Strength Skills Are Useless

[The Jedi Master]

One thing I like about SWD6 is that the character creation system is simple and easy to understand. Pick some skills, maybe a Force power or two, and you're ready to go.

However, there is one thing I do not like about the character creation system, and it's this: What in the Galaxy is going on with Strength?!

There are exactly five skills in the Strength attribute. I'll go through them one by one:

Brawling: This might get you through a bar fight, but most of the time, you just want a blaster. Unless you actually plan to punch a stormtrooper...

Climbing/Jumping: AKA the Assassins Creed skill. I suppose this could come in handy, but you could probably get by with the attribute alone.

Lifting: What? Is this really a skill?

Stamina: Most situations where this would come in handy, you just want to skip over.

Swimming: Lets face it, this is Star Wars. If you're underwater, you're either in a submarine of some sort, or you're doing it wrong.

I just use the attribute by itself when playing RAW. Does anybody else think Strength skills suck?
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This whole Empire business could have been avoided, Yoda...

[griff]

I have always thought that any skill point used to improve a strength skill would also go towards improving the attribute, ie the more you swim, lift etc the stronger you get, with the max of 1D+1 improvement or attribute max, which ever is lower. And I have always thought the strength attribute and skill cumbersome.
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"EXECUTE ORDER 67. Wait a minute, that doesn't sound like order 67..... No, wait. Yes, yes it does. EXECUTE ORDER 68" Palpatine's last moments - robot chicken.

[garhkal]

[lurker]

Well, looking at the Monday night game recap, over the last 2 games I've (we've) used 3 ... 4 of them?

With Harris on deaths door, and us a player down so I'm pinch hitting with his character so I might be 'cheatin' on this by playing 2 characters. That said

Harris has had to repeatedly make a stamina roll (not having the skill it is straight str) or bad things happen with him fighting radiation sickness. Saddly, even with a 3 str, his rolls have averaged a grand total of 6

Raye (and another character - because Raye is a straight up wimp with a 2 str) had to make a lift check to pry open a lift door before it fell and killed 3 of us.

We three had to make a climb check to make it up a maintenance ladder up to the catwalk (after the lift was cut and almost killed us), again with Raye's 2d str it was a close ran thing!

Finally, in last week's (well 2 weeks ago) fight with droids, we had 2 droids make it through our blaster fire and get to hand to hand range! Raye with his 2 strength and no brawl had to back away (into a room that a team mate was covering and able to shoot the droid before my luck with dodge ran out). Another character had to use brawl to avoid the droid and get enough space to use his blaster pistol in point blank range.

With that, Nope, I don't think str skills are throw away. That said, it is up to GM to set up the game so that the player HAS to use the skills.
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"And so I am become a knight of the Kingdom of Dreams and Shadows!" - Mark Twain

Forgive all spelling errors.

[nuclearwookiee]

[garhkal]

That looks decent. Perhaps we can take this side topic to a new thread in the house rules section.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[DougRed4]

Yeah, that's not a bad idea, nuclearwookiee, though I'd be more inclined to have the character roll Stamina for each roll after (in other words, after nine uses, then again after the tenth, and after the eleventh, etc.).

Though Strength skills might be a little less used, I've used a bunch of them in my games, too. In one recent adventure the characters were at a cantina/bar where no weapons were allowed (some tried to get past the scanner and it detected them, forcing them to use the lockers outside). Then inside they had to use Brawling, but also were forced to make Run checks (due to the heavy crowd).
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Currently Running: Villains & Vigilantes (a 32-year-old campaign with multiple groups) and D6 Star Wars; mostly on hiatus are Adventures in Middle-earth and Delta Green

[Fallon Kell]

[garhkal]

Or stamina rolls for 'bedroom performance' to try and wow that gal you are trying to gain info from.
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[jmanski]

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Blasted rules. Why can't they just be perfect?

[thedemonapostle]

[lurker]

[garhkal]

[Whill]

First of all, there is the base attribute which is extremely important to resist damage. Strength skills are only useless if they are not utilized by the GM. Same can be said for Knowledge. Climbing and Jumping are different enough that I split them up unto two skills.

And I've taken a queue from D6 Space, etc. where Strength damage (for brawling or some melee weapons) is derived from the Lifting skill. Lifting is just a skill name, but it actually becomes useful anytime you need to apply your force of strength to an action. Pushing, pulling, etc. That being said, I like its variability for strength damage in combat but some more controlled applications shouldn't be so variable, so I give characters 3.5 for every D they have up to the last one and let them roll that as the wild die only.
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