Storypath Star Wars

[wyrdhamster]

So I watched ( finally ) Episode 9 of Star Wars Saga. ( Yupi! ) And thought that some SW RPG could be good. In years I wanted to run - when having good plot in mind - SW game based on Chronicles of Darkness rules engine. But the Storypath is more epic 'sister' to it, seems to work more with the SW feel. As Trinity is S-F rules setting, it feel it's forum to me more appropriate as place for the possible fan conversions.

Some questions that should shape SW iteration of game engine:
1. Momentum -> Force Points - Of course, I would make it into Force Points, like it was in the even Saga Edition ( D20 SW ). Question is - How to reflect Dark Side Points? You can just take them as free Momentum, but they stay on the character, tainting it?
2. Species - I can see both arguments for and against making your Species to giving you extra dots in Attributes. Maybe middle ground would be simple +1 dots in one Attribute only? Still most of Galaxy is human and probably get's free Edge, then.

[Mateus Luz]

1a. Your approach is ok if you go for a team of non-active force users, basically non-Jedi. Once you add a Jedi, Momentum will be drained by him (because he have special uses for it) very often, leaving the others with no options. If you give active force users another pool, like Inspiration or Psi, the game would flow better (as I see), and Momentum would be a perfect Force Point. Must remember that Momentum is a collective pool, so characters that are dependent on the pool can’t work fine together.
1b. Dark Side being an extra Dice you gain when spending Momentum is great. But staking uses is complex because you don’t have a good pool for that, 5 is kind of too low for a long term stacking. Using a Quantum Flux/Transcendence analogue is an option, it may grant extra dice when using dark side on higher T, but require you to resist for using it every time you spend a momentum. Balancing the effort to let the flux/Transcendence fo would be a great effort, I mean, it’s easy to go straight dark or keep it on the light (in game terms), but playing a grey Jedi must be possible.

2. Two options, different templates for different species or a “species Edge” for every species (including human).
The first option gives us more work to creat a new species, and maybe give some really different species, but in the end, Star Wars species are all pretty human, and I don’t mean a guy on costume, I mean, they are all same scale with differences being on the same range as humans, let’s say, a Wookie is strong, but he is not super strong, they are more savages on fight than properly stronger than humans. You can force a certain Arena or Approach as primary for different species, or give an extra point In an attribute or skill, but it’s more limiting than interesting in my mind.
I would go for one or more Species Edges that can be bought ONLY by member of certain species, let’s say, Wookiee have a Savage Fighter that grant an enhancement on close combat and Stronger than Many that allow them to buy a 6th dot in Might. Humans have an Edge for Strong in the Force that make them better in using Momentum or give them a higher limit on the number of skill tricks, I don’t know.

[LazyGM]

Quick ideas, since I'm stuck at work.

I'm a fan of making it player-driven, as in you don't get points for simply doing things, you make an active choice to go dark. And that should be tempting.

You could take the Corruption rules and modify them for to have a Light Side Pool (Momentum) and Dark Side Pool (Corruption). Normal characters can tap into the dark side and instead of spending Momentum they add dice to the Dark Side Pool that the Storyguide gets to use later.

For Force-users I would make the Dark Side feel stronger, or rather faster. Use the Dark Side and get 2 additional successes (not Enhancement, straight successes). In combat, use it to get a free damage or critical.
The cost: take a Dark Side Condition, I would put 4 levels. Fear -> Anger -> Hate -> Lost to the Dark Side.

The conditions would give Enhancements and Drawbacks, the first three have a Resolution that the characters can take to redeem themselves. The last condition could mean that the character becomes a npc, but only another character can resolve the condition.

For species. Keeping it simple, give out 4 extra dots of Edges, they can ignore Path requirements if the Edge fits the Species?

[Mateus Luz]

LazyGM, Great ideas for Dark Side! Better than the Trancendence approach.

[LazyGM]

Mateus Luz, thank you, I didn't see your post before posting mine, apologies if I seemed rude by ignoring you.

[wyrdhamster]

Quick answer to Species - Giving Wookies Scale +1 on Might base feats sounds to me okay. Making it the Edge or 'in-build' Specie's trait works fine for me.

[Graylion]

It would be interesting t ok have force points sumiliar to Psi Points representing your total.

One side was light and the other side was dark and your balance point slides left or right light or dark.

Didn't Aberrant have something like this

[Graylion]

Oh and let's say you have 10 points 7 light and three dark using the 8th point may cause the dark side to grow

[Mateus Luz]

I like your idea. You could go on a similar way to Virtues from Scion, Light in one side Dark in the other, using Light often make you virtuous in the light and vice versa.

If you think like that, you are powerful to light side powers and weak on dark side powers when Virtuous in the light, and the reverse when in the dark side. You move to the dark side when you follow your emotions and to the light side when you don’t.

[Graylion]

I like your idea. You could go on a similar way to Virtues from Scion, Light in one side Dark in the other, using Light often make you virtuous in the light and vice versa.

If you think like that, you are powerful to light side powers and weak on dark side powers when Virtuous in the light, and the reverse when in the dark side. You move to the dark side when you follow your emotions and to the light side when you don’t.

Hell ya, I still think there was something from 1st edition Aeon or Aberrant maybe Taint level, I need to grab my 1e books and do some checking, and look at Virtues from Scion.

[MoroseMorgan]

It isn't perfect, and it just off the cuff, but maybe piggyback on the Dysfunctin mechanic, and certain Modes are more Dark than Light, so when you go into Dysfunction how it manifests takes some queues off the Mode being considered Light or Dark.

This runs into one of my personal pet peeves, the exulting of "Grey Jedi" as the Answer, but it's a start.

[Mateus Luz]

It isn't perfect, and it just off the cuff, but maybe piggyback on the Dysfunctin mechanic, and certain Modes are more Dark than Light, so when you go into Dysfunction how it manifests takes some queues off the Mode being considered Light or Dark.

This runs into one of my personal pet peeves, the exulting of "Grey Jedi" as the Answer, but it's a start.

Your idea is interesting, but Dysfunction is more permanent than my understanding of temptation from the dark side.

Yet, it can be part of the system, let’s say, being trained as a Jedi (light side), makes you better in Light side powers and makes it easier to remain in the light side of the balance, same for the dark side, and a Gray Jedi would be the one that can keep balance both in skill and behavior.

Why I think that, it’s all about Luke in the Emperor Throne Room in Death Star. The emperor can feel the dark side inside Luke and start using this in his favor (he has a power for that, it’s not an standard dark side effect), yet Luke is trained exclusively in the light side skills (trained only by Jedi), and so would not be able to be tempted as it would make him go against his dysfunction.

[werlynn]

Personally for using The Force I’d lean far away from Aberrant stuff and Psion stuff. I’d go with something more like the Talent facets and then use gifts for things that go beyond letting The Force flow through you to enhance some action like piloting a pod racer or firing a proton torpedo into a vent. I think things like Force lightning or the stuff that looks like D&D magic spells is better off treated as edge cases.

[MoroseMorgan]

Your idea is interesting, but Dysfunction is more permanent than my understanding of temptation from the dark side.

Yet, it can be part of the system, let’s say, being trained as a Jedi (light side), makes you better in Light side powers and makes it easier to remain in the light side of the balance, same for the dark side, and a Gray Jedi would be the one that can keep balance both in skill and behavior.

Why I think that, it’s all about Luke in the Emperor Throne Room in Death Star. The emperor can feel the dark side inside Luke and start using this in his favor (he has a power for that, it’s not an standard dark side effect), yet Luke is trained exclusively in the light side skills (trained only by Jedi), and so would not be able to be tempted as it would make him go against his dysfunction.

Dysfunction goes away once you bring your mode dots back into allignment, but also has the benefit of boosting the power out of allignment, so seems to go right along. The deeper down you go, the more powerful you are, and the harder it is to come back.