Okay, now I am done whining Do I have much to worry about? Are they still going to be the weapon I love Star Wars for, even if understandably staged back? What I'm reading above does seem promising.

The early lightsabers we saw in EotE and AoR are now pinnacle versions of the lightsabers. You can build up to that pinnacle if you so choose, but they are not inherently like those early ones. So you can eventually have your +5 vorpal sword, but not right of the bat.

Yep, but it's not too difficult now -- just drop a point or two into Mechanics, find a workbench and pick up 700 CR worth of Genuine Fast-Acting Krayt Dragon Crystal Polish and you'll be cutting through Sith Lords like warm butter. I guarantee it.

Lightsabers still have Breach. That makes them a potent tool from the get-go, and still a very unique weapon.

Yep, but it's not too difficult now -- just drop a point or two into Mechanics, find a workbench and pick up 700 CR worth of Genuine Fast-Acting Krayt Dragon Crystal Polish and you'll be cutting through Sith Lords like warm butter. I guarantee it.

I tried, but I failed my Streetwise check..."hey man, can I bum some Krayt Dragon Polish off you?"

"No? ....you got 5 credits?"

Lightsabers still have Breach. That makes them a potent tool from the get-go, and still a very unique weapon.

Of course I liked the Vicious X they have/had, but if they still have Breach, and Breach and Armor still have the same relationship, then I can be very much happy over that. A weapon that ignores pretty much any personal armor? Yep, that's a lot of the lightsaber feel I wanted, even if, barring Vader, Boba Fett, and Storm-flavors, few people wear armor in the SW universe. Thanks.

A slightly-related question: in F&D, how might the characters in game acquire their lightsaber? Other lines did their bit to reflect how rare, illegal, and such these ancient weapons are. In other lines, "Jedi" get to start with one, usually given to them by their master. That's not as likely for the player group, where that many "free" lightsabers would be just ridiculous, and they can't all be Order 66 survivors, who still have theirs. You can't go to most stores to buy them, and they aren't as simple to assemble as all that, nor are all the parts that common. Sure, you could defeat an Imperial who has one, and keep it, but how else? We finally have a line that doesn't shy away from them, but starting gear still doesn't freebie them to you (thank god).

Could you MAKE one? Certainly I know that Jedi do make lightsabers, but that usually involves instruction, and access to supplies. Does the book talk about it? It's got modding stuff, but how about the hilt, itself? How have you, or you players, gone about getting your vaunted lightsabers? I haven't seen the new cartoon, yet, but I really hope Kanan didn't just "have a spare" to give to Ezra, especially as his looks weird with the toys. Need to watch that, sometime.

The sidebar on p125 pretty much covers that. The check to find it and the listed cost can represent just the raw materials to construct the hilt rather than actually purchasing the hilt itself. Of course, you still have to find a crystal to put in it. That would probably be handled in narrative rather than just making a roll to find and buy one.

Star Wars Rebels semi-spoiler (select to highlight):

< In Rebels, Ezra doesn't have a lightsaber yet as of Monday's episode (season 1 episode 5 of 7 if you don't include the movie as episode 1). >

The sidebar on p125 pretty much covers that. The check to find it and the listed cost can represent just the raw materials to construct the hilt rather than actually purchasing the hilt itself. Of course, you still have to find a crystal to put in it. That would probably be handled in narrative rather than just making a roll to find and buy one.

Thank you for the direct. I only know Ezra has a weird lightsaber because the 2-foot tall toy has a bizarre handle for the thing; looking forward to more typical toys coming out for some of these characters. I'm atypically resisting going to the wookieepedia, and having it give anything away.

A slightly-related question: in F&D, how might the characters in game acquire their lightsaber?

a) Start at "Knight" level -- you can choose it as part of your starting gear.

b) Start at normal starting level and wait for the GM to introduce one through the story.

A slightly-related question: in F&D, how might the characters in game acquire their lightsaber?

a) Start at "Knight" level -- you can choose it as part of your starting gear.

b) Start at normal starting level and wait for the GM to introduce one through the story.

I'm going to request you not think I'm being snippy, but yeah, I sort of thought of those. (A) sounds convenient, but for (B), I was more hoping for an example from experience, not "and the GM introduced it." This is a setting where these are illegal weapons, not even kept in exhibits at museums. You'd either find out they exist, and somehow make your own, or you'd have to find one, either from taking a defeated enemy's, maybe getting one from your Mentor, or discovering it left in some hidden cache. I was hoping for such stories that might illustrate how others tackled this issue with a device that doesn't usually "just show up."

In mine, I have an example, back from when I wanted to make a "Jedi" in Edge. Aedan was your typical Kanan-clone, though i thought of it long before that character. He was a small child at the end of the Clone Wars, and got injured in a battle, in Separatist-space. Using hidden identities and funds, his Master admitted him to a hospital close by, and he had to stay there for a time. She took his lightsaber with her, so that no questions would sprout up. While there, his Master got orders to report in for an assignment; a group of her peers were being tasked with eliminating Grievous. She failed, as did the rest, and her lightsabers, Aedan's included, were seized by the monster collector. Aedan had funds to get better, and a cover story, but little else, and soon, the war was over, the Galactic Empire was on the rise, and it wasn't so safe to be a Jedi. Still out in boonie-space, he had to fade away, and become someone else. This might seem the typical FSE character. What later happens, he ends up with a small crew, a family who initially might try to even turn him in for the Jedi bounty. Eventually, while the group of them are now in hiding, they find out about a crime boss with a strange collection, and one of those is the lightsabers Grievous had (Kenobi didn't collect them, or he'd have had them when Cody betrayed him, and I don't remember any other mention, so an Utapauan found them, they circulated for a bit, and this jerk criminal bought them. Aedan, of course, wants his and hos Master's back, for personal reasons, and the rest for the future; he feels the Jedi will someday return, and if he can make sure those starting few are properly equipped for their future roles, then that might be the destiny he was born to achieve; the reason he survived. He sneaks in, things go pear, and the father and daughter he's been traveling with have to come save him. They manage, they get away, and Aedan has his lightsaber. He contemplates dual-wielding, but decides against it, and gives his Master's to the daughter, who is a soon to be FSE. The rest, he stashes in a secure place, I won't say where, because it's ridiculous, but yeah. And of course, now they all have one more enemy out for their hides, as the EotE system often seems to like.

So that's one long, convoluted mess, and I was sort of hoping for some others to read. Oh well, mine benefits more from i wrote it, as a game to use Aedan in was not available, and many of my character ideas become story ideas, so that I can get them out of my head, but remember them.

Nothing snippy about her statement. She just listed the 2 ways to get a lightsaber.

I was actually apologizing for after that getting ready to sound snippy, myself. She did, in fact, do what I asked.

A slightly-related question: in F&D, how might the characters in game acquire their lightsaber?

a) Start at "Knight" level -- you can choose it as part of your starting gear.

b) Start at normal starting level and wait for the GM to introduce one through the story.

c) lightsaber auction...?

hospital

**** you midi-chlorians! Always showing up in my bloodwork!

Seriously though, love the character concept. Just had to take a minute to rage at the second-stupidest thing in star wars canon.

Come to think of it, that thought never occurred to me. In a typical hospital, even a Separatist one, I didn't stop to think that they might run such a test; that or I decided to forget the m-word was ever a thing, because they are a dumb thing.

Oh also, I'm a fan of using the Mentor group benefit as a dead master or something similar to teach PCs how to build their own lightsaber.

Alternatively, there is plenty of room to deal with criminals and collectors of ancient relics. Just the fact that they're incredibly rare, highly valuable, and extremely illegal doesn't mean that there isn't one out there *somewhere* for you to find.

A slightly-related question: in F&D, how might the characters in game acquire their lightsaber?

a) Start at "Knight" level -- you can choose it as part of your starting gear.

b) Start at normal starting level and wait for the GM to introduce one through the story.

c) lightsaber auction...?

I think we can put that under b), subordinate, to wit:

1. Black Market.

2. Mentor gift.

3. Loot.

4. Make one.

...or I decided to forget the m-word was ever a thing, because they are a dumb thing.

Run with this; never look back.

A slightly-related question: in F&D, how might the characters in game acquire their lightsaber?

a) Start at "Knight" level -- you can choose it as part of your starting gear.

b) Start at normal starting level and wait for the GM to introduce one through the story.

c) lightsaber auction...?

I think we can put that under b), subordinate, to wit:

1. Black Market.

2. Mentor gift.

3. Loot.

4. Make one.

okay...

c) kill Knight-Level PC and take it from him.

Last I checked rumor was in EP VII lightsabers will just fall from the sky....