In honor of The Mandalorian‘s Clan (of Two) Mudhorn, I have been making stats for some cool gear from Season 1. Last month, I presented FFG Star Wars stats for my new favorite weapon, the Whistling Birds. Today, Saga Edition fans get stats to use in their games.
Whistling birds is a Mandalorian vambrace weapon, named for the sound its tiny bes’kar projectiles make. It is unique, being a ranged weapon that is almost as “up close and personal” as a vibroblade. Oddly for an area effect weapon, whistling birds is designed to be used when you are within the 2 square Burst Radius, without risk of taking damage oneself. The user doesn’t get a choice of where the blast center is; the user is considered the center.
When you make an area attack with whistling birds, you make a single attack roll and compare the result to the Reflex Defense of every target in the burst radius. Creatures you hit take full damage, and creatures you miss take half damage. A target with the Evasion talent (p. 50, Saga Edition Core Rulebook) takes half damage from a successful attack and no damage if the attack misses.
Design & Play Notes: The SWSE stats were surprisingly easy to design, for a “crunchy” system. If you’re using a grid map, for uniformity with other weapons that have a burst radius, pick a corner of the attacker’s square in the direction they are facing (the one directly in front or a corner of the facing side).
I grouped Whistling birds in Exotic Weapons, since most Exotic Weapons are limited to a particular culture (e. g., bowcaster, cesta, amphistaff). They are Restricted to the Mandalorian culture, although, as the core book mentions, anyone, with “sufficient patience and cash” can obtain Restricted gear. If, in this case, they want to risk offending every Mando they meet. Mando’ade, after all, aren’t cool with outsiders appropriating their cultural weaponry and armor. (Nope, not even for a Good Cause. See Season 2, Episode 1.) So there’s a lot of risk to both seller and buyer.
Linda Whitson
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