How to Run Combat in Star Wars RPG

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Fun question I had while making this video, but didn't deem it important enough to add to the video itself: What happens to an initiative slot when someone dies? There isn't a lot, if any, info on this in the book, but someone on Reddit gave a good answer, that if a character dies or is incapacitated, then drop off the lowest initiative slot for the PCs or NPCs. However I can see the argument for taking the slot of whoever used it that round. What about you? How do you interpret that rule?

[@carlosrivera9047]

I use roll20 and dont use the initiative buttons on character sheet. Instead I use the skill buttons on the sheet for cool or vigilance so that every participants name is listed on the turn order. We then decide the order and shift as necessary every round but this way we know exactly who used which slot.

[@Gatoras_Blade]

I think because it doesn't mention removing slots, that means you don't remove them. There will be more slots than there are people so effectively the lowest slots are gone, but are still usable in case you wanted to skip a different slot, or maybe just add new NPC's to take a slot without needing to reroll new initiatives for them.

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Yeah this is where I am with it, but it is still an interesting discussion haha

[@GM_Darth_Dad]

I have done it both ways. Remove the slot of the downed PC or NPC (it is easier to do with Roll20 or something with a turn tracker assigned to tokens) or just taking the lowest slot.

[@MrSteveK1138]

I actually like to reroll initiative at each round and depending on which side is on top, I allow an additional die or two to increase the chances of the winning side having better initiative. That said I prefer the fluidity of combat where one side seems to be winning, then after the NPCs gain better initiative the tide of battle can change.

[@frankdonatelli343]

Dude I love that you made this series EIGHT YEARS after this rpg came out. Just in time for me to start a campaign.

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Its about time someone came along and grew this game! So I did and am trying to 😂

[@frankdonatelli343]

Its helping me refresh myself before i start up running weekly games again at my LCS. Keep at it bud, this is the way.

[@matthijsclaessen8152]

This! My friends are just starting. The game is sure fun, but pretty different to what we are used to.

[@sergeyolson7815]

That was an impressive DEW IT at 3:00!

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Thanks, I try haha

[@danweber6972]

This is a great short intro to combat/conflict. Also, loving the overall vibe of this series and how it's bite sized pieces for new players. I fully intend on directing my players here for character gen during session zero and along the way. Thanks for doing this. Really looking forward to more on ranges in a future video. Seems like a concept some players really struggle with even with a good GM making sense of it (which I still struggle to do).

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Thanks! I have been busy planning for a workshop with the r/SWRPG community (Happening Saturday 👀), so video 6.2 is a bit behind, but I hope to have it up before Thanksgiving! Everything Range and Combat Modifier and stuff like dual wielding and whatnot :)

[@absol1975]

When GMing, a simple way I record initiative results is like this: 4.0 - PC 2.3 - PC 2.2 - E 2.1 - PC 2.1 - A 1.1 - E 0.3 - E 0.2 - PC Where the first number is successes, the second is advantage. Easy way to organize things and to have your players report them quickly. "What'd everyone get?" "2.1." "I only got 0.2..." "4.0! We're going first!" Etc. Probably not very helpful, but shortening it to a decimal was a simple trick that really sped up rolling and tracking initiative for our group :) .

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Yeah I do something similar

[@blaifornsigarcia6830]

hey! i have a cool homebrew rule regarding lightsabler combat: it's not a melee attack but a confontated check: ur lightasbler skill vs the enemy lightsabler skill.

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

I may steal this haha

[@carlosrivera9047]

Perfect, Nate!! Awesome video.

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Thanks!! :D

[@agrayday7816]

this is an awesome resource keep it up!

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Thanks! Will do :)

[@mkcheng408]

I really enjoy your format and editing. Star Ship Combat next!

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Thank you so much! Starship combat chapter is starting in January! In the meantime, we have 2 more combat related videos slated for December.

[@markhenderson6389]

Similar to your comment from an earlier video about encouraging players to focus on what they want to character to do (rather than the skill roll), the same applies to combat. In a Star Wars movie, every single maneuver and blaster shot can be filled with cinematic drama. Even if you don't roll a success, what was it like? How does the scene play out? (Player) "Crouching behind the landing gear strut, I line up a shot at the Trandoshan." (GM) "Roll XYZ dice. Trying to keep your head down, you rush your shot and fire just behind the bounty hunter. Ignoring the explosive blaster bolt, he slowly turns your way - his cold, reptilian eyes narrowing as he focuses on you." Obviously, you don't need to describe the results of every roll with that level of detail. The idea is to emphasize the action and the story wherever possible. The dice are merely a device for pointing the narrative one way ("Negative, negative. Just impacted on the surface.") or another ("You're all clear, kid! Now let's blow this thing and go home!")

[@FellVoice]

I've got one for you. In my opinion this is just a rules conflict that was never addressed but has severe ramifications for anyone attempting to use them. Ok, here goes. So when a person engages a ranged enemy with a melee weapon they get a boost die and get to increase their enemy's attack difficulty based on the firearm in use anywhere from +1 diff for light ranged weapons all the way up to not being able to use them at all for Gunnery weapons. Here's where the problem comes in. If on the ranged enemy's turn he simply decides to Disengage as a maneuver, which changes his range increment from Engaged to Short range, then all the rules about increasing the ranged enemy's difficulty go out the window and make zero sense to have even included in the book since there is no mechanism that allows the Melee fighter to take advantage of the increased difficulty being engaged with a shooter is supposed to incur if all the ranged opponent has to do is take a Move maneuver on his turn to negate all of it including the boost die since it's only granted to engaged Melee opponents if the shooter makes an attack while engaged. Please make sense of this for me if there is any to be made. Thanks.

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

The game does not have any sort of opportunity attack. Its just a different system than D&D in that regard and its up to the GM to utilize the enemies in combat to punish positioning errors or relocations a player may make in that scenario.

[@badical64]

Love your videos, been watching since the 2nd in the SWRPG series, as I'm just now learning to play with a group, and we are all brand new to it. We haven't met up yet, but I've purchased 5 books in excitement so far :) Just to give some feedback from my perspective as a new GM for this... I actually wish you did go into more detail on maneuvers and actions, even if just the most common ones (like spending strain for +1 maneuver). I know you mentioned you don't want to "give away the whole rulebook," but in my mind, that's kind of the purpose of most of your videos, but in nice bite-sized chunks. It's how you approached character creation, so why not do that for combat, since as you admit it's one of the most rules-heavy parts of the game? In fact, I'm asking this because I am revisting this video since I felt I needed to brush up on combat, but it only helped so much. Just my opinion, but I think these areas are an important gap. You just released the "15 special rules" video, which goes into this level of detail of other combat-related components. What if this and that video were part of a combat series, and you were to add a maneuvers and actions video as well? That all said, I hate being the kind of fan to ask for more, so no worries at all if you choose not to do this. Beggars can't be choosers! Thank you again; I appreciate all you do!

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Thanks for the feedback! I'll look back at the video and see what I can do :) If I did, it would be after the main guide series ends and go into a combat playlist or something 😊

[@badical64]

@@TheTabletopEmpire Totally makes sense. Thanks for hearing me out!

[@DannytheChadd]

Love your videos! Could you make one on the Jedi? The most complicated thing to me is the Jedi creation and abilities.

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

We will be covering the force and force powers and all that stuff soon! It's coming after the combat and starship chapters :) As far as creating a Jedi character it's not much different from any other kind of character. The only difference is Morality instead of Obligation or Duty, and access to force powers. If you have any specific questions I'm happy to help!

[@xMetAzx]

I was wondering about combat on the table. Is it like D&D and you use miniatures on a square grid like the Star Wars Imperial Assault game? Or is it different or none existent?

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Theater of the mind is the intended way, but I sometimes use battle maps just with no grid and generally estimate range bands as players make combat checks.

[@xMetAzx]

@@TheTabletopEmpire cools I was thinking that wasn't sure. Thanks for the quick response xD

[@noxumbra173]

At the 1:30 minutes mark, as some one who is new to Star wars. What dices do we need to roll. What if someone is skilled in cool or vigilance? How does that change what dice are rolled?

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Check out my Dice video at the beginning of the Beginner's Guide Series. It explains all you need to know! :)

[@rickhunter82]

Hi Nate, I'm enjoying the videos. Can you help me understand a passive combat talent in the "Retired Clone Trooper" Talent tree? The tree is on page 107 of "Dawn of the Rebellion '. "Steady Aim" reads "The character does not lose the benefits of the Aim maneuver if he performs other maneuvers (including moving) or actions. He does lose the benefits of the Aim maneuver if the encounter ends" I read this to mean that for each combat encounter, the character "aims" once, and then gets that bonus die for the encounter, even after firing or doing a skill check. Am I misunderstanding this and making it OP?

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

I can see it either mean that, or I could see it mean that the next time you aim you get the Double boost die or only one setback dice, as if you aimed twice in a row. I am not 100% sure though. Do whichever one you think it is :)

[@kozimandius]

I believe this apples to the situation where you conduct your aim maneuver, then do something before you conduct your combat check . Normally "A character only gains the benefit of aiming if he remains in his current position and does not perform any additional maneuvers or actions before his next combat check". So in this case you can conduct other maneuvers of actions before your "next combat check" and keep the aim.

[@Handasan]

Aha, i knew it about the damge

[@homestead13]

Does your soak value reset at the end of each encounter or is that something that only happens after a long rest? Also, thank you for all these videos!

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Soak value never changes unless you get new gear or a talent or an increase in brawn. If you meant strain, after each combat encounter PCs roll cool or discipline, players choice, against 0 difficulty. Each success removed 1 strain.

[@krystopherguadalupe1760]

Ok so I recently got into this game and am currently GMing on my college campus, but I really need help bc where do I find the core rule book?? I have looked everywhere online and the only thing I’ve found to buy is the Force and Destiny expansion. Thankfully that came with its own book which explains rules and some important things, but i feel like the information is never complete and we’ve just been faking it until we make it. Is there a source you can point us to for the core rule book, or is the game just discontinued by now?

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Its not discontinued. Just had issues during pandemic with supply chains and they are still playing catch-up. The asmodee store page would be where id keep my eye on. They restock every so often. (In the meantime there are PDFs online you can find for free, but only use those if you plan to buy the book once you can)

[@krystopherguadalupe1760]

@@TheTabletopEmpire thank you so much! It’s actually really encouraging to get an answer this quick on an older video. Very grateful for you and these videos for giving me resources

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

@@krystopherguadalupe1760 I try to reply to every comment. No matter age of video it still appears in my "Comments" tab on KZbin studio :)

[@frozztie7511]

Damnit I'm trying to figure out how enemies work in combat with minions Vs adveseries vs nemesis enemies 😂 Not a single video I've found covers this 😭

[@TheTabletopEmpire]

Check out the guide to enemies on the channel 🔎 It's in the beginners guide series

[@frozztie7511]

@@TheTabletopEmpire thank you I will