Welcome to my gaming world. I have been playing RPGs since high school, when Advanced Dungeons & Dragons was part of my school district’s Gifted Ed curriculum in the late 70s. Yes, American Education has been going to The Lower Planes in a handbasket far longer than you realized…Currently, much of my gaming is over Skype, rather than on a tabletop–but, largely because of the group, it is the best gaming I have been involved with. You can read the other Fun Facts about my geeky life in my profile at the bottom.
What am I plotting for my very own column, now that I have one? Pretty much more of what I have been writing about all along. That means a lot of PC and NPC stats, often with an original character portrait. But that’s not all! You’ll see homebrewed/converted equipment or creatures. There’ll be reviews of gaming sourcebooks, modules, and other materials. And my takes on various aspects of gaming: mechanics, online games, even “Etiquette and protocol.” Since I am a big Star Wars fan, a lot of these will be Star Wars. However, I will also be writing about other RPGs I know and love–FATE, Mutants & Masterminds, Castles & Crusades. Maybe some of you are fans of these as well, or might give them a try based on my articles. I m also hoping that in 2016, as in 2015, I will find some new, or new-to-me, games to enjoy and then introduce to you.
While I was designing and equipping yet another Age of Rebellion character, my gaming friends and I realized that there isn’t a flight suit close to the standard Rebel (or TFA New Republic) pilot’s gear. I feel that the armored flightsuit in Stay on Target better represents a TIE pilot’s gear, with its full helmet and laminate chest and back armor. The Spacesuit in AoR also isn’t intended to represent a pilot’s flightsuit; with maneuvering thrusters, tool couplings, etc. it is for hull repairs and other EVA operations.
The Rebel suit–for any ship model–is a soft suit which provides life support, protection from cold and (via mag-con technology) vacuum. Granted, cold protection is debatable, since the X-wing novels and other Legends sources say it provides little to no protection against the cold of space. However, much as I love the X-wing novels, I don’t think that makes any sense. Besides the suit itself, it is only a hard (usually) helmet and a flak vest or other soft armor. So, what is needed is a suit without plates or laminate that protects from vacuum and suffocation.
This homebrew version is inspired by the Armor Crafting rules in the latest F&D supplement, Keeping the Peace. Light Armor can be made for 250 credits & provides +2 Soak. That gives a Brawn 2 PC a Soak of 4, pretty respectable. What really makes this into a Rebel Pilot suit is the Vacuum Sealed attachment (p. 57), allowing survival in vacuum or poisonous atmospheres. To make this with the crafting rules will cost you 4 Advantage. Per Table 3-2, 1 Advantage or 1 Triumph can be spent for the Sealable effect, which makes the item full body and eligible for that Vacuum Sealed attachment. But, since Light Armor has no Hard Points, you will also need to pay another 3 Advantage for the Hard Point. You may also need GM buy-in for this. I have gotten varying responses from other gamers as to whether Light Armor is really eligible for for that attachment–but my GM was not only onboard, he suggested it to me.
You may have another option, as I did. Since I was bringing a new PC into an established game, starting with slightly less XP than the current PCs, the GM was willing to allow my character to have this. His–and the group’s–reasoning was that at this point their PCs already had modded weapons and other gear so it wouldn’t be allowing my PC to be outfitted better than theirs. Or, your GM might be willing to allow you to buy something similar. My GM suggested a cost of 1,250 credits.
Linda Whitson
Latest posts by Linda Whitson (see all)
- Astral Projections – The Ripperdoc Is In - May 8, 2023
Great article Linda. The Flight Suit has the Dragon Squadron stamp of approval upon it. The team love it!
Cool! This was a group effort of the whole game group.
I am looking forward to trying the suit out, on the new PC I mentioned. You’ll get to meet Alyxa Redstar in a few weeks, by the way.