Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Rule Book

Step 7: Determining Derived Attributes

S

ome attributes of a character are derived from a

player's other choices during character creation.

WOUND THRESHOLD

A character's wound threshold is, basically, how many

wounds—physical damage—a character can withstand

before he is knocked out. A character's starting wound

threshold is determined by adding his species' wound

threshold to his Brawn rating (after spending start-

ing XP). After determining this initial value, further in-

creases to a character's Brawn rating do not increase

his wound threshold—wound threshold improvements

are acquired by purchasing talents such as Toughened.

STRAIN THRESHOLD

A character's strain threshold determines how much

strain—psychological and mental damage—a charac-

ter can withstand before he is stunned, dazed, or in-

capacitated. A character's starting strain threshold is

determined by adding his species' strain threshold to

his Willpower rating (after spending starting XP). After

determining this initial value, further increases to a

character's Willpower rating do not increase his strain

threshold—strain threshold improvements are ac-

quired by purchasing appropriate talents, such as Grit.

DEFENSE

Defense determines how difficult a character is to hit

in combat situations. Defense is divided into ranged

defense and melee defense. A character's default val-

ue in each defense rating is zero.

Defense is most commonly gained by wearing ar-

mor, or by adopting a defensive position in combat

(such as gaining cover). Some talents may also in-

crease one of the character's defense ratings.

SOAK VALUE

Soak value determines how much incoming dam-

age a character can shrug off before being seriously

wounded. A character's soak value is subtracted from

any incoming damage. Any remaining damage after

subtracting soak becomes wounds, and is applied to-

wards the character's wound threshold.

A character's default soak value is equal to his

Brawn rating. After determining this initial value, in-

creases to a character's Brawn rating increase his

soak value. Additional soak value is most often gained

by wearing armor. Some talents may also increase a

character's innate soak value, such as Enduring. Later

increases to Brawn rating also increase soak.

Step 8: Determine Motivations

n

character's Motivation helps provide flavor and dis-

tinction by helping define what makes him "tick"

and what distinguishes two PCs with the same race,

class, and skill mix. In the same way that Obligation

gives characters a series of concrete goals they need

to resolve (and provides GMs with concepts for ad-

ventures), Motivation is intended to help a player

roleplay his character by giving him some predeter-

mined character traits and goals, making the charac-

ter more fully developed and more interesting to play.

During character creation, a player may either roll

on Table 2-5: Random Motivation to determine his

character's primary Motivation, or with the GM's per-

mission, he may create his own. Once the character's

primary Motivation has been determined, the player

then rolls on the appropriate table to determine a spe-

cific Motivation. Several players may choose to have

their characters share Motivations with each other,

and develop back-stories or relationships between

the characters in the group. The GM should remind

players that while many Motivations may go hand-in-

hand with the character's Obligation, they are by no

means limited to tying the two together.

While Obligation has very concrete effects on

gameplay, Motivation is more focused on the role-

playing and narrative aspects of the game. For more

on Motivation and how it's used in play, see Chapter

IX: The Game Master

TABLE 2-5: RANDOM MOTIVATION

dlD Motivation Result

1-3 Ambition

4-6 Cause

7-9 Relationship

10 Roll once on each of any two categories

CHARACTER CREATION

EDGE OF THE EMPIRE