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Apr 7, 2012 -- 4:40AM, JemyM wrote:

Straight question: are there lifeform scanners in the Star Wars universe? Like discovering whether a planet have life or not.

Yes there are, they are called Life form indicators. Se the Wookieepedia articles:
starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Life_form_indica...
starwars.wikia.com/wiki/ILF-5000_Life_Fo...
starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lifeform_indicat...

There may be more, and there may be more information about the individual devices as well...

Apr 15, 2012 -- 5:23PM, richterbelmont10 wrote:

Can these devices be statted in Saga?

those stubs seem to imply that lifeform detection is part of other sensor systems. based on what we see in the original trilogy, it seems that starship sensor come with these equipped. also, other sources imply that droid sensor can also distinguish lifeforms, and in-game that's natural, because if your R2 unit passes his Perception check by 5 or more, he'll probably get details about what he's sensing.

the ILF-5000 can easily be converted to Saga, but there might be no need when we check the sensor pack from the SECR:
''It provides general details on comm signals, life forms, and hazards within 1 kilometer.''

Apr 16, 2012 -- 6:48AM, richterbelmont10 wrote:

Where is that rule about the R2 unit passing his Perception check by 5 or more?

oops, turns out there's no such rule. what I had in mind (and do apply in games) is degrees of success. In a lot of common skill checks in saga there are degrees of success (i.e. Force powers).
I also found that I had this idea about Perception checks because of what is listed beneath the Notice Targets application; ''(...) if you win the opposed check, you notice the concealed object. If you win the opposed check by 5 or more, you can tell what kind of object is concealed (...).''
the in-game ocurrence of this eventually made me think of Perception checks as having degrees of success. like just over the DC would tell you that the target is there, its size and a general description, while one over the DC by 5 or more would tell you how that specific target is distinguished from others of its type. I guess the type of sensor vs. the type of noticed target rarely makes any difference. If sensing starships through starship sensors on starship scale, the 'read-out' would probably indicate statistical characteristics of the target that give players an idea about it. ''it's more than 4 kilometers long and the read-outs indicate a massive ion weapon system''. if actually looking at the ship with bare sight from a close distance it'd be more like ''that's clearly the insignia for the Free Dac volunteers, probably built at pammant''.
the specific data, I believe, is mostly up to the GM, but I think if what we're looking for is a reference in the RAW, one thing we can get to aproximate degrees of success in Perception checks to notice targets would be the size-dependant DCs: the DC for Fine targets is 25, so a Perception check of 25 or more would reveal detail about the target.
the rest, though, is usually complemented by a Knowledge check, so to interpret the data gathered, I would usually call for a (technology) or (life sciences) check which requires no action.

Apr 16, 2012 -- 6:48AM, richterbelmont10 wrote:

What general details would it provide? Number of life forms? Number of humanoid life forms? Exact species of humanoid life forms? General direction or specific location of said life forms?

I think a hard rule about those details would be inexorably restrictive. it's probably better to deal with those specifics as the game sorts out, having those inluenced by the GM and add fluff relevant to the circumstances.