More Star Wars

[Donovan Morningfire]

Depending on how high a level said Sith Lord is, they can just use Block/Deflect to deal with Destiny point auto-crits, since it's a UtF check against their attack bonus + 20, and becomes a bit easier if they have Skill Focus (UtF).

The primary Sith Lord villain in my last SW campaign was 14th level, and was easily able to parry the few Destiny Point-fueled attacks that were lobbed his way. What few the group had remaining (they started out a 5th level with 1 DP each instead of a full 5 per level, and were close to 8th level when a TPK occured against said Sith Lord) were instead used to keep the Sith Murder Machine from obliterating them (Triple Crit with a high level character can be mighty scary).

Probably best way to handle Destiny Points is to keep them a scarce resource. As far as using them, from my reading of the rules the only restriction is that the character has to actually have a Destiny they've yet to fulfill to be able to spend them; once you've fulfilled your Destiny, you can't spend them until you get a new Destiny. As long as you have an active Destiny, you can spend DPs however you like.

 

[Stanoje]

Not all PCs should be directly involved in fighting the Sith Lord.

Look at Return of the Jedi. Luke does his Jedi thing with Vader and the Emperor; Han & Leia are playing guerilla down on Endor; Lando is flying the Falcon.

Just having 5 PCs blasting at the Sith Lord doesn't feel Star Wars-y to me. Have them split up to deal with several threats at once. Or, if you want them closer together, give the Sith Lord lots of thugs and maybe one or two tough minions with heroic levels for the non-Jedi to deal with. The PC Jedi should be the ones to deal with the Sith Lord, while the non-Jedi take care of a horde of low-CR enemies.

Don't have the encounter end once the Sith Lord is beaten. The PCs should have to make a stylish exit while an overwhelming force of nonheroic bad guys is after them and the Sith Lord's secret base is self-destruction/falling from the sky/being bombarded by the PC's allies.
Come the next big bad guy, the players might not blow all their Destiny and Force Points on him immediately if they know the action won't stop with his defeat.

EDIT:

As far as using them, from my reading of the rules the only restriction is that the character has to actually have a Destiny they've yet to fulfill to be able to spend them; once you've fulfilled your Destiny, you can't spend them until you get a new Destiny. As long as you have an active Destiny, you can spend DPs however you like.

This is true. Spending DP isn't restricted by the particulars of a PCs Destiny.


Another thing: Make sure the Sith Lord has another goal besides killing the PCs. Conversion to the dark side, manipulating them somehow, keeping them occupied while his REAL plan is set into motion, having a face-to-face with them so that he can reveal the Shocking Truth(tm) to them, etc. That's much more interesting that having the fight be a slaughterfest.

Same goes forthe PCs, really. Make sure to present them with a number of viable objectives. That way they can feel they have achieved something even without killing the main bad guy.

 

[Ashrum the Black]

I also suggest utilizing the terrain to the Sith Lords full advantage.

Example:
A battle through energy pilons that explode if struck by blaster fire or a light saber, and timed to give the murder machine Sith Lorrd and PC's a round to get away while energy arcs from the damaged pilon. The pilons will block line of sight, and limit mobility, thus allowing the Sith Lord to fight only part of the party at a time.

If he gets desperate and looks to be going down he might then swipe his light saber is a wide arc and set off a number of the darn things. The PC's can stay to finish him off and go up with him, or they can run for thier lives before the pilons go off, his mocking laughter following them out. His light saber comes tumbling out of the explosion to land at a PC's feet, but no body is found afterwards. You're free to bring him back ala Darth Vader style later, or leave him as dead as you want him to be.

By using the environment to limit the PC's actions and providing a level of challenge of its own you'll make the fight more cinematic, and let the villian last/be scarier longer before his ultimate loss to the heroes. Plus if this sith lord isn't stark raving mad he'll want choose to fight a larger group in an area the favors him. As well as it is far more star wars to have a cool location.

-Ashrum

 

[Arrgh! Mark!]

before I ever ran a tabletop game, Baldurs Gate taught me this:

The only thing able to challenge PCs is a bad guy that doesn't just have more power, but a party that has more versatility without sacrificing on damage.

The most dangerous fights in that game were the ones where you had to fight another party of adventurers. Any single bad guy was a piece of cake.

 

[arscott]

How much destiny do your characters have? If it's 15+, then you're just screwed, but hey--your characters have been saving up their destiny for quite a while. Just let them kick but.

If it's a bit more reasonable, but still more than you think your villian can handle, then throw some pretty tough encounters at them before hand to bleed destiny points from your characters. After all, the big bad boss probably has some big bad henchmen that the party can deal with.

 

[arscott]

double post