Also... being dispassionate does not mean one is more compassionate. Having no attachments actually tends to lead people to making the "terrible math" choices (ie it's better to let millions live in slavery than than spend thousands in a war to end slavery).

To quote the books and the amazing Jedi Academy game, no force power is inherantly good or evil, it's the intent of the user. You can be a fully light-side minded force user, altruistic to a fault, and still have the ability to use Lightning, Choke, and other typically deadly abilities. The true judge is if you use them for a good cause. Lighting at a pirate swoop gang to knock them off their speeders and take away their advantage, choke an attacking marauder to hold him for a turn and possibly render him unconscious so he doen'st further harm others, so on.

A gray jedi is unafraid to use the means at hand, but is at heart a good person. You follow the will of the Force more thant he will of any overall belief or ruling class. To go into the D&D system, it would be a Neutral Good more than a True Neutral, like most tend to think. It's more about not following one set code of laws, but doing what you feel is right, even when the galaxy views it as wrong.

To reflect this in the game, I would think someone identifying as a gray jedi would have the ability to use both light and dark side points, but as a consequence take double the strain for the darkside without the Destiny Point flip. Maybe even tripple, to make it that much more harsh on them. And this would only be available to those with a morality between 40-60. But this opens a whole new can of worms with balancing that out. Everyone would just claim to be a gray jedi and go all over with the dark side, but do a few good things to claim and balance it out. You'd then have to make the bonus for being pure light better, and the punishment for dark side worse (though it's pretty harsh as it is).

If all else, talk to your GM and see if they'll let you do something special with it in your games, maybe an 'other' skill of some sort, but I don't think there needs to be anything specific for it in the core rule set.

To quote the books and the amazing Jedi Academy game, no force power is inherantly good or evil, it's the intent of the user.

The problem is that particularly theory (originally espoused in the later parts of the New Jedi Order series) got debunked pretty hard, with it's biggest proponent (Jacen Solo) eventually becoming a Sith Lord, and Luke himself openly denouncing it as a very dangerous mindset that could lead to an "ends justifies the means" mentality and thus to the dark side, as one of the big tenets of the Sith is "the ends always justify the means."

Naturally, that is a problem with anyone toying with the dark side. You need and incredible amount of mental fortitude and willpower to resist the easy temptation of just 'Oh well, I'll just dark-side it for now' and not becoming almost addicted to the easy power and corrupted by it.

That said... Addiction: Dark Side. Mmmmm.... ideas.

Naturally, that is a problem with anyone toying with the dark side. You need and incredible amount of mental fortitude and willpower to resist the easy temptation of just 'Oh well, I'll just dark-side it for now' and not becoming almost addicted to the easy power and corrupted by it.

That said... Addiction: Dark Side. Mmmmm.... ideas.

Except the problem was that anyone that used those dark side powers, in spite of how much "mental fortitude and willpower" they had eventually turned to the dark side. Luke realized the dangers of that path, and stepped away from it before it was too late. Jacen didn't, and look where it got him.

Except the problem was that anyone that used those dark side powers, in spite of how much "mental fortitude and willpower" they had eventually turned to the dark side. Luke realized the dangers of that path, and stepped away from it before it was too late. Jacen didn't, and look where it got him.

True again, but I'm looking more at the mechanics of the game. Knowing most players, having an easily accessable excuse to use the Dark Side would be an incredibly bad idea. Road to Hell is paved with good intentions and all that. Some would probably be able to pull it off, but in most cases, you're going to just be taking some pretty heavy morality (and strain) hits, and the group as a whole would suffer from the Destiny Point flip all the time. Which is, naturally, the point. There really isn't a way to allow people to use the dark side without consequence, and there shouldn't be.

That said, I would like to see some kind of consequence that goes along with being a pure light side, too. Like, with the strain boost you get, maybe you are more easily suceptable to dark-side powers. 1 additional strain when used against you, or something basic like that. Nothing too punishing, but something to show that being full either side isn't always the best path.

That said, I would like to see some kind of consequence that goes along with being a pure light side, too. Like, with the strain boost you get, maybe you are more easily suceptable to dark-side powers. 1 additional strain when used against you, or something basic like that. Nothing too punishing, but something to show that being full either side isn't always the best path.

Have you tried -avoiding- becoming a light side paragon? It's actually harder than it sounds. Unless you've got players activey doing the wrong thing, so far I've rarely had more than 4 conflict per player per 12 hour session.

I once had a GM that gave me Dark side points just for being snarky or sarcastic (d20 version of the game). I think that same guy would give me conflict just for being rude. In game I mean.