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Episode 1939: Charisn’tma

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Organised parties do things in a strict order. Take searching for secret doors. The elf goes first, since they have the highest chance of success. Then the dwarf, the thief, and finally anyone else if you still haven't found anything.

Bashing down doors? The strongest fighter types go first, followed by everyone else in decreasing order of strength. Although the wizard might end up just using a Knock spell if everyone else fails to thump the door open.

Spilling through a newly opened secret door and finding a group of goblins on the other side ready and armed because you spent so long trying to bash down the door? Well, this is why the wizard uses a spell instead of shoulder charging the door!

Commentary by Keybounce (who has not seen the movie)

Yep. This is our favorite min-max player. Knows exactly how to build a character to get a slightly better roll. Knows exactly which tool gives the bonus on the roll.

And, it's the hyperdrive. Of course it's the hyperdrive.

I think it's something else. Has anyone checked the cooling fan on the case? I had a machine where two motherboards died; the cooling fan was determined to be faulty. There is probably something else, something cheap, that is misbehaving and using the hyperdrive as a fuse.

So what else might be the real problem here?

Also: How does a droid have more charm? Because BB-8, unlike R2-D2, was built with the ultimate survival skill for droids: "Oh look how cute he is!".

Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)

Astromech droid or no, it looks like the blast occurred under the floor, so that means climbing down first to do the repairs. I don't even think R2-D2 would have been capable of repairing this; he is (was?) even less mobile than BB-8, though he probably did enter the same pit in the floor once. I guess lowering BB-8 down to get to the damage would work, but that has its own set of issues to overcome.

Now that I think about it, most of the astromech droids we've seen don't seem sufficient to do all of the repairs that any of the spaceships we've seen would possibly need. The only advantages droids have other beings (Hutts aside) that we've seen are the built-in tools and the freedom from biological restrictions, like the need to breathe. Maybe a spider-bot of some kind. That could clamber around the ship inside and out, and with the internal tool set, be more capable at repair than anyone or anything we've seen. That probably won't fit the Star Wars droid aesthetic though which is basically: used and worn, geometric shapes, and inefficient locomotion. BB-8 really stands out here over other droids since the ball body allows for speedy travels.

Pete really should know better here as well. If the party wants to maximize the chance of getting out of there, working together is probably the best way to do it. And as cheesy as that sounds, we've already seen a group working together to get themselves out of trouble before. Even if Han is providing direction there, I can't see all of the actions described there being covered by a single roll, much less a single character's actions. Most of the TTRPG systems I can think of have some form of assist or teamwork actions available, and that's not even counting any extra challenges the GM might impose. All the Repair ability in the galaxy isn't helpful when you need to be in two separate places at the same time.

Transcript

GM: On the Falcon: You’ve determined that the hyperdrive produced the blast. It’s out of action.
Rey: Oh geez. We’re not going anywhere unless we fix this. Hand me a paratorsional Harris wrench and a three-eighths Gripley.
Finn: Isn’t he the astromech droid?
Rey: Corey, what’s your Repair rank?
BB-8: 14.
Rey: Inefficient build. Mine’s 15.
Rey: If we want to maximise our chances of getting out of here, I fix the ship. Any other questions?
Finn: How does a droid manage to have more charm than you?
Rey: Like I said: Inefficient build.


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Published: Sunday, 03 January, 2021; 01:11:04 PST.
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