Dovin Basal Rules, The Draft Version

Consider this a tease of the still in development Yuuzhan Vong chapter. Here is the SWSE rendition of the dovin basal. It's effectively an amalgamation of the Gravity Well Generator and Dovin Basal rules from Threats of the Galaxy and the Legacy Era Campaign Guide. I'm still considering adding a SR penalty for when the player uses a Dovin Basal for more than one attack action in a round to reflect the overtaxed nature of dovin basals asked to do more than just propel the ship and keep the shields up. You'll see more on that if I decide to do it later. Enjoy!

Dovin Basal

The dovin basal was in many ways, the secret weapon of the Yuuzhan Vong. A bioengineered creature capable of manipulating gravity fields, the dovin basal serves the same purposes as a whole group of subsystems on a conventional starship or vehicle. The dovin basal serve as insystem propulsion, hyperdrive, shielding, tractor beam, and on larger ships, gravity well projectors. Additionally they are capable of attacking the shields of more conventional craft, an ability used with great effect against New Republic forces during the first half of the war, until countermeasures could be created and adopted.

Later in the war, the dovin basal's weakness became apparent. If pressed into having to serve all of its functions at once, at a high capacity, the dovin basal was subject to fatigue, and could become overwhelmed with its various duties in maneuvering, protecting, and in some cases attacking from the ship.

To emulate the various abilities of the dovin basal, use the following rules:

The Dovin Basal vs. Shields:

As a standard action, the pilot or gunner can make an attack vs. an opposing ships or vehicles shield rating. This reflects the ability of the dovin basal to create black holes that can literally strip shields, . The attack roll is made in the same manner as other attacks. However, the dovin basal does not inflict normal hit point damage. If the dovin basal's damage roll equals or exceeds the target vehicle's SR, reduce the SR by 10. The damage dealt by the ship's dovin basal is dependent on the size of the vehicle or starship. For Colossal or smaller vehicles, the dovin basal deals 7d10 x 2 damage. For Colossal (frigate) sized ships, the dovin basal deals 5d10x5 damage. For Colossal (cruiser) or larger starships, the dovin basal deals 7d10 x 5 damage.

The Dovin Basal as Tractor Beam:

Dovin basals function in all respects in the same manner as a regular tractor beam. See p. 174 of the Star Wars Saga Edition Core Rulebook for the game mechanics and use of tractor beams.

The Dovin Basal as Gravity Well Projector:

Dovin basals, like gravity well projectors (see p. 101, Threats of the Galaxy) can serve as a unique weapon that does not deal damage but instead produces a special effect. Projecting a gravity well is treated like firing a weapon in an area attack; the dovin basal must choose a 3x3-square (starship scale) area within the generator's range and make an attack roll against a Reflex Defense of 10. If successful, the dovin basal creates a hyperspace interdiction field in those target squares. Any starship that starts its turn in a square covered by a hyperspace interdiction field may not activate its hyperdrive on that turn.

Note that with full-round actions and the appropriate feats (Double Attack and Triple Attack), a dovin basal battery can be used for one or more of these purposes at a time. The normal penalties for such multiple attacks apply.

Next up, we'll take a look at a sample Yuuzhan Vong starship.

The differences between OCR/RCR and SWSE Part I: Dovin Basals

I've had the distinct pleasure thus far of doing a large amount of equipment, droid and vehicle design.

On the New Republic/Jedi side, there isn't much new. A couple of X-Wing upgrades, a few pieces of specialty equipment, a few new droids, and a couple of new starships not currently made in Saga Edition.

However, on the Yuuzhan Vong side, and to a lesser extent the Killiks, the numbers of things we've needed to design are legion.

In the case of the Killiks, no previous edition covered the various equipment and vehicle designs. The dartship gets a write up in The Unknown Regions, and that's it.

For the Yuuzhan Vong, a primary source for this book is the old, Original Core Rulebook supplement, The New Jedi Order Sourcebook. Additionally, there are a few items that got writeups in Web Enhancements and various WotC web articles, all of them predating Saga Edition by years.

The process of converting starships has been mostly straightforward. I say mostly because there are conversion rules from OCR to RCR, and then from RCR to SWSE to make most of the process for existing designs easy, with the exception of two pesky exceptions, dovin basals, and yammosks.

The dovin basal, for those unfamiliar with NJO, is effectively a living creature that can manipulate gravitics on a molecular, or even submolecular level. In effect, it acts as propulsion, shields, gravity well projectors/interdiction field on larger ships, and even as an offensive weapon for Yuuzhan Vong vehicles and starships (mainly due to its ability to disrupt shields).

In the OCR days, there were extremely complex rules, where the hapless GM could spend way too much time trying to figure out how to allocate shield points to a myriad of tasks to simulate the dovin basal. Adapting those rules directly to Saga, as written, would be a major break with the style of the game system, and particularly with regard to Saga's easy and fun Starship/Vehicle combat rules. I wasn't going to go there.

In SWSE, so far, there have been two treatments of the dovin basal. The dovin basal's effects are listed with regard to their presence on the coralskipper, a living starfighter analog that got a write up in Threats of the Galaxy. More of the effects of dovin basals (particularly with regard to their ability to take down shields), and unlike the coralskipper entry, varying by size, can be found in the Living Ship Template present in the Legacy Era Campaign Guide.

The rules for the dovin basals will in effect, be a blend of the rules from these two limited sources, combined with the writeup of gravity well projectors from the Interdictor Cruiser entry, also found in Threats of the Galaxy. The net effect is a far more elegant, and easy to run system for simulating dovin basals than the cumbersome one found in the old NJO Sourcebook.

Next Time: Yammosks, and Yuuzhan Vong biotechnology.

Call for Playtesters

This post is crossposted at the Order 66 Podcast Forums:

Hey gang.

Work continues apace on The Embrace of Pain, the New Jedi Order to Legacy of the Force Sourcebook.

At this point, Equipment and Droids are done, and Yuuzhan Vong ships and vehicles are getting close to done.

And that means, we're close to the time of needing playtesters to put these designs through the paces...and what better way to get some of the Gamer Nation involved.

Although we are still a few weeks away from needing them, consider this a formal request for playtesters.

Should you decide to become a playtester, we need you to consider the following:

1. We need active playtesters. We don't need people who are just wanting to look at the material and never give feedback. The stuff is going to be doled out piecemeal as it's designed for a while, which means that we really need your feedback. If you don't give feedback, you'll find yourself politely kicked off the playtest team.

2. Prior RPG design and playtest experience is helpful, but not necessary.

3. We need your commitment to keep the material you are given to review confidential. Eventually, everything we do will be free for download to anybody who wants it. However, we'd like to keep the beta-test stuff from seeing a wide release, since some of it will doubtless need revisions, and quite possibly heavy revisions in some instances.

Also, if you have a desire to do some design work in the area of character stat blocks, AND have access to the old OCR New Jedi Order Sourcebook, give me a yell. I may have an opening for some design work for you.

The role of the force in the NJO series

The New Jedi Order series captured the attention of many readers through the introduction of the Yuuzhan Vong. The Yuuzhan Vong were a unique species not only in their use of entirely biotechnology, but also in that they were unable to be felt or detected through the force. With this in mind, it is of course important to consider the role which the force plays in the series, and the best manner in which to capture it.

For me, the process has begun with going back to the novels themselves and trying to make notes of exceptional uses of the force, especially in their more iconic and unique moments. Some moments which really stood out include: Luke using the force to ensnare a void projected by a dovin bassal to destroy a large Yuuzhan Vong tank weapon, Alema Rar using the dark side to capture and slice a Yuuzhan Vong into pieces, and Ganner's last stand just to name a few.

From considering these moments, it then becomes important for us to consider the force powers which already exist within Saga Edition, and whether they can fully cover these moments from a rules perspective. This has been a big important first step in the consideration of what force powers, talents, and other rules which may be included in the sourcebook. To date, we have identified and begun to develop several force powers to be included in the sourcebook. The goal is to hopefully have some well written powers which fit mechanically into the system, are representative of how the force is used within the New Jedi Order, and are well balanced with the other powers within the system.

I'll post more updates as the force part of the sourcebook is further updated. Also as a small side note, we may be including a small special "optional rule" sidebar for using the force.

A Word About Design Philosophy.

As somebody who contributed a fair bit of professional development of rules systems for at least one other RPG years ago, I've devoted a fair amount of thought to design philosophy and RPGs.

Basically, I'm generally in the opposite camp of the TSR/Wizards of the Coast school of building more rules so players can do something cool. I think, if D&D has a flaw, it's that it chokes itself to death with rule systems and players options without ever really looking at the cohesive whole of those systems. There comes a point with D&D where as a player or GM, you have to say enough, and stop collecting books, or drive yourself mad collecting every sourcebook. I still haven't taken too much of a plunge into D&D 3.5, and haven't spent a dime on D&D 4, as a result.

That being said, I can say that I'm actually grateful that WotC called it quits after 14 books with Saga. To me, that was about the sweet spot. In my opinion (and I don't speak for the other designers on the project) it is already reaching a point of diminishing returns with regard to developing new rules systems, talents, feats, classes, etc.

What is needed in Saga Edition is more stuff for GMs. Stat blocks. NPCs. Adventure ideas. Published adventures. Things that a GM can steal or borrow from, drop into a session, and minimize the work he has to do to run a game.

For those expecting a ton of crunch in terms of new rules systems for the book, prepare to be disappointed. We'll be giving the Yuuzhan Vong and the Killiks the treatment they deserve from the system in terms of character options, and we'll be filling in stuff that hasn't been published for the system already in terms of equipment, Force powers, etc. on the New Republic/Galactic Alliance, Imperial Remnant and Jedi sides, but I think a lot of what is needed to run NJO adventures in terms of rules subsystems, talents, feats, etc. is already there. All we need to do is point GMs and players in the right direction.

What the book will have is tons of adventure seeds. Generic and specific NPC stat blocks. New vehicles and starships, particularly on the Vong side. Cool ideas on why to consider running a campaign in the era. Campaign outlines. A published adventure to get you started.

That's the book I'd buy if WotC had published it. Obviously, your mileage may vary, so let us know what you think

What is the Embrace of Pain? (A Brief FAQ)

What is the Embrace of Pain?

The Embrace of Pain is intended to be a fan-created Sourcebook for Star Wars Saga Edition Roleplaying Game. It is intended to cover the New Jedi Order, Dark Nest, and Legacy of the Force series of novels from the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

Why are you doing this?

It had become increasingly clear over the last year that Wizards of the Coast would not be designing a sourcebook for the era. With Wizards' recent announcement that the April publication of The Unknown Regions would be the last book published for the line, it became increasingly clear that if there was going to be adequate support to run New Jedi Order campaigns in Saga Edition, I was going to have to step up. Within a week of Wizards' announcement, we put together a team to do exactly that, and work has commenced.

Who is the design team?

We're basically a bunch of folks from the d20 Radio forums for the Order 66 Podcast, the only podcast dedicated to discussion of the Star Wars Saga Edition RPG (and an Ennie Award winner at that.

For those familiar with the forums, we are myself (Darth ObiWan), Zrissa, madoule, Imbasel, Revan_the_2nd, Cyril, and watanabe2k

We are a team of diverse talents united by one common theme, a love of Star Wars Saga Edition.

As for my own experience, I have been a player and GM of RPGs since 1979. I have played in and run games as diverse as old-school D &D AD&D, Classic Traveller, MegaTraveller, d20 Modern, Traveller: Fourth Edition, GURPS, 3rd Edition/3.5 D&D, Paranoia, and all three d20 versions of Star Wars, including Star Wars Saga Edition.

I was also a writer and designer for the following books for Traveller: Fourth Edition:
Milieu Zero sourcebook (both the hardcover and softcover versions), Psionic Institutes, Pocket Empires, Alien Archive I, and the unpublished adventure: The Vilani Hypothesis.

How can I help?

We are not currently soliciting for writers, game designers. We've got a good sized, manageable team, and I'm not comfortable adding any more, although this is always subject to change.

We may have need for additional artwork.

We will solicit for playtesters as we get closer to completion. We are not soliciting playtesters at this time, however.

How much will it cost?

The cost is nothing, nada, zip, zero, bupkus. It will be free.

The final publication will be in .pdf format. We don't have a license to produce this (which is why it is considered fan material), and we have no desire to wind up pissing off George Lucas, a man we respect and admire deeply, or Wizards of the Coast, who in our opinions did their finest work on Saga Edition.

While we're on the subject of Lucasfilm, and Wizards of the Coast. This book will be a derivative work based on works copyrighted by Lucasfilm and Wizards of the Coast, based on trademarked and copyrighted material that is wholly owned by Lucasfilm Limited and its subsidiaries. This is fan material only and is not, in any way, intended to be a challenge to said trademarks and copyrights. With luck, maybe it'll sell a few more novels for you guys.

More to come on this one.