Scale — Personal (P) to Titan (T)
No Outside Book Needed Star Wars has humans, speeder bikes, walkers, starfighters, and Star Destroyers. They don't fight on the same math. A Jedi with a lightsaber can't cut a Star Destroyer's bridge in half. A Star Destroyer can't snipe a Jawa on a speeder bike. Scale makes that true in the rules.
The Six Scales
| Scale | Tag | What Lives Here | Typical Defense Penalty (already in statblock) | Typical Toughness | Typical Damage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 Personal | P | Human, Jawa, Wookiee, droid, Jawa | +2 Small / -1 Large (Jawa harder to hit than Wookiee) | 0-8 (NAT + Armor) | 2-8 (hold-out 3, blaster pistol 4, rifle 6, lightsaber 8, rocket 10) |
| 1 Ground Vehicle | V | Speeder bike, landspeeder, airspeeder, swoop | -0 to -2 Handling | 8-10 | 6-10 (light cannon 6, heavy repeating 8) |
| 2 Heavy Ground / Walker | W | AT-ST (9m), AT-AT (22m), Occupier tank, AAT | -2 to -6 Handling (AT-ST -2, AT-AT -6) | 11-15 | 10-14 (AT-ST blaster 9, AT-AT heavy laser 12) |
| 3 Starfighter | S | TIE, X-wing (12m), Y-wing, YT-1300 (35m), Firespray | -2 to -4 (X-wing -2, YT-1300 -4) | 9-13 + Shields 6-10 | 8-13 (laser 8, ion 8 Affliction, concussion 10 Burst, proton torp 12) |
| 4 Capital | C | CR90 (150m), Raider (150m), Nebulon-B (300m), Victory (900m), ISD (1600m) | -8 to -16 | 13-18 + Shields 11-15 | 13-18 (turbolaser 13 Inaccurate, heavy 15) |
| 5 Titan | T | Executor (19km), Death Star (160km), Torpedo Sphere, station — not player scale | -20+ | 20-25 + Shields 15-20 Impervious | 18-25 (superlaser 25) |
Rule of thumb: P < V < W < S < C < T. If you remember that line, you know scale.
Size Inside Scale Still Matters
Scale does NOT erase size differences inside the scale. A Wookiee and a Jawa are both P, but a Jawa is 15% harder to hit.
| Who | Size | Speed | Dodge / Parry vs P attackers | Stealth | Intimidation | Carry |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gozzo, Jawa | Small | 5m | +2 (hard to hit) | +4 | -2 | (STR+5)×10kg -5kg |
| Human, Rodian, Bothan, Tusken | Medium | 7m | +0 (baseline) | +0 | +0 | (STR+5)×10kg |
| Wookiee, Trandoshan tall | Large (or Powerful Build) | 7m | -1 (easier to hit) if Growth 2, or +0 if Powerful Build variant | -2 | +1 | (STR+5+2)×10kg |
In Sins we use: Small = Speed 5m, +2 Dodge, +2 Parry, +4 Stealth, -2 Intimidate. Medium = 7m +0. Large = 7m -1 Dodge, -1 Parry, -2 Stealth, +1 Intimidate, Powerful Build for carry (you choose variant at species). Sheet applies it automatically. Same applies to vehicles: X-wing (12m, Huge) is Defense -2 Handling, YT-1300 (35m, Gargantuan) is -4. Inside the same scale, bigger = easier to hit.
Shooting UP — Small Guns vs Big Targets
- To-hit: +0 from Scale. The target's Size is already in its Defense (big = easy). Don't add extra.
- Damage: -5 per Scale step UP. Your gun loses 5 Damage ranks for each step you shoot up. If Damage after penalty ≤0, don't roll — narration only.
- Also +5 Impervious Toughness per step on the target's side. If you beat Impervious but still do damage, use normal Toughness +5 per step.
Examples:
- Blaster pistol Dmg4 (DC19) vs AT-ST (W). P(0)→W(2) = 2 steps up = -10 Damage = Dmg -6 = DC9. AT-ST Tough13. No roll. "Your bolts ping off its leg armor."
- Blaster rifle Dmg6 vs same AT-ST = Dmg6-10 = Dmg -4 = no effect.
- Missile Launcher Dmg10 Heavy vs AT-ST. Heavy ignores 1 step up → only -5 = Dmg5 (DC20) vs Tough13 → needs 7+ on Toughness. It hurts.
- Proton Torpedo Dmg12 (S) vs Victory (C). S(3)→C(4) = 1 step up = -5 = Dmg7. But torpedo is Heavy → ignores that step → full Dmg12 vs Victory Tough16+Shields — needs a good hit.
Heavy weapons (ignore 1 Scale step UP): Missile launcher, proton cannon, proton torpedo, concussion missile, AT-scale rifle (E-Web), thermal detonator (thrown), vehicle-mounted heavy lasers.
Shooting DOWN — Big Guns vs Small Targets
- To-hit: -5 per Scale step DOWN. Big guns are made to hit big targets, not Jawas.
- Damage: +5 per Scale step DOWN. If it hits, it vaporizes.
- Additional -5 to-hit if target did Evasive Maneuvers (Pilot Vehicle check).
Examples:
- AT-ST W(2) vs human P(0): 2 steps down = -10 to-hit, +10 Damage. AT-ST Dmg9 +10 = Dmg19 (DC34) — human Tough4+Prot3=7 rolls DC34 = needs 27+ = dead if it hits, but -10 to-hit means it rarely hits an aware human in cover.
- Same AT-ST vs Jawa Small (+2 Dodge): AT-ST -10 to-hit, Jawa +2 Dodge = -12 total. Jawa is 15% harder to hit than a Wookiee Large (-1 Dodge → -9 total for Wookiee). That's the 15% swing players feel.
- YT-1300 S(3) vs Speederbike V(1): 2 steps down = -10 to-hit +10 Damage, but YT's dorsal turret is Point-Defense → ignores 1 step of to-hit penalty → only -5 to-hit.
Point-Defense weapons (ignore 1 Scale step DOWN to-hit): Anti-infantry lasers on AT-ST, AT-AT side cheek guns, starfighter defensive turrets, capital point-defense batteries.
Quick Table — Cross-Scale Modifiers
| Attacker → Defender | Steps | To-hit | Damage | Then add target's Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P → V | 1 up | +0 | -5 | V is Large-ish -1 to -2 Def = easier |
| P → W | 2 up | +0 | -10 | W is Huge -4 Def = easier |
| P → S | 3 up | +0 | -15 → always 0 | Don't shoot your pistol at an X-wing |
| V → W | 1 up | +0 | -5 | Speeder heavy blaster vs AT-ST needs Heavy to matter |
| W → P | 2 down | -10 | +10 | +2 vs Jawa, -1 vs Wookiee |
| S → P | 3 down | -15 | +15 | Starfighter vs infantry is -15 to-hit — use Point-Defense |
| S → C | 1 up | +0 | -5 (Heavy ignores) | C is Colossal -10 Def |
| C → S | 1 down | -5 | +5 | S is Huge -2 |
What The Sheet Does
- Size dropdown applies +2 Dodge/Parry for Small, -1 for Large automatically.
- Scale dropdown on attacker applies -5 Damage per step UP, -5 to-hit / +5 Damage per step DOWN automatically.
- If Damage after penalty ≤0, sheet shows "No Effect — narration only".
- Heavy checkbox ignores 1 step up. Point-Defense checkbox ignores 1 step down to-hit.
Common Questions
Can a lightsaber hurt an AT-ST? Lightsaber Dmg8. P(0)→W(2)=2 up = -10 = Dmg -2 → no. Even with Improved Crit it's no. You need to be inside it (breach) or use Heavy (not lightsaber). That's intentional — Luke doesn't saber AT-AT legs, he trips them.
Can my Z-95 shoot a guy? S→P = 3 down = -15 to-hit, +15 Damage. Z-95 lasers Dmg7+15=Dmg22 DC37 vs human Tough6 → vapor if hits, but -15 to-hit means you need Point-Defense mode or strafe. Point-Defense ignores 1 step → -10 to-hit, still hard. That's why fighters strafe with Evasive targets at -5 more = -15. Use missiles (Burst) or let the AT-ST handle infantry.
Do shields help vs scale? Yes. Shields are Toughness. Starfighter Shields 8 means Tough11+Shields8=19 vs P pistol Dmg4-15=-11 = no. Proton torpedo Heavy ignores 1 step so it actually stresses shields.
See also: Ships & Vehicles for buyable ships and ground vehicles, Ship Combat, Handling & Fatigue for full piloting rules, Evasive Maneuvers, Outmaneuver, and Shields regeneration. All costs in credits. No outside book needed.