Telsij
Captain
Joined: 07 Dec 2016
Posts: 510
|
 Posted: Sat May 08, 2021 8:54 pm Post subject: |
 |
|
| Xain Arke wrote: | Cool. I like the layouts on those, looks really nice.
I find the FFG system to be really strange and I have yet to see anyone but shootingwomprats convert any of their stuff.
Do you have or know of a system for converting FFG to D6 Telsij? |
Hi Xain!
I've already converted a few FFG statblocks over to SWD6 in the Obscure Character Archive, like Doctor Aphra — though because I know that character very well, that was largely original rather than a strict conversion. Passk and Setenna Hase are FFG to SWD6 conversions, off the top of my head.
Because FFG is a LOT less granular, it makes for a closer approximation to 1E rather than 2E, but it's still not too bad a conversion process. Generally speaking, I think the following gives a good approximation of FFG to SWD6:
- In FFG stat blocks, green dice are Characteristics and yellow dice are Skill Ranks.
FFG Characteristics = D6 Attributes +/- one or two pips (depending upon talents, special abilities or type of character)
FFG Skill ranks = D6 skill dice above attribute (+/- pips, depending upon talents, special abilities or type of character)
And for WEG attributes which are combinations of FFG characteristics, I average them, eg: SWD6 Perception = Average of Cunning and Presence. A lot of the skills translate pretty easily as well, eg: streetwise = streetwise, brawl = brawling, melee = melee combat, bargain = negotiation, etc. And others aren't a huge leap of logic.
I also give greater weight to certain areas depending on the type of character for which FFG doesn't have an exact match like MEC or TEC, eg: is the FFG character a saboteur with Intellect 4, but with no "humanities" or social science type experience otherwise? I might give them Knowledge 3D and Technical 4D, rather than both KNO 4D and TEC 4D.
And because active defense in FFG is reflected in either talents, special abilities, or in how a character is classified (Minion, Rival, Adversary, Nemesis — which upgrade combat difficulties against a character, usually in ranks), I look to those to determine skills like dodge, parries, etc.
- The D6 skill is roughly the sum of FFG Characteristic and FFG skill rank, plus a 1-2 pips to a full 1D, per FFG Talent they have in a given area, depending on how good the talent is.
A talent's usefulness is usually reflected either in the talent description or is given a rank itself. If a talent is species-specific or seems unable to quantified in dice, it goes in special abilities. If it's a specialized talent, the character will usually get +1D in the relevant skill specialization.
And for FFG abilities or talents that "remove a setback" (a game mechanic that cancels out increased situational difficulties), I will usually add +1D to the comparable D6 skill, or give that species a +1D bonus for that special ability, grant a reroll if appropriate (not unlike the way WEG handles Gamorrean stamina), or reduce the relevant task difficulty.
Skill conversion example: FFG's Han Solo has Agility 4 and Piloting (Space) 5. And he has two starship related talents "Hold Together" and "Master Pilot."
Adding Agility 4 and Piloting 5 together = 9. So now it's a 9D WEG skill. Then give him at least 1 pip for his first talent, and because Master Pilot is fairly powerful, give him +2 pips for that, for an additional full +1D total.
Now it's roughly equivalent to his WEG First Edition stats of MEC 3D+2 and starship piloting 10D from GG1. After that, going from 1E to more granular 2E is straightforward!
The above takes some tweaking of course. And advanced characters have certain special abilities — Hondo Ohnaka for example, can confuse an opponent with a "distracting quip" ability that adds to their attack difficulty — but often those can be reflected in how the PC or NPC will be played. In the example above, in SWD6 maybe you just have Hondo roll Con or Persuasion in the midst of a firefight. Rather than giving the character a specific special ability as FFG does, such things can work well as story factors in SWD6 if Character X has a habit of, or success at, doing Y, etc.
Overall however, I hope this provides a good starting point!
- Re: FFG dice overall, there are SIX symbols: Success (explosion symbol), Failure (black triangle), Advantage (winged symbol), Threat (Imperial-looking hexagon symbol), Triumph (lightsaber-like symbol inside circle) and Despair (hollow triangle inside circle).
And generally-speaking, if you roll more Successes than Failures, you succeed. Advantages and threats are pretty much just that, and can occur with either successes or failures. While triumphs are like exploding sixes, and despairs like wild die ones or mishaps. That's basically it.
One of the things I do like about FFG, apart from the reduced number of rolls because opposed rolls become your difficulty, is that your skill is always tied to your innate attribute. Your attributes/characteristics are green d8, but skills are yellow d12. Every time you gain a skill rank, one of your green d8 turns into a yellow d12. You can improve past your attribute number, but once you do, you can only add green d8s.
So even between two characters with Piloting (Space) 5, one might be superior to the other. If Jon Favreau has Agility 3 and Piloting (Space) 5, but Dave Filoni has Agility 4 and Piloting (Space) 5, Dave will always be *slightly* better because his innate characteristic is higher. They both have piloting at 5, but John rolls three yellow d12 and two green d8, while Dave rolls four yellow d12 and only one green d8.
My general criticism with FFG, apart from how opaque learning the dice symbols can be early on, is that it codifies in dice what good GMs and Players should/already do anyway: adapt to changing circumstances depending upon the situation. Like allowing players to "fail forward" on a very close call, or in FFG terms, if a failed roll still has an "advantage" on one of your dice. Or succeeding but with an increased degree of danger going forward, if you roll enough successes but also roll a threat symbol. You don't need the dice to tell you that per se, imho. So FFG mechanics *do* make things a bit more like a board game, BUT I do also think it helps some GMs / Players with these in-game / game mechanic prompts.
Anyway! Hope that helps some re: FFG to SWD6, and/or sounds interesting otherwise!
EDITS/ADDENDA:
- Regarding FORCE RATING and FORCE DICE:
Although further tweaking between WEG's division of Force skills into Control, Sense, and Alter will still need to be done, because FFG Force dice are d12, like proficiency dice, a good approximation of a converted Force user's highest Force die code is approximately 2D for each FFG Force die. Just as an at-a-glance ballpark WEG equivalent for proficiency dice is 2D for every 1 proficiency die.
For example, FFG's Darth Vader has a Force Rating of 6, indicating he rolls six d12 in Force dice to activate Force powers. Double that 6, and you have the 12D die code which his highest WEG Force skill (12D Sense as of ANH) matches up with.
I actually find FFG's relatively streamlined method of handling Force dice to be pretty cinematic. It's fairly similar to how I house-rule Force powers in the SWD6 games I run, in that you basically add your Force dice to the relevant skill/attribute check, or roll it in place of the skill you'd roll otherwise.
_________________
*************************************
OBSCURE CHARACTER ARCHIVE INDEX
*************************************
Last edited by Telsij on Sat Jul 03, 2021 8:07 pm; edited 14 times in total |
|
Telsij
Captain
Joined: 07 Dec 2016
Posts: 510
|
| Posted: Mon May 10, 2021 12:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Whill wrote: | Telsij, thanks for sharing FFG conversion pointers!
And just to confirm, the web pages at the links in this thread do not have any spoilers for the first two episodes of The Bad Batch series, right? |
| Xain Arke wrote: | | I think they are from the last Clone Wars series rather from Bad Batch Whill, but I'm not 100% certain. |
Hi Whill, Xain Arke is correct!
These *should* be in the clear, thankfully. I myself only caught up with The Bad Batch episodes earlier today, then gave the linked write-ups a quick re-read just now to make sure, and it looks like they're based on the Bad Batch's appearance as of the end of Clone Wars S7!
And I will definitely be mindful of spoilers and the new spoiler policy for any write-ups I do wind up doing for the show!
And no worries, re: the FFG conversions guidelines I use. Happy to help/share, if and when able!
(Toward that end, short addendum to the conversion notes, which I'll also edit into my original post: For FFG abilities or talents that "remove a setback", I will usually add +1D to the comparable D6 skill, or give that species a +1D bonus for that special ability.)
_________________
*************************************
OBSCURE CHARACTER ARCHIVE INDEX
************************************* |
|
