After playing quite a bit using the RAW morality, I'm still not a huge fan of how this is calculated and would like to propose an alternative. My initial objections and subsequent discussion are
here
.
First, I would like to introduce the concept of Resolve , which is the counterpart to conflict. Essentially you can gain Resolve mechanically or narratively, by doing things such as:
- Protecting the weak / innocent
- Acting in a fair and honest manner
- Accepting surrender of defeated foes
- Avoiding combat, or fighting in a non-lethal manner
- Putting others ahead of yourself
- Successfully activating force powers using only light-side pips
So, now that you have both Resolve and Conflict, how does that translate into Morality?
At the end of an encounter you have time to reflect on your deeds. Make an Average difficulty Willpower check , adding one boost die per resolve and one setback die per conflict gained during the encounter. If successful, increase morality by 2 for each uncancelled success and 1 for each uncancelled advantage. If failed, decrease morality by 2 for each uncancelled failure and 1 by each uncancelled threat.
So that's the mechanic, and here's why I like it:
Immediate Resolution
This is a solution to my main complaint that time matters when performing the d10 roll. Morality should be determined by your actions, both positive and negative, not by how much time you spend at the gaming table.
It maintains the randomness
This still keeps an element of randomness in the morality calculation, so that players cannot explicitly game the system.
It involves your character's essence
By tying the mechanic to Willpower your character's composition is taken into account, which I believe makes more sense than arbitrary adjustment for everyone. A character with higher willpower should be able to resist the pull of the dark side, because they have stronger will. An argument could be made for this being a Discipline check, rather than a raw Willpower check, but I personally feel that it's more about a character's core essence than the skills the training they've had.
It uses the FFG dice
Another beautiful part is that it uses the narrative dice skill check that powers the rest of the system. The boost and setback die are already the correct colors, and this feels like it fits in with the other game mechanics. Most importantly, the dice tell a story . If you succeed, is it because your will is strong (successes on ability dice) or because you did good (successes on boost die). Did you fail because you did horrible things (failures on setback die), or simply because you cannot resist the pull of the dark side (failures on difficulty die).
I understand the chorus of "it works fine as it is," but I simply disagree and I propose this as an alternative for consideration or use as house-rule. I would appreciate discussion to be civil arguments regarding the above proposed system, and not diverge into "works as it is" or "morality is terrible."