Korimyr the Rat said:
Personally, I think the prequels rather strongly disprove the notion that gaining levels as a Dark Sider causes you to lose physical stats-- while Palpatine isn't particularly trim and fit, and Vader is mechanically supported, Darth Maul is in fine condition for a high-level darksider.
None of the classic EU darksiders lost their physical forms this way, either.
Well, it is a saving throw, which means you might lose a point, or maybe not. The idea of decaying from the dark side came from Palpatine's horrific appearance in the OT, and it seemed supported by some novels that were very thoroughly vetted by Lucasfilm, like Shadows of the Empire. From further out in the EU, Queen Amanoa and King Ommin of Onderon were Sith practitioners who were physically decaying from the Dark Side. It could be any physical ability score, and presumably losing one or two points in most characters would be written off by most as aging, and wouldn't have the withered look of Palpatine. Sometimes it happens, often it doesn't, and that kind of random chance (combined with a bit of skill) I think is reflected fine in the saving throws.
I also agree that Force Push/Strike should lose the automatic DSP.
I can see keeping it under some circumstances, which is why I made the option to effectively "set for stun". It seems pretty blatantly a Dark Side thing to strike somebody with possibly enough power to kill them (3d4 damage), and that makes it little different than just choking them. Using it to just knock somebody out though is apparently supported by the movies.
I'm interested in seeing some kind of explanation for the way Palpatine uses Force Lightning, though. It's clearly far more complicated (and useful) than it is portrayed in the RPG materials.
One of the main problems with the RPG portrayals, in my opinion, isn't that the Dark Side/Light Side rules are so strict, it's that the main good guys are never portrayed as having a handful. Luke at the end of Episode VI sure as Hell had a few, even if he turned his back on the Dark Side.
Luke Skywalker has always been depicted as having some Dark Side points by the end of Episode VI. In the old d6 RPG, he had 2 DSP's (and Dark Side Points were very serious business back then, you automatically went Dark at 6, and for every point you gained you had to roll 1d6, and if you rolled under it you went to the Dark Side immediately, which means for your 2nd point you had a 1:6 chance of falling).
The Rebellion Era Sourcebook for the d20 SWRPG gives Luke Skywalker 3 DSP's at that point, on page 150. Most arguments over the years I've seen give him some for his use of Force Choke (previously known at Telekinetic Kill) in Jabba's Palace, and of course for lashing out at Vader in the throne room.
Of course, Luke's flirtation with the Dark Side I think works better in the d20 SWRPG. In the d6 version, the Dark Empire Sourcebook gave him 6 DSP's when he was trying to get close to Palpatine to betray him, making him definiatively Dark Side, but only minimally. 6 DSP's for someone of Luke's Wisdom (12) is "Tainted" but not Dark, but has to make a save for every additional DSP or fall, and has enough DSP's to take some Sith features like the Sith Sorcery feat and most Dark Side classes (but not Sith Lord, note that nowhere in DE was Luke ever called a Sith, referred to once a Lord Skywalker by the Imperials, but nothing more).
The Jedi Academy Sourcebook for the old d6 SWRPG gives Luke 3 DSP's (set a year after Dark Empire), presumably still atoning. Even the d20 SWRPG RCR gives NJO era Luke 1 DSP.
Since Dark Side Points are supposed to measure evil (and Star Wars is about Good and Evil, and the Force is very clearly about that, with very little grey), I think it's presumed that the Good Guys either don't get DSP's (or rarely get them) or they atone for them with Force Points when they earn them, because they don't like the bad things they have done (while villains who don't atone don't really care or don't mind what they have done to earn a DSP).