Stormtrooper Theory

[Pleh]

Getting straight to the point, I was considering building a 3.5 based "Stormtrooper" NPC (without just making level X Warriors). I wanted them to have some teeth to help explain why an Evil Empire could effectively intimidate a population into submission with such ineffective footsoldiers.

I had the thought of using Samurai levels (whichever version gains Imperious Command) and building them based off of Fear and Group Tactics. The fact is that the strongest power of the Stormtrooper has always been the sheer number of them. I imagine the best tactic with a squad of 12 stormtroopers ought to be having 11 "aid another" with supporting fire and then have 1 actually take the shot with an almost fool proof bonus from all the people aiding him. Stack on top of that some fear based mechanics so they demoralize enemies when this one attack manages to drop a target and then they just keep relentlessly chasing the enemy to double down on the fear bonuses.

Assuming all official materials open (and 3pp are open to consideration), what ideas would you guys have for building something like this?

[khadgar567]

Medium sized commoner swarm is more deadly then empires freshest batch of clones unless you hit them with major luck blessing there is no way this guys past cr 1 as monster

[weckar]

Teamwork Feats.

Possibly applying the Law of Inverse Ninja Efficacy after a certain threshold.

[Fizban]

Before you can design troops, you need to assign levels.

[Tohsaka Rin]

Getting straight to the point, I was considering building a 3.5 based "Stormtrooper" NPC (without just making level X Warriors). I wanted them to have some teeth to help explain why an Evil Empire could effectively intimidate a population into submission with such ineffective footsoldiers.

Ineffective by what standards? In ANH they let the heroes get away. They otherwise amass a decent bodycount through the original trilogy.

If you want to give them teeth, well, let's look back at what the Star Wars RPG books gave them for equipment... *Pulls out SAGA Edition Handbook.* +6 defense, +2 fort, max dex +3, light armor. Arguably the best suit of armor in the entire edition, with bells and whistles like low-light vision, and built-in comlinks. And a bog-standard blaster rifle, one of the better, non-exotic weapons in the game.

Honestly, the stormtroopers only look bad when they're shooting at people named Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie (and the droids), otherwise, they wear +2 mythril breastplates, with an at-will sending spell added. That alone is a pretty rough deal for any would-be rebel to get through, without a few PC levels under their belt. Give them Bastard swords with a wand chamber holding a wand of searing light 6th level, and you've got a pretty accurate conversion of what kind of sheer hell it was for anyone to go up against stormtroopers.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by Tohsaka Rin
They otherwise amass a decent bodycount through the original trilogy.

This is a good point, and it’s worth remembering that a column of clone troopers decimated the Jedi Temple. Granted, almost all of the top-ranked Jedi were away on the front lines, and the clone troopers were led by the freshly-minted Darth Vader, but even so the troopers weren’t ineffective.


Originally Posted by Tohsaka Rin
…and you've got a pretty accurate conversion of what kind of sheer hell it was for anyone to go up against stormtroopers.

As much as I dislike Rogue One, I think it does an excellent job of illustrating this point, both in the occupation of Jedda and during the ground battle on Scarif. Even Rebel commandos were overwhelmed; ordinary citizens would be terrorized.

[Telonius]

You might want to check out Legion Devils from Fiendish Codex 2. They have bonuses based on how many of them there are. Some of the numbers get stupidly powerful pretty quickly; but they could be a good basis for homebrew.

[SwitcherOccifer]

Teamwork Feats.

Possibly applying the Law of Inverse Ninja Efficacy after a certain threshold.

Inverse ninja? You mean the Law of Zombie. The Inverse of which would be the Law of Ninja. Lol.

You tickled my geek.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Inverse ninja? You mean the Law of Zombie. The Inverse of which would be the Law of Ninja. Lol.

You tickled my geek.

I think ninja's are a better example. Zombies are always cannon fodder. And don't take my word on it, ask the doctor (http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/8p18/). (No, not that one.)

(Briefer description on a nicer looking page, but more spoilery if you still want to read Dr Mcninja here (http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/17p70/).)

[Dagroth]

I think ninja's are a better example. Zombies are always cannon fodder. And don't take my word on it, ask the doctor (http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/8p18/). (No, not that one.)

(Briefer description on a nicer looking page, but more spoilery if you still want to read Dr Mcninja here (http://drmcninja.com/archives/comic/17p70/).)

No, the Law of Zombies is "One Zombie is a joke... a horde of Zombies is an Apocalypse."

Thus, the Law of Zombies is the inverse of the Law of Conservation of Ninjitsu (There is only so much Ninja Skill in any given area... so when there are many Ninja, they each only have a little skill. But when there is only one Ninja, he has all the skill.)

[ben-zayb]

You might want to check out Legion Devils from Fiendish Codex 2. They have bonuses based on how many of them there are. Some of the numbers get stupidly powerful pretty quickly; but they could be a good basis for homebrew.
Maybe have the stacking modifier to attack rolls go from +4 to -4 against PCs?

[Bronk]

Ineffective by what standards? In ANH they let the heroes get away. They otherwise amass a decent bodycount through the original trilogy.

If you want to give them teeth, well, let's look back at what the Star Wars RPG books gave them for equipment... *Pulls out SAGA Edition Handbook.* +6 defense, +2 fort, max dex +3, light armor. Arguably the best suit of armor in the entire edition, with bells and whistles like low-light vision, and built-in comlinks. And a bog-standard blaster rifle, one of the better, non-exotic weapons in the game.

Honestly, the stormtroopers only look bad when they're shooting at people named Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie (and the droids), otherwise, they wear +2 mythril breastplates, with an at-will sending spell added. That alone is a pretty rough deal for any would-be rebel to get through, without a few PC levels under their belt. Give them Bastard swords with a wand chamber holding a wand of searing light 6th level, and you've got a pretty accurate conversion of what kind of sheer hell it was for anyone to go up against stormtroopers.

I like it... sort of like toned down ethergaunts.