Droids
Introduction
Look, sir, droids!
With all the flashy space battles, lightsaber duels, and Force powers, it's easy to forget about one of the biggest staples of the Star Wars galaxy: droids! Some of the best characters in our beloved media are the binary-programmed sidekicks that travel alongside our heroes.
Because of the tremendous value and importance that droids have for our storytelling, there are over 100 models of droids available in our possessions system. This course covers the different types of droids you will have access to, where and how to find them, and the ways to make your droids unique.
Types of Droids
Like all possessions, droids are divided into different Item Categories. Several categories have unique modifications available. There are astromech, analysis, combat, interrogation, medical, pilot, probe, protocol, and utility droids.
Analysis
Analysis droids, also known as information droids, were droids utilized for their programmed intellect. They serve their owners by assisting with research, providing tactical advice, or other intellectual labor. Analysis droids were heavily used in the Jedi Archives as well as on investigatory assignments.
Some examples of analysis droids are the JN-66 Analysis Droid and the T-Series Military Tactical Droid.
Astromech
Probably the most famous types of droids are astromech droids. Astromechs are designed to augment starships, whether by serving as a de facto navicomputer for calculating hyperspace jumps or by making physical repairs to the ship. They had a host of integrated tools, stored in hidden compartments, that were suited for a myriad of uses. R2-D2 and BB-8 are without a doubt the most famous astromechs.
Some example models of astromechs are the R4 - Series Astromech Droid and the BB Unit Astromech Droid
Combat
Droids designed for battle or war are combat droids. Best known from—though perhaps not well-represented by—the droid armies of the Trade Federation, these droids are designed for killing and destruction. Some are built for numbers, and easily mass-produced to flesh out armies, and others are intricately designed for superior offensive capabilities. There are some combat droids that have been created more for training purposes than open warfare.
Unlike other types, many combat droids can equip weapons like member characters and NPCs.
Some examples of these droids are the Droideka and the Imperial Sentry Droid
Interrogation
Interrogation droids are designed to coax—or pry—sensitive information from an individual. This can be done by inflicting extreme pain or through the use of mental probes. These droids were often given sadistic personalities, seemingly enjoying the pain they inflated on others. They would often torment fellow droids as well.
Some examples of these are the 0-0-0 Torture Droid and the IT-O Interrogation Droid.
Medical
On the flip side of the coin are the medical droids. Also known as meddroids, med droids, medical units, healer droids, or surgical droids, their primary function is the preservation of life. These droids are equipped with expert medical knowledge, and sometimes even an assortment of integrated medical tools and at times, even bacta. Unlike the sadistic interrogation droids, medical droids generally have more calm and soothing personalities. These droids were even able to attach and maintain robotic limbs.
Some examples of these droids are the GH-7 Medical Droid and the 2-1B Surgical Droid.
Pilot
Some people shouldn’t fly. In situations where there are no living pilots, there are pilot droids. Their primary function is the operation of ships, both interstellar and celestial crafts. These droids also tend to have vast navigational memory banks for ease of flying along specific routes and hyperspace travel. Some are humanoid in appearance, while others are built directly into their ship's systems. Some people even use these droids as co-pilots.
Some examples of these droids are the FA-5 Valet Droid and the RX-Series Pilot Droid.
Probe
Was that a small meteor that landed outside the Rebel Base on Hoth? No, it was a probe droid. Also known as recon droids, probots, and sensor droids, they are droids that were used in reconnaissance, espionage, and deep space exploration. They are tenacious hunters and searchers, and sometimes had small manipulator arms to assist with their duties. These droids are sometimes equipped with built in blasters, shield generators, sensor jammers, and even self destructive bombs to ensure there was no evidence left behind if captured.
Some examples of these droids are the BD-Unit Backpack Droid and the Viper Probe Droid.
Protocol
The most polite, usually, of droids are the protocol droids. These are droids who have been built purely for the assistance of sentients in matters of etiquette and relations. Sometimes used as translators, event planners, or even as problem solvers, protocol droids see widespread use across the galaxy. Generally these droids come in humanoid form, with a verbobrain equipped to store a tremendous amount of information and solve complex problems, at times at the expense of their owner’s own sanity.
Some examples of the droids are the BD-3000 Luxury Droid and the 3PO-Series Protocol Droid.
Utility
The final type of droid we will discuss are also the most overlooked droids. Utility Droids, sometimes called salvage droids, or even cleaning droids, are droids that are primarily used for more mundane tasks that everyday people just don't want to do. Some are repair droids, maintenance droids, or even manual labor doing worker droids. Without the ease of life that these droids deliver, the everyday lives of their living masters would involve a lot more laborious work. Utility droids tend to focus on function over form, and consequently have the most diverse range of appearances.
Some examples of these droids are the GNK Power Droid and the Ant Droid.
Acquiring a Droid
Droids are possessions that are bought or earned through various means. They, like creatures, are companions that can be slotted into your characters’ loadouts. Most droids are purchased from Utilis Innovations or other stores, although there are a few that are issued as society awards.
Utilis Innovations
From the Resources menu on the site’s navigation bar, select Item Stores and look for Utilis Innovations. Utilis Innovations is a technology shop that sells practical technology for individual use, an array of droid models for service or companionship, and cybernetic replacements for organic body parts. This is the main shop in our system that sells droid models. There are over 75 models of droids up for grabs in this store with prices ranging from 1,000 to over 180,000 credits.
If you’re looking for a particular type of droid but haven’t settled on a specific model, you can filter store inventory by Item Category.
Other Shops
As with other item types, powerful, rare, and expensive droid models are available at Regent’s Rarities and more customizable versions of society-issued droids are for sale at The Vault.
Some droids may appear in the Celebration Store. This store is open only during certain holiday periods in our club, such as Life Day and May the 4th. The droids purchased here can be sold back at full retail value, but you cannot buy another copy until the store reopens.
Droid Modification
Is your droid a mindless machine? Does it have extra hidden features that differ from stock models? No two droids are exactly alike, and no two droids act exactly alike either.
Most droids allow you to select aspects and upgrades, with more expensive models typically allowing for more customization. On the Item Details page for your droid, the Aspect/Upgrade Slots will let you know what aspect and upgrade slots your droid has available.
Aspects
Most droids come with two aspect slots. The Droid Personality aspect covers your droid’s behavior, mannerisms, and attitude, while the Droid Cosmetic aspect covers its physical appearance. Unlike upgrades, aspects do not alter your droid's functionality in any way. They exist purely to provide you with customization options.
There are a few pre-written aspects that cover generic droids. You can also write your own aspect describing your droid’s appearance or personality in detail. Like all custom aspects, these must be approved by the Regent staff before they can be applied. See the Item Aspect Approval Policy for details.
Upgrades
Many droids have access to one or more upgrade slots. These work similarly to aspects, with two major differences.
First, upgrades do change how your droid functions. They can give your droid new capabilities or improve existing ones, sometimes at the cost of something else.
Second, you cannot write your own upgrades. You must always select from a premade list. You can suggest new upgrades to the Regent staff, but these will be available to everyone if approved.
Upgrades are divided up by tier and type. Upgrade types are groups of upgrades that affect the same thing. Structural Upgrades modify your droid's general body or physical capabilities. Some examples of structural upgrades are Electromagnetic Resistance, Hidden Compartments, and Reinforced Plating. Enhancement Upgrades deal more with a droid's hardware, and effective usefulness. Some examples of enhancement upgrades are Floodlights, Improved Sensor Suites, and Integrated Holoprojectors. Astromech, combat, and medical droids may have access to upgrades only available to that type of droid. Some examples of combat droid upgrades are Sound Dampeners, Shield Generators, and Mounted Blaster Cannons.
Upgrades are also divided into tiers, with higher tiers being more effective or powerful than lower tiers. Upgrade tiers are based on the droid’s base rarity. Just because your droid has access to a higher tier doesn’t mean you have to select one of those upgrades. Some upgrades are only available at a certain tier; for example, the enhancement upgrade, Carbonite Projector, doesn’t become available until tier III. Other upgrades come in multiple versions, with higher tiers offering improvements over lower ones. For example, the three Upgraded Processor enhancement upgrades do the same thing, but the tier III version, Upgraded Processor (Experimental), is more potent than the tier I version, Upgraded Processor (Basic).
Weapon Slots
In addition to aspects and upgrades, some combat droids come with weapon slots. These allow them to equip weapons just like a character would. Some droids have more than others, but like your weapon slots on your loadout, you can assign your weapon possessions to your droids. This can give your droids even more combat effectiveness than they are built with. These slots are limited, and some weapons will take up more slots than others. You will need to provide your droid with these weapons separately, although they can equip any weapon you can purchase.
Interacting with Droids
Communication
Nearly all droids understand Basic; however, not all droids are equipped with a vocabulator, the component that produces organic-style speech. Droids that can produce speech generally speak Basic and whatever language used by their primary owner, although some droids are fluent in millions of other forms of communication and can act as interpreters. Droids without vocabulators can produce written text in basic when plugged into a terminal, datapad, or other device.
Just because a droid can’t speak Basic doesn’t mean they don’t make any noise at all. Most of these droids can communicate through a variety of tones collectively called Binary, which organics can learn like any other language. The Droid Whisperer feat allows characters to learn Binary through a feat slot instead of a language.
Slicing and Mechanics
As machines, droids’ bodies and minds, so to speak, interact with the world differently than those of organics.
Droidbrains are elaborate software, but they are software nonetheless, and the Slicing skill covers a character’s ability to manipulate them. That includes reprogramming or customizing droids, although the character will need to disable the droid and plug it into a terminal of some sort. The Just Ones and Zeros feat may give slicers a leg up when dealing with droids.
Like other machines, droid bodies can be customized or decorated with the Crafting skill and repaired or enhanced with the Mechanics skill. Scavengers and Sephi are well known for their ability to make the most out of their droids.
As with other electronics, droids are susceptible to ion weaponry, whether in the form of grenades, pistols, repeaters, or other forms. Ion weaponry is effective for totally disabling a droid until a tech can reset its circuits but does little physical damage to the droid’s chassis.
Droids and the Force
Although droids mimic sentient life in many respects, as machines, they don’t have the same relationship to the Force as organics. Force powers that interact with physical objects, such as Slow or Telekinesis, affect droids normally. Similarly, powers that create a physical phenomenon, like Barrier, Blinding, Darkness, and Force Lightning, also affect them normally. The Precognition power allows the user to sense imminent threats, including from droids. Force Cloak directly impacts light and shadow and affects most cameras and sensors just as it would organic eyes.
In contrast, Force powers that affect organic bodies specifically, like Control Self and Healing, don’t affect droids. Droids don’t truly have minds, either, meaning that the Battle Meditation, Creature Control, Illusion, Mind Trick, Telepathy, and Terror powers don’t affect them, either. Droids don’t have a connection to the Force, rendering Concealment and Suppression moot. This, plus their lack of a true consciousness, normally makes them invisible to the Sense power.
On the other hand, there are a few uses of the Force that specifically focus on droids. The two most famous are associated with the Techweaver discipline. Hexing refers to the use of Telekinesis to disrupt electronic circuitry and render droids or other technology inoperable. The rare and mysterious Mechu-Deru technique allows practitioners to seize control of droids, allegedly by granting them a consciousness. Lastly, some practitioners of the Rage power have such a hatred of artificial life that it fuels their power.
Conclusion
Droids are a fun and exciting way to add more characters and nuances to your storytelling. If you choose to utilize this option, you will find your droids by going to the Possessions and Loadouts section of your admin page. You can truly make some unique creations, and fun partners for your characters with droids. Go out, spend credits, and have fun!
Image Credits
Hâsk by DonFuchs, commissioned by Zxyl Bes'uliik
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