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More Alter only powers!!!!
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Naaman
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:51 am    Post subject: More Alter only powers!!!! Reply with quote

Here is a list of some Alter only powers I have used. Some of them I found on the internet in others' house rules, some are adopted from d20 and others are made up. I'll only list the names of the powers here, unless people want to actually know how I implemented them. I'm leaving it up to GM creativity to make the ones you like fit into your games:

Warp Matter (change the shape/density/consistency of matter)
Warp Space (change the distance between two or more points)

Pyro-, Hydro-, Aero- Electrokinesis (not necessarily "attack" powers, and the elements must be preexisting... no casting of empowered, maximized, quickened fireballs with a +4 save DC for Greater Spell focus and Greater Elemental Focus).

Thermalkinesis (change the temperature of an area or object)

Force Strike (adapted from d20)

Illusion (adapted from d20; mostly used to create non-visual stimuli)

Sunder/Mend (Jedi could break/shatter/slice/crush with pure will power, or fix/reassemble/fuse pieces back together).

Anyone else have any Jedi-friendly alter only powers they've used?
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Ankhanu
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 12:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like the idea... but, as you know, it's tough to come up with good powers that don't really use the other Skills.

I've used Warp Matter in my games.

Warp Space sounds like it should certainly be Alter/Sense... it's way too powerful an idea and requires spatial awareness to be Alter only.

Force Strike... how does this differ from injure/kill?

Illusion doesn't make sense as an Alter power, and is already subsumed in Affect Mind.

Sunder sounds good.
Mend seems like it should be Alter/Sense to me.

I'm a little torn on the various kineses. Seem like they could be ok though, I'd have to consider how they worked.
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Sun Sep 04, 2011 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sunder sounds like a variation of Shatter point.
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Naaman
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 2:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ankhanu wrote:
I like the idea... but, as you know, it's tough to come up with good powers that don't really use the other Skills.

I've used Warp Matter in my games.

Warp Space sounds like it should certainly be Alter/Sense... it's way too powerful an idea and requires spatial awareness to be Alter only.

Force Strike... how does this differ from injure/kill?

Illusion doesn't make sense as an Alter power, and is already subsumed in Affect Mind.

Sunder sounds good.
Mend seems like it should be Alter/Sense to me.

I'm a little torn on the various kineses. Seem like they could be ok though, I'd have to consider how they worked.


Warp Space is only "too powerful" if you make the difficulties too low. The other thing to consider is that powers like this give the opportunity for characters that are narrowly focused and highly specialized. For example, the warp space power could be developed by a particular force-using faction into the power to teleport (which would certainly be a control/sense/alter power). This would open the doors to a really interesting encounter for the PCs.

The difference between illusion and affect mind is that affect mind generates a permanent result, whereas illusion is more about creating a momentary distraction. Affect mind is much too difficult to use for this particular application.

Force strike (formerly "Force Push" in d20) is different from injure/kill in that it allows an "attack" from a distance and can affect an area. I run it as a branch on the telekinesis tree and allow damage based on alter. The initial alter total determines whether and how far the target(s) get pushed.

As far as mend being sense/alter, that's your call as a GM. It's not really meant to reassemble complex objects such as machines or electronics. Just fuse things together into one piece, more or less. Kind of like the Force version of welding but with various materials.

Anyone have any other powers they've used/created?
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 5:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

IMO, Sense is required if the character is using Alter to manipulate something that he can't perceive with his own senses. In the case of Warp Space, IMO, a Jedi would need Sense to perceive the fundamental underlying fabric of space itself. Since he can't see, hear, smell, touch or taste that, he has to rely on an alternate method of perceiving it: Sense.

Because of this, Warp Matter, Mend/Sunder and all of the -kinesis powers need a Sense aspect for the exact same reason; because the character is manipulating matter at a molecular level (either the molecules themselves or the connections between the molecules), he needs a Sense roll to perceive at the molecular level.

Illusion seems more as if it would be an expansion of Dim Another's Senses. Maybe combine the two and change the name to Alter Another's Senses.

I also think that Warp Matter and Mend/Sunder would be better as the same power, since they are very similar.
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Ankhanu
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 7:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Naaman wrote:
Warp Space is only "too powerful" if you make the difficulties too low. The other thing to consider is that powers like this give the opportunity for characters that are narrowly focused and highly specialized. For example, the warp space power could be developed by a particular force-using faction into the power to teleport (which would certainly be a control/sense/alter power). This would open the doors to a really interesting encounter for the PCs.

Oh, I know that Heroic+ difficulties would absolutely be necessary, but it's still a functionally powerful ability... and I still think it requires a Sense component.

Naaman wrote:
The difference between illusion and affect mind is that affect mind generates a permanent result, whereas illusion is more about creating a momentary distraction. Affect mind is much too difficult to use for this particular application.

The description of Affect Mind clearly puts this within its realm. It is difficult to use, for sure, but it is clearly within the confines of that power's description.
Star Wars, Second Edition; Affect Mind, p. 152 wrote:
Effect: This power is used to alter a character's perception so that he senses an illusion or fails to see what the user of the power doesn't want him to see. This power is used to permanently alter a character's memories so that he remembers things incorrectly or fails to remember something. This power can also be used to alter a character's conclusions so that he comes to an incorrect conclusion.

Each sentence is a different use of the power, not addative statements. This is the power that Obi-Wan uses, for example, to distract the stormtroopers guarding the tractor beam projector control so he could run away after disabling the Deathstar tractor beam. That was an auditory illusion.

Naaman wrote:
Force strike (formerly "Force Push" in d20) is different from injure/kill in that it allows an "attack" from a distance and can affect an area. I run it as a branch on the telekinesis tree and allow damage based on alter. The initial alter total determines whether and how far the target(s) get pushed.

This is an existing power, Telekinetic Kill, a Control/Sense/Alter skill from the Tales of the Jedi Companion.

crmcneill wrote:
I also think that Warp Matter and Mend/Sunder would be better as the same power, since they are very similar.

Agreed, except maybe Sunder; that seems to me like a sharp pulse of Force energy into an inanimate object, causing danger; it doesn't imply to me some understanding of composition or actual weak points, rather brute Force force to break an object. In this sense, it would be its own thing, and wouldn't require any Sense use.
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Naaman
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 06, 2011 8:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

But does anyone have any other powers to share?
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garhkal
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 2:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hows about something for controlling the surrounding temperature?
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Naaman
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 2:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Its up there in 1st post: thermalkinesis.

Here's another idea:

Affect Gravity (change the gravitational pull of an area or object, making things extremely heavy or very light; could be used to stop a person from escaping/charging/flying etc or could be used to cause something to "float" away or just not fall)
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Naaman
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 2:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ankhanu wrote:
This is an existing power, Telekinetic Kill, a Control/Sense/Alter skill from the Tales of the Jedi Companion.


Not nearly the same thing. Force push is what we see Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon do to the droids all throughout the Federation ship. TK is what we see Vader do to a bunch of imperial officers.

Do you only like to use the RAW to play your games, or do you ever throw in stuff that you think fits or is just cool?

I really don't care if Affect Mind covers the illusion application. I spit it into two separate powers for the sake of making the game more fun. Causing a little sound to distract a couple of stormtroopers should be much easier than having to take a huge MAP for using Affect Mind. That's why I included it in the game. Not sayin' the RAW are worthless, or that you're wrong, either. I just used GM veto power to create more usable options for the PCs.
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Matthias777
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 3:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ankhanu wrote:
...This is the power that Obi-Wan uses, for example, to distract the stormtroopers guarding the tractor beam projector control so he could run away after disabling the Deathstar tractor beam. That was an auditory illusion.

Are you sure? I always felt like it was Telekinesis to "Force flick" the bulkhead to make a distracting sound. Obi-wan wasn't using the Force on the viewers of the movie, after all, and we all hear the sound.
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Fallon Kell
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 3:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Matthias777 wrote:
Ankhanu wrote:
...This is the power that Obi-Wan uses, for example, to distract the stormtroopers guarding the tractor beam projector control so he could run away after disabling the Deathstar tractor beam. That was an auditory illusion.

Are you sure? I always felt like it was Telekinesis to "Force flick" the bulkhead to make a distracting sound. Obi-wan wasn't using the Force on the viewers of the movie, after all, and we all hear the sound.
I never have been able to pick up on that sound everyone talks about... I just figured it out by how the stormtroopers acted after the 3rd or fourth time I'd seen it.

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Matthias777
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 3:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fallon Kell wrote:
I never have been able to pick up on that sound everyone talks about... I just figured it out by how the stormtroopers acted after the 3rd or fourth time I'd seen it.

Shocked Maybe he was using the Force on you!

Haha, maybe. Not to derail the thread with this bit of minutiae, but it's kind of a light "pop" sound, not a "ping" like you might be listening for. Kind of like when you cut on a microphone or something that's already hooked up to an amplifier.
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CRMcNeill
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 11:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been thinking of a power called Remote Control, based on Telekinesis, that allows the Jedi to manipulate a device. The device can be simple (a hinged door) or complex (a computer or other electronic device), but the Jedi can render a working device nonfunctional (or vice versa), as well as manipulating controls (switches, buttons and the like).
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Naaman
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 07, 2011 12:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's pretty cool, like a "fine motor" version of telekinesis.
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