Microlite20

Okay, the trick will be to process this in chunks. Part of my problem is that I'm trying to do everything at once. I need to nail down the first things first, and then move on to the next thing. here's what I've got so far based on the suggestions in this thread…

M20 STAR WARS

Rolling up a character is the same as per the M20 Core Rules.

CLASSES
Soldier: Combat bonus; +3 Physical
Scoundrel: Sneak attack bonus, +3 Subterfuge
Expert: +3 to Education OR +3 to Technical, and pick an Affinity
Jedi (Force-user): Jedi training, +3 to Force skill


The Soldier and Scoundrel work pretty much like their M20 counterparts. The Jedi/Force user will have some basic additional notes, but for the most part is exactly what it sounds like. ("Jedi Training" is a class ability that allows those trained in the force to use lightsabers with a Soldier's combat bonuses, deflect blaster shots, and a few other simple "plot-device" things- more on that in the Force section.)

I've bundled all the scouts, diplomats, technicians, computer programmers, pilots, and other professions of the galaxy into the "Expert" class for unified simplicity. The Expert class ability, Affinity, is explained later but in short it simply lets the Expert re-roll under certain circumstances.


SKILLS
Physical
Subterfuge
Technology
Education
The Force (Jedi/Force-user only)

SPECIAL NOTES ON SKILLS
Piloting = Tech + Dex
Survival = Education + Strength (or in some cases DEX or even MND)
Communicating = Education + Mind (to lay out a convincing argument while taking racial/cultural difference into account, etc.)
OR
Subterfuge + Mind (to fast-talk someone.)


After debating HP vs Vitality back and forth forever, I think I've just settled on tried, true, simple HP.

I'll have more details about Experts and Jedi later, but that's the gist of it for now. I can't wait to get into how the force works, starships, etc, but as I said I need to calm down and just nail things down in order.

GENERAL NOTE: As you may have noticed by now, my version of Microlight Star Wars is based more on using the M20 Core and isn't a direct conversion from any one D20 source. In other words, it is my idea of Star Wars based on the D&D open source. (Although obviously the equipment list is borrowed, etc.)

The bad thing about this is compatibility- you can't just pluck things out of the RCR or Saga edition and use them as-is the way you can with old D&D modules and M20.

The good thing about this is that it avoids infringement issues, and the way you generate antagonists is identical to that of the M20 core so it should only take a few seconds to whip up some familiar bad guys. (I'll provide some in the Antagonists of the Galaxy section in any case.)



NEXT: Star Wars races

EDIT: As always, feel free to jump in with ideas and suggestions!

M20 STAR WARS RACES

Racial template formula: Each race is constructed using two Racial Template Points. 1 RTP is equal to:
-A +1 stat bonus
-Two skill points
-A special trait or ability (ussually an Affinity, which lets the player re-roll under certain circumstance.)

Unlike most other games with race selection, players of M20SW are STRONGLY ENCOURAGED to play around with the formula themselves to get the feel they want, pending GM approval. Here are some suggestions/guidelines:

Humans: +1 to all skills (except for Force.)

Bothans: +1 Dex & Will Affinity (May re-roll any check involving the willpower of the character.)

Cereans: +2 Mind

Duros: +1 Dex & Pilot Affinity (May re-roll any piloting check once per turn.)

Ewok: +1 Dex & Stealth Affinity (May re-roll any stealh-related check once per turn.)

Gamorreans: +2 Str

Gungans: +2 physical, and Natural Swimmer (Can swim with as much fanfare as other character walk.)

Ithorians: +1 Mind & Nature Affinity (May re-roll a survival check once per turn.)

Kel Dor: +1 Dex, +1 Physical, +1 Force

Mon Calamari: +1 Mind, +2 Education

Quarren: +1 Str & Natural Swimmer (Can swim with as much fanfare as other character walk.)

Rodian: +1 Dex & Tracking Affinity (Can re-roll any check centered around hunting down a specific target.)

Trandoshans: +1 Str & +1 natural AC.

Twi'Lek: +1 Dex & Deceptive Affinity (Can re-roll any check centered around deceiving someone else.)

Wookie: +4 Str; -1 Dex, -1 Mnd (Wookies kind of break the formula a little.)

Zabrak: +1 Dex, +1 Physical, & +1 to any skill (including Force!)


Comments/suggestions welcome.

NEXT: Either the gear section, or my notes on the Force, depending on which one I finish first.


EDIT: Note that a devious player could indeed come up with some pretty damn powerful class/race combos for some mad bonuses. This is considered a feature, not a bug- the PC are supposed to be Big Damn Heroes, so let 'em do their thing if they want. It's only a matter of time before they get blasted to pieces by some passing Stormtroopers they piss off anyhow, so what the heck, right?

Expert Class Affinity

NOTE: At first, this space was used to explain an alternate way to do the Expert. I later realized that this made quick-stat NPCs a real pain and simply made the optional rule standard.

Affinities
What is an Affinity? It is a narrow area of focus that your Expert has specialized in. Simply put, the character can choose to re-roll any checks made under these circumstances. (They are the same as racial Affinities except the player gets to pick one.)

Example Expert Affinities might include:

Piloting
Medical
Nobility
Droids
Starships
Repair
(Any technical crafting-like skill)
Computers
Deception
Stealth
Scouting
Etc… You get the idea

Why have Affinities? Why not just have extra skill points or something?
If a player wants to play a pilot, doctor, con-man, etc... That is what they really want to be doing when it is time to play. They're pretty much waiting around for the opportunity to do their thing, and this option lets them shine when they do it. Furthermore, it lets them do this well without automatically making them good at everything else, or making the game more complicated. It also helps differentiate between different types of Experts.

If the concept of Affinities sounds complicated, I have probably not explained it well. In review:
-The Expert picks a broad area to be good at.
-The Expert can re-roll checks that fall under this area.

That's all there is to it.

However, if this still seems too complicated, no problem. Just assign the Expert two floating skill points instead or something.

What if a player picks an Affinity that their race already provides them with?
Let's say a Duros character is also an Expert with the Piloting Affinity. I would, believe it or not, let the effects stack. That's right. I would let that player re-roll twice if they wanted to!

Sound game-breaking? I disagree. Clearly, that player really wanted to be good at piloting. I say… Let 'em play the kind of character they really wanted. Why not?

And hey, it's not like those stacked Affinities will be worth much of anything if they get themselves cornered in the back of some scuzzy cantina… Aye?

Alternately, you could simply rule that a character cannot pick an Affinity that is already granted by their race.

M20 STAR WARS GEAR

I have two gear lists- Basic and Advanced. The basic list is for players who aren't really into complicated gear lists and just want to play the damn game right now. The advanced list is for players who want more detail and differentiation in their game, and is more of a straight-up conversion of other Star Wars games. Rules for stunning are in the advanced gear list. Costs are also in the advanced list.

For now, here is the Basic Gear List:

Melee
Knife-like/small weapons: 1d4
Medium melee weapons (club, short sword, etc): 1d6
Big melee weapons (sword, axe, etc): 1d8
Vibroweapons: 1d10
Lightsaber*: 2d8

Ranged
Slug thrower: 2d4
Blasters: 2d6
Blaster riffles: 2d8
Blast cannon: 2d10

*Lightsabers work differently in the hands of a trained Jedi. More on that later.

Non-combat gear grants a +2 circumstance bonus depending on what it is used for. A medpack might grant a +2 check to heal someone, for example. Gear in this way is very free-form and rules can/should be made up as you go.

NOTE: Players of other D20 Star Wars games might wonder why blasters do 2DX of damage instead of 3DX. This is to keep damage more in proportion to the standard M20 hit point setup.

NEXT: Armor List

ARMOR

Light
Blast helmet & Vest: +2 AC
Flight Suit: +3 AC
Combat jumpsuit: +4 AC

Medium
Generic Combat Armor: +5 AC
Stormtrooper Armor: +6 AC

Heavy
Corellian Powersuit: +7 AC
Powered Battlesuit: +8 AC

Assault*
Armored Spacesuit: +9 AC
Heavy Assault Armor: +10 AC

*Soldiers do not get their attack bonuses while wearing armor this heavy.

NOTES:
Soldiers can wear any armor, but lose their combat bonus in Assault-class armor.

Scoundrels, Experts, and Jedi can also wear any armor they wish. HOWEVER, these characters cannot use their class abilities while wearing anything other than light armor.
In other words…

-A Scoundrel wearing combat armor cannot make a sneak attack, because it is a medium armor.
-A Jedi wearing a Corellian Powersuit does not have access to the force, because it is a heavy armor.
-An expert wearing a flight suit can still use her Affinity, because it is a light armor. However, she could not use her Affinity while wearing Stormtrooper armor.
-A Soldier wearing Heavy Assault Armor does not get his combat bonuses, because the armor is too damn bulky. But really, if a hero needs frackin' Heavy Assult Armor to get through an adventure, it may be time to have a word with the GM anyway.

NOTE: Oh, yeah, ignore all the who-can-wear-what if using the Basic Gear rules. This is Advanced Gear stuff.

NEXT: Advanced Gear List

Advanced Gear List

Starting Credits
All characters begin the game with 3d4 x 250 credits, with two exceptions:
-Jedi start the game with 3d4 x 100 credits.
-An Expert with the Nobility Affinity starts the game with 3d4 x 400 credits.

WEAPONS:
Damage :: Cost


Melee Weapons
Knife: 1d4 :: 25
Club: 1d6 :: 15
Spear: 1d8 :: 60
Staff: 1d6 :: 65
Vibrodagger: 2d4 :: 200
Vibroblade: 1d10 :: 250
Force Pike: 2d6 :: 500
Electrostaff: 2d8 :: 3000
Vibro-Axe: 1d10 :: 500
Lightsaber*: 2d8 :: N/A

*Lightsabers work differently in the hands of a trained Jedi. More on that later.

RANGED:
Slugthrower: 2d4 :: 250
Blaster Pistol: 2d6 :: 500
Ion pistol: 3d6 (Ion) :: 250
H. Blast Pistol: 2d8 :: 750
Blaster carbine: 2d8 :: 900
Slugthrower Rifle: 2d8 :: 300
Blast Rifle: 2d8 :: 1000
Ion Rifle: 3d8 (ion) :: 800
Flamethrower: 3d6 :: 1000
Bowcaster: 2d10 :: 1500
Blast Cannon: 2d10 :: 3000
H. Repeater: 3d10 :: 4000
Missile Launcher: 6d6 :: 1500
E-Web: 3d12 :: 8000

NOTE: Players of other D20 Star Wars games might wonder why blasters do 2DX of damage instead of 3DX. This is to keep damage more in proportion to the standard M20 hit point setup. I have also altered the damage of many melee weapons to keep them from being too powerful against low-level characters.

NOTE: Ion weapons do not deal normal damage. Instead, they create a DC that a target droid/machine must roll against or be shut down. More on this under Droids.

NOTE: Slugthrower weapons will bounce right off anything in armor heavier than light- no roll needed.

NOTE: Many weapons in the Star Wars setting can stun instead of kill. I realized just before I posted this that my current stun rules require too many damn steps- I'm going to simplfy them and post them later.

GRENADES:
Frag: 4d6 :: 200
Ion: 4d6 (ion) :: 250
Stun: 4d6 (stun) :: 250

GENERAL EQUIPMENT:
Comlink 250
Pocket scrambler 400
Vox-Box 200
Code cylinder 500
Credit chip 100
Datacard 10
Datapad 1000
Holoprojector 1000
Portable Computer 5000
Electrobinoculars 1000
Glow rod 10
Holorecorder 100
Sensor pack 1500
Aquata breather 350
Breath mask 200
Space suit 2000
Bacta tank 100,000
Medkit 600
Medpac 100
Surgery kit 1000
All-temp cloak 100
Field kit 1000
Jet pack 300
Energy cell 10
Power generator 750
Security kit 750
Tool kit 250
Utility belt 500

NOTE: As a general rule, having equipment simply allows a character to do things they normally would not be able to do. Some gear will grant a +2 circumstance bonus instead. I am not going to outline hard rules about what item has what exact effect, because this seems against the spirit of Microlite20.

NEXT: Oh, yes. The moment we've all been waiting for... May The Force be with you. (Actually, I still can't make up my damn mind about how exactly the force works in M20SW. I may post two alternate versions and get a general nod of heads one way or the other.)

M20SW: MAY THE FORCE BE WITH YOU
First off, let's clear up that cryptic Jedi Training class ability that Jedi characters start with.

Jedi Training
Provides the character with Lightsaber Mastery & Defense, and Force Sense


LIGHTSABER MASTERY
A character with Jedi Training can wield a lightsaber with a Soldier's class bonus. So, a level 6 Jedi strikes with a +2 and does 2d8 +2 damage with a lightsaber. Not with blasters or any other weapon, however.

LIGHTSABER DEFENSE
One of the iconic abilities of the Jedi is to deflect blaster bolts back at attackers. Dear Gods, I have been through draft after draft after revision after revision of this power. At one point, I had cobbled together one of those awful "divide the Jedi level by half and add 1/4 of force ability, plus the number of stars in the Corellian system divided by the number of warts on Yoda's scalp" type messes worse than anything WoTc ever conceived of. Damn, it was complicated. And not fun. And definitely not Microlite.

Thankfully, I had the good sense to put it where it belongs- in the trash folder.

Instead, let's try this:
An unarmored Jedi with a lightsaber adds half of his level to his AC rounded up. In any round after a Jedi is fired upon he can make ranged attacks using his lightsaber attack bonus back at his attackers instead of a normal attack. The damage is as per whatever he was being shot at with.

That's it.

No, really, that's it. Why… Why are you all looking at me like that? Oh, you're wondering about all the fancy-smancy whirling-the-blade-around and deflecting blaster bolts stuff? Two words: cosmetic effect.

If you have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them, but I'm pretty happy with the simplicity of this setup. I don't want to crunch a bunch of numbers and calculate how many bolts I can deflect back at which targets, I just want to bounce blaster-bolt-thingies back at the damn battle droids and then use my lightsaber to fire up a big honkin' victory cigar.

FORCE SENSE
Basically, this allows a Force-user to detect the presence of the Force. This is simply an opposed Force check between the character and another Force user, or maybe the DC of an area.

But wait! There's more! Force Sense is also a way to for the GM to lodge plot hooks directly into the eyeballs of the players. Got some cryptic vision or insight you need to give to the players? Dump it on the player with Force Sense and chalk it up to a Force Sense ability. Or something. Just keep the damn game moving.

That about covers Jedi Training.

NOTE: Wait! What if you don't want to play a Jedi, but rather some other type of force-using character in the Star Wars universe? Well, the good news is you absolutely can and should do just that… The bad news is that you're on your own as to how. Just make up a buncha stuff that sounds cool and let the dice roll.

NEXT: Force Powers (two different verions)

This is just a placeholder, with a checklist of things I've got to finish and add here later.


-Force powers (thanks for the simple list, Slortar.)
-Droids (General conversion notes; I have no plans for droid characters.)
-Starships (Here's what I really need help with. No clue how to do this.)
-Antagonists (Some stormtroopers, rebels, battle droids, dark jedi, etc…)

And that will be it. After some suggestions and ideas, I'll go back over everything, edit out my commentary and notes, and see if I can convert everything to PDF form.

This is truly exceptional work.

You have covered a huge range of material and condensed it into a compact and useful system. I especially like the Alien races and their affinities. The equipment list is comprehensive, the force powers seem to be practical, and you've managed to keep the spirit of M20 throughout.

I don't see anything that might need major change. I'll look it over again later with a more critical eye, if you would like. In the meantime, I think I'll get some sleep...

Great job!

- Dr. Bull

Wow, this is excellent Nomad4Life! The simple expert rules and the modular races section are my particular favorites.

May I suggest tow things, rules-wise?

Firstly, if you're looking for Starship Combat, Darth Cestual has done an excellent job with his rules, which can be found on the Macropedia.

Secondly, you mentioned vacillating over Vitality/Wound points and HP. Well, I think I may have a solution. Vitality/Wound Points were originally invented to make combat and large-damage weapons physically debilitating, and to make recovering from combat easier in a world without Clerics.

Saga Edition introduced both those things with higher starting HP for first level characters (which M20 already has), Second Wind, and Damage Threshold. (neither of which is found in M20)

I suggest adding in Second Wind (1/day, heal half HP lost.) as it is very simple and lets our heroes recover from combat faster.

I also think that adding a Damage Threshold, equal to half a character's STR score, would be a useful addittion.
For those not aware of what a Damage Threshold does, it is basically a limit to how much damage you can take in one attack without taking a (cumulative) -1 to all rolls. (It scales higher in SWSE, but this is easier.)

As an example (not really necessary, but I like writing examples) take Fooda Nog, the Ithorian Soldier:
At first level, with a STR of 12 (he's not all that buff) he has 15 HP, and a Damage Threshold of 6. When he takes 3 damage from a Vibroknife in a barfight, he drops to 12 HP. But when he is hit by a Blaster Rifle for 7 damage, he drops to 5 HP, and takes a -1 to all rolls until he gets some medical attention.

At 10th level, Fooda Nog's STR is now 14. Making his HP 69, and his Damage Threshold 7. While the earlier Blaster shot would now only take off 1/10th of his HP, he will still take a -1 penalty to all rolls until a doctor attends to him.

I can't wait to see more!