Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Rule Book

This option has several benefits that may make it
appealing to groups. Primarily it allows PCs to benefit
from having high Presence or Willpower, instead of just
Vigilance or Cool. It also gives the initiative order a wider
"spread" of results, and does not guarantee that the
character with the highest skill rating goes first, or the
character with the lowest skill rating goes last. However,
there are several limitations with this rule that should
be considered. First and foremost, this system "locks"
players into the results of one check at the beginning of
the session. If they generate mediocre results, they have
to deal with this for the entirety of the session, and this
could generate frustration.

Another issue to remember is that neither of these

alternative initiative rules allow GMs to add environ-

mental bonuses to initiative checks, and some player

character abilities (such as the • bonus for the Height-

ened Awareness talent, for example) might not be able

to be used when determining the initiative order.

ONE-CHECK COMBAT

RESOLUTION

The following rule is intended to help GMs resolve

ongoing combat encounters more quickly. When the

results of a combat encounter are a foregone conclu-

sion but playing through the remaining turns would

take additional time that could be better spent con-

tinuing the story, the GM can employ this rule.

At the beginning of the round the GM wants combat

to end, he asks each PC to make one final check. The

nature of this check depends on what each player

wants their character to do to help resolve the re-

mainder of the encounter.

Once each player makes their choice, they roll the

check as normal. Success means they accomplish their

part in the resolution of the encounter; additional &

may mean they play an even greater role. O can be

spent to recover strain, while ($) means the member

gains an unexpected reward from the encounter; may-

be a bag of frag grenades or pouch of credits from an

EXAMPLE ENCOUNTER RESOLUTION:

Pash, Oskara, 41-VEX, and Lowhhrick are fight-

ing a street gang. The fight has not been going

well for the gangers; of the eight original mem-

bers, only three are left. The GM decides the

results of the encounter are foregone and would

like to move things along. Each character must

select one skill check to determine how they

bring the encounter to a close.

Pash selects Pilot (Planetary) as his choice, saying

he rams the group's speeder into the pile of crates

the gangers are hiding behind to drive them out of

cover. Lowhhrick and Oskara both select Ranged

(Heavy), choosing to mow down the suddenly ex-

posed gangers. Finally, 41-VEX selects Comput-

ers, slicing into local law enforcement databases

and directing the authorities to a different loca-

tion while the band makes their escape.

adversary, or a reputation as an extremely dangerous

individual. Conversely, uncanceled T should result in

the character suffering an equal number of wounds,

while <§) inflicts strain and each Inflicts a critical hit.

These are the injuries acquired as the encounter ends.

The encounter resolves successfully no matter how

well the PCs do on their check; the checks simply de-

termine whether or not the PCs resolve the remainder

of the encounter without incident, or if they pick up

some cuts and bruises on the way.

The primary benefit of this rule is that it can resolve

encounters where the outcome is foregone. Forcing

players to eliminate every adversary can sometimes be

tedious, and this helps avoid that sense of frustration.

On the other hand, the GM should be careful to only

use this when the outcome is certain and never when

there's a chance of PC failure. Also, he should avoid

using it during especially momentous combats, such as

those against particularly noteworthy adversaries.