Practical Application for Disturbances in the Force

[CRMcNeill]

Has anyone ever done practical rules for disturbances in the Force? I liked one thing that Timothy Zahn suggested in the Hand of Thrawn duology, that constant active use of the Force disrupted or limited what one could see when using Sense. I'd like to see some rules to the effect that, the more one used Alter and Control, the more difficult their Sense rolls would become. There could be environmental conditions, too, such as a battlefield and all of the attendant death and strong emotions could increase difficulty levels as well.

It'd also be nice to see some concrete rules for the degree to which one's presence is broadcast by regular Force use. This would be especially handy in a Rebellion-era campaign, where a Jedi character would have to keep his use of the Force to the bare minimum or risk having a Star Destroyer or two show up with an Inquisitor or even Darth Vader.

WEG made mention of disturbances in the Force in passing, but never wrote any concrete rules for them apart from general suggestions that could be used as part of a story line. In my experience, this usually means that a GM who is juggling multiple rules and characters will let the idea slide, especially if he has to make up rules as he goes along.

Admittedly, a rule like this would be an additional complication for GM's who already have enough on their plate. However, concrete rules that require your character to limit fun Jedi powers like TK and Affect Mind or risk increased difficulty levels on things like Danger Sense and Farseeing, combined with an increased likelihood that powerful NPC villains will be able to track you down might be something that a GM could use. After all, if you combine these two factors, it gets a lot easier for GMs to spring ambushes and traps on inattentive Jedi.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[garhkal]

For the latter, Sparks made the following up.

Any module(game session) in which you used a force skill, OR force enhanced skill (such as with concentration, enhance attribute (NOT JUST ON A FORCE POINT THOUGH) that you roll over a certain target number, you create a large enough ripple in the force, you become known to the force hunters.
Once that is done, you receive a force vision, showing the hunter(s) as they now start their search for you.
You then mark on your update sheets/information sheets, you are now known to the hunters.

From that point on, if you do the above again (different cap), you gain a force vision. IF you trip the cap a 2nd time in the same GAMING session/module, you trigger a force Encounter.
You then mark down you have received FE1, assuming you survived (FE1 was just a veteran squad of Anti-Jedi tactics trained storm troopers with a single medium e-web for their heavy weapon).
IF you did not trip the cap the 2nd time, you reset back to just being known.

After you have had FE1, if you trip a slightly lower cap (iirc it dropped by 5), you then receive Force Vision 2.
Similar to above, if in the same module/session, that you trigger the vision, you hit the cap again. You now get Force Encounter 2.
FE2 at the time was 2 of the above squads (each 10 man), along with a HEAVY e-web trio of stormies, a Royal Guard Dark Adept, and a Dark jedi (around 6d for each force skill for the RGDA and 8d for the DJ himself). They ambush by landing in 2 lambda shuttles, and await for you.

IF you survive FE2, you mark on your sheet you have had FE2.
After that, if you trip the cap again (which once more has been lowered), you trigger Force vision 3, which showed the Emperor himself, talking to "shadows" to go after you.
If in the same module (YET AGAIN), you trip it a second time, you then get Force Encounter 3.
This was a pair of Shadow Jedi, which are like Ninja Sith.

UNLIKE WITH Force encounter 1 or 2, which the DM can spring on you when others ARE around or can help, FE 3 WILL be sprung at a time and place where you are on your lonesome. The Shadow jedi will do all they can to capture you (knock out, then immobilize with sedative drugs) to bring you to the Emperor. They will ONLY KILL if one of the 2 fall.

If, and this is a big if, you survived FE 3, the very next time you do the Double cap breaking in a session, you have the fourth and last force vision/encounter...
YOU MEET VADER.
Your choice is DIE or TURN... NOTHING ELSE.
If you die, you get to write out how the battle goes, even with you wounding (not killing though) vader if you want.

IIRC the caps were
To become known, 45 initially, 40 after a year of hunters being active in the same system, -5/2 yrs after that.
FE 1 trigger cap = 40
FE 2 trigge cap = 35
FE 3 trigger cap = 30
FE 4 trigger cap = 20.

For each full year the campaign went with out a single force using PC triggering even just a VISION, the caps for all went up by 5. 3 straight years of no vision triggerings, the force hunters move on thinking the area has been purged.

That was the Passive hunt.
\
Then came active force hunting..
. With the Active Hunt anyone who was Known by the Hunters was added to a list and they were assigned dedicated Hunter teams (commensurate with their Force Encounter Level). So they were assumed to have a group of Hunters always only one or two steps behind them constantly in pursuit. If the Force-user was able to keep a low profile long enough the Hunters would give up and stop looking.

The nice thing with that, is the cap goes up tremendously for becomming a NEW jedi to be known to the hunters. You have to trigger the cap at 100!.. or if fighting a dark jedi/sith/dark adept etc, you have to get 100 over what they have rolled (if resisting/fighting)...

BUT once known, your cap is 20. If you trigger it at any time within a year of becoming known to the Emperors force hunter teams, you just get one vision, then VADER!!!!

If you can survive/go a year without triggering it, the cap raises up to 50.
If you can go a 2nd straight year, your name is taken off the known list...
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[CRMcNeill]

Very nice. Has Sparks ever done anything for having active Force use make Sense more difficult?
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[garhkal]

NEIT mein comrade!
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[CRMcNeill]

Any thoughts on that side of things. I like the Sparks rules, but I think I would probably make an exception for Sense-only powers, as Sense to me has always been a more passive approach, as though one were merely listening to what the Force says rather than actively trying to manipulate it.

Maybe the two could be linked, in that for every FE you receive, the difficulty for Sense powers goes up by one level because the disturbance in the Force also blurs the Jedi's perception of it.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Esoomian]

So to look at it from another angle does the Sparks group have any rules for how a non Dark Side, Non Hunter PC might feel a disturbance in the Force?
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.

Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view.

[CRMcNeill]

[garhkal]

Not sure... i know some gms have had it that if a force user hits 40+ whether hunt on or not, other pc force uers in the same system feel them.
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Esoomian]

So it stands to reason that if evil NPCs ever hit 40+ the PCs might also sense them.

And with Palpatine and Vader having such impressive dicepools it might be nice if the PCs occasionally got a flash of what they were doing and roughly where they are.
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.

Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view.

[CRMcNeill]

You also have to factor in that Sith may have some methods of concealing themselves from other Force users, so they may not be as easy to detect as the average FSPC.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index

[Esoomian]

Perhaps but it they may not be using them, particularly if they're acting in a hunter type role as they may be able to determine who may have Force Potential by who reacts to the ripples they're sending out.
_________________
Don't waste money on expensive binoculars.

Simply stand closer to the object you wish to view.

[CRMcNeill]

[Esoomian]

[CRMcNeill]

[Esoomian]