Action movies, in particular the Star Wars films, are filled with moments of high drama and suspense, but none match the intensity of the duel. Duels are always epic and cinematic moments, whether they are a fight between the hero of the story and a Tusken Raider atop a plateau on Tatoooine, or the ultimate battle between good and evil aboard the command tower of the Death Star between a character and their evil Sith Lord father. Physical confrontations are not the only duels that we see on film however, with memorable scenes also being drawn from situations such as debates between powerful politicians on the Senate floor, or perhaps when two military leaders negotiate a ceasefire in the midst of a conflict. In each of these cases, one on one combat, whether social or physical, can be the pinnacle of an adventure or in some cases, the climax of a campaign.
Role Playing Games can sometimes struggle with the concept of the “duel;” primarily due to the way they sometimes reflect damage and the ability of targets to absorb damage. Encounters in many game systems are also designed in such a way as to not overly extend the scenario for pacing reasons, and so damage is normally balanced by a character’s or NPC’s statistic which represents their ability to withstand damage. Sometimes though, a game master may wish to provide an opportunity for a one on one duel in order to add a dramatic flair to an encounter they are planning. These rules aim to provide the GM with the tools to include dramatic duels in any Edge of the Empire, Age of Rebellion or Force and Destiny game.
The idea of developing rules for duels was first explored by Chris Witt, host of the Order 66 Podcast, during Episode 32 in response to a listener question which pondered the use of duels utilizing the Narrative Dice System by Fantasy Flight Games (FFG), a topic that was revisited again in Episode 63. As was expressed during the podcast, the Narrative Dice System provides an excellent framework to introduce the notion of duels to the Star Wars Role Playing Game, and it is hoped that this system will provide an elegant method for portraying epic struggles between opponents. Some liberties have been taken with this version, bringing all of the rules discussed into a single article.
It should also be noted that based on the limited amount of information we learned about the new Fated Duel Signature Ability for the Guardian career in the forthcoming Keeping the Peace in a recent article, it appears to mirror much of what we see in this system, . It should also be noted that this system was introduced to prevent the one shot/one kill situation encountered in the Edge of the Empire and Age or Rebellion games, and was greatly lessened with the introduction of some of the abilities and talents presented in Force and Destiny. GMs are encouraged to try this system never-the-less.
THE DUEL CHALLENGE
The aim of this mechanic is to ensure that the duel can be used with minimal impact or change to the current combat and skill mechanics within the system. A few additions to the rules are required, and it is suggested that the system needs a certain level of “buy in” from the players at the table. The system is intended as a “bolt on” and allows the duel to have an epic feel, and GMs to make duels a centerpiece within a conflict, rather than being over in a couple of rounds.
DECLARING A CHALLENGE
A duel can be declared at any time by a player character or a Nemesis. The character making the declaration must be at short range or engaged with the target of the duel. The character making the Dueling Challenge does so as an incidental action in their turn.
The opponent of the Dueling Challenge has the option to not participate in the duel, in which case combat (physical or social) continues as normal. Upon acceptance of the Duel Challenge, niether participant can be targeted by ranged weapons unless there are no other combatants currently in line of sight. In the case of social combat, other participants may only enter the Duel Challenge if they are assisting or combining their skills with the main Duel Challenge participants. All effects pertaining to the results of the Duel Challenge are applied to the main participants.
A participant may leave a Duel Challenge at any time however the participant who leaves the duel immediately takes strain damage equal to half their current Strain Threshold (rounding up). If a participant’s Strain is reduced to their Strain Threshold at any time, follow the normal process as detailed in Strain and Wounds below as if the character reaches their Challenge Point Threshold (see below).
INITIATIVE
Initiative in the Duel Challenge System is treated no differently in this system than normal combat. Participants roll at the beginning of the Duel Challenge, unless they are already engaged in a combat encounter and have an existing initiative roll.
ACTIONS AND MANEUVERS
Actions and maneuvers act differently in a Duel Challenge. Participants in a duel take only one action, as the character is deemed to be moving about the battlefield, and avoiding blows. Characters may take an additional maneuver in order move to a different position, or activate an ability that requires a maneuver. Any maneuvers that are spent in this way cause the character to take 2 strain, unless the character has the ability to gain a free maneuver.
Examples of this include the expenditure of 
or through the use of a racial ability such as characters of the Xexto species. Characters that spend maneuvers in this way, and who successfully move to a distance greater than short range, also end the Duel Challenge and suffer the effects to their strain as though they had left the Duel Challenge.
CHALLENGE POINTS, STRAIN, & WOUNDS
Strain and Wounds in a Dueling Challenge are not tracked in the same way as they are in regular combat. Instead, characters use Challenge Points to determine their ability to survive the duel.
A character’s Challenge Point Threshold is equal to the character’s Strain Threshold. The GM can assign additional levels to this, but it should be noted that additional increases will extend the length of the encounter. The recommended average number is 10, however the GM may increase this to either 15 or even 20 for dramatic or for epic campaign encounters. The difficulty set is the number of total successes a combatant must make to win the duel. Those familiar with Skill Challenges in Dungeons and Dragons 4th Edition, and Star Wars SAGA Edition will recognize this approach.
Players record the total number of 
on successful checks, and their opponent adds that number to their current Challenge Point Threshold. The first character whose Challenge Points equal or exceed their Challenge Point Threshold is struck a killing blow, knocked to the ground at the mercy of the enemy, or out debated on the Senate floor, etc. Strain can still be used throughout the duel as normal, but wounds are not suffered unless it is caused through an outside source such as environmental effects.
Strain can be regained and suffered by participants in the duel through the use of and 
, along with any talents or abilities which cause strain. Game Masters are encouraged to add 
to their own checks, or apply 
or fully upgrade their opponent’s next checks instead of applying of and , to cause or reduce strain, relying on a more narrative approach.
Should a character’s current Challenge Points exceed their Challenge Point Threshold, the character’s Strain moves to its Strain Threshold, and its current Wounds increase to one less than the character’s Wound Threshold. Additionally, in the case of physical combat, the character also takes a critical wound as if struck by a weapon that the attacker is currently wielding.
SKILLS & TALENTS
The Duel Challenge is designed to use any skill that the character has access to, including those that they have no skill ranks in. The checks used during the Duel Challenge need not be derived from combat skills, and Game Masters should encourage players to think about the narrative, by using description and flair to explain the actions or the participants and how their skills apply to that situation.
The difficulty of these actions will be dependent on how the skill is used, what check it is, and the situation, but the check will usually be either opposed, or a difficulty set by the game master. Players and game masters are encouraged to be as creative and dramatic as possible, using as many diverse skills as possible such as Coordination to tumble around your foe, Resilience to take a punch, or Knowledge to affect the battlefield. The most direct and obvious skills to use are combat skills. For combat checks, difficulty is determined through normal difficulties based on the target’s distance, cover, Defense, talents, etc, If the Game Master or Player is in doubt, a good bench-mark difficulty is 
or .
Talents such as Parry and Deflect removes from a check per rank of the talent the target possesses, however the character must still spend the strain required to use the talent as normal.
USING THE NARRATIVE DICE
Participants in a Duel Challenge use the results of the dice rolled during the encounter as they would normally, spending , , 
and 
to affect the outcome of the encounter. This system works best when applying these results to upgrade the difficulty of checks, increasing their own dice rolls, and affecting the environment around them rather than spending threat to affect Strain. Although can be used to replenish Strain, but it cannot be used to replenish Duel Challenge Points.
INTERRUPTING AND JOINING A DUEL CHALLENGE
Other players may wish to join a Duel Challenge. Taking into consideration the narrative aspects of the challenge, and providing it would appropriate to the story, any character may join a duel challenge. These types of encounters can best be dealt in the standard rules format, however no change is required to these rules and how they are applied.
OTHER OPTIONS
Another option that players and GMs may find useful are the dueling rules contained on pages 85 and 86 of the Smuggler Career Book, Fly Casual for the Edge of the Empire game line.
EXAMPLE
Arcz, the young noble, lost his footing, and fell over a large protruding rock, his vibro-rapier scattering across the ground just out of his reach. The small moon that they had followed the mysterious warrior to was covered in a fine grey dust which the young noble spat from his mouth. The Barabel advanced towards him, his Gaffi Stick held high, ready to strike down to finish Arcz off once and for all. Arcz had a split second to respond, and instinctively grabbed a handful of the fine dirt which covered his palm and threw it towards the Barabel’s face. The attack surprised the reptilian humanoid, and temporarily blinded him. The wind decided at this moment to pick up speed, throwing the dust back toward the young man, the grit stinging his eyes. Clearly thought, Arcz’s tactic’s worked, and Barabel bellowing in agony, as it thrashed its blade about, hoping to get lucky enough to connect with Arcz’s body. This gave the smuggler the pause he needed and he grabbed his weapon preparing to plunge its fine blade into the Barabel’s abdomen.
In the previous round Arcz, the swash-buckling noble, had fallen over and lost his weapon thanks to the Barabel rolling an excessively large number of . Combat returned to Arcz’s initiative, and in his turn he used a Ranged (Light) attack with dice as determined by range and attacking with a ranged weapon whilst engaged. Arcz’s player then rolls, and succeeds with , and a . The Barabel’s current Duel Challenge Point Total increases by 2, and Arcz uses the Triumph to fully upgrade his opponent’s next check due to being momentarily blinded. The GM rules though that Arcz next attack will suffer a single thanks to the blow-back of the dust into Arcz’s way.
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