“Raven 4 is down!”

Derek blew off our regular Tuesday game night to celebrate his birthday with his wife. *sheesh* So Matt, John, and I did another ‘one-of’ Rogue Stars game. Each of us controlled two characters. Each crew was secretly tasked with a mission goal regarding a downed recon drone. (variations on a theme: secure intact, destroy, or salvage black box)

Here are the crews. (Stats down below)

Simple layout with crews coming in from corners.

Straight up battle as crews converged on the center of the table. Shooting started once folks got in range which ended the game quickly with John’s Robots and Matt’s Salvagers in a short, sharp exchange of fire. My less than stellar Action/Reaction rolls actually helped in that both my characters lagged behind and arrived on the scene to find three opponents bleeding out and Matt’s big guy, Vrak’to, reluctant to tangle with two fresh hostiles. So a win for me by default. Which was nice.

Have to admit we’re still on the fence about Rogue Stars. Advance Song of Blades and Heroes is a favorite here. I think we all hoped RS would be that in Space. Perhaps we need to get more familiar with the mechanics and the RPG-level of detail, but even streamlining the Combat by designating all shots as Torso hits, the fighting still felt slow. Don’t get me wrong, the character creation, the mission tables, the traits, gear, and sheer amount of stuff is great. Time will tell if we can adjust our expectations to this new level of crunchiness or if we House Rule the official ranged combat. Perhaps keeping the ‘only Torso’ hit location unless Called will help. Guess we’ll have to play more games, eh?

In the meantime, here are some potential characters for one of my Rogue Stars crews.

CREW STATS

ESSEN TOK – Bounty Hunter (68)

TRAITS (35)

Agile 2 = + 2 to Terrain Rolls

Marksman 3 = +3 to Shoot

Danger Sense = Cannot be targeted by Surprise Attacks

Perceptive 3 = +3 to Spot Rolls

Reactive = +1 to Reaction Rolls

ARMOR (14)

Light Combat Dress

Legs = 2 Arms = 2 Torso = 3 Head = 3

WEAPONS (13)

Laser Rifle = Damage 5 (Blind, 2 Hand, Energy Weapon)

Variable Frequency Laser = No -1 Penalty when firing through smoke or fog

Accurate Weapon = +1 to Called or Aimed Shots

GEAR (6)

Stun Grenade x1

Cost 2 Actions to Use: 1 to Prime, 1 to Throw. TN 10 up to 12″ range.

3″ Blast Radius. Targets must pass TN 10 roll or receive 1 Stress and 2 Pin Markers. (Sealed Armor may roll for Defense) Does not affect Artificial or Mineral targets.

Motion Detector = +2 to Spot Rolls.

DRAGO JAXX – Privateer for Hire (69)

TRAITS (48)

Alert 2 = No Sitting Duck Condition

Fast Draw = Drawing Weapon does not Cost action or cause Stress. Priming a grenade still costs 1 action.

Danger Sense = Immune to Surprise Attacks

Difficult Target = Ranged Attacks against model are at -2 unless bound or shackled. Does not apply to Psionic attacks

Marksman 2 = +2 to Shoot

Reactive = +1 to Reaction Rolls

Stealth 2 = -2 penalty to any attempt to Spot this model

Tough 1 = +1 to Endue Rolls

ARMOR (9)

Kevlar Trenchcoat

Legs = 1 Arms= 1 Torso = 2 Head = 0

WEAPONS (12)

SMG = Damage 4, Automatic (2 Attacks/Action at -2 Penalty) Cannot Call Shots.

1 or 2 targets within 4″

Monowire Blade = Damage 3, Armor Piercing (-1 to target Armor Rating)

CL1NT 3ASTW00D – Robot Gunslinger (70)

TRAITS:

Ambidexterity = Model may use two One-handed weapons at the same time for single action. Each roll at -1. Same or different targets.

Artificial = Immune to Toxins, Respiratory agents, and mental Psionics.

Marksman 2 = +2 to Shoot

Fast Draw = Drawing Weapon does not Cost action or cause Stress. Priming a grenade still costs 1 action.

ARMOR

Armor 3 on all locations.

GEAR

Slug Pistols (2) Dam 5 Short Range Weapon

Zap Rifle = Dam 4 Electrical, Two-Handed, Energy.

Combat Computer = Model may spend 1 Action to Analyze opponent. Model makes Tech Lvl 10 Roll, If successful, next attack against that target is +2. Critical Success = +3 Critical Failure = -2 for remainder of the game.

Refraction Field Harness = Only for Direct Fire Weapon Ranged Attacks. RollD20 for every Hit. On a 1 Harness goes offline. 2-14: Regular Damage. 15: Dam -1. 16+: No Damage.

D3AD-3Y3 – Sniperbot (65)

TRAITS:

Artificial = Immune to Toxins, Respiratory agents, and mental Psionics.

Marksman 2 = +2 to Shoot

Fire Into Melee = May Fire into Melee with no chance of hitting wrong target.

Nonreactive = -2 to all Reaction Rolls

Stealth 1= -1 penalty to any attempt to Spot this model

ARMOR

Armor 3 on all locations

GEAR

Accurate Battle Rifle = Dam 5 +1 to Called or Aimed Shots

Self-Accelerating Projectile = Ignores -1 Penalty for Hi-Grav situations.

Entangle Grenade = Cost 2 Actions to Use: 1 to Prime, 1 to Throw. TN 10 up to 12″ range.

3″ Blast Radius. Targets must roll TN 10 (TN15 if Critical Success) Failure = Entangle/Prone.

Force Sword = Damage 4, Energy Weapon

Night Visor = Ignore Darkness Penalties to Shoot or Terrain. However, Laser Blindness Roll at -2

Motion Detector = +2 to Spot Rolls.

ENO GRUNDI – Salvage and Recovery Expert (70)

TRAITS

Diminutive = Ranged attacks at -1. Movements -1”

Difficult Target 2 = All regular Ranged Attacks at -2.

Leadership 2 = +2 Bonus to Squad’s Initiative Rolls. +2 Morale to Friendlies in LOS

ARMOR

Light Combat Dress = Legs: 2 Arms: 2 Torso: 3 Head: 3

GEAR

Refraction Field Harness= Only for Direct Fire Weapon Ranged Attacks. RollD20 for every Hit. On a 1 Harness goes offline. 2-14: Regular Damage. 15: Dam -1. 16+: No Damage.

Accurate Slug Pistol= Dam 4 Short Range Weapon. +1 to Called and Aimed Shots

Chain sword = Dam 3.

Bionic Eye = +1 to Spot, Ignore Blind and Visibility Modifiers, Halve Range Mods for Aimed Shot.

VRAK’TO – Salvage and Recovery Security (65)

TRAITS

Big = Ranged Attacks at +1 but +1 Bonus to model’s Melee attacks

Free Disengage = No Free Hacks when leaving Melee.

Heavy Worlder = Immune to Hi-Grav Movement penalties

Weapon Master 2 = +2 to Melee Attacks, – 2 to all Melee rolls against him.

Tough 2 = +2 to Endure Rolls.

ARMOR

Combat Dress = Legs: 3 Arms: 3 Torso: 4 Head: 4