A Jedi Knight forced to become a leader and a teacher, learning as much as she goes along from those under her wing as they’re learning from her. A Padawan on his second Master, fighting in a war when he’d rather be studying, because such is apparently the will of the Force. An officer, first among brothers, determined to get as many of them alive to the end of the war . . . whatever that might mean for them. A pilot who wouldn’t be out of place at a Corellian spacer’s cantina, never mind that he’s technically only eleven standard years old. A trooper who believes a quantity of firepower has a quality all its own, but it’s not the only quality worth bringing to the battlefield. These Heroes of the Republic are ready to fight the good fight on whatever planet it comes to, so  let’s see what they can do and fight back against the Rise of the Separatists!

It’s a happy coincidence that, between the two Specializations of the Jedi and the three Specializations of the Clone Soldier, there’s just the right number of options to cover everything to do with the new Careers from Rise of the Separatists (the Universal Specs will have to wait for another day). What we have here are a Jedi General, her Padawan learner, and the three clones who provide the ‘face’ of their unit of Clone Soldiers. Now, as Rise of Separatists recommended, I started creating these characters using the Heroic-Level Play rules, but . . . well, let’s Meet the Party first, and we can talk mechanics later.

Lashni Taggon, Nautolan Jedi/Padawan/Knight

Characteristics: Brawn 4, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 2, Presence 2

Force Rating: 2

Morality: 50 (Bravery and Anger)

Wound Threshold: 15

Strain Threshold: 13

Soak: 6

Defense: 1 Ranged/2 Melee

Abilities: Free Rank in Athletics, Amphibious

Talents: Quick Draw, Well-Rounded (Knowledge [Warfare], Knowledge [Outer Rim]), Sense Danger, Force Rating, Jump Up, Parry, Reflect, Improved Parry, Improved Reflect. Circle of Shelter, Side by Side, Guardian of the Republic, Grit x2, Researcher x2, Sense Emotions, Balance

Skills: Athletics 1, Cool 1, Discipline 1, Lightsaber 3, Coordination 1, Vigilance 1, Leadership 1, Negotiation 1, Knowledge (Outer Rim) 1

Force Powers: Ebb/Flow (Magnitude, Range, Strength x3, Control [Threat/Advantage], Control [Success/Failure])

Equipment: Lightsaber Pike, Jedi Commander Armor, Jedi Utility Belt, 700 Credits

Lashni Taggon is a straightforward Knight who moves with the tides of the Force. An expert with her lightsaber pike, she can use Parry and Reflect to deflect incoming damage and the Improved versions of each to strike back at her attackers. Circle of Shelter lets her use Parry and Reflect to defend her allies, Side by Side inflicts a threat on attacks against her and her lightsaber-wielding allies, and Guardian of the Republic prevents allies she uses Circle of Shelter on from being attacked for the rest of the round!

The Ebb/Flow power lets her roll her Force dice whenever she makes a skill check. At its most basic it let her suffer strain to inflict it or heal her own strain, and she’s able to do that multiple times per roll thanks to the Strength upgrade. The Magnitude upgrade lets her exclude targets from the strain infliction (such as her Padawan), the Range upgrade let her increase the range of same from Engaged to Short, and the Control upgrades let her add a Threat/Failure to enemy checks (Ebb) or Advantage/Success to her own (Flow).

Izuso, Mirialan Jedi/Padawan

Characteristics: Brawn 3, Agility 3, Intellect 3, Cunning 1, Willpower 3, Presence 2

Force Rating: 2

Morality: 50 (Caution and Fear)

Wound Threshold: 16

Strain Threshold: 14

Soak: 5

Defense: 1 Ranged/1 Melee

Abilities: Free Rank in Discipline and Cool

Talents: Parry x2, Toughened, Learning Opportunity, Grit, Temple Training, Beginner’s Luck, Sincerest Flattery, Reflect, Well-Rounded (Knowledge [Core Worlds], Computers), Valuable Facts, Force Rating, Adaptable, Something to Prove

Skills: Discipline 2, Cool 1, Knowledge (Lore) 2, Lightsaber 1, Knowledge (Education) 1, Mechanics 1, Knowledge (Core Worlds) 1, Computers 1

Force Powers: Enhance, Foresee, Battle Meditation (Range, Magnitude), Heal/Harm

Equipment: Double-Bladed Lightsaber, Jedi Commander Armor, Jedi Utility Belt, 700 Credits

Izuso might be a Padawan learner, but in many ways he turns that to his advantage. Learning Opportunity lets him spend Advantage from a failed check to Upgrade his next one, and Something to Prove lets him spend 4 strain to reroll a failed check (removing the strain if he then succeeds). Adaptable lets him spend a Destiny Point to remove a Despair or Threat from a check, provided he didn’t have any ranks in the skill he used.

Valuable Facts lets him make an average Knowledge check once per encounter, adding a Triumph to one ally’s check. Temple Training lets Izuso add his Lore to his Lightsaber damage with a Destiny Point, Beginner’s Luck can add extra successes for every light side Destiny Point in the pool, and Sincerest Flattery grants him two Boost dice on a check using a skill that an ally has already used in an encounter. Finally, while he hasn’t gone very deeply into their trees he has a wide offering of Force powers with Enhance, Foresee, Battle Meditation, and Heal/Harm.

Numbers, CT-4585, Clone Officer

Characteristics: Brawn 2, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2,  Willpower 3, Presence 4

Duty: Personnel 0

Wound Threshold: 15

Strain Threshold: 14

Soak: 4

Defense: 0 Ranged/0 Melee

Abilities: Free Rank in Knowledge (Warfare) and Resilience, Kamino Training

Talents: Physical Training, Prime Positions x2, Tactical Advance, Field Commander, Improved Field Commander, Improved Tactical Advance, Command, Clanker Killer, First Among Brothers x2, Coordinated Assault, Toughened, Scrap ‘Em!, For the Republic, Improved Scrap ‘Em!, Dedication (Presence)

Skills: Knowledge (Warfare) 2, Resilience 1, Cool 1, Discipline 2, Ranged (Heavy) 2, Vigilance 2, Leadership 3, Knowledge (Outer Rim) 1, Medicine 1, Perception 1

Equipment: Phase I Clone Trooper Armor (w/ Squad Tactical Systems [Perception +1, Vigilance +1], Physiological Enhancement System [+Heal Additional Wound), DC-15A Blaster Carbine, M8 Combat Knife, Mk II EMP Grenades x3, 2600 Credits

Numbers is the one to lead his brothers to victory, and he both keeps them alive and then hammers their enemies. Prime Positions grants Numbers himself and any allies within short range 2 extra Soak against ranged attacks when they take cover. Tactical Advance sees him suffering 2 strain as an Incidental, that allows himself and those same allies within short range to continue benefiting from the effects of cover even after they’ve left it until the end of his next turn. The Improved Version lets him activate the Talent using Advantage instead.

Coordinated Assault lets him grant Advantage to his allies combat checks, while First Among Brothers nets him extra Advantage when he makes a check that doesn’t generate any Threat, Advantage that can only be used to help allied clones. Scrap ‘Em! Lets Numbers take 2 Strain after a successful attack to grant allies Boost dice on their next attack against the same target; the Improved version doubles the number of allies affected and the Boost dice granted. For the Republic! Lets Numbers make a Daunting Leadership check whenever an ally is incapacitated or killed, keeping them in the fight for one last round. Finally, Clanker Killer lets him remove a Boost die from a check targeting droids, adding a Success or Advantage to the roll outright instead. Talk about curing the blues.

Courier, CT-6588, Clone Pilot

Characteristics: Brawn 2, Agility 4, Intellect 2, Cunning 2,  Willpower 2, Presence 2

Duty: Support 0

Wound Threshold: 13

Strain Threshold: 15

Soak: 3

Defense: 1 Ranged/1 Melee

Abilities: Free Rank in Knowledge (Warfare) and Resilience, Kamino Training

Talents: Physical Training, Let’s Ride, High-G Training x2, Clanker Killer, Tricky Target, Assault Drop, Fire Support x2, Natural Operator, Mission Critical, Grit, Skilled Jockey, Barrel Roll, Grit, Full Throttle, Improved Barrel Roll, Supreme Barrel Roll, Master Pilot

Skills: Knowledge (Warfare) 1, Resilience 1, Cool 2, Discipline 1, Ranged (Light) 1, Vigilance 1, Piloting (Planetary) 3, Piloting (Space) 3, Gunnery 2, Ranged (Heavy) 1, Mechanics 1

Equipment: CF-9 Republic Naval Flight Suit (Equipped), Phase I Clone Trooper Armor (w/ Squad Tactical Systems [Perception +1, Vigilance +1], Physiological Enhancement System +Heal Additional Wound), DC-17 Hand Blaster, DC-15A Blaster Carbine, M8 Combat Knife, Mk II EMP Grenades x3, 600 Credits

Courier will get the squad to the battlefield and then be their guardian in the sky (although, point of order, he’s just as skilled with vehicles on the ground). Let’s Ride gets him into his vehicle ASAP, and Assault Drop lets his passengers get out just as fast, and out of their own turns to boot. High-G Training lets him take strain to prevent his craft from taking system strain, while Barrel Roll let him inflict system strain to reduce incoming hull trauma (the synergy is palpable), and the Improved and Supreme versions let him do it against multiple hits and fire back respectively.

Tricky Target lets his vehicle count as one silhouette lower. Mission Critical lets him spend a Destiny Point to add Success and/or Advantage to Piloting checks when he really needs them, and Fire Support grants a pair of Boost die to the next check an ally makes after Courier succeeds with a vehicle weapon combat check. Finally, Natural Operator lets Courier re-roll Piloting checks, while Master Pilot lets him suffer Strain to perform an Action as a Maneuver.

Ricochet, CT-12218, Clone Trooper

Characteristics: Brawn 3, Agility 5, Intellect 2, Cunning 2,  Willpower 2, Presence 2

Duty: Combat Victory 0

Wound Threshold: 20

Strain Threshold: 13

Soak: 7

Defense: 1 Ranged/1 Melee

Abilities: Free Rank in Knowledge (Warfare) and Resilience, Kamino Training

Talents: Physical Training x2, Clanker Killer x2, Deadly Accuracy [Ranged (Heavy)], Armor Master, Brace, Toughened x3, Improved Brace, Supreme Brace, Lateral Thinking, Suppressing Fire, Improved Armor Master, Natural Trooper, Dedication (Agility), Enduring

Skills: Knowledge (Warfare) 1, Resilience 1, Cool 1, Ranged (Heavy) 3, Ranged (Light) 1, Vigilance 1, Gunnery 1, Perception 1, Athletics 1

Equipment: Phase I Clone Trooper Armor (w/ Squad Tactical Systems, Physiological Enhancement Systems), DC-15 Blaster Rifle, M8 Combat Knife, Mk II EMP Grenades x3, Z-6 Rotary Blaster Cannon

Ricochet counts Clanker Killer among his Talents, and that would be a sufficient summary of his abilities. Deadly Accuracy adds to that damage, of course. Brace removes a setback die caused by environmental effects, while the Improved version lets Ricochet do so for the rest of an encounter and the Supreme version lets allies get the same benefit. Suppressing Fire lets him and allies in short range spend Advantage from missed shots to inflict strain on their targets.

Ricochet is also the toughest member of the squad, thanks to his ranks in Toughened and the Soak and Defense improvements from the Armor Master. Natural Trooper lets him re-roll a Ranged (Heavy) or Gunnery check once per session, while Lateral Thinking can see Ricochet spending a Destiny Point to force a successful check against him to reroll – and he doesn’t have to spend the Point if his enemy is a droid.

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Our Clone Soldiers were built entirely using RotS, with the addition of Duty from the Age of Rebellion core rulebook. Our two Jedi pulled their Species, sabers, and some of their Force Powers from the Force and Destiny core rulebook, along with the Morality mechanic; Lashni dipped into Disciples of Harmony for the Ebb/Flow Force Power. Each character chose the +10XP option for their respective mechanics. Everyone used the rules in RotS to gain their starting load-outs/lightsabers on the cheap. You’ll also note that the Soldiers have had a few modifications done to their armor: Izuso was the one doing the Mechanics rolls to kit them out, and he rolled quite well along the way.

In my review of RotS I commented that I wasn’t quite sold on the Padawan to Knight progression, and I hoped to prove myself wrong, but I struggled to get Lashni to feel different from Izuso (a large part of why I picked the Ebb/Flow power for her). I tried to avoid getting Izuso a Force Rating of 2, but that Talent was pretty much along the way to other key Padawan Talents, so that didn’t work. I settled on making her the better combatant and he the more broadly trained student, but the entire time I felt starved for XP. After spending 60 XP just to get into the Knight tree (which IS the cheapest option, I checked) I couldn’t have it all, and wasn’t able to budget the XP to get to the Talents unique to the Knight.

So I took off the binders and gave everyone an additional 150XP to work with.

Much better. A conversation that sprung up in the wake of the review was all about how the Knight and Padawan aren’t designed to be of differing power levels, they’re designed for different areas of focus, and it turns out that my trouble with the Knight was that it’s very hard to reach its area of focus with Heroic-Level XP. Once I let myself use more XP, that problem went away as Lashni was able to afford her spec’s unique Talents and distinguish herself. It thus seems that the issue with the Knight is strictly a character creation problem. That’s still not an awesome thing to have to deal with, but it is a fixable problem, and it makes me look upon the Knight a fair bit more kindly.

Who They Are

Lashni Taggon probably should have had the good fortune to be born in an era when armies of Jedi and Sith clashed to determine the fate of the galaxy. Instead, she got droids. Lashni has always been the kind of Knight who never shied away from the warrior nature of the Jedi, and she took Master Yoda’s words about fear to heart: she’s never let it dwell within her own. In some ways the war has felt like a calling, a place to finally serve the Force to the best of her abilities, but in others . . . she doesn’t just have herself to worry about any more, and she’s trying to grow into her role as a leader, and as a teacher. Those are more intimidating than any clanker.

Izuso is one of those Padawans who probably would’ve chosen to go into the Exploration Corps. Knowledge, learning, and a deeper understanding of the Force were always his calling. Instead he wound up a Commander, and even worse he lost his first General early on. Now he has a new Master, one that he doesn’t mesh with as easily, and he’s still stuck being a warrior when he’d rather be a scholar. Still, all is as the Force wills it, and Izuso is nothing if not a devoted follower of the Force.

CT-4585’s favorite saying is to ‘do this by the Numbers’, so the name was pretty much inevitable. Ironically he didn’t start the war as an officer, just a particularly particular trooper, but heavy casualties early on saw him being jumped up the ranks. The same losses that got him the promotion have made him determined not just to win, but to make sure as many of his brothers are there to see the victory celebrations. What life after the war looks like for beings designed to wage it, he doesn’t know . . . but he’ll find out with his brothers. All of them, if he can manage it.

CT-6588 got stuck with the name Courier early on, delivered by troopers who teased that his only job was going to be ferrying the real soldiers to and from the battle. A few life-saving (and battle-winning) strafing runs earned him the respect he was due, but he kept the moniker. Courier wouldn’t be out of place in a Corellian spacer cantina. He likes fasts ships, taking risks, earning some fame for himself, and saving his friends at the last second. Civilians have a tendency to think of the clones as faceless drones at best, but Courier’s determined to make sure they know who he and his brothers are.

CT-12218 stopped being a shiny with a freak chance in his first fight, when a B2’s shot ricocheted off a bulkhead and nearly took his head off. He got a new helmet, a new name, and a new appreciation for suppressing fire. Since then Ricochet has distinguished himself in some of the fiercest fighting in the war so far by providing both a quantity and a quality of blaster fire, and by being . . . headstrong is probably the kindest way to put it. His brothers joke that the Kamnoans left a little more of the original Jango in him; he counters that he’s probably not going to have a very long life, so it might as well be a bold one.

How They Interact

Lashni never planned to take a Padawan, not really. But Master Yoda had asked, and the kid had looked so forlorn . . . it’s been strange, having to teach someone who already seems so studious on their own. Perhaps, however, the Masters are right and Izuso’s really there to teach her. If she’s learning about more about the Force from Izuso, she’s learning more about being a leader from Numbers. He respects her rank and abilities, she respects his advice, and they end up making a pretty good team. Courier’s a good enough pilot you’d think he was Force sensitive, and more to Lashni’s liking he’s never seen a landing zone too hot to fly in to. Ricochet is a living reminder to not lose herself in a good fight too much, but there’s nothing but good things to say about his bravery.

Izuso doesn’t quite know what to do with his new Master: she charges ahead when he’d rather hang back and analyze first, she laughs with the troopers about destroying droids instead of worrying about what the war at large is doing to the Jedi. Still . . . she has a surety about her, a sense of belonging in the Force that he hasn’t yet gained. That’s definitely something he wants to learn. Numbers and Courier are both distant; the officer seems to appreciate Izuso’s efforts well enough at least, but both give off a feeling of Izuso not belonging here. Despite the fact that he’d be otherwise inclined to agree with them, this still manages to bother the Padawan, a feeling he’s trying to puzzle out. Ricochet, on the other hand, has always had a friendly nod or an encouraging word (along with copious covering fire).

Numbers respects General Taggon greatly. True, she doesn’t have the tactical knowledge he does, but she leads from the front and is smart enough to heed the advice of her subordinates, the best possible traits for a leader. Commander Izuso doesn’t seem as suited for the military life, but his skills have saved the lives of many brothers, and Number is grateful for that. Courier can be a bit of a show-off some times, and frankly some of the maneuvers the pilot makes literally turn stomachs, but there’s been too many hot landing zones for Numbers to count that against him. Ricochet is like a grenade; wait for the right moment, depress the activation switch, and then make sure you’re out of the way. He’s a brother, yes, but oftentimes he’s one Numbers has to ‘manage’  more than ‘lead’.

Courier liked his General from the moment she said ‘close enough’ before he even got to slow the LAAT/i down and jumped out the hatch; there’s a Jedi who knows how to clear the deck. Commander Izuso’s much more quiet, and Courier honestly thinks he’d be better doing his Jedi-things in a strategy room or a medical frigate, not that he’d ever say that out loud. Ricochet’s both a blessing and a curse, a fantastic door gunner to suppress ground fire while still managing to annoy Courier with constant demands to hurry up and get them on the ground. Every time Ricochet gets off whatever Courier is flying is a relief . . . almost as much of a relief as when he finally gets back on at the end of a fight.

Ricochet doesn’t quite see the appeal of a lightsaber pike aside from deflecting blaster bolts (it just doesn’t have the proper thrum of high-rate blaster fire), but he figures Lashni’s enthusiasm for using it on clankers about equals his for the Z-6. The kill count challenge goes on, much to his delight. Izuso’s not a kid, and Ricochet doesn’t get why some of the others don’t see that. The Commander’s already lost one General, after all, yet he still came back to the fight. Makes him a Commander worth following. Numbers is a busy-body, they clearly left him in his pod too long, but he does have a talent for getting Ricochet into places to cause the most destruction. That’s enough to tolerate some busy-bodying. Courier, good old Courier, never quite as fast on the stick as Ricochet would like but just fast enough to keep them from being blown out of the sky on the way in.

The Future

Will Lashni and Izuso figure out the nature of their partnership and become not just a student and a master but true partners? Will Numbers, Courier, and Ricochet live to see the end of the war, and learn what peace means for clones? Will the Jedi and Soldiers together manage to save the Galactic Republic from the dastardly Separatists?

Will good soldiers follow orders?

As always, that’s up to you and your dice (and maybe the will of the Force) to find out!

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