Suggestions for damage house rules

[Enkidu69]

My group will be starting a big campaign soon, but our GM and most players are not satisfied with damage rules.

I haven't played SW for years, but I remember that combat system works great when players and enemies are str. 2-3, but high strength characters and monsters break the system completely. Wookies could tank blasters like if they were air guns and a naked 4D str. human could take blaster pistol shots to the chest with no problems.

I thought about one way to change the damage system and would like to know what more experienced players think.

First, soak rolls are gone. Instead of rolling for soak every time somebody gets hit everybody have a soak rating equal to 3 per strength dice + pips.

Example: 2D strength character has a soak rating of 6 while a 3D+2 strength character has a soak rating of 11.

Second, there are two types of damage: non-lethal and lethal (just like in WoD). Attacks that don't pierce/burn the body count as non lethal (fists, blunt weapons, etc.).

For characters with strength of 1-2D full soak rating is used against both non-lethal and lethal attacks.

Things are different when characters have strength higher than 2D. For every 1D of strength above 2D character gets just +1 to lethal damage soak rating.

Example: 2D strength character has a lethal damage soak rating of 6 while a 4D strength character has a lethal damage soak rating of 8.

So, a 3D+1 strength bounty hunter would have 10 soak points against non-lethal attacks and 7 soak points against lethal attacks. When hit by a fist or crowbar he would subtract 10 from attacker's damage roll. When hit by a blaster or sword he would subtract 7 from attacker's damage roll.

I believe those changes make the system far more realistic and avoid the "blasterproof Wookie" problem. In addition, big monsters like Rancors can now have higher strength while still being killable (Rancors with just 1D strength more than Wookies were really unrealistic).

To compensate for blaster hits being far more deadly dodge would no longer count as an additional action. Everybody could dodge every round with no penalties to other actions. After all, combat in the movies was all about not getting hit.

What do you guys think? Anybody tried using similar rules before?

[Bren]

Looks pretty deadly.

I'm considering using something more like SWRPG 1E. It is much less deadly than what you propose, but it does mean that characters are not completely blaster proof.

Damage > STR roll = damage per normal rules
Damagex2 > STR roll = 1 stun result

In addition, for every +5 over the needed to hit roll, increase weapon damage by +1. This way if the character just stands there and takes the hit rather than dodging, there is a good chance they will be hit for additional damage.

This means that a raging Wookiee can takes several hits, if he rolls lucky, but eventually the stun results should bring him down.

[garhkal]

[Bren]

[Fallon Kell]

[Enkidu69]

Well, the big problem I have with D6 damage rules is how tough animals are.

A big bear would probably have between 6D+1 and 7D strength. That means he can tank blaster shoots even better than a wookie. A generic stormtrooper or rebel soldier wouldn't stand a chance against him. And that's just a normal Earth bear, now imagine a bear sized monster with natural armor. Something like that could slaughter whole squads.

It's rather stupid considering how a normal guy with a hunting rifle can easily kill a bear with one shot in real life.

Even with the system made more lethal like I did it would take 3 blaster rifle shots on average to kill a 7D str. animal.

[CRMcNeill]

Depends on the bear, I guess. Something like a polar bear or a big grizzly would actually be closer to speeder-scale than character, which would explain high strength and damage. Plus, you also have to consider that "average" people in the SWU are the peon NPCs with attributes averaging down at the 2D level, instead of the 3D average for most characters. If it were up to me, I'd put something like a bear at the 5D-6D range; more than enough to destroy the typical NPC (and a definite testimony to how strong Wookiees are).
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Bren]

I don't think D6 attributes are on a strictly linear scale. In any case, 7D seems too strong for most earth bears, 5D to 6D seems closer, maybe 6D+1 or so for a Kodiak or Polar bear.

All Star Wars sizes from the Alien Stats book available on this site. All earth bear sizes from wikipedia articles.

Herglic 1.7-1.9 meters STR 3D/5D
Horansi (4 sub-species) 1.5-2.6 meters STR 1D/6D
Houk 2.0-2.6 meters STR 2D+1/5D+2
Whiphid 2.0-2.6 meters STR 2D/4D+2
Wookiee 2.0-2.3 meters STR 2D+2/6D

Note that though Wookiees are sometimes lanky, Herglic and Houk have massive builds similar the the heavy builds of a bear.

Black Bear males 57–250 kg - females weigh 33% less, large specimens reach a weight of 300 kg, 1.1 m in shoulder height and 2.2 m in length
Brown Bears head-and-body length of 1.7 to 2.8 meters and a shoulder height of 90 to 150 centimeters; the largest subspecies are the Kodiak bear, Siberian brown bear, and the bears from coastal Russia, Alaska, and British Columbia. It is not unusual for large males in coastal regions to stand over 3 m while on their hind legs, and to weigh up to 680 kg
Polar Bear is about the same size as the Kodiak bear.

[Fallon Kell]

And not just any rifle will easily kill a large bear in one hit. For that you're probably looking at a 30.06 or larger. Or a .50 caliber handgun, because .44 magnum is not enough.
_________________
Or that excessively long "Noooooooooo" was the Whining Side of the Force leaving him. - Dustflier

Complete Starship Construction System

[CRMcNeill]

Don't forget Esoomians (Max Strength 7D)
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Bren]

[Fallon Kell]

IIRC the only rancor I ever fought had 10D strength.
_________________
Or that excessively long "Noooooooooo" was the Whining Side of the Force leaving him. - Dustflier

Complete Starship Construction System

[CRMcNeill]

Considering their size, I'd put a Rancor at Walker-scale. I'm not a huge fan of the Courtship of Princess Leia, but the action in that novel had large rancors using melee combat to take out AT-STs.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Fallon Kell]

Yeah, WEG seemed to have this idea that anything with a pulse had to be character scale, even if it could eat TIE fighters. They never gave a good reason for that, and I haven't come up with one except possibly that there could be complications arising from converting certain actions via scales. ("What does walker scale swimming even mean!?!") Personally, I like larger scales on larger animals.
_________________
Or that excessively long "Noooooooooo" was the Whining Side of the Force leaving him. - Dustflier

Complete Starship Construction System

[CRMcNeill]