Tips and Tactics

The Skill's The Thing

By Owen K.C. Stephens

The Star Wars Roleplaying Game is easy to learn, but it can be difficult
to master. With that in mind, we proudly present "Tips and Tactics," a
monthly online column designed to help you get the most out of your Star
Wars roleplaying! Each month, Owen K.C. Stephens (author of Starships
of the Galaxy and co-author of the Rebellion Era Sourcebook andAlien
Anthology) will show you how to use various rules together, suggest new
ways to use old rules, and clarify complex rules.

In the fifth installment, Owen shows players what to think about when
deciding what skills to buy, how to get their skill checks as high as
desired, and how to make their skills as effective as possible.

More than many role-playing games, characters in the Star Wars Roleplaying Gamemust depend on their
skills. Not only is Computer Use almost mandatory to function in society, but someone has to be able to
make Pilot checks to fly the heroes' ship, Astrogation checks to plot where it's going, and Bluff or
Diplomacy checks to talk through the blockade of Trade Federation ships (or Star Destroyers, or CSA
Marauders, or New Republic assault cruisers -- there's always someone with more ships than you can
fight your way through at least once in a while).

Many fights are won or lost based on who made the best Spot check or avoided because of a great Hide
skill, and many games assume someone can make a decent Gather Information, Sense Motive, or
Survival check. And things are even more complex for Force users, who want to do all that and buy up
Force skills. In fact, needing skill points for Force abilities is one of the reasons Jedi often need other
characters around -- to be good at everything else.

So what should a player look at and think about when deciding what skills to buy, how to get skill
checks as high as desired, and how to make skills effective?

Natural Ability
If you find that you want your character to be good at a lot of skills with the same ability, make sure
that ability is among your highest. Mostly, this works with the ability tendencies of your character class
(nobles with high Charisma are good at most of the skills a typical noble wants), but sometimes your
character concept is a little different (if your scout is an Aldara University scholar, Intelligence may be
more important to you than Dexterity).

Stay Focused
Even if you're playing a scoundrel with a high Intelligence, you can't be good at everything. As a general
rule, you can max out a number of skills equal to the skill points you get at each level (class skill points
plus Int modifier plus one for Humans). In general, I find that most players want to buy just a few ranks
of other skills as well, so you may want to assign one or two points per level to buy "other" skills. The
remaining skill points are assigned to max out the skills you want to be really good at.

Many players end up wanting more skills than they can afford to maximize. A natural response is to
spread out your points as you gain levels, but I recommend against that. It's much more fun to be really
good at just two things than to be fairly poor at eight. You can always buy a single rank of a skill that
can't be used untrained (such as Knowledge skills) just so you can make a roll. You can also use Skill
Emphasis and other skill-enhancing feats (Acrobatic, Alertness, Animal Affinity, Athletic, Cautious, Gear
Head, Persuasive, Sharp-Eyed, Spacer, and Trustworthy) to improve skills you don't have the points to
buy up.

Beyond that, just pick a few skills and stick with them. Talk to other players to see what skills they're
specializing in. Not only does the group do better with a broader set of skills among its players, but it's
more fun to be good at things that other characters aren't.

Stay Equipped
For many skills, gear can help with the check. Electrobinoculars make long-range Spot checks easier, a
scanner pack aids Listen, Search, and Spot checks, and a security kit helps with Disable Device rolls. In
many cases, a skill is easier to use under the right circumstances - for example, the DC for climbing a
rope is lower than that for climbing a sheer cliff. If no appropriate equipment exists to aid a skill you
want a better check with, ask your GM if he can make some. It's not unreasonable in the age of droids,
holoprojectors, and datapads for something to be around that costs 1,000 credits, weighs 1 kg, and
adds +2 to nearly any one non-Force skill. Your GM may not want to introduce such things into his
game, but it can't hurt to ask.

Take 10
Taking 10 (determining the result of an action as if you had rolled a 10) may be the most underused
rule in all of the Star Wars RPG. If your character isn't rushed, not under fire, and not currently
threatened, he can usually take 10. This is how most non-heroic characters accomplish most of their
daily tasks. Speeder technicians don't roll for every item that needs to be fixed on a swoop. Taking 10
represents doing a careful, average job. It's also a good way to prevent the frustration of missing a DC
15 check with your +13 skill because you rolled a 1. The only time you shouldn't take 10 when that
option is available is when you don't think the result will meet the DC of your task. In other words, if
you need to leap farther than taking 10 will allow, you'd better actually roll that Jump check and hope
you do well.

Take 20
When you have lots of time, you're not under any threat, and there is no penalty for failure, you can
take 20 on a skill - calculate the result as if you'd rolled a 20. Clearly, you can't take 20 when climbing,
disabling a trap, or hiding, because, in each case, something bad happens if you fail (you fall, you blow
up, or you're discovered). As a rule of thumb, if you'd be allowed simply to make another skill check if
you missed the first one, you can take 20. While taking 20 depends a great deal on the circumstance,
you can almost always take 20 for Appraise, Computer Use, Disguise, Escape Artist, Forgery, Repair,
and Search checks if you have the time -- although the GM is always the final arbiter of when you can
take 20.