This is a crosspost from a thread I posted on the SWRPG subreddit.
Thought it might be fun for discussion and co-collaboration to chat about and document the live action depiction of SWRPG game elements in the Andor TV show. Fair game are gear, armor, weapons, vehicles, starships, as well as attachments for all of the foregoing. Depictions of talents, signature abilities and game mechanics in Andor are cool too.
I don’t means stuff like “stormtrooper armor” or other commonly depicted things but stuff that’s shown live action for the first time or in a unique new way. But it’s all fair game discussion.
Bonus points for links to the SWRPG wiki and/or Wookieepedia!
No pride of authorship. I’ll update the post with y’all’s suggestions and maybe we can submit it to the Order 66 podcast episode for the show which I hope will be forthcoming! Fair game for other podcasts too.
I’ll start with one:
The Fondor Haulcraft, according to the text of the subtitles, has a “Fondor Droid Mod.” I think this shows:
—Autopilot Droid Brain starship attachment
—Astrogation Droid Brain starship attachment
I’m less sure if it shows a Gunner Droid Brain. It also seems to have an onboard capability to create a fake transponder codes or at least identification. I think this is the Secondary Transponder starship attachment.
What other SWRPG stuff do my fellow gamers think Andor depicted well?
GAME MECHANICS:
—Episode 3 depicts Triumphs or Despairs in the warehouse scene with Rael and Cassian (falling machinery chain reactions)
—Nemik uses the Plot Course starship Action to help Cassian fly though the Eye of Aldhani
—During the Aldhani heist, Cassian uses the Punch It maneuver to jump to max speed and escape from the imperial base.
—Rael uses Streetwise or Knowledge Underworld to know Cassian’s wartime experience as a cook who ran away on Mimban.
—B2EMO uses Negotiations to help determine the value of salvage in a flashback.
—Clem Andor makes a salvage check when he shows Cassian how to clean parts for sale in the family kitchen. Andor depicts salvage broadly with Marva and Clem’s salvage efforts but also entire “salyards” of such activity on Ferrix.
—Deception skill is broadly used in Andor for Luthen’s personas, the Aldhani heist disguises and Cassian’s multiple aliases (Clem and “Keef Girgo”). We also see failed Deception checks like Cassian’s lie about being from Fest and lies to Luthen about the Mimban war. Cassian’s Clem and Keef Girgo deceptions carry Threat and Despair, with Clem succeeding with lingering suspicions (Threat) and Keef succeeding in a fake identity but still being arrested.
—Skullduggery skill gets significant use: Releasing the imperial payroll from the garrison on Aldhani, jamming the lift on Narkina 5 and flooding the prison floor with water to short it out.
—Social combat is broadly depicted with examples in Senator Mothma’s conversations with Davo Skuldun and Rael and Saw’s negotiations among others.
—We see a great depiction of a failed Leadership check when Senator Mothma tries to sway the Senate against passing the Public Order Resentencing Directive.
—Rael spends Advantages or Triumphs (or rolls a component hit critical) to destroy the Tractor Beam on the Arrestor-class cruiser.
—The business and homestead rules see depiction in the salyards of Ferrix, Rael’s antiquities shop, the rebels Dray farm on Aldhani and mention in Davo Skuldun’s business operations.
TALENTS:
—Cassian likely has the Quick Draw and Sorry About The Mess talents which allow fast weapon draws and decreased crit ratings against those who have not yet acted.
—Brasso kills a minion with Marva’s brick and likely has the Creative Killer talent (reduces crit rating of improvised weapons by two).
—Marva likely has the Incite Rebellion talent which during her funeral scene allowed her to make the Ferrix citizens rally “against an organization or authority with power over them until the end of the encounter.”
—Cassian uses the Known Schematic talent (or another knowledge skill or perhaps Piloting Space) to know the location of the Rono frighter’s clutch during the planning for the Aldhani heist.
—Cassian’s Indistinguishable talent allows him to be incarcerated by the Empire but not discovered by the ISB even while in Imperial custody.
—Andor depicts great examples of the Inside Person talent with the Aldhani heist, Cassian’s Morlana One investigation and Cassian’s speech about brazenly walking in to an Imperial facility. Likewise Lonni Jung‘s infiltration of the ISB provides an excellent example of the talent.
—Dedra Meero uses Scathing Tirade talent (or at least Coercion) against Bix during her interrogation.
—Cassian uses the Inside Knowledge talent (his second Sleeper Agent talent) to identify weakness in the Narkina 5 prison facility.
GEAR
—Nemik uses an analog version of the Microaxial Starmapper Handheld Navicomputer to help navigate through the Eye of Aldhani.
—While we’ve seen live action use of datapads, Andor for the first time depicts the actual UI and live screen displays of datapads in the scenes with ISB.
—Andor shows a wealth of drinks and medications such as Revnog, Mednog, Peezos and Candrila cocktails which could correspond or act as reskins of to statted items.
—Stun batons are vividly depicted in the Narkina 5 prison.
DROIDS
—B2EMO gives us the first look at a specialized salvage droid.
—Andor shows us the KX-Series Security Droid in its frightful not-reprogrammed state.
—The ISB references but does not show a “Code Droid.”
—On Ferrix we see a droid in the shape of a mobile staircase that aids passengers stepping off the airbus.
VEHICLES/STARSHIPS
—Although first depicted in Solo, Andor gives us the best yet look at the Cantwell-class Arrestor Cruiser
VEHICLE/STARSHIP ATTACHMENTS:
—Rael’s Fondor Haulcraft likely uses the Retractable Weapon System attachment to hide its weapon systems
—Rael’s Fondor Haulcraft droid brain starship attachments: Autopilot Droid Brain, Astrogation Droid Brain and Gunner Droid Brain
—Rael’s Fondor Haulcraft uses the Secondary Transponder starship attachment to fake starship transponders codes
NARRATIVE SETTING
—Brothels in space on Morlana One.
—Although first depicted in Star Wars Rebels, the Imperial Security Bureau first appeared in earlier versions of SWRPG and is depicted for the first time in live action in Andor.
—Andor depicts the difficulty of tracking a single ship coming and going from a planet when Corporate Security attempts to track Cassian’s ship leaving Morlana One.
—Even at the height of its power, the Empire doesn’t have instant or comprehensive data files. Cassian’s mug shot is old. The ISB doesn’t know the Empire has Cassian captive.
—At least in the center of Imperial power on Coruscant, the Empire is depicted as having sophisticated financial tracking and auditing capabilities which require Senator Mothma to seek Davo Skuldun’s help in moving money and covering up financial transfer audit trails.
—The banality of Imperial oppression is a theme depicted in Andor. ISB office politics and self-defeating sector jurisdictions. Corporate Security corruption and incompetence. Rubber stamp court proceedings. The empire is evil but it is also boring and bureaucratic.
—Andor gives us the first live action reference to the Rakata when Rael gives Cassian a “sky kyber” crystal as a down payment and mentions the “Rakata Invaders.”
—Andor depicts illegal holonet communications and devices and shows how sending and receiving messages is dangerous. It also shows that the Empire can “drill down” on a planet and use “code droids” to capture and break even encrypted comms.
—Andor gives a wealth of context about Chandrila culture, traditions (including arranged weddings), religion, politics and even cocktails.
—Belsavis is referenced as a prison planet in Andor which is the first such reference to Belsavis in television or film.
—In Luthen’s talk with Saw Gerrera, Saw gives us a look at how fractured the opposition to the Empire is before the rise of the cool guys in X-wings Alliance: “ Kreegyr’s a separatist. Maya Pei’s a neo-Republican. The Ghorman front. The Partisan alliance? Sectorists. Human cultists? Galaxy partitionists! They’re lost! All of them, lost! Lost. What are you, Luthen? I’ve never really known. What are you?”
—Andor depicts a wide variety of non-force sensitive player character archetypes engaged in the rebellion. Information brokers, Senators, salvage yard workers, soldiers, rich nobles, wealthy crime lords, business leaders, droids, communication specialists, spies, double agents, and so on. This both shows how the Empire affects the lives of ordinary people and also gives creative fodder for player characters backgrounds.