So I was rolling up some baddies for my Force and Destiny campaign when I came across a bothersome scenario. Bind is not one of the options for Force Powers for Inquisitors.

I could pick harm and do some re-flavoring or just pick up the basic power and a few upgrades, but I don't feel I should have to, This ability is incredibly iconic, not just in the movies but in TCW as well.

I feel Bind should be in the quick rules for Inquisitors.

I'm GM Phil, and I endorse this message.

"Although this process is designed to help GMs quickly create interesting Inquisitor characters, the GM should not feel bound by it if he has another idea in mind. Instead, he should feel free to design his terrifying NPC as he sees fit, and if that means bending the rules a little bit, then so be it!"



I'd like to have a hearty laugh over this bit: "...if that means bending the rules a little bit.."

Bwahahahahahahaha... Seriously, I'm not even going to bother looking at this section for making interesting Force Using opponents...

+1 to having Bind on an inquisitor. it's just not the same without it.

I imagine the reason they decided to gloss over it is because it's a less hands-on power, and it gets deadly really fast. Inquisitor would be spending tons of actions slowing down players, players are spending turns unable to move toward the Inquisitor and just having general issues doing actions, and (if they were to give it in the power) would be able to start racking up easy crits on players.

That said, I do agree it should still be shoved into the powers anyways. Some Inquisitors just work better in the back while his stormtroopers do the heavy lifting, and it's a great power to throw at high XP groups.

My line of thinking is similar to Lathorp's. Plus, in comparison to powers like Harm and Unleash, Bind really isn't that "dark" of a power, and either is fairly weak in comparison, since going by the upgrades taken for other powers, Bind isn't likely to offer a whole lot beyond denying the target their action, inflicting some wound and strain damage with a setback die for a round or two, possibly against a couple of targets or at a longer range.

That and to an extent, doing a "force choke" is kind of Vader's thing, and seeing an Inquisitor do the same may lead to players deriding said adversary as a "Vader wannabe" that much quicker, particularly if you've also equipped them with a lightsaber (red blade or otherwise).

Plus, it's damage that the PCs can't resist outside of some fairly fuzzy rules only mentioned in a sidebar, and many players aren't keen on taking damage that they can't do anything to resist. To say nothing of being able to constantly deny one or more players their actions through repeated use of this power.

My line of thinking is similar to Lathorp's. Plus, in comparison to powers like Harm and Unleash, Bind really isn't that "dark" of a power, and either is fairly weak in comparison, since going by the upgrades taken for other powers, Bind isn't likely to offer a whole lot beyond denying the target their action, inflicting some wound and strain damage with a setback die for a round or two, possibly against a couple of targets or at a longer range.

Thanks in large part to The Clone Wars, Force choking is very much an iconic dark sider ability. I suppose I'll have to agree to disagree with this line of reasoning.

Plus, it's damage that the PCs can't resist outside of some fairly fuzzy rules only mentioned in a sidebar, and many players aren't keen on taking damage that they can't do anything to resist. To say nothing of being able to constantly deny one or more players their actions through repeated use of this power.

This is a good point. I'm going to write up an condensed form of "Bind" and test it out in a few sessions. I'll make a note of what kind of reactions I'll get from my PCs.

In the Clone Wars even kidnapped Jedi younglings used Force Choke. Ahsoka didn't seem surprised.

I'm going to have to go with Kaosoe on this one, though I think it falls under the section Evileeyore mentioned.

Sure, it's Dark Side. I could see a non-Dark Bind, but choking someone? Even a little (Luke in Return) that's a bit Dark.

In the Clone Wars even kidnapped Jedi younglings used Force Choke. Ahsoka didn't seem surprised.

I'm going to have to go with Kaosoe on this one, though I think it falls under the section Evileeyore mentioned.

Sure, it's Dark Side. I could see a non-Dark Bind, but choking someone? Even a little (Luke in Return) that's a bit Dark.

Personally, I always liked the idea of lightsiders using Force Choke as a way of just incapacitating somebody - doing it just until the person went unconscious and then letting go. Still a little on the dark side, but definitely a less violent alternative to slicing them down with a lightsaber, and it still being used more as a last resort type of thing when peaceful alternatives fail. I used to assume that's what Luke did in RotJ since his slightly ludicrous multi-stage plan to get Han back initially was non-violent.

In terms of Luke and RotJ, he was meant to be tettering between light and dark through most of the movie, as symbolized by his black outfit. He may have been acting to save his friend(s), but he also wasn't the least bit upset about having to kill Jabba to do it, and his tone of voice and expression when he says "this is the last mistake you'll ever make!" carries through that he's almost looking forward to Jabba's death; quite possibly his complicated scheme was a subconscious means of justifying the death of the crime lord for all the suffering that Jabba has inflicted on people, not only those native to Tatooine (like Luke) but to other sentients across the galaxy as well. True that he doesn't kill the guards, but he does use a Force choke to get them out of his way. He probably could have just mind-tricked the guards to let him pass, which would be far less violent, and he did at least try to reason with Bib before employing the mind whammy. There's also the fact that he used Artoo to smuggle in his primary weapon; true it could be called "insurance in case things go wrong," but more than likely he wanted to make sure that when violence did happen, Luke could easily get access to his primary weapon.

His plan may have been non-violent on first glance, but it was so prone to going wrong that violence was pretty much the only way it was going to end.

Heck, Luke's first reaction when things went sour was to, lo and behold, go for a gun...

Incidentally, I wonder where the idea of " mind trick someone into believing that they're being Force choked " falls on the FFG-RAW morality scale, because I'd heard at least one claim that that's what Luke was doing to the Gamorreans...

So digging this topic up, I did some number-crunching on the Force Power options offered for Inquisitors, to see how much XP they each cost.

Unleash (75 XP presuming 2 Strength Upgrades and the Range Upgrade that's between them), followed by Harm (65 XP, mostly from sheer cost of the upgrades) then Move (60 XP) with Influence (40 XP) being the cheapest. Averaged out, that's about 60 XP, which sets a decent benchmark for how much XP to devote to Bind.

So, for a possible default option that uses the Bind power, I suggest the following set-up:

Bind basic power (10 XP)

+2 Range Upgrades (25 XP)

+2 Strength Upgrades (15 XP)

+1 Control Upgrade: Inflict Strain (10 XP)

Total XP cost: 60 XP

I used a similar set-up (only one Range Upgrade and no Strength Upgrades) for an Imperial Dark Jedi/Inquisitor Lite for a recent session, and it worked out pretty well, with one PC being rather surprised at taking wounds and strain (since the IDJ was a dark side Force user).

I've been feeling pretty lazy these last few weeks, so I hadn't had a chance to work this out. I may just steal your work. Thank you.

I've been feeling pretty lazy these last few weeks, so I hadn't had a chance to work this out. I may just steal your work. Thank you.

Quite welcome.

I was tempted to add the Control Upgrade to move the target instead of the Control Upgrade to inflict strain, but opted to go for the strain damage since that would do a better job of getting the PCs nervous than just suddenly being pulled face-to-face with the Inquisitor or pushed a range band away. Could just be added to the existing package, putting the XP cost at 70 and thus just 5 XP behind Unleash.

Heck, Luke's first reaction when things went sour was to, lo and behold, go for a gun...

Incidentally, I wonder where the idea of " mind trick someone into believing that they're being Force choked " falls on the FFG-RAW morality scale, because I'd heard at least one claim that that's what Luke was doing to the Gamorreans...

Personally, I love the conflict in RotJ. Luke says he senses it in Vader, but I think the perceptive viewer can also sense it in Luke.

But to the point of this question, this use of Influence would be dark side, because you'd be using the power to make someone believe they were being choked, which induces fear, which is a dark side thing according to the power's "special rules."