Saga Edition Preview 4

Prepare for Ground Assault

By Rodney Thompson

Saga Edition Archive General FAQs Product page Preview 1: Classes and character creation Preview 2: Skill system Preview 3: Using the Force

Combat in the Star Wars Roleplaying Game is fast and furious, with heroes moving all over the battlefield and performing incredible stunts and feats of heroics. Star Wars also puts a great deal of emphasis on ranged combat, as blasters are the most common weapon in the galaxy, while still allowing Jedi to move into melee combat range, swinging a lightsaber at hapless foes. Moreover, mobility is highly valued in Star Wars combat, and creating a combat system that allowed for all of these dynamics at once presents something of a challenge.

The Saga Edition combat rules build on the groundwork laid down by previous iterations of the d20 System. For Saga Edition, we wanted to streamline the combat system so that it was faster on a round-by-round basis, yet still allowed Jedi to engage in lengthy duels like those in the movies. The solution was to create combat rules that sped up an individual character's round while still keeping combat going over longer periods. Simultaneously, the system lets heroes mow through stormtroopers and battle droids, encouraging combat encounters that see "cannon-fodder" enemies dropping quickly and enemies with heroic class levels lasting longer. Additionally, we wanted to ensure that high-level combat moved as quickly as low-level combat.

Enter the Swift Action

One of the biggest additions to the rules was the swift action. Introduced in the Dungeons & Dragons game, the swift action is a middle ground between the free action and the move action. It gives the system a bit more versatility in how it assigns actions without opening the door to a nearly infinite number of actions (like the free action does). The swift action represents something that takes almost no time or effort, such as activating an item, switching between weapon modes, dropping an item, or falling prone.

One difference between the swift action and other actions is that you can take more than one swift action in a round if you sacrifice a move or a standard action. Just as you can sacrifice a standard action to take an additional move action, you can also sacrifice a standard or move action to take an additional swift action. As a result, a character can theoretically take up to three swift actions in a single round.

Additionally, some actions can't be completed unless you spend multiple swift actions. For example, aiming requires you to use two swift actions, which are spent before making the attack that you enhance with the aim action.

Further, some actions allow you to spend multiple swift actions on successive rounds. For example, to activate the recover action, which moves you one step up the condition track, you must spend three swift actions. You can activate them all in the same round or spread them out over the course of multiple rounds. The recover action doesn't take effect until the last swift action is spent, but this system keeps you from being completely immobile and inactive for a round.

Attacks and Damage

When it comes to the core of combat, not much has changed in Saga Edition. You still make an attack roll, which consists of your base attack bonus, your Strength or Dexterity bonus, and any other bonuses or penalties that apply. You now compare your attack roll result against the Reflex Defense of the target (which replaces the traditional Defense score) and, if successful, you deal your weapon's damage to the target. Little has changed fundamentally about how attacks are resolved.

In an effort to speed up the combat round, we made some changes that affect how any given round goes. First, characters no longer gain multiple attacks as they go up in levels, meaning that a character gets only one attack in a combat round, even at 20th level. There are a few exceptions to this restriction, such as fighting with two weapons, but they have their own balancing mechanisms.

Replacing iterative attacks are feats such as Rapid Shot (which lets a character take a –2 penalty to her ranged attack roll to gain +1 die of damage on her attack) and Mighty Swing (which lets her spend two swift actions to gain +1 die of damage on a melee attack). Since characters get more feats in the Saga Edition rules, many characters will pick up Rapid Shot or Mighty Swing as bonus feats. So, the changes speed up combat by eliminating the resolution of multiple attacks, while still retaining the same effect.

Moreover, all heroic characters gain a bonus on their damage rolls equal to one-half their heroic level. This represents their general increase in proficiency and helps to ensure that higher-level heroes can consistently kill lower-level nonheroic enemies (such as light stormtroopers) in one shot. Additionally, this means a high-level enemy can challenge a lower-level party of heroes, emphasizing the difference in levels without adding two (or more) rolls per round of combat.

Defend Yourself!

In Saga Edition, saving throws have been replaced by three static defense scores.

• Reflex Defense represents your ability to avoid attacks, including area attacks and hazards that traditionally require Reflex saves.
• Fortitude Defense represents your general hardiness and ability to resist poison, disease, and environmental hazards. It's also integral to calculating your damage threshold, which equals your Fortitude Defense plus any bonuses provided by armor or the Improved Damage Threshold feat.
• Will Defense represents your willpower and mental toughness, and is used to resist mind-affecting effects.

When another character or hazard attempts to affect you negatively in some way, it must make an attack roll or skill check against your relevant defense score. This puts much of the power in the attacker's hands and makes combat more proactive. An enemy can't steal the heroes' thunder by making a really great Reflex save. Instead, it's up to the attacking heroes to overcome their foe's defense score.

A character's defense scores are equal to 10 + her heroic level + the relevant ability modifier. Additionally, each class provides a small bonus to defense scores. For example, the soldier class provides a +1 class bonus to Reflex Defense and a +2 class bonus to Fortitude Defense. A character wearing armor replaces her level bonus to Reflex Defense with the armor's bonus to Reflex Defense, and some suits of armor also provide an equipment bonus to Fortitude Defense. However, a character's level bonus to defenses will quickly outstrip her armor bonus to Reflex Defense, which means that at higher levels, armor is not quite as integral.

Of course, some characters, such as Jango and Boba Fett, might want to wear armor throughout their career. To do so effectively, they'll need to spend character resources. The soldier has an Armor Specialist talent tree that allows him to wear armor, gaining benefits while sacrificing talent slots. For example, here are a pair of talents from this talent tree:

Armored Defense: When calculating your Reflex Defense, you may add either your heroic level or your armor bonus, whichever is higher. You must be proficient with the armor you are wearing to gain this benefit.

Improved Armored Defense: When calculating your Reflex Defense, you may add your heroic level plus one-half your armor bonus (rounded down) or your armor bonus, whichever is higher. You must be proficient with the armor you are wearing to gain this benefit.
Prerequisite: Armored Defense.

The Condition Track

As previewed in Jedi Counseling 101, when a creature, droid, object, or vehicle takes damage that exceeds its damage threshold, it moves one step down the condition track. The switch from vitality/wound points to hit points allowed us to evaluate how damage affects a character as a whole, and dovetailed nicely with attempts to consolidate the various conditions (such as shaken, stunned, and so on) into a more usable form.

The end result is that being pushed down the condition track reduces your combat effectiveness when you take a significant hit. Though the first two steps on the condition track are relatively minor, the third step (–5 to all defenses, attack rolls, and skill checks) requires a hero to step back and recover a bit before rejoining the battle.

In addition, some characters have the ability to push someone up and down the condition track with other actions. For example, a Jedi who takes the right talents from the Jedi Consular talent tree can put the power of the Force behind his words and bump a character one step down the condition track by making a Persuasion check that exceeds the target's Will Defense. By the same token, a noble talent allows the hero to bolster another ally, moving the target one step up the condition track by inspiring her to keep fighting.

Various effects can move a character up and down the condition track, and some even remove all negative conditions. Thus, a character's position on the track can change over the course of a round. Fortunately, he can move back up by taking the recover action. That moves him one step up the track, allowing him to get back in the fight on the next round. Similarly, a Jedi who takes the right talent from the Jedi Guardian talent tree can spend a Force point to move two steps up the condition track as a swift action.

In some cases, such as with exposure to poison, radiation, or debilitating damage, a character's position on the condition track becomes persistent. This means that he can't take the recover action until he fulfills certain requirements. For example, a character who is knocked unconscious from damage might need 8 hours of bed rest or even surgery before he can move back up the condition track and start to heal naturally.

Healing, Unconsciousness, and Death

Any character who takes damage heals naturally with 8 hours of rest, regaining a number of hit points equal to her character level. Additionally, as a swift action once per day, she can gain a "second wind," which allows her to regain a number of hit points equal to 1/4 of her total hit points or equal to her Constitution score -- whichever is greater. This rule allows characters to keep going between fights, even if they can't be healed anymore.

The Treat Injury skill can still be used to heal wounded characters. A character can receive first aid in this manner once per day; the number of hit points healed depends on the results of the skill check. If the heroes have an hour to spare, one character can perform surgery on another, healing even more hit points. Surgery can be performed on a character more than once per day.

A character who is pushed to the bottom of the condition track or reduced to 0 hit points falls unconscious. If an attack that reduces her to 0 hit points also exceeds her damage threshold, she dies. But even if she survives, being unconscious can be dangerous.

An unconscious character can take no actions for 1 minute and then must make a DC 10 Constitution check. If the check succeeds, she moves one step up the condition track and regains a small number of hit points, allowing her to rejoin the fight. However, if the check fails, her wounds are too grievous to allow her to keep acting, and her condition becomes persistent. Until she rests for 8 hours or has surgery, the character can't gain hit points from natural healing or use the recover action to move up the condition track. Furthermore, she must keep making Constitution checks for each hour she is unconscious, and grievous failure results in death.

These new Saga Edition rules increase the value of long-term care, immersion in a bacta tank, and characters who can perform surgery. By the same token, the system allows heroes to get back up and fight if their wounds aren't too serious, and characters with the Treat Injury skill can get their friends back in the action, even if their condition is persistent.

More to Come

Next time, we'll continue to look at the combat system, particularly at special combat actions, stun and ion damage rules, and even an example of combat. Stay tuned!