To use it or not to use it...

[garhkal]

Ok. Say the enemy (bbeg or one of his minions) have a special skill, that when used (assuming it meets the requirements) has the chance to cause an auto kill OR an auto ko.. (like the silent strike special maneuyver from rules of engagement).

Firstly, would you ever have him use the instant kill side of it, assuming the target was a pc?
Secondly, if not, why? Heck why even have him possessing the skill if he is not allowed to use it to its fullest???
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[Ray]

Orders to capture the PCs alive. Give the main boss a reason to keep them alive.

Anything will do. Even the traditional reason for Movie Villians. TO GLOAT!

Remember, this is Star Wars, Space Opera! Villians Gloat! It's one of the first skills listed on their resumes.

[Jedi Skyler]

The enemy might wish to interrogate the PCs. They might even want to use the PCs as bait to lure someone "more important" in the Alliance food chain out of hiding.

Whatever the reason, they could still use the skill. Especially if you're using the "Duelling Blades" rules (excellent idea for heavy melee to speed things up...), the winner can ALWAYS choose to effect a lesser result. As I see it, that equates to the enemy "calling their shot," even though they actually do the choosing of the lesser result after the dice have been rolled. It gives you an opportunity to keep the PCs alive, although perhaps completely miserable. As long as they're alive, there's always a chance for rescue. And even if a whole party is captured, if you take their character sheets rather than play out a long prison sequence, you can have your players create new characters that are made for the specific purpose of busting out the original characters... Perhaps using this as an opportunity to add to your players' party while letting them have a hand in it, rather than just bringing in NPCs.

[Sabre]

I would and have used auto KO on a PC. I would not use an auto kill move on a PC, ever. Similarly, I would not have a party of snipers successfully ambush the PCs--their first shot will always miss alerting the PCs to their presence. I also wouldn't have an enemy saboteur sneak onto the PCs vessel and plant a thermal well on their power generator, even if a lot of enemies could conceivably think to do this.

There are many ways to 'instant kill' or at least take people down without giving them much of a chance to fight back, but having your villains use any of them, even if they're common sense, turns the game into 'GM vs players'; a battle of tactical wits to the death. Since there's more going on than fighting in my games, this sort of atmosphere would interfere greatly with the one I'm trying to create.

If I was going to play like this, it would be in a situation where we were all players and nobody was the GM with the power to rig the circumstances. There are games like this. They are tactical sim/wargames that involve lots of miniatures, and stats and no personalities or backgrounds or stories. Not to say they aren't fun in their own right, but they're different from roleplaying.

[Hellcat]

For me, you never kill the PCs without them having a chance at actually surviving. Their deaths should come second and their survival first, especially if it's early in an adventure and the PCs are still very much new with little experince to them despite what their dice claim. An auto kill means that they never stood a chance. But an auto KO is a horse of a different color. They don't stand a chance of avoiding it, but their still going to be around to continue adventuring for a while longer. However, I wouldn't use auto KO very often because then it's not realistic. Everytime the PCs go after this guy, or NPCs go after a PC with it, they get knocked out before they can do anything.
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[Grimace]

To add to what everyone else has said (which is basically "don't use auto kill on PCs, but it's okay to use auto KO within reason") I would like to point out that a great many skills an NPC may have might never come into play against/for the player characters. Some are just there to flesh the NPC out. Some are to be used on other NPCs.

Take, for example, this "auto kill". You've got an NPC with the ability. What does the NPC do? Is he a bounty hunter, a merc, a "cleaner"? Well, then, it's safe to assume that he's used the ability in the past against other NPCs, and he could concievably use it again...against other NPCs. The instant death that such a thing provides, is better for "dramatic emphasis" than for simply snuffing out a PC. As I mentioned in the GMing Hints & Tips thread, if the GM really wants to kill the PCs, he can do it easily. To create an NPC with the ability to kill PCs with automatic success, with no recourse for the PCs, (and you utilize it) you fall into the category of a power hungry GM who just wants to prove he's more powerful than his players.

The skill should be used for emphasis, to provide dramatic tension, but never for an automatic death of a PC. The NPC can just as easily kill a valuable NPC of the PCs, and threaten the PCs, thus driving home the point of the vileness and sudden killing power of the NPC. The PCs should be appropriately alarmed, and much more cautious when they encounter this NPC again, but he shouldn't use the ability against a PC directly, otherwise you're not doing two things: You're not allowing EVERYONE to help craft the overall story, and you're not allowing the dice to decide the fate of the PCs. You're basically saying "I'm god, your character is dead because I say it is." but not in so many words.

Where was it I heard this: "Just because you HAVE great power, doesn't necessarily mean you should USE great power." This is appropriate to this particular situation.

[garhkal]

[Hellcat]

But your facing the same problem if the PCs have it. Why even bother getting good at any combat skill if you're assured instant victory every time you use an auto kill/auto KO? If they are given an auto kill/auto KO then it has to be limited because it already makes them too powerful. By saying you can only use this power every XD hours, days, etc. (but not under hours as you want them to take a long time to recharge), then you force the player to actually realize that they have to be good at something else so as to stand a chance in battle. Otherwise you're just allowing gods to run around unchecked.
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[garhkal]

The skill i am on about (since i have yet to see any others like it), is the Rebel Spec force martial arts mvr Silent Strike. To successfuly use it, you must first succeed on sneaking up to the target unnoticed (sneak versus perception or search), THEN make the (S) RSFMA roll of difficult (20). So it is not really an assured instant victory.....
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[KageRyu]

This is a repost of a question already asked and answered by the same poster. I still stand by my answers there, as they were logical, fair, and informed.
The previous discution of this topic can be viewed, at length, here:
http://www.rancorpit.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=11380&highlight=#11380

With points and counter points.
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[garhkal]

Rats..... forgot i had it in that thread...
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[KageRyu]

it's ok, we all forget sometimes. I forgot a few of the points and counter points were in IMs.
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"There's a set way to gain new Force Points and it represents a very nice system, where you're rewarded for heroism, not for being a poor conductor to electricity." ~Jachra