PDQ Star Wars qualities

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Longes
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PDQ Star Wars qualities

Post by Longes »

This is a set of Star wars themed qualities for the PDQ engine. I used Swashbucklers of the 7 Skies as a base, so there might be some small mechanical differences.


Acrobatics
Swinging on chandeliers, climbing down a rocky crevasse, hanging by one hand to a ship's loading ramp, leaping over tables while parrying your foe’s blade, scaling a castle wall to enter through an open balcony door, forward-somersaulting into a knot of stormtroopers… Acrobatics (also called Athletics) is the Forte that lets you do it all.

Noble
The Noble Forte indicates good breeding, the knowledge of good manners, and a certain degree of status, wealth, property, political issues (duties to liege and vassals, connections to other aristocrats), and savior-faire. Noblemen run and control many of the nations of the galaxy; each planet has a different group of noble titles and honors. Noble characters should strongly consider also taking Minions and/or a Sidekick. After all, most noble sorts have servants, yes?

Dueling
Dueling is a collection of martial arts, much more refined and potent than the simple “hack and
shoot” of the common thug or soldier. Dueling also includes knowledge of melee and ranged dueling weaponry and various dueling traditions, as well as social connections and status. It covers all sorts of swashbuckling combat, not just formal duels.

Guns
The Guns Forte represents the knowledge and skill required to load, aim, shoot, maintain, and repair blasters and archaic ranged weaponry, and is used to acquire upgrades and energy cells. It also means that the character has at least one gun. Unfortunately, the Guns Forte grants no especial facility with cannon, be they ship’s guns or artillery pieces.

Gear: [X]
While a Star Wars character is assumed to have access to the normal tools and resources related to use of their Fortes (unless otherwise explicitly stated), there are some pieces of special equipment—like exceedingly fine swords, disrupter pistols, letters of marque and reprisal, and special sith alchemy devices—that are so impressive that they can be considered a separate Forte collectively called Gear.
The Rank of the Gear’s main ability will be the same as the Rank the Player uses to add it to their sheet; a Gear’s MOD adds to relevant MODs of other relevant Fortes when used in a situation. (For example, a Good [+2] Sith Blade gives a character a +2 to attack rolls when using it, in addition to the MOD of the character’s Dueling Forte).
Defining an ability as Gear rather than a regular Forte means that it can be temporarily taken away from the character (but the PC is usually able to regain the Gear with a Scene or two of effort). All types of Gear have the inherent Foible of Can Be Stolen, unlike a character’s other Fortes. If Gear is stolen during the course of a session, this is effectively Vexing Misfortune, and the PC receives 3 Style Dice. If Gear is destroyed during the course of the session, at the end of the session, the player may select a new Forte of the same Rank for their character.

Gunner
The Gunner Forte represents the knowledge and skill required to load, aim, shoot, maintain, and repair turrets, be they mounted on a ship, part of a fortress, or as a single artillery piece. It also means that the character has access to at least one turret (with reasonable notice).

Minions
The character has a number of henchmen or followers to carry out his orders. These might be crewmembers, stormtroopers, liveried servants, or employees. The TN of the Forte Rank gives the total number of Minions the character possesses. Minions each have a Name and one Forte at Good [+2] Rank. They are not considered full “characters.”
The GM will design and play these Minions as NPCs. When the character gives an order to his Minions to carry out, the GM will determine a Difficulty Rank for the command. The character then rolls 2d6, plus the MOD of his Minion Forte, to determine how well the Minions follow their edict.

Species: [X]
Species is character’s biological and/or cultural identity. A character’s Species indicates where he was born, the Species of his parents, the planet he considers himself a citizen of, or where he was raised as a child. The individual species are described in Wookiepedia in great detail, and those descriptions may provide valuable details in fleshing out a character.
As a Forte, Species can be used to grant knowledge of local customs, fashions, language (including dialect and slang), laws, folktales, familiarity with an area, current events, and connections at home and abroad (personal, social, and professional). For example, a Zabrak soldier trapped on Corruscant has a better chance at getting an inexpensive passage off world if he seeks out a Zabrak merchant ship.
NOTE: Despite the name, Species Forte covers both cultural and biological identity of the character. Correlian Human is as valid a species as is Bith.
Each Species also includes some intriguing bits of unobvious “cultural knowledge”:
• Add later

Organization: [X]
Organization is a social/professional Forte showing membership in some form of social club, military regiment, craft guild, secret society, court faction, trading house, starship crew, etc. While many Fortes already include an element of professional connections within their penumbra, Organization is a formal and explicit participation in a specific group. Drawing on Organization ties could supply information, Gear, or sanctuary to needy members.
Players should feel free to invent new Organizations.

Past: [X]
The Past Forte represents the skills and knowledge of a character’s backstory before the start of play. This could include what he or his family did for a living while he was growing up, a horrific event in his youth, or a profession that the character or his family has formerly held. Useful Pasts include Disgraced Noble, Clone Wars Veteran, Farmboy, Slave, Secrets, Thief, or anything else that the player can come up with. Jedi or Sith are not a valid choice for the Past, as there is no such thing as a former Force User.

Space pirate
The Space pirate Forte encompasses the basics of piloting, and also includes the skills and knowledge of how to commit criminal mayhem in the Star Wars. These include how to capture a spaceship, how to evade capture, blaster use, where and how to sell one’s ill-gotten booty, a measure of reputation, how to smuggle goods past customs, how to bribe and smooth-talk, and criminal connections with other scoundrels.

Profession: [X]
Profession is what the character does for a living. Since Fortes are wide-ranging, a Profession includes not only the skills needed to do the job, but also a welter of common knowledge, gossip, professional connections, and mild social status elements.
Professions in Star Wars include jobs like Mechanic, Slicer, Farmer, Doctor, Merchant, Soldier, etc.

Repartee
Not just the knack of witty badinage, Repartee is also the skill of public speaking, rhetoric, and oratory. It can be useful in any situation, not simply a social or political context. It can definitely be used in business or professional situations (such as haggling over a price), or even combat!
Indeed, the ability to make a humorous quip in the midst of stark circumstances, or verbally needling an opponent into losing their temper (and thus giving the hero an opening) are hallmarks of the swashbuckling genre. For that reason, combining Repartee with another Forte is always appropriate
• Dun Moh technique. Force User’s dependence on their emotional state creates a unique weakness. Dun Moh is a technique aimed at destabilizing the Force Users and disrupting their connection to the Force. During the Duels, when a character with the Dun Moh technique successfully uses his Repartee Forte (for attack or defense), the Force User’s Force related Forte drops by one level for the duration of a Duel. This effect stacks up to Repartee rank (i.e. up to 3 times for Master).

Reputation
The Forte of Reputation measures fame and status (outside of one’s social class; for that, see Noble). A strong Reputation can aid a character in all sorts of situations, be they business/professional, social, political, mental, physical, or combat. Consider the difference between facing off against an unnamed thug in a back-alley versus crossing path with famed bounty hunter Bobba Fett.

Rogue
A swashbuckling Rogue—be he burglar, con-man, or pickpocket—knows many thiefly skills like fast talk, finding a fence, pick-pocketing, sleight of hand, stealth, streetwise, and other “criminal” abilities not already covered by such Fortes as Pirate or Smuggler.

Captain
The Captain Forte covers the knowledge and ability to navigate and steer a spaceship, how to operate its various devices (tractor beam, turrets, hiperdrive, etc.), how to repair and maintain them, as well as a smattering of other knowledge regarding cargos, exotic ports, customs, and the flora and fauna of the Star Wars.

Jedi
Prerequisite: not a Sith
The Jedi Forte is taken by the Jedi, masters of the Light Side of the Force. Warriors and mystics, Jedi are respected and a little bit feared within the Republic. Jedi commonly possess a lightsaber.
A Jedi is highly athletic, and is trained in melee and lightsaber combat, defensive use of the Force, mystic lore (knowledge of the Force and artefacts, places of power, history of the Jedi order), piloting of small crafts, medicine and diplomacy. They have organizational ties to the Jedi Order, if one exists in the current era.
Jedi often have a Foible of Passive, Pacifist, Loyal to the Republic, Tempted by the Dark Side.

Sith
Prerequisite: not a Jedi
The Sith Forte is taken by the Sith, masters of the Dark Side of the Force. Warlords and sorcerers, Sith are feared and avoided by those who know of their existence.
A Sith is highly athletic, and is trained in melee and lightsaber combat, offensive use of the Force, mystic lore (knowledge of the Force and artefacts, places of power, history of the Sith order), piloting of small crafts, Military Arts (logistics, tactics, strategy). Sith are commonly highly skilled at deception and intimidation. Sith usually lack organizational ties to anyone but their master, thought that may be different depending on the era (Old Republic era features a number of Sith empires, and Darth Bane era features the Brotherhood of Darkness).
Sith often have a Foible of Anger, Possessed by the Dark Side, Compulsive Betrayer, Regret.
Inclusion of a Sith into the group may pose some roleplaying challenges, depending on the group’s interpretation of the Dark Side. For the cooperative gaming purposes, it is best to show PC Sith not as puppy kicking monsters, but as activists and agents of change, guided by passion and emotion, contrasted by the Jedi’s analyzing and reactive behavior.

Force Techniques
These are techniques appropriate for the Jedi and Sith. The list is incomplete, and many more techniques can be added. [Light/Dark] tag means the technique should be avoided by the Sith/Jedi.
• Battle Meditation. It is a Force ability which considerably boosted the morale, stamina, and overall battle prowess of an individual's allies while simultaneously reducing the opposition's combat-effectiveness by eroding their will to fight. It is rumored that masters of the Battle Meditation were able to direct the entire starfleets in battle.
• [Dark] Sith Alchemy. This is a science of altering items and living beings via the use of the Dark Side. Sith Alchemists are capable of creating a temporary Minions Forte with Rank equal to their Sith Rank.
• Force Illusion. A refinement of the mind trick, this technique allows the force user to create convincing illusions.
Last edited by Longes on Sat Aug 15, 2015 12:19 pm, edited 3 times in total.
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Longes
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Post by Longes »

On the Force Techniques.

My thinking was that named Force Techniques should only include things that add new and unique capabilities to the character, as there is no real mechanical difference between using Telekinesis, Force Lightning and Force Crush to kill mooks.
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