Wow, so much for that string of updates I talked about back in September.
To be honest, I largely lost interest in trying to hash together Villains for 7th Seas, due in no small part to the very fun Star Wars campaign that my buddy Eric "Oghen" Brenders has been running for our Friday Night Skype group.
As I understand it, said campaign was really only meant to be a one-shot set shortly after the events of The Force Awakens, but the three of us had such fun playing our characters that Eric was able to branch it out into a running campaign. Since that first session where a former Rebellion field medic, a runaway Tapani lady, and a street rat found themselves scrambling to rescue the orphans of a remote world from being "recruited" into the ranks of the First Order's stormtrooper legions, our characters have come a fair distance, and even picked up a Gungan mercenary as a fourth party member.
It's an odd and interesting group, with my friend Linda playing Jade Morningfire and myself playing Valin Starsmore. We tweaked our character's respective backgrounds (and I tweaked Valin's build) to account for the 30 year time gap, and for the most part our characters work quite well in this setting.
With Valin, the biggest changes came from doing research on the new post-RotJ time frame, and from everything I could gather, the destruction of Luke's new Jedi training center/temple only took place about five years prior to the events of TFA. Which meant that rather than learning snippets of lore about the Jedi and the Force, Valin could well have been one of Luke's students at the temple about the time the Knights of Ren came in and tore it all down. Yeah, it's a bit of a cliche that Valin is now a survivor of an extinct Jedi Order (albeit one that hadn't quite gotten off the ground), but it worked, and it allowed for me to provide Valin with a training lightsaber, one that he had built himself as part of his limited training There's still a lot he doesn't know, and it's kind of funny that with Jade being even more clueless about the Force (she initially had no no idea that her empathy and persuasiveness were linked to the Force) she looks to Valin as a source of answers, many of which he simply doesn't have. Granted, he's been adhering to the old Jedi tradition of "certain point of view" and generally neglecting to mention to Jade (or anyone) that he had undergone training as a Jedi. In terms of the character's mindset, I figured it was less a case of needing to hide as one might do during the Empire's reign, but more that by this time frame the Jedi were seen as nigh-legendary figures by those who believed, and Valin really didn't want to disappoint the believers with how badly his nascent abilities didn't match up to the stories.
Now the campaign itself is set within a remote section of Outer Rim Territories, and our group has become embroiled in the plot of a mercenary company seeking to gain power in the region by spreading a fairly nasty manufactured bio-toxin. Doctor Kane Dyson (the former Rebel field medic) has been making some pretty solid progress on countering this bio-toxin, having thus far devised a vaccine but still working on a proper cure. We got asked/hired by the medical facility of the ice planet Boreas to make a supply gathering run to a more upscale planet in the sector, one that could be best described as a corporate police state (FYI, GM is Canadian so anything political you might read into that was not intended), only to find out that a lot of what we were looking for had been stolen in previous weeks by "smugglers" that we guessed were actually agents of the mercenary company. While lounging around in a really glitzy cantina (think Los Vegas nightclub), we were met by a friend (a rather attractive if tipsy/aloof Human woman) of one of the Doc's medical contacts, who let us know that what we were after was missing but that she had a means to help us gather some of what we needed by heading out of the spaceport and into a "restricted area." Valin piped up that we'd be glad to help with gathering the supplies, earning a sly remark from the woman if he was trying to impress someone (either hero or Jade, though Valin denied that insinuation pretty quickly).
Now, worth mentioning is that through all this, Valin has been having visions revolving around the actions of an older human male in tattered robes, with the very real sense that I've been following this man's path in reverse, starting where he ended and gradually heading to the beginning. Well, en route to the latest planet, Valin (and somehow Jade who got dragged along for the visionquest) saw the man's start of darkness as he used his lightsaber to butcher an entire settlement of sick people, with the older man's lightsaber starting to turn red and his eyes going Sith yellow in the aftermath of the slaughter. And sure enough, the restricted area we were going to was the remains of the village where the events of the vision took place, and a subsequent use of the Foresee power confirmed there was indeed something in the center of the ruins, something important.
We get there, successfully avoiding detection, and under a section of cobblestone that looked very out of place, Valin started digging (unaware he was doing so at first), uncovering a small box. However, before he could fully dig it out, a bunch of seriously archaic combat droids showed up, with the ever observant Gungan being anything but and thus the droids catching us by surprise. Sensing that this was the moment that Valin had to choose between embracing who he really was or continuing to hide, he calmly stood and instead of reaching for his blaster, withdrew and ignited his training lightsaber, with the intent to simply draw fire from the combat droids in the hopes of protecting his comrades. Granted, this wound up drawing the attention of the leader droid, who was similar to a MagnaGuard (but not as deadly according to the GM). What followed was a pretty cool combat encounter, with Valin getting to make use of his Improved Reflect at least once while going toe-to-toe with the commander droid, with both Valin and the Gungan slowly whittling the droid down. Now, in hindsight I think both myself and the GM overlooked that Valin's training lightsaber only did strain damage, and the Eric was treating it as wounds; I certainly could be mistaken on that count, but either way it was still a tense encounter, with Valin proving the victor after a freaking awesome combat check (six successes from a dice pool of 2Y1G1B1R1P1S) and taking the droid leader down after it had rather non-chalantly beaned the Gungan with its combat staff. We were all banged up to some degree, though I think Valin came out the least worst for wear thanks to those two ranks in Parry and Reflect he'd bought along the way (he did take a critical injury during the fight, but not a horrible one), but we know the Gungan got the worst of it due to being knocked out and suffering a couple of critical injuries.
A few times during this fight, Valin felt a strong pull to whatever was in that buried box, sensing/knowing that the contents would help him to easily win this fight. It's debatable if it was willfulness on Valin's part, but he refuse the promise of "easy power" in the belief that he if couldn't protect his friends without that added power, then he didn't deserve it. Thinking on it, it's not unlike Karrin Murphy in the Dresden Files short story Aftermath (found in the Side Jobs collection) where she didn't go running to collect Fidelachius out of the belief that she had to prove that she didn't need the power of the sword if she was going to be truly worthy of it. Well, with our foes defeated, Valin was able to finish unearthing that box, opening it to find an ancient lightsaber hilt that was covered in the blood of the slain. Because Valin had remained true to the light and not succumbed to the lure of power, the hilt disintegrated into the wind, leaving behind a kyber crystal.
Now, I've played Star Wars RPGs for a great many years, and of all the different ways that my Jedi PCs (and I've played a lot of them) have obtained the proper elements to construct a lightsaber, this was probably one of the coolest. And yes, there was a very real temptation on my part to have Valin go the quick and easy path and rip open that box. Not sure what the result would have been, but seeing as how the kid knew enough about the dark side to know it was a bad thing, even going so far as to caution Jade about being wary of the dark side, I felt that he wouldn't succumb; in a way, it would have been better for him to have relied upon his own strength and failed than become reliant on the dark side and won. So it wasn't just Valin obtaining a kyber crystal so that he can now build a proper lightsaber, but also an important step in his character growth, embracing that while he may not be a Knight, he is a Jedi, and that hiding away isn't going to do him or anyone else any good. And that was where the session ended.
Now, I've had some time to weigh what type of focusing crystal I'd like Valin's newly procured kyber crystal to be, and ultimately settled on the Etaan crystal from Endless Vigil. It's not got as much raw damage potential, but since he's a Shien Expet it wouldn't take much XP for him to get to Falling Avalanche so that he can get a damage boost when needed, sheer raw damage isn't really needed. Plus, that extra rank of Parry and Reflect are mighty nice, though I'll have to hopefully succeed on modding the crystal to get those; the rank of Reflect I could do without since I plan on going into Sentry, but that rank of Parry will be mighty nice to have. Have to say, if I can get that thing fully modded, it'll be a pretty sweet lightsaber, especially as I start adding in attachments like the curved hilt (though narratively it won't be curved, just a specially customized grip) and the overcharged power cell (a bit dicey since GM can spend threat to reduce the damage, but worth the chance), with the superior hilt customization likely being an end-game objective due to cost.
I did wind up buying a non-career rank of Mechanics, both as he's been picking up things in helping the Doc keep the beater of a starship the group travels around in up and running (no small feat) as well as remembering lessons he'd forgotten from when Valin built his training lightsaber during his time at Luke's Jedi academy. Which if Eric permits, that yellow die will hopefully prove a boon when using the lightsaber hilt construction rules in Endless Vigil. You know, it's kind of funny that prior to playing the Sentinel version of Valin, none of the other career sourcebooks for FFG's Star Wars line were ever of the "dude, this book has so much awesome stuff for my character!" Hopefully my dice will continue their uncommonly good fortune and I can get some sweet bonuses for Valin's lightsaber hilt. Seriously, I think the fact that I've used my dice in games in which FFG notables like Jay Little, Sam Stewart, Andy Fischer, and Katrina Ostrander may have had something to do with it.
Anyway, that's the long version of a very cool story of how one of my Top 10 favorite RPG characters has earned his (proper) lightsaber.
I've also been playing in a 7th Sea second edition campaign, playing Estevan Santiago de Montaya, and that campaign has also been a lot of fun. Thus far, the GM has run us through a tweaked version of "Music of the Spheres" and part of "Lady's Favor" of the Erebus Cross series. And much like his 1e incarnation, Estevan has been both fun to play and quite awesome in what he does, with my d10s rolling above the curve and netting him one or two raises above what his dice pools would indicate as the norm; giving flavor-filled descriptions of how he's tackling a given Risk probably helps since it's gotten him an extra die at times when it'd really be helpful. I'll type up a post about that campaign later on in the week, probably sometime around the weekend.
Until next time, may the dice odds be ever in your favor.
Showing posts with label Lightsaber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lightsaber. Show all posts
November 6, 2016
August 12, 2016
(Re)Learning the Ways of the Force
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...
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...
January 31, 2016
Forging Synthetic Kyber Crystals
So back on Christmas, I posted up an article listing out a number of homebrewed kyber crystals for use with a character's lightsaber in Fantasy Flight Game's Force and Destiny RPG. And overall, they seemed to be pretty well received.
One thing that did come up was "how do I create a synthetic kyber crystal?" And by extension, how would a PC create a compressed synthetic crystal, which is supposed to be a 'flawed' version of the typical synthetic crystal.
As I noted in the comments section of that post, at the time I wrote those crystals for inclusion an update of my Ways of the Force fan supplement, we didn't really have any sort of constructions rules. However, with the release of the Force and Destiny GM Kit as well as Keeping the Peace, we've actually got rules for building things, specifically lightsaber hilts and sets of armor.
Well, after reviewing both sets of rather different rules, I opted to take the route that best adhered to the long-standing principle of "Keep It Simple Stupid." So, going the path of the construction rules for lightsaber hilts, I've put together this fairly simple process to enable a PC to try and construct their own synthetic kyber crystal.
Creating a Synthetic Kyber Crystal
The process of creating a synthetic kyber crystal requires a geological compressor, which is often far easier to obtain under false pretenses due to its primary usage of replicating geological conditions in a laboratory. The raw materials to form the crystals are also easy to obtain, costing approximately 900 credits with a Rarity of 4. Once acquired, the raw materials are placed within the compressor and essentially left to bake for a period of roughly three days. During this time frame, the Force user creating the crystal would meditate upon it through the Force, guiding the formation of the crystal and increasing its potency. The level of control required over the formation process of the synthetic crystal often proved daunting to raw initiates; perhaps the difficulty and degree of control required lead to the Sith preferring to use synthetic crystals in contrast to the naturally-formed crystals used by most Jedi in their lightsabers?
When a character attempts to create a synthetic kyber crystal, they need to make either a Mechanics of Discipline skill check at a Formidable (dddd) difficulty, adding Force dice equal to their Force Rating to the check. Each Force Point generated can be used to add either success or advantage to the check result.
If the check is successful, then the character has created a synthetic kyber crystal. If the check succeeds with a Triumph or 3 advantage, the player may choose one modification option of their choice to be included with the crystal when it is installed into a lightsaber hilt (it still counts as a successful modification when determining the difficulty of future modifications to the crystal). If the check is successful but generates 3 threat, then the character has created a compressed synthetic crystal. If the check succeeds but generates a Despair, then the character has created a flawed kyber crystal. A failed check results in a crystal that is unsuitable for use in a lightsaber, requiring the character to start over from scratch.
Under most conditions, the synthetic kyber crystal does not have an inherent color until it has been attuned through the Force for installation into a lightsaber hilt. However, if the creator is a dark side Force user, then the lightsaber's blade will default to a shade of crimson, usually the blood red for which the Sith are known and feared. However, the dark side can spend a Triumph from a successful check to create the crystal to have the lightsaber blade be of a different color, though for most followers of the dark side, a red-hued lightsaber is seen as both mastery and commitment to the dark side of the Force.
One thing that did come up was "how do I create a synthetic kyber crystal?" And by extension, how would a PC create a compressed synthetic crystal, which is supposed to be a 'flawed' version of the typical synthetic crystal.
As I noted in the comments section of that post, at the time I wrote those crystals for inclusion an update of my Ways of the Force fan supplement, we didn't really have any sort of constructions rules. However, with the release of the Force and Destiny GM Kit as well as Keeping the Peace, we've actually got rules for building things, specifically lightsaber hilts and sets of armor.
Well, after reviewing both sets of rather different rules, I opted to take the route that best adhered to the long-standing principle of "Keep It Simple Stupid." So, going the path of the construction rules for lightsaber hilts, I've put together this fairly simple process to enable a PC to try and construct their own synthetic kyber crystal.
Creating a Synthetic Kyber Crystal
The process of creating a synthetic kyber crystal requires a geological compressor, which is often far easier to obtain under false pretenses due to its primary usage of replicating geological conditions in a laboratory. The raw materials to form the crystals are also easy to obtain, costing approximately 900 credits with a Rarity of 4. Once acquired, the raw materials are placed within the compressor and essentially left to bake for a period of roughly three days. During this time frame, the Force user creating the crystal would meditate upon it through the Force, guiding the formation of the crystal and increasing its potency. The level of control required over the formation process of the synthetic crystal often proved daunting to raw initiates; perhaps the difficulty and degree of control required lead to the Sith preferring to use synthetic crystals in contrast to the naturally-formed crystals used by most Jedi in their lightsabers?
When a character attempts to create a synthetic kyber crystal, they need to make either a Mechanics of Discipline skill check at a Formidable (dddd) difficulty, adding Force dice equal to their Force Rating to the check. Each Force Point generated can be used to add either success or advantage to the check result.
If the check is successful, then the character has created a synthetic kyber crystal. If the check succeeds with a Triumph or 3 advantage, the player may choose one modification option of their choice to be included with the crystal when it is installed into a lightsaber hilt (it still counts as a successful modification when determining the difficulty of future modifications to the crystal). If the check is successful but generates 3 threat, then the character has created a compressed synthetic crystal. If the check succeeds but generates a Despair, then the character has created a flawed kyber crystal. A failed check results in a crystal that is unsuitable for use in a lightsaber, requiring the character to start over from scratch.
Under most conditions, the synthetic kyber crystal does not have an inherent color until it has been attuned through the Force for installation into a lightsaber hilt. However, if the creator is a dark side Force user, then the lightsaber's blade will default to a shade of crimson, usually the blood red for which the Sith are known and feared. However, the dark side can spend a Triumph from a successful check to create the crystal to have the lightsaber blade be of a different color, though for most followers of the dark side, a red-hued lightsaber is seen as both mastery and commitment to the dark side of the Force.
January 16, 2016
Additional Lightsaber Hilt Ideas
So, first post of the new year. Had meant to post something sooner, but didn't happen for one reason or another.
A few entries ago, I posted a small collection of lightsaber crystals for use with FFG's Star Wars: Force and Destiny RPG. Today, I'm following up on that with a few different lightsaber hilts. None of these have seen any degree of serious playtesting, but at the very least they pass the eyeball test of not being too broken.
Crossguard Lightsaber
Considered to be an archaic design by the time of the Galactic Empire, the crossguard lightsaber creates a distinctive appearance over other lightsabers by way of either a single or pair of lateral vents that are placed at a 90-degree angle to the primary blade. When activated, these lateral vents create a smaller blade, forming energy quillions that can be used both offensively and defensively in combat.
This lightsaber is a crossguard lightsaber hilt containing an unmodified Ilum crystal (see page 197 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). This crystal occupies two of the weapon's hard points.
Skill: Lightsaber
Damage: 6; Critical: 2; Range: Engaged
Encumbrance: 1; Hard Points: 4
Price: 9,900 (r); Rarity: 10
Special: Breach 1, Defensive 1, Sunder, Vicious 1
A crossguard lightsaber hilt without a kyber crystal costs 900 credits, has a Rarity of 8, and has the
Defensive 1 and Vicious 1 qualities.
Lightwhip
Rare and exotic even by the standards of lightsabers, the lightwhip operated on the same general principles as a more traditional lightsaber, emitting a coherent beam of energy, with the key difference being that the blade was frequently several meters in length and very flexible. Another difference was that the lightwhip made use of multiple smaller crystals instead of the single focusing crystal used in the majority of lightsaber hilts.
This weapon can be used to make Lightsaber combat checks against targets at up to short range, although the difficulty of the attack remains at Average.
For purposes of gameplay, this weapon is treated as having a single crystal. This lightsaber is a lightwhip hilt containing an unmodified Ilum crystal (see page 197 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). This crystal occupies two of the weapon's hard points.
Skill: Lightsaber
Damage: 5; Critical: 2; Range: Short
Encumbrance: 1; Hard Points:3
Price: 10,500 (r); Rarity: 10
Special: Breach 1, Ensnare 1, Sunder, Unwieldy3
A lightwhip hilt without a kyber crystal costs 1500 credits, has a Rarity of 8, reduces the damage value of any crystal placed in the hilt by one, and has the Ensnare 1 and Unwieldy 3 qualities.
Two-Part Lightsaber
An uncommon though deceptively simple variation on the standard design of a more traditional basic lightsaber hilt, the two-part lightsaber was conceived with stealth in mind, allowing a Jedi to better conceal their signature weapon and avoid drawing attention to themselves while undertaking covert missions for the Jedi Order; a feature that has proven very useful in the dark times of the Empire's reign as Imperial agents scour the galaxy for Jedi renegades. The emitter portion of the two-part lightsaber made to quickly and easily detach to the lightaber's grip, and can be reattached just as quickly, enabling the two pieces to present a far more innocuous appearance when traveling the galaxy; to most inspections, the two components are little more than bits of tech gear that are hardly cause for alarm.
When it is disassembled, add two setback dice to all skill checks to identify the separated components as a weapon. Assembling or disassembling a two-part lightsaber is an incidental, and is treated as a single item for purposes of holstering or drawing the weapon when in its disassembled state.
This lightsaber is a two-part lightsaber hilt containing an unmodified Ilum crystal (see page 197 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). This crystal occupies two of the weapon's hard points.
Skill: Lightsaber
Damage: 6; Critical: 2; Range: Engaged
Encumbrance: 1; Hard Points: 4
Price: 9,450 (r); Rarity: 10
Special: Breach 1, Sunder
A two-part lightsaber hilt without a kyber crystal costs 450 credits and a Rarity of 6.
Blaster-Hilt Lightsaber
Initially devised by the Rebel and Jedi-in-training Ezra Bridger, the blaster-hilt lightsaber has very little in common with the more traditional aesthetics of a lightsaber. However, it does have the added benefit of providing the wielder with a viable weapon at times when openly brandishing a lightsaber would be foolish, as the hilt guard section can double as a short-range blaster. While Ezra designed the blaster portion of his lightsaber to only fire stun bolts, the weapon can be constructed to fire standard blaster bolts.
The wielder may switch between blaster-mold and lightsaber-mode as an incidental, however the lightsaber blade must first be deactivated before switching to blaster mode. In blaster mode, treat the weapon as having the same stat block as a light blaster pistol as detailed on Table 5-5: Ranged Weapons on page168 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). Due to its highly unusual appearance, attempts to identify a blaster-hilt lightsaber as a lightsaber without having seen it in action have the difficulty increased once; it is still obviously a blaster, albeit one of an unusual design. If the option to spend a Despair result to force the blaster-hilt lightsaber to run out of ammo is used while operating in blaster-mode, the lightsaber-mode is similarly unavailable until the end of the encounter.
This lightsaber is a blaster-hilt lightsaber hilt containing an unmodified Ilum crystal (see page 197 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). This crystal occupies two of the weapon's hard points.
Skill: Lightsaber
Damage: 6; Critical: 2; Range: Engaged
Encumbrance: 2; Hard Points: 3
Price: 9,600 (r); Rarity: 10
Special: Breach 1, Sunder
A blaster-hilt lightsaber hilt without a kyber crystal costs 600 credits and a Rarity of 7. Given the origins of the design, it should not be available for sale, and instead the Games Master should require the character to construct this hilt as per the guidelines provided either on 177 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook or on page 23 of the Hidden Depths Adventure Module instead.
A few entries ago, I posted a small collection of lightsaber crystals for use with FFG's Star Wars: Force and Destiny RPG. Today, I'm following up on that with a few different lightsaber hilts. None of these have seen any degree of serious playtesting, but at the very least they pass the eyeball test of not being too broken.
Crossguard Lightsaber
Considered to be an archaic design by the time of the Galactic Empire, the crossguard lightsaber creates a distinctive appearance over other lightsabers by way of either a single or pair of lateral vents that are placed at a 90-degree angle to the primary blade. When activated, these lateral vents create a smaller blade, forming energy quillions that can be used both offensively and defensively in combat.
This lightsaber is a crossguard lightsaber hilt containing an unmodified Ilum crystal (see page 197 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). This crystal occupies two of the weapon's hard points.
Skill: Lightsaber
Damage: 6; Critical: 2; Range: Engaged
Encumbrance: 1; Hard Points: 4
Price: 9,900 (r); Rarity: 10
Special: Breach 1, Defensive 1, Sunder, Vicious 1
A crossguard lightsaber hilt without a kyber crystal costs 900 credits, has a Rarity of 8, and has the
Defensive 1 and Vicious 1 qualities.
Lightwhip
Rare and exotic even by the standards of lightsabers, the lightwhip operated on the same general principles as a more traditional lightsaber, emitting a coherent beam of energy, with the key difference being that the blade was frequently several meters in length and very flexible. Another difference was that the lightwhip made use of multiple smaller crystals instead of the single focusing crystal used in the majority of lightsaber hilts.
This weapon can be used to make Lightsaber combat checks against targets at up to short range, although the difficulty of the attack remains at Average.
For purposes of gameplay, this weapon is treated as having a single crystal. This lightsaber is a lightwhip hilt containing an unmodified Ilum crystal (see page 197 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). This crystal occupies two of the weapon's hard points.
Skill: Lightsaber
Damage: 5; Critical: 2; Range: Short
Encumbrance: 1; Hard Points:3
Price: 10,500 (r); Rarity: 10
Special: Breach 1, Ensnare 1, Sunder, Unwieldy3
A lightwhip hilt without a kyber crystal costs 1500 credits, has a Rarity of 8, reduces the damage value of any crystal placed in the hilt by one, and has the Ensnare 1 and Unwieldy 3 qualities.
Two-Part Lightsaber
An uncommon though deceptively simple variation on the standard design of a more traditional basic lightsaber hilt, the two-part lightsaber was conceived with stealth in mind, allowing a Jedi to better conceal their signature weapon and avoid drawing attention to themselves while undertaking covert missions for the Jedi Order; a feature that has proven very useful in the dark times of the Empire's reign as Imperial agents scour the galaxy for Jedi renegades. The emitter portion of the two-part lightsaber made to quickly and easily detach to the lightaber's grip, and can be reattached just as quickly, enabling the two pieces to present a far more innocuous appearance when traveling the galaxy; to most inspections, the two components are little more than bits of tech gear that are hardly cause for alarm.
When it is disassembled, add two setback dice to all skill checks to identify the separated components as a weapon. Assembling or disassembling a two-part lightsaber is an incidental, and is treated as a single item for purposes of holstering or drawing the weapon when in its disassembled state.
This lightsaber is a two-part lightsaber hilt containing an unmodified Ilum crystal (see page 197 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). This crystal occupies two of the weapon's hard points.
Skill: Lightsaber
Damage: 6; Critical: 2; Range: Engaged
Encumbrance: 1; Hard Points: 4
Price: 9,450 (r); Rarity: 10
Special: Breach 1, Sunder
A two-part lightsaber hilt without a kyber crystal costs 450 credits and a Rarity of 6.
Initially devised by the Rebel and Jedi-in-training Ezra Bridger, the blaster-hilt lightsaber has very little in common with the more traditional aesthetics of a lightsaber. However, it does have the added benefit of providing the wielder with a viable weapon at times when openly brandishing a lightsaber would be foolish, as the hilt guard section can double as a short-range blaster. While Ezra designed the blaster portion of his lightsaber to only fire stun bolts, the weapon can be constructed to fire standard blaster bolts.
The wielder may switch between blaster-mold and lightsaber-mode as an incidental, however the lightsaber blade must first be deactivated before switching to blaster mode. In blaster mode, treat the weapon as having the same stat block as a light blaster pistol as detailed on Table 5-5: Ranged Weapons on page168 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). Due to its highly unusual appearance, attempts to identify a blaster-hilt lightsaber as a lightsaber without having seen it in action have the difficulty increased once; it is still obviously a blaster, albeit one of an unusual design. If the option to spend a Despair result to force the blaster-hilt lightsaber to run out of ammo is used while operating in blaster-mode, the lightsaber-mode is similarly unavailable until the end of the encounter.
This lightsaber is a blaster-hilt lightsaber hilt containing an unmodified Ilum crystal (see page 197 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook). This crystal occupies two of the weapon's hard points.
Skill: Lightsaber
Damage: 6; Critical: 2; Range: Engaged
Encumbrance: 2; Hard Points: 3
Price: 9,600 (r); Rarity: 10
Special: Breach 1, Sunder
A blaster-hilt lightsaber hilt without a kyber crystal costs 600 credits and a Rarity of 7. Given the origins of the design, it should not be available for sale, and instead the Games Master should require the character to construct this hilt as per the guidelines provided either on 177 of the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook or on page 23 of the Hidden Depths Adventure Module instead.
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)
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)
July 1, 2015
Some further thoughts on Lightsaber Duels in FFG's Star Wars RPG
A while back, I'd made a post about what I'd seen regarding lightsaber usage in duels in Fantasy Flight Game's excellent Star Wars RPG.
Well, I've gotten some more experience in the matter, this time around as a player, in just how devastating a lightsaber can be against most opponents, and just how dangerous a lightsaber fight can be even for a well-experienced character.
The character in this case was Kyren Stryder, a Human Warrior/Shii-Cho Knight that I'm playing in my friend Linda's rather fun Age of Rebellion game. To give herself something of a break from trying to figure what sort of adventure to come up with next for our motley group of Alliance operatives, Linda decided to put us through the Dead In The Water module, written by Keith Kappel and included in the AoR GM Kit. There will be some spoilers ahead about the adventure, so be warned.
Now, as a bit of a preliminary disclaimer, up to this point the characters had zero idea that Kyren was in possession of a lightsaber; all they knew was that he had some Force abilities much like an NPC they'd just rescued when Kyren joined up, being a replacement for my previous character (a Human Commander/Tactician) who had lost his life to an ISB Agent while trying to ensure the rest of the team and the liberated Rebels made it to safety. Prior to the second act of Dead In The Water, all they'd seen Kyren do combat-wise was mix it up pretty well in close-quarters. Frankly, Kyren wasn't nearly as effective in a fight as he could have been, due to no ranks in the Melee skill and thus not being able to use the bulk of his talents. But I had accepted this as a consequence of not wanting to have him break out his lightsaber in ever fight, and to save that particular pipe bomb for when things were really desperate. With the GM's approval, I'd also been slowing modifying the Ilum crystal it came with (we were at roughly Knight Level when I brought Kyren in, so Linda was fine with him starting with a basic lightsaber) so that by this point, it was a Damage 8, Crit 1 weapon.
First act went by without too much incident, other than Kyren getting slugged in the face by a badly-scarred Wookiee for no apparent reason and him having to defuse a potentially violent situation between the Human ex-merc and an arms dealer while we tracked down info on the privateers we'd been sent to purchase a large shipment of droids from. Our mission was successful, and we got the droids though not at quite as good a price as Alliance Command might have been hoping. So we returned to the Shadow Raptor, which per this adventure was one of the Alliance's top intel-gathering/sifting ships for that region of space... only for the droids to stage a coup and seize control of the ship, forcing it out of hyperspace and locking up most of the crew, as well as leaving it drifting perilously close to the event horizon of a black hole (if the engines weren't repaired in time, the ship would get sucked in and we'd pretty much be done for).
Given the circumstances and sheer number of droids involved, as well as the fact that I was the only PC that was fully equipped with their gear, I felt that Kyren would deem this situation to have crossed the Zillo Beast Threshold, and had him finally break out the lightsaber. Fun tidbit: to help conceal the weapon's presence, Kyren stores it much like Kanan in Rebels, splitting it into two parts. And yes, carnage pretty much ensued, as the fact that I was striking with a Damage 8 weapon that had Breach 1 and could crit with a single Advantage, on top of getting a boost die thanks to the Multiple Opponents talent meant that I was chewing through those minion groups like a hot knife through butter. And the various Rivals we encountered didn't fair much better. In fact, what was probably meant to be the "boss fight" of Act II, squaring off against a tactical droid that was leading this insurrection and his droid minions/guards turned out to be fairly anti-climactic due to some astoundingly good rolls on my part and the application of the Sarlacc Sweep talent; rolling a dice pool of 3 yellow and a boost vs. 1 red and 2 purple made it very likely that I'd get that additional hit in and still have enough Advantage left over to score at least one critical on the minion group I was also engaged with.
So yeah, against most of your rank and file opponents, a lightsaber is going to be brutal. Though from reading Act 2 of the adventure after we'd completed it, I noted that Linda and Rick (who'd helped her with prepping it) had trimmed down quite a few of the encounters, mostly out of a concern of the fights dragging on too long, especially when most of the PCs only had what amounted to their back-up weapons on them. They weren't sure if Kyren was going to make use of his lightsaber or not, but correctly figured that if he did, it was going to be a massacre on the droid's side of things.
Now, the flip side of that is they tweaked the third act of the adventure to include an ISB Agent (the same one that had gutted my prior PC as a matter of fact) that was now wielding a lightfoil (using stats they'd adopted from my Ways of the Force fan supplement) and generally built along similar lines as an Inquisitor from the back of the Force and Destiny Beta, only with a lower Wound/Strain Threshold, Adversary 2 and no Force Rating, but having Parry 5 and Melee Defense 1 as part of his defenses. To be honest, I'd been kind of spoiling for a lightsaber fight with Kyren for a while, and this opportunity was specifically included for my character, something that I thanked Linda and Rick for including.
On paper, that fight should have been a lot more daunting, as the ISB Agent was (I'm guessing) quite skilled with that lightfoil and his Parry 5 would allow him to negate a large portion of Kyren's damage output (increased to 9 thanks to a Contribution Rank reward of a superior hilt customization from completing the second act), and that the agent's lightfoil had enough ranks of Pierce to ignore Kyren's own soak value and blow past his 2 ranks of Parry (I'm using a modified version of the Shii-Cho Knight spec that replaces a couple of Parry talents with Reflect talents, but more on that later). The ISB Agent got in one hit, and it was a doozy, inflicting nearly half of Kyren's wound threshold in one go; luckily he didn't get any Advantages with which to trigger a critical injury, but he did generate a Despair to let me tag him with a free hit thanks to Improved Parry.
In a way, I got lucky in that Kyren was able to get in the first strike; his Emotional Weakness is Anger, and I willingly accepted conflict points for acting on that anger after the ISB Agent made allusions to what he'd do to the other PCs as well as a supporting NPC that we'd previously freed from his clutches. And that first strike was a monster, dealing 16 damage and having enough Advantage to inflict a critical injury and recover a bit of strain while I was at it. From what Rick and Linda said, if the ISB Agent didn't have all those ranks in Parry, he'd have been nearly toast on that first strike, and my counterstrike via Improved Parry would have been the nail in the coffin for him. My follow-up attack the next round was equally monstrous, only this time generating an obscene number of Advantages, enough to trigger a second critical injury with a +70 bonus to the roll, and ended with an insta-kill result that was narrated as Kyren simply driving his lightsaber right through the ISB Agent's throat and out the back of the creep's head. In retrospect, I felt I should have done things differently, such as going for a disarm before moving back so that the other PCs could have the honor of taking the ISB Agent out, but hindsight is 20/20 and I was caught up in the excitement of the moment, thus taking the advice of one my fellow players to simply spend all that Advantage on a crit.
So what did this reveal? Well, for starters a sufficiently modified lightsaber is damn dangerous to minions and rivals, since I not only get to ignore their soak values but have a very real chance of dealing enough raw damage to take out most minions or probably two to three minions (plus an extra one with a crit) in one shot. And even a major Nemesis like the ISB Agent would need to get boosted up to last more than a couple of rounds, meaning that three ranks of the Adversary talent will likely become the norm for any major foes we encounter. That and we probably will start seeing larger numbers of bad guys, and minions in full groups of five as we've proven incredibly capable of handling such things.
Now it's probably worth noting that the only other PC that comes close to that damage output is the ex-merc with his spiffed up heavy blaster rifle that does 13 damage base with Pierce 3 (the rifle is one I suggested from Dangerous Covenants and he's added a heavily modified augmented spin barrel to it as well), but an adversary with a sufficiently high soak value is still going to be trouble for him, where Kyren's all but assured to get damage through and still be likely to score a critical injury to debilitate the target even the damage doesn't exceed the target's wound threshold. And with a recently added rank of Vicious to the lightsaber, any critical injuries that Kyren inflicts have a greater chance of being pretty nasty, especially if there's an abundance of Advantages on the dice roll. But yeah, we're a couple of high-volume damage machines at this point.
Now I'd mentioned above that I'm using a variant of the Shii-Cho Knight specialization for Kyren. To be honest, I never liked that the version found in the FaD Beta didn't include the Reflect talent, as all the basic lore on Shii-Cho as a Lightsaber Form indicates that it includes blast-deflect training as part of its core curriculum; i.e. the Reflect talent. So having the spec be solely focused on defending against melee attacks felt off, particularly since being heavily focused on melee was Makashi's schtick. Thus far, I'm pretty happy with my revised Shii-Cho Knight. There are a couple of tweaks I'm thinking of making (in particular to where the lone Durable talent in the fifth row is hanging out all by itself), but seeing as how FFG hinted that a number of the specializations underwent further revision after the open beta was concluded, I'm going to hold off on any further tweaks until I get a copy of the core rulebook. Who knows, they might have tweaked the Shii-Cho Knight spec to include ranks of Reflect already, making my revision unnecessary.
For those curious, here's the layout for my revised take on the Shii-Cho Knight:
(chart layout taken from OggDude's character generator program)
Well, I've gotten some more experience in the matter, this time around as a player, in just how devastating a lightsaber can be against most opponents, and just how dangerous a lightsaber fight can be even for a well-experienced character.
The character in this case was Kyren Stryder, a Human Warrior/Shii-Cho Knight that I'm playing in my friend Linda's rather fun Age of Rebellion game. To give herself something of a break from trying to figure what sort of adventure to come up with next for our motley group of Alliance operatives, Linda decided to put us through the Dead In The Water module, written by Keith Kappel and included in the AoR GM Kit. There will be some spoilers ahead about the adventure, so be warned.
Now, as a bit of a preliminary disclaimer, up to this point the characters had zero idea that Kyren was in possession of a lightsaber; all they knew was that he had some Force abilities much like an NPC they'd just rescued when Kyren joined up, being a replacement for my previous character (a Human Commander/Tactician) who had lost his life to an ISB Agent while trying to ensure the rest of the team and the liberated Rebels made it to safety. Prior to the second act of Dead In The Water, all they'd seen Kyren do combat-wise was mix it up pretty well in close-quarters. Frankly, Kyren wasn't nearly as effective in a fight as he could have been, due to no ranks in the Melee skill and thus not being able to use the bulk of his talents. But I had accepted this as a consequence of not wanting to have him break out his lightsaber in ever fight, and to save that particular pipe bomb for when things were really desperate. With the GM's approval, I'd also been slowing modifying the Ilum crystal it came with (we were at roughly Knight Level when I brought Kyren in, so Linda was fine with him starting with a basic lightsaber) so that by this point, it was a Damage 8, Crit 1 weapon.
First act went by without too much incident, other than Kyren getting slugged in the face by a badly-scarred Wookiee for no apparent reason and him having to defuse a potentially violent situation between the Human ex-merc and an arms dealer while we tracked down info on the privateers we'd been sent to purchase a large shipment of droids from. Our mission was successful, and we got the droids though not at quite as good a price as Alliance Command might have been hoping. So we returned to the Shadow Raptor, which per this adventure was one of the Alliance's top intel-gathering/sifting ships for that region of space... only for the droids to stage a coup and seize control of the ship, forcing it out of hyperspace and locking up most of the crew, as well as leaving it drifting perilously close to the event horizon of a black hole (if the engines weren't repaired in time, the ship would get sucked in and we'd pretty much be done for).
Given the circumstances and sheer number of droids involved, as well as the fact that I was the only PC that was fully equipped with their gear, I felt that Kyren would deem this situation to have crossed the Zillo Beast Threshold, and had him finally break out the lightsaber. Fun tidbit: to help conceal the weapon's presence, Kyren stores it much like Kanan in Rebels, splitting it into two parts. And yes, carnage pretty much ensued, as the fact that I was striking with a Damage 8 weapon that had Breach 1 and could crit with a single Advantage, on top of getting a boost die thanks to the Multiple Opponents talent meant that I was chewing through those minion groups like a hot knife through butter. And the various Rivals we encountered didn't fair much better. In fact, what was probably meant to be the "boss fight" of Act II, squaring off against a tactical droid that was leading this insurrection and his droid minions/guards turned out to be fairly anti-climactic due to some astoundingly good rolls on my part and the application of the Sarlacc Sweep talent; rolling a dice pool of 3 yellow and a boost vs. 1 red and 2 purple made it very likely that I'd get that additional hit in and still have enough Advantage left over to score at least one critical on the minion group I was also engaged with.
So yeah, against most of your rank and file opponents, a lightsaber is going to be brutal. Though from reading Act 2 of the adventure after we'd completed it, I noted that Linda and Rick (who'd helped her with prepping it) had trimmed down quite a few of the encounters, mostly out of a concern of the fights dragging on too long, especially when most of the PCs only had what amounted to their back-up weapons on them. They weren't sure if Kyren was going to make use of his lightsaber or not, but correctly figured that if he did, it was going to be a massacre on the droid's side of things.
Now, the flip side of that is they tweaked the third act of the adventure to include an ISB Agent (the same one that had gutted my prior PC as a matter of fact) that was now wielding a lightfoil (using stats they'd adopted from my Ways of the Force fan supplement) and generally built along similar lines as an Inquisitor from the back of the Force and Destiny Beta, only with a lower Wound/Strain Threshold, Adversary 2 and no Force Rating, but having Parry 5 and Melee Defense 1 as part of his defenses. To be honest, I'd been kind of spoiling for a lightsaber fight with Kyren for a while, and this opportunity was specifically included for my character, something that I thanked Linda and Rick for including.
On paper, that fight should have been a lot more daunting, as the ISB Agent was (I'm guessing) quite skilled with that lightfoil and his Parry 5 would allow him to negate a large portion of Kyren's damage output (increased to 9 thanks to a Contribution Rank reward of a superior hilt customization from completing the second act), and that the agent's lightfoil had enough ranks of Pierce to ignore Kyren's own soak value and blow past his 2 ranks of Parry (I'm using a modified version of the Shii-Cho Knight spec that replaces a couple of Parry talents with Reflect talents, but more on that later). The ISB Agent got in one hit, and it was a doozy, inflicting nearly half of Kyren's wound threshold in one go; luckily he didn't get any Advantages with which to trigger a critical injury, but he did generate a Despair to let me tag him with a free hit thanks to Improved Parry.
In a way, I got lucky in that Kyren was able to get in the first strike; his Emotional Weakness is Anger, and I willingly accepted conflict points for acting on that anger after the ISB Agent made allusions to what he'd do to the other PCs as well as a supporting NPC that we'd previously freed from his clutches. And that first strike was a monster, dealing 16 damage and having enough Advantage to inflict a critical injury and recover a bit of strain while I was at it. From what Rick and Linda said, if the ISB Agent didn't have all those ranks in Parry, he'd have been nearly toast on that first strike, and my counterstrike via Improved Parry would have been the nail in the coffin for him. My follow-up attack the next round was equally monstrous, only this time generating an obscene number of Advantages, enough to trigger a second critical injury with a +70 bonus to the roll, and ended with an insta-kill result that was narrated as Kyren simply driving his lightsaber right through the ISB Agent's throat and out the back of the creep's head. In retrospect, I felt I should have done things differently, such as going for a disarm before moving back so that the other PCs could have the honor of taking the ISB Agent out, but hindsight is 20/20 and I was caught up in the excitement of the moment, thus taking the advice of one my fellow players to simply spend all that Advantage on a crit.
So what did this reveal? Well, for starters a sufficiently modified lightsaber is damn dangerous to minions and rivals, since I not only get to ignore their soak values but have a very real chance of dealing enough raw damage to take out most minions or probably two to three minions (plus an extra one with a crit) in one shot. And even a major Nemesis like the ISB Agent would need to get boosted up to last more than a couple of rounds, meaning that three ranks of the Adversary talent will likely become the norm for any major foes we encounter. That and we probably will start seeing larger numbers of bad guys, and minions in full groups of five as we've proven incredibly capable of handling such things.
Now it's probably worth noting that the only other PC that comes close to that damage output is the ex-merc with his spiffed up heavy blaster rifle that does 13 damage base with Pierce 3 (the rifle is one I suggested from Dangerous Covenants and he's added a heavily modified augmented spin barrel to it as well), but an adversary with a sufficiently high soak value is still going to be trouble for him, where Kyren's all but assured to get damage through and still be likely to score a critical injury to debilitate the target even the damage doesn't exceed the target's wound threshold. And with a recently added rank of Vicious to the lightsaber, any critical injuries that Kyren inflicts have a greater chance of being pretty nasty, especially if there's an abundance of Advantages on the dice roll. But yeah, we're a couple of high-volume damage machines at this point.
Now I'd mentioned above that I'm using a variant of the Shii-Cho Knight specialization for Kyren. To be honest, I never liked that the version found in the FaD Beta didn't include the Reflect talent, as all the basic lore on Shii-Cho as a Lightsaber Form indicates that it includes blast-deflect training as part of its core curriculum; i.e. the Reflect talent. So having the spec be solely focused on defending against melee attacks felt off, particularly since being heavily focused on melee was Makashi's schtick. Thus far, I'm pretty happy with my revised Shii-Cho Knight. There are a couple of tweaks I'm thinking of making (in particular to where the lone Durable talent in the fifth row is hanging out all by itself), but seeing as how FFG hinted that a number of the specializations underwent further revision after the open beta was concluded, I'm going to hold off on any further tweaks until I get a copy of the core rulebook. Who knows, they might have tweaked the Shii-Cho Knight spec to include ranks of Reflect already, making my revision unnecessary.
For those curious, here's the layout for my revised take on the Shii-Cho Knight:
(chart layout taken from OggDude's character generator program)
October 28, 2014
Force and Destiny: On Lightsabers and Duels
Been meaning to get this one typed up for a while, just kept getting sidetracked for one reason or another.
I remember quite some time back, there was a lot of concern of lightsaber duels being far too deadly in FFG's Star Wars RPG, particularly with lightsabers in that game being Damage 10, Critical 1, and Breach 1 weapons, ensuring that the target was going to take a lot of damage and suffer a pretty nasty critical injury in the process. There were a number of proposed "solutions" to this problem, with the most frequent one being to simply have lightsabers upgrade the difficulty twice (rolling two Challenge dice as the base for a Lightsaber combat check) to avoid the "first hit = victor" scenario that became a major issue for the WEG D6 Star Wars RPG in regards to the Lightsaber Combat power in the hands of a highly capable Force user.
Personally, I felt the real problem was that lightsabers in EotE and AoR were simply way too good, and should have been toned down to something more reasonable than "near-instant death on a stick." I think the reaction of my GM for the (now on hiatus) Rascal Squad Age of Rebellion campaign in the session immediately after he allowed Valin to assemble a lightsaber of his own, having earned a suitable focusing crystal by completing a series of "trials" during the GM's modified running of the "Echoes of the Past" fan module. He was rather shocked at how quickly Valin, who was not a major contributor to combat encounters compared to the rest of the group, had gone from "kid with a blaster" to "kid capable of wiping out minion groups in a single round" or "kid capable of crippling important adversaries with only marginal degrees of success." After we finally concluded the last portion of Long Arm of the Hutt, the GM confided in me that he was starting to really regret letting Valin have such a powerful weapon afterwards.
Luckily, that session took place just before GenCon 2014 and the release of the Force and Destiny Beta. One of the first things I noticed in the equipment chapter was that the Basic Lightsaber was far less powerful than the EotE/AoR lightsaber, with the damage nearly halved, the critical rating doubled, and a lack of the Vicious quality with the cost only being reduced by several hundred credits. And that the other lightsaber types were of a similar vein; Breach 1 remained to make them dangerous, but these were not the "one-hit kill" weapons that the lightsabers in the prior books had the reputation of being. What was interesting was that if the PC was willing to invest the time and resources (and had a bit of luck on their side), they could modify a basic lightsaber into being the potent weapon, so the option was there, though certainly not easy to achieve (at least not before the Beta Update #4).
Now, shortly after the Force and Destiny Beta came out, I managed to wrangle up the players from the Friday night game I was in and offered to run a one-shot using the adventure at the back of the Beta book. Though I made a number of little tweaks here and there to the adventure, the players had plenty of fun and were eager to play these one-shot characters again (handing out double XP probably helped on that front). One of the things I'd wanted to do was have the party's Nautolan Makashi Duelist (Kennis) get into a one-on-one lightsaber duel, with one pick-up session pretty much being cribbed from the FaD demos that FFG was running in the Dealer Hall at GenCon (a bunch of Force users are on this planet to find a small child, but are confronted by stormtroopers and one or more Imperial Dark Jedi). I added enough other details to make the core idea fit into the loose continuity I'd established thus far (the group are all students of an Order 66 survivor and are working towards setting up a refuge/compound for those sensitive to the Force that is hidden from the Empire), but sadly Kennis' player couldn't make it. Instead, Viado (Human Starfighter Ace who had just recently picked up the Shien Expert spec, a rank of Lightsaber, and nothing else) stepped up to duel the Imperial Dark Jedi that I concocted for that encounter. The fight was pretty tense, with the party eventually ganging up and the IDJ and taking him down and Viado doing surprisingly well (though part of that might have been to lousy dice rolls on my part) though the fight did get a bit silly with the amount of disarms going back and forth.
Now this past Friday, I finally got to have a bona-fide lighsaber duel between Kennis and a Saber Rake NPC. And the fight got pretty nasty, particularly for Kennis who got hit with multiple critical injuries and wound up loosing his non-weapon hand before other PCs stepped in to defeat the Rake. Granted, it took a few rounds of back and forth, with the Saber Rake getting fairly beat-up as well even with his 3 ranks in Parry, 2 ranks of Adversary, and Melee Defense of 2.
To further add to this, Valin (who wound up getting a Mephite Crystal with a couple of modifications already made for his basic lightsaber) got into a couple of saber-fights, having delved into the Ataru Striker specialization. However, the true test of Valin's skills was against an Inquisitor made using the rules in the back of the Adversary chapter of the FaD Beta, and to put it bluntly the only reason Valin didn't snuff it was that the option was there for him to make like Luke in ESB and take a "suicide plunge" out of a high-speed repulsor-train into a lake far below. Now at this point, I'd bought far enough into Ataru Seeker for Valin to have two ranks of Parry and Reflect (but no Improved Parry), and I got my ass handed to me, simply because rolling against a dice pool of 2 Challenge dice, 1 Difficulty die, and 1 Setback die with a pool of 2 Proficiency dice and 1 Ability die put the odds pretty solidly not in my favor to both hit and have Advantage left over, and the fact that while I could impose the same difficulty dice pool on the Inquisitor, his 4 ranks of Lightaber and 4 Brawn meant he had a far better chance of hitting with Advantage left over. In fact, I think the only reason that Valin survived at all was that the GM was having lousy rolls on the critical injury chart, even after spending 7 Advantage with a prior critical injury on what should have been a "kill shot" only to roll 08; this still was bad since it increased the difficulty of Valin's efforts to attack even more. To say it was something of a rude awakening to just how far Valin had to go in becoming a 'saber-wielding badass would be an understatement. I figured that in-character, it would lead to Valin being too focused on "fighting like a Jedi" and forgetting his background as a street rate, and that he'd adjust his tactics appropriately in the future to be more of a combat pragmatist.
Now while getting into a 'saber combat with Valin was fun, the fact remains that even before delving into Ataru Striker he had a lot of XP invested into Force Emergent and the Sense power, giving him a solid defense option in the defensive Control Upgrade with the Duration and Strength Upgrades as well as additional wounds and strain. One of my friends has been gracious enough to let me bring a Force and Destiny PC that's much closer to being a starting PC into her Star Wars game, and while he's not had a chance to get into a fight or even break-out the lightsaber, I'm curious to see how it goes when said opportunities do present themselves.
So the point of all this? In short, I think FFG got the settings just about right for Force and Destiny PCs to be able to engage in lightsaber duels, particularly once they've seriously invested in one of the Lightsaber Form specializations, but not have those duels being the "first hit wins" scenarios that they'd have been if they'd stuck to the EotE/AoR lightsaber stats. And while I'm sure that there are some power-gaming twinks that are lamenting the lose of such "out-of-the-box uber-weapons," the game is overall better for replacing them with the basic lightsaber and its cousins from FaD.
I remember quite some time back, there was a lot of concern of lightsaber duels being far too deadly in FFG's Star Wars RPG, particularly with lightsabers in that game being Damage 10, Critical 1, and Breach 1 weapons, ensuring that the target was going to take a lot of damage and suffer a pretty nasty critical injury in the process. There were a number of proposed "solutions" to this problem, with the most frequent one being to simply have lightsabers upgrade the difficulty twice (rolling two Challenge dice as the base for a Lightsaber combat check) to avoid the "first hit = victor" scenario that became a major issue for the WEG D6 Star Wars RPG in regards to the Lightsaber Combat power in the hands of a highly capable Force user.
Personally, I felt the real problem was that lightsabers in EotE and AoR were simply way too good, and should have been toned down to something more reasonable than "near-instant death on a stick." I think the reaction of my GM for the (now on hiatus) Rascal Squad Age of Rebellion campaign in the session immediately after he allowed Valin to assemble a lightsaber of his own, having earned a suitable focusing crystal by completing a series of "trials" during the GM's modified running of the "Echoes of the Past" fan module. He was rather shocked at how quickly Valin, who was not a major contributor to combat encounters compared to the rest of the group, had gone from "kid with a blaster" to "kid capable of wiping out minion groups in a single round" or "kid capable of crippling important adversaries with only marginal degrees of success." After we finally concluded the last portion of Long Arm of the Hutt, the GM confided in me that he was starting to really regret letting Valin have such a powerful weapon afterwards.
Luckily, that session took place just before GenCon 2014 and the release of the Force and Destiny Beta. One of the first things I noticed in the equipment chapter was that the Basic Lightsaber was far less powerful than the EotE/AoR lightsaber, with the damage nearly halved, the critical rating doubled, and a lack of the Vicious quality with the cost only being reduced by several hundred credits. And that the other lightsaber types were of a similar vein; Breach 1 remained to make them dangerous, but these were not the "one-hit kill" weapons that the lightsabers in the prior books had the reputation of being. What was interesting was that if the PC was willing to invest the time and resources (and had a bit of luck on their side), they could modify a basic lightsaber into being the potent weapon, so the option was there, though certainly not easy to achieve (at least not before the Beta Update #4).
Now, shortly after the Force and Destiny Beta came out, I managed to wrangle up the players from the Friday night game I was in and offered to run a one-shot using the adventure at the back of the Beta book. Though I made a number of little tweaks here and there to the adventure, the players had plenty of fun and were eager to play these one-shot characters again (handing out double XP probably helped on that front). One of the things I'd wanted to do was have the party's Nautolan Makashi Duelist (Kennis) get into a one-on-one lightsaber duel, with one pick-up session pretty much being cribbed from the FaD demos that FFG was running in the Dealer Hall at GenCon (a bunch of Force users are on this planet to find a small child, but are confronted by stormtroopers and one or more Imperial Dark Jedi). I added enough other details to make the core idea fit into the loose continuity I'd established thus far (the group are all students of an Order 66 survivor and are working towards setting up a refuge/compound for those sensitive to the Force that is hidden from the Empire), but sadly Kennis' player couldn't make it. Instead, Viado (Human Starfighter Ace who had just recently picked up the Shien Expert spec, a rank of Lightsaber, and nothing else) stepped up to duel the Imperial Dark Jedi that I concocted for that encounter. The fight was pretty tense, with the party eventually ganging up and the IDJ and taking him down and Viado doing surprisingly well (though part of that might have been to lousy dice rolls on my part) though the fight did get a bit silly with the amount of disarms going back and forth.
Now this past Friday, I finally got to have a bona-fide lighsaber duel between Kennis and a Saber Rake NPC. And the fight got pretty nasty, particularly for Kennis who got hit with multiple critical injuries and wound up loosing his non-weapon hand before other PCs stepped in to defeat the Rake. Granted, it took a few rounds of back and forth, with the Saber Rake getting fairly beat-up as well even with his 3 ranks in Parry, 2 ranks of Adversary, and Melee Defense of 2.
To further add to this, Valin (who wound up getting a Mephite Crystal with a couple of modifications already made for his basic lightsaber) got into a couple of saber-fights, having delved into the Ataru Striker specialization. However, the true test of Valin's skills was against an Inquisitor made using the rules in the back of the Adversary chapter of the FaD Beta, and to put it bluntly the only reason Valin didn't snuff it was that the option was there for him to make like Luke in ESB and take a "suicide plunge" out of a high-speed repulsor-train into a lake far below. Now at this point, I'd bought far enough into Ataru Seeker for Valin to have two ranks of Parry and Reflect (but no Improved Parry), and I got my ass handed to me, simply because rolling against a dice pool of 2 Challenge dice, 1 Difficulty die, and 1 Setback die with a pool of 2 Proficiency dice and 1 Ability die put the odds pretty solidly not in my favor to both hit and have Advantage left over, and the fact that while I could impose the same difficulty dice pool on the Inquisitor, his 4 ranks of Lightaber and 4 Brawn meant he had a far better chance of hitting with Advantage left over. In fact, I think the only reason that Valin survived at all was that the GM was having lousy rolls on the critical injury chart, even after spending 7 Advantage with a prior critical injury on what should have been a "kill shot" only to roll 08; this still was bad since it increased the difficulty of Valin's efforts to attack even more. To say it was something of a rude awakening to just how far Valin had to go in becoming a 'saber-wielding badass would be an understatement. I figured that in-character, it would lead to Valin being too focused on "fighting like a Jedi" and forgetting his background as a street rate, and that he'd adjust his tactics appropriately in the future to be more of a combat pragmatist.
Now while getting into a 'saber combat with Valin was fun, the fact remains that even before delving into Ataru Striker he had a lot of XP invested into Force Emergent and the Sense power, giving him a solid defense option in the defensive Control Upgrade with the Duration and Strength Upgrades as well as additional wounds and strain. One of my friends has been gracious enough to let me bring a Force and Destiny PC that's much closer to being a starting PC into her Star Wars game, and while he's not had a chance to get into a fight or even break-out the lightsaber, I'm curious to see how it goes when said opportunities do present themselves.
So the point of all this? In short, I think FFG got the settings just about right for Force and Destiny PCs to be able to engage in lightsaber duels, particularly once they've seriously invested in one of the Lightsaber Form specializations, but not have those duels being the "first hit wins" scenarios that they'd have been if they'd stuck to the EotE/AoR lightsaber stats. And while I'm sure that there are some power-gaming twinks that are lamenting the lose of such "out-of-the-box uber-weapons," the game is overall better for replacing them with the basic lightsaber and its cousins from FaD.
September 16, 2014
Force and Destiny: Dono Version 2.0
A while back, I took a crack at building my namesake Jedi PC from the days of WotC's d20 system, and while it was workable, I wasn't entirely happy with it. So, being the unabashed tinker monkey that I am, I decided to try some other approaches to building a Force and Destiny version of Donovan Morningfire. And here's the results:
Donovan Morningfire, Jedi Apprentice (Take Two)
Species: Human (bonus non-career skills are Knowledge: Xenology and Lightsaber)
Career: Guardian
Specializations: Peacekeeper, Ataru Seeker
Total XP: 270
Morality: 50
Emotional Strength: Bravery
Emotional Weakness: Recklessness
Motivation: Justice (Cause)
Characteristics: Brawn 2, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 3, Presence 3
Skills: Brawl 1, Cool 1, Coordination 1, Discipline 1, Knowledge: Xenology 1, Lightsaber 2, Perception 1, Piloting (Planetary) 1, Vigilance 1
Talents (Ataru Striker): Ataru Technique, Conditioned, Jump Up, Parry, Quick Draw, Reflect
Talents (Peacekeeper): Commanding Presence, Confidence, Second Wind
Force Powers: Enhance (Control Upgrade: Coordination, Control Upgrade: Force Leap [Horizontal]), Move (Control Upgrade: Hurl Objects, Range Upgrade, Strength Upgrade), Sense (Control Upgrade: Defense, Duration Upgrade)
Soak Value: 3
Wound Threshold: 12
Strain Threshold: 13
Defense (Melee/Ranged): 0/0
Gear: Basic lightsaber (Lightsaber; Damage 6; Crit 2; Range [Engaged]; Breach 1, Sunder), concealing robes (+1 soak), comlink (handheld), glow rod, 3 ration packs, 3 stimpacks, rebreather (as breath mask), utility belt, 200 credits
Okay, so this version's a bit more fragile given no ranks in Toughened or Grit to start out with, but he's certainly a lot more resistant to fear effects and has a good option for strain recovery with Second Wind, which he'll need to help fuel his Parry and Reflect talents. He's still only got a Force Rating of 1, putting him strictly at Apprentice level, but it works. Storywise, I just figure he had uncommonly good luck when rolling his Force die.
For his "group resource" I went with the Mentor option, given that his backstory (covered in the fan-fic "Unexpected Destiny") includes Jedi Master Quatre Zidann, who took an unsure-of-himself young boy and helped mold him into a brave (if still reckless) Jedi Knight. As per the 2nd Beta Update for Force and Destiny, choosing Mentor provides a 5 XP discount on when initially purchasing a new Force Power, which gave Dono an extra 15 XP to play around with, most of which went into Force powers. Should Mentor not be a group option for whatever reason, easiest fix is to drop the Force Leap upgrade from Enhance and his rank in Perception.
I did opt to keep that rank in Knowledge: Xenology, as for someone that wasn't always the sharpest of kids he was generally pretty-well versed in the traits and habits of the various alien species and cultures of the Rise of the Empire era, even picking up the Twi'lek head-tail language during his adult years.
Overall, I like this build a whole lot, and would love a chance to put Dono on the table in a Force and Destiny game.
Donovan Morningfire, Jedi Apprentice (Take Two)
Species: Human (bonus non-career skills are Knowledge: Xenology and Lightsaber)
Career: Guardian
Specializations: Peacekeeper, Ataru Seeker
Total XP: 270
Morality: 50
Emotional Strength: Bravery
Emotional Weakness: Recklessness
Motivation: Justice (Cause)
Characteristics: Brawn 2, Agility 3, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 3, Presence 3
Skills: Brawl 1, Cool 1, Coordination 1, Discipline 1, Knowledge: Xenology 1, Lightsaber 2, Perception 1, Piloting (Planetary) 1, Vigilance 1
Talents (Ataru Striker): Ataru Technique, Conditioned, Jump Up, Parry, Quick Draw, Reflect
Talents (Peacekeeper): Commanding Presence, Confidence, Second Wind
Force Powers: Enhance (Control Upgrade: Coordination, Control Upgrade: Force Leap [Horizontal]), Move (Control Upgrade: Hurl Objects, Range Upgrade, Strength Upgrade), Sense (Control Upgrade: Defense, Duration Upgrade)
Soak Value: 3
Wound Threshold: 12
Strain Threshold: 13
Defense (Melee/Ranged): 0/0
Gear: Basic lightsaber (Lightsaber; Damage 6; Crit 2; Range [Engaged]; Breach 1, Sunder), concealing robes (+1 soak), comlink (handheld), glow rod, 3 ration packs, 3 stimpacks, rebreather (as breath mask), utility belt, 200 credits
Okay, so this version's a bit more fragile given no ranks in Toughened or Grit to start out with, but he's certainly a lot more resistant to fear effects and has a good option for strain recovery with Second Wind, which he'll need to help fuel his Parry and Reflect talents. He's still only got a Force Rating of 1, putting him strictly at Apprentice level, but it works. Storywise, I just figure he had uncommonly good luck when rolling his Force die.
For his "group resource" I went with the Mentor option, given that his backstory (covered in the fan-fic "Unexpected Destiny") includes Jedi Master Quatre Zidann, who took an unsure-of-himself young boy and helped mold him into a brave (if still reckless) Jedi Knight. As per the 2nd Beta Update for Force and Destiny, choosing Mentor provides a 5 XP discount on when initially purchasing a new Force Power, which gave Dono an extra 15 XP to play around with, most of which went into Force powers. Should Mentor not be a group option for whatever reason, easiest fix is to drop the Force Leap upgrade from Enhance and his rank in Perception.
I did opt to keep that rank in Knowledge: Xenology, as for someone that wasn't always the sharpest of kids he was generally pretty-well versed in the traits and habits of the various alien species and cultures of the Rise of the Empire era, even picking up the Twi'lek head-tail language during his adult years.
Overall, I like this build a whole lot, and would love a chance to put Dono on the table in a Force and Destiny game.
September 6, 2014
Force and Destiny Beta Pre-Gens: Human Shii-Cho Knight
And here I am with yet another Force and Destiny Beta pre-gen character.
You remember when I said that they weren't all be lightsaber wielders? Well, I've already given you a few characters that weren't, so here's one that is. In contrast to Donovan, I opted to go with a "back to basics" lightsaber wielder, and you don't get much more basic in terms of lightsaber combat than Shii-Cho, also known as Form I or The Determination Form.
Human Warrior/Shii-Cho Knight
Species: Human (bonus non-career skills are Discipline and Vigilance)
Career: Warrior
Specializations: Shii-Cho Knight
Total XP:115
Morality: 50
Emotional Strength: Bravery
Emotional Weakness: Anger
Motivation: The Jedi Code (Faith)
Characteristics: Brawn 3, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 3, Presence 2
Skills: Athletics 1, Cool 1, Coordination 1, Discipline 1, Lightsaber 2, Perception 1, Vigilance 1
Talents: Multiple Opponents, Parry, Second Wind, Toughened
Force Powers: Sense (basic power, Control Upgrade: Defense)
Soak Value: 4
Defense: (Melee/Ranged): 0/0
Wound Threshold: 15
Strain Threshold: 13
Gear: Training lightsaber (Lightsaber; Damage 6; Critical --; Ranged [Engaged]; Stun damage), concealing robes (+1 soak), breath mask, comlink (handheld), stimpack (x3), ration pack (3 days), utility belt; 800 credits
Design Notes: One beat-stick, straight up. He's fairly tough, though a bit susceptible to blaster fire. I opted to go with only raising his Brawn and Willpower since those feed into his Wound and Strain Thresholds in addition to the Discipline, Lightsaber, and Vigilance skills. His only Force power is Sense, but he can use that to get a quick defensive boost, and could be a good reason for him to not immediately attack in the opening rounds of combat. He's got a smattering of ranks in other useful skills, like Cool and Perception, but he is first and foremost a beatstick.
Now admittedly the training lightsaber isn't all that impressive, and I could see some folks thinking this character would be better off taking a much cheaper melee weapon like the truncheon to start with and then going for the +10 XP option rather than the +5XP/+1500 credits that I used. But I really wanted this guy to start with a lightsaber, and given how lightsaber focusing crystals work in Force and Destiny, it's a simple matter for the Shii-Cho Knight to simply pop out the training emitter and slot in a proper focusing crystal once he happens to find one.
As far as crystal options go, the Krayt Dragon Pearl and Mephite Crystal are both solid options for sheer damage output. The Lorrdian Gemstone offers some pretty solid defensive boosts, but the reduced damage can be counter-acted by the extended hilt attachment easily enough.
You remember when I said that they weren't all be lightsaber wielders? Well, I've already given you a few characters that weren't, so here's one that is. In contrast to Donovan, I opted to go with a "back to basics" lightsaber wielder, and you don't get much more basic in terms of lightsaber combat than Shii-Cho, also known as Form I or The Determination Form.
Human Warrior/Shii-Cho Knight
Species: Human (bonus non-career skills are Discipline and Vigilance)
Career: Warrior
Specializations: Shii-Cho Knight
Total XP:115
Morality: 50
Emotional Strength: Bravery
Emotional Weakness: Anger
Motivation: The Jedi Code (Faith)
Characteristics: Brawn 3, Agility 2, Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Willpower 3, Presence 2
Skills: Athletics 1, Cool 1, Coordination 1, Discipline 1, Lightsaber 2, Perception 1, Vigilance 1
Talents: Multiple Opponents, Parry, Second Wind, Toughened
Force Powers: Sense (basic power, Control Upgrade: Defense)
Soak Value: 4
Defense: (Melee/Ranged): 0/0
Wound Threshold: 15
Strain Threshold: 13
Gear: Training lightsaber (Lightsaber; Damage 6; Critical --; Ranged [Engaged]; Stun damage), concealing robes (+1 soak), breath mask, comlink (handheld), stimpack (x3), ration pack (3 days), utility belt; 800 credits
Design Notes: One beat-stick, straight up. He's fairly tough, though a bit susceptible to blaster fire. I opted to go with only raising his Brawn and Willpower since those feed into his Wound and Strain Thresholds in addition to the Discipline, Lightsaber, and Vigilance skills. His only Force power is Sense, but he can use that to get a quick defensive boost, and could be a good reason for him to not immediately attack in the opening rounds of combat. He's got a smattering of ranks in other useful skills, like Cool and Perception, but he is first and foremost a beatstick.
Now admittedly the training lightsaber isn't all that impressive, and I could see some folks thinking this character would be better off taking a much cheaper melee weapon like the truncheon to start with and then going for the +10 XP option rather than the +5XP/+1500 credits that I used. But I really wanted this guy to start with a lightsaber, and given how lightsaber focusing crystals work in Force and Destiny, it's a simple matter for the Shii-Cho Knight to simply pop out the training emitter and slot in a proper focusing crystal once he happens to find one.
As far as crystal options go, the Krayt Dragon Pearl and Mephite Crystal are both solid options for sheer damage output. The Lorrdian Gemstone offers some pretty solid defensive boosts, but the reduced damage can be counter-acted by the extended hilt attachment easily enough.
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