D v. Physical and +3D v. energy. It is beyond price.

This looks workable, and is line with a lot from the Holocron. The "Beginner" suit is just a Blast Helmet and Blast Vest, with another 200 credits on the blast vest to account for it covering the full body. The "full suit" is about three times the cost of Cresh Luck Armor (q.v.), without even including the underlying blast suit. The helmet is, obviously, a separate thing; you can't just layer things on to a blast helmet and get a better helmet. As for the stats of beskar? I compared Boba and Jango Fett's armor to Jodo Kast's armor.

Slow-Haul Freighter [d6 Star Wars]

Slow Haul Freighter

The Slow-Haul Freighter is a ship designed for simple, consistent supply runs. Compared to higher-end ships, they take a very long time to reach anywhere. They also have no armament, minimal shields, and little space for passengers. Favored by loners, writers, and others unbothered by long periods alone (or with droids), the Slow-Haul Freighter also sees some popularity as a "trainer ship" for introducing young pilots to astrogation and hyperspace.
When used in convoys, it is not uncommon for one ship's container to have 4-5 drone fighters for defense.

(Image is a Sikorsky Skycrane Helicopter, which was a partial visual inspiration; however, for the SHF, the cockpit of the Skycrane would be the engines, while the body would be the cabin of the SHF)

Bulwarks [d6 Star Wars]

Hand-held, physical shields have seen cycles of popularity in the galaxy; they will be in fashion for a time, out of fashion for longer, then "rediscovered" by those seeking a stylish mode of self-defense. Most often, these devices are collectively known as "bulwarks", so as to not confuse them with the far more common particle and ray shields.

(art is some of Ralph McQuarrie's original concept art for Star Wars)

Savage Star Wars

Some basics for a Savage Star Wars game I ran, where everyone was a Padawan immediately after Order 66 (literally, the first check they rolled was to hear "Execute Order 66" over their clone trooper's radios).

A lot of Star Wars works just fine with Savage Worlds; the main things I saw as necessary are Force Rules that represent the Dark Side (here, they are bonus bennies that can only be used for Dark Side actions, but using too many loses you to the dark side), and some races. Otherwise, give everyone a laser sword and let the dice roll!

Arcane Background: Jedi
Arcane Skill: Force
Beginning Powers: 3
Power Points: No Power Points Rule
The Force skill can also be used to perform minor Telekinesis; it has a strength of d4, and a duration of only 1, but otherwise functions like the Telekinesis power.



The Lure of the Dark Side
In addition to the regular Bennies (called “Force Points”) available to all characters, each character in Savage Star Wars has 3 Dark Side Points. Dark Side points may be spent like bennies, but only to reroll an offensive roll (Fighting, Shooting, Taunt, Intimidation, Pilot, etc.), or to reroll the damage of an attack, and for those with the Arcane Background: Jedi, they may be spent to allow the use of any Force Power for the rest of the session, or to reroll a failed Force skill roll.
However, the Dark Side is seductive. If a character spends all of their Dark Side Points in a single session, they receive Dark Sider as a Minor Hindrance. In subsequent sessions, they will have 1 fewer Dark Side Point. If they run out of those in a single session, their Dark Sider Hindrance is upgraded to a Major Hindrance, and they begin each session with only 1 Dark Side Point. Using their Dark Side Point with the major Dark Sider Hindrance results in the Hindrance, Lost to the Dark Side, a Major Hindrance. These Hindrances may be bought off with Advances as normal; Lost to the Dark Side requires two advances, and Dark Sider may then be reduced from a Major to a Minor Hindrance, then removed entirely.

New Hindrances
Dark Sider (Minor or Major)
Those with the Dark Sider hindrance have begun to succumb to the lure of the Dark Side. As a minor Hindrance, they receive only 2 Dark Side Points each session; as a major Hindrance, they receive only one. Should all their Dark Side Points be spent in a single session, those with the minor Hindrance upgrade to the Major; those with the Major become Lost of the Dark Side.

Lost to the Dark Side (Major)
Prerequisite: Dark Sider Major Hindrance
Those Lost to the Dark Side have perverted the Force for selfish ends. As such, they no longer receive Force Points like regular characters; instead, they begin each session with a single Dark Side Point. They are able to earn Force Points normally during play, but any Force Points earned for acting on negative personality Hindrances (Arrogant, Bloodthirsty, Greedy, Jealous, Mean, Overconfident, Ruthless, Vengeful; others, decided by GM) will instead be earned as Dark Side Points.

Species
Wookiee
Pros: Strength starts at d6 (2), Claws (Str+d4 Damage) (1), Environmental Resistance: Cold (1), Size +1 (1)
Cons: Big -2, Cannot Speak -1, Minor Hindrance (Outsider, -1)

Twi’lek
Pros: Environmental Resistance: Heat (1), Persuasion starts at d6 (1)

Human
Pros: One additional Novice edge of choice

Togruta (Ahsoka Tano’s species)
Pros: Bite (Strength +d4 Damage) (1), Danger Sense Edge (due to montrals) (2)
Cons: Loyal Hindrance (1)

Gungan (Otolla) (Jar-Jar Binks)
Pros: Aquatic (2), +2 on Athletics (2)
Cons: Frail (1), Environmental Weakness: Heat (1)

Gungan (Ankura) (Boss Nass)
Pros: Aquatic (2)

Jawa
Pros: Low Light Vision (1), Repair d6 (2), +2 Repair (2), Immune to Disease (1)
Cons: Small (1), Can’t Speak (2), Outsider (Minor) (1)

Trandoshan
Pros: Regeneration (3)
Cons: Racial Enemy: Wookiee

Devaronnian
Pros: Immune to Poison, +1 Toughness

Dragons... IN SPAAAAAAACCCCCEEEEE!!!! [d6 Star Wars]

Star Dragons
The Star Dragons are ancient beasts, living in small flights lead by their chief astrogators. Feeding on solar emissions, they may dip into atmospheres to see rare sights, or live their entire lives in the vast depths of space. For many centuries, they were considered to be little more than clever beasts, with the rare tales of dragons coming to land and speaking with people considered little more than fancy. As beasts, they were often hunted.

But Star dragons are more than simply beasts. Capable of great understanding, of learning languages, and forming relationships with humanoids, some rare, young, members of their species will do so. As they must land to lay their eggs and raise their young through the first few years (until they are capable of sustained space flight), Star Dragons have dipped their massively clawed toes in galactic society from time to time, with rare hatchlings even eschewing life in their flights for the more dynamic interactions with smaller creatures.

Star Dragons have no native technology, but have a well-developed Force tradition. Force use is almost unheard of among the hatchlings; they are seldom even Force-sensitive. As they age, into Walker-scale adults, then Starfighter-scale Elders, some will develop Force abilities, most of which focus around Sense and the ability to plot hyperspace courses through the force. Rumors abound of powerful other abilities, but they may simply be rumors; Star Dragons have little need for the things of the land, save safe places to raise their young.

Attributes
Dexterity: 1D/4D
Knowledge: 1D/3D
Mechanical: 1D/2D
Perception: 2D/4D
Strength: 3D/6D
Technical: 1D/2D

Move: 10/15

Size:1.5-2m tall at the shoulders on all fours; folded wings may add 1m to height. 3m-7m from tip of nose to tip of tail. Adults (more than 600 standard years old) are much larger.

Special Abilities:
Space Flight: Star Dragons are capable of flight, both in a planet's atmosphere and through space. Their speed in atmosphere is equal to ten times their Flight skill (under Dexterity), plus any Pips. Their speed in space is equal to their Flight skill. Thus, a young dragon with a Flight skill of 3D+2 would have an Atmosphere speed of 32 (3D * 10 + 2 pips), and a space speed of 3. Star Dragons do not need to breathe, though find it useful for speaking.

Hyperspace Flight: Star Dragons are able to enter hyperspace, flying slowly between star systems, with a hyperspace multiplier of *20. Such flights are incredibly taxing and difficult, both due to the energy needed to enter and leave hyperspace, but also due to their extreme length. Every day spent in hyperspace (recall, they have a *20 hyperspace multiplier) inflicts 1D of stun damage, which can be resisted by the dragon's Stamina skill (not merely Strength, but receiving no benefit from their scales or worn armor). If the damage would be enough to Incapacitate, Mortally Wound, or Kill the dragon, they are instead unconscious for 2D hours, days, or weeks, respectively. While they have a natural sense for Astrogation, they still must take a +10 penalty to Astrogation checks if they do not have an external computer (as opposed to the standard +30). Groups of Star Dragons will often travel as a flight, following the lead of the most skilled Astrogator (and, indeed, Astrogator is a title of high esteem among their flights and rookeries). 

Star Dragons can improve their Hyperspace multiplier, though it is expensive to do so. Improving the multiplier by 1 requires 30 character points, minus their current Hyperdrive Multiplier; so, improving from 20 to 19 requires 10 character points, then 11 from 19 to 18, 12 from 18 to 17, usw. They may not improve their multiplier beyond *10.

Breath Weapon: Star Dragons are able to breath out a stream of plasma, quite similar to a blaster bolt. However, their reserves of this energy are quite low, compared to the capacity of a blaster. At their maximum, they may have ten times their Strength attribute in available dice of damage, and may put no more than their Strength attribute in damage into each blast. (So, a dragon with 4D in Strength could release ten blasts that would do 4D speeder scale damage, 40 blasts of 1D speeder scale damage, or somewhat in between, without recharging) In an atmosphere, they recharge spent dice of damage at a rate of 1 per hour; in space, it is 3 per hour. For this attack, they use the Breath Weapon skill, which is based on Dexterity. Their range in atmosphere is comparable to a blaster rifle; in space, it is a mere 1.

Claws, Teeth, and Scales: Star Dragons are, of course, dragons. Their teeth and claws do Str+1D damage, and their claws provide 1D in protection from both physical and energy damage.

Story Factors:
Speeder Scale: Dragons are not small; they average between three and seven meters in length, and their wings are five to eight meters when spread. They are effectively speeder scale, which affects their Dodge against character scale weapons, and their Brawl and Breath Weapon skills. However, as Speeder-scale creatures, their damage is increased against the same.

Wings: Star Dragon's ability to fly and traverse hyperspace derives from their wings; they generate a natural impeller field which allows the wings to push off seemingly empty space, propelling the dragon forward. Significant damage to the wings reduces a dragon's ability to fly (represented as wound penalties reduce the effective flying speeds).

Speech: Star Dragons are perfectly capable of understanding Basic and a wide variety of other languages, but their vocal apparatus makes pronunciation difficult, especially at anything resembling a conversational tone. If you need a couple syllables shouted across the wasteland, a dragon is perfectly capable; if you want to have a quiet chat about discrete cargo transport, they're less capable. Speech in the Star Dragon language is also not possible in space, and so they have no less than three languages; their verbal speech, their own sign language, and an altered sign language used to communicate with humanoids when they cannot hear them (such as when in space), plus their understanding of Basic. They have no great gift for languages, and so must learn all languages, aside from Star Dragon and Star Dragon sign language, with their skill dice.

Technology: Star Dragons are a wonderfully adapted species, with no native need for technology. Most of their energy comes from stars and solar gasses; their bodies are weapons and armor and transportation. Furthermore, they are enormous creatures, tall as a human when on all fours, and longer than a cargo skiff. While their hindpaws can serve as crude hands, their forepaws are not so dextrous.
As a result, they are quite incapable when it comes to technology; they have little exposure to technology that is designed for them, or even remotely usable by them. At character creation, they may not put any skill dice in any Technical skill save First Aid, nor any Mechanical skill save Astrogation, nor any Dexterity skill dealing with technological weapons (such as blasters, firearms, or grenades). In almost all cases, they suffer a -2D when attempting to do any but the most base manipulations with their forepaws, and a -1D if attempting to manipulate objects with their hindpaws while in flight.

Youth: Playable Star Dragons are young, by their species estimation. While elder Star Dragons may live for thousands of years, they are only young for a few hundred. As they age, they grow longer and larger, with adolescents approaching Walker scale, and the truly ancient in the low Starfighter range. Rumors exist of great old dragons, a dozen meters in length, with tails that reach another score. These increases in size also make it harder and harder for the Star Dragons to interact with humanoids, and, indeed, even to enter atmospheres. Young Star Dragons are somewhat subject to influence from their elders, and may be forced to choose between leaving with them, or being stranded in a star system.




Star Dragons and the Force

Star Dragon hatchlings are sometimes sensitive to the Force, but seldom skilled in its manipulation. As they age, however, their sensitivity to the Force often increases, so that many adult Star Dragons (more than 600 standard years) are Force Sensitive, and most elder Star Dragons (more than 2400 standard years) are highly skilled in its use.

Star Dragon understanding of the Force is rooted in Sense. The picture the Force as strings of energy which suffuse the galaxy, flowing from stars and crisscrossing in an emphermeral web. Thicker threads connect to certain creatures, including the Star Dragons themselves, and by seeing, then touching, those threads, the Star Dragons are able to influence the galaxy. Control is seen as influencing the threads within oneself; Alter is changing the threads as the intersect with others.

One of the first powers most Star Dragons will learn is Instinctive Astrogation (Sense variant); its knowledge is crucial to the life of the Star Dragons. While they are able to astrogate without the force power, it is far more limited. Most Elder dragons will then attempt to teach their students the ability of Receptive Telepathy. Once the dragon has mastered those five powers (Instinctive Astrogation, Receptive Telepathy, and their prerequisites), they have what their teachers consider the basic tools; if nothing else, both dragons knowing Receptive Telepathy makes communication far easier, even across distances. Once these basics are mastered, the student is ready to progress to other things. When Control is learned, it is most often in conjunction with training in Concentration, though Absorb/Dissipate Energy may be learned if the environment is particularly hostile. Alter is always taught with Telekinesis; the fine control afforded by Telekinetics is too valuable to the large-pawed beasts who have to interact with the rest of galactic society.

(A special note about Absorb/Dissipate Energy: this can be used to recharge the dragon's plasma breath more rapidly than normal. If used as a defense, Absorb/Dissipate Energy will restore a number of dice equal to the damage code of the attack, adjusted for scale. If used to simply absorb ambient energy, it allows the restoration of dice at 1 or 3 dice per minute kept up, rather than per hour, as usual).