USR Wednesdays: Star Wars Part I — Classes

Now that we’ve looked at a lot of the basics to help expand your USR games, from Specialisms to vehicles and monsters, let’s turn to settings. And if the sales charts from ICv2 are anything to consider, the most popular genre after medieval fantasy is “Star Wars.”

For Domino Writing-style USR, “Star Wars” consists of the classic trilogy (“A New Hope,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” and “Return Of The Jedi”). The prequels and sequels have new ideas to offer the “Star Wars” universe but nothing as indelible as the original films. I won’t be writing much about them, though I’m looking forward to someone providing stats for Qui-Gon Jinn and Kylo Ren.

Everyone in this picture, too. In a few weeks there will be stats for one of them. (image: sonsofcorax.wordpress.com)

In most fantasy RPGs, a character has a race and a class. Despite appearances, that’s not the case for Star Wars, where a character’s species really isn’t that significant. A Wookiee might have Strong +2 as a Specialism, but a Rodian or Ithorian doesn’t have particularly strong “racial” characteristics. Droids, on the other hand, are nothing but special abilities. Consider Multi-lingual +2 or Computer hacking +2 (Specialisms droids from the films might have).

A character’s profession is best described using an archetype, like the ones we’ve seen for modern-day characters and in USR games like Somnium Void.

Scoundrel

Primary Stat: Action

Suggested Specialisms: Pilot, Bargain, Hide, Charm

Suggested Equipment: Pistol, Huge debt

Note: “Rogue With A Heart Of Gold” isn’t really a good Specialism, since there probably aren’t many ways to apply the bonus this would provide if it was a Specialism. It’s a great description of the character’s personality, though.

Jedi

Primary Stat: Mind

Suggested Specialisms: Dedication, Leadership, Inspiration, Athletics, The Force*

Suggested Equipment: Lightsaber

Warrior

Primary Stat: Action

Suggested Specialisms: Endurance, Military Tactics, Terrain Knowledge

Suggested Equipment: Rifle

Outworlder

Primary Stat: Wits

Suggested Specialisms: Invent, Survivalist, Riding, Bargain

Suggested Equipment: Droid parts, All-weather clothing

Sage

Primary Stat: Wits

Suggested Specialisms: Knowledge, Reference Tools, Etiquette

Suggested Equipment: Computer

Diplomat

Primary Stat: Ego

Suggested Specialisms: Negotiate, Leadership, Languages

Suggested Equipment: none

Technician

Primary Stat: Wits

Suggested Specialisms: Hacking, Computers, Repair, Jury-Rig

Suggested Equipment: Repair tools

*A note on The Force: To simulate the Jedi or other Force-users at the most basic level, the player simply makes a Wits roll against a target number determined by the game master, depending on the complexity of the power. We’ll get into a more involved (but still Unbelievably Simple) version of The Force next time.

What classes need to be added to USR Star Wars?