House Rules: The Force

[Sith'Ari Lizanthrin]

Was looking through my notes and found my old Force House Rules. I completely realize that parts of this might not sit well with others. Like the droid part, however I have yet to have a player choose a droid character over a fleshsack, and even in the one instance in the past where I did have a droid PC they never even considered the option.


So Without Further ado,


Okay, these are the personal set of rules changes, additions, and so on I use when running a campaign. If you agree with any of it, use it. If you disagree, or dislike them, you're under no obligation to use them. That's simple, isn't it? Everyone understand? Good.

Force Powers with Multiple Skills

After learning a power, either through study or intuitive learning, a Jedi is capable of merely concentrating and bringing the power up. He no longer needs to concentrate on the individual steps, but simply reaches out with the Force and activates the power. Thus, each use of a force power, no matter how many Force Skills that power requires, counts as only one action. For example, if a Jedi wishes to initiate Lightsaber Combat he would roll Control and Sense, this counts as one action. So, if the Jedi did nothing but activate Lightsaber Combat that round, he takes no multi-action penalty. If he dodged and activated the power, it would count as two actions, and so on. This also only counts for powers brought up as the "first action" of a sequence, basically it is taking that moment without getting into round count. If the Jedi is attempting to use a power he has not yet learned, this does not apply. He must then roll each required skill as a separate action.

Intuitive Force Use

A Force user is able to attempt powers for which he has not yet been properly trained, but this is no easy task. To use the power, the Force user must first roll a Difficult willpower roll. Next, he must roll the required skills, each counting as a separate action. The difficulty of this roll is between 150-200% of the power's normal difficulty (GM's discretion). If the roll succeeds, the power is activated. Each time the Force user successfully uses this unlearned power, reduce the difficulty by 3, when the difficulty is equal to the normal average difficulty for the power, the force user has learned the new power and may use it like any other he knows.

Keeping Powers Up

A Force user is capable of keeping a number of force powers "up" equal to the number of dice of his Willpower skill. Each power kept up counts as one "action" for determining multi-action penalties.

The Force and Droids

Droid characters are able to gain, lose, and use Force and Character Points just like a normal living character can. A Droid, under severe conditions, is also able to become Force-Sensitive. A droid can NOT start out Force-Sensitive. In order to become Force-Sensitive, a droid must meet the following requirements.
1. The droid must have a complex personality, either programmed in or "grown" through the droids experience.
2. The droid must have severe changes to its basic programming. The basic programming for most droids prohibits free-will, and comes with such restrictions as not harming humans and other living sentients, not impersonating a deity, obeying their masters, and so on. The droid must have this programming removed.
3. The droid must have been "alive" for some time, and not have had a memory wipe in the recent past. If a droid becomes force-sensitive and loses his memory, he loses his connection to the force.
4. The droid must undergo some "life"-changing event to explain their new connection to the force.
5. The droid must pay double the normal required character points for becoming Force-Sensitive.

Force Powers

Reactions-Powers:
The following powers are considered reactions skills, the force user is able to use them at any time at the cost of an additional action, just like Dodge, Parry, and other such skills...
Absorb/Dissipate Energy, Reduce Injury, Remain Conscious, Resist Stun

Non-Action Powers:
These powers don't count as actions, they're like basic perceptions to the Force user. The Force User is able to roll for these skills whenever they are needed without the cost of the action...
Danger Sense, Life Detection, Sense Force


Recently I have abandoned the Non-Action Powers part of this though I may reinstate it if I feel it is warranted.





Well there you go. Not even sure I wrote them to be honest. I haven't used this handout in about 10 years was just digging through my things and found it, re-read it, realized why I would have used it (it summarizes most of my opinion on untrained force use and MAPs).



Alexis
*smiles*

[Ankhanu]

Here are two (compatible) rule sets I've been testing recently:
1) Single Attribute system
2) Force alignment system


And you're right; I don't like the droid Force user bit Though I do agree with the Force Point and Character Point bit... though I believe that's standard rules anyway.
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[Sith'Ari Lizanthrin]

I, as I said, have not used them in years and years.

And also have yet to have anyone a) meet those requirements or b) even ask. I keep them around as J.I.C.s (just in case). I would probably not allow it myself unless given a damn good reason, but it lays out some tough guidelines that make it so I know how I would if I were to. Of course as I said these are 10 years or more old. Meaning my opinions of things have changed slightly, but these were thought up mainly for things like the end results of Mechu-Deru or other odd droids that do not fit the droid norm.


I have read your single attribute version many times and it tickles at my mind but I have yet decided how I want to go about revamping the system in general for my games. Your alignment entry is absolutely great, I have longed believed in "gray" and have always believed the stark white/black, good/evil was missing the human component, some people are not so easily defined. It actually makes sense to me in that I was already using something similar and had a different view on DPS gain. You and I think alike in regards to

"Automatic Dark Side points aren't quite as clear cut as in the standard rules. The simple use of a power, like Injure/Kill, will not grant a Dark Side point, rather the intent and method of manifest determines it. For Example, using the power to harm and using it while impassioned (Angry, Love filled, whatever) will lead to a Dark Side point. Using the power while at peace and in the defense of others may not."

I was already using a similar concept myself.


As always Ankhanu thank you for the posted replies, it is always a pleasure to hear the opinions of my contemporaries.

Bookmarked Ankhipedia as well ^_^

Alexis
*smiles*

[Ankhanu]

Yeah, I could see possible allowance for special droids with biological elements, in the vein of, perhaps, Greivous (though he was pretty much unique, so encountering a similar being/droid would require some damn good story work )... but in terms of general droids, even those with complex personalities, it just doesn't fit with the established, and my sense of what is the Force. Though, like you said, every GM will build the setting as they will and we don't all have restrictive, anal views on what the Force is and isn't

Both systems I have there are in need of some revision; what's there are base drafts. Some of the Dark side stuff, in particular, needs to be more closely worked, I think. I kind of drafted it with an... imperfect... concept of what the dark side is; essentially presenting it as the polar opposite of the light side as presented by the Jedi, which it is not. Nothing is so simple With my current understanding of the dark side, I see that the rules need changes.
While automatic DSPs aren't always kosher, some powers would be much harder to use without dipping into the Dark Side than some others that automatically grant them.

Ankhipedia is... well, still in early development There is very little content as yet. It's mostly intended as a place to document home rules, some official rules, stats and fluff text for various campaigns (mine and others if they should so wish). Feel free to use it as you will.
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[PsiberDragon]

[Ankhanu]

[vong]

[Xynar]

I did a Force Attribute system for a while. Control, Sense and Alter were skills under that attribute. This way a character like Tionne can be explained as having low power (low attribute) but can use powers with ease (great skill). All of the abilities strength was derived from the attribute (how much telekinesis can move, extra saber damage, etc) but the skills showed experience and better growth of that experience. Also this allowed players to specialize in certain powers like control: absorb/dissipate energy or something similar. The only issue was that this extremely limited the power of the Jedi characters. They became too weak to play as others would greatly explode with abilities while the Jedi saved character points to increase the Force attribute.
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Xynar
The Great Adventurer

[ZepDek]

Sith'Ari Lizanthrin, I was just about to post something about how in my campain I allow droids to be force sensite. Its only for rare cases, I think I've only had four in my ten years of running games. I agree with all of your rules about the restrictions for a droid jedi but I have to add one simple rule that I use. The Droid must belive that the force exists. While on the surface a simple rule, just imagine the difficulty to teach a computer system (Usually only able to think in terms of logic and the like) that there exists a powerful force flowing through the cosmos. Actually a jedi in one of my campains tried to explain the force to his servent droid. After he got done rambling off about the force, the droid noded and said: "You need to cut back on the drugs, master."

PS. My reasoning why a droid can be force sensitive is simple, When Yoda was explaning the force to Luke, he said that the force flows through all things, people, trees, rocks (Don't remember the excat quote). And I got to thinking that droids are about as alive as rocks, and therefore the force does flow through them, its just that don't usually have the capacity to call upon it.

[garhkal]

[ZepDek]

[Sith'Ari Lizanthrin]

Thankfully munchy players are not a problem I oft face.

However, that is why I put

"4. The droid must undergo some "life"-changing event to explain their new connection to the force. " This is alot deeper than at first it sounds. First off you have to define life changing, which I define as something that drastically alters the droids perception of itself and its place in the galaxy. Also for this life changing event the droid must come to some sort of realization that they are not as disconnected from the force as first they "thought".

Now to PsiberDragon's points,

No it is not on a sliding scale. Learned means once they have it on their character sheet, but since I allow attempts at untrained usage, there are times this rule comes into effect in both ways. If a player tries to use a force power they are unfamiliar with MAPs apply, once they "learn" it MAPs only apply in very specific circumstances as we have reworked the force powers to indicate which apply after learning.

I have indeed had a player just work on intuitive force use, they took 2/2/2 at character creation with loss of skill dice as per normal, but chose not to have had formal training instead at times chosen by me or inquired to me by the player they would find themselves doing things that can only be defined as raw unfocused force use. It was alot of fun to watch the player try to fight the darkside with so little control over their power or their emotions (great roleplayer).

For me, Guri would actually be one of the cases in which she could possibly become FS. Her synthskin is so well done as to be "nearly indistinguishable" from true organic matter, and what is organic skin and flesh anyway, as it varies from species to species and genetic structure to genetic structure, how then is hers so different, if you cut her, does she not bleed, if you would her emotionally does her heart not ache (she is programmed to replicate human emotions, something far beyond the comprehension of a similar but unrelated canon's droid Data), and if you kill someone near to her does her ire not rise.....I would rule differently than Ankhanu in this case, especially if a player was playing Guri and had a "life-changing event" that made her start to see herself as more than the sum of her parts/programming.





And on to something I forgot to add to the list,

Improving Force Skills
"Luke often deferred to Mara's Danger Sense as it was more finely honed than his own"- paraphrased from Wikipedia.

Nothing in the current rules allows this, as it stands this would indicate Mara had more sense dice when she was at maybe knight level than Skywalker as a Master. We know this is untrue so.

Players, when improving force attributes, instead of choosing a new power upon gaining a new pip can instead choose to add to their existing skills. Thus a player who has 5D Sense, but who has honed the abilities of Life Sense, Force Sense, Combat Sense, and Danger Sense as their primary skills, may have something in the ballpark of a couple extra dice to those powers. Like Life Sense (+1D+2) indicating they had forgone 5 sense powers to instead home that particular sense. So far it has worked wonders. Some people choose to be good at the things they do others try to learn as much as they can.




Alexis
*smiles*