Brawler Archetypes

NPC

File:Swse nonheroic NPC.jpg

NPC

NPC Text

NPC Encounters

Nonplayer character archetype (CL 1)

Saga Edition Core Rulebook, page 284.

Medium Human nonheroic 4 NPC

Initiative: +; Senses: Perception +

Languages: Basic

Defenses: Ref (flat-footed ), Fort , Will

Hit Points: ; Damage Threshold:

Speed: 6 squares

Base Attack: +; Grapple: +

Abilities: Str , Dex , Con , Int , Wis , Cha

Feats:

Skills:

Martial Artist

For the purpose of feats and talents that allow you to select a weapon group for that ability to apply to, unarmed attacks are simple weapons. However, combat gloves provide a martial artist with a damage advantage that lets him make use of talents such as Weapon Specialization (simple weapons), further increasing his aptitude for unarmed attacks. Combat gloves are considered simple weapons, but attacks with combat gloves are still considered to be unarmed attacks.

Martial artists have trained their bodies to become living weapons. Depending on the technique in which one trains, a martial artist can be anything from an aggressive brawler who pummels his foes senseless to a graceful, fluid practitioner who uses his enemies’ strength against them.

Regardless of the technique each one uses, martial artists excel at close combat—many eschew using ranged weapons of any kind. On worlds where weapons are highly regulated or rare, martial artists are relatively common, since they do not need weapons to protect themselves or fight their foes. There are also Force-using martial arts schools (outside of the Jedi tradition) that train individuals in ways to harness their inner power for combat. Both the Jedi and the Sith monitor martial artists and their schools for potential recruits, knowing that such exceptional ind ividuals who are in tune with their own power and with the Force have the proper qualit ies to make ideal candidates.

Martial Artist Encounters

Martial artists can easily fill the same niche as brutes, but instead of barely trained combatants, the heroes find themselves facing a capable melee warrior. Despite their name, martial artists could serve as bodyguards or even soldiers or commandos who specialize in close combat—they might still carry blasters, but use them only for situations that their furious fists cannot handle.

Many martial artists can be found in the employ of crime lords or working as gladiators on many worlds, where their skills are used for the entertainment of the masses. Heroes who find themselves in the clutches of such criminals might wake up on the bloodstained floor of a gladiatorial pit or arena, surrounded by martial artists ready to beat them senseless yet again. Weapons might be thrown onto the ground for the combatants to use, or possibly not—the crowd might demand to see each fighter survive using only his or her bare hands.

Alternatively, martial artists could represent freedom fighters who use their own bodies as weapons to overthrow their oppressors. Such individuals could easily slip past checkpoints and scanners on the lookout for illegal weapons or armor, which martial artists do not need. Then, once they are inside the target area, the intruders spring into action.