4 more days.............4 more days..............it will happen................I can make it.......................

I've been saying this all day. In the immortal words of Jedi Master Squarepants. "I'm ready"

At least the circular arguments will shift from speculation to interpretation..................

Man, I wander away for a day and the thing explodes.

I'm less concerned with the lightsaber than I am other aspects - force rating being one of them. I assume we're all in agreement we're at least going to get another specialization of force use. Someone dedicated to boosting force powers will then presumably have access to another talent for force rating. This will bring the total up to *at least* 4 - did I see correctly that in the homebrew guide experiences, that's about the break point for mechanical balance?

I believe it was also established that the original example tree, going up to FR 7 was comparable to Luke when he was serving as Grand Master of the order. They may fiddle with that - if we'll have more specializations, whether in the same book or later published materials, we might wind up with the situation where the PCs power outstrips the power level of the established heroes/villains, at least the force-using ones. Do we think they'll have enabled such options? I know that the PCs are the heroes of their own game, but do we think they'll expect every GM to start their own 'alternities' to deal with the general power?

They make the games with the assumption that you are not buying the other lines. With that in mind, if they want you to be able to get a Force Rating of 3+, then it should be available through FandD alone.

The other games have had an Aggressive/Combat heavy option (Slave 1, Ywing squadron), a Versitile option (Falcon, Lambada), and a Passive/RP heavy Option (Firefly, Base of operations)

I believe a lightsaber will be the "Aggressive/Combat" option for force users. Since that's free money, more XP in non force trees would be a versitle option, and also provide an opening for non-jedi in a jedi game. What would the passive/RP option be?

How about a system where a player has to burn themselves with a cigarette to prove their commitment to the Jedi Path every time they want to roll a force dice?

That would would be Emo-Sith, probably not condoned by the order.

My sabers so emo it cuts itself....

The lightsaber, as it is now, is a very robust weapon, but it has no HPs and is really unmodifiable. Initially it may seem OP to hand one out, but as has been pointed out, other weapons can be made comparable. Whereas, unless options are given to modify them, lightsabers will remain static. Better ability with one may be represented in talent form and XP rather than in modifying it through mechanics.

I'll be interested to see FFG's take.

I'm not sure I have any strong feelings about starting with a lightsaber versus not. On the one hand, it's an iconic weapon and, as mouthymerc most recently but many over the life of this thread have pointed out, not terribly effective on its own. An untrained user, even a Force-sensitive one, is more likely to be a danger to themselves rather than others, and my guess is Deflection will be a high-tier talent under only certain Talent Trees, with the trade-off being "take one Strain per shot deflected." Maybe two Strain if you want to reflect the shot back at the user, or else you have to make a separate attack roll to try and aim it.

On the other hand, I'm more likely to believe that FFG will do what it's always done: personal starting equipment is your own problem, and you only begin with 500 credits. A more effective group resource would be a Jedi mentor character who can teach the group how to build lightsabers. There'll probably be a section of fluff that talks about building a lightsaber and all the components required, but at the end there'll be a little note saying, "The exact method of building a lightsaber varies from person to person, and how easy or difficult it will be to acquire one is up to the GM. However, we recommend the journey be significant but not overly long."

Also, I'm guessing buying/finding the components of a lightsaber will be much cheaper than buying one. Hell, Luke slapped one together between Empire and Jedi, and he did it without any professional guidance.

Ultimately, there'll be a little sidebar at the end of the character creation section that mentions the pros and cons of both sides and recommends that GMs follow their gut and do what they think is right for their group.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't building a lightsaber the last "test" a Jedi-in-training (I refuse to use the "P" word ) went through before they were given the title of Jedi Knight? If that's still the case, then a lightsaber wouldn't make sense for all starting characters, since some of them will still be learning, and not at the Knight level.

I can see some wanting to start at the Knight level and play out what you see in The Clone Wars and such…but none of those characters were beginner characters, they all had quite a bit of XP under their belt…except for Ahsoka, who was not yet a Knights, so I guess my entire post is moot at this point, hey?

Anyway, I have a friend going to GenCon who's gonna grab me a copy, so next week I look forward to civil discussions with all of you about the actual contents of the book!

-EF

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't building a lightsaber the last "test" a Jedi-in-training (I refuse to use the "P" word ) went through before they were given the title of Jedi Knight? If that's still the case, then a lightsaber wouldn't make sense for all starting characters, since some of them will still be learning, and not at the Knight level.

I can see some wanting to start at the Knight level and play out what you see in The Clone Wars and such…but none of those characters were beginner characters, they all had quite a bit of XP under their belt…except for Ahsoka, who was not yet a Knights, so I guess my entire post is moot at this point, hey?

Anyway, I have a friend going to GenCon who's gonna grab me a copy, so next week I look forward to civil discussions with all of you about the actual contents of the book!

-EF

Well, that's been changed in the revised canon, as the Clone Wars series had a bunch of Initiate-level younglings go on a field trip with Yoda and Ahsoka to Ilum to construct their first lightsabers as part of their preparation to becoming full-fledged apprentices/Padawans.

I think the main reason it was considered a "final test" in older source material was that it was one of the final steps Luke took in becoming a Jedi Knight, and writers for the post-RotJ EU figured that Luke would do the same for many of his students, leaving lightsaber construction as one of the "final steps" for his students. But apparently for the Jedi Order, building a lightsaber is one of the earlier things an apprentice does, likely as a way of demonstrating that they do indeed have mastered the basic principles before going onto the advanced material. Of course, Luke didn't learn that because 1) Obi-Wan was pressed for time, and 2) he already had a perfectly functional lightsaber. He did apparently foresee that Luke would need the information, and left a secured tome in his hut in the Dune Sea that explained the various processes involved in building a lightsaber, including creating artificial crystals (though this is currently in the Legends category).

Of course, with the Jedi Order being defunct in the Rebellion Era, it remains to be seen if lightsaber construction will still be considered akin to an "entry exam" for being a Jedi apprentice, or if circumstances will force it to be one of the last things that a would-be Knight performs as part of their Trials.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't building a lightsaber the last "test" a Jedi-in-training (I refuse to use the "P" word ) went through before they were given the title of Jedi Knight? If that's still the case, then a lightsaber wouldn't make sense for all starting characters, since some of them will still be learning, and not at the Knight level.

I can see some wanting to start at the Knight level and play out what you see in The Clone Wars and such…but none of those characters were beginner characters, they all had quite a bit of XP under their belt…except for Ahsoka, who was not yet a Knights, so I guess my entire post is moot at this point, hey?

Anyway, I have a friend going to GenCon who's gonna grab me a copy, so next week I look forward to civil discussions with all of you about the actual contents of the book!

-EF

This may have been the case in some of the EU/Legends, but not anymore.

Remember in the films Obi and Anakin have lightsabers when they are padawans. And in TCWs they had a story arc where a bunch of preteen younglings find their crystal and build their first light saber (one with the help of Hondo of all people [and may I add that I totally hope that one escapes O66 for no other reason then to allow her to show up again in Rebels hanging out with Hondo])

If anything it looks like the saber build is now one of the last steps of being a youngling.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't building a lightsaber the last "test" a Jedi-in-training (I refuse to use the "P" word ) went through before they were given the title of Jedi Knight? If that's still the case, then a lightsaber wouldn't make sense for all starting characters, since some of them will still be learning, and not at the Knight level.

I can see some wanting to start at the Knight level and play out what you see in The Clone Wars and such…but none of those characters were beginner characters, they all had quite a bit of XP under their belt…except for Ahsoka, who was not yet a Knights, so I guess my entire post is moot at this point, hey?

Anyway, I have a friend going to GenCon who's gonna grab me a copy, so next week I look forward to civil discussions with all of you about the actual contents of the book!

-EF

Building your OWN lightsaber was one of the last tests in training. Until then you used a "loaner" lightsaber.

But as the others have also noted the "test" order of building your own lightsaber seems to have been modified a bit by The Clone Wars.

It's also worth noting that these apprentices (not yet Padawans) who were building their lightsabers were obviously trained in how to use them so they'd had a lot of access to lightsabers. We even see Yoda training very young younglings in how to use lightsabers (and the force) in Ep II.

TCWs established younglings build their sabers, so having one to begin with is covered by canon if the players were a group of Younglings that escaped. That's a perfectly plausible background for the game. When Ahsoka took the one group there wasn't a Clone Trooper within light years so it makes both story sense and common sense.

The tension in the air is palpable.....................gasp..............when will the announcement come?!?!...............

The tension in the air is palatable.....................gasp..............when will the announcement come?!?!...............

Er...palatable means "tasty". I'm sure you meant "palpable"

oopsie, hate it when I pick the wrong word and spell it correctly............there should be a brain check along with spell check...........

The tension in the air is palatable.....................gasp..............when will the announcement come?!?!...............

Er...palatable means "tasty". I'm sure you meant "palpable"

Also I don't remember, did they wait till the AoR Beta physical release to open the forum for it, or did it pop up a day or two before?

Thanks for the corrections regarding The Clone Wars…I haven't finished watching it yet, so I didn't see the "youngling build their lightsaber" episode.

Trying to keep up with the constantly shifting views of what is and is not "cannon" or "real" or "right" makes my head spin. I think I'll go have a drink…

-EF

Thanks for the corrections regarding The Clone Wars…I haven't finished watching it yet, so I didn't see the "youngling build their lightsaber" episode.

Trying to keep up with the constantly shifting views of what is and is not "cannon" or "real" or "right" makes my head spin. I think I'll go have a drink…

-EF

Surely there's a drinking game to be found here....

The tension in the air is palatable.....................gasp..............when will the announcement come?!?!...............

Er...palatable means "tasty". I'm sure you meant "palpable"

Also I don't remember, did they wait till the AoR Beta physical release to open the forum for it, or did it pop up a day or two before?

I've got my bunker dug and ready so I hope it is soon......................

On a more literal note, I notice there is a Star Wars Armada forum, so I would think it likely they will launch the forum probably as they announce the product officially.

Now the most important question I haven't seen addressed:

What will the colour theme be? EotE was "sandy beige", AoR is Red.

I'm going for either blue or green. With orange as a ringer.

Green Blue and Brown seem to be the top three.

I'm still expecting hot pink with a picture of Jaxxon using saberchucks....

a deep shade of purple isn't completely out of the question.

Since EoE was already Earth tone, probably blue would be my bet.

I'm still feelin' it will be green.