Crix Madine and Airen Cracken are probably two of my favorite characters that not many people know about unless they’re steeped in the Expanded Universe. But both of these characters are actually canon and appeared in Episode VI. Crix Madine is the general that gives Han Solo the mission of leading the strike team to take out the shield generator on Endor. Airen Cracken is actually serving as a gunner for Lando in one of the turrets of the Millenium Falcon during the Battle of Endor.
Both of these men are practiced in a special kind of warfare. Crix Madine was an Imperial Officer before his conscience got the best of him, leading him to defect to the Alliance. Before he did so, he was responsible for creating the Storm Commandos, a highly skilled, tactical group of scout troopers created to counter the Rebels guerilla tactics; Madine was highly skilled in the art of unconventional warfare, and became Supreme Commander of the Rebel SpecForce due to his familiarity with Imperial tactics.
Cracken, on the other hand, was a Mechanic on his home planet of Contruum before it was occupied by the Empire. He bolstered his fellow mechanics and fought a guerilla war against the Empire that eventually lead to them winning control of the planet back. He continued to lead his men to win freedom for other occupied planets until he eventually joined up with the Alliance who put his talents to good use in Alliance Intelligence.
These two men shared numerous jobs throughout their careers, Cracken finally retiring and Madine having the dubious honor of being the first character to have a speaking role in the films to be killed in the Expanded Universe, being shot through the heart by Durga the Hutt after being captured by the crime lord while gathering intel on the Darksaber project.*
Both of these men were known and widely respected for leading their men on missions and I tried to reflect that in these builds. They are dangerous foes on their own, but they really shine when they have a squad of commandos to lead. Of course, their enemies would need to know of their existence first before they could do anything about it.
Crix Madine [Nemesis]
Brawn 2
Agility 3
Intellect 4
Cunning 4
Willpower 4
Presence 3
Wound Threshold: 12
Strain Threshold: 15
Soak Value: 3
Melee/Ranged Defense: 1|1
Skills: Coercion 2, Cool 3, Discipline 2, Leadership 3, Perception 2, Ranged (Heavy) 1, Ranged (Light) 1, Stealth 2, Survival 2, Vigilance 4, Warfare 4
Talents: Adversary 2 (upgrade difficulty of all combat checks againt this target twice), Clever Solution (once per session, may choose to make one skill check with Cunning, rather than the related characteristic), Command 2 (add two boost dice to Leadership checks; affected targets add two boost dice to Discipline checks for the next 24 hours), Commanding Presence 1 (remove one setback die from all Leadership checks), Field Commander (as an action, may make an Average Leadership check; 3 allies may immediately suffer 1 strain to perform a free maneuver).
Abilities: Enemy Tactician (as an action, make a Hard Knowledge [Warfare] check; 4 allies can decrease the difficulty of their next combat check by one), SpecForce Commander (Alliance operatives add one boost die to all Cool and Stealth checks when in the NPC’s presence)
Equipment: Armored clothing (+1 Soak Value, +1 Defense), blaster carbine (Ranged [Heavy]; Damage 9; Crit 3; Range [Medium]; Stun setting), frag grenade (Ranged [Light]; Damage 8; Crit 4; Range [Short]; Blast 6, Limited Ammo 1), handheld comlink, breath mask and respirator, utility belt
Airen Cracken [Nemesis]
Brawn 2
Agility 3
Intellect 4
Cunning 5
Willpower 3
Presence 3
Wound Threshold: 13
Strain Threshold: 13
Soak Value: 3
Melee/Ranged Defense: 1|1
Skills: Computers 1, Cool 2, Gunnery 1, Leadership 2, Mechanics 4, Outer Rim 2, Perception 3, Piloting (Space) 2, Ranged (Heavy) 1, Ranged (Light) 2, Skulduggery 4, Vigilance 3, Warfare 2
Talents: Adversary 2 (upgrade difficulty of combat checks targeting this character twice), Bypass Security 1 (removed one setback die from any Computers or Skulduggery check to bypass security), Improvised Detonation (once per session as an action make a Hard Mecahnics check to create an explosive device; explosion deals 8 damage plus successes on the check and Blast equal to the same; Triumph increases damage by 2; Despair causes a premature detonation), Inventor 2 (may add two boost dice or remove 2 setback dice from checks make to construct new items or modify existing items), Steady Nerves 2 (remove two setback dice from Cool and Skulduggery checks)
Abilities: Cracken’s Rebel Field Guide (Alliance operatives add one boost die to all Mechanics and Skulduggery checks made when in the NPC’s presence), Unconventional Warfare (as an action make a Hard Knowledge [Warfare] check; up to 5 allies or enemies add two boost dice or suffer two setback dice on their next action respectively)
Equipment: Armored clothing (+1 Soak Value, +1 Defense), blaster carbine (Ranged [Heavy]; Damage 9; Crit 3; Range [Medium]; Stun setting), frag grenade (Ranged [Light]; Damage 8; Crit 4; Range [Short]; Blast 6, Limited Ammo 1), handheld comlink, breath mask and respirator, tool kit, utility belt
*Can we just take a minute and appreciate that this particular dark spot in the Star Wars universe is no longer canon?
Ben Erickson
