Do you know what is the second hardest thing to convert when adapting Star Wars to the tabletop? Stormtroopers1. From an in-character perspective they vastly outnumber and outgun the scrappy rebel protagonists, with deadly blaster carbines and that iconic heavy armor. Yet in the actual narrative they almost never hit a shot and always get taken out in one hit from one of the heroes.

Their poor aim has actually made it into GURPS as an optional cinematic rule named “Imperial Stormtrooper Marksmanship Academy”, which reduces the deadliness of enemy shooters. But the armor thing has tied people’s brain in knots, because it can’t be explained away with a joke. Why does their armor do nothing?

There are almost as many explanations and solutions to this as there are Star Wars adaptations. Some say “all armor is bad, actually” and have PCs rely on plot protection. Some have an armor system but go out of their way to explain why trooper suits specifically are actually bad. And some have an armor system that rates trooper armor highly but then go on to state that fun shootouts from the movies are lies and legends.

Me, I think I hit on a solution that allows me to keep those fun fights while still having armor be cool.

Imperial Stormtrooper Armor Drills

This is a cinematic rule meant for science fiction settings where highly effective armor is common, but you want the PCs to have fun battles against armies of heavily-armored mooks. Star Wars and stormtroopers are the most obvious examples, but it also works for settings such as Waframe’s with its Grineer soldiers.

Under this rule, armor worn by “mook” or “fodder” enemies has no protective value, and is mostly a cosmetic detail! Any solid hit will take them down, regardless of whether it would have penetrated their DR under standard rules. Armor worn by PCs and other important characters still uses all the default rules.

This allows you to frame a particularly badass trooper as a real threat and have them survive several attacks without giving them different protective gear. It also allows PCs to loot armor from a fallen mook and have it actually provide benefit beyond a temporary disguise.

Optionally, you could perhaps take this a bit further and subject certain stormtroopers to the Inverse Ninja Rule. See a full platoon of troopers gunning for you? Easy. See one trooper approaching? Danger!

  1. The first is the Force, but we all know that. ↩