Saga Edition Preview 2

"I Know a Few Maneuvers..."

By Rodney Thompson

Saga Edition Archive General FAQs Product page Preview 1: Classes and character creation

One of the most significant changes to the rules in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Saga Edition is a revamp of the skill system, which was overhauled to make it better fit the style of what a Star Wars game should be. The changes to the skill system are part of the overall game design philosophy that went into the creation of the new edition.

Conceptually, the new skill system is similar to that of the d20 System. You still roll a d20, add your skill bonus, and try to overcome a DC based on the challenge presented. The method of arriving at that skill bonus, however, has changed. One goal of Saga Edition is to make the game faster and easier to run, and the revamped skill system does just that. Gamemasters will enjoy the benefits of the new skill system as well, since it speeds up the creation of NPC statistics.

Consolidation

One of the first changes made to the skill system was the consolidation of skills. We took a hard look at the skills in the game and refined the list to make it sleeker and more concise. First, we grouped skills by concept and relevant ability modifier, and then we decided which skills to combine. Along the way, we removed some skills that were rarely used in most games. For example, we removed Craft, because traditionally the Repair skill was used to build droids, starships, and so on.

The new, slimmer skill list deals more in concepts and themes than in specifics. However, we didn't want to consolidate too much -- making the skills too generic might have made their purpose less clear, too. Thus, some skills were left unconsolidated because their function was distinct from that of other skills.

For example, we realized that the distinction between the Search and Spot skills was only a matter of intent. Does a character notice something because she's trying to notice it, or does she notice it incidentally? Either way, what matters is the end result. Skills should be differentiated when they differ in utility. But since Search and Spot differed only in intent, they were easy to consolidate.

Once we decided to combine those two skills, we naturally examined the Listen skill next. The game had separate skills for seeing and hearing, but what about the other senses -- smelling, feeling, and tasting? It didn't make sense to represent only some of the senses but not others. So we folded Listen in with the combined Search/Spot to form the core of the new Perception skill, which is used by the GM to determine whether characters notice something by any of their sensory methods.

Lastly, we took a look at Sense Motive. The skill allowed a character to perceive changes in tone (listening), body language (sight), and mannerisms (both) to determine someone's true motives. That sounded a lot like what we were already doing with the Perception skill, and so we folded Sense Motive into the new skill as well.

As you can see from the example above, consolidation allows individual skills to be more consistent with their utility. In Saga Edition, a GM need only think in broad terms to determine which skill checks to use in the course of an adventure.

• Will the heroes notice the smell of blaster burns when they walk into a room? Perception!
• Will the heroes convince a diplomat to see their side of things? Persuasion!
• Will the heroes trick the local police into letting them go free? Deception!

Another benefit of consolidation is that it allows heroes to be good at more than just a few specialized skills. In the old system, classes that didn't have a lot of skill points often found themselves unable to contribute to certain situations. Now, all characters are more likely to be able to participate in any given scene because they no longer have to spread their skills so thin. Additionally, skill resources are no longer split among similar skills such as Spot and Listen, so a hero can pick up a greater variety of skills rather than focusing on one conceptual track.

Trained/Untrained

Though it may be considered a radical change, Saga Edition eliminates the concept of skill ranks. Instead of investing resources and micromanaging skills, a character is either trained or untrained in a skill, period. Our research into how players created their characters showed that they typically maxed out their ranks in a couple of skills and put only a few points into other skills. That led to disparities between their favored skills and their "leftover" skills. Moreover, players who created "jack of all trades" characters typically chose classes that received a lot of skill points and spread them evenly over many skills.

Skill points were one of the most complicated parts of character creation. Not only was it prone to error, but it also meant that creating high-level NPCs could take up to an hour. Eliminating skill points allowed us to streamline character creation and keep skill bonuses consistent with what most players were accustomed to.

So, what does it mean to be trained? When you're trained in a skill, you can perform any of the "Trained Only" uses found in many skills. While some entire skills were "trained only" in the previous version of the game, now only certain uses of the skills require training. Moreover, being trained in a skill provides you with a flat bonus that, when combined with a bonus based on your class level and your ability score modifier, determines your final skill modifier. Essentially, being trained in a skill means that you can do things that other characters of the same level might not be able to do, bumping you up to the next tier of skill DCs.

The formula for determining a character's skill bonus is as follows:

1/2 character level + relevant ability modifier + 5 (if trained) + 5 (if Skill Focus)

One advantage of this system is that characters who aren't trained in a skill can still use it in some cases. Since part of your skill bonus is based on your level and ability modifier, as you advance in levels, you essentially gain "free" bonuses to skills you aren't trained in. Thus, you become able to do simple things that previously were available only to those trained in the skill.

For example, a 1st-level character trained in the Use Computer skill can slice computers, open doors, and reprogram droids right out of the gate. But imagine that later in the campaign, when the hero is at 10th level, he becomes disabled during a battle just as his fellow heroes need to hot-wire a door. Another character who is not trained in Use Computer can try to open the door. Her success depends on how well she rolls, but at least the group isn't completely stymied. Essentially, lower-level challenges can be attempted by any higher-level hero, even if the character is untrained in the needed skill.

At this point, you might be wondering why these changes were made. The simple answer is this: Anyone can do anything in Star Wars if the scene calls for it. For example, over the course of the saga, we see Obi-Wan Kenobi fly ships, deceive people, perform amazing acrobatics, use diplomacy, ride animals, command troops, get information from his contacts on the street, and more. Similarly, Han Solo can fast talk, run, shoot, fly the Millennium Falcon in circles around Star Destroyers, hot-wire doors, lead troops, formulate plans, ride a tauntaun, and use other skills seemingly at will. The new skill system simulates this extremely well. Obi-Wan and Han might not be trained in all the relevant skills, but their untrained bonus allows them to attempt those actions with some chance of success.

In game terms, that chance is important for capturing the Star Wars feel. In the past, some players have been unwilling or unable to participate in certain scenes because they didn't have ranks in the relevant skill. For example, let's say the Gamemaster wants to have a chase sequence where the heroes pursue an enemy while riding tauntauns through an icy canyon on Hoth. Very few people put ranks in the Ride skill -- it just doesn't come up that often. As a result, some of the players might be tempted to say, "Well, I don't have ranks in Ride, so I can't participate in this scene." Thus, the exciting, fast-paced chase sequence the Gamemaster hoped for is reduced to one or two players participating while the others sit and watch.

The new skill system encourages players to try things as the encounter demands. Sure, you might not be as good at riding a tauntaun as your friend, but at least you can hop on and join the fun rather than waiting back at Echo Base.

What Kind of Bonus Was That Again?

To further streamline the process of determining skill bonuses, Saga Edition cuts down on elements that provide static bonuses to skills. We kept the Skill Focus feat, which provides a flat bonus to your skill modifier, and you still get bonuses from training, class levels, and ability scores. But there are no other ways to modify your skill bonus. The feats that provided a +2 bonus to two skills are gone, as are species traits or class features that provided a bonus to skills. Synergy bonuses have been eliminated as well. In the old version of the rules, all of these factors contributed to a skill system that was needlessly complex and vastly prone to errors and abuse.

In Saga Edition, min-maxing your character is less a matter of pumping bonuses into skills and more a matter of finding abilities that work well with your skills. This also means that Gamemasters can create NPCs more easily, without keeping track of dozens of small bonuses; more on this point later.

Specialization Through Other Means

Some of you might be thinking, "Without all the little bonuses to skills, how can a character be the best at something? How do you represent someone being better at the skill, or more specialized in a group of skills?"

The answer lies in the way other abilities synergize with skills in Saga Edition. If you want to build a hero who is the best of the best in a particular skill, first become trained in the skill, and then take the Skill Focus feat. That bumps your skill bonus up quite a bit, and if your relevant ability score modifier is high, you should be a cut above the rest (at least, compared to others of your level). However, in place of all the small +1 and +2 bonuses to skills, you'll select talents and other special abilities that make you even better.

For example, Wookiees have a natural ability to reroll Persuasion checks to intimidate. The creatures are naturally fearsome, so rather than providing them with a skill bonus, we gave them a greater chance to succeed on their skill check roll. Likewise, the scout class has a talent that allows scouts to reroll their Initiative check (yes, Initiative is now a skill) and take the result of the second roll. Other abilities might allow you to take 10 under pressure, or use one skill's modifier in the check for another skill.

Specializing in a skill is now a matter of choosing talents and feats that allow you to do new things with your skills rather than just increasing their modifiers. Not only does this lead to more exciting and dynamic game play, but it's also a lot more fun than just adding up numbers on a character sheet.

20th-Level Characters in 1/20th the Time

By consolidating skills and eliminating skill points, we've made it much easier to create high-level characters in Saga Edition. Just choose which skills are trained and select feats and abilities to augment them. Gamemasters no longer need to stat out an entire NPC just to get a skill modifier. Instead, they simply look at his level, the relevant ability modifier, and whether he's trained in the skill -- a process that can take mere moments. On-the-fly creation of NPC statistics is much faster under the new skill system, which facilitates high-level play.

Overall, the new skill system not only leads to quick character generation but also helps the game capture the exciting cinematic feel of the Star Wars movies without getting bogged down in bonuses and skill ranks.