4e-style Threats for SWSE

One of the things that is a real pain in 3e and its derivitives is generating stat-blocks for monsters, NPCs, and other threats the PCs might encounter. Because such opponents are built using much the same structure as the PCs, there's a need to juggle ability scores, levels, feats, talents, skills, etc etc... all for a creature that might not be fought at all, and even if it is it gets used for a handful of rounds before it dies.

One of the things that 4e got very right, by contrast, is in its monster design. Each monster is given a role (Brute, Skirmisher, etc), a type (Minion, normal, Elite, Solo), and a level, and from that you could basically stat out the creature. This was quick, simple, and gave monsters that mostly just worked.

Star Wars Saga Edition sits in a slightly odd position in that it incorporates many of the enhancements from 4e, but the 'threats' (the equivalent of monsters) are mostly built according to the 3e paradigm. This actually makes them very lame - in order to be effective, pretty much all monsters have to be built in much the same way, which costs any interesting diversity that the 3e model might potentially grant.

So, for the last day or so I've been considering the possibility of 4e-ing the SWSE threats. And, given the relatively small number of threats detailed in the books, it does look like it might well be possible.

So...

There are six monster roles in 4e:

• Brute: A straightforward melee combatant, a brute hits hard, soaks up damage, but is otherwise unremarkable.
• Soldier: A more involved combatant (melee or ranged), soldiers don't hit so hard, but they have better defences to compensate. Additionally, soldiers probably work best in squads.
• Artillery: A straightforward ranged combatant, artillery hits hard, but is generally both immobile and easily killed.
• Skirmisher: Mobility is key for the skirmisher. They tend to use terrain to their advantage, remain mobile... but are easily dealt with when pinned down.
• Lurker: The 'gotcha' threat, these guys remain out of sight, spring up, do massive damage, and disappear. Or they die.
• Controller The most complex role, these guys tend to alter the nature of the battle or the battlefield itself.
• Leader: A special-case role, a Leader may be a modified version of any other role. They have the same traits as the main role, but tend to add one or two more powers to their comrades, allowing them to benefit from teamwork.

There are also four monster types:

• Minions: Minions are the cannon-fodder monsters. They have only 1 hit point, but never take damage on a 'miss'. They tend to be very simple monsters, but tend also to have one key power to make them a little more interesting.
• Elite monsters are effectively two monsters at once - they're tougher, hit harder, and act more.
• Solo monsters are effectively four monsters at once - like elite monsters, but moreso.

And, of course, there are 'normal' monsters, but they don't need an entry.

Finally, a threat can make its dominant attack in one of three ways: Melee, Ranged, or through the Force. Of course, these need not be the only way the threat attacks, but the main attack will be one of these three.

So, to create a threat:

1. Choose the threat's level, role, type, and dominant attack.
2. Determine the creature's attack mode modifiers. These are (6 + level)/4 for the two non-dominant attacks and (12 + level)/4 for the dominant attack. Round all fractions down.
3. Assign Defences. Ref is 12 + level + Ranged modifier. Fort is 12 + level + Melee modifier. Will is 12 + level + Force modifier. If the threat is a Soldier, add +2 to Ref; if a Brute or Artillery then subtract 2 from Ref. At this point, you may wish to add points to one defence and subtract them from another on a 1-for-1 basis. It is recommended that you add or subtract no more than 2 points to any single defence, and that you do so to increase the disparity between best and worst defences rather than equalise them. The threat's Damage Threshold equals its Fort defence.
4. Determine hit bonuses. There is one of these for each attack mode, equal to 5 + level + the appropriate modifier. For Artillery, increase the Ranged hit bonus by +1.
5. Determine the damage for attacks. The base average damage should be 8 + level. This should be increased by +25% for a single-use effect, increased by +25% if the threat is a Brute, decreased by -25% if the attack affects multiple targets, decreased by -25% if the attack also drives the target down the condition track, and reduced by -50% for a minion. For all creatures except minions, this should then be converted into a dice range + modifier. For example, if the base average damage is 10, this could become 1d8+6. (Note that, when counting dice ranges, any leftover fractions should be assume to round down.)
6. From the hit bonuses and base damage values, assign some specific attacks. Most creatures should have at least one 'standard' attack, and probably at least one special attack, probably a per-encounter attack.
7. Determine hit points. Minions have 1 hit point, but don't take damage on a miss. Otherwise, the base hit point depend on role and level. For Skirmishers, Controllers, and Soldiers, hit points are 24 + (8 * level). For Artillery and Lurkers, they are 21 + (6 * level). And for Brutes, they're 26 + (10 * level). Elites have double hit points; Solos have quadruple hit points.
8. Determine Initiative. This is (level / 2) + Ranged bonus. Increase by +2 for Soldiers or Skirmishers, or by +4 for Lurkers.
9. Determine Perception. This is (level / 2) + Force bonus. If appropriate, assign low-light or darkvision to the threat.
10. Assign a skills bonus. This should equal (4 + level)/2. Note that Initiative and Perception are skills, but are handled separately, as indicated above. Note also that the Use the Force skill does not affect the threat's Force-based attacks, if any.
11. At this point, you may wish to assign a few trained skills to the threat. In most cases, this shouldn't need to be done. However, if the threat is particularly noted for some skill, this should be done. It should also probably be done for solo and elite creatures. For trained skills, add +5 to the bonus for those skills. For elite threats, you may wish to assign a skill focus, increasing a single skill by a further +5 (over and above the 'trained' bonus). For solo threats, you may wish to add two different skill focuses. You may wish to increase Initiative and/or Perception in any of these stages; if so, increase the appropriate modifier.
12. At this point, all the cold, numeric data has been determined for the threat. You should now look to flesh the threat out to make it more interesting. This may involve adding one or more special powers to the creature. Minions should usually have a single special power related to its role. Otherwise, Brutes and Artillery should have 0-1 powers, Soldiers and Skirmishers should have 1-2 powers, and Lurkers and Controllers should have 2-3 powers. Leaders should have one extra power, Elites should have one extra power, and Solos should have two extra powers. (Thus, a Solo Controller Leader could have as many as 6 powers!)
13. Assign equipment, descriptive text, or similar to the creature.

That's the process. It's probably in need of some serious tweaks, since it's basically lifted from 4e and SWSE is a bit different. It's also quite counter-intuitive that the damage ranges will be so different from those the equipment lists say they 'should' be. However, I'm going to suggest that's because SWSE as it stands is too lethal at low level and too lenient at high; this system may well improve the game.

My next step is to convert all this into an auto-calculating spreadsheet or similar, check it for accuracy, and then start converting some threats. But that's for another day.