Jedi Counseling 95

By Gary M. Sarli

In this installment of "Jedi Counseling," Gary M. Sarli answers your rules questions about the Star Wars Miniatures Gameand the Star Wars Roleplaying Game. If you have a question for the counselor, send it in through the link at the end of this column, and then check back here for the official answer!

Star Wars Roleplaying Game Questions

Q: Let's say I have a character who has levels in both starship ace and Jedi ace. If I get starship evasion from both prestige classes, would I instead get improved starship evasion?

A: Yes. For the same reason that gaining uncanny dodge twice grants you "improved" uncanny dodge, gaining evasion (or starship evasion) twice grants you improved evasion (or improved starship evasion).

Q: Han Solo said that Wookiees are known to rip a person's arms out of their sockets. If my Wookiee character wants to do this, how would it be resolved? Could I make a Strength check? If so, what is the break DC for a person?

A: Yes, Wookiees can rip arms out of sockets, but this is not something you'd resolve with a Strength check against a break DC. Instead, use the rules for grappling and add a little Gamemaster description. When the Wookiee makes a successful opposed grapple check, he can use the option to inflict unarmed damage, slowly wearing the target down. Once the Wookiee has inflicted enough damage to reduce the target to –10 Wound Points, the GM can describe it as if he has torn the target apart. (This might entail pulling the target's arms out of their sockets or whatever else the GM thinks is appropriate).

Q: In Jedi Counseling 85, you implied that a character who is unaware can be an eligible target for a coup de grace. Is this correct? If so, how is this possible? It seems that attacking someone who is unaware would lead to a surprise round, and since you are only allowed to perform a single attack or move action during a surprise round, how could you perform a coup de grace? To phrase this question another way, can I perform a coup de grace during a surprise round?

A: No, you can't perform a coup de grace during a surprise round, but that doesn't mean that you can't keep the target unaware and use a coup de grace in a later round. For example, let's say there is a surprise round, and your enemy is unaware. If you use your first action to Hide and Move Silently (or otherwise avoid detection), the enemy will remain unaware until his Spot and/or Listen checks beat your Hide and Move Silently checks. If you maintain this until you are adjacent to the target (which can be very hard, depending on the availability of cover or concealment), you can coup de grace the enemy in a later round.

That's not the only way to do it, of course. For example, it's much easier to use the sharpshooter's ranged coup de grace ability. You still have to avoid detection with Hide and/or Move Silently checks, but you don't have to get so close to the target.

Q: Is there any difference between using Force Lightning with two hands, as Palpatine did, and using it with only one hand, as Dooku did?

A: No, Force Lightning itself will work the same whether you use one hand or two hands. (Jedi Counseling 86 offered optional rules for using a one-handed weapon in two hands, but that's the only potential advantage.)

Q: I was checking out the targeting scopes in the Hero's Guide, and I have to ask: Are the listed weights correct? Either the designers didn't know how much a real-world scope weighs, or there was an error in how the weights were calculated. For example, I found a 5X scope that weighs about 1.3 kg, but a 4X scope in Star Wars would weigh 1.6 kg, and a 6X scope would weigh 3.6 kg. I've never found anything even close to the 10 kg of a 10X scope.

A: The problem is that you're confusing "rating 10" with "10X magnification" in a real-world scope. This is not the case. A rating 10 scope is more like a 100X variable magnification scope with a wide-angle lens (that is, something like 1–100X60). As a rough rule of thumb, a scope's actual magnification is equal to its rating squared. Of course, you don't get to divide the range by this much because greater magnification also means the scope is more sensitive to tiny movements: Even the sniper's breathing can make the scope's crosshairs move wildly.

On top of that, the targeting scopes in Star Wars are not particularly fragile. Real-world scopes can be misaligned or damaged pretty easily, but such rules were intentionally omitted in the RPG to simulate the sturdier but slightly heavier materials in use.

Finally, a rating 10 scope would rarely be mounted on a rifle. The only reason the scale goes up that far is to represent very, very large targeting scopes, such as those that might be mounted on an E-Web or blaster cannon emplacement. Rifle-mounted scopes would usually be rating 6 or less, and most are usually rating 2 or 3.

Star Wars Miniatures Questions

Q: In a squad with Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda of Dagobah, could a single character get Force Spirit 8 and Force Spirit 6 for the combined ability to spend Force points 3 times per turn and have 14 extra Force points?

A: Not quite. You would get the extra Force points from each source (for a total of +14 Force points), but you could spend Force points only one extra time per turn.

The two effects work slightly differently because they are affecting two different types of values. The addition of Force points is just changing the value of a variable, much in the same way that Heal 10 can be used more than once to increase the target's Hit Points, Damage can subtract multiple times from a target's Hit Points, and Force Renewal will add an extra Force Point more than once.

Spending an extra Force point every turn, however, is not changing the value of a variable -- it's modifying a constant (that is, all characters can spend 1 Force point per turn, unless an ability specifically says otherwise). Since Force Spirit grants the ability to spend one extra Force point per turn, it won't stack with another instance of Force Spirit.

Q: Hypothetically, if two instances of Force Spirit 8 were used on the same target, would the above answer remain true?

A: Yes.

Q: If a character with Master Speed gains Force Spirit, allowing Force points to be spent twice, would the character be able to use Master Speed twice to move 18 and attack? This works with Move Faster.

A: No, the normal stacking rules apply -- you can't apply Master Speed twice at the same time. (Move Faster is an exception to the normal stacking rules.)

Q: Here's the situation: Bastila Shan has activated Battle Meditation and Force Valor. Old Republic Soldier A is within 6 squares (and thus subject to the commander effect created by Force Valor), but Old Republic Soldier B is not. If Old Republic Soldier A makes an attack and Old Republic Soldier B combines fire with him, will the +2 Attack from the Force Valor commander effect stack with the additional +2 Attack that B provides when combining fire (from the Battle Meditation commander effect)?

A: Yes. The commander effect provided by Battle Meditation increases the bonus a character provides by combining fire, but it is not providing a bonus to the attacker himself. Thus, Old Republic Soldier A would get +2 from the Force Valor commander effect and +6 from Soldier B combining fire, for a total bonus of +8 to his Attack.

Q: Okay, but what if there are two Old Republic Soldiers, B and C, combining fire with A? Would both B and C provide the extra +2 when combining fire, or would only one of them provide the bonus?

A: Both B and C would provide the extra +2 Attack when combining fire, yielding a bonus of +6 from each of them (+12 for both together). As before, this would still stack with the Force Valor commander effect, so A would get a total of +14 to his Attack.

Q: If Bastila Shan has not activated either Force Valor or Battle Meditation, is she considered a follower?

A: Yes, Bastila is considered a follower as long as she has not activated either Force Valor or Battle Meditation. Once she activates either of these Force powers, of course, she is considered a commander.

Q: If Bastila Shan activates Battle Meditation, can enemy characters within 6 squares of Thrawn (and thus affected by Ysalamiri) still combine fire?

A: No. Even though Battle Meditation itself is a Force power, it creates a commander effect once it is activated. Ysalamiri does nothing to stop commander effects.

Q: Are enemy droids subject to the Battle Meditation commander effect restriction against combining fire?

A: No, Droids are not subject to commander effects. Similarly, allied Droids would not grant the additional +2 Attack when combining fire.

Q: Force Alter says, "any 1 enemy rerolls its last attack." Does that enemy have to have been targeting the character with Force Alter?

A: No. When used, it works on any enemy within 6 squares that makes an attack.

Q: Can Bodyguard be used when a character takes damage from Splash 10?

A: No. Splash is a special ability, not an attack. Therefore, Bodyguard will not protect against it.

About the Author

Gary M. Sarli is a freelance writer and editor whose credits include Ultimate Adversaries (Star Wars), Monster Manual III, Races of the Wild, and Heroes of Battle (Dungeons & Dragons). He also moderates on the Wizards.COMmunity message boards as WizO the Hutt, cheerfully feeding Code of Conduct violators to the Sarlacc. Gary still works as a staff member for SWRPGNetwork, three-time ENnie Award winner in the Best Fan Website category and host of the Star Wars RPG Frequently Asked Questions.