< Revised Force System - Version PI >

By: Evan Hansen (hansene@umich.edu) with a special thanks to
Landon Darkwood for the riveting character, "Buster the Padawan," as well
as some swell revisions!

Read some fantastic reviews for VERSION PI:
"Oh, it's the best thing that's happened to the SW-RPG since Kevin Perrine."
-Landon Darkwood

"Better than CATS." -Landon Darkwood

"I was turning circles trying to reason out the force rules, until Version PI.
I think I have it straight now." -George Laiacona III

0 - Introduction
1 - The Force and Jedi
2 - Why the change?
3 - The system
4 - Anything else?

Introduction
------------

Master Uriah moved into position. His padawan learner was nearly ready
for the trials. He is fairly certain of this. The soon-to-be knight
Jun-Ping moved in front of the three droids with the utmost caution, yet
with no worry visable on his brow. The air vibrated gently in the area,
as the droids unleashed their small blaster canons on the young Jedi.
Master Uriah watched him dive, wondering why his padawan wasn't simply
deflecting the blaster bolts like he normally did. The lights flickered
for a moment, and suddenly the room filled with gas. Uriah could no
longer see what was going on. He was worried for his padawan, because for
the first time, they had added an unknown surprise for him...a living
opponent that would strike as soon as the droids were out of the way. But
suddenly the droids came flying out of the cloud of gas as his padawan's
lightsaber became visable. A droid head rolled to his feet. The master
that was to fight the padawan dropped into the correct area, but hadn't
known that the gas was present. It took him by surprise, and the young
padawan was able to take him off guard and knock him to the ground and
knock the lightsaber from his hand. The padawan was victorious. Master
Uriah decided that Jun-Ping was indeed a Jedi Knight.

Section 1 - The Force and Jedi
------------------------------

The Jedi are weapons of the Force, claimed the Jedi Knight Callista.

Interpretation of the Force rules depends greatly on opinion of what Jedi
are, and what they can do. In some people's eyes, Jedi are more
monks and simple peacekeepers, but to others they are honorable
warriors...carriers of lightsabers. Elegant, gallant and noble knights
who protect the innocent.

It is with this definition of Jedi in mind that the Force rules are
redefined here. In an effort to reflect the Jedi that we see in the
movies, where a simple apprentice is able to battle many droids with
little warning with no problem, I am trying to simplify the system for the
SW-RPG Force users.

 

Section 2 - Why the Change
--------------------------
As I began to hint at above, I dont believe that the WEG system for the
Force holds up as valid any longer (since the release of TPM). Rather
than a spell-based system that tries to specify every "power" that Jedi
have, I feel that Jedi more likely can simply enhance what their bodies
can already do. It let's them run faster, heal more quickly, jump
farther, see better, hold their breath longer, and fight with more
agility. But these things are not necessarily direct uses of the Force.
Rather, it is an example of what can happen when a Jedi lets the Force
flow through him and enhance his existing abilities. The better a Jedi
can channel the Force, the better he is able to enhance himself.

Section 3 - The System
----------------------
Firstly, Control, Sense and Alter will be kept from the WEG system. From
this, there are the following definitions:

Control - The Jedi's ability to control his body including his mind.
Sense - The Jedi's ability to sense feelings, events, etc... with the
Force as his guide.
Alter - The Jedi's ability to control, or alter, things around him. This
includes thoughts, feelings and perceptions.

The point of this definition of things is that it will allow the GM
maximum flexibility for his or her individual games. Each GM can
determine what will be needed for a Jedi to do something. It also allows
a Jedi to do whatever he or she wants, as long as they have the dice for
it.

The system works as follows: Take one half the roll of the normal skill,
and add the complete roll of the necessary force skill. So, for example,
if a Jedi tried to change the memories of a guard, he would roll his
persuasion of 4D. He rolls a 12. He would then take half that number
(6), and add it to his roll on his 3D Alter. He rolls a 10 on his Alter,
and thus tries to change his memory with 16. The guard would then roll
his willpower. The GM can determine how much the Jedi needs to beat the
guard by to obtain what effect, though it would seem obvious that if the
Jedi wins, at least something will happen to the guard.

The one exception to this rule is to Mech and Tech skills. For these, you
use half your Force roll and half your normal roll.

Special modifications: As optional rules, you can allow some Jedi to have
special abilities in certain areas. For example, in the novel "I, Jedi"
Corran Horn has the ability to project thoughts into people's minds. In
these cases, the GM can allow the Jedi to use his full roll rather than
half of it. This reflects his increased ability in it. This is a fairly
common thing among Jedi, and thus feel free to use this often.

Also, it should be noted that it is possible, with people who have little
ability in what they are attempting to do, that the Jedi will actually get
a lower roll if they use their Force powers. This reflects the notion
that a completely untrained Jedi attempting something beyond their reach
can often backfire, or give false results.

Notes on fighting: Damages of weapons are not increased by the Force.
Only the ability of the Jedi to use them. There is one style of fighting
that Jedi get extra power in: lightsaber combat.

Multiple Actions: The first multiple action is free when using the force,
since it acts almost as extra reaction time for its user. (The padawan
Reflick wishes to shoot at two people and dodge. This is three actions,
but is only minus 1D). Jedi are also allowed the same rule on their Force
skills. So, after the first Force enhancement, roll -1D for each enhancement.

Example: Buster the Padawan (dodge 5D, blaster 3D, Force skills at 1D
each) wants to dodge and fire. He decides he wants to Force enhance his
low blaster skill with Sense. Because the first action is free, he
takes no penalties, can dodge with full dice, and can increase his low
blaster score a bit. Since he only does one Force enhancement, he does
not lose any dice on the Force.

Example 2: Buster is caught in a bad situation. Dodge and fire twice.
And he does the same thing. Those three actions equals a -1D penalty.
Thus, he has 4D to dodge. One of his blaster shots is Force enhanced,
so it'll be 2D rolled divided by 2 plus the Force dice, and he still snaps
off the next shot at 2D with no enhancements.

Lightsabers: Use the optional rule for lightsabers. Jedi are allowed to
use their entire *Control* skill when attempting to fight with a
lightsaber. (Master Uriah fights with Darth Xenith. The Dark Lord moves
in and, feeling the force flow through him, strikes with his 10D
lightsaber combat, plus his 7D Control skill, giving him a 17D attack. He
also wishes to parry any oncoming attack. There is no penalty. Uriah
attacks with a combined total of 18D. Xenith parries with 17D then
attacks with 17D as well. Uriah, being a drug abusing Jedi Master, does
not parry and is run through quite handily by the Sith Lord.) Parrying
blasters, etc... can ONLY be done by a Jedi enhanced lightsaber roll. It
isn't entirely about the number rolled as it is the metaphysical
"connection" to the bolt, the gun, and the shooter. To throw a
lightsaber, roll Thrown Weapons + Control since it is an extension of the
Jedi. There are two ways to handle the lightsaber damage:

1 - dont roll damage. Assume that your lightsaber, in a Jedi's hands, will
cut through anything.

2 - Add the lightsaber damage to half of a sense roll. This reflects the Jedi's
ability to strike more vulnerable points on the opponent's body.

Telekenesis, Lightning, and Injuring: For physical manifestations of the
Force outside of the Jedi's own body, the Jedi must rely exclusively on
the Force. So, in order to lift or move objects, the Jedi would just roll
Alter. The above multiple action rules apply. Lightning damage is a
standard 25, and is not affected by armor of any kind. Regardless of
opposing Strength rolls, the other person is immediately stunned upon
being hit, if not worse. The user can choose to not use all 25 of the
damage. To avoid a lightning strike, a user may dodge versus the alter
roll. There is a modifier on the dodge, since the lightning is erratic
and widespread.

Common uses of the Force:

To detect general feelings in a crowd: Perception + Sense
To detect Force users: Perception + Sense
To control pain in the Jedi: Strength + Control
To accelerate healing in the Jedi: Stamina + Control
To jump higher: Jumping + Control
To alter another's memories: Persuasion + Alter
To control another's mind: Persuasion + Alter
To move items through the air: Alter only
To hold breath for a long time: Survival + Control
to fight with a lightsaber: Lightsaber Combat + Control
The equivalent of "Danger Sense": Perception + Sense

*** If the Jedi has a specialization, it can be used. For example,
(S)Survival: Breathing Techniques could be used with Control for holding
breath.

Jedi Masters: Jedi Masters are not there to necessarily teach padawans
little "tricks" and "powers" as commonly believed. Rather, Jedi Masters
teach young Jedi about the attitude of a jedi. Proper uses of the Force.
In addition, they obviously have a greater ability to use the Force. A
Master continually reinforces the feeling that a Knight must have. When a
padawan reaches the point of knowing all that they can about feeling the
Force, they simply must practice and get better on their own. They also
should now have a good enough understanding of the universe to know right
from wrong, and the light from the dark.

 

Section 4 - Anything Else?
--------------------------

Contact me at hansene@umich.edu or slavianredd@yahoo.com for any
questions.

Please note that this system is in its development still, as well as being
a heavily GM-oriented system. If you do not like to determine a lot of
dice levels on your own as a GM, this system probably is not for you. It
just provides a simple guideline that allows a GM to really tailor Jedi
games.