Hopefully, you already have somewhat of an idea about what you wanted your character to be like. If you still don’t, that’s fine; maybe looking through the available advantages will help.
You only really need to have an idea of what your character is going to be like by the time you get to STEP 5.
By reading through the selection of races, you’ve probably got an idea of what
advantages are. They’re traits that, to say the least, improve your character or otherwise give them the upper hand over others who do not have this trait. Advantages are always a good thing!
They really define who and what your character is. Coming up with a reason as to why they’re like they are falls into your hands when you pick the advantage. You have to justify your advantage within your backstory. You don’t just wake up one morning and suddenly have Combat Reflexes! Picking a lot of advantages means you have to have a very colorful background… and usually a bunch of CPs to purchase them all, too.
Advantages that demand lots of CPs are considered more powerful than cheaper ones.
They’re also considered less realistic. If your advantage is ridiculous, you would need a very good reason to have it. You might even have to base your entire backstory off of it.
Some advantages are also completely unreasonable for this campaign, so Justins might forbid it entirely. One that I know he’d ban for sure would be Jumper, which lets you travel through time and space to any point of your choosing as often as you like, and you can do it at will, without any devices or cost outside of what it initially costs to purchase the advantage.
Despite the cost of 100 CPs, there’s no way you can justify an ability that powerful within the limitations of the Star Wars universe.
However, any advantages given to you on the basis of race are always possible within the Star Wars universe. You would still have to justify it somewhat with your backstory, but you wouldn’t have to try as hard to incorporate it as you would have to do for a ‘learned’ advantage.
Many advantages are labeled as being superhuman, so if you’re a human, you just can’t have them. Many advantages are exclusive to particular races (e.g. Extra Arms, Amphibious, Regrowth, etc.) so it would be completely unjustifiable for anyone who didn’t naturally have it, including non-humans, to just develop it over time. You can try though!
- ADVANTAGE TABLES
There are four tables spread across the next few pages that list all of the advantages that could both be ‘learned’ by any one particular race (within reason) and that are also viable for this campaign. There are even more advantages in the Basic Set Rulebook that are not listed here if you’d like to try to find other stuff that might work for this campaign.
After character creation, you may only spend points on advantages marked with
asterisks. If marked with two asterisks, the advantage requires some sort of special condition to be met (e.g. finding a teacher) before it can be learned post-character creation.
If you’re still in character creation, you can pick any advantages you want from this first section of lists regardless of whether they have asterisks. You will still have to justify any advantage you learn non-racially in your backstory, but bolded advantages require significantly more explanation. An explanation for a non-bolded advantage such as Combat Reflexes could be as simple as “served as a soldier,” or “grew up with multiple brothers.” Justifying Weapon Master, on the other hand, would have to be something as drastic as “galaxy renowned
blademaster and is head-engineer of a primary vibroblade production enterprise; he watched as both of his parents were chopped to bits in an alleyway when he was nine years old which made him become just like Batman, but the difference was that the blade that his parents were cut down by happened to be of his own design and he was the one that was doing the chopping.”
It’s still possible, but… y’know.
Each table governs one particular category of advantages out of 4 possible categories:
- Combat
- Utility and Skills - Social Reactions - (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
The tables will be presented in that order for both of the sections. The advantages themselves are listed from most expensive to least expensive. The table the list is on will also say if a particular race comes pre-packaged with it.
- Table 1: Combat Advantages
Name Descriptionᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚ Race(s) Page CP cost
Weapon Master**
When performing an attack with a specific
(all/large/medium/small/paired/one) class of muscle-powered weapon(s):
- add +1 per die if relevant weapon skill is at DX+1 or +2 per die at DX+2 or higher
- halve your penalty to make a Rapid Strike
- halve your penalty to parry more than once per turn - use a higher default if untrained
Examples of some classes:
(large): all bladed weapons (med) : all bladed vibro-weapons (small): all vibro-swords
(pair) : dual-wield vibro-sword with offhand vibro-shortblade (one) : longbladed vibro-sword
99
Extra Attack**
You get additional Attack maneuvers per turn equal to the level of this advantage. Any readied ranged and/or melee weapons can be used in combination. The amount of attacks you can do is limited to the amount of readied weapons you have during that turn. A kick can be used as an attack, provided you’ve got one left to stand on too.
53 +25 per lv
Gunslinger**
Treat all single shot ranged attacks (RoF 3) done with a 1-handed weapon as if an Aim maneuver had been used prior.
2-handed ranged attacks get half of what their normal Aim bonus is, but still get their full bonus when actually Aimed.
Bracing and any other modifications retain their benefits.
58 +25
Combat Reflexes*
+1 to all active defense rolls and the Fast-Draw skill and +2 to Fright checks. You do not freeze when surprised and get +6 on all IQ rolls to wake up or recover from mental stuns. Your entire party gets a +1 on initiative ─ +2 if you are considered the leader.
Rodian 43 +15
Enhanced Defenses**
(Enhanced Dodge**): +1 Dodge.
(Enhanced Parry**): +1 Parry for all melee skills OR for one melee skill.
(Enhanced Block**): +1 Block for either Shield or Cloak.
51
(Fit*): +1 to all HT rolls that aren’t skills or the HT check itself, which includes avoiding death, stay conscious, etc. You also recover FP at twice the normal rate.
(Very Fit*): As above, but the bonus to HT rolls is +2. In addition, you lose FP at only half the normal rate.
Draethos Exile
You never suffer a shock penalty when injured. You also get +3 on HT rolls to avoid knockdown or stunning. If you are tortured physically, you get a +3 to resist. You may also get to roll against your Will+3 to ignore pain in other situations.
59 +10
Arm ST*
You can dedicate CPs to extra ST for purely arm-related uses; it does not affect HP or Basic Lift. If a task requires you to use multiple arms and they don’t all have the same ST, use the average. Arm tasks include making melee and throwing attacks. Discounts for Size Modifiers can be used.
Ambidexterity You never suffer the -4 DX penalty for using the off-hand. 39 +5
Rapier Wit**
You can use witty repartee to stun your foes in combat. Roll Public Speaking vs your opponent’s Will. -1 per opponent beyond the first to affect a group (you must know something the entire group has in common so you can taunt them with it!). If you win, your opponent is mentally stunned. A critical success causes 1 HP damage (drops something on their foot, bring their head up suddenly and hit something, etc.). If you lose, there’s no effect. Crit failures are for the GM to decide!
Ayrou 79 +5
Hard to Kill*
Each level of this advantage gives +1 to HT rolls made for survival at -1xHP or below and on any roll where failure means instant death (poison, etc.). If this bonus means the difference between success and failure, you collapse, apparently dead, but come to in the usual amount of time. A successful Diagnosis roll reveals the truth. This can fool your enemy into thinking you’re actually dead... but your allies might not be able to tell either!
58 +2 per lv
Hard to Subdue*
Each level of this advantage gives a +1 to any HT roll to avoid unconsciousness – whether as a result of injury, drugs, or stun guns – and to resist Force abilities that cause unconsciousness.
59 +2 per lv
- Table 2: Utility and Skills
Name Descriptionᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚᅚ Race(s) Page CP cost
Gadgeteer**
You are an inventor; it’s easy for you to design cool gadgets even at TL levels higher than your own. You need money and equipment to do your work, and it might take several days or months to put what you want together. To make a concept, describe it to the GM and he will tell you what skill you have to roll against (you must be trained in it to have any success). Next, the GM will arbitrarily assign a ‘complexity level’ of the invention. Use the following table for inspiration:
Complexity Req. Skill Level Time (min 1 day)
Now the GM will make a ‘concept’ roll against the skill chosen earlier. There’s no penalty if it’s simple, but you have a -2 penalty if it’s average, -4 if complex, or -8 if it’s amazing.
+5 if you have a working model you’re trying to copy, or +2 if it exists but you don’t have it with you. +1 to +5 if the item is a variant on an existing one. You can attempt to make
inventions of a higher TL at a -5 penalty per level above your own, and the price also doubles per level. If you fail, nothing happens and you may try again the next day with no additional penalty. Success means you go to the next step.
Critical failure means you go to the next step and will fail on every attempt until you get a critical success, at which point you may make the concept roll again.
If you made it to the next step you must pay the appropriate costs, then the GM secretly makes another roll against your previously mentioned skill with the same modifiers, but at a -1 to --10 if he believes you’re using anything less than the best tools available to make the prototype. If you fail, divide the cost by 10 and pay that in order to attempt the roll again.
Critical failure inflicts 2d damage and the next attempt is at full price. If you succeed, congratulations!
(Quick Gadgeteer): Scrounged parts, not money; concept takes 1d mins; simple gadget is 2d minutes of assembly, average is 1d-2 hours, complex 1d hours, amazing 4d hours.
475,
Arm DX*
You can dedicate CPs to extra DX for purely arm-related uses; it does not affect Basic Speed. If a task requires you to use multiple arms and they don’t all have the same DX, use the lowest. Arm tasks include using firearms while remaining stationary along with anything requiring fine manipulation.
Combat or DX based skills that require moving the body do not benefit from this.
Any time you take an unnecessary risk (in the GM’s opinion), you get a +1 to all skill rolls. Furthermore, you may reroll any critical failure that occurs during such high risk behavior. For example, this advantage would not grant any bonuses if you ducked behind a wall to take cover from gunfire, but it would if you barreled over the wall screaming at the top of your lungs as you charged the gunmen with your fists!
47 +15
Empathy
(Sensitive): When you first meet someone, or are reunited after an absence, you may ask the GM to roll against your IQ-3. He will tell you what you ‘feel’ about that person. If you failed, you will have misread the person, but you won’t know that. +1 to Detect Lies and Psychology.
(Empathy): As above, but +3 bonuses to Detect Lies and Psychology instead of +1. Roll at full IQ instead of at -3.
Zeltron
(Flexibility): +3 on Climbing, Escape (to escape bindings), and Erotic Art. You may ignore -3 in penalties for working in close-quarters (e.g. fighting someone in the same space as you).
(Double-Jointed): As above, but +5 to those skills. You ignore -5 in penalties for close-quarters.
Ayrou
A level in any of the following (there are more in the book) grants +1 to every skill that it governs:
(Business Acumen**): Accounting, Administration,
Economics, Finance, Gambling, Market Analysis, Merchant and Propaganda; reaction bonus from people you deal with.
(Healer**): Diagnosis, Esoteric Medicine, First Aid,
Pharmacy, Physician, Physiology, Psychology, Surgery and Veterinary; reaction bonus from patients, past and present.
(Mathematical Ability**): Accounting, Astronomy, Cryptography, Engineer, Finance, Market Analysis, Mathematics and Physics; reaction bonus from engineers and scientists.
(Smooth Operator**): Acting, Carousing, Detect Lies, Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Intimidation, Leadership, Panhandling, Politics, Public Speaking, Savoir-Faire, Sex Appeal and Streetwise; reaction bonus from con artists, politicians, etc. -- but only if you are not trying to manipulate them.
Adarian
Absolute Direction*
(Absolute Direction*): You always know which way is north and you can always retrace a path you followed within the past month, no matter how faint or confusing. This doesn’t work in interstellar space, but it does work underground, underwater, and on other planets. +3 to Body Sense and Navigation (Air, Land or Sea).
(3D Spatial Sense**): As above, but works in three
dimensions. This ability is useful in deep space. In addition to the bonus from above, you get +1 Piloting and +2 to
Aerobatics, Free Fall, and Navigation (Hyperspace or Space)
Sullustan (3D
(Eidetic Memory): You automatically remember the general sense of everything you concentrate on, and can recall specific details by making an IQ roll. However, it gives a +5 bonus whenever the GM requires an IQ roll for learning.
(Photographic Memory): As above, but you automatically recall specific details, too. Any time you, the player forget a detail your character has seen, the GM or other players must remind you – truthfully! This trait affects recall, not
comprehension, so it does not benefit skills. +10 bonus for learning.
You have a naturally clear, resonant, and attractive voice. +2 Diplomacy, Fast-Talk, Mimicry, Performance, Politics, Public Speaking, Sex Appeal, Singing, and on reaction rolls from anyone who can hear your voice.
Bimm 97 +10
Brachiator*
You can travel by swinging on vines, tree branches, ropes, chandeliers, etc. You can move at half your Basic Move while brachiating. +2 Climbing
Wookiee 41 +5
High Manual Dexterity
Each level (max 4) of this advantage gives +1 to DX for tasks that require fine, delicate touch. This includes all DX-based rolls against Artist, Jeweler, Knot-Tying, Leatherworking, Lockpicking, Pickpocket, Sewing, Sleight of Hand, Surgery, as well as DX-based rolls to do fine work on Machinist or Mechanic (e.g. clockwork). This doesn’t apply to IQ-based tasks or large scale DX-based tasks, nor does it apply to combat related die rolls of any kind.
Adnerem (+1)
(Lightning Calculator): You, the player, may use a calculator at any time to figure anything you want – even if your character is fleeing for his life! For most math-related things that could be solved using a calculator, the GM will assume that your character instantly knows the answer.
(Intuitive Mathematician): As above, but your ability is not limited to arithmetic. You can perform astrogation without a computer, do any level of engineering design in your head, and solve differential equations almost instantaneously.
66
+3 to skill rolls that you concentrate on to the exclusion of other activities, if the GM believes that concentration would help. If it already would have required your undivided attention (e.g. inventing), this provides no benefit.
85 +5
Versatile*
You get a +1 bonus on any task that requires creativity or invention, including most rolls against Artist skills, all Engineer rolls for new inventions, and all skill rolls made to use the Gadgeteer advantage.
96 +5
Acute Senses
Each acute sense is a separate advantage that gives +1 per level to its respective Sense roll:
(Hearing):
You are more capable of hearing faint sounds, such as the safety of a gun being switched off in the dark.
(Taste & Smell):
You are more capable of recognizing subtle tastes or smells, such as poison in your drink.
(Touch):
You can get more precise information by touch, such as being able to tell if you’re being pickpocketed.
(Vision):
You have a sharper eye for very fine details, such as looking for traps or noticing a flawed replica.
Adarian
Add your level of this advantage to your Will any time you must make a Fright check. Subtract your level of this advantage from Intimidation rolls made against you.
Bith (+5) 55 +2 per lv
Night Vision*
Each level of this advantage (max 9) allows you to ignore -1 in combat or vision penalties due to darkness, provided there is at least some light. Regardless of level, this advantage has no effect on the -10 penalty for total darkness.
Exiled
- Section 1, Table 3: Social Reactions
Appearance
Having above average appearance is an advantage. Below average would be a disadvantage. For these bonuses to have any effect, you must be visible.
(Somewhat Attractive): +1 on reaction rolls.
(Quite Attractive): +4 for people attracted to your sex, +2 on reactions otherwise.
(Very Attractive): +6 for people attracted to your sex, +2 otherwise. For those not attracted to your sex that also have reason to dislike you, they resent your good looks and react at -2 instead.
You belong to a social group that encourages its members to assist one another. When you are away from home, you may call on other members of this group for food, shelter, and basic aid. Members of the group are friendly to each other (+3 reactions) and may provide advice, introductions, and small loans, if asked.
Per level of this advantage, you get +1 on all reaction rolls made by sapient beings with whom you actively interact; +1 to Influence rolls; and +1 to Leadership, Panhandling, and Public Speaking skills. This may not affect those with vastly different social understanding than yours (e.g. Vratix).
Twi’lek (+1) Vuvrian (+2)
Zeltron (+2)
41 +5 per lv
Fashion Sense**
You get +1 to reaction rolls when you have a chance to plan your attire in advance. You can also give someone else a +1 bonus when you put together the outfit.
Neimoidian 21 +5
Pitiable
You get +3 on all reaction rolls from those who consider you to be in a position of helplessness, weakness, or need. This does not affect those with the Callous disadvantage.
22 +5
Social Chameleon
You are exempt from reaction penalties due to differences in Rank or Status. In situations where there would be no such penalty, you get +1 on reactions from those who demand respect (priests, kings, etc.).
86 +5
- Section 1, Table 4: (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧
Signature Gear
You have distinctive, valuable possessions unrelated to your wealth level. This gear is as much a part of your personal legend as are your reputation and skills. You must explain where it came from: you won your starship in a card game, inherited your droid from your father, etc. The more powerful
You have distinctive, valuable possessions unrelated to your wealth level. This gear is as much a part of your personal legend as are your reputation and skills. You must explain where it came from: you won your starship in a card game, inherited your droid from your father, etc. The more powerful