| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16281
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
 Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:09 pm Post subject: Force Lens? |
 |
|
For those who haven't read the Lensman series by E. E. "Doc" Smith, it gets its name from a crystalline device worn by the Lensmen, who are the primary members of the Galactic Patrol. Among other things, the Lens has the effect of enhancing a person's latent psychic talent. Much like Jedi, lensmen are extremely rare per capita, and undergo a grueling selection process, where less than .1% (IIRC) earn the right to wear a Lens.
There are a lot of parallels between the Lensman setting and Star Wars, including elites with special powers, melee weapons in a space setting, world killing super weapons, and so on and so forth. In fact, the Lensman series is considered one of the first entries into the Space Opera genre.
I'm curious if anyone has ever crossed the concept of a Lens (a device that enhances the natural Force talent of the wearer over) in the SWU. SotME, for example, had the original version of Kaiber crystals, that boosted a Force Sensitive's power while they were in contact with it, but that could be used pretty much by any Force Sensitive, whereas Lenses were tailored specifically to the user.
Thoughts?
_________________
"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
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
cheshire
Arbiter-General (Moderator)
Joined: 04 Jan 2004
Posts: 4849
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:13 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I've never thought of using it. But I'm beginning to see where Brandon Sanderson got his ideas for Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians.
_________________
__________________________________
Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16281
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 10:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| cheshire wrote: | | I've never thought of using it. But I'm beginning to see where Brandon Sanderson got his ideas for Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. |
Do tell?
_________________
"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
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
garhkal
Sovereign Protector
Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14172
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
|
| Posted: Mon Jul 17, 2017 11:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
How much of a boost were you thinking these lenses would grant? How easily would they be to destroy, and get a new one re-attuned? Would they be a 'just have it and you get the boost', or would it be 'you need to activate XYZ power, then you get the boost'?
Would the bonus double on an FP?
_________________
Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16281
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 12:02 am Post subject: |
|
|
I haven't settled on anything yet, including whether or not (or how) to include it at all. Mostly I'm soliciting opinions.
_________________
"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
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Zarn
Force Spirit
Joined: 17 Jun 2014
Posts: 698
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 3:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
I seem to remember an Adventurer's Journal where there was a Force relic that added to the user's Force skills. At least one Holocron granted a few powers as well.
In AD&D 2nd edition, I remember spell foci that could convert the energy of a given spell level into a specific spell when cast through the focus. In essence, always having a 'magic missile' available if you had a Spell Focus: Magic Missile.
I'm thinking that ironically, Jedi don't have much truck with stuff like this. Sith are much more likely to have something like this, in my opinion, coupled with more rare Force-using cults (and splinters of Sith), such as the Sorcerers of Tund or the Jal Shey. In particular, the Jal Shey already use a variety of focus devices for their Force powers, so using a lens or other focus might come natural to them. The Krath were well known for having used Sith amulets, which might be a more primitive form of a Force-focusing device as compared to a Force lens. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
MrNexx
Rear Admiral
Joined: 25 Mar 2016
Posts: 2248
Location: San Antonio
|
| Posted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 11:40 am Post subject: |
|
|
Not so much a Lens, but I did have a group that focused their force power through rings, which were charged by lanterns, which communicated with a central battery... 
_________________
"I've Seen Your Daily Routine. You Are Not Busy!"
“We're going to win this war, not by fighting what we hate, but saving what we love.”
http://rpgcrank.blogspot.com/ |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
The Brain
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 03 Jun 2005
Posts: 242
|
| Posted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 12:21 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Zarn wrote: | | I seem to remember an Adventurer's Journal where there was a Force relic that added to the user's Force skills. At least one Holocron granted a few powers as well. |
That would be the adventure titled "Relic" (surprise!) in Adventure Journal #6, also in Classic Adventures: Volume 4. In addition there were the Tasar crystals written about in Adventure Journal #15. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
cheshire
Arbiter-General (Moderator)
Joined: 04 Jan 2004
Posts: 4849
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 7:23 am Post subject: |
|
|
| CRMcNeill wrote: | | cheshire wrote: | | I've never thought of using it. But I'm beginning to see where Brandon Sanderson got his ideas for Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. |
Do tell? |
Brandon Sanderson wrote a series of YA fiction in a whimsical humorous style that tells the story of a cult of evil librarians that has control over the flow of information over seven of earth's continents (of course there are more, but the librarians only control seven). There are "oculators" who can use special lenses to harness a variety of powers including heat vision, a sort of "life detection," tracking someone's footprints, etc. The oculators derride what we think of as high tech as flimsy low-tech devices that are crude toys. That is to say swords and lenses are seen as higher tech than firearms.
On the surface there seem to be some distinct influences.
A friend of mine pushed a copy into my hand and said I had to read it. I'm not usually into YA, but I don't regret the time I spent with the book. If you're looking for humorous light reading, it may not be a bad choice.
_________________
__________________________________
Before we take any of this too seriously, just remember that in the middle episode a little rubber puppet moves a spaceship with his mind. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16281
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 12:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Zarn wrote: | | I'm thinking that ironically, Jedi don't have much truck with stuff like this. Sith are much more likely to have something like this, in my opinion, coupled with more rare Force-using cults (and splinters of Sith), such as the Sorcerers of Tund or the Jal Shey. In particular, the Jal Shey already use a variety of focus devices for their Force powers, so using a lens or other focus might come natural to them. The Krath were well known for having used Sith amulets, which might be a more primitive form of a Force-focusing device as compared to a Force lens. |
I'm inclined to agree as far as the Jedi. However, the background of the Lens would also make it unlikely that the Sith would have access to it. In the Lensman series, the various races of the universe are pawns being manipulated from behind the scenes by two super races (the Arisians and the Eddorians), both of whom have highly evolved mental powers, but who are too evenly matched to destroy the other. The Arisians design and build the Lenses for their own purposes, and each Lens is matched to its wearer, and can't be used by anyone else (it will actually kill anyone else who tries to wear it).
If we're maintaining the spirit of the crossover, any Lens in the SWU would likely have to be specific to a separate Force-using tradition, where the Lenses are constructed by an ancient race of some sort, and then provided only to those who they deem worthy. Such a race would be extremely powerful Force users (enough that even the Empire at its height would be unable to attack their planet directly) but also highly insular.
_________________
"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
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nuclearwookiee
Lieutenant Commander
Joined: 28 Nov 2011
Posts: 171
|
| Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 1:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| In the d20 iterations of the game, there is a class called "Force Adept" (an alternative to the Jedi Knight class for other Force traditions). It has the ability to create a Force Amulet usable only by the creator. Rather than provide a passive bonus to using Force powers, it increases defense score(s). Along the same lines, the FA can also imbue a melee weapon with Force power, increasing its damage. So not exactly what you have in mind, but certainly support for the idea of a unique, Force-concentrating item. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
