Welcome to the HoloNet Uplink, citizen. This series focuses on Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars Roleplaying Game, with content aimed mostly at the Gamemaster. Threats, adventure seeds, rules supplements, and more are all to come for those who access The HoloNet Uplink.
Writing about Oricon, aka Space Mordor, has gotten me on an Old Republic kick. We will have to see what comes out of this, but at the very least I thought I’d draft an NPC threat suitable to challenge my current patch of Sith PCs.
I’ve received some criticism, and perhaps rightly so in some cases, that I can tend to go a bit overboard on the difficulty of NPCs presented here at the HoloNet Uplink. Just how epic threats should go can easily be the topic of an entire series of blog posts. Largely, I think this is at least partially era dependent. When it comes to the Galactic Civil War era, the Original Trilogy setting, the power level of Force users is generally best kept close to the movies – that is to say on the lower end. However, in play set in eras where there are thousands of Sith Lords and Jedi Masters roaming the galaxy, such as The Old Republic, I’m a firm believing in amping up the power by stepping into high XP play. A few folks in my home group have embraced the title of “Legends,” and see eras set thousands of years before the Original Trilogy as somewhat mythic in nature, allowing for some potentially over the top moments.
This is all the say, yup, the threat below is pretty tough. However, my long running Sith PCs could handle it, their NPC Sith masters are easily more potent, and two of them are easily more dangerous in lightsaber combat. I know there are some folks out there also running at high XP levels, so I hope this is of use to you. For others, it goes without saying stealing and modifying is the right and privilege of all gamemasters.
Sith Juggernaut [Nemesis]
Unrelenting will and unrestrained fury made manifest, Sith Juggernauts are among the deadliest warriors the galaxy has ever seen. Clad in heavy armor, these dark knights dominate the battlefield in the name of the Sith Emperor. Juggernauts focus on brute strength, relying on powerful lightsaber blows to defeat their enemies. Overwhelmingly practitioners of Djem So, the furious strikes of a Sith Juggernaut can shatter even the most resilient of defenses. Their own defenses rely heavily on force enhanced stamina and heavy armor to supplement conventional lightsaber parrying. The ability for Juggernauts to wade into the most ferocious of combats unscathed is renowned through the galaxy. Many of the Sith Empire’s most infamous war time leaders, such as Darth Malgus, are adherents to the Sith Juggernaut warrior path. Dispatching a Sith Juggernaut is no easy task, and many a would be hero has been surprised by one of these warriors returning to avenge a defeat after overcoming grievous wounds which would have surely killed lesser beings.
Br 4, Ag 3, Int 2, Cun 3, WP 4, Pres 3
Soak 6, W. Threshold 30, S. Threshold 22 Def M/R 2/1
Skills: Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Coercion 4, Cool 2, Discipline 2, Knowledge (Warfare) 2, Knowledge (Lore) 2, Lightsaber 4, Melee 3, Perception 2, Vigilance 3.
Talents: Adversary 4 (Upgrade difficulty of all combat checks against this target four times), Defensive Training 1 (Lightsaber, Melee, and Brawl weapons wielded by a Sith Juggernaut gain 1 rank in the Defensive item quality [replaces any ranks in Defensive the weapon already has].), Force Rating 2, Parry 6 (When struck by a melee attack but before applying soak, suffer 3 strain to reduce damage by 8.), Reflect 4 (When struck by a ranged attack but before applying soak, suffer 3 strain to reduce damage by 6.)
Abilities: Additional Combat Turns (Takes one additional turn at the end of the round.), Dark Side Force User (uses Dark Side results instead of Light Side results, see page 281.), Falling Avalanche (Suffer 2 strain to add damage equal to Brawn to next Lightsaber combat check made this turn), Force Power: Bind (May spend Force points to immobilize a target within short range until the end of the user’s next turn. If Dark Side points used, the target also suffers 1 wound per Force point spent on the check [ignores soak].), Overpowering Blows (A character who uses the Parry talent against a Sith Juggernaut’s Lightsaber or Melee attacks costs an additional point of strain.), Shatter Defenses (Lightsaber or Melee attacks made by Sith Juggernauts ignore up to 2 points of Melee Defense.)
Equipment: Lightsaber (Lightsaber; Damage 10; Critical 1; Range [Engaged]; Breach 1, Sunder, Vicious 1), Sith battle armor (soak 2, defense 1, cortosis).
Christopher Hunt
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