Ataru

[Naaman]

I'm going to try and write up some house rules for Ataru as a starting point for attacking the 7 forms. Ataru gives me the most trouble, so I figured I'd start here. If you just want to see the house rule, skip to post number 2.

Given that the RAW LSC power is pretty much disposable, I'm also looking at making the 7 forms the replacement for the LSC force power in that a character will simply choose a form and base his in-combat Force use on his chosen form.

That being said, some house rules for Force powers we've seen in the films is probably inevitable.

The basic approach I want to use is this:

1: The 7 forms will not necessarily be advanced skills. I believe that an advanced skill needs to have a function separate from the base skill, and lightsaber combat advanced skills just don't lend themselves to that possibility. So advanced skills are out.

2: The assumption is that a Jedi uses a particular "suite" of Force powers in sort of a rote way when he fights with his preferred form. This "suite" of Force powers will serve as a prerequisite for a single Force power that combines the concepts of all the prerequisite powers in a way that makes them applicable to combat (especially prolonged combat).

3: First hit with a lightsaber still wins the fight (for now, this means adding control dice to lightsaber's damage dice... this is automatic, no activation required).

4: No tracking bonuses or penalties. Whatever modifiers are provided either expire at the end of the round or last the entire combat. I have a phobia of record keeping during combat.

5. No MAPs for skill rolls that are part of the same action (like a jumping kick for example; while the GM might call for a jump roll and a brawling roll, that's not "two actions").

6. Bottom line: I want the house rule to express all of the relevant characteristics of Ataru with a single die roll.

Elements to consider:
Skills other than Lightsaber that affect the character's ability with Ataru:

Climbing/Jumping... or just Jumping, really.

Acrobatics

Brawling (some of the literature says that hand and foot strikes are incorporated into Ataru)

Dodge (?)

Running (?)

Stamina (but I'm disinclined to use this one, since the only film evidence we have is an old man fighting a young man who is arguably more skilled... Yoda didn't get worn out in any of his fights, after all).

Force powers likely used during combat:
Enhance Attribute

Remove Fatigue (if I go with a stamina component)

Burst of Speed (perhaps a "Celerity" variation would need to be adapted for D6... in d20, it functioned like a haste spell)

Force Jump (not the telekinetic version of this power, but the big bounds and jumps we see Jedi make all the time... it's clear there is actual muscular engagement in those jumps).

I want to make this as tight and streamlined as possible so that it doesn't get too complicated. I also want to "spruce up" lightsaber combat in general, so a skosh more complexity is probably desirable.

[Naaman]

Lightsaber Combat: Ataru

Required Powers: Enhance Attribute, Burst of Speed, Force Leap
Difficutlty: Easy for +2, Moderate for +1D, Difficult for +1D+1, Very Difficult for +1D+2, Heroic for +2D
Effect: The Jedi is able to use the Force to enhance his speed, strength and agility in combat. He uses his augmented athletics to overwhelm an opponent with a dizzying barrage of attacks.

Add the bonus provided by this power to the Jedi's Dexterity and Strength attributes (and all relevant skills, except for advanced skills). Once activated, the benefits of this power last until the end of combat.

While this power is active, the Jedi gains the following benefits in addition to the bonus to his Dexterity and Strength:
The Jedi may use his acrobatics skill instead of his Perception when rolling initiative. He may also use his acrobatics skill as a reaction skill in place of dodge or against brawling/melee attacks.

When attacking with a lightsaber, the Jedi may re-roll 1D for every 2D he has in Jumping (or Climbing/Jumping) or Running, provided there is enough room for the Jedi to make leaping maneuvers or running/charging maneuvers respectively.

[vulture811]

how do you deflect projectiles or blaster bolts ? or redirect ?

[Naaman]

To answer the question, it will be simply to roll sense (block blaster) and control (redirect).

But those abilities are common to al lightsaber forms, so I didn't include them here.

Of xourse, form 3 will get a bonus on that sense roll, and form five will get a bonus on the control roll, but those forms are muc h easier to deal with, which is why I've started with form 4. Its the hardest one to get nailed down, IMHO.

[vulture811]

so the power counts as one action for MAP ?

[Naaman]

Its a work in progress. I don't like tracking MAPs, so skills that are supposed to work together don't impose MAPs on each other.

What I'm really trying to work out here is the flavor of Ataru without getting too technical.

Basically, replacing defensive slills with Acrobatics, boosting attack rolls (by way of re-rolls) based on athleticism, etc.

Form three, for example, will allow bonuses to deflect blasters, bonuses to parry rolls and may uave a slight precognition element to it based on the Danger Sense power.

Anyway, I'm not as concerned with balance just yet. Mostly, I just want to achieve a simple way to express the link between a successful Ataru user and good athleticism.

Making it a Force power is just one way to do it. Others have made advancedd akills, and some have made eaxh form a specific normal skilll.

[Naaman]

I'm starting to like this interpretation of lightsaber combat (dividing the forms into a collection of skills and Force powers).

I would like to explore the use of different lightsaber skills (not specializations, but separate skills) to either further distinguish the forms or to more accurately represent them.

After some thought, I am willing to explore the possibility of advanced skills for the forms as they do bring a sense of individuality and distinguished accomplishment, and I think I have some ideas as to how to address my concerns over the problems I have with advanced skills.

[Naaman]

As far as making an advanced skill, my criteria are as follows:

It must be a stand alone skill. There should always be a reason to choose to use the advanced skill instead of just stacking it with the base skill.

It must provide a value equal to the character points that it costs.
This can be tricky early on, since the skills are so cheap. However, if there are enough prerequisites, then the "cost" is effectively paid up front with an investment in a future skill/ability.

The skill must be able to express "Ataru" with a single skill roll. Speed, athletic prowess, offensive pressure, etc. The elements that make up Ataru should be represented in the effects of the skill roll.

It is generally agreed that Ataru is a high pressure form. Intuitively, it should therefore be difficult to defend against relative to other forms. To put it another way, the attacks made by an Ataru user should benefit more from the skill and its features than other aspects of combat (defensive rolls, blaster deflection/redirection, etc).

However, to say that any form "lacks" defense (which we hear on the internet all the time) annoys me. Form 4's defense seems to be two-fold:
High pressure assaults (keeping the opponent off balance), and quick, nimble maneuvers that are difficult to adjust to.

I'm thinking I can keep the re-rolls afforded by the character's jump/running skill (given the space necessary). Of course, if the character only has 1D in (A) Ataru, then he only gets to re-roll that 1D. As a beginner, he will most often find himself relying on the base skill and adding his (A) skill dice to his rolls (but not gaining the advanced benefits). Once he has enough dice in the advanced skill, the ability to re-roll some of his dice will make the skill more worth while, since he will have a more consistent result.

I'm thinking that combining the (A) skill with a Force power (such as enhance attribute) will make this even better. For example, if he activates enhance attribute, then the power remains in effect as long as he continues to use only the advanced skill, rather than expiring after 1 or 2 rounds. Allow the enhance attribute dice to improve the advanced skill (since that's what Ataru is) and now there are even more reasons to use just the advanced skill.

So what I'm thinking for the stand alone skill is something like this:

Add dice in Ataru to control rolls when activating enhance attribute.

Add enhance attribute bonus to Ataru rolls.

Re-roll a number of dice on attack rolls up to the number of dice in running or jumping if space is adequate.

May roll acrobatics for defensive reactions. If this option is used, the character may only attack with the advanced skill that round.

The idea is to make a given number of dice in (A) Ataru better than just adding the advanced skill dice to the base skill. Of course, for beginners, the advantage will be in stacking the skills, but for a dedicated user, and certainly for a master, the benefits will be best when using only the advanced skill.

[Naaman]

I was thinking of ways to write the forms as base skills (separate from the lightsaber skill, and effectively standing for it like a specialization but without the discount). But I have decided against that since eache form relies on a combination of traits and other skills and force powers.

Essentially, what I'd wind up with would be each form doing the same thing as the lightsaber skill while relying on other skills and powers to make it work.

So I've decided that either just Force powers and supporting skills OR a combination of powers, supporting skills and an advanced skill will be the best way(s) to do it.

Im going to try to write up the other forms in a complete LSC revamp now because I think that I have a good start with Ataru but am open to suggestions.

[Naaman]

And now I've changed my mind again.

As it is now, I've got a base skill version for each of the forms, and rules for characters who want to combine forms to create their own personal blend.

For Ataru, much of what was tossed around in this thread has come to fruition:

All the lightsaber skills will interact and rely on other skills to augment their styles. In the case of form 4, the character's attacks can be augmented based on the character's athletic skills (namely, jumping, brawling, and acrobatics).

For comparison, and as a quick preview, Form 5--though still a dex skill--relies on a high strength attribute and is good at turning an enemy's prowess against him (both in ranged combat and melee).

I will be posting the first drafts of the forms soon. They are all base skills, not specializations or advanced skills. With my recent thoughts toward reworking advanced skills altogether, I may eventually convert to advanced skills, but I don't think that will be necessary (Vapaad is an advanced skill, though).

[Naaman]

Alright. I think I finally have it how I want it. The following is a sample of a write up I'm working on for "the Jedi Arts" as basic (that is, non-advanced) skills. Djem-So will be my next challenge. The idea is to create a set of skills that distinguishes the Jedi from other Force users (which I will be working up in tandem), showing that the Jedi have their way of using the Force, which differs from other sects/factions/religions, etc. The "Jedi Arts" will be much more than just the seven forms once I'm done. Anyway, here's Ataru, the most challenging one for me to work into D6.

Ataru
Prerequisites: Control 1D, sense 1D; must know the enhance attribute Force power.
Time Taken: One Round.
Specializations: Specific Type of Lightsaber.

Ataru is the "melee combat" skill used for the lightsaber by characters who are trained in this style of lightsaber combat. While a very powerful weapon, a lightsaber is dangerous to an unskilled user--if an attacking character misses the difficulty by 10 or more, then the user has injured himself with the weapon and rolls damage against his own strength.

Ataru can also be used as a reaction skill to parry brawling, lightsaber and melee combat attacks. Jedi who have the sense skill can also use the lightsaber to parry blaster bolts, but that is only because their connection to the Force allows them to react before the blaster is fired (see the rules for deflecting blaster bolts, below).

In addition to the normal rules when wielding a lightsaber, instead of adding his control skill dice to the lightsaber's damage, he may allocaate any amount of his control dice to one (or more) of the following skills: acrobatics, jumping (or climbing/jumping when actually jumping), and running. Each die he allocates to a skill adds 1D to that skill for the duration of the round. Each round, at the start of his turn, the Jedi may choose to reallocate his control dice as he sees fit. Any dice not allocated to skills may be allocated to the lightsaber's damage as normal.

A Jedi who makes one (or more) attacks with the Ataru skill (and does not attack with any other skill) may use one of the following options during his turn:

Leaping strike: When attacking with your lightsaber, you gain a +1 bonus on your roll for each D you have in jumping (remember to count any control skill dice you have added).

Evasive tumble: You may use your acrobatics skill (instead of both your Ataru skill and/or your dodge skill) as a reaction skill. Note that your acrobatics roll applies against both melee and ranged attacks that target you this round (only one reaction skill roll is required). You may only use this ability if the only other action you have taken this round is a single attack using the Ataru skill (if you have used any other skill, or made more than one attack, this option is not available to you). You may use this ability before your turn; however, if you do, for the remainder of the round, you may take no more than one other action, which must be a single attack with the Ataru skill..

Swift charge: As a free action, you may move 1 meter for each D you have in running (remember to count any of your control dice that have been allocated to your running skill). You must move directly toward an opponent you wish to attack (you may make a jumping check to clear obstacles in your way as a free action). If this movement is not enough to complete the charge (i.e. you are unable to move far enough to strike at your opponent), then you must continue moving up to your "move" rating in order to complete the charge. This additional movement does count as an action. In either case, if you reach your opponent at the end of this additional movement, you may immediately attack with your lightsaber before ending your turn (the attack roll must be made with your Ataru skill).

Basic Lightsaber Combat
All forms of lightsaber combat use the following rules:

A Jedi adds or subtracts his control skill dice to his lightsaber's damage. The Jedi can make his weapon more or less lethal the greater his skill in control.

When rolling the basic lightsaber skill, instead of modifying his lightsaber's damage, a Jedi may allocate some of his control skill dice to enhancing his combat prowess. For each D allocated, he gains a +1 bonus to his lightsaber skill rolls for that round. The Jedi may reallocate his control dice at the start of his turn each round.

When being shot at, a Jedi may roll his sense skill as a reaction skill. If successful, he is able to deflect incoming blaster fire (or other appropriate weapons) with his lightsaber. If his sense roll succeeds by a margin of 5 or more, he may immediately make a control roll (an additional action) to aim the blaster bolt at a new target within 50 meters.