Firstly, Happy Birthday to me. Not every day a fella becomes the answer to life, the universe, and everything after all now, is it? (yeah, that's not the least bit egotistical)
Been a while since I last posted an update to this blog of mine, so indulge me a brief summary of what's been going on since I last posted before I get to the "good part."
Since I posted those revisited PCs back in May, my friend Eric (known as oghen in some places) has been running a Star Wars campaign set in the era of The Force Awakens, taking place shortly after the events of the movie. In this campaign, I'm playing a further revised version of Valin, who is still a Sentinel/Shien Expert, but his backstory has changed a bit; there's no Empire hunting him, and he's now packing a training lightsaber (still hasn't been used in a fight as of yet), but he was still on his own for most of his life and only had a modicum of Jedi training. Also seeing play is Jade, whose re-write my adopted big sis Linda liked enough to use as her PC. We're only two sessions in, due to a number of delays that our Friday Night Skype group have jokingly suggested were ploys by the First Order to keep two teenage Force-sensitives from embarking upon their respective journeys; after all, it's a known fact of the setting that teenage Force users are the bane of militaristic regimes seeking galactic domination.
As I'm sure any fellow Potterheads will know, the script for the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child has been published in book form. While the book was a very quick read (it's comprised mostly of stage directions and dialogue), it was still an enjoyable read, and if this is indeed the last story to feature Harry Potter and company, then I think it was a pretty good note to go out on. In a way, it was very much like visiting old friends that you'd lost touch with after many years, seeing how they're doing and how things have changed for them. I've heard some complaints that too much of the action focus on Albus, but to me that makes sense as Harry's already had his grand adventure and settled up with most of his old demons.
I've also been reading through my hard copy of the 2nd edition corebook for 7th Sea. I had a lot of fun playing the 1st edition, even if the mechanics were a bit loopy in several places (skills and knacks, I am looking directly at you) and the metaplot could be rather heavy-handed. Thus far, I've only been able to run a single session and play in a single session, and I had a lot of fun both times. I really like how the system has evolved, and that dice rolling is toned down in terms of how often you're making dice rolls. One thing I have noticed is that being a Swordsman and having a Dueling School on your character sheet makes one's PC a terror in combat. I'd run some test battles using a revamp of an old 1st edition PC of mine, one Estevan Santiago de Montoya, and even as a starting PC the boy can decimate brute squads like there's no tomorrow. Sorcery is also very interesting, and while much more viable in the early going as compared to 1e, it still has its limits in what a player can accomplish (especially since it's fueled by spending Hero Points, which are a fairly rare resource for players); the Hexenwerk sorcery is suitably creepy, and Sorte is potent but not overwhelmingly so. One minor gripe I have is that with regards to Villains, fighting them can begin feel like a grind, not unlike fighting Solo monsters in the early days of D&D 4e. I am thinking of a house rule to either halve the number of Dramatic Wounds a Villain can withstand before they become Helpless, or simply halve the number of wounds needed to inflict a Dramatic Wound. But beyond that, I love how this system works in terms of dice results and how vastly different one PC can be from the next. Maybe later this month I'll post up the various characters that I've written up.
So that's that, and now onto the main course.
Off and on, I've been updating, revising, reworking, further revising, and so forth with what would essentially be the second edition of my old Ways of the Force fan supplement. Now, I knew from the very start that WotF would have a definite shelf life, being a stop-gap to provide some more options for Force usage until the release of Force and Destiny. But rather than let it fall completely to the wayside, I felt that some of what I had created still had merit, and that what it really needed was an overhaul and an update to account for the new rules and material regarding Force users during the time frame of Fantasy Flight Games' most excellent Star Wars Roleplaying Game.
To be perfectly honest, a large part of why this took so long was that I went through numerous versions of the Jedi Initiate universal specialization. The one thing that I wanted to avoid was making this a "gotta have it!" spec for any PCs that were interested in being lightsaber wielders, especially those who started out with one of the six Lightsaber Form specializations in Force and Destiny. While I'm currently pretty happy with how the version published here has shaken out, I'm still concerned that this could be a very dominate spec, seeing as how it offers both a Force Rating talent and the Improved Parry talent. I tried to balance this by putting those talents on very separate paths in the spec, as well as having Improved Parry be rather buried in the tree, making it much more expensive to acquire than it would be in the other specializations it appears in, as well as kind of burying the ranks of Parry and Reflect so that a player won't get those talents too quickly. Still, I feel like I've broken some sort of cardinal rule by including both those talents in the same spec, so if anything I would suggest to GMs that they require a PC looking to acquire this spec have undertake some measure of quest before they can purchase it, and that it certainly cannot be purchased at character creation for games set after the fall of the Jedi Order.
Another portion that I struggled on and off with was the new lightsaber crystals. I wanted to introduce some new options for PCs, making them different enough from the already published crystals that they didn't all feel like retreads but not so different as to possibly unbalance the game. I posted earlier drafts of some of those new crystals here on my blog a while ago, as well as guidelines for constructing a synthetic lightsaber crystal, which I've touched up a bit. I ultimately opted to treat a synthetic kyber crystal as being the same as the Ilum crystal, and figure that the Sith were so hung up on synthetic crystals being "superior" to natural kyber crystals was a combination of their inherent hubris and that a freshly created synthetic kyber crystal would have the potential to have some of its modification options added during the creation process, making it "better" than a stock Ilum crystal.
One thing I had been going back and forth upon including was a "Beast Master" universal specialization, incorporating elements of the Pathfinder specialization as well as the Beast Rider specialization from Stay on Target. I ultimately axed the idea upon the announcement of Savage Spirits, but upon acquiring the book I may revisit that idea down the line. To be honest, a lot of the proposed intent for the Beast Master was taken from the Legends version of the Dathomir witches, who were capable Force users that bonded with and rode beasts (notably rancors). As is often the case with home-brew specializations, the trick was not doing too much cherry-picking for this proposed specialization in terms of talents.
In terms of Force powers, that section was surprisingly easy to update. I completely chucked the Force Techniques idea and the various powers I'd created. While it's entirely possibly that the upcoming Sentinel sourcebook Endless Vigil will have some kind of Psychometry power, I put together my own take, one that I feel captures the essence of the power without it becoming too much of a potential game breaker, especially for adventures that revolve around solving mysteries or learning hidden truths.
Well, enough blathering on my part, so here's the goods.
Ways of the Force, Version 2.0
Hopefully you find this newest (and possibly final) version of Ways of the Force to be a useful, either in whole or in part, at your gaming table as your characters learn and explore the mysteries of the Force in a galaxy far, far away...
Showing posts with label Jedi Initiate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jedi Initiate. Show all posts
August 12, 2016
March 22, 2014
Ways of the Force, Version 1.3
Wow, four posts in the same month. One might start to think the owner of this blog actually remembered that it exists ;)
It'd been quite a while since I'd last updated my Ways of the Force fan supplement. I'd been working on altering a number of things, such as largely doing away with the minor Force powers and expanding two of them into full-fledged Force Power trees.
Ways of the Force, Version 1.3
I've also made some major revamps to the Force Powers, new and old, in light of clarification from FFG's own Sam Stewart in regards to how Force Power effects were activated. To simplify, my understanding was incorrect, and that in light of that understanding, Injure and Healing were vastly more powerful than I was comfortable with. There was also the matter that they had gotten perhaps too complicated, particularly Healing and my attempts to keep it from being too useful to a group but not so restricted as to make it nearly useless. I think I've struck the right balance this time around with both powers, making them effective but not game-breaking.
The Jedi Initiate has also gotten a substantial change in layout. I opted to go back to the original focus of this being a specialization that focuses on becoming a competent lightsaber duelist as one of it's primary aspects, and that improved Force usage isn't quite as major. That's not to say that someone taking Jedi Initiate won't be slackers in the Force, but rather that lightsaber prowess is going to be a major part of the specialization. So folks that are looking to be a Jedi but don't want to bother with the lightsaber talents, I'm afraid you're going to have to look to other Force-sensitive specializations to scratch that particular itch.
I've also recanted a bit on my earlier statement about not having any kind of skill check to construct a lightsaber. For this version, I've settled on making it a single Discipline check, partly to avoid the issue of "how would my PC know how to build a lightsaber if they're not trained in the skill?" had I used the Lightsaber skill, but largely as a nod to Saga Edition and having it be a Use the Force check to accomplish that task. Plus, Discipline ties into it being an important skill for Force users to have as well as the concentration and focus needed for a task that's noted as requiring a combination of great delicacy and precision. However, that's not to say that it's an automatic thing either, especially if the player is impatient, as the check starts at Daunting, and only gets harder the quicker a PC tries to accomplish the task of building the 'saber; get too greedy and your Jedi-in-training could find themselves having to start completely from scratch.
Another major change has been to the Deflect Blasters talent. I feel there comes a point that when you need more than a single paragraph to cover the effects of a talent, then you've reached the point of needing to split it into two talents. And given some of the unexpected issues that cropped up, such as a PC using the talent to deflect a single shot from auto-fire weapon and then trigger auto-fire (something that was never intended), the split was needed. So while it now takes two talents to allow a Jedi Initiate to deflect and reflect blaster fire (presuming they've acquired a lightsaber in the first place), both talents are better balanced, with the minor bonus that deflecting ranged attacks is now something that the character could start knowing how to do; after all, it's one of the first lessons that Luke learned on his path to becoming a Jedi Knight.
The two new powers are Rebuke (expanded from Resist Force) and Message (expanded from Projective Telepathy). As for Sense Force, that's simply been moved to a sidebar (found under the Force Mystic) and is pretty much a function of the Sense power.
With Message, I had toyed with the idea of creating some kind of "battle meditation" effect, but I felt that such an ability was best left as a plot device type of thing, particularly with FFG having kept the uses of the Force in the powers they've published much closer to the general feel of the films while mostly averting some of the crazier stunts that have been seen in the Expanded Universe. While Sense covers the "picking up thoughts" aspect of telepathy, Message is more in line of what folks think when one mentions "telepathy," though like Saga Edition I kept the power's effects fairly simple, with the intent that any conversations would be very simple; something akin to Luke contacting Leia and sending a general sense that he was in danger and that he was "underneath Cloud City," and hoping that she'd be able to take it from there to rescue him.
As for Rebuke, one complaint I've often seen is that there was no real way to defend yourself from a Force power. It's not a major issue with Move (since any defensive traits that work against ranged attacks would apply), but it becomes a bigger on with Influence and Injure, both of which as written don't give the target any way to stop the damage inflicted. I opted to keep the opposed Discipline check that Resist Force had, though this isn't too big of an issue for most powers (especially as I scrapped the opposed check that was part of Injure in the last version). I've also broken out it so that the basic effect is simply to negate the effects of a power; if your Force user wants to pull a Yoda and hurl those bolts of Force lightning back, you'll need a Control Upgrade to do it. One potential concern is that with enough ranks in Discipline and the way Rebuke's Strength Upgrades operate it could become very easy for a Force-user with this power to shove an offensive power right back down their opponent's throat. Admittedly, this is offset somewhat by needing a Triumph on the opposed Discipline check and the chance for a Despair against more potent Force users as well. I also opted to include the ability to absorb/negate energy attacks as the "capstone" ability of Rebuke, using the same general mechanics, such as the Force user making an opposed Discipline check, only this time the difficulty is the shooter's combat skill. You could potentially use this to redirect a blaster shot with your bare hands, but by the time that most characters gain that particular Control Upgrade, they should be facing some pretty potent adversaries.
There have been a few other lesser tweaks here and there, but those are the highlights. And, barring any major typographical errors, this will probably be the final revision to this document.
With a Force & Destiny Beta having been teased as coming out later this year (presumably at GenCon), that brings to a close the reason I created this supplement in the first place; namely as a way to provide players with further options to play Force users in and Edge of the Empire or an Age of Rebellion campaign. A number of folks wanted some way to play an actual Jedi, not a "let's pretend" version that had either the Force Exile or Force Emergent specs and a few ranks in the Lightsaber skill, as well as an ability to perform Force-based feats that we saw in the movies but weren't covered by Edge of the Empire. While some folks chose to focus exclusively on creating a Jedi career, I opted to split the difference and create a Jedi specialization as a nod to the limited training available during the Rebellion Era as well as create additional Force powers.
But, with Force & Destiny having been teased to cover Jedi and other Force-users, the need to add new material or revise the existing material becomes less and less. Then again, I knew this was going to happen eventually, and thus had a degree of "planned obsolescence" from the very start. After all, when it comes to choosing between officially published material and some random guy's fan work, most gamers are going to lean towards the officially published material. And I'm okay with that. On a personal level, I'm interested to see how different in the design and application of things like blaster deflection and rebuking enemy Force powers my stuff and FFG's stuff will be. Amusingly, around July of last year, I'd been working on building an "enhanced movement" and "farseeing" power, and laughed with giddy joy at seeing that the Enhance and Foresee powers in the Age of Rebellion Beta were along very similar guidelines; my stuff would have gotten to that point in another month or two. Part of me hopes I'll get to experience that a second time around with the Force & Destiny Beta.
In the end, I can only hope that in the time frame between when I first web-published Ways of the Force and when the Force & Destiny core rulebook gets released next year, folks have found the material I've created to be useful for their games, either in whole or just select parts of it.
Edit: For some reason, Dropbox disabled the previous link. I've put a new one up.
It'd been quite a while since I'd last updated my Ways of the Force fan supplement. I'd been working on altering a number of things, such as largely doing away with the minor Force powers and expanding two of them into full-fledged Force Power trees.
Ways of the Force, Version 1.3
I've also made some major revamps to the Force Powers, new and old, in light of clarification from FFG's own Sam Stewart in regards to how Force Power effects were activated. To simplify, my understanding was incorrect, and that in light of that understanding, Injure and Healing were vastly more powerful than I was comfortable with. There was also the matter that they had gotten perhaps too complicated, particularly Healing and my attempts to keep it from being too useful to a group but not so restricted as to make it nearly useless. I think I've struck the right balance this time around with both powers, making them effective but not game-breaking.
The Jedi Initiate has also gotten a substantial change in layout. I opted to go back to the original focus of this being a specialization that focuses on becoming a competent lightsaber duelist as one of it's primary aspects, and that improved Force usage isn't quite as major. That's not to say that someone taking Jedi Initiate won't be slackers in the Force, but rather that lightsaber prowess is going to be a major part of the specialization. So folks that are looking to be a Jedi but don't want to bother with the lightsaber talents, I'm afraid you're going to have to look to other Force-sensitive specializations to scratch that particular itch.
I've also recanted a bit on my earlier statement about not having any kind of skill check to construct a lightsaber. For this version, I've settled on making it a single Discipline check, partly to avoid the issue of "how would my PC know how to build a lightsaber if they're not trained in the skill?" had I used the Lightsaber skill, but largely as a nod to Saga Edition and having it be a Use the Force check to accomplish that task. Plus, Discipline ties into it being an important skill for Force users to have as well as the concentration and focus needed for a task that's noted as requiring a combination of great delicacy and precision. However, that's not to say that it's an automatic thing either, especially if the player is impatient, as the check starts at Daunting, and only gets harder the quicker a PC tries to accomplish the task of building the 'saber; get too greedy and your Jedi-in-training could find themselves having to start completely from scratch.
Another major change has been to the Deflect Blasters talent. I feel there comes a point that when you need more than a single paragraph to cover the effects of a talent, then you've reached the point of needing to split it into two talents. And given some of the unexpected issues that cropped up, such as a PC using the talent to deflect a single shot from auto-fire weapon and then trigger auto-fire (something that was never intended), the split was needed. So while it now takes two talents to allow a Jedi Initiate to deflect and reflect blaster fire (presuming they've acquired a lightsaber in the first place), both talents are better balanced, with the minor bonus that deflecting ranged attacks is now something that the character could start knowing how to do; after all, it's one of the first lessons that Luke learned on his path to becoming a Jedi Knight.
The two new powers are Rebuke (expanded from Resist Force) and Message (expanded from Projective Telepathy). As for Sense Force, that's simply been moved to a sidebar (found under the Force Mystic) and is pretty much a function of the Sense power.
With Message, I had toyed with the idea of creating some kind of "battle meditation" effect, but I felt that such an ability was best left as a plot device type of thing, particularly with FFG having kept the uses of the Force in the powers they've published much closer to the general feel of the films while mostly averting some of the crazier stunts that have been seen in the Expanded Universe. While Sense covers the "picking up thoughts" aspect of telepathy, Message is more in line of what folks think when one mentions "telepathy," though like Saga Edition I kept the power's effects fairly simple, with the intent that any conversations would be very simple; something akin to Luke contacting Leia and sending a general sense that he was in danger and that he was "underneath Cloud City," and hoping that she'd be able to take it from there to rescue him.
As for Rebuke, one complaint I've often seen is that there was no real way to defend yourself from a Force power. It's not a major issue with Move (since any defensive traits that work against ranged attacks would apply), but it becomes a bigger on with Influence and Injure, both of which as written don't give the target any way to stop the damage inflicted. I opted to keep the opposed Discipline check that Resist Force had, though this isn't too big of an issue for most powers (especially as I scrapped the opposed check that was part of Injure in the last version). I've also broken out it so that the basic effect is simply to negate the effects of a power; if your Force user wants to pull a Yoda and hurl those bolts of Force lightning back, you'll need a Control Upgrade to do it. One potential concern is that with enough ranks in Discipline and the way Rebuke's Strength Upgrades operate it could become very easy for a Force-user with this power to shove an offensive power right back down their opponent's throat. Admittedly, this is offset somewhat by needing a Triumph on the opposed Discipline check and the chance for a Despair against more potent Force users as well. I also opted to include the ability to absorb/negate energy attacks as the "capstone" ability of Rebuke, using the same general mechanics, such as the Force user making an opposed Discipline check, only this time the difficulty is the shooter's combat skill. You could potentially use this to redirect a blaster shot with your bare hands, but by the time that most characters gain that particular Control Upgrade, they should be facing some pretty potent adversaries.
There have been a few other lesser tweaks here and there, but those are the highlights. And, barring any major typographical errors, this will probably be the final revision to this document.
With a Force & Destiny Beta having been teased as coming out later this year (presumably at GenCon), that brings to a close the reason I created this supplement in the first place; namely as a way to provide players with further options to play Force users in and Edge of the Empire or an Age of Rebellion campaign. A number of folks wanted some way to play an actual Jedi, not a "let's pretend" version that had either the Force Exile or Force Emergent specs and a few ranks in the Lightsaber skill, as well as an ability to perform Force-based feats that we saw in the movies but weren't covered by Edge of the Empire. While some folks chose to focus exclusively on creating a Jedi career, I opted to split the difference and create a Jedi specialization as a nod to the limited training available during the Rebellion Era as well as create additional Force powers.
But, with Force & Destiny having been teased to cover Jedi and other Force-users, the need to add new material or revise the existing material becomes less and less. Then again, I knew this was going to happen eventually, and thus had a degree of "planned obsolescence" from the very start. After all, when it comes to choosing between officially published material and some random guy's fan work, most gamers are going to lean towards the officially published material. And I'm okay with that. On a personal level, I'm interested to see how different in the design and application of things like blaster deflection and rebuking enemy Force powers my stuff and FFG's stuff will be. Amusingly, around July of last year, I'd been working on building an "enhanced movement" and "farseeing" power, and laughed with giddy joy at seeing that the Enhance and Foresee powers in the Age of Rebellion Beta were along very similar guidelines; my stuff would have gotten to that point in another month or two. Part of me hopes I'll get to experience that a second time around with the Force & Destiny Beta.
In the end, I can only hope that in the time frame between when I first web-published Ways of the Force and when the Force & Destiny core rulebook gets released next year, folks have found the material I've created to be useful for their games, either in whole or just select parts of it.
Edit: For some reason, Dropbox disabled the previous link. I've put a new one up.
November 29, 2013
Ways of the Force, version 1.2 (and other things)
Greetings, salutations, and various other modes of introduction.
Firstly, for those readers that live in the U.S., I hope your Thanksgiving was fun, semi-relaxing, and filled with plenty of good eats.
As the title notes, I'm now releasing Version 1.2 of my Ways of the Force fan supplement for use with Fantasy Flight Games' terrific Star Wars Roleplaying Game.
Ways of the Force, Version 1.2
On the mechanical side of things, the material takes into account new material and updates from the Age of Rebellion Beta, as well as some reworking and (hopefully) simplification of some of the new Force Powers, specifically the Injure power and the Resist Force minor power. I'm quite pleased with how the specializations are set-up, so not major changes there other than swapping out a talent here and there.
However, the biggest change is in the formatting of this fan supplement. Previous versions have been fairly "bare bones" and going right into the material, with the credits and such at the end. Well, due to various experiences with some of the realities of web publishing, I've opted to change things up a bit in regards to how the document appears. For starters, there's an actual cover page, with the credits page following right after. Also added was a Creative Commons license agreement, something I've added out of semi-reluctant necessity given how one of my other projects was treated as "help yourself and do what you want" due to the lack of the CC license agreement in the document itself, leading to a series of events that I have no desire to repeat.
You might also notice that I've moved away from GoogleDocs and over to DropBox. I've been having some issues with updating and replacing files on GoogleDocs (to say nothing of GD's lack of ability to track how many hits a file's gotten), and so I'm going to give DropBox a shot. I've been using DropBox for a couple minor things, and I've been pretty impressed so far. That and the preview versions of my PDF files don't look quite as garbled or washed out as the did on GoogleDocs. Still, you'll need to download the file to your computer/netbook/tablet/device for it to look the way it should.
As for the other FFG Star Wars RPG fan project, the Unofficial Species Menagerie, going through the process of getting version 3.0 in order was certainly a learning experience. In particular, that I should have stuck with my gut feeling and reached out to the person that I wanted to have do the "prettied up" PDF in the first place instead of the individual that I got stuck working with due to the lack of Creative Commons license issue that I noted above. For all his remarks about my being "unprofessional" (mostly as I was trying to give various artists and authors a reasonable time to respond rather than the "right now dammit!" that he was insisting upon), he certainly screwed several things up, including the spelling of several alien species, and his own attitude was hardly what I'd call professional. Particularly when Brian "Fiddleback" Casey in his role as editor of the Gamer Security Agency started up a separate thread to announce the newest version of the USM being available and the accusation that I deliberately tried to cut him out of the deal, when nothing could be further from the truth as I tried to arrange a simultaneous notification of both the low-resolution and high-resolution versions.
But that is in the past, and I'm happy to say that JegerGryte (check out his blog here) has happily agreed to step up to the plate in getting a corrected version of the Unofficial Species Menagerie. He was my original choice as for who I wanted to work on the "prettied-up" version of the USM for the third version, and his work has been outstanding. He's also shown to have no problems with feedback or about typos, which puts him well above the other guy in my book. As I said, given the quality of work that he's done and the lack of ego in working with him, I really wish I had stuck to my gut and told "thedearth" to sod off. Things are looking pretty good, so keep your eyes on the GSA for an update in the near future.
And speaking of the Gamer Security Agency, things are in a state of flux as near as I can tell. Brian Casey has opted to move on to doing his own version, the Mad Adventurer's Society, and I think his notification that he was stepping down from being the GSA's primary editor has left everyone else a bit gun shy. While the GSA is still up and still running, there's not been a whole lot of new content.
Also, given a listen to the latest episode of the Order 66 podcast "GMing A-Z with Jay Little" featuring the lead developer/designer of FFG's Star Wars RPG, Mister Jay Little himself. There is some great advice on working with so-called "problem player" types, with an emphasis on the "working with" part as opposed to the traditional suggestions that focus more on "dealing with" those types of players.
Firstly, for those readers that live in the U.S., I hope your Thanksgiving was fun, semi-relaxing, and filled with plenty of good eats.
As the title notes, I'm now releasing Version 1.2 of my Ways of the Force fan supplement for use with Fantasy Flight Games' terrific Star Wars Roleplaying Game.
Ways of the Force, Version 1.2
On the mechanical side of things, the material takes into account new material and updates from the Age of Rebellion Beta, as well as some reworking and (hopefully) simplification of some of the new Force Powers, specifically the Injure power and the Resist Force minor power. I'm quite pleased with how the specializations are set-up, so not major changes there other than swapping out a talent here and there.
However, the biggest change is in the formatting of this fan supplement. Previous versions have been fairly "bare bones" and going right into the material, with the credits and such at the end. Well, due to various experiences with some of the realities of web publishing, I've opted to change things up a bit in regards to how the document appears. For starters, there's an actual cover page, with the credits page following right after. Also added was a Creative Commons license agreement, something I've added out of semi-reluctant necessity given how one of my other projects was treated as "help yourself and do what you want" due to the lack of the CC license agreement in the document itself, leading to a series of events that I have no desire to repeat.
You might also notice that I've moved away from GoogleDocs and over to DropBox. I've been having some issues with updating and replacing files on GoogleDocs (to say nothing of GD's lack of ability to track how many hits a file's gotten), and so I'm going to give DropBox a shot. I've been using DropBox for a couple minor things, and I've been pretty impressed so far. That and the preview versions of my PDF files don't look quite as garbled or washed out as the did on GoogleDocs. Still, you'll need to download the file to your computer/netbook/tablet/device for it to look the way it should.
As for the other FFG Star Wars RPG fan project, the Unofficial Species Menagerie, going through the process of getting version 3.0 in order was certainly a learning experience. In particular, that I should have stuck with my gut feeling and reached out to the person that I wanted to have do the "prettied up" PDF in the first place instead of the individual that I got stuck working with due to the lack of Creative Commons license issue that I noted above. For all his remarks about my being "unprofessional" (mostly as I was trying to give various artists and authors a reasonable time to respond rather than the "right now dammit!" that he was insisting upon), he certainly screwed several things up, including the spelling of several alien species, and his own attitude was hardly what I'd call professional. Particularly when Brian "Fiddleback" Casey in his role as editor of the Gamer Security Agency started up a separate thread to announce the newest version of the USM being available and the accusation that I deliberately tried to cut him out of the deal, when nothing could be further from the truth as I tried to arrange a simultaneous notification of both the low-resolution and high-resolution versions.
But that is in the past, and I'm happy to say that JegerGryte (check out his blog here) has happily agreed to step up to the plate in getting a corrected version of the Unofficial Species Menagerie. He was my original choice as for who I wanted to work on the "prettied-up" version of the USM for the third version, and his work has been outstanding. He's also shown to have no problems with feedback or about typos, which puts him well above the other guy in my book. As I said, given the quality of work that he's done and the lack of ego in working with him, I really wish I had stuck to my gut and told "thedearth" to sod off. Things are looking pretty good, so keep your eyes on the GSA for an update in the near future.
And speaking of the Gamer Security Agency, things are in a state of flux as near as I can tell. Brian Casey has opted to move on to doing his own version, the Mad Adventurer's Society, and I think his notification that he was stepping down from being the GSA's primary editor has left everyone else a bit gun shy. While the GSA is still up and still running, there's not been a whole lot of new content.
Also, given a listen to the latest episode of the Order 66 podcast "GMing A-Z with Jay Little" featuring the lead developer/designer of FFG's Star Wars RPG, Mister Jay Little himself. There is some great advice on working with so-called "problem player" types, with an emphasis on the "working with" part as opposed to the traditional suggestions that focus more on "dealing with" those types of players.
September 2, 2013
Ways of the Force, version 1.1
Firstly, happy Labor Day for those of us enjoying a day off in the U.S.
Kind of fitting that after a couple month's worth of labor, consisting of a substantial amount of review and revision, I now present the latest version of my Ways of the Force fan supplement:
Ways of the Force v1.1
There's been some pretty substantial changes, the foremost of which is the restructuring of the Jedi Initiate talent tree. The intent with the change was to allow for character with this specialization to not be overly penalized for not becoming an expert at using a lightsaber, though mastery of the lightsaber still remains a major focus of this specialization. So if all you want to do with your Jedi Initiate is buff up their Force Rating and not once pick up a lightsaber, you can easily skip all those lightsaber-related talents.
I also removed and revised some of the Minor Force Powers, as well as removed a talent (Force Leap) from the Jedi Initiate. If you've managed to snag a copy of the Age of Rebellion Beta, then you'll understand way. If not, let us just say that my thoughts when developing some of these elements came very close to those of FFG's design team.
Part of the reason why there had been such a lengthy delay between versions was that back in July, I decided to develop the Force Leap talent and the "Search Your Feelings" minor power into full-fledged Force Powers, with a Basic Power and various Upgrades. I actually had a decent layout for the power trees for what I was calling Enhancement and Farseeing.
Enhancement built upon my Force Leap talent by allow a Force Die to be rolled to add successes or advantage to various Brawn and Agility based checks, such as Athletics, Coordination, Stealth, and Resilience, as well as a movement-based effect that drew upon lessons learned from an ill-fated attempt at creating a "Force Speed" power tree in months prior. The bulk of the power tree were Control Upgrades, with the base power starting at Athletics, and broadening the skills affected with each Control Upgrade on one side and a "Force Speed" effect on the other, with Range Upgrade to allow the user to cross additional Range Bands.
As for Farseeing, the basic power allowed a brief but fuzzy snapshot of events in the near future, with Strength Upgrades to allow more details, Duration Upgrades to look further into the future, and Control Upgrades to look into the past as well as to see the future/past of someone else, or multiple someones if you had enough Magnitude Upgrades. A base framework, but one that needed a great deal more refinement before they were ready to publish.
Well, as I mentioned in my prior post, I wound up being very pleasantly surprised when I (finally) cracked open my copy of the Age of Rebellion Beta (had to wait until after an EotE run by Sam Stewart before I could retreat to the VIG lounge to actually read the book), and wound up laughing quite a bit at how close I'd gotten in most aspects to what FFG had published, a sentiment that GM Chris of the Order 66 podcast and lead designer Jay Little were both glad to share, and I'm sure a few other folks will too. To paraphrase Jay, it says something about how simple and intuitive the design of their Star Wars system is when someone totally unrelated is able to independently design concepts that mirror those that the official design team has come up with.
So that fun little anecdote aside, a couple other changes you'll find is that I've broke the new weapons and new gear out into separate pages, adding a few more lightsaber variants such as the double-bladed lightsaber and training lightsaber to the weapons listing. For the Force-related items, both of the new entries are very heavily slanted towards the Jedi, those being Adegan/Ilum crystals (useful for building one's lightsaber) and the coveted Jedi holocron (which can be damn handy both as an information resource and instructional aide to burgeoning Force-users).
The "Sense Force" minor power has been simplified, with the "sense disturbances" aspect broken out into a separate side bar and being something anyone with a Force Rating of 1 or better can do. New to this section is the "Resist Force" power, which provides experienced Force-users a way to protect themselves from enemy powers. That's probably the one element of this latest version that will most likely be in need of further revision or clarification, but I think the core functionality is solid even if it does add yet another measure of complexity to using the Force.
So, hopefully the changes and updates made in this latest version prove agreeable to your group.
Kind of fitting that after a couple month's worth of labor, consisting of a substantial amount of review and revision, I now present the latest version of my Ways of the Force fan supplement:
Ways of the Force v1.1
There's been some pretty substantial changes, the foremost of which is the restructuring of the Jedi Initiate talent tree. The intent with the change was to allow for character with this specialization to not be overly penalized for not becoming an expert at using a lightsaber, though mastery of the lightsaber still remains a major focus of this specialization. So if all you want to do with your Jedi Initiate is buff up their Force Rating and not once pick up a lightsaber, you can easily skip all those lightsaber-related talents.
I also removed and revised some of the Minor Force Powers, as well as removed a talent (Force Leap) from the Jedi Initiate. If you've managed to snag a copy of the Age of Rebellion Beta, then you'll understand way. If not, let us just say that my thoughts when developing some of these elements came very close to those of FFG's design team.
Part of the reason why there had been such a lengthy delay between versions was that back in July, I decided to develop the Force Leap talent and the "Search Your Feelings" minor power into full-fledged Force Powers, with a Basic Power and various Upgrades. I actually had a decent layout for the power trees for what I was calling Enhancement and Farseeing.
Enhancement built upon my Force Leap talent by allow a Force Die to be rolled to add successes or advantage to various Brawn and Agility based checks, such as Athletics, Coordination, Stealth, and Resilience, as well as a movement-based effect that drew upon lessons learned from an ill-fated attempt at creating a "Force Speed" power tree in months prior. The bulk of the power tree were Control Upgrades, with the base power starting at Athletics, and broadening the skills affected with each Control Upgrade on one side and a "Force Speed" effect on the other, with Range Upgrade to allow the user to cross additional Range Bands.
As for Farseeing, the basic power allowed a brief but fuzzy snapshot of events in the near future, with Strength Upgrades to allow more details, Duration Upgrades to look further into the future, and Control Upgrades to look into the past as well as to see the future/past of someone else, or multiple someones if you had enough Magnitude Upgrades. A base framework, but one that needed a great deal more refinement before they were ready to publish.
Well, as I mentioned in my prior post, I wound up being very pleasantly surprised when I (finally) cracked open my copy of the Age of Rebellion Beta (had to wait until after an EotE run by Sam Stewart before I could retreat to the VIG lounge to actually read the book), and wound up laughing quite a bit at how close I'd gotten in most aspects to what FFG had published, a sentiment that GM Chris of the Order 66 podcast and lead designer Jay Little were both glad to share, and I'm sure a few other folks will too. To paraphrase Jay, it says something about how simple and intuitive the design of their Star Wars system is when someone totally unrelated is able to independently design concepts that mirror those that the official design team has come up with.
So that fun little anecdote aside, a couple other changes you'll find is that I've broke the new weapons and new gear out into separate pages, adding a few more lightsaber variants such as the double-bladed lightsaber and training lightsaber to the weapons listing. For the Force-related items, both of the new entries are very heavily slanted towards the Jedi, those being Adegan/Ilum crystals (useful for building one's lightsaber) and the coveted Jedi holocron (which can be damn handy both as an information resource and instructional aide to burgeoning Force-users).
The "Sense Force" minor power has been simplified, with the "sense disturbances" aspect broken out into a separate side bar and being something anyone with a Force Rating of 1 or better can do. New to this section is the "Resist Force" power, which provides experienced Force-users a way to protect themselves from enemy powers. That's probably the one element of this latest version that will most likely be in need of further revision or clarification, but I think the core functionality is solid even if it does add yet another measure of complexity to using the Force.
So, hopefully the changes and updates made in this latest version prove agreeable to your group.
May 31, 2013
Blaster Deflection 101 for Edge of the Empire.
Howdy, and a happy Friday and end-of-the-month to you.
Hopefully a fair number of folks that are interested in such things have checked out the latest version of my Ways of the Force fan supplement for FFG's soon-to-be released Edge of the Empire RPG.
There were some significant changes between the initial release version and the current version (1.02), and I'm planning on at least one more revision, which will be shortly after the actual EotE corebook gets released, and will consist of updating the page references (and possibly some talent names) to match said corebook rather than the Beta rulebook.
One of the bigger changes was a total revision of how the talent Deflect Blasters worked. And it's met with a few questions on why the change, both in forums and direct/private messages. So I thought I'd try and shed some insight.
The whole notion of a "blaster deflection" talent got it's start thanks to Chris "GM Chris" Witt of the Order 66 Podcast, the first podcast dedicated solely to Star Wars RPGs. Chris had started a forum thread over at the d20 Radio forums about his ideas for a "blaster deflection" talent. There was quite a bit of back and forth between him, myself, and other posters such as Awayptyrwpn and Phil "DarthGM" Maiewski, with different suggestions and approaches on how to reflect such a classic Jedi ability within the framework of EotE's rules.
For reference, here's the effect text for my take from version 1.0:
Once per round, when the character is targeted by a ranged attack, upgrade the difficulty a number of times equal to character’s Lightsaber skill rank. If this attack was made using a blaster and generates 2 Threat or 1 Despair, the character can deal the weapon’s base damage to a single target within Medium range. The character must be actively wielding a lightsaber staggered (see pg141) in order to activate this talent. This talent cannot be used against a ranged attack made using a starship-scale weapon.
Okay, first problem is that by the time the Jedi Initiate gets this talent, they've probably got at least 4 ranks in the Lightsaber skill, if not 5 by this point. So this means once per round, the Jedi gets to force a bunch of difficulty upgrades on a single target, turning what could be a very simple shot at medium range (base of 2 difficulty dice) into a very difficult shot, with the difficulty now being 3 challenge dice (assuming 4 ranks in Lightsaber) plus 2 setback dice from Lightsaber Defense. And that's not counting other means of increasing the difficulty of a ranged attack, such as Dodge (which also activates as a reaction to being attacked) or Side Step (does require a maneuver to set up), or most likely for a Jedi-in-training, the "danger sense" Control Upgrade for the Sense Power, granting at least one difficulty upgrade, or maybe two if the Strength Upgrade has been purchased. In a one-on-one fight, the Jedi has a huge advantage over a ranged attacker, and with that many challenge and setback dice, having the attack miss and provide the necessary Threat or Despair to trigger a free attack is a pretty sure thing.
So yeah, this was turning out be problematic, and fell into the category of being "too good to pass up." In the v1.0 set-up for the Jedi Initiate talent tree, I buried Deflect Blasters in the top row away from the Force Rating talent, but that just delayed the inevitable of a pretty broken talent entering the game. Based on feedback I'd gotten from the FFG and d20 Radio forums, I decided to start from scratch on designing my Deflect Blasters talent. I'd initially balked at the notion, but the more I read the dice rules in the Beta rulebook, the more sense that using a competitive check made. It was simple to apply (no extra difficulty upgrades), and simply relied upon the Jedi scoring on more success than the guy shooting at them to succeed. I did a brief bit of playtesting and some dice math review, and overall this looked to be an ideal solution to the dilemma of creating a talent that allowed for ranged attack deflection and blaster attack reflection, but wasn't super-powerful. And here's the current text:
Once per round, when the character is targeted by aranged attack, the character can activate this talent to make a competitive check against the same base difficulty, using their Lightsaber skill against the attacker’s combat skill, with a successful check resulting in the attack not dealing any damage. If the attack was made using a blaster, then on a successful check the character can choose to target a single target within Medium range, dealing damage equal to the damage value of the original attacker’s weapon, with each remaining success adding to the damage total. The character must be actively wielding a lightsaber and aware of the attack in order to activate this talent. This talent cannot be used against starship-mounted weapons
Now, looking at the text I wrote with slightly fresh eyes, I can see where some concern might come up that my current version of Deflect Blasters looks too weak, especially when compared to the prior version. After all, a really good marksman has a decent shot at beating out a Jedi Initiate on that opposed check... but I also think that's how it should be. Granted, in a lot of the Star Wars media we see Jedi casually deflecting blaster fire like it's no big deal, but consider most of the time the Jedi in question are A) fighting mooks who barely pose a threat, and B) the Jedi in question are either seasoned Knights or gifted prodigies, so of course it's going to look easy.
Maybe a few in-game examples of how this would work out might help to demonstrate why I think this current version of Deflect Blasters works a lot better and isn't quite as weak as some might think. For this example, I'll be using a vastly experienced version of my initial EotE PC, a young Jedi Initiate-on-the-run by the name of Valin Starsmore. His relevant stats are thus:
Agility 3
Soak Value 3 (Brawn 2 + heavy clothing)
Lightsaber 4 (he's gotten pretty good at this point)
Lightsaber Defense 2 (giving him a +2 bonus to melee & ranged defense)
Deflect Blasters (recently acquired)
Quick Draw (his staring career/spec is Smuggler/Scoundrel)
Sense Power with the "danger sense" Control Upgrade and the Duration Upgrade.
Example 1: Valin is snooping around the streets near a crime-lord's private estate, looking to find out what happened to his friend Gizmo, a slightly odd Twi'lek bounty hunter that has been missing since she went to the crime lord's estate. His Jedi senses (pretty well-honed thanks to 2 ranks each in Uncanny Senses and Uncanny Reactions) alerts him to the presence of a trio of guards (stats as per Apprentice Hunter on pg201 of the Beta, but equipped with heavy blaster pistols and having Perception as one of their skills). Seeing as how the guards have their blasters drawn and pointed at Valin, he wastes little time, drawing and igniting his lightsaber (an Incidental thanks to Quick Draw) then activating his combat awareness (activating his Control Upgrade to let him upgrade the difficulty twice of two separate attacks against him each round). The guards are at Medium range currently, but the foliage that Valin was hoping would obscure him also counts as difficult terrain; he won't be charging into the fray just yet.
The minion group of guards now get to act, and they waste little time in taking aim with their blasters and opening fire on the young Jedi. They're at Medium range, so they're base difficulty is 2 purple dice, with 2 setback dice applied from Valin's two ranks in Lightsaber Defense. Not wanting to get perforated with blaster fire quite so soon, Valin opts to use both his Deflect Blasters talent and his danger sense ability. The minion group will be rolling 2 proficiency, 1 ability die, and 1 boost die (Agility 3 for base of 3 ability dice, two upgrades for each minion after the first, and a boost die from aiming) against a difficulty of 1 challenge die, 1 difficulty die, and 2 setback dice. Valin meanwhile will only be rolling against 2 difficulty dice with a pool of 3 proficiency dice and 1 ability die.
Results are:
Valin: 4 successes, 1 failure, 2 advantage, 3 threat (net result = 3 successes, 1 threat)
Guards: 2 successes, 1 failure, 3 advantage, 5 threat (net result = 1 success, 2 threat)
Valin wins with 2 successes, but suffers a point of Strain (from the 1 Threat) as he frantically intercepts the incoming blaster fire, managing to deflect one of the bolts back to deal 9 damage to the minion group. That's enough damage to drop one of the guards (Soak 3, Wound Threshold 5), with GM applying the 2 Threat as a setback die to the group's next attack roll. One down, two to go, but Valin knows he's going to have to act quick before reinforcements arrive...
Example 2: Having dispatched those pesky guards, Valin has now found his way inside the crime lord's main villa, but has found proof that Gizmo is on the premises; the busty Twi'lek hunter is in trouble, and Valin's not about to let down one of the few friends he has. The Force is with Valin, and he finds both the crime boss and Gizmo, with the Twi'lek lashed to some type of automated torture rack while the Bothan crime boss is leisurely sipping from a wine goblet while asking a series of questions, with a surly-looking Trandoshan standing not too far off. Deciding it's time to act, Valin activates his lightsaber, the distinctive snap-hiss of the weapon getting the attention of both the Bothan crime boss and the Trandoshan. Luckily Valin was already prepped for a fight (having activated the Control Upgrade for his Sense Power), as the crime boss manages to score more successes than Valin on their respective Vigilance checks, though Valin does have 2 advantage that the GM lets him spend to give himself a boost dice on his next roll.
The crime boss (a Nemesis) has Agility 3 and 3 ranks of Ranged (Light), as well as the Quick Draw talent, enabling him to stand up (maneuver), draw his heavy blaster pistol (incidental) and fire at the interloping Jedi, who is at Short Range (1 difficulty). Again not wanting to get shot, Valin applies one of his two uses of danger sense towards the crime boss' shot as well as his one use of Deflect Blasters (the lack of an obvious blaster and the oversized vibrodagger on the Trandoshan's hip suggests a melee threat).
The crime boss' dice pool is 3 proficiency dice, 1 challenge die, and 2 setback dice. Vallin's dice pool is 3 proficiency dice, 1 ability die, 1 boost die, 1 challenge die, 1 difficulty and 1 setback die. The crime boss has two ranks in Adversary, and Valin's Lightsaber check is targeting him, so the talent would apply, plus the crime boss has armored clothing to grant a free rank of defense . Valin decides to bolster his chances by flipping a Destiny Point to upgrade his remaining ability die to a proficiency die.
Results are:
Valin: 1 triumph, 4 successes, 2 failure, 3 advantage, 1 threat (net result = 3 successes, 2 advantage, and a triumph result; i.e. the kid got one hell of a good roll)
Crime Boss: 4 successes, 1 failure, 1 advantage, 3 threat (net result = 3 successes, 2 threat)
Since Valin and the crime boss got the same number of successes, it's a draw. In this case, Valin didn't get hit, but neither did he get to redirect the blaster shot back at the crime boss. The crime boss suffers 2 Strain from the Threat, while Valin uses his 2 Advantage for a free maneuver to engage the crime boss in melee, and that Triumph to narrate that instead of hitting the crime boss, the deflected blaster shot instead pegged the torture rack that Gizmo is on, giving her an upgrade to whatever skill check she wants to make to escape. Which might be good since that Trandoshan's got a nasty sneer as he reaches for his vibroknife...
Example 3: With some help from a badly injured Gizmo, the crime boss and his Trandoshan bodyguard have both been dispatched, though Valin suffered a few cuts from the big lizard's vibroknife during the fight. Now, they need to get to the villa's speeder hanger to steal a ride so they can make a quick escape and rendezvous with Omaha and his YT-1300.
Unfortunately, Valin's Obligation came up prior to the start of the adventure, and the Bounty on his head has caught the attention of a Journeyman Hunter (pg201 of the Beta) who traded out his disruptor rifle for a blaster rifle and has a pair of Street Toughs (pg199) packing blaster pistols.for some added muscle; after all, the Empire pays good credits for Jedi renegades, and the toughs were dim-witted enough to accept only a fraction of the reward on Valin's head.
Valin's Force senses alert him to the danger a few scant second before the bounty hunter opens fire (his Vigilance check beat the hunter's Cool check by a wide margin), so he's got just enough time to draw his lightsaber and activate his danger sense while quickly moving behind some foliage for cover. The bounty hunter spends a maneuver to Aim before squeezing the trigger on his rifle.
The bounty hunter and Valin are at Medium range from one another. Figuring the bounty hunter's the bigger threat than the pair of street toughs, Valin is going to yet again use Deflect Blasters (while wondering why everybody is so keen on shooting at him today) as well as his danger sense to make the hunter's shot that much harder. However, the GM decides to spend a Destiny Point to upgrade one of the hunter's ability dice for this shot.
So the journeyman hunter is rolling 2 proficiency dice, 1 ability die, 1 boost die, 1 challenge die, 1 difficulty die, and 3 setback dice. Valin's rolling his usual 3 proficiency dice, 1 ability die, but 1 challenge die and 1 difficulty die due to the hunter having a rank in Adversary.
Results are:
Valin: 3 successes, 2 advantage, 2 failure, 0 threat (net result = 1 success, 1 advantage)
Hunter: 3 successes, 1 advantage, 1 failure, 3 threat (net result = 2 successes, 2 threat)
Valin's luck runs out, and the hunter clips his shoulder, dealing 10 damage (base 9 for the rifle, +1 for the remaining Success after applying the 1 Success from Valin's check. Given Valin's low Soak Value (he's quick, not brawny, that's gonna leave a mark! Good thing he's got some stimpacks on hand, as he's gonna need them if this keeps up. Gizmo grumbles about this being "some rescue" as she takes aim with the heavy blaster pistol she looted from the deceased crime boss.
So I hope these not-so-little examples show some insight into why Deflect Blasters isn't the end-all and be-all talent that it was initially. While I won't type them out here, I did run each of the above examples using the original version, which for Valin would force 4 difficulty upgrades on his selected adversary. The guards would have been rolling against 4 challenge dice, the crime boss against 3 challenge and 1 difficulty, and the journeyman hunter also against 4 challenge dice. Let's just say the odds greatly favored Valin in each scenario, and out of several test dice rolls, he only took damage once (against the crime boss) while the rest of the time he not only avoided damage, but also got the free attack as the bad guys rolled enough Threat for him to trigger that part of the original Deflect Blasters.
Now, one thing to also consider is that Valin was able to make use of his Sense upgrade as well to boost up his defenses. Granted, things might have gone a bit more in his favor if he had the Strength Upgrade on his Sense power; maybe he'll buy that one with the XP he's earned from this adventure and put that Force Rating talent off for another day...
Hopefully a fair number of folks that are interested in such things have checked out the latest version of my Ways of the Force fan supplement for FFG's soon-to-be released Edge of the Empire RPG.
There were some significant changes between the initial release version and the current version (1.02), and I'm planning on at least one more revision, which will be shortly after the actual EotE corebook gets released, and will consist of updating the page references (and possibly some talent names) to match said corebook rather than the Beta rulebook.
One of the bigger changes was a total revision of how the talent Deflect Blasters worked. And it's met with a few questions on why the change, both in forums and direct/private messages. So I thought I'd try and shed some insight.
The whole notion of a "blaster deflection" talent got it's start thanks to Chris "GM Chris" Witt of the Order 66 Podcast, the first podcast dedicated solely to Star Wars RPGs. Chris had started a forum thread over at the d20 Radio forums about his ideas for a "blaster deflection" talent. There was quite a bit of back and forth between him, myself, and other posters such as Awayptyrwpn and Phil "DarthGM" Maiewski, with different suggestions and approaches on how to reflect such a classic Jedi ability within the framework of EotE's rules.
For reference, here's the effect text for my take from version 1.0:
Once per round, when the character is targeted by a ranged attack, upgrade the difficulty a number of times equal to character’s Lightsaber skill rank. If this attack was made using a blaster and generates 2 Threat or 1 Despair, the character can deal the weapon’s base damage to a single target within Medium range. The character must be actively wielding a lightsaber staggered (see pg141) in order to activate this talent. This talent cannot be used against a ranged attack made using a starship-scale weapon.
Okay, first problem is that by the time the Jedi Initiate gets this talent, they've probably got at least 4 ranks in the Lightsaber skill, if not 5 by this point. So this means once per round, the Jedi gets to force a bunch of difficulty upgrades on a single target, turning what could be a very simple shot at medium range (base of 2 difficulty dice) into a very difficult shot, with the difficulty now being 3 challenge dice (assuming 4 ranks in Lightsaber) plus 2 setback dice from Lightsaber Defense. And that's not counting other means of increasing the difficulty of a ranged attack, such as Dodge (which also activates as a reaction to being attacked) or Side Step (does require a maneuver to set up), or most likely for a Jedi-in-training, the "danger sense" Control Upgrade for the Sense Power, granting at least one difficulty upgrade, or maybe two if the Strength Upgrade has been purchased. In a one-on-one fight, the Jedi has a huge advantage over a ranged attacker, and with that many challenge and setback dice, having the attack miss and provide the necessary Threat or Despair to trigger a free attack is a pretty sure thing.
So yeah, this was turning out be problematic, and fell into the category of being "too good to pass up." In the v1.0 set-up for the Jedi Initiate talent tree, I buried Deflect Blasters in the top row away from the Force Rating talent, but that just delayed the inevitable of a pretty broken talent entering the game. Based on feedback I'd gotten from the FFG and d20 Radio forums, I decided to start from scratch on designing my Deflect Blasters talent. I'd initially balked at the notion, but the more I read the dice rules in the Beta rulebook, the more sense that using a competitive check made. It was simple to apply (no extra difficulty upgrades), and simply relied upon the Jedi scoring on more success than the guy shooting at them to succeed. I did a brief bit of playtesting and some dice math review, and overall this looked to be an ideal solution to the dilemma of creating a talent that allowed for ranged attack deflection and blaster attack reflection, but wasn't super-powerful. And here's the current text:
Once per round, when the character is targeted by aranged attack, the character can activate this talent to make a competitive check against the same base difficulty, using their Lightsaber skill against the attacker’s combat skill, with a successful check resulting in the attack not dealing any damage. If the attack was made using a blaster, then on a successful check the character can choose to target a single target within Medium range, dealing damage equal to the damage value of the original attacker’s weapon, with each remaining success adding to the damage total. The character must be actively wielding a lightsaber and aware of the attack in order to activate this talent. This talent cannot be used against starship-mounted weapons
Now, looking at the text I wrote with slightly fresh eyes, I can see where some concern might come up that my current version of Deflect Blasters looks too weak, especially when compared to the prior version. After all, a really good marksman has a decent shot at beating out a Jedi Initiate on that opposed check... but I also think that's how it should be. Granted, in a lot of the Star Wars media we see Jedi casually deflecting blaster fire like it's no big deal, but consider most of the time the Jedi in question are A) fighting mooks who barely pose a threat, and B) the Jedi in question are either seasoned Knights or gifted prodigies, so of course it's going to look easy.
Maybe a few in-game examples of how this would work out might help to demonstrate why I think this current version of Deflect Blasters works a lot better and isn't quite as weak as some might think. For this example, I'll be using a vastly experienced version of my initial EotE PC, a young Jedi Initiate-on-the-run by the name of Valin Starsmore. His relevant stats are thus:
Agility 3
Soak Value 3 (Brawn 2 + heavy clothing)
Lightsaber 4 (he's gotten pretty good at this point)
Lightsaber Defense 2 (giving him a +2 bonus to melee & ranged defense)
Deflect Blasters (recently acquired)
Quick Draw (his staring career/spec is Smuggler/Scoundrel)
Sense Power with the "danger sense" Control Upgrade and the Duration Upgrade.
Example 1: Valin is snooping around the streets near a crime-lord's private estate, looking to find out what happened to his friend Gizmo, a slightly odd Twi'lek bounty hunter that has been missing since she went to the crime lord's estate. His Jedi senses (pretty well-honed thanks to 2 ranks each in Uncanny Senses and Uncanny Reactions) alerts him to the presence of a trio of guards (stats as per Apprentice Hunter on pg201 of the Beta, but equipped with heavy blaster pistols and having Perception as one of their skills). Seeing as how the guards have their blasters drawn and pointed at Valin, he wastes little time, drawing and igniting his lightsaber (an Incidental thanks to Quick Draw) then activating his combat awareness (activating his Control Upgrade to let him upgrade the difficulty twice of two separate attacks against him each round). The guards are at Medium range currently, but the foliage that Valin was hoping would obscure him also counts as difficult terrain; he won't be charging into the fray just yet.
The minion group of guards now get to act, and they waste little time in taking aim with their blasters and opening fire on the young Jedi. They're at Medium range, so they're base difficulty is 2 purple dice, with 2 setback dice applied from Valin's two ranks in Lightsaber Defense. Not wanting to get perforated with blaster fire quite so soon, Valin opts to use both his Deflect Blasters talent and his danger sense ability. The minion group will be rolling 2 proficiency, 1 ability die, and 1 boost die (Agility 3 for base of 3 ability dice, two upgrades for each minion after the first, and a boost die from aiming) against a difficulty of 1 challenge die, 1 difficulty die, and 2 setback dice. Valin meanwhile will only be rolling against 2 difficulty dice with a pool of 3 proficiency dice and 1 ability die.
Results are:
Valin: 4 successes, 1 failure, 2 advantage, 3 threat (net result = 3 successes, 1 threat)
Guards: 2 successes, 1 failure, 3 advantage, 5 threat (net result = 1 success, 2 threat)
Valin wins with 2 successes, but suffers a point of Strain (from the 1 Threat) as he frantically intercepts the incoming blaster fire, managing to deflect one of the bolts back to deal 9 damage to the minion group. That's enough damage to drop one of the guards (Soak 3, Wound Threshold 5), with GM applying the 2 Threat as a setback die to the group's next attack roll. One down, two to go, but Valin knows he's going to have to act quick before reinforcements arrive...
Example 2: Having dispatched those pesky guards, Valin has now found his way inside the crime lord's main villa, but has found proof that Gizmo is on the premises; the busty Twi'lek hunter is in trouble, and Valin's not about to let down one of the few friends he has. The Force is with Valin, and he finds both the crime boss and Gizmo, with the Twi'lek lashed to some type of automated torture rack while the Bothan crime boss is leisurely sipping from a wine goblet while asking a series of questions, with a surly-looking Trandoshan standing not too far off. Deciding it's time to act, Valin activates his lightsaber, the distinctive snap-hiss of the weapon getting the attention of both the Bothan crime boss and the Trandoshan. Luckily Valin was already prepped for a fight (having activated the Control Upgrade for his Sense Power), as the crime boss manages to score more successes than Valin on their respective Vigilance checks, though Valin does have 2 advantage that the GM lets him spend to give himself a boost dice on his next roll.
The crime boss (a Nemesis) has Agility 3 and 3 ranks of Ranged (Light), as well as the Quick Draw talent, enabling him to stand up (maneuver), draw his heavy blaster pistol (incidental) and fire at the interloping Jedi, who is at Short Range (1 difficulty). Again not wanting to get shot, Valin applies one of his two uses of danger sense towards the crime boss' shot as well as his one use of Deflect Blasters (the lack of an obvious blaster and the oversized vibrodagger on the Trandoshan's hip suggests a melee threat).
The crime boss' dice pool is 3 proficiency dice, 1 challenge die, and 2 setback dice. Vallin's dice pool is 3 proficiency dice, 1 ability die, 1 boost die, 1 challenge die, 1 difficulty and 1 setback die. The crime boss has two ranks in Adversary, and Valin's Lightsaber check is targeting him, so the talent would apply, plus the crime boss has armored clothing to grant a free rank of defense . Valin decides to bolster his chances by flipping a Destiny Point to upgrade his remaining ability die to a proficiency die.
Results are:
Valin: 1 triumph, 4 successes, 2 failure, 3 advantage, 1 threat (net result = 3 successes, 2 advantage, and a triumph result; i.e. the kid got one hell of a good roll)
Crime Boss: 4 successes, 1 failure, 1 advantage, 3 threat (net result = 3 successes, 2 threat)
Since Valin and the crime boss got the same number of successes, it's a draw. In this case, Valin didn't get hit, but neither did he get to redirect the blaster shot back at the crime boss. The crime boss suffers 2 Strain from the Threat, while Valin uses his 2 Advantage for a free maneuver to engage the crime boss in melee, and that Triumph to narrate that instead of hitting the crime boss, the deflected blaster shot instead pegged the torture rack that Gizmo is on, giving her an upgrade to whatever skill check she wants to make to escape. Which might be good since that Trandoshan's got a nasty sneer as he reaches for his vibroknife...
Example 3: With some help from a badly injured Gizmo, the crime boss and his Trandoshan bodyguard have both been dispatched, though Valin suffered a few cuts from the big lizard's vibroknife during the fight. Now, they need to get to the villa's speeder hanger to steal a ride so they can make a quick escape and rendezvous with Omaha and his YT-1300.
Unfortunately, Valin's Obligation came up prior to the start of the adventure, and the Bounty on his head has caught the attention of a Journeyman Hunter (pg201 of the Beta) who traded out his disruptor rifle for a blaster rifle and has a pair of Street Toughs (pg199) packing blaster pistols.for some added muscle; after all, the Empire pays good credits for Jedi renegades, and the toughs were dim-witted enough to accept only a fraction of the reward on Valin's head.
Valin's Force senses alert him to the danger a few scant second before the bounty hunter opens fire (his Vigilance check beat the hunter's Cool check by a wide margin), so he's got just enough time to draw his lightsaber and activate his danger sense while quickly moving behind some foliage for cover. The bounty hunter spends a maneuver to Aim before squeezing the trigger on his rifle.
The bounty hunter and Valin are at Medium range from one another. Figuring the bounty hunter's the bigger threat than the pair of street toughs, Valin is going to yet again use Deflect Blasters (while wondering why everybody is so keen on shooting at him today) as well as his danger sense to make the hunter's shot that much harder. However, the GM decides to spend a Destiny Point to upgrade one of the hunter's ability dice for this shot.
So the journeyman hunter is rolling 2 proficiency dice, 1 ability die, 1 boost die, 1 challenge die, 1 difficulty die, and 3 setback dice. Valin's rolling his usual 3 proficiency dice, 1 ability die, but 1 challenge die and 1 difficulty die due to the hunter having a rank in Adversary.
Results are:
Valin: 3 successes, 2 advantage, 2 failure, 0 threat (net result = 1 success, 1 advantage)
Hunter: 3 successes, 1 advantage, 1 failure, 3 threat (net result = 2 successes, 2 threat)
Valin's luck runs out, and the hunter clips his shoulder, dealing 10 damage (base 9 for the rifle, +1 for the remaining Success after applying the 1 Success from Valin's check. Given Valin's low Soak Value (he's quick, not brawny, that's gonna leave a mark! Good thing he's got some stimpacks on hand, as he's gonna need them if this keeps up. Gizmo grumbles about this being "some rescue" as she takes aim with the heavy blaster pistol she looted from the deceased crime boss.
So I hope these not-so-little examples show some insight into why Deflect Blasters isn't the end-all and be-all talent that it was initially. While I won't type them out here, I did run each of the above examples using the original version, which for Valin would force 4 difficulty upgrades on his selected adversary. The guards would have been rolling against 4 challenge dice, the crime boss against 3 challenge and 1 difficulty, and the journeyman hunter also against 4 challenge dice. Let's just say the odds greatly favored Valin in each scenario, and out of several test dice rolls, he only took damage once (against the crime boss) while the rest of the time he not only avoided damage, but also got the free attack as the bad guys rolled enough Threat for him to trigger that part of the original Deflect Blasters.
Now, one thing to also consider is that Valin was able to make use of his Sense upgrade as well to boost up his defenses. Granted, things might have gone a bit more in his favor if he had the Strength Upgrade on his Sense power; maybe he'll buy that one with the XP he's earned from this adventure and put that Force Rating talent off for another day...
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