Saturday, March 10, 2012

Feeding the Force



I think two things that help make a good Star Wars game is the atmosphere and the way the Force is handled.  And the way the Force is handled contributes significantly to the atmosphere.  For the BoL version I want Force powers to be as simple and streamlined as possible.  One thing I don't like about the WEG's version is how complicated they made force powers.  Multiple rolls, etc., to complete one Force task.  It doesn't seem to flow to me.

The Force will be handled similarly to the way psychic powers are used in Barbarians of the Aftermath.  I will approach it the same way as magic except that the Force user will be limited by his rating.  So, Jedi 0 can perform cantrip equivalents, Jedi 1 can perform magnitude 1 equivalents, etc.

This seems pretty straight forward to me but the next question didn't.  Should Force powers cost power points of some sort?  My first reaction was that it shouldn't cost anything.  Particularly in the prequels, or at least what I have seen of them, Jedi seem to have unlimited use.  But then I thought of the scene in The Empire Strikes Back when Yoda lifts the X-Wing out of the swamp.  This act seemed to tire him out.  Yes, Yoda was old and fading by then but it does imply that using the Force has a cost.

My solution to this is to have Force use cost but to double or triple the initial points plus their Jedi (or Sith) level.  Or, perhaps better, would be to start the power level as usual but add 5 points for each time the Force user gains a level.

Thoughts?

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