Star Wars – Hunting Darkness

The Alliance to Restore the Republic has won a major victory with the
destruction of the Second Death Star at Endor. The Imperial Forces
are in full retreat, bereft of their highest leadership with the death
of the Emperor and the destruction of the Super Star Destroyer
Executor. Warlords are rising from the Imperial ranks as the nascent
New Republic begins hunting them down.

A small task force of New Republic troops have been dispatched to the
Outer Rim, chasing down a former Imperial Admiral, Kreis Meris, known
for the Massacre of jubeis, where a planetary bombardment killed
thousands of people as he sought to eradicate an Alliance cell. Meris’s
forces, though not numerous, are well known for being merciless and
unforgiving.

New Republic High Command has sent your task force to the Outer Rim
to seek out Meris and bring him to Coruscant to stand trial for his
war crimes. But the Outer Rim is still a savage place in many systems,
and there is talk of an Imperial Remnant that may be hiding there that
Meris may have joined up with…

introduction
In this game, you will take the role of a Rebel Alliance/New Republic operative sent to apprehend the
Imperial former Admiral, now Warlord, Kreis Meris. He is known to be in command of an Imperial
Star Destroyer II, named the Adjudicator. Meris is known to be a ruthless Imperial Office who had
gotten the attention of Darth Vader in the days leading up to the Battle of Endor, and was preparing
to be attached to his task force in rooting out factions of the Rebel Alliance.

Your have tracked him down to the Irinoa System, and a New Republic Task Force has been
deployed. You arrive in the system in time to see the Adjudicator complete a planetary bombardment
on the fourth planet of that system, ostensibly in reaction to Irinoa’s support for the burgeoning New
Republic.

How it All Works: Dice and Pips

There is a concept that needs to be understood when it comes to Star Wars d6, and that is the
concepts of Pips and Dice.

Every Die used in character creation is technically composed of three Pips, which are simple +1’s.. A
die score may be the raw die (e.g 2D), the die plus one (2D+1), or the die plus two (2D+2). Once it
would increase to a +3, your die instead increases by one step (2D+3 is actually 3D). So, you can think
of each Die as composed of three Pips (each Pip is +1). So, when you are building your character, you
can break one of your discretionary Dice into its component Pips and apply them instead of a whole
die code.

In some ways, a static bonus in the form of Pips is more reliable. The minimum roll on 2D+2 is a 4,
where the minimum roll on 3D is only 3. But the difference lies in what you are fully capable of. The
maximum roll you can get on 2D+2 is a 14, but it is 18 on 3D.

It is worth noting that when you spend a Force Point, you double all your dice pools, This includes
the pips. It does not add dice to your pool. So, if you spend a Force Point when rolling 2D+2, it
becomes 4D+4. This is the one and only exception to the Pips rule because it is a momentary situation.
As well, when you use a Force point, your 6s “explode.” This means that if you spend a Force point
and get a 6 on one of your dice, you count it, and reroll, adding that further roll to your total. If you
do roll another 6, it explodes as well, and so on.

Character Creation
Making a character for this game is fairly simple and straightforward. There are some differences in
how the game is played, but overall, not in how characters are made.
Just as with any character in Star Wars d6, you have 18D to spend on your six Attributes: Dexterity,
Knowledge, Mechanical, Perception, Strength, and Technical. The default race for all characters is
human unless otherwise chosen and approved by the Game Master. Humans may have the following
ranges of scores in their Attributes:

Human
Attribute Minimum Maximum
Dexterity 2D 4D
Knowledge 2D 4D
Mechanical 2D 4D
Perception 2D 4D
Strength 2D 4D
Technical 2D 4D

Other alien races have different minimums and maximums, as shown in their listing. Any race you
choose must be approved by the GM.

Once you have these set, they are the default for all skills under that Attribute, regardless of if you
spend your discretionary points on them or not.

You may then spend 12D on your skills, increasing some to show your areas of expertise. It is worth
noting that, at this point, no skill may be higher than 6D+2. And remember, each discretionary skill
die can be broken into it’s three component pips, with each pip equaling a +1 to any skill.
Force Attributes
There are three Force Attributes. In order to spend dice on the, you must select to be Force Sensitive.
Doing so means that every action you commit to is viable to the temptation of the Dark Side, meaning
that you must be careful on what you do and how you do things, or you could accumulate Dark Side
points and possible Fall to the Dark Side. Otherwise, the only way a non-Force Sensitive character can
accumulate Dark Side points is by spending a Force Point in a way that benefits the Dark Side.
In order to have access to a Force Abilty (Control, Sense, or Alter), you must spend at least one of
your Attribute dice to activate it at character creation. If you do not spend any Attribute Dice on a
Force Attribute, you do not have access to any of the abilities that require that Force Attribute.

Skill points may then be spent to increase Force Abilities, but they are capped at a maximum of 5D
instead, showing that there is a lack of teachers and instruction in the Force. The Light of the Jedi has
just been rekindled in the Galaxy.

Move
This is the number of meters your character can move on their turn. This is a range. The smaller
number is your normal Move, and the large number is your Hustle. You can Move on your turn and
still make an action without penalty, but if you Hustle on your turn, your Dice Pools are cut in half,
showing that you are dividing your attention between moving faster and doing something else.

You cannot improve your Move score through spending Skill Dice in any way.

Force Sensitivity
You may choose if your character is sensitive to the Force or not. Doing so allows you to spend
Attribute Dice to learn Force Attributes and Skill Dice to improve them, as well as gaining you an
extra Force Point at character generation. However, doing so makes you constantly vulnerable to the
temptations of the Dark Side of the Force, even if you are not a Jedi.

Force Points
The Force permeates all things. All characters have a Force Point, and Force Sensitive characters start
with two Force Points. As noted above, you may use a Force Point to double all of your Dice Pools;
this is known as Trusting the Force.

If you use a Force Point, it is spent forever. If you use a Force Point in a way that uses the Dark Side
(i.e. selfishly, or in a way that calls on the Dark Side of the Force), you regain that Force Point
immediately AND you gain a Dark Side Point. If you use a Force Point in a Heroic Manner, you
immediately regain the Force Point. If you use a Force Point in a Heroic Manner at a Dramatically
Appropriate Time (i.e. making the shot that blows up the Death Star), you not only immediate regain
the spent Force Point, but you also gain another Force Point as well. At the GM’s discretion, spending
a Force Point in this way may instead immediately remove one Dark Side point instead of gaining an
additional Force Point.

Dark Side Points

Everyone starts with this at 0. These may be accumulated through play, usually through the
expenditure of Force Points in a way that benefits the Dark Side, but any Force Sensitive character
runs the risk of accumulating Dark Side points with EVERY action they take, depending on what
they do and why they do it.

Every time you accrue a Dark Side point, the GM will have you roll 1D. If the roll is equal to or less
than the number of Dark Side points you have, you have Fallen to the Dark Side, and your character
becomes an NPC. Falling to the Dark Side is more than just giving in to using the Dark Side; it is
succumbing to the call of the Dark Side and embracing it fully. Be careful!

Dark Side Points MAY be used just like Force Points, to the same effect, but the MUST be used to do
something that would be of the Dark Side, and doing so automatically accrues you another Dark Side
point, immediately requiring a Dark Side Check as usual.

Characters can attempt to Atone and remove a single Dark Side point, but doing so is not easy. At the
very least, the character must not use a Dark Side point to increase their dice pool, or use a Force
Point in such a way that it would be Of the Dark Side, regardless of the circumstances. In addition, all
of their actions will be scrutinized, and they must be an exemplar of the Light Side for a period of
time determined by the Game Master. At the end of this time, if they are successful, one Dark Side
point is removed from their total.

Equipment
Characters will start with appropriate equipment, subject to the GM’s approval, at character creation,
as well as having a small amount of Credits. These Credits show the liquid funds the character has at
that given time. This means that a pilot character may start with a small craft of their own, depending
on their concept, whereas a young Jedi character may not have more than their robes, lightsaber, and
a few things.

Advantages and Disadvantages

We will not be using the Advantages and Disadvantages system. You may have such things as a
character defining trait, but will receive no additional dice to spend, nor will you receive a special
bonus for an advantage in this manner.

Actions
Every character in Star Wars can take a Movement and an Action on their turn. This allows them to
make a normal Move (up to a number of meters equal to the Move score to the left of the slash), and
also take an Action (shoot a blaster, use a Force power, throw a grenade, kick a Jawa, etc.) without
any penalties. They may make multiple actions, but doing so causes them to suffer a cumulative -1D
for each successive action they take. So, if a character Moves, then wants to shoot their blaster twice,
suffer a -1D penalty when making a second shot. If at any time this would take a dice pool below 1D,
they cannot take any further actions that turn.
On a round that a character has used a defensive skill such as Dodge or Melee Parry, they make their
defensive roll at the full dice pool, but further actions, both defensive and on their next turn, are
subject to this division. So, if you are forced to Dodge in response to a Stormtrooper’s attack
(normally a 4D for you and you get the full 4D on this Dodge attempt), and then you have to Dodge
again before your next turn, your second Dodge is done so at 3D. Then, on your turn, any other
action you take has its dice pool suffer further penalties starting at -2D, If this takes it below 1D, you
cannot take that action on that turn.

Dealing Damage
This is a simple mechanic where you roll the damage dice, and your target rolls its Strength (plus any
armor they may have that applies). The more the Damage Roll succeeds versus the target’s Strength
Roll, the more damage is done, as shown on the following table:

Damage Roll ≥ Strength Roll By: Target is:

1–3 Stunned (-1D for this round and next).
4–8 Wounded (Falls Prone and can take no actions
the rest of the round; -1D until healed);
characters may be Wounded twice.
9 – 12 Incapacitated (Falls Prone and is knocked out for
10D minutes. Can do nothing. An Incapacitated
character who is Wounded or Incapacitated again
becomes Mortally Wounded).
13 – 15 Mortally Wounded (Falls Prone and is
unconscious. Cannot do anything until healed.
At the end of each round, roll 2D. If it is less
than the number of rounds that the character
has been Mortally Wounded, the character dies. A
Mortally Wounded character who is Incapacitated
or Mortally Wounded again is Killed).
16+ Killed. Your character is dead.

Healing Damage
Character heal in three possible ways in the game.

Natural Healing – This is slower and riskier than Bacta Healing. The character must rest for an amount
of time, and then may make a Strength roll, comparing the result on the following charts:

Strength
Roll Wounded Result Wounded x2 Result
2–4 Worsen to Wounded x2 Worsens to Incapacitated
5–6 Remains Wounded Remains Wounded x2
7+ Fully Healed Improves to Wounded
 Strength
Roll Incapacitated Result Mortally Wounded Result
2–6 Worsens to Mortally Wounded Dies
7-8 Remains Incapacitated Remains Mortally Wounded
9+ Improves to Woundedx2 Improves to Incapacitated

Medpac Healing – This is the use of a standard Medpac in conjunction with the First Aid skill. Each
Medpac may be used once before it is fully expended. A Medpac may be used on a character only one
time per day. No more Medpacs can be used on him or her for 24 hours. If the issue is forced, each
successful use of a Medpac increases the difficulty of the First Aid roll by one level per each
additional use within that 24 hour period.

Degree of Injury Difficulty

Stunned, Unconscious Very Easy (1 – 5)
Wounded, Wounded x2 Easy (6 – 10)
Incapacitated Moderate (11 – 15)
Mortally Wounded Difficult (16 – 20)

Bacta Tank Healing – This is the use of Bacta Tanks and Bacta Packs in conjunction with the Medicine
skill. This takes a longer period of time, measure in hours and days instead of rounds or minutes,
such as with a Medpac. Using a Bacta Tank, regardless of the level or damage the character has, is
Very Easy action, with a difficulty of only 4 or 5 (GM’s Discretion). A successful roll allows for
healing of the injured party. If a character who has not spent any Character or Experience points
attempts to use a Bacta Tank, it is instead a Heroic difficulty roll, with a difficulty of 30. Failure on
this roll worsens the character by two levels.

Character Is: Treatment Time:

Wounded 1D Hours
Wounded x2 3D Hours
Incapacitated 1D Days
Mortally Wounded 3D Days

A Note on Cybernetics
Characters may be given cybernetic enhancements, but such things are seen in a negative light
socially. Even among highly decorated heroes such as Luke Skywalker, they are generally seen as
negative. As well, any character with cybernetics finds it a measure more tempting to fall to the Dark
Side, as more and more of their “humanity” (not to scorn alien races) is given away. This is a
roleplaying factor and should be played as such. Look at Darth Vader, or how Luke recognized what
his hand meant in Return of the Jedi as he was attacking his father on the Death Star II. That is not to
say that cybernetic are the path to the Dark Side; however, the loss of the organic can lead to this as
more and more of what makes a person is given away to the cold and mechanical.