Today’s adversaries for the Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars Roleplaying Game are the brainchild of my passion for the Empire’s Byzantine structure and a recent viewing of The Man From U.N.C.L.E. with its iconic Soviet guards in the Berlin scenes. The CompForce Security Trooper fills a thematic and mechanical niche by providing a minion adversary that threatens the PCs with discovery without being an especially threatening combatant. The guard massiff completes the Soviet guard imagery by providing a vicious guard dog analog suitable for use with the CompForceSecurity Trooper or with other security forces.
CompForce Security Trooper [Minion]
Where subversion and corruption threaten security, the ideological purity and fanatical loyalty of CompForce units is employed to protect the New Order. Security Troops are graduates of COMPNOR’s Sub-Adult Group education program and CompForce’s Observation Cadre training. Seen as poorly trained political spies by the regular military, this reputation is partly true: while CompForce Security Troopers lack combat training, their ideological motivation and keen eye for dissidence and contraband make them suitable for their role. Ostensibly deployed away from the front lines to give the CompForce members military experience while providing service to the Empire, in reality these troopers are specifically sent where the threat of ideological subversion is greatest. Teams provide access and patrol security to Imperial installations and support Customs officers in search and screening operations at ports throughout the galaxy. While on the lookout for contraband such as spice and weapons, they are equally discerning in rooting out subversive literature and other propaganda.
Characteristics
Br 2, Ag 2, Int 2, Cun 2, WP 3, Pres 2
Soak 3, W. Threshold 5, M/R Def 0/0
Skills (group only): Coercion, Discipline, Perception
Talents: none
Abilities: none
Equipment: Blaster carbine (Ranged (Heavy); Damage 9; Critical 3; Range [Medium]; Stun setting), 2 stun grenades (Ranged (Light); Damage 8; Critical NA; Range [Short]; Disorient 3, Stun Damage, Blast 8, Limited Ammo 1), blast vest (+1 soak), utility belt, extra reloads, general purpose scanner, for each security detachment of two or four troopers one may be a massiff handler
Guard Massiff [Rival]
An armoured lizard native to the Outer Rim world of Geonosis, the massiff’s keen senses and predatory instincts make a formidable guard animal when combined with the right training. Massiffs have been employed in this role by the settlers and Sand People of Tatooine, the Coruscant Guard and Recon Force of the Grand Army of the Republic, and on many planets and organizations across the galaxy. These massiffs have been trained by their handlers to detect intruders and contraband by sense of smell, and to restrain rather than tear with their formidable claws.
Characteristics
Br 4, Ag 3, Int 1, Cun 3, WP 2, Pres 1
Soak 5, W. Threshold 16, M/R Def 0/0
Skills: Brawl 2, Perception 3, Resilience 1, Survival 1, Vigilance 3
Talents: Adversary 1 (upgrade difficulty of all combat checks against this target once)
Abilities: Sniffer Conditioning (Through specific training, guard massiffs can use keen sense of smell to detect beings, this has the effect of removing up to two setback die from perception checks within medium range. At engaged range, a guard massiff gains a Boost die to find contraband, by detecting the smell of spice, the ozone in high energy power packs, etc.)
Equipment: Claws (Brawl; Damage 5, Critical 3, Range [Engaged]; Ensnare 1), tearing fangs (Brawl; Damage 4; Critical 2; Range [Engaged]; Vicious 3)
Usage Tips:
Highly observant, skilled at detecting lies, and nearly impossible to bribe, CompForce Security Troopers are most threatening due to their potentially large Discipline and Perception pools. They provide deceptive PCs a scalable challenge through changing the number of minions in the group without necessarily providing a credible threat in combat. Remember, CompForce is held in poor regard by the Imperial military, meaning that there are opportunities for devious PCs to sow dissension in the Imperial ranks and possibly create openings in otherwise ironclad security.
Use guard massiffs wherever you need to beef up adversary security. Their high Perception and Vigilance combined with Sniffer Conditioning will significantly increase the threat of a checkpoint, inspection, or search team. Narratively, deployment of guard massiffs can signal a raising of the stakes by the adversaries, say after one too many successful smuggling runs or Rebel raids perpetrated by PCs. Many factions use massiffs as guard animals, so feel free to use them alongside Storm Commando hunter-killer teams, as the protective pets of a crime lord, or anywhere else a frightening dog would fit in other media.
Design Notes:
As alluded to in the introduction to this article, I was inspired to draft these adversaries by the iconic image of Soviet border guards with massive dogs. Soviet border guards were charged not only with protecting the physical security of the Union, but also safeguarding it against Western propaganda and anti-Soviet literature. This focus on ideological purity screamed COMPNOR and CompForce to me.
I started with massiff stats and had a solid draft before checking Lords of Nal Hutta again, and finding them on page 138. My initial concept was similar to the official stats, but I second-guessed myself and nerfed the creature. I was glad to see I could give the adversary some more teeth, and worked out a compromise between the Nal Hutta write up and my own to reflect a more domesticated guard animal instead of a wild and hungry predator.
Christopher Hunt
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