Jedi Counseling 6: Shipbuilding

By JD Wiker

The Force is strong with you, but you still have questions. In this installment of "Jedi Counseling," Star Wars Roleplaying Game designer JD Wiker gives answers to your questions about deflecting blasters, crafting starships, and taking wound damage.

Have a question for the counselor? See the link at the end of the column!

Q: Do a Jedi character's prestige classes improve a Jedi's Deflect (defense) and Deflect (attack) abilities? If so, how?

A: Both versions of Deflect simply get one step better each time they occur. So if you raised your Deflect (defense) bonus to +3 as a Jedi guardian and then became a Jedi master, your Deflect (defense) bonus would rise to +4 when you reached 5th-level master.

The same is true, in reverse, for Deflect (attack). You start at the base penalty of -4, and then each time you pick up the Deflect (attack) ability, the penalty reduces by 1.

Q: In the revised core rulebook, I noticed that in the section describing the craft skill, there is a Craft (starfighter), Craft (space transport), and Craft (capital ship). I understand that, but there's also Craft (hyperdrives) and Craft (starship weapons). To create a textbook starship (one with a hyperdrive and weapons), would you need to make separate Craft (hyperdrives), Craft (starship weapons) and Craft (starship of choice) attempts, or would the starship craft entail all that (the hyperdrive and weapons being included in the raw materials)?

A: Craft (starfighter), Craft (space transport), and Craft (capital ship) all allow you to build the complete ship, include hyperdrive and weapons.

But if you want to build a faster hyperdrive to install in your existing starship, simply having Craft (appropriate starship) won't do the trick; you need Craft (hyperdrive). The same goes for Craft (starship weapons).

Q:Starships of the Galaxy has a number of tables explaining how to pay for constructing a starship. But what do I do if I just want to upgrade my hyperdrive? There's no price -- only construction points. I can't use the "Base Price" table to check for the costs, or most of the possible starship modifications would cost 50,000 credits, because most of them fall in the "10 construction points or less" category. So, how much does it cost to modify some of a ship's core systems?

A: The easiest way to do this is to calculate the construction points between the existing ship and the existing ship if it were equipped with the new hyperdrive. Use the difference in base price to calculate how much the modification costs.

Q: In Starships of the Galaxy, Knowledge (spacer lore) plays a vital role in a large number of tasks, such as navigating through a radiation field. In the revised core rulebook, it was taken out, and no GM characters had the skill -- not even Han Solo or the generic starfighter ace who previously had the highest modifiers in the skill. Instead, they had Knowledge (world lore). Does this take the place of spacer lore and should it be used in its place?

A: Knowledge (world lore) replaced Knowledge (spacer lore), yes.

Q: I had a question about the listing for the weapons on the Baktoid Armor Workshop AAT-1 in the core rulebook. According to this listing, the AAT only comes with one weapon, the Heavy Laser Cannon. But the Star Wars Episode I Incredible Cross-Sections Book shows that the AAT has twin lateral range-finding lasers, twin lateral anti-personnel lasers, and six energy shell projectile launchers. Are there rules for including these weapons on the AAT?

A: Yes, in the Secrets of Naboo sourcebook. Somehow that information got deleted from the entry when it was ported over to the revised core rulebook. The rest of the entry should look like this:

Weapon: Light repeating laser cannons (4 front-mounted, 1 to either side of the laser cannon, and 2 below the cockpit); Fire Arc: Front; Attack Bonus: +2 (-2 size, +2 crew, +2 fire control); Damage: 1d10x4; Range: 100m.

Q: Can a Jedi opt to lower her defense score in order to be more easily hit by blaster bolts -- and thus, more likely to deflect them?

A: That seems reasonable. I'd rule that a Jedi can forego her class bonuses, her Dexterity bonus, and any dodge bonuses, individually or all together.

Q: Can a Jedi voluntarily take damage on his wound points, instead of letting it go to vitality first -- say, to take advantage of the Dissipate Energy feat?

A: That also seems reasonable, but if you run out of wound points (perhaps because you failed the Fortitude save for Dissipate Energy), you'd still fall unconscious. You wouldn't start taking vitality damage instead.