d20 Modern - The Force (New FX)

[nobodez]

As I was waking up this morning, I had a thought about adopting the Force and the Jedi into a d20 Future game. So, after a quick search of the boards that yielded no new rules, I came up with the following Occupation and adapted the following Feats to a VP/WP d20 Modern. So far the rest of the rules are unchanged, though I'd probably have to add Force Sensitive, Jedi Consular, and Jedi Knight Advanced Classes.

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Jedi Padawn
The Jedi are a quasi-religious group of warriors and diplomats that use a type of FX they call the Force. This occupation represents basic training of a Jedi.
Prerequisite: Age 15+, Force-Sensitive
Skills: Choose three of the following skills as permanent class skills. If a skill you select is already a class skill, you gain a +1 competence bonus on checks using that skill.
Craft (electronic) (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (behavioral sciences, civics, earth and life sciences, history, tactics, theology and philosophy) (Int), Pilot (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Tumble (Dex).
Bonus Feat: Select one of the following: Alter, Control, or Sense.

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Force-Sensitive
Benefit: Add the following Force skills as permanent class skills: Empathy (Wis), Enhance Ability (Con), and Friendship (Cha). You also gain one additional Action Point at each level. You can make a Wisdom check (DC 20) to avoid being surprised. A successful check allows you to act during the surprise round, even if you would otherwise by surprised.
Normal: Without this feat, you cannot gain any ranks in Force skills.
Special: Not everyone who selects this feat believes in the Force. A character can gain benefit from this feat without understanding that he or she is calling upon the Force. Such characters instead attribute their success to luck, a special knack, or some other reason when they take advantage of this feat.

Alter
Prerequisite: Force-Sensitive
Benefit: Add the following Alter-based Force skills as permanent class skills: Affect Mind (Cha), Drain Energy (Con), Force Grip (Int), Force Lightning (Int), Force Strike (Int), Heal Another (Wis), Illusion (Cha), and Move Object (Int).
Normal: Without this feat, you cannot gain any ranks in Alter-based Force skills. Without this feat, you cannot use Affect Mind, Drain Energy, Force Grip, Force Lightning, Force Strike, Heal Another, or Move Object untrained.

Control
Prerequisite: Force-Sensitive
Benefit: Add the following Control-based Force skills as permanent class skills: Battlemind (Con), Force Defense (Cha), Force Stealth (Cha), and Heal Self (Cha). You may also use the Force to enter a Force Trance, or to Prolong the use of the Force.
Force Trance: (see page 107 of the SWRCR)
Prolong Force: (see page 107 of the SWRCR)
Normal: Without this feat, you cannot gain any ranks in Control-based Force skills. Without this feat, you cannot use Force Defense, Force Stealth, or Heal Self untrained.

Sense
Prerequisite: Force-Sensitive
Benefit: Add the following Sense-based Force skills as permanent class skills: Enhance Senses (Wis), Farseeing (Wis), Fear (Wis), See Force (Wis), and Telepathy (Wis). You may also Sense the Force.
Sense Force: (see page 115 of the SWRCR)
Normal: Without this feat, you cannot gain any ranks in Control-based Force skills. Without this feat, you cannot use Enhance Sense, Fear, See Force, or Telepathy untrained.

 

[jezter6]

Since all the 3 'bonus feats' require the same feat as a pre-req, why not give THAT as the bonus feat instead? Otherwise you are basically forcing one of the standard feat choices to be Force-Sensitive to gain any bonus out of the occupation.

 

[Donovan Morningfire]

Interesting. I can see where you're coming from on requiring Force-sensitive to take the occupation, seeing as how most other characters have to wait until 4th level (at the earliest) to start getting FX-based powers (typically spells).

One very minor nit-pick is lightsaber proficiency. All Padawans, by the time they are apprenticed to a Jedi Master, are adept at using the lightsaber (i.e. have the EWP feat). Maybe add that onto the occupation as well as a bonus feat? Yeah, it's an extra feat, but it's also limited to a specific weapon.

I know there's a few folks over on the Holonet Forums at SWRPGNetwork that have converted Star Wars to work within d20 Modern (can't recall the names right off the bat). I don't think they've posted them, but making a post there for d20 Modern versions of Star Wars might net some interesting results.

 

[nobodez]

Since all the 3 'bonus feats' require the same feat as a pre-req, why not give THAT as the bonus feat instead? Otherwise you are basically forcing one of the standard feat choices to be Force-Sensitive to gain any bonus out of the occupation.

Well, it was a choice I made. I wanted to give out one of the A/C/S feats, but not give out two feats, though I could have gone the "Heir" route and made it a "Pre-selected Feat".

Oh, and on the EMWP (Lightsaber) front, since EMWP requires BAB +1, I decided not to give it out, since that would make it so characters would be forced to decided between Alter, Control, Sense, and Lightsaber.

It's not a pretty sight, but to do it within d20M requires compromise, and I'm not sure if I want to make Jedi too big of an occupation.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

First off: Good idea. I think that's a sensible approach to D20 Modern Force.

One of the prerequisites to become a member of a Jedi Advanced Clas should probably the Lightsaber profiency - it seems as if any Jedi needs to know how to use it. Maybe a real beginner (=Padawan) doesn't know perfectly how to wield it, but once you actually get a few levels in a real Jedi Class, you know how to use it.

(Though there is also a alternative solution, which fits more the D20 Future "bill": Lightsabers are simple weapons. I mean, after all, they can be wielded like clubs, except that they cut through things like - sharp - swords. Seems to be simple and efficient design and not to difficult to use. But I doubt that would fit the Starwars feeling)

One of the advantages of having "real" Jedi be Advanced Classes is definitely that you can balance the cool jedi powers a lot easier with non-supernatural abilities and still explain why Jedi are so extremely powerful in books or the movies - even the weakest of the "real" Jedi is at least 4th level (heroic!) character, and it's only going up from there.

 

[nobodez]

That works well, but I found the existing conversion over at the Wizards boards, and so far it look really good, though they went with a re-imagineing of the Force rules rather then my rather simple translation, going for the Force Skills as discrete powers all based on a Concentration check, rather then a skill check, thus making it both easier to use the skills (one skills to concentrate on), and harder (you have to gain feats or Jedi abilities to unlock the powers).

d20 Modern Star Wars @ Wizards Boards

 

[genshou]

I'm also in the process of rewriting Star Wars as a d20 Future setting, so I see where you're coming from. In my conversion, the two Jedi classes are 20-level advanced classes, which require the Force Sensitive feat, and grant EWP with lightsaber at 1st-level.

Personally, I like the feel of this better. When a character with a Jedi level is already character level 4, it makes the Jedi feel a little more mystical and powerful than in the RCR (though they are no more powerful than other 4th-level characters, of course). I like your version of the Jedi Padawan starting occupation, but I would allow it for children, since I stat younglings as having 1-3 levels as basic class Ordinaries (they become Heroes when they are ready to attain their first level in a Jedi class at age 15+).

I think leaving most of the other rules as-is works out just fine. Directly porting over Force skills and feats, for example, shouldn't horribly break the game, and VP/WP works great in d20 Modern (the original plan was to use VP/WP, but they ditched it for regular hit points partway through development).