Originally posted over at the Role Play Media Network
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Name: Galadar"Hrek"freen
Class: Soldier
Species: Chiss
Level: 1
Age: 30 Gender: M Height: 1.93 Weight: 85kg Background: Orphaned (Gather Information)
Str: 13 (+1)
Dex: 15 (+2)
Con: 14 (+2)
Int: 12 (+1)
Wis: 11 (0)
Cha: 8 (-1)
Defenses
Fort: +4
Ref: +3
Will: 0
Hit Points: 32
Speed: 6
Base Att: +1
Force Points:5
Destiny Points:0
Talents: Indomitable
Skills: Endurance, Treat Injury, Initiative, Knowledge (Tactics), Gather Information
Feats: Armor Proficiency (Light, Medium), Weapon Proficiency (Pistols, Rifles, Simple Weapons), Unstoppable Force
Notes: This is my first experiment with running a Saga character all the way up to level 20. I am not trying for an incredibly optimized build...I'm just trying for something that sounds like something I would want to play. In-game, I have no idea if I would maintain this track. I just did what made sense to me at the time. Hrek here is a Chiss Soldier. Most likely part of the remnants of the Empire in the New Republic era, though he could be around in the Legacy era easily enough. Point is, he's a soldier. He grew up on the streets and learned to always find what he needed to know (Gather Information). As Chiss go, he's not the brightest, but he's far from stupid. Not a very dynamic personality, however...very "tough as nails" and direct.
Even at the beginning of his career he's not one to mess with. Hrek refuses to give up. As well, he baffles Jedi with his resistance to their trickery.
2 Soldier 2/Extra Second Wind/BAB +2/38 hp
Hrek's resilience grows. He shows a further propensity for bouncing back from damage inflicted to him.
3 Soldier 3/Fast Surge/Spring the Trap/BAB +3/46 hp
Hrek's learning now to be an ambusher. His second winds come faster now.
4 Soldier 4/Dex 16/Wis 12/Martial Arts I/BAB +4/52 hp
Hrek's wits sharpen a bit, as do his reflexes. He learns to rely on his hands as well as his blaster.
5 Soldier 5/Tough As Nails/BAB +5/57 hp
Hrek can now catch a Second Wind three times a day, as a free action, and moves up the condition track each time he does.
6 Soldier 6/Skill Focus (Knowledge: Tactics)/Never Surrender/BAB +6/60 hp
Hrek studies tactics almost religiously, helping to compensate for his "failings" intellectually. As well, on those times in which he is brought to the brink, he gains a propensity for remaining alive and on his feet.
7 Soldier 7/Ambush Specialist/BAB +7/66 hp
Hrek is getting good at the ambush, pinpointing targets now with greater efficiency.
8 Soldier 8/Str 14/Dex 17/Point Blank Shot/BAB +8/69 hp
Hrek's reflexes continue to sharpen...he learns the "Han Solo" as well.
9 Soldier 9/Keep It Going/Fatal Hit/BAB +9/74 hp
Hrek has now learned to instantly kill an opponent if he exceeds their threshold. As well, if he whacks a prime target, he can immediately select a new one.
10 Soldier 10/Quick Draw/BAB +10/79 hp
Pretty self explanatory.
11 Soldier 11/Destructive Ambusher/BAB +11/83 hp
Now Hrek gains an extra die of damage against his prime target...who he can instantly kill if they drop to 0 hitpoints, and he can pick a new prime target instantly.
12 Soldier 12/Con 15/Int 13/Unstoppable Combatant/Assured Attack/BAB +12/90 hp
Hrek rerolls his lowest damage die. He's starting to develop some of that Chiss intelligence. He can now catch a second wind twice an encounter.
13 Officer 1/+2 Ref/+4 Will/Born Leader/BAB +13/93 hp
Hrek gets recognized for his prowess. He becomes an Officer, and shows an aptitude for real leadership.
14 Officer 2/Command Cover/Share Talent (Ambush Specialist)/BAB +14/102 hp
Hrek can now impart proper ambushing techniques...and use his men for cover.
15 Officer 3/Deployment Tactics/Bantha Herder/BAB +15/109 hp
Hrek grows more comfortable giving commands, and has learned to drive his opponents where he wants them...dangerous when he's got a squad with him.
16 Soldier 13/Con 16/Int 14/Perception/Tested In Battles/BAB +16/137 hp
Hrek lapses back into the life of the soldier. His indomitable nature is almost legendary.
17 Soldier 14/Fortifying Recovery/BAB+17/148 hp
Just more boosting to Hrek's resilience.
18 Soldier 15/Seen It All/Improved Defenses/BAB +18/154 hp
His overall defense is becoming more well rounded, and he's become much harder to rattle.
19 Soldier 16/Improved Damage Threshold/BAB +19/164 hp
Hrek's resistance to large amounts of damage is fortified, making it harder to move him down the Condition Track, which he will just bounce right back up anyway.
20 Soldier 17/Dex 18/Int 15/Grizzled Warrior/BAB +20/176 hp
At this point he's finally gained a perfectly respectable Chiss intellect, and his reflexes are to be feared. However, Hrek's reputation hinges on the fact that he will-not-stay-down. He can gain hitpoints from making attacks, boost allies damage rolls and buff his Reflex.
Final Thoughts: I see areas where he could be improved for optimization. A Skill Focus in Endurance probably wouldn't hurt...shifting him around for a higher Constitution would help out many of his feats and talents as well. I do kinda see why people say it gets wobbly around level 12. You really do start having enough options that it gets a little fidgety. I still think it's not as big a deal if you are playing from the beginning, so you develop your favorite tactics over time.
I stayed out of the Elite Trooper class because there was nothing in there I really wanted for him except Damage Resistance. I see the detour into Officer as him getting a promotion, then slipping back into Soldier as he became disillusioned with the inevitable politics.
More importantly, I really had fun with the character generation, which is one of the very few times I have been able to say that about a d20 game.
Interesting. Obviously a different take than I might take on a soldier class, but fun stuff. I'm not sure what you would 'lose' by taking Elite Trooper, but I would have thought Damage Resistance would have fit the concept you've been pushing.
However: I am consistently baffled by the weird 'attribute distortion' endemic to D&D.
You make a comment very early on that your guy is 'embarrassed' by his sub par intellect. I don't have the Chiss stats memorized but lets assume, for the sake of argument that Chiss get a +2 to INT.
At the beginning of your career 'your guy' is, therefore, AVERAGE. Now: if he were a scientist I could see him feeling inadequet with a merely average intellect. As a soldier intelligence is not exactly scoffed at but one hardly expects every gun-hand to be a 'brain'.
Now: assuming Chiss are not, in fact, 'brainy' as a race (no INT bonus): Your guy is actually a sharp cookie... straight out the gate. He's the dude who's reading Von Clauswitz on the drop shuttle inbound on the mission, the barracks lawyer, the 'nerdy guy who knows shit'.
That said: I wish I knew someone running Saga local to me, I've wanted to play ever since I got it but my players are not Star Wars fans and frankly I'm less interested in GMing it.
Quote from: Spike;340525Interesting. Obviously a different take than I might take on a soldier class, but fun stuff. I'm not sure what you would 'lose' by taking Elite Trooper, but I would have thought Damage Resistance would have fit the concept you've been pushing.
However: I am consistently baffled by the weird 'attribute distortion' endemic to D&D.
You make a comment very early on that your guy is 'embarrassed' by his sub par intellect. I don't have the Chiss stats memorized but lets assume, for the sake of argument that Chiss get a +2 to INT.
At the beginning of your career 'your guy' is, therefore, AVERAGE. Now: if he were a scientist I could see him feeling inadequet with a merely average intellect. As a soldier intelligence is not exactly scoffed at but one hardly expects every gun-hand to be a 'brain'.
Now: assuming Chiss are not, in fact, 'brainy' as a race (no INT bonus): Your guy is actually a sharp cookie... straight out the gate. He's the dude who's reading Von Clauswitz on the drop shuttle inbound on the mission, the barracks lawyer, the 'nerdy guy who knows shit'.
That said: I wish I knew someone running Saga local to me, I've wanted to play ever since I got it but my players are not Star Wars fans and frankly I'm less interested in GMing it.
Using a Thrawn as the benchmark for a Chiss, Hrek does feel a little insecure about his intellect...but you are correct, they get a +2.
My main thing with Elite Trooper is that I wasn't a fan of the Talents available to that class, having picked up most of the ones I would have wanted through Soldier already.
If I were to redo it, I could have taken some of the soldier talents I took in the later levels at the beginning so I wouldn't have been grumbling about Elite Trooper talents and gotten the Damage Resistance.
Still, fun little experiment.
One might argue that Thrawn isn't even a 'Soldier' in the class sense of the word, that he's never exactly been a 'gun-hand', a grunt, a front line infantry man (not having actually READ any of the Thrawn stuff I'm not privy to his in-detail back story... but realistically: grunts rarely, if ever, rise to star-ship fleet level admirality. That's usually reserved for naval personnel, officer/leader types at that.). Realistically you are comparing a grunt to a noble, most likely. Different demands. Its just confusing because Thrawn ALSO wears a uniform.
For some reason, I rarely bother to think of how the abilities gained at various levels translate into character growth. Im not a fan of levels and the artificial restrictions however: when I picture a two-gun slinging hard ass that's what I'm picturing. I'm not picturing some guy who's going to run around for a couple of years shooting one pistol until he's magically able to access that 'two gun' art.
Bad example maybe? Still the idea remains the same: I concieve of a 'complete character' and work around the mechanical limits as best as possible to achieve it.
One downside I've noticed with Saga that has got my hackles up: when you buy various additional books they add new talent trees to the core classes and, frequently entire new subsets of rules. For example; One 'setting' book I picked up from Half-Price books recently added the ability to have NPC minions running around to various classes.... and a complete subset of rules for it. Not liking the 'supplement train' idea. Also: 'talents' as 'minions'... or for that matter 'gear' (if it ever happens) ruins my internal sense of immersion. Delicate tightrope to walk there....
Quote from: Spike;340536One might argue that Thrawn isn't even a 'Soldier' in the class sense of the word, that he's never exactly been a 'gun-hand', a grunt, a front line infantry man (not having actually READ any of the Thrawn stuff I'm not privy to his in-detail back story... but realistically: grunts rarely, if ever, rise to star-ship fleet level admirality. That's usually reserved for naval personnel, officer/leader types at that.). Realistically you are comparing a grunt to a noble, most likely. Different demands. Its just confusing because Thrawn ALSO wears a uniform.
For some reason, I rarely bother to think of how the abilities gained at various levels translate into character growth. Im not a fan of levels and the artificial restrictions however: when I picture a two-gun slinging hard ass that's what I'm picturing. I'm not picturing some guy who's going to run around for a couple of years shooting one pistol until he's magically able to access that 'two gun' art.
Bad example maybe? Still the idea remains the same: I concieve of a 'complete character' and work around the mechanical limits as best as possible to achieve it.
One downside I've noticed with Saga that has got my hackles up: when you buy various additional books they add new talent trees to the core classes and, frequently entire new subsets of rules. For example; One 'setting' book I picked up from Half-Price books recently added the ability to have NPC minions running around to various classes.... and a complete subset of rules for it. Not liking the 'supplement train' idea. Also: 'talents' as 'minions'... or for that matter 'gear' (if it ever happens) ruins my internal sense of immersion. Delicate tightrope to walk there....
This is true, about Thrawn, and wasn't entirely what I meant...I was more referring to him as an "iconic Chiss".
The "supplement train" doesn't bother me as much because, thus far, I tend to crack open the books and go ooooooh about the stuff inside. So far.
I can't complain about "talents as minions" because in Savage Worlds they would just be an Edge, or a Quality in a Unisystem game, and so on.