I've been left a bit confused with the sense force power.

What exactly can I sense with it and how does it appear?

The description isn't very clear on whether I just 'detect life' or if I have an idea of what that life is.

Can I differentiate between intelligent life, dangerous large animals and plants, or do I just get a blip for anything 'alive'.

As we're wandering a jungle in this adventure the place is teeming with all kinds of tiny creatures making the power useless.

Also, seeing the other force question I wonder if I'm using force powers correctly.

I get the impression it costs a force point to activate the power at its basic level,

and a second point to open up (for instance) all the ranged levels I've bought.

While I have the range expansions (as detecting life in short range is basically useless given I can see whats that close) does this mean I spend 2 force points to make the power work?

If so, surely that means I have to roll a rare 2 point result on my 1 force dice which never seems to happen.

I realise force users are not meant to be that potent, and thats all fine, but this does seems especially rubbish.

Thanks for any help you can offer guys!

What information you glean from sensing will largely be up to your GM. In regards to the points required you have the number correct. I agree, it is a lackluster skill/talent/power.

You're much better off with the control upgrades.

Yeah largely up to the GM.

I'd say it's reasonable to allow plants and animals to be fairly easy to differentiate, and small animals from large animals makes reasonable sense too. Large animals from equal sized sentients (or is it sapiens?) is probably tougher if possible at all. As a GM if the players were making the check in a way that slowed down the game I'd throw them a bone to get the game moving.

In previous versions they specified more, So for example in WEG you could tell if it was alive and had force powers/skills, if it was a character/creature you'd actually had personal contact with you could also know that (so if you knew Hondo, and he and one of his pirates were hiding you'd know there were two creatures and one of them was Hondo, but you wouldn't know anything about the other, not even species).

[Rolls Force Die]

"Huh, one pip. I activate Sense - anything in here?"

"You sense one jerk hiding behind one of the work stations."

"HEY JERK!"

Um, I mean, it's good for spotting hidden assassins. Their Stealth may be better than your Perception, but they're still alive. (Unless they're roboassassins...)

I'd hope to be able to differentiate between different levels of complexity. Otherwise, y'know, bacteria.

One pip to activate the power, one additional pip to activate all your Range upgrades, yes. Short's not so bad though.

Thanks guys, that does help.

I wondered if a good force rule would be to let you collect force over several turns.

Lets say it costs a move action to roll the force dice,

if you don't get enough points on the roll you can save them until the end of the scene,

and roll again next round to add to your pool.

So you roll a 1 this round, but next round if you roll another one you might have what you need.

It would make sense that young force users need a while to call up the force power they need.

For Sense, I always think of a combination of what we see in canon and of the Miraluka, who "see" through the Force.

Basically, you know what's around you that's living, and can differentiate between them (to a point; you won't know that Biff and Jim Bob are around the corner if you don't know who they are; they'll just be people, but you can normally know the difference between your friend Jill who's being choked by Jack).

My table as a house rule regarding the sense emotion side of things. To add a more mechanical benefit, we allow a boost die to be given when you know of your opposition's mood, as you can add the subtle cues and intonations to play to those emotions.

I wondered if a good force rule would be to let you collect force over several turns.

Lets say it costs a move action to roll the force dice,

if you don't get enough points on the roll you can save them until the end of the scene,

and roll again next round to add to your pool.

So you roll a 1 this round, but next round if you roll another one you might have what you need.

It would make sense that young force users need a while to call up the force power they need.

Depending on the situation, I'd be screaming not just "NO!" but "HELL NO!" But then I remembered that we do see some things close to this in canon, and you have to wonder if it's possible to relate here. I mean, we've seen characters focus on a task very heavily to make things beyond their normal capabilities happen, so why not, right?

I'd force the character to do nothing else but concentrate on their task to even consider allowing this, possibly even adding Strain cost, like 1 Strain per turn.

It's not perfect, but it could work and limit the crunching that could be done with it.

No ranks in range = nearsighted Jedi.....

For Sense, I always think of a combination of what we see in canon and of the Miraluka, who "see" through the Force.

Basically, you know what's around you that's living, and can differentiate between them (to a point; you won't know that Biff and Jim Bob are around the corner if you don't know who they are; they'll just be people, but you can normally know the difference between your friend Jill who's being choked by Jack).

My table as a house rule regarding the sense emotion side of things. To add a more mechanical benefit, we allow a boost die to be given when you know of your opposition's mood, as you can add the subtle cues and intonations to play to those emotions.

I wondered if a good force rule would be to let you collect force over several turns.

Lets say it costs a move action to roll the force dice,

if you don't get enough points on the roll you can save them until the end of the scene,

and roll again next round to add to your pool.

So you roll a 1 this round, but next round if you roll another one you might have what you need.

It would make sense that young force users need a while to call up the force power they need.

Depending on the situation, I'd be screaming not just "NO!" but "HELL NO!" But then I remembered that we do see some things close to this in canon, and you have to wonder if it's possible to relate here. I mean, we've seen characters focus on a task very heavily to make things beyond their normal capabilities happen, so why not, right?

I'd force the character to do nothing else but concentrate on their task to even consider allowing this, possibly even adding Strain cost, like 1 Strain per turn.

It's not perfect, but it could work and limit the crunching that could be done with it.

Possibly make a discipline check to hold onto the focus?

For Sense, I always think of a combination of what we see in canon and of the Miraluka, who "see" through the Force.

Basically, you know what's around you that's living, and can differentiate between them (to a point; you won't know that Biff and Jim Bob are around the corner if you don't know who they are; they'll just be people, but you can normally know the difference between your friend Jill who's being choked by Jack).

My table as a house rule regarding the sense emotion side of things. To add a more mechanical benefit, we allow a boost die to be given when you know of your opposition's mood, as you can add the subtle cues and intonations to play to those emotions.

I wondered if a good force rule would be to let you collect force over several turns.

Lets say it costs a move action to roll the force dice,

if you don't get enough points on the roll you can save them until the end of the scene,

and roll again next round to add to your pool.

So you roll a 1 this round, but next round if you roll another one you might have what you need.

It would make sense that young force users need a while to call up the force power they need.

Depending on the situation, I'd be screaming not just "NO!" but "HELL NO!" But then I remembered that we do see some things close to this in canon, and you have to wonder if it's possible to relate here. I mean, we've seen characters focus on a task very heavily to make things beyond their normal capabilities happen, so why not, right?

I'd force the character to do nothing else but concentrate on their task to even consider allowing this, possibly even adding Strain cost, like 1 Strain per turn.

It's not perfect, but it could work and limit the crunching that could be done with it.

Possibly make a discipline check to hold onto the focus?

I wouldn't argue that, especially if they are doing it in a stressful environment. Calling for it at all times may lead to too much dice rolling, though.

In previous versions they specified more, So for example in WEG you could tell if it was alive and had force powers/skills, if it was a character/creature you'd actually had personal contact with you could also know that (so if you knew Hondo, and he and one of his pirates were hiding you'd know there were two creatures and one of them was Hondo, but you wouldn't know anything about the other, not even species).

Should be more upgrades, probably. Along with the corresponding Force Stealth to hide yourself from Sense.

I've been left a bit confused with the sense force power.

What exactly can I sense with it and how does it appear?

The description isn't very clear on whether I just 'detect life' or if I have an idea of what that life is.

Can I differentiate between intelligent life, dangerous large animals and plants, or do I just get a blip for anything 'alive'.

As we're wandering a jungle in this adventure the place is teeming with all kinds of tiny creatures making the power useless.

Also, seeing the other force question I wonder if I'm using force powers correctly.

I get the impression it costs a force point to activate the power at its basic level,

and a second point to open up (for instance) all the ranged levels I've bought.

While I have the range expansions (as detecting life in short range is basically useless given I can see whats that close) does this mean I spend 2 force points to make the power work?

If so, surely that means I have to roll a rare 2 point result on my 1 force dice which never seems to happen.

I realise force users are not meant to be that potent, and thats all fine, but this does seems especially rubbish.

Thanks for any help you can offer guys!

With the basic effect of Sense, you are pretty much aware of where people are, including those that aren't visible to the naked it, such as folks hiding behind things or even using some kind of personal stealth field. No Perception check vs. their Stealth, you just know those people are there.

Ranges in this game are fairly nebulous, though Short Range has been described as "up to several meters" which is around 20 to 30 feet away. Unlike WEG's "life detection" Force power, it doesn't really give you any more information, since FFG has opted for more of a binary approach in how Force powers operate, with the degrees of effect generally being reliant upon having the Force Points to activate various upgrades. it's possible that Force & Destiny or a later supplement for that product line will offer a means to pick up more than just the "I can sense living beings," but we're a few months away from the Beta being released (presumably) at this year's GenCon.

Interestingly though, per an answer on activating Force powers that I got from Sam Stewart, you can quite possibly use the second effect of sensing a person's emotional state (or surface thoughts with the Control Upgrade) more than once even without the Magnitude Upgrade, as he indicated that any Force power or Upgrade can be activated multiple times unless the rules text say otherwise (or aren't triggered by spending Force Points, such as Ongoing Effects or Strain's Strength Upgrade). Sadly, the exact text for the Range Upgrade limits that to detecting living things, so you'd still have to be Engaged with all those possible targets. But if one doesn't have the Magnitude Upgrade and wanted to pick up the emotions or surface thoughts of a couple folks, the Force user could do just that by spending an extra Force Point or two on that effect.

Thanks guys, that does help.

I wondered if a good force rule would be to let you collect force over several turns.

Lets say it costs a move action to roll the force dice,

if you don't get enough points on the roll you can save them until the end of the scene,

and roll again next round to add to your pool.

So you roll a 1 this round, but next round if you roll another one you might have what you need.

It would make sense that young force users need a while to call up the force power they need.

I could see a player building and building their reserve of points, then crashing a starship into somebody (assuming they have the Strength upgrades). Something to be wary of.

Rather than building the points to do something, I would just do an out of combat hand wave of attempts if sufficient time and concentration were available to the character. If they have the ability to perform the action as based on the upgrades they have purchased, I would allow them to do it in a non-time-sensitive situation, not under duress. If they wanted to do something that required an action beyond their purchased upgrades, such as activating range upgrade 2x, I would require a roll.

I had also wondered about differentiating lifeforms with sense, but it does seem consistent that the user could sense specifically sense someone already known to them, and that they can differentiate complexity of lifeforms. I would allow them to know if their target is force sensitive, sentient, complexity, and their silhouette. I would also hand wave the ability to recognize bacteria and common plants, as the character would have a rather constant exposure to these things.

Also Force Powers as they are written generally assume you are making an active attempt so always rolling makes sense (no pun intended), however a GM can, and should, activate Sense for the PC without a roll if it's appropriate for the story. Think Kanobi and Alderan.