Conversion Guidlines

Ultimately, the best way to start a campaign for the Star Wars Roleplaying Game is by generating new characters. However, many players will want to transfer characters from previous iterations of the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game (the West End Games version) to conform to the new rules. The guidelines here are designed to help you convert characters from the West End Games version into characters appropriate for this game.

Throughout the process, remember that conversion from one game system to another is by definition an inexact science. Though the guidelines provide a foundation for conversion, they can't be exhaustive, nor are they perfect. You'll see a lot of vague references to approximation, estimates, and “starting points.” You and your Gamemaster should work together to ensure that the spirit of your character is preserved during the process, even if the numbers don't always add up the same.

Ability Scores

Start the conversion process by converting your character's attribute die codes into ability scores. To find the value of an ability score, first translate the attribute stat into an ability score using the Attribute Values table. For instance, a die code of 3D+1 becomes an ability score of 15.

Next, find the corresponding attribute for each ability on the Attribute Equivalents table. For instance, the Strength ability corresponds exactly to the WEG Strength attribute, while a character's Intelligence is equal to the sum of his Knowledge and Technical attributes divided by 2.

The WEG Attributes of Mechanical and Perception are special cases, in that high scores in these abilities also translate into skill ranks.

•            For every pip of Mechanical above 3D, give the character one rank of Pilot.

•            For every pip of Perception above 3D, give the character one rank of Spot or Listen. These ranks should be evenly divided between the two skills (if this results in a fraction, choose either Spot or Listen to receive an extra rank).

Species

Work with your GM to determine the species' special abilities.

Class

You'll need to select a class for your character. At this point, this is only a tentative choice. You may find that after converting your character's skills into skill points and feats that you change your mind, or even decide that your character is multiclassed. Don't be afraid to revisit this decision later in the process.

Skills and Feats

This is the tricky part of the conversion. It requires flexibility on the part of the player (and assistance from the Gamemaster). Simply put, there is no hard-and-fast system to convert a character's skill dice into skill ranks and feats.

Most WEG Star Wars skills have an equivalent skill in the new game. For instance, the astrogation skill becomes Astrogate. For these skills, assign your character one skill rank for every “pip” he or she has in the skill above the base attribute score. (A +1 is one pip; a +2 is two pips; a skill that is one die higher than the base attribute is worth three pips.)

As noted above, high scores in the Mechanical and Perception attributes grant the character skill ranks in Pilot, Spot, and/or Listen.

Some WEG skills make up part of a single new skill with a wider scope. For instance, the Repair skill includes all the various kinds of repair-oriented skills in the WEG Star Wars game -- armor repair, droid repair, and so on. In this case, find the character's highest rank in any of the affiliated skills (using the one pip = one rank method outlined above). For every additional affiliated skill that is more than half this rank, add one-half of that skill's ranks to the base skill (rounding fractions down). Diplomacy, Repair, Treat Injury, and Computer Use all fall into this category.

Example: Yurin Prefect has 3D in his Technical attribute. His skills include droid repair 4D, ground vehicle repair 5D+1, repulsorlift repair 3D+2, and starfighter repair 6D. If each of these were separate skills, he would have 3 ranks of droid repair, 7 ranks of ground vehicle repair, 2 ranks of repulsorlift repair, and 9 ranks of starfighter repair. Thus, his highest “rank” would come from starfighter repair; only ground vehicle repair is at least half as much. This character would have 12 ranks of Repair in the new game (9 from starfighter repair and 3 from ground vehicle repair).

A couple of WEG skills actually encompass more than one new skill. Climbing/Jumping, for instance, is now broken into two separate skills (Climb and Jump). In this case, you can either assign the same rank to both skills or you can divide the total skill ranks between the two skills (evenly or not). Whatever you choose, make sure your GM agrees.

The languages skill is a special case, since its equivalent (Speak xml:lang) doesn't actually use ranks. In this case, each pip in languages translates into 1 skill point you can spend on the Speak xml:lang and Read/Write xml:lang skills. Depending on your character's class, your hero can speak a xml:lang fluently for either 1 or 2 skill points.

A number of WEG skills translate more accurately into feats, as shown on the Skill Equivalents table. In this case, anyone with at least 1D (3 “pips”) in the skill should probably have the feat listed. Remember that some classes will gain some of these feats for free, so some characters without any ranks in the skill may also end up with the feat. You don't have to take the recommended feat if you don't want to (or if you don't think it fits your character).

The combat-related WEG skills (particularly blaster, dodge, and lightsaber) can also give you a hint about your character's attack or Defense bonus and, by extension, his level. For instance, find your character's best attack skill (blaster, bowcaster, lightsaber, brawling, or whatever). For every pip of the skill (above the base attribute score), you can assume your character has approximately +1 to his attack bonus. Then, do the same for the dodge skill, converting it into a base Defense bonus. This isn't exact and almost certainly won't provide a final number -- in fact, higher-level characters may have a much higher final attack or Defense bonus than is indicated by their skills -- but it can give you a starting point.

You can either translate skill specializations into particular feats (such as Weapon Focus for specializations in a particular weapon) or fold them back into the main skill as skill ranks. (If you take the second option, fold them back at half the normal rate: two pips equal one rank.) Work with your GM to make sure this maintains the spirit of your character.

Finally, some skills simply don't work in the new game. Lifting, melee parry, and emptiness (for example) simply don't have an equivalent function, and can't be converted into anything in the new game.

It's even possible that you may find one or more skills in the new game (such as Listen) that don't have equivalents in the WEG game. With your GM's approval, you might want to put a few ranks in such skills, particularly if you find yourself with leftover skill points after the next step of the process.

Level

From the skill ranks and feats you've determined your character should have, you should be able to calculate your character's approximate level. It is imperative that you get your Gamemaster's feedback during this process. You'll want to ensure that characters with a similar amount of experience have similar levels.

First, check skill points. You've already determined what ranks your character should have: now translate those into skill points. This depends on the class choice you made earlier (and may end up altering that choice). For instance, every rank of Pilot costs a scoundrel 1 skill point, though it costs a Jedi consular 2 skill points (since it's a cross-class skill for Jedi consulars).

After you've determined the total number of skill points your character needs to recreate his current array of skills, subtract the bonus skill points he would have gained from a high Intelligence. (If your character's Intelligence is 11 or less, skip this step). The table describing Bonus Skill Points from Intelligence gives you a shortcut to determine this value. Then consult the proper column of the Skill Points by Class and Level table. Find the range this number falls into; this indicates what level your character would need to be to have those skill ranks.

Ultimately, this process can only guide you to potentially appropriate results. It's entirely possible that two characters who have gone on the same missions might go through the conversion process and end up with radically different levels. It's even possible (in fact, it's almost inevitable) that two people might convert the same character and end up with different results. That's why the GM's involvement is so critical. In fact, the GM's word should overrule any guideline found in this section.

Other Conversions

In addition to character conversions, you may wish to convert creatures, weapons, vehicles, and starships to the new system.

Creatures

Use the rules outlined above for characters. Estimate a level for converted creatures.

Weapons

For personal weapons, divide the weapon's maximum range by 10 (or by 5 for thrown weapons) to get the weapon's range increment. A weapon's damage depends on its WEG damage code and scale -- see the Converting Weapon Damage table.

Converting Weapon Damage

Vehicles and Starships

In general, a capital ship's hull and shield points are equal to its dice rating X 100 (+30 per extra pip). A starfighter's hull and shield points are equal to its dice X 30 (+10 per extra pip), a walker's are equal to its dice X 20 (+6 per extra pip), and a speeder's are equal to its dice X 10 (+3 per extra pip).