[Building Character: SWSERPG] Shara Koth

Image from Wookieepedia.

This will hopefully be the first post in a new series called Building Character. The idea is to take a roleplaying game and build a few different characters for that game, writing about the process and posting the end results. I’ve found this to be a useful exercise for getting myself acquainted with a game’s rules mechanics. Plus, it can be a fun creative activity.

A while ago, I posted a Design Review about the Star Wars Roleplaying Game Saga Edition. One of the things I talked about in there was the process for creating characters. So, I’ve decided to start this series with making some characters for that game. The first one I’ve made is Shara Koth, a mercenary captain of the Zabrak species.

Process

In creating Shara Koth, I had in mind that she would be the captain of a small mercenary crew. I wanted her to be an intelligent leader, capable of outsmarting her opponents and taking care of her own. She needed to be a pretty well balanced character with no obvious weaknesses, so that she could be the strong core of her group. I choose the Zabrak species because they’re a hardy people with good defenses, and no innate drawbacks. They’re also pretty close to human in both their appearance and mindset, so it would make her easier to relate to.

In the Star Wars Saga Edition roleplaying game, the noble class makes excellent leaders, so that was the obvious choice for this character. I wanted her leadership abilities to focus on enhancing her allies and giving them extra actions in a skirmish. I also wanted her own combat abilities to focus on controlling the battlefield, keeping her enemies on their toes and forcing them to stay on the defensive. For this reason I gave her a subrepeating blaster pistol, which lets her lay down blaster fire across a wide swath of area, and gave her feats that would further enhance her abilities with the gun.

Background

Shara Koth was born on the Zabrak homeworld of Iridonia, a harsh, arid planet. She grew up as an army brat, raised by her father who served in Iridonia’s planetary defense force. She learned a lot from him about military strategy and technology, and eventually entered the service herself. The Zabrak have always been a proud people who resisted oppression. When the Galactic Empire rose to power there was a lot of conflict on Iridonia as many of its natives resisted the Empire’s control. When it became obvious that the Empire was too powerful of a force for the Zabrak to fight alone, many malcontents abandoned their homeworld in frustration, moving out to the galactic fringe where the Empire held less influence. Shara was one such refugee. On the crime ridden desert world of Tatooine, Shara assembled a small mercenary crew and began to eke out a living taking odd jobs where she could apply her military background to good effect.

Personality

Shara Koth is a natural born leader. Physically, she is not too imposing, being slight of build and a tad shorter than average. However, she is lithe and fairly resilient. Her real strength lies in her mind. She is smart, observant, and has a forceful personality. While her military bearing tends to make her abrasive towards those who don’t know her, she actually has a softer side as well. To her crew she takes on an almost motherly quality, caring for their well being as much as her own. Unfortunately, this particular trait, coupled with her strong will and military upbringing, can sometimes cause her to come across as controlling.

Game Statistics

It was a simple decision to put Shara in the noble class. I chose Zabrak as her species. I decided to use the optional background rules from the Rebellion Era Campaign Guide, instead of the standard destiny mechanics found in the core rulebook, and gave Shara the military background (which helps her out with a couple of skills). Shara has below average Strength, only average Constitution, but slightly above average Dexterity, and pretty good scores in all of her mental abilities. Her skills focus on the areas of gathering information, various fields of knowledge, piloting, and using computers. I wanted her and her crew to be moderately experienced characters, so I made her level 6.

Combat Tactics

Shara Koth has pretty good defenses (slightly optimized by the benefits of her species, as well as the Predictive Defense and Fight Through Pain feats), but her hit points are a little low, so it’s a good idea for her to stay behind cover if possible. She’s a good shot with a blaster pistol, and she’s fairly proficient with simple weapons as well (such as knives or grenades). She specializes in the use of her subrepeating blaster pistol. With the Autofire Sweep feat, she can lay down a hail of blaster bolts across a wide area, giving her a good chance of hitting multiple enemies with a single attack. With the Bantha Herder feat, she can push enemies she hits with her blaster around the battlefield, clearing them away from her allies, or setting them up for a friend’s next move.

Shara Koth really shines as a leader in the way that she gives extra actions and other bonuses to her allies in combat. With the Anticipate Movement talent she can grant extra movement to one ally each round if an enemy within her line of sight decides to move. The Stand Tall feat can be used once per encounter when she takes damage, and lets all of her nearby allies make a free attack against the enemy that damaged her. Her Forewarn Allies talent makes her allies more effective at attacks of opportunity. Lastly, her Heavy Fire Zone talent lets her designate a small area of the battlefield and give one ally an extra attack against each enemy that enters that zone.

Below are Shara Koth’s game statistics in stat block form for use by a Game Master. Players can download her character sheet here.

Shara Koth (CL 6)

Medium Zabrak Noble 6

Background Military; Force 8

Init +9; Senses Perception +10 (may reroll and take 2nd)
Languages Basic, Binary, Bocce, Bothese, Durese, Huttese, Zabrak

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Defenses Ref 21 (flat-footed 18), Fort 17, Will 21
hp 38; Threshold 21

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Speed 6 squares
Melee unarmed +3 (1d4+2)

Ranged hold-out blaster pistol +6 (3d4+3) or

Ranged subrepeating blaster pistol +1 (3d6+3) [2x2 area attack] or

Ranged subrepeating blaster pistol +1 (3d6+3) [6-square cone area attack within 20 squares]

Base Atk +4; Grp +5

Atk Options Autofire Sweep, Bantha Herder

Special Actions Anticipate Movement, Heavy Fire Zone, Stand Tall

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Abilities Str 8, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 14
Talents Anticipate Movement, Forewarn Allies, Heavy Fire Zone

Feats Autofire Sweep, Bantha Herder, Fight Through Pain, Linguist, Predictive Defense, Stand Tall, Weapon Focus (pistols), Weapon Proficiency (pistols, simple weapons)
Skills Endurance +5, Gather Information +10, Initiative +9 , Knowledge (bureaucracy) +11, Knowledge (galactic lore) +11, Knowledge (tactics) +11, Knowledge (technology) +11, Perception +10 (may reroll and take 2nd), Pilot +9, Ride +6, Treat Injury +7, Use Computer +11

Possessions hold-out blaster pistol, subrepeating blaster pistol, comlink, energy cells, medical kit, medpac, power packs, power recharger, surgery kit