Instead of a Pokemon Omega Ruby post, our gaming blog this week is going to be something a little different. Those who have been with the blog for some time (or those who click here and here) may be aware of the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic playthrough I’ve been blogging as Yuffie Kisaragi. This is the third entry in that series and will be continuing as part of my weekly gaming posts.
Knights of the Old Republic is based off a system similar to Dungeons and Dragons Third Edition. It is perhaps better compared to the Star Wars Roleplaying game as created by Wizards of the Coast in the 1990s, but as this is also based off of Third Edition and KOTOR is as different from that as it is the other, it’s a senseless comparison. Being based off of these systems means that the majority of the game is based off of six attributes: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
Strength is an important attribute for melee characters, influencing both the accuracy of melee attacks and how much damage is dealt. However, there is a catch: in both Third Edition and SWRPG, there is a feat named “Weapon Finesse”, which allows certain melee weapons (such as a blade weapon) to gain a bonus to hit based off Dexterity instead of Strength. Whether there is any such feat in Knights of the Old Republic I do not yet know, but I am going to hold out hope for a character that is intended to be a blend of melee and ranged and uses Dexterity rather than Constitution for defense. Still, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so Yuffie is going to at least have a Strength bonus.
Dexterity, with Weapon Finesse, is the most versatile attribute in combat. Even without it, it affects both your character’s evasion and their ranged combat efficacy. Even if just for the sake of Defense, Yuffie is the type of character that is more of a Dexterity expert than a strength powerhouse. Every character that doesn’t turn out bland has one stand-out stat and for this light-weight combat character, it’s going to be Dexterity.
Constitution, while less specialized than Strength, is possibly even more important. It affects a few things subtly, but in a game like this the biggest factor that it impacts is your Hit Points. For that alone, it deserves a small bonus.
Intelligence is another important attribute. While it doesn’t heavily affect combat, it does influence all of the reasons I’m starting out with a Scout instead of a Soldier: the skills and versatility. Intelligence isn’t the breakout stat, but it is in the next category down. This gives Yuffie 2 extra skill points per level.
Next on the line are Wisdom and Charisma, and honestly, no well-rounded character really short-changes these either. However, it’s pretty clear by this point that I’ve put enough points into the other stats that some sacrifices have to be made for the time being. Charisma, I’ll settle for not having a penalty, which isn’t going to be too hard considering this game gives Revan a 30 point buy, which is usually reserved for very lucky dice rolls or campaigns run by a very nice Game Master. Or extremely difficult campaigns that aren’t doling out extra XP. We’ll see which one this is. In the meantime, that gives just enough points to give Wisdom a bit of a bonus, so our Scout can see at least a little farther than the average person on the street.
So with a Scout with a +2 Intelligence modifier, I can put points into 5 of the 8 skills. There’s little point learning Stealth, as in my experience only a Scoundrel has access to Stealth Mode anyway. Persuade, on the other hand, is something that only the main character is able to use, so that’s a definite. Demolitions is something that I generally teach everyone except for the main, which allows me to free up that points for Security or Computer Use, neither of which Carth are any good with early in the game. Every character ought to know Treat Injury, as that affects whether a medpac is any good or not, and I like to know whether or not I’m being jumped, so there’s Awareness.
And here we go! We have a fully stated level 1 Scout with a career path ahead of her. There’s a lot more to what makes a character who she is, and we’re going to discuss some of those items later on, but we have at least enough of the information required to start the first mission before we have to make all of those in-play decisions. And, hopefully, this is going to be the last time those readers who are not pencil-and-paper gamers are going to be bored out of their minds by this column. No, really, from here on it’s going to be a lot more like a video game and a story. Still, I hope I really bonded with my fellow D&D players out there. Or at least, the ones who are still learning what the things I was talking about are. Yes, I get that this wasn’t a terribly suspenseful article, but it was necessary to get the show on the road. If it felt a little tedious, know that it feels the same way in the game itself. So in that respect, it’s a clear snapshot of what that part of the game is like.
Insomniatic 