Greetings, and welcome to the second Discipline Focus article. After recieving positive feedback from the first Discipline Focus about Defenders, I wanted to give the same treatment to the new NFU Disciplines that we recently launched. To that end, I’ve created a few NFU NPCs to help us out, and have even started to crowdsource them with a few select members. Stick around until the end of this newspost to see a new competition I’m going to be running to create the next official NFU NPC!

Like the previous Focus articles, I will highlight the NPC that’s been created, showcase a short fiction showing off how they could function, and then break down and expand on what makes the Discipline cool and how it could work in practice. You can view the Disciplines on their Wiki page, or on CDAWG here.

Today I’m going to talk about the Infiltrator.

Infiltrators were designed in the likes of characters we have seen on screen like Agent Kallus. While we know little about her, Rogue One’s protagonist (Jyn Erso) looks to be another good example of an Infiltrator. You could also look to TOR for some loose inspiration with the Imperial Agent class. Even without the gifts of the Force, Infiltrators have a very concrete place in the Star Wars galaxy and can be useful in plenty of missions.

Infiltrator NPC

When coming up with the NPC for this, I had a few ideas, but then realized I had already kind of written the perfect character a few years ago. I decided to workshop him a bit, and am pleased with how he’s come to life (drawing courtesy of the lovely and talented Zujenia).

Acaelus "Ace" Del'aran

Acaelus started off as Marick's Fade, He was hand-picked from a group of Wilderness Rangers among the Arcona Armed Forces by Marick, and his skillset has made him an invaluable asset to the now Combat Master.

"Ace", as he insists on being called, is a Slicer/Hacker by trade, but gains some additional perks thanks to his Discipline as an Infiltrator. As a reminder, you can create a Slicer-type character with any of the other Disciplines, but this was the one I felt fit the character most. You can check out Ace’s character sheet here.

Below, you can find a fiction that features both Ace and Wyn on a mission to steal data from a secured enemy base.

Short Fiction

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The Infiltrators

Coruscant
34ABY
Night

The compound was heavily guarded. The tall fence had barbed wire at the top, and covered the entire perimeter save for where a second building connected it to a side alley. A private firm, they did not bother to hide the fact that they could afford a full security detail of armed guards and a fairly state of the art security system with rotating cameras that had been strategically laid out to cover each other’s blindspots. Of course, no security was truly perfect.

And that’s where Ace and Wyn came in.

Seated on a bench just outside the compound's fence, the two men made wild gestures with their hands, loud enough to be heard but not loud enough to be out of place in one of the countless levels of the Coruscant underworld. On the bench beside them, a homeless beggar slept with a ragged blanket over his body and one bootless foot hanging over the edge.

“You’re out of your mind if you think that Rico from Smuggler Run 3 would be able to beat Lance from Speeder Demons IV in a race,” Acaelus explained incredulously. “Lance has better training and has more experience with high-speed vehicles. AND he can sync his essence with the lanes he’s racing through to better anticipate obstacles.”

Ace wore a tattered, nerf-leather jacket and had his legs folder underneath him like a pretzel. His mohawk looked deflated without any product to keep it standing at attention, and he kept his hood up to help hide the fact. He looked completely natural, like a moving part of the scenery and ambiance that belonged there.

Across from him, his counterpart definitely stood out a bit more. “I mean, sure, if you consider wiggling a joystick around and mashing buttons on a console a ‘skill’,” he countered with a dismissive hand gesture.

Wyn’s dark hair was tied back into a familiar tail, but he wore baggy pants, a ripped nerf-hide coat and a loose-fitting shirt that bore the graphical logo of a speeder bike. To his credit, the Adept did play his part without missing a beat. His nose was more pointed than usual and he sported a thick mustache that wormed as he spoke. “Rico has style, and doesn’t need no fancy ‘essence’ to figure out the nuances of a simple track.”

Ace and Wyn continued to bicker, paying no attention to the patrolling guard clad in full body armor with a blaster rifle in hand that walked right by them.

“A speeder wouldn’t be able to make a jump like that—”

“—You’ve never even driven a speeder, have you?”

“—I’ve been in enough of them to know the difference!”

“—that doesn’t mean you understand how a fusion-nitro kit works!”

“—there’s no such thing as a fusion-nitro kit!”

The tall Zabrak mercenary turned his head as if he were going to join the discussion, but after hearing the escalation in the argument decided not to get involved with the two civilians debating Holovision characters. That was just a can of worms he did not need after the argument in the breakroom earlier.

Once he was out of earshot, the two men nodded at each other and let their banter trail off.

“Do you really think the mustache was necessary?” Ace sighed.

“Do you not?” Wyndel asked, clearly confused as to why it would be an issue. “Anyway, so I figure, if I set the scene right, we should be able to convince the guards that there is a fight breaking out over one of the serving girls at the pub across the way. Then, I go in dressed as the waitress those thugs were all fighting over, and cry out in despair at being forced to work in a seedy place like this. That should distract them long enough for you to slip in and do your slicey-computer things to get the data my brother wanted.”

“Ooor...” Ace said, unable to hide a smug grin as he pointed towards one of the adjacent alleys to the compound. “We could access the auxiliary power grid on the roof of the adjacent building. I think there is a lapse in their patrol, and if I can get to the terminal, we’ll be in business.

Wyn blinked twice. “Why didn’t you just say that earlier?”

“I...didn’t notice until just now,” Ace said quietly. “I noticed that the guard closest to the alley takes a cig’ break every...” he checked his wrist chrono, “...forty minutes or so? The break is short, but he tries to angle the smoke away from his partner, meaning his back is turned but also blocks the camera that should cover the alley.”

Wyn narrowed his eyes and watched the two guards on the rooftop that overlooked the alley. If they weren’t looking, it would be easy work to climb up the fire-escapes, and he could always cloak them with the Force if something went wrong. It sure was a lot easier than what he had planned.

“Alright, fair play. I guess there is a reason my brother keeps you around,” Wyndel said, rubbing his chin despite the lack of any facial hair beyond his ridiculous mustache.

“Heh, wait until you see what I can do once I have access to the power grid.”

The two bided their time by playing a few games of rock-paper-dagger.

When the guard pulled out his pack of smokes and turned his shoulder away, Ace and Wyn made their way to the adjacent alley, disappearing into the shadows and making for the rooftops.

Sketch by Atyiru

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Still Reading? Skipped Ahead?

That's okay if you did. I’m going to highlight the important part anyway, but wanted to give an organic example of how a Infiltrators can come in handy.

Infiltrator Feat: Chameleon

He wore a tattered, nerf-leather jacket and had his legs folder underneath him like a pretzel. His mohawk looked deflated without any product to keep it standing at attention, and he kept his hood up to help hide the fact. Ace looked completely natural, like a moving part of the scenery and ambiance that belonged there.

Ace has the Chameleon II Feat, which gives him a +1 Skill point bonus to his Subterfuge skill in situations where he needs to blend in with the environment. While his base Subterfuge skill is a solid +3, this enables him to function at a +4 level for the purpose of this act he is putting on.

Across from him, his counterpart definitely stood out a bit more. Wyn’s dark hair was tied back into a familiar tail, but he wore baggy pants, a ripped nerf-hide coat and a loose-fitting shirt that bore the graphical logo of a speeder bike. To his credit, the Adept did play his part without missing a beat. His nose was more pointed than usual and he sported a thick mustache that wormed as he spoke.

In contrast, Wyn is actually a master at Subterfuge with his skill sitting at +5. He doesn’t have the Chameleon feat, but his Subterfuge is high enough for him to “play along”...despite the fact that his costume isn’t as organic as Ace’s.

Infiltrator Feat: Keen Eye

“Ooor...” Ace said, unable to hide a smug grin as he pointed towards one of the adjacent alleys to the compound. “We could access the auxiliary power grid on the roof of the adjacent building. I think there is a lapse in their patrol, and if I can get to the terminal, we’ll be in business.

Ace’s Keen Eye II feat is triggered here. Keen Eye allows for an Infiltrator to spot patterns or oddities they come across such as patrol routes, door-key sequences, or potential traps. At the Equite level this triggers “more consistently”, but clearly not as readily as say an Elder Infiltrator using Keen Eye III.

Wyn blinked twice. “Why didn’t you just say that earlier?”

“I...didn’t notice until just now,” Ace said quietly. “I noticed that the guard closest to the alley takes a cig’ break every...” he checked his wrist chrono, “...forty minutes or so? The break is short, but he tries to angle the smoke away from his partner, meaning his back is turned but also blocks the camera that should cover the alley.”

While Ace’s Perception is a solid +4, his Investigation is only at +1. This revelation happens almost subconsciously, however, considering that Ace is busy keeping up the act of an argument with Wyn. The cool thing about Keen Eye is that it can trigger without the need of either Perception or Investigation, though of course points in each of these can be beneficial.

New Pre-Approved Aspects!

While writing Ace and coming up with his six Aspects, I was able to write two of them in a manner that I think worked as pre-written Aspects for anyone to select. You can check out Combat Slicer, Problem Solver, and Go Go Gadget in C-D4WG’s database.

Conclusion

As with anything I try and create for the club at large, I would really appreciate feedback, whether by email or in the comments below. One proofer said that they wanted to see Ace actually hack into the power-grid, but I wanted to keep these short because I know that people don’t like to read too much in one place.

That said, let me know if you liked, hated, or simply didn’t care about the information in the Focus. Let me know if you have suggestions on how to make it better, things you’d rather see, or things you’d rather not see. My hope is still to do one of these for each Discipline, but I need to make sure this format is helpful and informative.

Thanks guys, I appreciate it!

New NPC Competition

In hopes of getting more people involved with the new elements of the Character Sheets, I’ve opened up a new competition where I’m calling for members to create the next NFU NPC. For this competition, you’re being tasked with making a “Scoundrel”. Smuggler-type characters are a huge part of the Star Wars universe and lore, so I’m really excited to see what you guys can come up with in terms of a unique and engaging character.

You can view the competition details here, where I inlcuded the template and a guide on how to use it/create your NPC.

The winning entry will become a Featured NPC for the DB and will be utilized for the Scoundrel Discipline focus article.

You can find an archive of my previous Combat Master reports HERE. These reports contain a lot of helpful information, so if you’re a new or returning member, I’d suggest leafing through them.

ACC Links

• Species Wiki
• Disciplines Wiki
• Aspects Wiki
• Skills Wiki
• Force Powers Wiki
• Feats Database -- CDawg

ACC Exams

• ACC Combat Studies
• ACC Qualification Exam
• Lightsaber Combat
• Martial Arts: Form Studies

That's all for now.