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Nov. 12th, 2002 05:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
johnstonmr posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
atsaThis information is direct from the creators of the game, and answers several questions and problems I've had with the game's mechanics for Jedi:
Q: My character has multiple attacks per round (because of his Base Attack Bonus of +13), and I'm trying to grapple. If I succeed on my first attempt, can I use the remaining attempts to inflict my unarmed damage? Or do I need to initiate a separate grapple for each of my unarmed attacks?
A: Your character can use his remaining attacks to inflict unarmed damage, and you don't need to initiate a separate grapple for each. You do need to make the opposed grapple check (as described on page 170 of the Star Wars Roleplaying Gamecore rulebook) for each attempt to inflict unarmed damage, though.
So, for example, if you have an opponent grappled and you have three attacks per round (because of your Base Attack Bonus), you can attempt three opposed grapple checks to inflict damage if you were already grappling; or one to grapple and two to inflict damage if you weren't already grappling; or two attempts at grappling and one to inflict damage (if the first grapple check fails).
Q: The feat Dissipate Energy seems overpowered to me. But then a friend said he saw some kind of FAQ about it that makes it less good. What's the story?
A: The write-up for Dissipate Energy managed to miss two important bits. First, the DC for the Fortitude saving throw should be "10 + damage dealt," not just "damage dealt." That makes it a bit harder to make the save, and therefore, a bit riskier. Second, the ability only applies when the character takes wound damage; it does nothing at all if the character takes only vitality damage (because vitality damage represents avoiding actual physical harm, and this feat isn't meant to work unless your body suffers energy damage).
For GMs struggling with how to get around a hero who has this feat, remember two things: One, it doesn't work against physical damage, and two, stun attacks inflict no wound damage.
Q: The players in my campaign don't understand why Drain Energy is a dark side skill, and, I confess, I don't either. They want their Jedi to be able to use it without getting Dark Side Points, and I really can't come up with a good reason why they couldn't.
A: Drain Energy is a dark side skill because it was based on a scene from Kevin J. Anderson's Dark Apprentice. On page 338 of that book, Kyp Durron drains the energy from Luke Skywalker's lightsaber, using an effect that speaks of a "wave of dark ripples," a "shadow" appearing at the core of the blade, and "a black taint." To us, that said "dark side." Now, that might not have been Kevin Anderson's intention, but since no other character in the Star Wars novels have used that power, Anderson's text is the only information we have on this ability.
Q: The table for Force Light (in the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook) seems off. Isn't a DC 5 Will save way too low? And isn't a 41+ skill check result way too high?
A: Well, the headers are a bit off (the second column should read "Will Save for Character/Creature," the third column should read "Damage to Dark Side Spirit," and the last column should read "Effect on Dark Side Site").
But the idea behind the low Will save is to keep it from being easy for a character to "blow off" Dark Side Points by having a friend use Force Light to burn them off; a low save makes this trick more difficult. As for the skill check result, it's intentionally high to make sure that it takes a lot of effort (in the form of a Force Point) to reduce the power of a dark side site or to destroy a dark side spirit with a single skill check.
That is all.
Q: My character has multiple attacks per round (because of his Base Attack Bonus of +13), and I'm trying to grapple. If I succeed on my first attempt, can I use the remaining attempts to inflict my unarmed damage? Or do I need to initiate a separate grapple for each of my unarmed attacks?
A: Your character can use his remaining attacks to inflict unarmed damage, and you don't need to initiate a separate grapple for each. You do need to make the opposed grapple check (as described on page 170 of the Star Wars Roleplaying Gamecore rulebook) for each attempt to inflict unarmed damage, though.
So, for example, if you have an opponent grappled and you have three attacks per round (because of your Base Attack Bonus), you can attempt three opposed grapple checks to inflict damage if you were already grappling; or one to grapple and two to inflict damage if you weren't already grappling; or two attempts at grappling and one to inflict damage (if the first grapple check fails).
Q: The feat Dissipate Energy seems overpowered to me. But then a friend said he saw some kind of FAQ about it that makes it less good. What's the story?
A: The write-up for Dissipate Energy managed to miss two important bits. First, the DC for the Fortitude saving throw should be "10 + damage dealt," not just "damage dealt." That makes it a bit harder to make the save, and therefore, a bit riskier. Second, the ability only applies when the character takes wound damage; it does nothing at all if the character takes only vitality damage (because vitality damage represents avoiding actual physical harm, and this feat isn't meant to work unless your body suffers energy damage).
For GMs struggling with how to get around a hero who has this feat, remember two things: One, it doesn't work against physical damage, and two, stun attacks inflict no wound damage.
Q: The players in my campaign don't understand why Drain Energy is a dark side skill, and, I confess, I don't either. They want their Jedi to be able to use it without getting Dark Side Points, and I really can't come up with a good reason why they couldn't.
A: Drain Energy is a dark side skill because it was based on a scene from Kevin J. Anderson's Dark Apprentice. On page 338 of that book, Kyp Durron drains the energy from Luke Skywalker's lightsaber, using an effect that speaks of a "wave of dark ripples," a "shadow" appearing at the core of the blade, and "a black taint." To us, that said "dark side." Now, that might not have been Kevin Anderson's intention, but since no other character in the Star Wars novels have used that power, Anderson's text is the only information we have on this ability.
Q: The table for Force Light (in the Power of the Jedi Sourcebook) seems off. Isn't a DC 5 Will save way too low? And isn't a 41+ skill check result way too high?
A: Well, the headers are a bit off (the second column should read "Will Save for Character/Creature," the third column should read "Damage to Dark Side Spirit," and the last column should read "Effect on Dark Side Site").
But the idea behind the low Will save is to keep it from being easy for a character to "blow off" Dark Side Points by having a friend use Force Light to burn them off; a low save makes this trick more difficult. As for the skill check result, it's intentionally high to make sure that it takes a lot of effort (in the form of a Force Point) to reduce the power of a dark side site or to destroy a dark side spirit with a single skill check.
That is all.
