StarWars for 5ed

STAR WARS FOR 5ED

These conversion notes don’t cover everything. I am try to keep things simple and straight forward. Many of the items and themes started with the Star Wars Saga system but then morphed into using 5th ed. Dungeons and Dragons as the ‘basic’ rules, with Saga ideas supported in this new system.

BASIC HOUSERULES FOR 5ed

Character Class Notes: In the Star Wars game for 5th D&D characters are called Heroic Characters. This distinction comes into effect when creating minor NPC (minions) and creatures. There are five Heroic Character Classes for this game – Jedi, Leader, Scoundrel, Scout and Soldier. Your character level is your overall level (if multi-classing). You gain your proficiency bonus base on your overall level. You also gain a feat at first level and an additional feat every two overall levels after that (3, 5, etc.) and an Attribute boost starting and 4th level and every two levels after that (8, 12, etc.). With this attribute boost you can add +1 to two different attributes or +2 to on attribute up to your maximum. These bonuses are dependent on your total Character level (see below).

Your Heroic Class Level bonuses are the bonuses you can only gain at that Heroic Character class level (if you multi-class). Note you gain two core Talents at first level character class. If you multi-class into a class after first you gain only one class talent. After 1st level characters gain one additional talent every odd level of Heroic class they take (3, 5, etc.) and a Bonus Class Feat every even level of Heroic class they take (2, 4, etc.).

CLASS LEVEL	PROFIENCY BONUS	CLASS LEVEL BONUS	HEROIC LEVEL BONUS'
1	+2	Strating Feat	Starting Talent(s)
2	+2	--	Bonus Feat
3	+2	Feat	Talent
4	+2	Attribute Bonus	Bonus Feat
5	+3	Feat	Talent
6	+3	--	Bonus Feat
7	+3	Feat	Talent
8	+3	Attribute Bonus	Bonus Feat
9	+4	Feat	Talent
10	+4	--	Bonus Feat
11	+4	Feat	Talent
12	+4	Attribute Bonus	Bonus Feat
13	+5	Feat	Talent
14	+5	--	Bonus Feat
15	+5	Feat	Talent
16	+5	Attribute Bonus	Bonus Feat
17	+6	Feat	Talent
18	+6	--	Bonus Feat
19	+6	Feat	Talent
20	+6	Attribute Bonus	Bonus Feat

Destiny Points: 5 + ½ your Heroic Level (round down). These points function similarity as Hero Points from the Optional Rules in the DMG (pg. 264). They can be used to affect any 1d20 roll, but you can only spend a Destiny Point in a round. Destiny Points add 1d4+1 to any 1d20 roll (attack roll, saving throw, etc.) and can also be used to activate certain Talents. They can be spent after you have roll the d20 but before the GM informs you if the result was a success or not. Unspent Destiny Points are lost when you raise a level (and gain this levels points). Certain Talents and Feats and grant you additional Destiny Points, high dice to add to your d20 and addition, non-dice usages.

Other Uses for Destiny Points (Force Sensetive Only): Force Users can spend Destiny Points to temporarily gain the use of a Force Power or Talent. For sake of ease, it costs 1 Destiny Point to temporarily gain the use of a Minor Force Power for its base duration, 2 Destiny Points for a 1st Power level Force Power. If the creature can use higher Power Levels each additional level of power costs +1 additional Destiny Points. The power last for the base duration or 1 minute (10 rounds) maximum. A generic Force Talent cost a base of 3 Destiny Points and last their base duration or up to 1 minute maximum.

Armor Class and Armor: In Star Wars few people wear armor. When not wearing Armor a Heroic Character has a base AC of 10 base +2 insight +its proficiency bonus + either its Dexterity or Intelligence modifier (whichever is better). When wearing armor a creature gains the Armor Class Rating (ACR) of the armor plus either of its’ Dexterity or Intelligence modifier.

Skills: All of the skills from the PHB are being used although some have been renamed and updated. PLEASE NOTE not using Tool or Vehicle proficiencies which have been replaced by new Skills. Feats: are not as powerful in this setting but you gain them far more often. See Feats. Talents: are more powerful than feats and act something like class traits and abilities from the PHB. Weapon and Armor Proficiency: for Star Wars these include – Simple Weapons, Martial Weapons (as normal from the PHB but new types, see Gear), Pistols, Rifles, Heavy Weapons, Advanced Melee Weapons. Exotic Weapons require a Weapons Proficiency feat for each to gain the proficiency bonus. Light, Medium and Heavy armor. Basic equipment from PHB (cost GP = credits at 1:1. Primitive armor provides no ACR vs. any weapon listed here. All other properties as listed there).

Bonuses and Advantages/Disadvantages: Along with standard Advantages and Disadvantages, there are also Bonuses that add directly to the target’s checks. Note that the same type of bonus can’ not stack but different types can. Types: Dark Side, Equipment, Force, Insight, Luck, Moral and Rage.

Granting Advantage: in order to grant action for a non-attack INT or WIS skill check, the individual wishing to ‘aid another’ must also be proficient with the skill.

Force Powers and Talents: Force Powers work something like Warlock spells casting and recovery. The character gains so much Force Energy and a maximum Power level. To use a Force power you must expend a point of Force Energy. You regain all expended Force Energy when you finish a short or long rest. See the Force, Jedi class, and Force Sensitive feat for more details.

Damage Threshold: whenever you take damage that meets or excess of your threshold you suffer the Reeling Condition. Your Damage Threshold is equal to 15 + your Proficiency Bonus + Strength or Constitution ability modifier (whichever is better). Size also has an effect. Large sized beings gain +2, Huge +5, Gargantuan +10 and Colossal +20. Vehicles can also suffer similar affects.

Additional Conditions – Reeling (see Condition in the PHB): you have suffered a wound that has caused a great deal of pain and now is effecting your ability to react.

• You suffer Disadvantage to all Attacks, Skills and Ability checks.
• If you suffer from a second Reeling affect (i.e. you are reeling and again take damage that exceeds your Damage Threshold), you are Stunned for one round. After this lost round, you lose the Stunned condition but you are still suffering from the Reeling condition as above.
• In order to recover from Reeling, at the end of your round (after you have taken your actions) attempt a Constitution or Wisdom save (whichever is better) vs. a DC 10 or ½ the Damage you suffered (round down, whichever is greater, maximum DC 20). If you succeed with your roll, you are no longer suffering the condition. If you fail, you are still suffering from the condition.
• You can instead spend your Action to recover from Reeling, gaining advantage on your check. You can still take the free check at the end of your round if this check failed but as normal and without advantage.

Slow Natural Healing: optional rule (DMG pg. 267). After a Long Rest you only recover ½ your Hit Dice (round up) back, not any HP (normally you recover all your Hit Points back after a long rest). You must use Hit Dice to recover each morning. Also, once per day, you also recovery one level of Exhaustion after a short rest (in additional to another one at the end of a Long Rest).

Second Wind: when a character falls below ½ their maximum hit points, they can call on some inner reserves that drives many heroes to recover some. As an Action you regain 1d of your best Hit Dice (if multi-classing) plus its Constitution modifier plus your Heroic level back in hit points, up to your maximum total HP’s. You regain an additional +1d of your best HD at your 5th Heroic level, and an additional +1d of your best HD every five additional Heroic levels after that. You must complete a long rest to regain the use of this ability and this does not cost you any of your Hit Dice for healing.

Firing into Melee Combat and Ranged attacks while prone: Attacker into melee with an ally and enemies are at a Disadvantage. You are not at disadvantage when firing firearms, etc. when prone.

Full Round Action and Free Actions: A full round action takes up the full round, including movement (Speed 0) and bonus action (you still have your reaction). A free action take none of these.

Mind-Effecting: many talents, feats and force powers are listed as mind-effecting. These abilities only affect living, sentient beings or creatures, not Droids, etc. Mind-effecting fear don’t work against sentient beings immune to fear.

Hardness: materials and vehicles have a Hardness rating. This is the amount of damage that is reduced from all attacks before applying resistances, Shields, etc. to items hit points.

Heroic Damage Bonus: all Heroic characters add ½ their Heroic level (round down) to all damage type totals that they deal (including unarmed, explosives, AOE, heavy weapons and force powers).

Dark Side Score and Falling to the Dark Side

In Star Wars, the Dark Side of the Force is an even present force of corruption for those individuals looking for quick and easy solutions and for those filled with anger or feat. Doing evil acts (murder, torture, blowing up a planet) add to a being’s Dark Side Score. The GM should determine the number of points a being might gain for evil acts. Minor transgressions like causing another being harm for no reason or your own joy might earn you one, while evil transgression while unjustified murder or torturing a being for pleasure might cause five or more, etc. Giving the order to blow up a planet set you to Consumed by Darkness automatically.

• Tempted by Darkness: A character with at least 1 Dark Side point but less than ½ (round down) its Wisdom score is considered to be tempted by the Dark Side of the Force. This character feels a slight brush of the Dark Side of the Force and is often quicker to give into anger and fear. The character is further tempted by the Dark Side in the following way (a) whenever a character invokes Dark Fortune (see below), it gains a +1d4 bonus to the end result; (b) a character can spend a Destiny Point and activate any non-Light side Force Power as a Bonus Action instead of an Action. The character’s Dark Side Score increase by 1 each time they invoke either.
• Tainted by Darkness: A character with a Dark Side Score greater than ½ (round down) its Wisdom score but less than its Wisdom score has been tainted by the Dark Side of the Force. A Tainted character is more tempted to do evil to solve its problems. This character suffers the additional temptations listed above and also they gain a +2 dark side bonus to their Force Attack and to the Force save DC total with any Force Power with the [dark side] descriptor. They suffer Disadvantage to their Force Attack with any Force Power with the [light side] descriptor or grant advantage with saves. It suffers disadvantage with Wisdom (Insight) and Charisma (Persuasion) checks but an advantage with Charisma (Intimidate) checks.
• Consumed by Darkness: A character with a Dark Side Score equal to its Wisdom Score has been consumed by Dark Side of the Force. Characters who have been consumed by the Dark Side of the Force can no long Call on the Dark Side of the Force (see below) nor do they gain the dark side bonus to Force Side attacks or saves checks with powers with the [dark side] descriptor and can no longer use any Force Power with the [light side] descriptor (if they have any such powers they are lost until the characters Dark Side Score drops below their Wisdom score).

Atoning: you may sacrifice Destiny Points as soon as you gain a new level, but not after. Each point you spend reduces your Dark Side score by a one-for-one bases. The GM may require a side quest to go with this. Those that are Consumed by Darkness almost never can throw off their darkness (but they are GM characters anyway so the GM will determine if and when it might be able to atone).

Call on the Dark Side: Temptation – NOTE that the following apply to player characters ONLY so that they can be tempted towards the Dark Side. NPC Heroic characters do not use these rules. Those characters with Force Sensitive feat are especially vulnerable to the call of the Dark Side of the Force but everyone can have Dark Side points. The Dark Side of the Force is every tempting to all creatures of the Universe. All Heroic characters who have not yet been Consumed by Darkness (see above) can call on the Dark Side of the Force to gain some additional benefits. Once you have fallen completely to the Dark Side you can longer be tempted as it were.

• Dark Fortune: When a character spends a Destiny Point to increase a roll, it now has Advantage on the d20 roll, taking the better of the two results. This increase the characters Dark Side Score by 1. Characters that have the Lucky or Strong in the Force feats can have advantage on both the check and the Force die but this increases their Dark Side score by 2.
• Dark Luck: As a Reaction, a character can gain back one spent Destiny Point you just used, but in doing so the characters Dark Side Score is increased by 1.
• Dark Power (force sensitive only): As an Action the user can spend a Destiny Point and gain the use of one Force Power with the [dark side] description on it for the base duration at 1st Power level, starting on its next Action at no Force Energy cost. This increase the characters Dark Side Score by 2 plus additional ones depending on how and what acts you commit with the power.
• Dark Reserves: A character can spend a Destiny Point to regain the use of her Second Wind, even if she has not completed a long rest. This increase the characters Dark Side Score by 1.
• Flight or Fight: A character can spend a Destiny Point as a reaction and gain one additional Action at any time. This increase the characters Dark Side Score by 2.
• Renew (force sensitive only): As a reaction you regain one spent Force Energy point that you just use but doing so increases your Dark Side Score by 1.

SITUATIONS/ACTIONS HOUSERULES

Aim: if the attacker does not move on its turn (Speed 0), it can use a Bonus action to ‘Aim’ at a target when taking a Range Attack action. When it does so, ½ cover drops to no cover and ¾ cover drops to ½ cover. Aim has no effect on targets with full cover.

Area of Effects (Explosives): (PHB pg. 204) When making an attack with AOE weapons, the attack chooses where the explosive is going to land. Explosive weapons also have two range increments, base and long. Long range grants advantage on affected target’s saving throws. If an attacker does not have Line-Of-Sight on this AOE it is can make an indirect attack, meaning that it can attack over osculates or into area that the attacker cannot see. The range remains the same. Treat targets as Invisible and affected targets have advantages on their saving throws. If the targets are also at the long range of the explosives the targets gain Resistance to the grenades damage (¼ damage at long range with a successful save).

Autofire: When using an Autofire weapon feature, the attacker has two choices, to concentrate on one target or to try fire into an area seeking to damage multiples targets at once. Both affects require the shooter to make a Ranged attack roll at -5. When the attacker concentrates on one target a successful hit deals +2d weapon damage to one target (i.e. a blaster rifle that deals 3d8 damage deals 5d8 damage and a critical hit deals 7d8 damage). For the second option, the attacker must get at least a 10+ with its ranged attack check. If it succeeds all targets in the weapons Area of Effect (PHB pg. 204) must make a Dexterity saving throw vs. DC of 8 + the attacker’s proficiency + Dexterity ability modifier. All targets that fail suffer the base weapons damage. If they succeed they take ½ damage. If the attacker got a Critical success on its attack then all effected targets saving throw are at disadvantage (instead of dealing ouble damage).

Special – the attack can use a Bonus action to “Brace” as a maneuver to reduce these penalties to the attack roll to only -2, but its Speed drops to 0 until the start of its next turn. Also bracing grant advantage from all attacks against you until the start of your next turn.

For both Area of Effect and Autofire

Special – you do not include your Strength or Dexterity modifier nor do you add any range Feat or non-specific Talent (Grenade Expert) bonuses to damage to the above AOE damage types. You still add ½ your Heroic level to damage bonuses.

Cover: cover is very important in modern/sci-fi settings. Soft cover is provided by effects that obscure vision such as smoke, foliage, etc. These effects cannot stop an attack but rather obscure the creature making them harder to hit. Hard cover works similarly but can be destroyed by damage. Any hit that misses a target do to the cover bonus (including full cover if the attacker wishes to strike it) damages the cover instead. Otherwise cover has an AC of 10 to attack any. ½ Cover can absorb 25 HP, ¾ Cover can absorb 50 HP, Full Cover has 100 HP, and all have Resistance to damage. Full cover that is reduced to 50 HP only provides ¾ cover now, and ¾ cover reduces to 25 HP only provides ½ cover. When all the area’s HP are depleted it no longer provides cover. The material cover is made of also provides Hardness. Light materials (wood, dirt, etc.) provide 2 Hardness, Medium material (concrete, plastics, etc.) provide 4 Hardness, Heavy materials (reinforced concrete, steel, etc.) provides 8 Hardness, while Super-Heavy material (reinforced steel, etc.) provide 10 Hardness.

• Special – it takes ½ movement to initially benefit from cover and when making “pop-out/up” attacks to gain the benefiting from either Full Cover or ¾.

Falling Prone: unless you are forced Prone, you must use 5 feet of Movement to fall to the ground prone. As a reaction, if you have at least 5 feet of movement remaining this turn or have not acted yet this turn and still have your reaction, you can fall prone (costing you 5 feet of movement) and gain Resistance to any damage from an AOE attack.