Simultaneous Attack (DEX)

The idea of gun-toting heroes armed with a weapon in each hand firing at the enemy has come more into fashion with the release of movies such as Last Man Standing, Face/Off, The Matrix and some of the more recent Martial Arts movies. Even with the release of Jedi Knight – Dark Forces II, we see a mad Twi’lek Jedi battling our hero Kyle Katarn, wielding 2 lightsabers. Taking this into consideration, it would be a natural progression for characters in the Star Wars: Role Playing Game: Revised and Expanded to try and do the same sort of thing. As a result we created the skill Simultaneous Attack.

Normally, if a character were to perform this type of action, the character would be at –1D for an additional action, and if firing with an off hand, is at additional +5 to the difficulty. This skill, however, enables the user to wield two weapons at the same time, and dispenses with the confusion of the old system.

When a character attempts to use two weapons as mentioned above, the rules consider the handedness of the character, and number of actions taken. Handedness is determined at time of character creation, or after a character has spent character points to become ambidextrous.

If a character is not ambidextrous, and a second weapon is used, the character’s off hand incurs a +5 to the difficulty of the weapon used.

Multiple actions incur a -1D for each additional action. Using this skill eliminates this penalty.

This skill acts as a dice cap to the weapon skills used. Basically this means that the wielder of the weapons uses either this skill, or the appropriate weapon skill, whichever is lower.

The multi-action action penalty is removed and the use of both weapons in the one segment is considered one action. The only difference is that a skill roll is made for each weapon, but at no penalty for multiple actions.

There are many specializations of this skill, but three of the most common are Simultaneous Attack: Blaster with Blaster, Melee with Melee, and Melee with Blaster. Another specialization is that of Simultaneous Attack: Lightsaber with Lightsaber. When this skill is used, the character’s Sense skill (at -2D as per the Lightsaber Combat power) is added to both attacks as per a normal attack.

A character who does not have the Simultaneous Attack skill uses his base Dexterity attribute instead.

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Martial Arts

Martial Arts skill is a normal skill based on the Dexterity attribute. To gain access to Martial Arts the character must have at least 4D in Brawling and Melee Combat skills.

The skill is purchased differently to that of other skills. When a character purchases this skill, the skill begins at the characters Dexterity level. The cost is what a normal skill would cost, but rather than increasing one “pip”, the skill remains at the Dexterity attribute.

At the time of learning of the skill, the character learns the abilities of power punch, power kick, and power block. Each time the character learns an entire “D” in the skill above his Dexterity Attribute, a new ability may be learned.

To learn new Martial Arts abilities, the character must be taught by a Master with Martial Arts 6D or higher. A character may self teach the skill at normal character point cost, and double training time. A character may not learn a new ability of ‘name’ style alone. Only a teacher can train a character a new technique/ability. The term ‘teacher’ can include instruction via books, manuscripts, or droids.

Rolling to Hit
The standard difficulty to hit when using the Brawling skill is 5. Melee Combat difficulties are dependent on the weapon being used. This is similar with the Lightsaber and related skills. When using Martial Arts, the difficulty is based on the maneuver being performed which is listed next to the skill description.

Rolling for Damage
Damage is Strength plus the damage bonus from the ability. Extra damage can be gained as per normal rules for accurate hits.