Quick reference guide to determining attack and damage in Edge of the Empire.
Combat Check
Skills. Ranged: Ranged (Light), Ranged (Heavy), Gunnery. Melee: Melee, Brawl.
- Declare attack and target.
- Build pool; set difficulty (below).
- Roll. Hit on net . Each uncanceled = +1 damage.
- Spend / (player's call).
- Spend / (GM's call).
- Damage − soak = wounds. Apply Critical Injuries.
Difficulty
Melee: always Average ( ).
| Range | Ranged difficulty |
|---|---|
| Engaged | Easy ( ) + engaged modifier |
| Short | Easy ( ) |
| Medium | Average ( ) |
| Long | Hard ( ) |
| Extreme | Daunting ( ) |
Engaged
| Situation | Effect |
|---|---|
| Firing Ranged (Light) | +1 difficulty |
| Firing Ranged (Heavy) | +2 difficulty |
| Using Gunnery | Not allowed |
| Making any ranged attack while engaged | Each engaged opponent gets on their next Brawl/Melee check vs. you |
| Target is engaged with an ally | Upgrade difficulty once. On a success with , you hit the ally instead (GM's choice) |
Critical Hits
Spend equal to the weapon's Critical Rating — only on a hit that dealt damage past soak. One does it regardless of rating.
Spending Advantage / Triumph
| Cost | Options |
|---|---|
| or | Recover 1 strain (repeatable) · to next allied active character's check · Notice something important · Inflict Critical Injury · Activate a weapon quality |
| or | Free maneuver (within the 2 cap) · to target's next check · to any ally's next check |
| x3 or | Negate target's defensive bonuses until end of round · Ignore environmental penalties · Disable opponent or one piece of gear instead of damage · +1 melee or ranged defense · Force target to drop a weapon |
| Upgrade target's next check · Upgrade an ally's next check · Do something vital (shoot the blast door controls) | |
| Destroy a piece of the target's equipment |
Spending Threat / Despair
| Cost | Options |
|---|---|
| or | Suffer 1 strain (repeatable) · Lose the benefit of a prior maneuver (cover, Guarded Stance) |
| or | Opponent gets a free maneuver · to target's next check · to your (or an ally's) next action |
| x3 or | Fall prone · Hand the enemy a significant advantage |
| Ranged weapon out of ammo for the encounter · Upgrade an ally's next check · Tool or melee weapon damaged |
Defense and Soak
Defense = that many added to attacks against you. General / melee / ranged. Does not stack — always use the best applicable rating.
Soak = Brawn + armor. Subtracted from damage, not difficulty. Applied to each hit separately. Different sources stack; duplicates of the same source don't. Doesn't reduce strain (except Stun Damage).
Wounds and Strain
| State | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Wounded | Wounds at or below threshold |
| Critically injured | Any Critical Injuries, any wound count |
| Incapacitated | Wounds or strain past threshold |
- PC past wound threshold: incapacitated + one immediate Critical Injury. Track up to 2× threshold.
- PC past strain threshold: incapacitated.
- NPC past wound threshold: defeated (GM decides dead or down).
- Voluntarily suffer 2 strain for an extra maneuver.
Critical Injuries
Roll d100. +10 per Critical Injury already on the target, and +10 per extra Critical Rating trigger on the same attack — one roll, cumulative.
Injuries persist until healed, even after the effect passes.
Sev: E = Easy ( ) · A = Average ( ) · H = Hard ( ) · D = Daunting ( )
| d100 | Sev | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 01-05 | E | Minor Nick: 1 strain. |
| 06-10 | E | Slowed Down: may only act in the last allied Initiative slot next turn. |
| 11-15 | E | Sudden Jolt: drops whatever is in hand. |
| 16-20 | E | Distracted: no free maneuver next turn. |
| 21-25 | E | Off-Balance: to next skill check. |
| 26-30 | E | Discouraging Wound: flip a light side Destiny Point to dark (reverse if NPC). |
| 31-35 | E | Stunned: staggered until end of next turn. |
| 36-40 | E | Stinger: +1 difficulty to next check. |
| 41-45 | A | Bowled Over: knocked prone, 1 strain. |
| 46-50 | A | Head Ringer: +1 difficulty to Intellect and Cunning checks, rest of encounter. |
| 51-55 | A | Fearsome Wound: +1 difficulty to Presence and Willpower checks, rest of encounter. |
| 56-60 | A | Agonizing Wound: +1 difficulty to Brawn and Agility checks, rest of encounter. |
| 61-65 | A | Slightly Dazed: disoriented, rest of encounter. |
| 66-70 | A | Scattered Senses: remove all from checks, rest of encounter. |
| 71-75 | A | Hamstrung: no free maneuver, rest of encounter. |
| 76-80 | A | Overpowered: attacker immediately makes another free attack with the same pool. |
| 81-85 | A | Winded: cannot voluntarily suffer strain, rest of encounter. |
| 86-90 | A | Compromised: +1 difficulty to all checks, rest of encounter. |
| 91-95 | H | At the Brink: 1 strain per action performed. |
| 96-100 | H | Crippled: one limb crippled until healed. +1 difficulty to checks using it. |
| 101-105 | H | Maimed: one limb permanently lost. No actions requiring it; all others gain . |
| 106-110 | H | Horrific Injury: 1d10 for a characteristic (1-3 Br, 4-6 Ag, 7 Int, 8 Cun, 9 Pr, 10 Will) — treat as 1 lower until healed. |
| 111-115 | H | Temporarily Lame: max 1 maneuver per turn until healed. |
| 116-120 | H | Blinded: upgrade all checks twice; Perception and Vigilance three times. |
| 121-125 | H | Knocked Senseless: staggered, rest of encounter. |
| 126-130 | D | Gruesome Injury: 1d10 as above — that characteristic permanently −1 (min 1). |
| 131-140 | D | Bleeding Out: 1 wound + 1 strain at the start of each turn. Another Critical Injury per 5 wounds past threshold. |
| 141-150 | D | The End is Nigh: dies after the last Initiative slot next round. |
| 151+ | — | Dead. |
Situational Modifiers
| Situation | Effect |
|---|---|
| Target silhouette 2+ larger | −1 difficulty |
| Target silhouette 2+ smaller | +1 difficulty |
| Behind cover | Ranged defense 1 (more if sturdy), plus to Perception etc. against them |
| Difficult terrain | Double maneuvers to cross |
| Impassable terrain | Athletics or Coordination action to bypass |
| Heavy gravity | Up to to Brawn checks (not Resilience) and Coordination |
| Light gravity | Up to to the same |
| Zero gravity | No bonus or penalty; all movement is difficult terrain |
Prone: see Maneuvers and Actions.
Silhouettes:
- 0 Jawa, astromech
- 1 most humanoids
- 2 dewback, tauntaun, bantha
- 3 rancor, krayt dragon
- 4+ larger.
Concealment
Adds to Ranged and Perception checks against the target; the same number of to their Stealth.
| Dice | Examples |
|---|---|
| +1 | Mist, shadow, waist-high grass |
| +2 | Fog, early morning / late evening darkness, shoulder-high grass |
| +3 | Heavy fog, choking smoke, night, dense head-high undergrowth |
Falling
| Fell | Damage | Strain |
|---|---|---|
| Short | 10 | 10 |
| Medium | 30 | 20 |
| Long | Incapacitated, Critical at +50 | 30 |
| Extreme | Incapacitated, Critical at +75 (or death) | 40 |
Soak reduces damage, not strain. Average ( ) Athletics or Coordination: −1 damage per , −1 strain per , may drop the fall a range band.
Special Attacks
Two-Weapon Combat
Both weapons must be one-handed. One combined check:
- Name a primary weapon.
- Pool uses the lower skill and lower characteristic of the two.
- Take the higher base difficulty.
- +1 difficulty if both use the same skill, +2 if different.
- Roll. Primary hits on success. Spend or for the secondary to hit too. Each hit = base damage +1 per uncanceled .
The cheat sheet omits step 4.
Unarmed (Brawl)
Damage Brawn · Crit 5 · Range Engaged · Disorient 1, Knockdown. May deal damage to strain instead of wounds (still soaked). Covers grappling — no separate rules. Brawl weapons augment this attack rather than replacing it.
Improvised (Melee)
Adds Brawn to damage. Automatic on every check. Breaks on or .
| Size | Dam | Crit | Encum | Special | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small | Brawn +1 | 5 | 1 | — | Bottle, rock, hydrospanner |
| Medium | Brawn +2 | 5 | 3 | Cumbersome 2 | Chair, holovid screen |
| Large | Brawn +3 | 5 | 4 | Cumbersome 4 | Shovel, table, crate |
Weapon qualities: Item Qualities. Dice basics: Dice and Symbols.
Source Edge of the Empire Core Rulebook, Chapter VI - Conflict and Combat (p. 204-217)