December 25, 2015

Merry Xmas! And Some Lightsaber Crystal Options!

First off, a very Merry Christmas to my fellow Star Wars fans out there.  While it is true that most of us got our Christmas gift early in the form of The Force Awakens (more on that in a later blog post), today's still a day to be spent in the company of friends and family, even if gifts aren't formerly exchanged.

Well, In time for the holiday season, here is an assortment of lightsaber crystals for use with the Force and Destiny branch of FFG's Star Wars RPG.  Most of these come from the Legends side of the fence, and were things that I'd been working on and revising/tweaking pretty much since the Force and Destiny core rulebook came out earlier this year.

Compressed Synthetic Crystal
On occasion, when attempting to create a synthetic kyber crystal, the crystal's structure is over-compressed.  The end result is a crystal that produces a blade that is thinner and thus more precise than a standard lightsaber blade, which in turn enables the user to better bypass their opponent's defenses.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 7 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Breach 1 and Sunder qualities.  When the target uses the Parry talent against an attack made with this lightsaber, reduce the amount of damage negated by 1.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 2 Reduce the damage negated from the Parry talent by 1 Mods, 1 Decrease the weapon's critical rating by 1 to a minimum of 1 Mod, 2 Item Quality (Vicious +1) Mods.
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 12,000 credits
Rarity: 10 (R)

Flawed Kyber Crystal
Found among both naturally-formed and synthetic crystals, a flawed kyber crystal is less than ideal for usage in a lightsaber, as the minute imperfections tend to create an unstable blade that literally crackles with barely restrained energy.  Extra precautions need to be taken, as a flawed kyber crystal is much more susceptible to cracking than a perfectly formed crystal.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 7 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Breach 1, Sunder, and Vicious 1 qualities.  The difficulty of all checks to modify or repair a lightsaber using this crystal are upgraded once.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 2 Damage +1 Mods, 3 Item Quality (Vicious +1) Mods.
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 9,000 credits
Rarity: 7 (R)

Rubat Crystal
A type of kyber crystal once used in the construction of lightsabers by the Jedi Order, rubat crystals were most commonly found on the remote world of Phemis in the Corellian Sector.  While not as powerful or receptive to the Force as the crystals of Ilum, rubat crystals gave the blade a much sharper and defined appearance, allowing the wielder to strike at their opponents with greater speed.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 6 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Breach 1 and Sunder qualities.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 2 Damage +1 Mods, 1 Decrease the weapon's critical rating by 1 to a minimum of 1 Mod, 1 Item Quality (Accurate +1) Mod.
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 9,000 credits
Rarity: 10 (R)
Note: To be honest, I was disappointed that the rubat crystals offered in the GM Kit adventure "Hidden Depths" was just a re-flavored Ilum crystal.  So this version is presented as an alternative for GMs to make use of in their games.

Synthetic Kyber Crystal
During the time of the Emperor's rule, most of the known sources for kyber crystals were either destroyed or kept under strict Imperial surveillance.  In response to these draconian measures, those students of the Jedi looking to construct their own lightsaber had to rely upon the practice of growing synthetic crystals.  While easier to procure than natural kyber crystals, the difficulties that come in properly forming the synthetic crystal still made them difficult to acquire.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 6 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Breach 1 and Sunder qualities.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 3 Damage +1 Mods, 1 Decrease the weapon's critical rating by 1 to a minimum of 1 Mod, 3 Item Quality ( +1 Vicious) Mod.
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 9,000 credits
Rarity: 9 (R)
 
Velmorite Crystal
Found on the planet Velmor in the Halori sector of the Mid Rim Territories, these crystals were prized by Jedi duelists for the fine, thin blade that resulted when attuned for use in a lightsaber.  Such a blade was particularly conducive to the graceful and fluid movements of the Makashi Form of lightsaber combat, although many Ataru adherents found the blades just as useful for their own style of combat.
Base Modifiers: Installing this crystal changes a lightsaber's base damage to 7 and critical rating to 2, and the lightsaber gains the Accurate 1, Breach 1 and Sunder qualities.  If the crystal is ever removed, the lightsaber loses these qualities and reverts to its previous base damage and critical rating.
Modifications: 3 Damage +1 Mods, 1 Item Quality ( +1 Accurate) Mod, 1 Item Quality (Defensive +1) Mod
Hard Points Required: 2
Cost: 15,000 credits
Rarity: 10 (R)

5 comments:

  1. How would you mechanically handle an attempt to create a synthetic crystal? Under what circumstances would you have the result come out flawed or compressed?

    The compressed stone seems a little too good as compared to the standard synthetic crystal. That is to say, Compression seems like it would be a mistake or flaw in the process, which has an advantage but also a drawback. As written, the only benefit the standard synth crystal has is one point of vicious, and it requires more modding to even get to that point. I'd suggest maybe giving the compressed crystal a reduced maximum damage or have it lack the Vicious entirely.

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    1. The compressed crystal starts out better, but when fully modded the synthetic crystal is overall better, having a higher damage value and the ranks of Vicious. From comments that Sam Stewart made on the Order 66 podcast, part of balancing a lightsaber crystal is a combination of what it can do without modifications and what it can do when fully modified. The compressed crystal's benefit only comes into play if fighting somebody using Parry, which isn't always going to be the case.

      Of course, it would probably help if the compressed crystal had the correct starting damage value of 7.

      As for creating a synthetic crystal, there were no actual crafting rules at the time I created these, so it would generally be up to the GM to determine the length of time or how difficult the process would be.

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    2. Ah, yeah -- the 7 starting damage fixes that entirely, in my view.

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  2. Have you thought about including any of the Force Awakens material on Cracked Kyber Crystals and the required crossguard vent quillons? (Well done on your work by the way!)

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    1. I wrote the Flawed Kyber Crystal with the intent of it also covering the cracked kyber crystal used in Kylo Ren's lightsaber. As for the crossguard quilions, I've got some ideas, but nothing quite ready to be published yet. Also debating between making it a separate hilt type or a hilt modification, though with Keeping the Peace making the guard shoto a separate hilt type I may wind up going the separate hilt type.

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