Playing/Making Droids

[Skaff Toxian]

Please help me someone. I have never uderstood the rules for making and playing droids (Well, mostly making.)

How to make the attributes, skills etc.? I have red the droid chapter a couple of times, but I dont get it! Please help me.

You may now think im stupid, but I just dont get it.

[Endwyn]

Are you using R&E or 2nd Edition? I'll walk you through it the way it's shown in the book you use.
_________________
Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[Endwyn]

In R&E:

Find the Droid make you want to use, for example: Astromech Droid (Pg 238).

First you add up the Attribute dice and skill dice. The Astomech has 8D of attributes (Tec is 2D), and 10D of skills (above attributes). The droid total so far is 18D used.

Next, look at the equipment for specific skill adds. For example, the R2's lifting arm adds 2D to lifting....this counts. Nothing else in the equipment list does. If the droid had say - "Add three dice to TEC skills", that wouldn't count either.

Now add the 2D to the 18D to get 20D. Players can play droids with 25D or less total. Now if you wanted to play the R2 unit, you get 5D for skills (25D-20D=5D). No skill can be more than 4D over the attribute, but can get up to 4D.

If you use 2nd, let me know.
_________________
Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[Hellcat]

You need to add more than the attribute and skill dice. If the droid also has weapons, armor, and attachments with any dice in them, you add these up to. If the total is less than 25D (most human and aliens starting character have around 18D in attributes and can add 7D worth of dice to their skills for a grand total of 25D), then the droid player can put the remaining dice into their skills and attachments. They can put a max of 4D into any skill or attachment. And so called pre-programmed skills, that is to say you take a pre-exsisting droid template such as a 3PO, can have extra dice placed in the skills as long as they don't exceed 4D above the skills attribute. 3POs only have two starting skills, culture 6D and languages 10D, both Knowledge which is 3D. So you could place 1D in Cultures but none in languages.
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FLUFFY for President!!!!

Wanted Poster

[Skaff Toxian]

I am using 2nd R&E.

So If we take Endwyns example and I wanted to play a Astromech, does that mean I have 5D to ''upgrade'' my skills and no D to ''upgrade'' my attributes?

And by the way a Astromech has 2D mech and 2D tech. So that actually makes 8D in attributes.

[Endwyn]

Yes, that is how it would work for the R2 unit.

Anything that adds dice to a roll counts, so Hellcat was right about armor, ect counting. But in R&E they don't hold little gatgets and "weapons" against the droid's build dice.
_________________
Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[Skaff Toxian]

So if i have with my droid a total of 25D Dice Code, I dont get anything to skills?

[Hellcat]

Yes and no. You don't gwet to add anything to skills, but those skills an R2 would already have in the R2 template that already have dice in them you automatically get. All these are in the Mechanical and Technical attributes. By my math, the R2 template already has up to 38D in it. So any extra skills you add have to go by the attribute code.
_________________
FLUFFY for President!!!!

Wanted Poster

[Endwyn]

How do you get 38D using the R&E rules? Could you post a breakdown?
_________________
Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[Hellcat]

I posted it up above. The R&E doesn't just say attributes and skills, it also says that you add the dice from any weapons, armor, and special attachments. If all of this is under 25D, then you use the difference as what I've got to put into skills. R2s have 1D in all attributes except two, my copy lists Mechanical as 2D and Technical as an unbelievable 0D. The following skills are listed: Astrogation 5D, starfighter piloting 3D, space transports 3D, computer programming/repair 4D. starfighter repair 5D. Then there are the following diced attachments: retractable heavy grasping claw (lifting at 2D), small electric arc welder (1D to 5D, as fits situation) with an 0.3 meter range, and small circular saw (4D, 0.3 meter range). Adding up all the dice there comes out to 38D. 6D in attributes, 20D in skills, and up to 12D in attachments.
_________________
FLUFFY for President!!!!

Wanted Poster

[Endwyn]

OK, the book says "Total up the dice of the stock droid, including attributes, skills, weapons, armor, and special attachments that add extra skill dice." (Pg 236 of R&E for others just joining us.)

Now, my understanding is that if the weapon added to your to hit roll, you would add those dice, but not the damage code. And that's how I'm getting 20D total. I can understand the initial desire to add all the die codes, but if a droid is supposed to be comprable to a standard character then you can't possibly hold the die codes of weapons against them.....unless your next smuggler w/ a heavy blaster starts play with only 2 skill dice. (7D- 5D for the blaster= 2D remaining for skills.)

Most GM's control the character's starting gear, and droids only have what they were designed with (and possibly some extra skill dice). When they are used as PC's they also typically have much lower attributes which puts them down a notch too. (The R2 unit has 8D* of attributes, 8D for the 3PO, vs the standard 18D for PC's. (The probe droid is the only one in R&E with the standard 18D.))

The stuff that builds droids back up from that is mostly their unique abilities: special gear, specific functionality, seeing differently, stored data vs. memory, ect.

As for the R2 unit, I did add it up wrong. 8D attributes, 10D Skills, 1D lifting (skill - STR attribute) = 19D, leaving 6D for upgrading skills. I realized this after looking at the example where the droid had lifting equipment.)

[Hellcat]

How many weapons actually list a bonus to hit with for firing them? Though I do thank you for that Technical 2D, 0D just is too unbelievable for a droid meant to also be a mechanic.
_________________
FLUFFY for President!!!!

Wanted Poster

[Endwyn]

Some, but not your standard droid would have such equipment.

My reading of the rule is what I'm most interested in your feedback - if the book says "Total up the dice of the stock droid, including attributes, skills, weapons, armor, and special attachments that add extra skill dice."

No I'm reading it as add up everything on that list that adds extra skill dice. Your reading it as add up the die codes of everything on that list and the attachments that add extra skill dice, right? If not, how are you reading it?

I ask because I don't see why you would count the R2's accessories unless they gave skill bonuses. (If the arc welder gave a bonus to repair I'd count it.) I just can't read or in good concious hold damage of "weapons" against a droid when every other PC will have their own weapons. So I guess my second question would be: Is there a specific reason you count the damage die codes?
_________________
Luke, I am your father.
That's impossible!
And Leia is your sister!
That's improbable?
And the Empire will be destroyed by..EWOKS!
That's...highly unlikely.
The Force? Bacteria called midichlorians.
If you don’t take this seriously I'm out.

[Hellcat]

The way I read it is to total all the dice, even if they are for damage. The example doesn't really help as the droid it uses doesn't appear to deal any kind of damage with any of it's attachments.
_________________
FLUFFY for President!!!!

Wanted Poster

[Endwyn]

Cool, then we have different interpritations of the rule.

Skaff Toxian:

You need to decide how you read this rule form the book: