I'm playing with a house rule I would like to run past you guys. I personally think having a Force Rating should have some benefit to starting characters. Minor abilities that don't necessarily require training and does not break the game. For each of these abilities as long as you roll 1 force point you can activate them.

1. Feel the Force: When making Perception check can roll Force Die equal to rating, if at least one point is generated and check is successful, sense if the target is Force Sensitive. Depending on knowledge of force may just think there is something special about target.

2. Meditation: Allows benefit of a 8 hours sleep in four hours. While meditating you are aware. [Regain 1 wound + All Strain] While meditating may receive guiding vision from the Force.

3. Minor Telekinesis: Force check to move Sil 0 object within engaged range band.

4. Projective Telepathy: Presence + Force Check, Projects a simple message or image to living creature, Receptive Telepathy to understand. [Difficulty by range and relationship]

5. Receptive Telepathy: Perception + Force Check if point generated can receive and understand telepathic message.

6. Search Your Feelings: Discipline + Force Check to seek guidance from the Force [GM]

Aside from the ideas listed above. Rather than make new abilities how would you guys add force sensitivity to the narrative? I don't want characters to be more powerful at creation I just want to be sure and show the difference between force sensitive characters and those that are not before they get their powers and start hurling people with their minds.

ummm a lot of these are represented by actual force powers. Don't give force powers away for free.

ummm a lot of these are represented by actual force powers. Don't give force powers away for free.

This. The game doesn't need the Use the Force skill from Saga.

Yeah, there's some definite problems, and as mouthymerc said this game really doesn't need Saga Edition's Use the Force.

1) Feel the Force - this is a part of the Sense basic power, and in fact would fit better as an extension of such rather than a separate effect.

2) Not bad as a concept, but require the PC to either commit a Force die during that time (so that if they are forcefully awakened, they're not at full Force readiness). Or simply let the PC roll their Force dice, spending a Force Point to cut the time needed for a full night's sleep by half, and each additional Force Point to recover 1 wound up to their Brawn score to keep the amount of recovery from getting too crazy as the PCs boost up their Force Rating.

3) This is pretty much already a part of Move, and if within the Engaged range band there's no reason why a PC with Move couldn't just describe scooping up an object or dropped weapon as a maneuver as using a quick bit of TK rather than wasting an Action.

4) This should be it's own effect.

5) This is part and parcel of Sense, sensing the thoughts of other. And besides, no special check should be needed to receive a telepathic message; Leia had no trouble getting Luke's message in ESB and she wasn't even aware of being Force-sensitive.

6) This is already an aspect of the Foresee basic power, with at least one Strength Upgrade needed to get more concrete details.

Aside from the ideas listed above. Rather than make new abilities how would you guys add force sensitivity to the narrative? I don't want characters to be more powerful at creation I just want to be sure and show the difference between force sensitive characters and those that are not before they get their powers and start hurling people with their minds.

We do a few things too:

1. If you have a Force Rating you can resist all Force powers with Discipline. If you do not have a Force Rating you have to resist with the appropriate skill. That's pretty good right there for characters likely to have a good Discipline.

2. If a target of a Force Power has a higher Force Rating, the opposed roll is upgraded once.

3. For characters who have a Force Rating I often let them know if they sense Force or Dark Side presence with no roll.

Yeah, these are all pretty much covered. Even telepathy can be considered an odd use of Battle Meditations ability to send orders, and considering that sucker now has the capacity for Planetary Scale, I am not sure much more is needed.

JinFaram,

I think you have a good point but I wouldn't focus on the mechanics so much. Sort of like a Force Rating is like being Force "athletic"--there are just baseline things you can. But I'd make it more narrative.

Does a Force Rating 2 PC that has spent enough XP to be able to move an x-wing probably have other Force abilities? Yeah, they are pretty disciplined and trained so there will be a vision here or a sense there. Probably best to make that narrative.

I'm not a fan of I couldn't do it at all one day and the next I can becasue I spent the XP. A more organic progression is more realistic and I must say this system already does that pretty well but on the margins it gets a little wonky. If you have a 3 FR and buy a power suddenly you can use it pretty reliably.

I ask the player what they are concentrating on next (XP wise) and work it into the narrative in minor ways here and there until they "take control." For example if the PC will be buying sense next and the party spends a DP to get a helping hand I might say the Force PC senses a presence behind the next door. They don't have the power yet but they are a competent Force user training in Sense and spent a DP to get a clue by rules--no problem making it a Force "event."

I wasn't so much looking to add more abilities or give powers for free. I just am trying to find a way distinguish starting Force Sensitive characters who haven't had any training yet. For example Ezra and Anakin showing signs of Force Sensitivity before their training began. I will just work on it adding it into narrative more.

I have to agree, that most of these already exist as powers, and your cheapening or totally avoiding those powers by giving them the freebies. If you want characters to start out with some actual Force powers then start them at Knight Level, or give them some bonus xp after character creation.

I wasn't so much looking to add more abilities or give powers for free. I just am trying to find a way distinguish starting Force Sensitive characters who haven't had any training yet. For example Ezra and Anakin showing signs of Force Sensitivity before their training began. I will just work on it adding it into narrative more.

I've handled this mostly through narration. We had a PC accidentally push somebody off a balcony with TK, and have had a few generic, you feel something evil coming, or you sense something moments. They didn't have any powers and have absolutely no control over these things, but the GM can just make things happen when they want and it would advance the plot, be dramatically appropriate, or just be really cool.

I wasn't so much looking to add more abilities or give powers for free. I just am trying to find a way distinguish starting Force Sensitive characters who haven't had any training yet. For example Ezra and Anakin showing signs of Force Sensitivity before their training began. I will just work on it adding it into narrative more.

Unfortunately, that's what your initial suggestions amount to, is giving away Force power effects for free.

As for Ezra and Anakin, they probably both have Enhance (Ezra with the Force Leap upgrade, Anakin having delved into the Piloting upgrades) and possibly Sense purchased with their starting XP, same as any other starting Force user could do. Ezra later learns telekinesis (buys the Move power) during his training with Kanan, while Anakin had a 10 year time skip to learn all sorts of additional abilities. None of them really had any "free abilities" such as what you're suggesting.

As Mouthymerc noted, Saga Edition went that particularly route due to a combination of how the feat and particularly training in skills worked. In SWSE, getting trained in a new skill was a pretty big deal, as you either had to bump your Intelligence to a new modifier or take a feat. And unless you started in the Jedi class, getting trained in Use the Force required the PC to spend an extremely valuable character level feat to become Force-sensitive. So in that respect, having Use the Force provide a number of "lesser abilities" made sense, as the designers wanted a character who grabbed said skill to have it be immediately useful without having to take a specific feat (Force Training) to get the actual Force powers.

In FFG's system, particularly for Force and Destiny where everyone starts out at Force Rating 1, having those sorts of "default" powers isn't really necessary. It also helps keep the Force users on a roughly even par with the mundanes, which has generally been a problem with all the prior Star Wars RPGs. For WEG, it was that the Force skills simply did too much as the PC advanced, while for Saga Edition the biggest problem was how skill check bonuses scaled vs. Defense scores as well as how the Skill Focus feat operated, making a low-level Force user capable of steamrolling bad guys in various ways.

As Mouthymerc noted, Saga Edition went that particularly route due to a combination of how the feat and particularly training in skills worked. In SWSE, getting trained in a new skill was a pretty big deal, as you either had to bump your Intelligence to a new modifier or take a feat. And unless you started in the Jedi class, getting trained in Use the Force required the PC to spend an extremely valuable character level feat to become Force-sensitive. So in that respect, having Use the Force provide a number of "lesser abilities" made sense, as the designers wanted a character who grabbed said skill to have it be immediately useful without having to take a specific feat (Force Training) to get the actual Force powers.

In FFG's system, particularly for Force and Destiny where everyone starts out at Force Rating 1, having those sorts of "default" powers isn't really necessary. It also helps keep the Force users on a roughly even par with the mundanes, which has generally been a problem with all the prior Star Wars RPGs. For WEG, it was that the Force skills simply did too much as the PC advanced, while for Saga Edition the biggest problem was how skill check bonuses scaled vs. Defense scores as well as how the Skill Focus feat operated, making a low-level Force user capable of steamrolling bad guys in various ways.

This. Plus, in Saga Edition a Force Sensitive had to be trained in the skill in order to Use the Force. So yeah, there is no Use the Force skill in this edition; there are only cheap, basic-level Force powers. You can buy Move and Sense with your starting XP at hardly any loss and be "trained" to "Use the Force"

I think incorporating these ideas can be done, but the character can't use any abilities intentionally. A character might have occasional prophetic dreams, or a painful vision when, say, a planet blows up, but that's about it. Aside from that, the GM is welcome to get narrative with it. The character made an exceptional attack roll? "It is as though you can see his every feint, every parry before it happens, and your hand is guided to strike true." He makes a roll to determine that someone is lying to him? "You can feel the deception behind his sweet words, and almost hear the truth hidden in his mind."

I think incorporating these ideas can be done, but the character can't use any abilities intentionally. A character might have occasional prophetic dreams, or a painful vision when, say, a planet blows up, but that's about it. Aside from that, the GM is welcome to get narrative with it. The character made an exceptional attack roll? "It is as though you can see his every feint, every parry before it happens, and your hand is guided to strike true." He makes a roll to determine that someone is lying to him? "You can feel the deception behind his sweet words, and almost hear the truth hidden in his mind."

Frankly, handling it in a purely narrative sense would be the best approach, giving the PC a slight narrative edge due to their being Force-sensitive rather than trying to nail down any purely mechanical effects.

No need of this options from my point of view. With easiness you can pick basic powers, so no need of that "free powers".

The only effect I would add is cinematic and the GM tolds you that...