Star Wars: Edge of the Empire Rule Book

The type of skill check required is determined by
the CM. Once the type of check and its difficulty have
been set, the player creates a pool of dice based on
the different factors involved. This can be a combina-
tion of many types of dice, and often varies based on
the characters involved and the specific situation.
After the dice pool has been created, the player
rolls all of the dice assembled. The results on these

dice are evaluated. Some results cancel each other

out, others are cumulative. Once all evaluations

have been made, the player and CM can resolve

the skill check by determining the action's success

or failure. They use the information they obtain

from the dice results to describe the outcome of

the check as well as any additional effects, compli-

cations, or surprises.

The Basic Dice Pool

E

DGE OF THE EMPIRE utilizes a concept known as a

dice pool, which is a collection of the custom dice

needed for the game (see The Dice on page 10).

While some advanced or complex actions may re-

quire a large dice pool, the basic dice pool is quite

simple. The basic dice pool relies on three factors: the

PC's inherent ability, any specialized training, and the

difficulty of the task being attempted.

Following a look at these three factors in greater de-

tail, this section goes on to describe assembling and

resolving a basic dice pool, as well as discusses some

additional types of dice pools and checks players may

use during'a game session.

CHARACTERISTICS

In EDGE OF THE EMPIRE, a character's intrinsic abilities

are defined by six characteristics: Brawn, Agility, Intel-

lect, Cunning, Willpower, and Presence.

Brawn and Agility are a measure of the charac-

ter's physical abilities, his strength, flexibility, athletic

prowess, skill with weapons, and general toughness.

Intellect and Cunning are the character's mental abili-

ties, reflecting his knowledge, analytical skill, clever-

ness, and deductive reasoning. Willpower and Pres-

ence represent the character's personality and force

of spirit, such as his charisma, mental fortitude, and

how well he relates to and interacts with others.

A character's species determines his starting char-

acteristic ratings. However, each player has the op-

portunity to increase these default characteristics

during character creation by investing a portion of

his starting experience points. It is important to note

that after character creation, increasing characteris-

tics is a significant in-game investment—something

that may only happen a few times over the course

of an entire campaign. Players need to think care-

fully about their characteristic ratings, and

should consider investing a significant portion

of their starting experience points in improving

their characteristics (more on character creation is

covered on page 33).

Although it does make sense to focus on characteris-

tics that help the character's core skills and talents (such

as a Politico character with high Presence or a Soldier

with a high Brawn rating), the game system offers a great

deal of flexibility. Players should consider going against

the stereotypes or possibly plan ahead in anticipation

of moving into other careers over the course of a cam-

paign. For example, the player may decide that his Pilot

character is big and hulking, increasing the character's

Brawn, thinking he might eventually become a Hired

Gun or Bounty Hunter. Likewise, a Slicerwith a high Agil-

ity rating could be just as nimble with his body as he is

with computers, opening up the opportunity to perhaps

one day become a Thief or infiltration specialist.

CHARACTERISTIC RATINGS

Characteristic ratings for both PCs and NPCs gener-

ally range from one to six. Some exceptions exist, es-

pecially in powerful or unique cases—for example, a

rancor likely has a Brawn rating much higher than one

of the PCs. NPCs like Darth Vader, Yoda, Han Solo,

and other exceptional individuals from the Star Wars

universe likely have abilities well beyond the scope of

your typical starting NPC.

A typical humanoid has an average characteristic

rating of 2. A rating of 1 is weak and below average.

A characteristic rating of 3 or 4 is significantly above

average, while ratings of 5 or 6 represent exceptional

performance and ability. During character creation,

no characteristic can be higher than five. Once play

begins, PC characteristics are capped at six. Each

species has a default characteristic profile, reflecting

that species' particular strengths and weaknesses.

This profile is then augmented and improved during

creation by investing experience points.

To find the default characteristic profiles of each

playable species, see Chapter II: Character Cre-

ation. The six characteristics are defined below.

AGILITY

The Agility characteristic measures a character's man-

ual dexterity, hand-eye coordination, and body con-

PLAYING THE GAME

EDCE OF THE EMPIRE