Star Wars - missing rules?

[Plane Sailing]

There seem to be a couple of things from the Star Wars movies which are compellingly absent from the d20 game. I wonder if anyone can suggest why this might be so, and (even better) has anyone come up with rules to cover the situation.

1. Jedi "blindsight".
One of the first things that Luke learns in his training with the lightsabre is "sensing" the remote and deflecting blasters with his lightsabre while his eyes are covered. We see the same scene in AotC with a bunch of kids facing exactly the same training. The clear idea seems to be "seeing" with the force (nb also in AotC near the beginning there is the idea of being able to "sense everything which is happening in her room".

The Blindsight feat doesn't cut it because (useful though it is) it is clearly not good enough, plus you don't have to be force-sensitive to take it!

I wonder if there should be an additional Sense-based skill used for "spotting" without using eyes?

2. Jedi ghosts
In ep4, OWK says "strike me down and I will be even more powerful than before" - and disappears when he dies. He then gives ghostly whispers to Luke, in Ep5 actually appears in apparition form and tells him to go to Yoda, has discussions with Yoda. At the end of Ep6 the ghosts of Luke and Yoda are joined by Anakin!

So what is happening here? I'm guessing that only force-sensitives can see and hear these "ghosts", but how could/should this be included in the game?

It seems strangely silent on these matters...

 

[bwgwl]

1. re: Jedi "blindsight:" the closest thing i can find is the "sense force" special ability under the Sense feat. it's defined very vaguely, and is basically a GM fiat kind of thing, but there's nothing closer in the book.

2. re: Jedi ghosts: i don't know if i'd even go so far as to allow all Force-Sensitives to see them -- Leia doesn't see them at the end of ROTJ. maybe the spirit can choose who can see them and who can't.

i believe the Dark Side Sourcebook had something on Sith spirits; maybe the upcoming "Powers of the Jedi" sourcebook or whatever it's called will cover this.

 

[bwgwl]

frickin'-frackin' double postin'.

 

[Katowice]

There seem to be a couple of things from the Star Wars movies which are compellingly absent from the d20 game. I wonder if anyone can suggest why this might be so, and (even better) has anyone come up with rules to cover the situation.

1. Jedi "blindsight".
One of the first things that Luke learns in his training with the lightsabre is "sensing" the remote and deflecting blasters with his lightsabre while his eyes are covered. We see the same scene in AotC with a bunch of kids facing exactly the same training. The clear idea seems to be "seeing" with the force (nb also in AotC near the beginning there is the idea of being able to "sense everything which is happening in her room".

The Blindsight feat doesn't cut it because (useful though it is) it is clearly not good enough, plus you don't have to be force-sensitive to take it!

I wonder if there should be an additional Sense-based skill used for "spotting" without using eyes?

2. Jedi ghosts
In ep4, OWK says "strike me down and I will be even more powerful than before" - and disappears when he dies. He then gives ghostly whispers to Luke, in Ep5 actually appears in apparition form and tells him to go to Yoda, has discussions with Yoda. At the end of Ep6 the ghosts of Luke and Yoda are joined by Anakin!

So what is happening here? I'm guessing that only force-sensitives can see and hear these "ghosts", but how could/should this be included in the game?

It seems strangely silent on these matters...

I would use the Battlemind skill to represent this, as it give you a bonus to hit.

WRT ghosts, chalk it up to a plot device.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Sense force seems to cover the things like recognising the presence (or even signature) of other force users (like Vader on the death star, or above Endor), but the rules don't really cover the sensing of things without using your eyes (or targetting computers).

I guess that Battlemind might be of some limited use here, (although as it stands you are better using battlemind with your eyes open than with your eyes closed, yet the training always starts with closed eyes...). The other problem with Battlemind is that it is a Control skill, when I feel sure that we should really be looking for a Sense skill here

I certainly wouldn't be happy to chalk the ghosts up as a plot device and leave it at that! I want to play the films!

It just seems strange that the clear life-after-death element of jedi is not treated at all. I wonder why not?

 

[loxmyth]

While I don't believe the books cover this (I don't have the Revised book yet, waiting for my local store to get them back in stock), I'd use the Sense feat for that aspect of the force. Not the best alternative, especially if a Jedi character doesn't choose Sense as his first feat, but better than nothing...

As for the ghosts, I've heard that George Lucas is going to explain the whole jedi ghost thing... it seems that the whole jedi body disappearing (and subsequently becoming a ghost) thing is a direct result of something that happens sometime in Ep III, I suppose. And while that isn't really satisfactory either, it would explain why they don't have any rules for it yet... because Lucas could change them at any time between now and Ep III.

I think you're going to have to use a little creative GMing to get around both limitations.

 

[bwgwl]

Sense force seems to cover the things like recognising the presence (or even signature) of other force users (like Vader on the death star, or above Endor), but the rules don't really cover the sensing of things without using your eyes (or targetting computers).

actually, that's the "See Force" skill -- that's the one that senses the presence of other Force-users.

it seems to me that the "Sense Force" special ability of the Sense feat is the thing Obi-Wan and Anakin used in AOTC that let them know there was danger in Padme's bedchamber, for example, or that Obi-Wan used to know that Alderaan had been destroyed (that's one of the examples of Sense Force given in the RCR). so i don't think it requires that the source of the impression be an active Force-user.

be that as it may, i agree that it's still not really adequate to describe that blind blaster blocking (say that five times fast ) that the Jedi seem to do during training. maybe a new force skill? "Jedi Sight" or something like that. it would be a Sense skill, obviously. it wouldn't give a bonus, but would negate penalties from concealment or darkness.

oooh. now i need to make up a blind Jedi master for my SW campaign.

 

[hong]

Re: the ghost thing

1) use the ghost template from the MM. Tweak as necessary if you only want force users to be able to see incorporeal/ethereal creatures.

2) use the shiryo (blessed ancestor) template from Monsters of Rokugan.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

What need you for mechanic, hmmm?

Subtle, the force is. Many are it's ways.

Not a thing of sight is this deflect blasters. In all things, the force guides our actions. In all things, it's action is.

No one thing is this "blind-sight". Use the force, or use the force not. There is no one mechanic.

 

[Shard O'Glase]

Yeah they need some force sense skill. They should of changed enhance senses to some kind of sense general area skill. You can use it to replace spot/listen checks and it ignores penalties due to cover/concealment. Sure it is better than the spot/listen skills in some ways, but it only lasts a short time, and would cost vitality, and you'd need a couple feats to be able to purchase it.