Talya
2007-12-22, 01:14 PM
I love the whole style of Star Wars Saga Edition rules, first of all. There is so much there that works so nicely. And I could talk forever about what I like. That's not the point of this thread.
Here's my issue, and I can't think of an easy set of house-rules to solve it.
Many times, skill use (particularly Use the Force) is rolled directly opposed to a defense score, or an attack roll.
The progression of these abilities is not even, however. For example, Use The Force typically starts off as somewhere between +7 and +14 at level 1 (depending on charisma score and whether they took skill focus). At the high end, this is rather unbalanced, actually. A +14 to mind trick vs. an average will defense of 11 or an attack bonus of +3 is pretty bad. Skill Focus should probably have a level requirement. But it doesn't stay in the favor of the skill...not at all. Midway up the line, it balances again, as skills only increase at 1/2 your level, while your defenses and attack bonus increase at your full level (or at 3/4 level, for some classes attack bonus.) By level 20, you've got attack bonuses that are significantly higher than your maximum skill bonus, and defenses that are unreachable. (Try to hit a defense score of 45 with a skill bonus of +24, for example.)
It infuriates me, but I can't find an easy way to balance it out. I'm experimenting with the idea of "Skill Focus" giving a bonus of 1/2 your heroic level (rounded up) right now, I'm not sure how it will work. It's a difference of -4 at level 1, and +5 at level 20, so it might be what I need.
Here's my issue, and I can't think of an easy set of house-rules to solve it.
Many times, skill use (particularly Use the Force) is rolled directly opposed to a defense score, or an attack roll.
The progression of these abilities is not even, however. For example, Use The Force typically starts off as somewhere between +7 and +14 at level 1 (depending on charisma score and whether they took skill focus). At the high end, this is rather unbalanced, actually. A +14 to mind trick vs. an average will defense of 11 or an attack bonus of +3 is pretty bad. Skill Focus should probably have a level requirement. But it doesn't stay in the favor of the skill...not at all. Midway up the line, it balances again, as skills only increase at 1/2 your level, while your defenses and attack bonus increase at your full level (or at 3/4 level, for some classes attack bonus.) By level 20, you've got attack bonuses that are significantly higher than your maximum skill bonus, and defenses that are unreachable. (Try to hit a defense score of 45 with a skill bonus of +24, for example.)
It infuriates me, but I can't find an easy way to balance it out. I'm experimenting with the idea of "Skill Focus" giving a bonus of 1/2 your heroic level (rounded up) right now, I'm not sure how it will work. It's a difference of -4 at level 1, and +5 at level 20, so it might be what I need.