So, I've been looking at the lightsaber crystals from F&D and I like them, however one of my players has decided to take another approach to the game. He wanted to create his own unique crystal by taking a Corusca Gem imbued with the light side of the force, and fuse it with an artificial red crystal, in order to create something of Balance.

Now I'm ALL for this narratively, however, I have 0 ideas on what kind of stats to give this thing to make it more unique then the other ones in the book.

Your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions are most appreciated.

Well, there are a few points to clarify on that request.

From limited reading into the process, I have a few comments about the request.

1, a Corusca gem (like the one used by Jacen Solo) is apparently crazy rare. The one Jacen used cost as much as a city block on Coruscant. The rarity of that item would be pretty crazy, as would the value.

2, a Corusca gem apparently can be shattered into dust if hit just right.

3, What method would this "fusion" of the delicate gem and the fake gem be done? I assume it would be some sort of 4 or 5 purple style roll.

4, From very limited research (just a quick look at wookiepedia) it seems only Dark Side people use Synthetic crystals.

5, When light side of the force goes into a dark side crystal it will likely be unstable with both forces together.

6, well there are more things I can say but that is more than enough to not sound like a jerk.

That being said, being a "Yes, but..." style GM, I would say this.

It would have to be done in multiple steps/rolls.

It would likely be very very hard.

It will be an unstable weapon when completed.

Ask him what his intention is out of all this. If he just wants something that's more personalized, just reflavor an Illum crystal, if he is wanting something more.. well you'll have a better idea one you determine his over all intentions.

Looking at the crystals in the book, we can pull out a few guidelines:

• damage ranges from 6 to 9, with most at 7 or 8.
• crit rating ranges from 1 to 3, with most having 2.
• all of them have Breach 1 and Sunder.
• about half of them have some sort of special quality. Most of them are normal weapon qualities, but the Dantari Crystal has an ability tied into the Force.
• all of them have 2-3 mods, with +damage and Vicious being the most common.

That said, as fatedtodie indicated, a Corusca Gem would probably outstrip all of these, and I imagine that the resulting gem should be at least as powerful (even if it doesn't have all the same properties as the Corusca). Based on the Wookieepedia article, it sounds like it might have increased Breach. I might start with the Sapith Gem as a base.

So: what do you think Balance means? I'm assuming it's probably less aggressive than an increased Breach would be, yet I would call something like Defensive or Deflection as Light Side (as far as it can be said to be so).

Some possibilities for mods:

• 3x Accurate
• 2x Skill (Discipline or Vigilance)
• Innate Talent (Intense Focus or Balance)

Good ideas guys! Basically I did something somewhat silly with the character, I allowed him to Dathomir before the Emperor killed all of the Witches. There I introduced the concept of their 'Spirits'. He, and the rest of the crew, stole the Jewel of Yavin, which is what he is using as a base. The Artificial crystal he made after finding a man who spoke of such things and showed him the basics. He has gone through several checks so far to make this work. Mostly I used his base Intellect as his ability, allowed him some boosts for his knowledges he has gathered, and his FR which would only benefit him if he double LS pip'd. He was against 4 rounds of checks so far of 3R, 2P, and 1SB. And has passed everyone, despite the odds being against him. I need to deliver SOMETHING for his troubles. At the current moment his gem has both Light and Dark fighting each other inside, with no balance. I know the Dathomirian people are technically Dark Force users, however I changed that in this so that they were more then that.

Balance to mean means that, like Revan, you are neither Jedi or Sith, but something born anew. So that is where my concept lies in this.

I was going to expand on the "bring this back down to realistic" (or at least Star Wars style realistic) but I doubt much would be gained from it.

I will say this. The weapon you are suggesting/talking about is a weapon that Yoda would have trouble creating, even Luke when he is Grand Master of the new Jedi Order would have trouble with it. Keep that in mind a bit.

"that is all I have to say about that."

4, From very limited research (just a quick look at wookiepedia) it seems only Dark Side people use Synthetic crystals.

I believe the classic Shadows of the Empire features a scene in which Luke constructs the new green lightsaber he uses in Return of the Jedi . If I recall, he manufactures and employs a synthetic crystal.

Apparently there is something about Luke having a Synth-Crystal, but then I found this little Gem.

From http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Synthetic_lightsaber_crystal

"Converstly, the Jedi frowned on the creation and use of synth-crystals among their initiates, associating this with taking the quick and easy path, as they believed they should rely on crystals found naturally."

It also states mostly that the New Jedi Order used them a lot because the natural ones were either looted or their locations destroyed by Palpatine.

There is a note at the bottom of the article that Synth-Crystals didn't exist written anywhere until 2002, so it is more of a "retconned" idea than canon, but that is just "extra info" and not saying you shouldn't use them.

I am happy I was called out on it though I got to learn more about the Lightsaber crystals.

I know how you feel, but I really like to encourage my player's imaginations and whatnot. While it does make my life fairly miserable at times. The rest of the time is amazing to see how they overcome things.

Imagining is good. Having hobbits in Star Wars is not. There are limits to ANY universe. When even the craziness of the EU didn't touch an idea, it is very likely there was a reason for it.

Keep in mind the EU books didn't shy away from every 3rd person being a dark jedi then back to good and vice versa. They didn't shy away from Sun Crushing, or destroying a whole solar system. But in their almost limitless crazy left alone the idea of putting dark side AND light side in 1 crystal. You may have stumbled upon the only limiting factor in all of Star Wars.

Ha! Thats amazing. Well time to write some new rules then! Any suggestions as to what it may do? I've also been introducing these Sith Talismans in our game which offer power, but kind of push you toward making dark moral choices.

Instead of "fusing" the two crystal can they "float" in a quasi-Yin/Yang style matrix? Perhaps orbit around each other or something inside the hilt?

Well according to The Jedi Way, the crystal fuses with that hilt in order to properly work, so I would assume it needs to be fused together to make it work properly.. I dunno.

Just use a Double Bladed lightsaber and allow for a light side crystal in one side and a dark side in the other.

The stats for the Double act to count the 1 crystal as 2 (if I read it correctly) so just ignore that part and build them as separate?

Conversely look at the interlocking hilt idea that is on reddit's /r/swrpg forums and have a regular darkside type blade and a light side type blade that can "lock together" to become a double bladed saber.

I'm more looking for how to build the statistics around it. Like how the ilum crystal is a Damage 6, Crit 2, that can become a Daamge 10 crit 1 vicious 2. Something along those lines. figuring out how to make it work is fluff, numbers and bonuses is what I'm in the market for.

I'm more looking for how to build the statistics around it. Like how the ilum crystal is a Damage 6, Crit 2, that can become a Daamge 10 crit 1 vicious 2. Something along those lines. figuring out how to make it work is fluff, numbers and bonuses is what I'm in the market for.

If you are going to go this direction, start with what it would look like fully modded, and work backwords. Separate out the stuff you don't want the crystal to have access to right away into the mods.

I'm working on a Legacy era game and one of the things I wanted to do was make Synth-crystals for Imperial Knights. After investigating them on Wookieepedia, IKs don't fiddle much with their armor or lightsabers. Each one is identical to encourage them to think about the unit rather than the individual. To this end, I gave the Synth-crystal base stats better than the base for Illum cystals but with no mod options. So a fully modded Illum Crystal would be superior to an Imperal Knight Synth Crystal.

Here's a suggestion - have the effects vary with the character's Morality score. If they can keep their Morality at 50 or close, the lightsabre has powerful effects. If they drift South of 50 by a significant amount, it loses (or diminishes) defensive qualities, possibly gains some offensive ones (but not as good overall as if in pure balance). If they rise higher on the Morality scale, the opposite of that. Depending on how narrow you make the "balance point", the harder it is for the player to get the absolute best from the lightsabre. The point is though, that the character's current Light - Dark balance affects which crystal is dominant in the weapon.

As a GM, I usually feel one should never give a reward that doesn't complicate a player's life in some way. Dark Side, they get a weapon that is X good in offense, Light Side, they get a weapon that is Y good in defence. Within the balance range, they get something which is X + Y where X and Y are now both less than they would be with only one, but add up to more than X or Y alone so they gain a net bonus from achieving (and keeping) balance. You can gradiate it if you want more detail, so e.g. between 45 and 55 Morality you get full bonuses, 35 to 44 you get mostly Dark Side (Sunder, whatever) plus a little Light Side (e.g. Defensive), below 35 only Dark Side. And vice versa for the high end.

It's not game breaking, it's extremely flavourful, it gives your player an actual worthwhile mechanical reward for their efforts, but to keep the full benefit, they have to keep working at what they're actually claiming in character fluff. It's the gift that keeps on giving.

I'm still a little hazy on F&D so somebody more knowledgeable will have to comment on the specifics if they would, but that's the idea - wielder's state of mind affects the battle between the crystals. Balance is hard .

Ok so I think I'm gonna go with this as his 'Balance' crystal.

Damage 8

Crit 2

Breach 1

Sunder

Special Abilities:

Accuracy +2

Innate Talent Heightened Awareness

Innate Talent Touch of Fate

Maybe though..I dunno I really like that morality suggestion.

Maybe though..I dunno I really like that morality suggestion.

Not too late to throw in a couple of tweaks to what you've done! And your player will probably love it. Or curse you for it. Personally I prefer the latter but to each GM their own. It'll certainly surprise them, that's for sure!