Reference Book: Star Wars Saga Edition Force Unleashed Campaign Guide
The last years of the Old Republic saw an explosion in many fields of technology. The manipulations of The Sith brought war to every corner of the galaxy, and war often provides excellent opportunities to develop and test new machines, doctrine, and ideas. Although many Ideas were not new, properly speaking, they gained new life during this era. (For Instance, battle droids had been used for thousands of years, but no one had done so on the scale of the CIS in centuries.) And, as with many waves of new ideas, some that seemed promisng were eventually abandoned or replaced.
equipment in use excluswely by The Galactic Empire (or at least theoretically in use only by the Empire. before some insurgent gets hold of it) is covered in Chapter 10. The Empire.
Imperial Contraband
Vhile the galaxy Is clenched in the iron fist of the Empire, a number ot items that were once merely Rare or Restricted become Illegal contraband under the cdlets of the New Order. As a result, many pieces of equipment that were legal (if tightly regulated) under the Republic are outlawed entirely, affecting not only their ayailabillty but also the penalty for being caught with such an item. Many items with a particular availability tag (licensed, restricted, military, illegal, or rare) are more tightly restricted or outright banned under the Empire. For example, Lightsabers, which were once given the rare availability tag become illegal during the reign of the Empire.
As a general guideline, the availability tags for equipment in the Saga Edition, rerulebook are accurate representations of how available the item she should be during the reign of The Galactic Empire, with a few exceptions. All weapons int the Lightsabers weapon group are considered Illegal and Rare, though the Empire overlooks possession of such Items for Its chosen representatives. Additionally, Items with a military avallability cannot be obtained legally through non-Imperial channels, even local planetary militias and system defense forces (most of which are absorbed by the Empire anyway). Military-grade items obtained on the black market are considered Illegal in the hands of private citizens, and those who carry them risk stiff penalties if they are discovered.
Melee Weapons
Melee weapons saw a major resurgence in popularity in the early years of the Empire. This change occurred because, first, the constant warfare of the Clone Wars had shown soldiers that it was often better to take out a foe with a quiet melee strike than to always depend on the firepower of a blaster. Second, the rash of new Imperial laws on the Core Worlds outlawed blasters and other ranged weapons in many places, but largely ignored melee weapons as insignificant. And third, after the destruction of the Jedi Temple, anyone who had received any amount of Jedi training was often specialized in melee combat techniques, but could not risk carrying (and often couldn't acquire) a lightsaber.
ADVANCED MELEE WEAPON | SIZE | COST | DAMAGE | STUN SETTING | WEIGHT | TYPE | AVAILABILITY |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Power Hammer | Large | 1500 | 2d12 | NO | 10 kg | Bludgeoning | Restricted |
Double Vibroblade | Large | 550 | 2d6/2d6 | NO | 4 kg | Slashing | Licensed |
Vibrosword | Large | 450 | 2d8 | NO | 3 kg | Slashing or Piercing | Licensed |
EXOTIC WEAPON | SIZE | COST | DAMAGE | STUN SETTING | WEIGHT | TYPE | AVAILABILITY |
Felucian Skullblade | Small | 1500 | 2d6 | NO | 0.5 kg | Slashing | Rare |
Ryyk Blade | Medium | 500 | 2d10 | NO | 1.5 kg | Slashing | Rare |
LIGHTSABERS | SIZE | COST | DAMAGE | STUN SETTING | WEIGHT | TYPE | AVAILABILITY |
Guard Shoto | Small | 7000 | 2d4 | NO | 1 kg | Energy and Slashing | Rare, Illegal |