The Force is one of the things that
makes “Star Wars”... well, Star Wars. It’s not quite magic or
psionics as seen in other works of fiction, but it’s easy to
understand, and so well-known it’s even referred to outside of
fantasy and science fiction (I can’t count the number of times
someone has said “Use the Force” or “Jedi mind trick” without
talking about Star Wars).
 |
| This is my new favorite meme. (image: youtube.com) |
Powers
In the role playing games, novels and
the video games they inspired, Jedi, Sith and other Force-users have
access to dozens of powers. But since this series is only focused on
the original trilogy of films, there’s only about a half-dozen
abilities. Most of these names come from the d6 system Star Wars RPG,
where they were created.
- Battle Meditation, which Luke does while hiding from Vader in the Death Star throne room at the end of “Return Of The Jedi.” Qui-Gon Jinn does it better in “The Phantom Menace,” but remember, we’re only covering the original trilogy here.
- Enhanced Reflexes, used when Luke leaps out of the freezing chamber on Bespin.
- Force Choke, Darth Vader’s favorite gimmick.
- Force Defense, which Vader used to block Han’s blaster, and Luke used to parry the speeder bike shots on Endor.
- Force Lightning, the Emperor’s signature move.
- Healing, which Obi-Wan does after Luke is attacked by the Tusken Raider.
- Suggestion (the Jedi Mind Trick), Obi-Wan’s favorite for the weak-minded.
- Telekinesis, or as “Weird Al” Yankovic put it, “I picked up a box, I lifted some rocks, while I stood on my head.”
- Telepathy, Luke’s message to Leia shortly thereafter in “The Empire Strikes Back.”
That’s nine Force powers. You could
make each one its own Specialism, but let’s take a cue from last
week, where I described The Force (or Use The Force) as a Specialism
itself. Each power, then, is just a way a character can use The
Force. We don’t even need to detail “power levels” or anything
like that; in most of the Star Wars RPGs, there are specific rules
for how much damage Force Lightning causes, or how far a message sent
with Telepathy will reach.
 |
| Yoda's player is making a Wits + The Force roll right now. R2-D2's player is eating some potato chips. (image: jediapprentice.tripod.com) |
But this is USR, and specifics like
that are not Unbelievably Simple. Narratively, it doesn’t matter.
How high does Luke leap, on a successful Wits + The Force roll? As
high as the game master decides works for the story. The target
number is set based on the amount of stress the hero is under, the
obstacles in the way of the leap and the need for the hero to succeed
(in this case, our game master, George, set it at a 7).
Another example: the Emperor rolled
well on his Wits + The Force roll when attacking Luke with Force
Lightning, causing enough hit point damage to knock Luke to the
ground and keep him sparkling with electricity. He doesn’t need a
separate listing of damage caused by Force Lightning. It’s just an
effect of this particular Wits + The Force die roll.
Training
Training to gain powers is an important
part of The Force in Star Wars. Since there’s only nine powers to
choose from, let’s say a hero with The Force as a Specialism starts
with two, and gains another after each level. You can increase or
decrease that rate, of course, especially if you add more Force
powers.
And then there’s the Dark Side. In
the other Star Wars RPGs, you collect a number of Dark Side points
each time you use a Dark Side power (here it’s Force Choke and
Force Lightning), or if you do something else evil. Too many, and
you’ve fallen to the Dark Side and become an NPC. You can do the
same in USR Star Wars (say, a number of points equal to your Ego die
value — 6, 8 or 10), or simply make it part of the story, where a
character turns to the Dark Side when it’s dramatically
appropriate.
A Kind Of Magic
The rules for The Force can probably be
used for any other kind of supernatural power, too; because of the
way combat is handled in Domino Writing-style USR, a killer fireball
or a summoned mass of strangling vines is just a way to describe a
successful Wits + Magic Specialism roll. Or it could be an Ego +
Magic roll, to represent those characters who derive their power from
their force of will.
What Force powers did I
miss from our Original Trilogy list?
No comments:
Post a Comment