The Force Is With Me

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

I'm finishing up a read of the novelization of The Empire Strikes Back, and something struck me at the part where Luke moves in to face Vader on Bespin. "The Force is with you, young Skywalker, " says Vader, "but you are not a Jedi yet."

And, I think of all the other times when people say, "May the Force Be With You." I think of Ben Kenobi saying it to Luke from the afterlife, as Luke bared down the trench of the Death Star. "Luke, the Force is with you."




What if "the Force being with you" translated to something mechanical in the game. What if you're given a free Force Point, or maybe several CPs?

You've got to somehow tune into this reward. And, if opposed by another Force user, then there is some type of opposed roll--where the winner has the Force with him.

In the quote above from Empire, Vader seems to acknowledge that the Force is not with him at the moment. It's with Luke. But, Vader is so strong in the Dark Side the he believe that he can easily overcome this advantage that Luke has.



What if, game-wise, "the Force being with you" means that you have access to 5 CPs, free. You roll to see if the Force is with you, when it is available. The GM decides when it is available. Competitors for the Force's favor rolls (what?), and the winner is given 5 free CPs for a period of time (they will evaporate after a period of time if not used).

Just thinking out loud.

[garhkal]

Would a DM have to write in "this is an opportunity for a pc to be 'one with the force'.?
Would all PC's get it or just jedi/force users?
What roll would they made to 'see if they are one with the force?
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[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

[garhkal]

Well, i would make it a Per roll, high diff (say at LEAST top end moderate), to get it off, and it would have to be at a DM assigned area. ONLY one player can ask for "to be one" with the force at a time. IF its being opposed with an NPC then whom ever rolls HIGHER, but still beats the base diff level, is "one with the force". Stays that way for the scene.

If no one succeeds, then the chance is lost.

As for benefits. I like the idea of either 1 free FP or 5CP, but they must be used FIRST in that combat scene.
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[Whill]

You can run it however you want in your game, but I feel that is is bit of a misinterpretation of the films. "May the Force be with you" is a general expression of well-wishing that is applicable to anyone, even those non-Force-sensitive. It's like saying "God bless" or "Good luck."

When Palpatine says "the Force is strong with you" to Anakin, and Vader says "the Force is strong in this one" about Luke, these are statements of someone's potential to use the Force (which are represented in the game by Force skills, Force Points, and to a smaller degree Character Points). The Skywalkers have an exceptional inherent Force potential. "The Force is with you, young Skywalker, but you are not a Jedi yet" isn't referring to some temporary boost Luke has at the moment. It is a statement that acknowledges Luke's constant raw Force ability and potential yet it also points out that his training is incomplete so his ability to apply his power is limited. It's the beginning of Vader's attempt to undermine Luke's confidence. Later, Vader says, "Luke, you do not yet realize your importance. You have only begun to discover your power. Join me, and I will complete your training."
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Star Wars D6 Damage

[Naaman]

I actually like OP's idea. It lends some depth to certain scenes throughout the saga. In Ep2, Yoda explains that the dark side clouds everything and Mace also mentions that the Jedi's collective ability to "use the force" has diminished (using the rules proposed by OP, this could mean that the "bonus" they've come to take for granted has been lost).

I would say that a character woild roll a D6 for each force point he has opposed by the other character. Each player must them subtract his DSP total from the roll. Each may also add a +1 bonus to the roll for each CP he has. Alternatively, a character may choose to use his DSP total (with no modifiers) as his score.

[MrNexx]

I think, to an extent, it already is in the rules.

R&E, pg. 85
Being Heroic at the Dramatically Appropriate Moment. When a character spends a Force Point in a heroic way at the dramatically appropriate moment, the character receives the Force Point back at the end of the adventure and gets another one as well.
Dramatically appropriate moments are any time when success is vital to the story. It's the climactic moment of an adventure, where the characters confront the main villain or when they're in dire straits. The characters' success or failure will decide the outcome of the whole story.

(emphasis is original)

Times when the Force is with you in a specific sense are times when calling upon the Force will result in it responding with thunderous approval to your actions, not only giving you its blessing (i.e. doubled dice from a force point), but returning those blessings so you can do so again and again. In a way, the "Sense Force" power can function as a "Sense Dramatically Appropriate Moment" power... "The Jedi may also receive 'vague premonitions' about the area, such as 'I sense something wrong,' or 'I sense a great impending tragedy.'"
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[garhkal]

Hence why i was initially reluctant to see the benefits of this sort of thing.
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[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

I kinda like this idea as a method for temporarily introducing Character Points to First Edition.

There will be some sort of roll to see if, indeed, the Force is with the character. If so, a number of CPs will be allowed for the character's use for a short amount of time. The CPs, if not used, will fade, and the game will go back to RAW 1E until such time as the Force is called upon again.

This won't effect normal Force use per the rules.

The GM can alter the difficulty of calling on the Force based on the likelihood of the Force helping out in any given situation. The Force is finicky and can always be understood.

[garhkal]

When that "the force is with me" time comes up, have you decided on if its going to be just one pc gets a chance for it, success or fail?
Or if HE fails, then the next pc can try, till all have failed or someone succeeded?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Wajeb Deb Kaadeb]

[Argentsaber]

The rare Men in Black D6 RPG used an interesting mechanic called quote cards which I have adapted for my 1st ed game. Each quote has a specific benefit associated with it.. for example, in my game, the "I have a bad feeling about this" card provides 3 cp which may only be spent on either a reaction roll or damage soak, and may be retained only for that scene. "May the force be with you" is similar, but is given to the target of the quote. Since Star Wars is so imminently quotable, it's easy to come up with these, though it's important to note that they must flow organically for the card to be awarded. A few times I even created one on the fly.. and a few are not Star Wars quotes at all. Think Ganner's "you shall not pass" fighting the Vong.

[Raven Redstar]

[garhkal]

How often do they get those cards? When spent are they gone, or do they 'regenerate' after a game session? Are there good and bad cards, or just good ones?
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Confucious sayeth, don't wash cat while drunk!

[Argentsaber]