.: judgement calls
The information in this section does not deviate from what is in the core rulebook. These are clarifications about how I am interpreting certain things, as well as some helpful hints about what to expect when choosing certain classes. I want everyone to be able to make informed decisions when creating their PCs.
***The Errata and Designer Clarifications found on the Wizards of the Coast website will be used. These are written in my book, but will not be written in this document.***
***We will be running the pre-made campaign "Dawn of Defiance" from Wizards of the Coast. For everybody's enjoyment of the game, please do not read any information about this campaign online.***
As recommended in the Dawn of Defiance standards, all PC's will be created using a 28 point buy system (instead of 25 as stated in the book), using the Planned Generation rules given in the rulebook on page 18. Also per the DoD standards, when leveling up, hp gain is not determined by rolling dice. Jedi and Soldiers gain 7 + CON modifier, Scouts gain 5 + CON modifier, and Nobles and Scoundrels gain 4 + CON modifier.
All Classes and Prestige Classes (except Sith) are available to the PCs, and PCs may be droids. Although, if a droid is chosen, I would prefer the PC to be a "standard" model like a 3P0 or R2 unit. The customized droid rules appear "broken" to me. I might change my mind if it can be adequately demonstrated to me that there are definite drawbacks to being a droid, in order to balance out the "brokenness".
The setting is 2 years after Episode III. It may not be canon, but in our setting, the populace is beginning to chafe under the new Imperial regime, and they lament the demise of the Jedi. Therefore, NPC's and the general populace do not react to seeing Jedi any differently than they would to seeing any other character class (they don't automatically go running to the Imperials when they see someone using a lightsaber, for instance). The Inquisitorius does exist (ask me about this if you don't know what this is), and they might come after Jedi that leave a trail, but any PC Jedi generally does not have to worry about displaying uses of the Force or their lightsaber. I have decided on this type of setting because there are already a number of restrictions on Force users, and additional restrictions limiting Jedi powers would completely nerf the class.
The above mentioned restriction on Force users results from the fact that I am adopting a strict interpretation of Light/Dark actions and their consequences. Lightsabers may be used freely, but any use of the living Force to intentionally harm (cause hp loss) a living sentient being will result in a dark side point. This includes any Force Powers or talents requiring a Use The Force (UTF) check (such as Redirect, Move Object, Force Slam, etc.). However, using any such powers against a droid is fine (as we see repeatedly in the movies).
While on the topic of Dark Side points, I want to point out that the book makes it clear that any PC, not just Jedi, will receive a Dark Side point for committing an evil act (killing a helpless prisoner, slaughtering someone trying to surrender to you, intentionally shooting a bystander, etc.).
Any PC (including non-Jedi) that falls to the dark side is no longer playable. (This is already stated in the book, but I wanted to emphasize that this is going to be a Heroic campaign.) Spending a Force point to decrease your Dark Side Score must be done immediately after leveling up (you can't wait until you're just about to level up and then spend your spare Force points).
Despite the above restrictions, Jedi or other PCs that are Force sensitive are still accepted/encouraged. I just wanted to make sure that anyone selecting a Force-user knows what they're getting into. That said, Force-users are just as viable as any other class. If a player selects a Force-sensitive PC, whether a member of the Jedi tradition or not, I will make sure that there is an explanation in place for how the PC advances in the Force. You do not need to find a Master, or any other such teacher in order to advance in the Force.
The other classes must deal with some restrictions, too. Wearing armor and/or carrying large weapons (light repeating blaster, other Heavy Weapons, flamethrower, etc.) will likely draw unwanted attention in populated/civilized areas. It may also cause residents to be uncooperative with you (in terms of Gather Information checks, etc.) On the other hand, the presence of such items may provide a +2 circumstance bonus to Intimidate checks. Be aware, however, that once the heroes have left, the intimidated person may try to get revenge, inform authorities, etc. Wearing armor or carrying large weapons is perfectly fine in unpopulated areas (i.e., the Tatooine wastelands) or in places where you know you're going to get into trouble anyway (i.e., you intend to assault an Imperial base and blow it up). You may own whatever armor and weapons you can buy/find, and you can then choose whether to take it on a given mission/adventure or not. Be aware, however, that many talents and feats are only effective for 1 weapon type (pistols/rifles/heavy weapons, etc) so if you want to specialize in the heavier stuff, those feats and talents might be useless during the adventures where you choose not to bring those items along. Pistols are usually fine to have, even in populated areas. If you specialize in pistols, you will almost always be able to have your favorite weapon available and will almost always be able to use all of your feats/talents. The down side is that pistols deal less damage and have less range than other ranged weapon types.
A PC may carry up to its encumbrance limit, but he/she must also have a legitimate way to carry all their items. Just because a PC is strong enough to carry 10 blaster rifles, he can't exactly walk down the street with all of them. PCs do not have Bags of Holding.
Fighting Defensively (p.152): this combat option will be treated as literally written in the rules - you do not get an attack as part of this combat option.
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.: houserules
The information in this section deviates from what is in the core rulebook. I have made the following changes in order to fix what I perceive to be broken or unfair.
First-Aid/medpacs (p.74): Per the rulebook, you can only receive first-aid once per day. I am house ruling that you can again receive another first-aid healing after being hurt again, limited to the number of hp you had after your last healing.
Example: Dureel the scout is at full hp (50). During battle he goes down to 20 hp. He gets healed with first-aid to a total of 30 hp. He cannot get more first-aid until he gets hurt again, so he's stuck at 30 hp. During the next battle, he goes down to 25 hp. He can again get healed with first-aid. He does so, and the Treat Injury roll says he should receive 15 hp back. But he is limited to receiving only 5 hp back because he can't go above 30 hp (because that's what he was at prior to being hurt again). No such restrictions exist for Surgery, although Surgery is more difficult and usually takes an hour per attempt.
Death: Death is certainly a possibility, and the core rules as written even make it likely. While death is always a danger, nobody likes losing their PC to a thug who got lucky with a natural 20. I have some house rules to make it a little easier to avoid death, provided you have the proper resources available.
The core rules say that you can use a Force point when you are dropped to 0 hp (and your FORT defense is exceeded) in order to avoid death, thereby merely making you unconscious instead. But per the written rules, you cannot use Force points after becoming unconscious. Thus, taking any further damage while unconscious would kill you instantly. My house rule is that you can use a Force point to avoid death whether you are unconscious or not. You must, of course, have Force points available to spend in order to do this (so always be sure to keep some in reserve). The only exception to this house rule is when you are the victim of a Coup de Grace. In that situation, you still die instantly. Related to this house rule, a PC may use a Force Point as a reaction (not as a Free action, as stated in the book), unless he has already used one since the start of his last turn. This means that a Force Point can be used even when it is not your turn.
The core rules say that a character that has died may only be revived if reached within 1 round of death. This is exceedingly difficult to do. I am house ruling that the dead character must be revived within 3 rounds. I believe this will still be difficult, but at least more feasible to achieve.
Destiny (p. 112): Destiny points will be accrued and spent per the written rules. But PCs will not have specific Destinies assigned to them. As such, there will be no bonuses/penalties for moving towards/away from a destiny, and destinies will never be completed. This is mainly due to the fact that I don't know what's coming in the future installments of Dawn of Defiance (they've only issued 4 out of the planned 10 adventures), so I really can't say what a reasonable Destiny would be.
Base Attack Bonus (BAB): When multi-classing, the PC's total BAB is calculated as (levels of Jedi) + (levels of Soldier) + 0.75*(levels of Noble + levels of Scout + levels of Scoundrel), rounded down. This formula still follows the individual class tables in the book, but removes the unreasonable penalty associated with multi-classing into Noble, Scoundrel, or Scout if you already have levels in one of those classes.
Block (Jedi talent, p. 41): A block vs. a non-lightsaber melee weapon does damage to the weapon it blocked, if the UTF result beats the attack roll by 5 or more. If this causes the weapon to break, and if the UTF result beat the attack roll by less than 10, the attack still does half damage (due to pieces of the weapon flying off, or the remainder of the weapon no longer being blocked, etc.). If the UTF result succeeds by 10 or more, the attack deals no damage even if the weapon breaks. I will consider most melee weapons to have 30 hp for the purposes of determining whether or not the weapon breaks.
Fool's Luck (Scoundrel talent, p. 46): This talent applies for all skills except for Use The Force (UTF). This talent was meant to allow the Han Solos of the world to use their famous luck to succeed using a skill that ordinary folks would have had trouble with. This talent was not intended to allow Jedi to take one level of Scoundrel and use this talent to become uber-Jedi.
Sense Surroundings (application of UTF, p. 77): Successfully using Sense Surroundings does not grant x-ray vision. It allows the user to know the general number and location of life forms in a particular area. A high roll may also impart knowledge of which species might be present. Example: Luke is trying to infiltrate a nearby building. He uses Sense Surroundings to determine that there are approximately 10 beings inside. He knows that about half of them are in the vicinity of the front door, and that the other half are somewhere below, likely in a basement. He rolled high, and feels that there are mostly humans present, with maybe 1 or 2 aliens, but he's not sure what species.
Concealed Holster (p. 140): The description does not make any sense to me. PCs may use the Concealed Holster in the way described in the book (draw weapon = Move action instead of Standard action, but take -5 to Stealth check) OR PCs may use the Concealed Holster in the following way: drawing the weapon is still a Standard action, but you get a +5 bonus to your Stealth check.
All-Out Movement (Pilot option, p. 172): The All-Out Movement rule states that you can move at 4 times the ship's base speed, but the ship's power is all given to engines so no weapons may fire. I am adding the house rule that your ship can still make attacks if you only go 3 times the base speed (moving 3xSpeed still costs a Full-round action though), but with the following restrictions: non-turrets can only fire in a forward arc, and all damage is done with a -1d penalty. This house rule allows a pursuing craft to still get off some shots at whatever it's chasing. Without this rule, no ship would ever be caught by another. (If the reason for why this is true is not clear, ask me and I can provide a more detailed explanation.) Since almost every Star Wars movie has at least one scene where the good guys are fleeing for their lives in space combat, I felt this needed to be added.
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