One of my PC's is interested in running a character that uses a Light Whip. Unfortunately I know comparatively next to nothing about the Star Wars lore so this caught me rather by surprise, I've read the Wookiepedia article which helped a bit, but I still had some questions about them.

My PC assures me that these things were not just used by Jedi, so having one, and using it wouldn't necessarily bring the Inquisition down on you, but how common would they really be?

Finally I'm faced with making a stat sheet for the weapon, looking at the article, I'd expect it to be slightly less damaging than a Lightsaber, but also harder to block, harder to use, and prone to causing nasty, tangling, vicious injuries.

So maybe something like Damage 5, Crit 3, range short, Hp 2, unwieldy 3, inaccurate, ensnare, Vicious 1. Pierce 1

If I emphasise the space required to swing one of these as well, then suitable disadvantages and threats could easily hurt you or your friends as much as the enemy.

So does this seem fair? Price isn't particularly an issue but i'd imagine a ballpark of around 4000.

Hey Musket Max ill have a look into this too we too discussed whips.

I had a player that played around with a light whip for a while. The stats I created where slightly different than what you came up with, but not significantly. It really depends on the flavor you are trying to create. The one thing I might think about though is not having it be effective at Short range and sticking with Engaged. With ranges being a very loose measure and each range band covering a fairly large area, having it be effective at short range would result in a whip that is like 50 feet long. Engaged in Edge of the Empire isn't comparable to the typical 5 foot reach of other RPGs.

I also didn't give it inaccurate, or unwieldy, but you could only use your Ability and not your Melee skill. I had him spend XP to gain the Lightwhip Skill. Kind of like using a lightsaber.

Having it hit yourself or an ally that is engaged with you on a Despair, or several Threats is a good idea as well.

I think in the dark times of the Empire any sighting of a light-* weapon would draw the attention of the Inquisition. Moreover, I seem to remember from WEG materials that the whips were really unwieldy, so I think that using them without the Force would require some serious consequences in case of despair etc.

Having said that - I remember that in some episodes of the Clone Wars some slavers used weapons similar to light whips - stun whips, but they also crackled with energy etc. No severing limbs with those, though. But they did cause Obi-Wan some trouble too...

I would agree to not allow Short Range as a base, however I would allow a Player to spend a Destiny Point to make a single attack Short Range (adding a Difficulty as well). I think this a fair compromise giving the PC the option but making it something special and unexpected rather than mundane. Also I would drop the Ensnare because it's not a "physical" whip but an energy beam that'll just cut through it's target anyway. It's not really a whip but a lightsaber with some whip-like properties.

Edit: They are also mentioned in the Darth Bane series and that they were less accurate and more difficult to use but that they make up for it by being so unusual that no one trained to defend against them.

In the EU there are two distinct versions of the Lightwhip. Firstly there is the one that is just a hilt and the whip part is entirely energy, in which case I would agree with FuriousGreg that Ensnare would not be the best option for this version. There us also a version where the whip part has a cortosis core and the energy travels along this solid core. This type is not quite as powerful and would likely not have the Breach quality like a lightsaber, but would be suitable for the Entangle property. This later version is what I wrote up for my friend's PC. Solid Cortosis Core, 6 damage Crit 3, Range; Engaged, Ensnare, Pierce 2, No HP, Uses Agility Attribute and requires Lightwhip skill to add Proficiency dice. I Also wrote up a chart for ways to spend Triumph, Despair, Threat, and Advantage specific to the weapon.