As an observation, one of the selling points of the FFG games is cross-compatibility between the different games. I'm wondering what mechanics. Up to now, I've listed the following:

- Force User Careers have only 6 skills (and 3 levels) instead of 8(4) on character creation, although this is arguably counter-balanced by their automatic Force Rating 1.
- The need for Force Users to invest XP on a wider array of powers/talents instead of just talents.
- No attribute improvement through specialization trees (only force Rating).
- Credits are the same, no difference there.
- Morality tends to restrict instead of rewarding (Duty), except for extreme (Paragon/Dark) values, a bit like Obligation.

Do you see other mechanics that are used to tweak relative balance between characters?
How do you expect those balancing mechanics will perform in actual play?
Do you think some of them will work better/worse on the long game?

(Note: This is probably a futile attempt at , but this thread is squarely not in "should Jedi be more powerful" territory, only in "here are the observations on how the game system tries to balance different characters".)

- No attribute improvement through specialization trees (only force Rating).

Not entirely correct. Saber form trees have Dedication. Non-saber form trees have both Force Rating and Dedication. A couple trees have Force Rating twice, but no Dedication. Niman saber form is the exception: both Force Rating and Dedication in a saber form tree.

Force Move aside, I see no balance issues at all. When you boil it down a Lightsaber swinger is just a Marauder with a flashy beat stick. All the hiccups that can be used against a Marauder will work against a Lightsaber wielding character. The Force powers, with Move already noted, are either not that overwhelming, or cost so much xp to invest in directly, as well as, the need for advanced FRs to even buy, it just isn't an issue in my mind.

Lightsabers are dialed back and encouraged not to be given out to starting characters.

It seem like they're pretty balanced in general. Looking ahead, I'm guessing that if given an unlimited amount of XP, force users will eventually outstrip non-force users. That said, the amount of XP for that to happen would be huge. A campaign would have to go on for a LONG time for it to reach that level.

With my starting Seer I'm suffering for XP-lock. So many things that I want/need to buy that I just can't figure out which to buy first.

Force Move aside, I see no balance issues at all. When you boil it down a Lightsaber swinger is just a Marauder with a flashy beat stick. All the hiccups that can be used against a Marauder will work against a Lightsaber wielding character. The Force powers, with Move already noted, are either not that overwhelming, or cost so much xp to invest in directly, as well as, the need for advanced FRs to even buy, it just isn't an issue in my mind.

The minimal Force Ratings for some powers is certainly another mechanic worth mentioning, thanks.

Looked too quickly for Dedication, so I guess that's not one.

Any chance the "commit" powers from Seek/Enhance could throw other talents out of whack?

The force rating requirements for several powers. FR 3 is nothing to sneeze at.

Your (accurate) "Marauder with a flashy beat stick" comment got me thinking, to compare the Move versus a "standard" ranged attack.

Blaster Rifle
- Ranged (Heavy) Skill, Average difficulty.
- Gets one target.
- Damage 9+successes (So 10+ on a single target).
- Critical: 3.
- Max Range: Long.

VS the good ol'Stormtrooper throwing with Move (my understanding of it anyway):

- Discipline Skill, difficulty 1 or opposed by Resilience
- 35 XP to get basic power, strength upgrade, range+control upgrade.
- 2 Force points to use including Strength activation (25% success at Force Rating 1).
- Damages two targets (victim + target), possibly more with AutoFire.
- Damage 10 + successes (Damage 20+ really because it damages both the thrown and the target).
- No Criticals.
- Max Range: Close, XPs and Force points to get to Medium or Long Range

I took the Blaster Rifle because it's a readily available "decent ranged attack", but comparisons could be made with the (clearly weaker) Blaster Pistol and the (less "basic") Light Repeating Blaster (Dam. 12, auto-fire and piercing but cumbersome).

So overall Move VS a Ranged attack is just a shorter ranged, high damage ranged attack (since it damages two targets) requiring more XP that is more likely to fail because of the Force Points requirements. Sure, you can dish out 40 points of damage enventually, but that will not happen before Force Rating 3 at least (to generate the req'd 5 force points)

And it's useful to remember that some Force Talents will not work against certain Force-resistant species, and ysalamiri create those anti-Force bubbles. Toss in some cortosis equipment and a slugthrower and there are ways of putting Force Users in their place if they start getting uppity.

I think that any imbalances can be corrected by a savvy GM; or in other words I only see imbalances created by GM's who let it get that way, because the system seems well-thought-out and well-integrated so far. Of course, my group hasn't had a chance to put F&D on the table yet, I've just read through the beta a few times. Bad summer vacations...

Force Move aside, I see no balance issues at all. When you boil it down a Lightsaber swinger is just a Marauder with a flashy beat stick. All the hiccups that can be used against a Marauder will work against a Lightsaber wielding character. The Force powers, with Move already noted, are either not that overwhelming, or cost so much xp to invest in directly, as well as, the need for advanced FRs to even buy, it just isn't an issue in my mind.

The minimal Force Ratings for some powers is certainly another mechanic worth mentioning, thanks.

Looked too quickly for Dedication, so I guess that's not one.

Any chance the "commit" powers from Seek/Enhance could throw other talents out of whack?

The "commit" mechanic is another point of balance where you may have several different things all competing for your limited Force dice. For instance, while Sense's defense upgrade seems iconic to me, the lightsaber form trees, and several of the other specializations have some talents that allow you to roll your Force Rating with a check, with special uses for your generated points, which are hampered significantly by committing dice to things like Sense (up to 2), and Enhance (up to 2), or Seek (3), Battle Meditation (3), and Bind (2 I think...loaned book to GM), Force Protect (up to 2), etc... Heck, the Enhance power does this to itself, with your having to purchase the ability to roll your FR on Piloting checks on the way to the upgrade to commit a die to your Agility. Yes, increasing your Agility by 1 is going to be a bigger boon for your Piloting than rolling a Force die, but they're definitely working against each other.

And that's all ignoring the fact that it takes time (actions and maneuvers) to commit/uncommit Force dice to effects, while you may want to be using some Force powers in an encounter as well, and you simply can't do both effectively until you're at a fairly high FR (that's also one of the major benefits of attain a high FR--being able to both commit dice and still use your various talents and powers effectively).