Rules

# Force Journey – Discord Campaign

Hi everyone, sorry this has taken so long but I am excited to get into some fun RPG experiences. Since we’ve been comfortably gaming in a “chat room” environment for years not much has changed, but I thought it would be fun to simplify the rules and incentivize role play. These are sort of loose rules, but hopefully this is very simple while allowing you to have a customized character. If the game ends up unbalanced, we might have to change things, but I think it fits within the universe to eventually become overpowered/amazing at things.

## Vital stats:

Your character is not just HP and armor; what makes your character unique is their skills and abilities. Are you a quick and charismatic rogue? Or a powerful Jedi? You don’t have to fit into an archetype either; a Jedi is generally good at combat and using the Force, but you can also be a skilled pilot or diplomat.

Ability scores are your personal traits that most RPGs have. If a task is not a specific skill, then the most applicable ability score will be added to your roll.

* Strength
	+ Added to melee damage rolls and helps you move heavy objects, hold a barricade shut, or pretty much anything you need to be strong to do.
	+ Someone high in Strength will be incredibly deadly short-range and hard to kill.
	+ Each point in Strength adds +1 HP and +1 to melee damage.
* Agility
	+ Added to your Defense stat. An enemy must roll higher than your defense score to successfully score a hit. Also used to move quickly, to hide, to climb, etc.
	+ Someone high in Agility will be almost impossible to hit.
	+ Each point in Agility adds +1 to Defense.
* Focus
	+ For Jedi, this is used to modify any task that uses the Force. For non-Jedi, this ability is added to checks that require concentration, such as data slicing, mechanics, or piloting a ship.
	+ This is a great utility/general purpose attribute. It improves almost all non-combat skills, but does not grant any specific bonuses.
	+ Each point in Focus adds +1 to ability checks outside of combat.
* Wit
	+ May be added to your skill bonus in certain situations. This might be searching for clues, being aware of your surroundings, etc.
	+ Does not need to be outside of combat to add to your rolls. If you would normally lose your Focus bonus, you can still add your Wits bonus.
	+ Each point in Wit gives you a Skill point.

Skills are the essential everyday tasks one needs to survive in the Star Wars universe. Not everyone can be good at everything, so having a group of friends to make up for your deficiencies is a great idea! You only need to put one point in a skill to be proficient in it. Additional points can increase your bonus, but it might be a good idea to spread your points out. Once you hit 5 points in a skill, you have a 50% chance to not use a Destiny point to automatically succeed (see below).

* Force (Focus): any task using the Force, including pushing, pulling, persuasion, lightning, etc.
	+ Taking this skill means you are Force-sensitive; you can take this at any time, but you need 3 points to use a Destiny point.
* Pilot (Focus): Any ship, speeder, or walker, you can pilot it.
	+ Used for navigation, combat maneuvers, jet packs, etc.
* Mechanic (Focus): Fix droids, hyperdrives, malfunctioning weapons or busted airlocks.
	+ Anything mechanical, you can fix or craft, given enough time and materials.
	+ Setting explosives or arming traps
* Slicing (Focus): computer/terminal hacking, commlink jamming, tracking and data.
	+ Picking locks, hacking datapads, or listening in on Comm frequencies
* Persuasion (Focus+Wit): Whether by intimidation or charisma, this skill lets you convince others to your way of thinking.
	+ Negotiation, charm, and leadership.
* Survival (Focus+Wit): Making it in the rough. If you are exploring in different climates and planets or get stranded, survival is a great skill to have.
	+ Scavenging, makeshift crafting, hunting.
* Investigation (Focus+Wit): Used for looking around/being aware of your situation/solving mysteries.
	+ General awareness, searching, etc.
* Melee Combat: added to your attack rolls with lightsabers or other melee weapons.
* Ranged Combat: added to your attack rolls with blasters or other ranged weapons.

Your class is the bare minimum of the skills you receive; you’ll also get bonus skills to help make your character unique.

You can attempt to use skills you don’t have any points in, however you cannot use a Destiny Point to automatically succeed, and you will likely only be able to add your Focus bonus (outside of combat only).

# Character Creation:

## Class Archetypes:

Choose one of these to start; take the free skills described. Then add 2 additional skill points wherever you choose.

Jedi: Force, Melee Combat, Persuasion

Pilot: Pilot, Mechanic, Ranged Combat

Smuggler: Pilot, Ranged Combat, Persuasion

Mechanic: Mechanic, Survival, Slicing

Rogue: Persuasion, Slicing, Ranged Combat

Fighter: Melee Combat, Ranged Combat, Survival

Custom: Choose 3 different skills; you cannot put them all into one skill.

Now you have 5 stat points to divvy up among the four stats:

Strength: \_\_

Agility: \_\_

Focus: \_\_

Wit: \_\_

Remember, Wit gives you an extra skill point for each point. Put your skills in this format:

Force: \_\_

Pilot: \_\_

Mechanic: \_\_

Slicing: \_\_

Persuasion: \_\_

Survival: \_\_

Investigation: \_\_

Melee: \_\_

Ranged: \_\_

Finally, you get 3 Destiny points. See below.

## Combat Stats:

You can keep track of your stats in your own channel. I’ll post a template you can copy/paste if you’d like to update it after you take damage, etc. Or you can just keep track in your head.

Example:

HP: 10/10

Destiny: 3/3

Armor: 0

Defense: 10

Ranged Bonus: 0

Melee Bonus: 0

HP is your hit points; when you reach 0, you’ll be “knocked out.” The story will continue, assuming your defeat or capture, but you will not die unless you are determined to make a new character.

Destiny points are something I came up with to be similar to other RPG games but have the feel of “Star Wars” action. Destiny points can be used to automatically succeed at something (!). In Star Wars, adventure is key, and this allows you to succeed at tasks that are essential to your character’s purpose or calling in life. Not all tasks are eligible for Destiny points; your task needs to be a skill your character is proficient in. For example, if your character has the mechanic skill, you can use a destiny point to fix a malfunctioning hyperdrive in an emergency. But you can’t use it to hack into a database (unless you are a hacker, too). Destiny points recharge over a long rest; whenever an adventure is over and the players have some downtime.

Armor is damage reduction. Most damage will come in the form of a d6, and depending on what armor and artifacts you collect, you can increase your damage reduction. Armor can be a great alternative to having a high defense, but it’s also a great idea to have if going into combat. Most common armor will have a value of 1, but certain armor (such as Beskar) can increase your armor significantly and make you a force to be reckoned with.

Defense is your chance to avoid damage completely. It is essentially a dodge, but it could also be interpreted as parrying if you are in melee combat. Standard defense is 10, and it’s modified by your Agility stat and your armor. Heavy armor reduces your ability to dodge, whereas no armor can increase your ability to dodge.

## Rolling Dice:

You can roll a die or any combination of dice by using the discord bot. Just type “!roll1d6” to roll a 6-sided die.

* !2d6 will roll two d6’s
* !1d20 will roll a d20
* !1d20-1 will roll a d20 and subtract 1
* !1d20+3 will roll a d20 and add 3

Attacking: Attack rolls are made against Defense. Roll 1d20, and add your applicable Ranged or Melee attack bonus (based on your skill). Do not add Strength or Agility; those are for damage and defense only (unless otherwise stated or modified by an artifact, etc.). The DC is the target’s Defense.

Being attacked: When you are being attacked, the GM will ask “Does a 15 hit?” or something like that. If your Defense is higher than 15 you can say “no” and you will take no damage.

Using a skill: Skill rolls are a d20 made against a DC (difficulty class). Sometimes you will know the DC you’re rolling against and sometimes it will be hidden, and you will not know if you succeeded or failed. This is usually for an Investigation skill check, but it could be other skills.

* For skill rolls, add your skill bonus and Focus score and/or Wit score (if outside of combat/if applicable).
* If the task is purely physical, you may need to use your Strength or Agility score as a bonus instead of Focus or Wit.
* Basically, whenever you do something, an appropriate skill or ability should be selected to give you a bonus or penalty to that roll. Focus and Wit are two common bonuses that can be added to most skill rolls.

IMPORTANT:

The main thing I wanted to implement in these rules is a way to incentivize roleplaying. If you are doing a task and DESCRIBE how you do it, you will get a bonus! For example:

* “I barricade the door using the boxes around the loading ramp and take a defensive position behind them.” This could get you a +2 to Defense for the next combat since you have a fortified position.
* “I get the R2 unit’s help in navigating to the next star system” could add +5 to your navigation/pilot check, since that’s what an astromech droid is designed to do!

I would rather have people write long comments rather than “ambush them.” Or “Get ready to fight.” If you are not sure of something you could do to improve your chances, you can always “look around for something useful” and I will do my best to give you an idea.

You can ignore this if you are confident in your abilities, but I thought it would be fun to give a little bonus for creativity.

## Leveling Up:

You’ll gain the chance to level up during certain milestones in your journey. When you level up, take one Ability point and one Skill point. It’s not much, but it will add up quick!

Many of the abilities and bonuses your character receives can be in the form of artifacts or special items found throughout the galaxy. You can buy a bigger or better blaster, but you might find a unique/modified blaster that lets you add your Agility to your attack or damage roll. These powerful items will be unique to your character and may even change how you decide to level up!

You can respec if things aren’t working out for you. Just let me know.

This is just a first draft, so let me know if you have any suggestions for new skills or anything else! I look forward to playing!