more likely to fail than succeed on all but the simplest
combat checks. GMs should only do this if they wish to
pit their characters against an easy combat challenge.
The more typical way to use minions involves deploying
them in groups, as described later in this section.
MINION RULESMinions have several unique rules that reflect their
status as disposable adversaries.
- Unless otherwise specified, minions do not suf-
fer strain. Anything that inflicts strain on a minion
inflicts wounds instead. They also cannot voluntarily
suffer strain. This means that when a minion is taken
out of combat due to exceeding his wound thresh-
old, it is up to the GM whether he was incapacitated
or killed, depending on the circumstances. - Minions do not possess ranks in skills. One
thing that makes minions significantly weaker than
Player Characters is their lack of ranks in skills. They
can compensate for this by operating as a group. A
minion's profile lists several skills in which they can
gain ranks when acting in a group. - Minions can fight as a group. As noted previ-
ously, the GM does not have to deploy minions
in groups. However, deploying them in a group
has several advantages. It simplifies combats and
makes minions more dangerous while allowing GMs
to include large numbers of adversaries. Minions
are only deployed in groups of the same type. The
minion group has a single wound threshold, shared
by all members of the group. This wound thresh-
old is equal to the sum of the wound threshold of
every member of the group. (For example, a group
of 3 stormtroopers—each with a wound threshold
of 5—has a wound threshold of 15.) Each time any
member of the group suffers wounds, the wounds
are applied to the group's wound threshold. Indi-
vidual members of the group are defeated one at a
time, each time the total wounds suffered exceeds
that group member's share of the wound threshold.
For example, when the stormtrooper group passes
5 wounds, one stormtrooper is defeated. When
characters attack a group, they attack the group as
a whole, not an individual. Likewise, minions make
one attack per group, not per individual. Working as
a group allows minions to use skills. A minion group
gains one skill rank for each member of the group
beyond the first, if that skill is on the minion's list.
So, a group of four stormtroopers would count as
having three ranks (for the three troopers after the
first) in any checks the group is called on to make. - Minions are killed by Critical Injuries. If a minion
suffers a Critical Injury, it is immediately incapaci-
tated. If a group of minions suffers a Critical Injury, it
suffers one minion's worth of wounds (so that one of
the minions in the group is incapacitated).
RIVALS
Rivals are more dangerous than minions but still infe-
rior to most Player Characters. Rivals are very similar
to Player Characters in many respects, being general-
ly more innately gifted and well trained than minions.
They possess skills and operate individually rather
than in groups. They are generally less skilled than
the PCs, however, seldom possessing more than two
ranks in any one skill.RIVALS RULESRivals follow most of the same rules as Player Charac-
ters do, except as noted here.- Rivals suffer Critical Injuries normally. Howev-
er, when a rival exceeds his wound threshold, he
can be killed outright (instead of incapacitated) at
the GM's discretion. - Rivals cannot suffer strain. When a rival would
suffer strain, he suffers an equivalent number of
wounds instead. He can, however, use abilities or
invoke effects that would cause him to suffer strain;
this simply causes him to suffer wounds instead.
Remember, because he does not suffer strain, he
cannot recover it either. Like minions, if a rival is in-
capacitated, the GM can decree if he was killed or
rendered unconscious based on the circumstances.
GMs can decide to track strain on certain rivals,
even though this is not the norm. This does cre-
ate extra bookkeeping for the GM but also allows
some additional granularity for rivals that might
prove important to the plot. In essence, this allows
the GM to create Nemesis class characters with
weaker than average statistics.
NEMESES
The nemesis is the opposite of the Player Character.
They are identical to them in virtually every respect
and may in fact be more powerful; this is necessary
to ensure that they are able to pose a threat to an
entire party. Nemeses frequently possess a number
of talents, high characteristics, and skills, and their
equipment can often rival that of even the most well
supplied parties. Nemeses suffer strain and wounds
normally and do not have any special rules govern-
ing their operations.ADVERSARIES
'EDGE OF THE EMPIRE