Lightsaber Combat Clarifications?

[Icebrand]

Well, here i come.

1st, we did not use lightsaber combat in our group (it was my initiative, and everybody liked it).

Our mechanics were:
You DO have the power, and roll for it. The power is "up" until the fight ends, but you dont have to "keep it" (i.e. it doesn't take dice from your rolls).

Effects were: Adds or Substracts control from your damage rolls (optionally, dont use control and stick with saber + STR). No matter what, we had a "max damage" for our lightsabers of 9D.
Allows you do deflect blaster bolts with your "lightsaber" skill. You can reflect them back with your control skill, used as a reaction skill (i.e. you dont have to declare you are going to reflect the bolt).

Combat sense, enhance attribute and concentration were also "off". Basically, we took all the "+die to skills" force uses. We watered down jedi so the other players would not feel bad / could have fun.
(keep in mind that we had only 2 jedi, one of them retired early, and then i was the only jedi in a party of 4 to 8 players.

Anway, back on topic: I'm planning a brand-new campaign, and i will use the official rules. Probably there will be no jedi PC, but the comic relief sith lord, "Darth Mulius", is still alive.

I need some input on the lightsaber combat rules. We are using 2nd R&E, and as far as i see, the rules are as follows:

1- Keep the power up untill you want / get stunned or hurt
2- You can roll for LSC as many times as you want, as long as you don't fail the roll.
3- As you are keeping a CONTROL + SENSE power, *ALL* actions are at -2D
4- You can add or remove CONTROL dice from damage
5- You add SENSE to your attack and parry rolls
6- You can deflect basters with your lightsaber skill
7- You can reflect back blasters with control

Questions are:

Do the -2D for keeping the power up count against your 4 actions per round? if so, you could only act twice!!! I don't think so.

It clearly says that you use your LIGHTSABER skill to parry blaster bolts. Than means you DO NOT add sense to do so. Having your lightsaber -2D as a defense makes me think you would raise sense and dodge (wich works against every attack) instead of sense and lightsaber. If it does add, i think you would still get more bang for your buck raising sense and doge and keeping lightsaber to a moderate level.

If you want to reflect baster bolts back to an opponent, does that count as a reaction skill?

Examples:

Jedi Knight Lycander Kynemil has 9D lightsaber and 6D on all force skills.

If i use LSC, i would roll 9D+6D = 15D - 2D = 13D lightsaber attack and parry. I would deflect blaster bolts with 7D, and if reflecting is not a reaction skill i would have a hard time doing anything (6D to parry and 2D to reflect???)

If i am right with these asumptions, LSC sucks. It gives HUGE bonuses to melee combat (as if you needed them, NO ONE has brawling parry as a primary defense, and they cant parry with most weapons anyway, so you would tore them up with your lightsaber skill alone) and it gives penalties to deflecting. I know combat sense cancels some of these penalties, but its a 2 bladed sword.

What are your toughts about it?

Cheers,
Alex
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Be my blind
Be it, all the time
Be it, night or day
Take my sun away, away...

[john brewer]

[worfbacca]

So then to parry blaster bolts..is it the modified lightsaber skill? From the example of ANA in 148 example?
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"That was left handed!"

[Crell Damar]

Yes, it is the modified lightsaber skill. Because the power adds your sense to your basic lightsaber skill.
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"For over a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights were the guardians of peace and justice in the Old Republic. Before the dark times... before the Empire. "

Obi-Wan Kenobi