Star Wars: Space Ships, Hyperspace Travel, Blasters, ST

[samd6]

I think that a successful parry gives the chance for a sword lock (haven't read MA yet), which is broken with an extended contest of ST. Winner gets an immediate attack.

Another thing is that small spaceships follow adifferent set of rules than big spaceships, and GURPS is set up so that everything follows the same set of rules

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by JackRackham

Yeah, I would have responded anyway, had I understood fully, but I was distracted by other posts and getting a bunch of stuff together for the game. Yeah, though, it's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for a way to make the actual attribute more relevant, and to make a certain archetype viable in lightsaber fighting.

Beats are useful for these purposes, for sure, but they're not enough, as they appear to take a turn, much like a feint and what I was looking to emulate was Anakin simply striking deliberately and with force, such that blocking his attacks was physically daunting (for which, yes, one could still take striking ST, but I really want the base attribute to work).

The extra turn thing can be offset with rapid Strike, Extra Attacks and all out attack (Double).
Though most duels took several seconds anyhow.
Using Beat as part of your style makes basic ST relevant and is good for when your up against a high DX or more skilled opponent because if he blocks or parries your knocking the defending device out of position and he has to work against your ST. Then you follow up with your lethal strike.
Beats were not in 3e so took me a bit to get them but once I did I found they were quite useful for stronger and more aggressive people to use.
The ONLY reason there good for a light saber duel is that one saber can parry another. The extra Striking ST (only for beats, only with Light Saber) helps this but does not increase damage but would not be needed. Which I think is key as Anakin used his aggressiveness and physical ST before learning to master any specific style which then improved on what he instinctively used.
If my limitations for the above are correct then Striking ST +1 (-80%) would be exactly 1 point putting it in perk territory so easily being useful for just a few points. That is assuming you have no basic ST advantage in the first place, if you do you dont even need it to overpower your opponent.
Though of course more always helps :)

[David Johnston2]

Originally Posted by samd6

Another thing is that small spaceships follow adifferent set of rules than big spaceships, and GURPS is set up so that everything follows the same set of rules

To represent the peculiarities of airplanes versus battlegroups, you'd have to have a unique "small ship" engine that gives you greater movement but can't be used on the big guys.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by samd6

Blasters can be scaled up and mounted on vehicles and starships. I do not think the same can be said for lightsabers.

One word: Voltron.

[umbros]

In a Star Wars game I ran I just made light sabres super-duper swords. If I remember correctly I made them Thr+1d imp Swg+2d cut with some big old armor divisor (I know it was 10 or better, it may have ignored DR). Otherwise they worked just like any other sword. With those stats they could consistently lop off body parts and with a good roll cut someone in half. Critical Failures with a "hit yourself" result were bad news though. I didn't make them burning because they didn't seem terribly good at setting things on fire; they just cut the crap out of stuff. Something big and tough (like a blast door) could be cut through given enough time.

[Flyndaran]

Originally Posted by Anaraxes

One word: Voltron.

But you can only use it after the villain kicks your butt for around half an hour.

[Phantasm]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

What about General Greivous?

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

His comment that so and so taught him some tricks (made before he deploys the Cuisinarto Saber Attack Technique) makes the matter ambiguous. Normal tricks or Force tricks?

I would not rule that you need the Force to use lightsabers. You certainly don't need it to turn them on and use them as tools. Neither of the licensed RPGs have made lightsabers Force-only though both have let the Force enhance them greatly.

General Grievous is one of those cases where the wielder can use lightsabers effectively due to something other than the Force. In Grievous's case, it's his practically full-conversion cyborg body.

In the Clone Wars shorts that aired prior to RotS, it was remarked that Grievous is not a Force user, and has no defenses against Force TK abilities.

[JackRackham]

So, I just ran the one-shot and things went very well. I think the only thing I'll really need to tweak is the armor I included in the game. The top-end armor will have to be toned down quite a bit. Currently:

"Combat Hard Suits exist. Most offer 80 (30lb), 100 (40lb), or 120 (50lb) DR and cost 8k, 12k, and 35k, respectively.

Extremely customized suits will be hardened, and can reach DR150 – at a very high cost. DR 150 sells for 100k and hardened armors cost [base price * (level of hardening + 1)²], max 3 levels.

Suits may be manufactured from certain rare, lighter materials as well, reducing overall weight by up to 40%. for every 10% reduction in weight, increase price by 20%."

I'm thinking I'll drop this to 80, 100, and 120 as the pinnacle armor.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by tbrock1031

General Grievous is one of those cases where the wielder can use lightsabers effectively due to something other than the Force. In Grievous's case, it's his practically full-conversion cyborg body.

In the Clone Wars shorts that aired prior to RotS, it was remarked that Grievous is not a Force user, and has no defenses against Force TK abilities.

As you note, Grievous is not a Force user, which indicates that you do not need the Force to turn the lightsaber on or off or to swing it at someone. You need the Force to help keep you from cutting off your leg while using it. For an ordinary person, using a lightsaber in combat would be a feat that would make juggling chainsaws look really safe, because one small misstep with a low-mass completely dangerous item could easily take off your own leg. A Jedi or Sith uses the Force in part to keep this from happening, to make sure that the blade does not intersect with the person.

I think the reason Grievous can get away with using lightsabers is just because his consequences of failure are much much lower than an ordinary person's - if he DOES cut off a leg, it is simply a repair job, and cutting off your torso by accident is much harder. Also, since there are control circuits interposed between his mind and his cybernetic limbs, he essentially has an additional and specialized brain that monitors this whole thing for him at all times - not something that an ordinary person can do.

[cosmicfish]

Originally Posted by JackRackham

So, I just ran the one-shot and things went very well.

If you don't mind my asking, what made you want to do Star Wars in GURPS? While I really like this system, it is a lot of work to convert specific universes into a playable format, especially one as idiosyncratic and cinematic as Star Wars. Was there something about the existing Star Wars RPG that turned you off?