The galaxy is a dangerous place, and sometimes you have to fight to survive. Whether the enemy takes the form of battle droids or stormtroopers, a dark Force-user or a rampaging rancor, you need to be able to defend yourself. Using blasters, vibroblades, and lightsabers, heroes regularly get caught up in blazing firefights, wild cantina brawls, and mesmerizing lightsaber duels. You can try to bluff your way out of a tough situation, attempt to sneak away when your opponent is distracted, or even dazzle an enemy with your charming personality. But when all else fails, nothing beats having a good blaster at your side.
This section details the combat rules, covering the basics first. The lower end of the section looks at some of the more unusual strategies that heroes can employ, including using vehicles in combat. Many special abilities and forms of damage that affect combat are covered in the Gamemastering section.
Combat Sequence
Combat takes place in a series or rounds, with each character taking one turn each round. Generally, combat runs in the following way:
Step 1. The GM determines which characters are aware of their opponent at the start of the battle. If at least some combatants are unaware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. If there is a surprise round, each combatant starts the battle flat-footed. A flat-footed character doesn’t add a Dexterity bonus to their Reflex Defense. Once combatants act, they are no longer flat-footed.
Step 2. The combatants who are aware of the opponents can act in the surprise round, so they make an Initiative check. In initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take a single action (A standard action, a move action, or a swift action; no full-round actions allowed) during the surprise round. Combatants who where unaware do not get to act in the surprise round.
Step 3. Combatants who have not yet made an Initiative check do so. All combatants are now ready to begin the first regular round. If all combatants were aware of their opponents when the battle began, there is no surprise round and this is the first step in the combat sequence. If there is no surprise round, no one starts flat-footed (everyone was alert enough to be ready for a fight).
Step 4. Combatants act in initiative order.
Step 5. When everyone has had a turn, the combatant with the highest initiative acts again, and Steps 4 and 5 repeat until combat ends.
The Combat Round
Each round represent 6 seconds in the game world. In the real world, a round is an opportunity for each character involved in combat to take one or more actions. Anything a person could do reasonably in 6 seconds, your character can do in 1 round.
Each round begins with the character with the highest Initiative check result and then proceeds, in descending order, from there. Each round uses the same Initiative order. When a character’s turn comes up in the Initiative sequence, that character performs his entire round’s worth of actions.
For almost all purposes, there is no relevance to the end of a round or the beginning of a round. The term “round” works like the word “month.” A month can mean either a calendar month, or a span of time from a day in one month to the same day the next month. In the same way, a round can be a segment of game tome starting with the first character to act and ending with the last, but it usually means a span of time from one round to the same Initiative number the next round. Effects last a certain number of rounds end just before the same Initiative number that they began on.
Actions in Combat
Every round, on your character’s turn, you may take a standard action, a move action, and a swift action (in any order). You may take a move action or a swift action in place of a standard action, but not the other way around. You may also take a swift action in place of a move action, but not the other way around. Finally, you may sacrifice all three of these actions to perform a single full-round action on your turn.
Standard action
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Move action
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Swift action
Standard Action: A standard action is usually the most important action you’ll take in a round, and it often consists of some sort of attack—swinging a lightsaber, firing a blaster, throwing a punch, hurling a grenade, and so on. You can perform one standard action on your turn.
Move Action: A move action represents physical movement. The most common move mction is moving up to your speed score. Standing up from a prone position, opening a door, and drawing a weapon are also move actions. You can perform one move action on your turn, or two if you give up your standard action.
Swift Action: Most swift actions enable you to perform your standard action. Examples include switching a weapon’s mode and dropping a held item. You can perform one swift action on your turn, or two if you give up either your standard action or your move action, or three if you give up both your standard action and your move action.
Full-Round Action: A full-round action consumes all of your effort during a given round, effectively replacing all other actions on your turn. Some uses of skills require a full-round action to complete. Examples include bypassing a lock (using the Mechanics skill), searching an area for clues (using the Perception skill), and entering a Force trance (using the Use the Force skill). A full-round action can’t span multiple rounds; for example, you cannot perform a full-round action that replaces your move action and swift action in the first round and your standard action in the following round.
Free Actions and Reactions
Some actions take such a negligible amount of time that they can be performed in addition to other actions or they can happen out of turn:
Free Action: Free actions consume almost no time or effort, and you may take one or more free actions even when it isn’t your turn. Examples include calling out to your friends for help and taunting a foe. The GM puts reasonable limits on what counts as a free action. Reciting the epic history of the Rodian hunter clans takes several minutes (or more) and therefore isn’t a free action. You can’t take free actions when you're flat-footed.
Reaction: A reaction is an instantaneous response to someone else’s action, and you can use a reaction even if it is not your turn. Examples of reactions include making a Perception check to notice a bounty hunter sneaking up behind you and instantly activating a Force power to absorb damage from an incoming blaster bolt. You may only take a single reaction to any one action or effect. A reaction is always resolved after the action that triggered it, though some reactions (such as the Negate Energy Force power, or the Block and Deflect talents) can affect the outcomes of the action that triggers a reaction.
Combat Statistics
Several fundamental statistics determine how well you do in combat. This section summarizes these statistics.
Attack Roll
Attacking is a standard action. When you make an attack roll, roll 1d20 and add the appropriate modifiers. If your result is equal to or higher than the target’s Reflex Defense, you hit and deal damage (see Damage below).
Your attack roll with a melee weapon or unarmed attack is:
1d20 + base attack bonus + Strength modifier
Your attack roll with a ranged weapon is:
1d20 + base attack bonus + Dexterity modifier + range penalty (If Any)
Base Attack Bonus: Your class and level determine your base attack bonus.
Strength Modifier: Strength helps you swing a weapon harder and faster, so your Strength modifier applies to melee attack rolls.
Dexterity Modifier: Since Dexterity measures coordination and steadiness, your Dexterity modifier applies to attacks with ranged weapons.
Range Penalty: A ranged weapon can attack a target at point blank, short, medium, or long range. If you make a ranged attack against a target within the weapon’s point blank range, you take no penalty on the attack roll; your penalty on attack rolls increases to −2 at short range, −5 at medium range, and −10 at long range.
Critical Hits
When you roll a natural 20 on your attack roll (the d20 comes up “20”), the attack automatically hits, no matter how high the defender’s Reflex Defense. In addition, you score a critical hit and deal double damage. All targets are subject to Critical Hits, even inanimate objects. Effects that negate an attack (such as Block, Deflect, or Vehicular Combat) or cause an attack to automatically miss (such as a Destiny Point) can also negate a critical hit.
Automatic Misses
When you roll a natural 1 on your attack roll (the d20 comes up “1”), the attack automatically misses, no matter how high the bonus on the attack roll is.
Damage
When you hit with an attack, you deal damage that reduces the enemy’s hit points.
Damage with a melee or thrown melee weapon is calculated as follows:
Weapon damage + one-half heroic level (rounded down) + Strength modifier
Damage with a ranged weapon is calculated as follows:
Weapon damage + one-half heroic level (rounded down)
Weapon Damage: A hit always deals at least 1 point of damage, even if penalties to damage bring the Damage result below 1.
One-Half Heroic Level: Weapons are simply more dangerous in the hands of powerful heroes (and villains).
Strength Modifier: When you hit with a melee weapon or thrown melee weapon, you add your Strength modifier to damage. When you hit with a melee weapon that you are wielding two-handed, you add double your Strength bonus (if any) to the damage. This higher Strength modifier does not apply to two-handed melee attacks with light weapons.
Defenses
Your Defenses represent your ability to avoid taking damage and overcome attacks to the body and mind. You have three Defense scores:
Fortitude Defense: 10 + your heroic level + Constitution modifier + class bonus + equipment bonus
Reflex Defense: 10 + your heroic level or armor bonus + Dexterity modifier + class bonus + natural armor bonus + size modifier
Will Defense: 10 + your heroic level + Wisdom modifier + class bonus
Your species, talents, feats, and actions may grant additional bonuses to one or more of these defenses. For example, Gamorreans gain a +2 species bonus to their Fortitude Defense, while a character with the Improved Defenses feat gains a +1 bonus to all three defenses.
Fortitude Defense
Your Fortitude Defense (Fort) represents your ability to resist the effects of poison, disease, and radiation, as well as your ability to ignore effects that would incapacitate a normal being.
Heroic Level: Your heroic level is the sum of all levels you have in heroic classes and prestige classes. It does not include levels in the nonheroic class or beast class.
Constitution Modifier: Tougher, healthier targets are more difficult to hurt than weaker ones, so you add your Constitution modifier to your Fortitude Defense. A nonliving target (that is, any target without a Constitution score, such as a droid) instead adds its Strength modifier to its Fortitude Defense.
Equipment Bonus: Some kinds of armor provide an equipment bonus to your Fortitude Defense.
Reflex Defense
Your Reflex Defense (Ref) represents how hard you are to hit in combat, and most attacks target a creature’s Reflex Defense. If an opponent’s attack roll equals or exceeds your Reflex Defense, the attack hits.
Heroic Level: Your heroic level is the sum of all levels you have in heroic classes and prestige classes. It does not include levels in the nonheroic class or beast class.
Armor Bonus: Your armor bonus is determined by the armor you wear. If you are wearing Aarmor, add your armor bonus to your Reflex Defense instead of your heroic level. This represents the difference between using your innate skill to avoid injury and counting on your armor to absorb the damage from incoming attacks.
Dexterity Modifier: Nimble targets are more difficult to hit than slow ones. Add your Dexterity modifier to your Reflex Defense. If you are flat-footed or unaware of an attack, you lose your Dexterity bonus (but not a penalty) to your Reflex Defense. If you are helpless (for example, knocked unconscious), calculate your Reflex Defense as if you had a Dexterity score of 0 (−5 modifier).
Size Modifier: Smaller creatures are harder to hit than bigger ones. Apply the appropriate size modifier to your Reflex Defense (and only your Reflex Defense). Size modifiers are as follows: Colossal, −10; Gargantuan, −5; Huge, −2; Large, −1; Medium, +0; Small, +1; Tiny, +2; Diminutive, +5; Fine, +10.
Will Defense
Your Will Defense (Will) represents your willpower and your ability to resist certain Force powers and other effects that attack your mind.
Heroic Level: Your heroic level is the sum of all levels you have in heroic classes and prestige classes. It does not include levels in the nonheroic class or beast class.
Wisdom Modifier: Strong-willed characters are harder to influence than weak-willed ones. You add your Wisdom modifier to your Will Defense. When you are unconscious, you have an effective Wisdom score of 0 (−5 modifier).
Speed
Your Speed tells you how far you can move with a single move action. Your speed depends mostly on your species, although certain kinds of armor can reduce your speed. Some creatures, droids, and vehicles have a natural climb, burrow, fly, and/or swim speed in addition to their normal land speed. Any effect that reduces speed affects all of a creature’s movement modes unless noted otherwise.
Speed is measured in squares. Each square represents 1.5 meters (About 5 feet).
Fly: A creature with a fly speed is capable of flight, but not if it is carrying a heavy load (see Encumbrance).
Hit Points
Hit points (sometimes abbreviated “HP”) represents two things in the game world: the ability to take physical punishment and keep going, and the ability to turn a serious blow into a graze or near miss. As you become more experienced, you become more adept at parrying strikes, dodging attacks, and rolling with blows such that you minimize or avoid significant physical trauma, but all this slowly wears you down. Rather than trying to keep track of the difference between attacks and how much physical injury you take, hit points are an abstract measure of your total ability to survive damage.
As long as you have at least 1 hit point, you can act normally on your turn.
Second Wind
If you are reduced to one-half your maximum hit points or less, you can catch a second wind as a swift action. This action heals one-quarter of your full hit point total (rounded down) or a number of points equal to your Constitution score, whichever is greater. You can catch a second wind only once per day. Certain feats or talents may allow you to catch a second wind more often, but never more than once in a single encounter.
Only heroic characters can catch a second wind; nonheroic characters, creatures, objects, devices, and vehicles cannot. Exception: a nonheroic character that takes the Extra Second Wind feat can catch a second wind once per day.
0 Hit Points
A creature reduced to 0 hit points moves −5 steps on the condition track and falls unconscious. However, if the damage that reduced the creature to 0 hit points equals or exceeds its damage threshold, the creature is killed instead (see Death).
A droid, object, or vehicle reduced to 0 hit points moves −5 steps on the condition track and is disabled (but repairable). However, if the damage that reduced it to 0 hit points equals or exceeds its damage threshold, the droid, object, or vehicle is destroyed instead. A destroyed droid, object, or vehicle cannot be repaired.
Damage Threshold
Attacks that deal massive amounts of damage can impair or incapacitate you regardless of how may hit points you have remaining. Your damage threshold determines how much damage a single attack must deal to reduce your combat effectiveness or, in some cases, kill you. You damage threshold is calculated as follows:
Damage Threshold: Fortitude Defense + Size Modifier
Size Modifier: Creatures, droids, and vehicles larger than Medium size gain a size bonus to their damage threshold. This size bonus is +5 for Large, +10 for Huge, +20 for Gargantuan, and +50 for Colossal.
When a single attack made against you deals damage that equals or exceeds your damage threshold, but not enough to drop you to 0 hit points, you move −1 step along the condition track. If the damage reduces you to 0 hit points, you are dead.
Droids, Objects, and Vehicles: A droid, object, or vehicle reduced to 0 hit points by an attack that deals damage equal to or greater than its damage threshold is destroyed.
Spending a Force Point: If you are reduced to 0 hit points by an attack that deals damage equal to or greater than your damage threshold, you can avoid death by immediately spending a Force Point, even if you spent a Force Point earlier in the round. A character who spends a Force Point in this fashion remains at 0 hit points, moves −5 steps along the condition track, and falls unconscious.
If a droid is reduced to 0 hit points by an attack that deals damage equal to or greater than its damage threshold, it may spend a Force Point in this manner to be disabled instead of destroyed.
Improved Damage Threshold: You can increase your damage threshold by taking the Improved Damage Threshold feat.
Falling Unconscious
A creature pushed to the bottom of the condition track or reduced to 0 hit points falls unconscious. When you fall unconscious, you fall prone and are unable to take any actions. After 1 minute (10 rounds), you make a DC 10 Constitution check. On a success, you move +1 step on the condition track, regain consciousness, recover hit points equal to your character level, and can act normally on your next turn (although you start prone). If the check fails, you remain unconscious for 1 hour, after which you can attempt another Constitution check. You make a new Constitution check every hour until you regain consciousness. If you fail by 5 or more points, or if you roll a natural 1 on your Constitution check, you are dead. You can’t take 10 on the Constitution check.
If you fail a Constitution check to regain consciousness, your condition becomes persistent, which means you can’t heal damage naturally, and you can’t use the recover action until you’ve had surgery performed on you, or until you get eight consecutive, uninterrupted hours of rest.
An unconscious character or creature subjected to a coup de grace attack or an attack that deals damage equal to or greater than its damage threshold dies immediately.
A character or creature that receives any kind of healing while unconscious immediately revives and can get up to fight again (but starts prone); the healed character or creature has a number of hit points equal to the amount of healing it received, and it moves +1 step on the condition track.
Droids: When a droid is disabled (the equivalent of being unconscious), it moves −5 steps on the condition track, falls prone, and is unable to take any actions. It remains inert and inoperative until repaired. A droid that is repaired immediately reactivates and can get up to fight again (but starts prone). The repaired droid has a number of hit points equal to the amount repaired, and it moves +1 step on the condition track.
Objects, Devices, and Vehicles: When an object, device, or vehicle is disabled, it moves −5 steps on the condition track and no longer functions. It remains inert and inoperative until repaired. A repaired object, device, or vehicle has a number of hit points equal to the amount repaired, and it moves +1 step on the condition track.
Death
A character or creature that dies cannot be brought back to life except under special circumstances (see the Revivify ability of the Treat Injury skill). Similarly, a destroyed droid, object, or vehicle cannot be repaired.
The Star Wars galaxy is a vast and perilous wilderness, and heroes who fight against evil and tyranny sometimes make the ultimate sacrifice. When a hero dies, the only thing a player can do is bid their character a fond farewell and roll up a new one.
Natural Healing
A living creature that gets eight consecutive, uninterrupted hours of rest regains hit points equal to its character level. A living creature cannot heal naturally if it has any persistent conditions, and a creature can only benefit from natural healing once in a 24-hour period.
In addition to the hit points gained from natural healing, a creature can regain additional hit points from first aid or long-term care.
Conditions
Certain debilitating attacks reduce one’s combat effectiveness instead of one’s Hit Points. Examples include a stun grenade blast, a forced march, a paralyzing venom, or long-term exposure to extreme temperatures. Multiple conditions have cumulative effects and can quickly drive a creature from it’s normal state to unconsciousness, or disable an otherwise functional droid, device, or vehicle.
Physically debilitating attacks are usually made against the target’s Fortitude Defense, while mentally deliberating attacks target one’s Will Defense. Either type of attack pushes the target along the same track.
The Condition Track
A creature, droid, object, or vehicle not affected by any debilitating conditions is assumed to be in a “normal state,” which represents one end of the condition track. Each debilitating effect to which it succumbs moves it one or more steps along the condition track. A creature pushed to the last step on the condition track falls unconscious. A droid, object, or vehicle pushed to the last step on the condition track is disabled until repaired using the Mechanics skill.
When a device is pushed down the condition track, apply the indicated penalty on skill checks to any skill check made with the device.
When a vehicle is pushed down the condition track, all of the vehicle’s occupants suffer the same penalties as the vehicle itself until the vehicle is either disabled or repaired. Penalties imposed by multiple condition tracks are cumulative; in other words, a vehicle’s occupants suffer the effects of their own personal condition tracks in addition to the effects of the vehicle’s condition track.
| Normal state (no penalties) |
| −1 Step ↕ +1 Step |
| −1 penalty to all defenses, attack rolls, ability checks, and skill checks. |
| −1 Step ↕ +1 Step |
| −2 penalty to all defenses, attack rolls, ability checks, and skill checks. |
| −1 Step ↕ +1 Step |
| −5 penalty to all defenses, attack rolls, ability checks, and skill checks. |
| −1 Step ↕ +1 Step |
| Move at half speed; −10 penalty to all defenses, attack rolls, ability checks, and skill checks. |
| −1 Step ↕ +1 Step |
| Helpless (unconscious or disabled). |
Removing Conditions
You can improve your condition by spending three swift actions to use the recover action, moving +1 step along the condition track. You can spend all Three swift actions in a single round, or spread them out across consecutive rounds. For example, you could spend a swift action at the end of one turn and two swift actions at the start of your next turn to move +1 step along the condition track. Certain situations may prevent you from spending swift actions to move toward a normal state on the condition track (see Persistent Conditions below).
Resting for eight consecutive, uninterrupted hours usually removes all debilitating conditions afflicting a creature and returns it to its normal state. Some causes of debilitation, such as poison and hunger, may prevent a creature from improving its condition or returning to its normal state until the cause of the debilitation is treated (see Persistent Conditions below).
Persistent Conditions
Some hazards and attacks (such as poison and disease) result in a persistent condition that cannot be removed except in certain circumstances. Any time a condition is persistent, you cannot use the recover action (see Recover below) to move steps up the condition track, and you do not regain any hit points from natural healing. However, once a persistent condition is removed by satisfying the requirements stating in its description, you can move up the condition track and heal normally.
Persistent conditions do not prevent you from moving up the condition track by means other than the recover action or resting for eight hours. For example, an unconscious creature that fails its first Constitution check has a persistent condition from its injuries, but it still moves +1 step on the condition track when it makes a successful Constitution check to regain consciousness.
Multiple Persistent Conditions: Sometimes you are affected by more than one persistent condition. For example, you might be poisoned after already suffering the effects of a disease. In this case, you must satisfy the requirements for removing all these persistent conditions before you can move up the condition track.
Initiative
In every round during combat, each combatant gets to do something. The combatants’ Initiative checks determine the order in which they act, from highest to lowest.
Initiative Checks
At the start of a battle, each player makes an Initiative skill check for their character. (A character can make an Initiative check untrained.) The GM rolls Initiative checks for the opponents. All combatants act in order, from the highest Initiative check result to the lowest. A character’s Initiative count remains the same for all rounds of the combat unless a character takes an action that causes their place in the Initiative order to change (see Special Initiative Actions below).
The GM should write the names of the characters on a piece of scrap paper in Initiative order. That way, in subsequent rounds the GM can move quickly from one character to the next. If two combatants have the same Initiative check result, the character with the highest Initiative check modifier acts first. If there is still a tie, roll a die.
To save time, the GM can make a single Initiative check for all of the bad guys, rolling 1d20 and adding the lowest Initiative check modifier in the group. That way, each player gets a turn each round and the GM also gets one turn. At the GM’s option, however, they can make separate Initiative checks for different groups of opponents or even individual foes. For instance, the GM may make one Initiative check for an Imperial officer and another check for his squad of stormtroopers.
Joining a Battle
If characters enter a battle after it has begun, they make their Initiative check at that time and act whenever their turn comes up in the existing order.
Flat-Footed
In any battle that begins with a surprise round (see Surprise, below), you start the battle flat-footed. You remain flat-footed until your first regular turn in the Initiative order. You can't apply your Dexterity bonus (if any) to your Reflex Defense while flat-footed.
Surprise
When combat starts, if you are not aware of your enemies, but they are aware of you, you're surprised. If you know about your opponents, but they don't know about you, you surprise them.
Awareness and Surprise
Sometimes all the combatants on a side are aware of their opponents; sometimes none are; sometimes only some of them are. Sometimes a few combatants on each side are aware, and other combatants on each side are unaware.
Determining Awareness
The GM determines who is aware of who at the start of a battle. They may call for Perception checks to see how aware the characters are of their opponents. Some example situations:
- The mission team enters a cantina and immediately spots a gang of Rodians. Alert and watchful, the Rodians also notice the heroes. Both sides are aware; neither is surprised. The heroes and the Rodians make Initiative checks, and the battle begins.
- While exploring an abandoned armory, the heroes are being watched by a pack of Jawas. The Jawas lurk in hiding places, waiting for the right time to strike and defend their new lair from the intruders. Sia-Lan spots one of the Jawas as it tries to sneak behind a partially destroyed battle droid. The Jawas shriek and leap from their hiding places, surrounding the heroes. The Jawas and Sia-Lan each get to act during the surprise round. The other heroes, caught unaware, can't act. After the surprise round, the first regular round of combat begins.
- The mission team advances down a dark corridor in the space-station fortress of Grumbog, an alien warlord, using glow rods to light the way. At the end of the corridor, three of Grumbog’s soldiers have set up an E-Web repeating blaster. They fire the weapon, sending a powerful blast down the corridor. That’s the end of the surprise round. After determining whether any of the heroes were hit, and calculating damage, the GM announces that the first regular round of combat begins. The mission team is in a tough spot, since they are facing a powerful weapon and still can’t see who is attacking them.
The Surprise Round
If some, but not all, of the combatants are aware of their opponents, a surprise round happens before regular rounds begin. The combatants who are aware of their opponents can act in the surprise round, so they make Initiative checks. In Initiative order (highest to lowest), combatants who started the battle aware of their opponents each take a single action—a standard action, a move action, or a swift action (but not a full-round action)—during the surprise round. If no one is surprised, a surprise round doesn't occur.
Unaware Combatants: Combatants who are unaware at the start of battle do not get to act in the surprise round. Unaware combatants are flat-footed because they have not acted yet, so they do not apply their Dexterity bonus (if any) to their Reflex Defense.