So, I'm statting out the Stennes Shifters for the Great Movie Alien Compendium. They have the ability to use the Force to hide themselves in crowds, which I'm trying to represent in FFG rules. For reference, here's how West End Games described the power:

Shifting: The Stennes Shifter uses its shifting ability to conceal itself in large crowds. This counts as an action. In crowds of 20–50 individuals, a Stennes gains +1D to sneak rolls. In crowds of 51–75 individuals, a Shifter gains +2D. In crowds of 76-100, the bonus increases to +3D. In crowds of over 100 individuals, a Shifter gains +4D. This shifting affects everybody, except telepathic-resistant beings like Hutts.

Here's how I've interpreted it so far (folding in some other information from that same WEG source):

• Cloud Minds: Stennes Shifters can tap into the Force to cloud the minds of those around them and thus keep from being noticed. Treat this ability as the Influence Force power, which for the purposes of this species ability only can be used as if the character had Force Rating 1. Subsequent increases in Force Rating (by purchasing Force-user specializations, etc.) also increase this power’s Force Rating by 1. To activate the power, the Stennes Shifter can draw on both light and dark pips on the Force die. The power only works in crowds of 20 or more, automatically affecting anyone within Short range (ignore the Magnitude enhancement for this species ability). Individuals who suspect or know they are being targeted may make an opposed Discipline check against the Stennes Shifter to resist the mind clouding as if the Stennes Shifter had the 10-point Control upgrade. If the Stennes Shifter interacts with someone while using this power, that individual automatically sees through the mind clouding; if the Stennes Shifter attempts to harm someone affected by this power, the target may make a Vigilance check to avoid the attack. The Cloud Minds power lasts for 1 round or 5 minutes. It has no effect on droids, electronic surveillance devices, and Force-resistant species.

Does this look balanced? Have I got the Force rules correct? And how much would you charge for something like this as a species ability?

Thanks for the help!

A couple of questions.

Is this a "Force" species? Will they all have a Force Rating?

In any case I would just give them the Force talent Sleight of Mind as part of their species package.

I'll have to dig out their stats once home to better analyze.

I would be very tempted to go with a simpler method that doesn't technically use a Force Power. The simplest way I can think of is to give the character ranks in the Sleight of Mind talent. If you want to more accurately simulate their ability then have this talent only count while in a crowd.

Another method might be to upgrade the character's Stealth while in a crowd, unless the opposition is immune to Force powers.

D'oh — I completely forgot about Sleight of Mind. (I'd assumed that all the sneaky Force stuff would've been part of the Exile tree. Funny the Emergent gets Sleight of Mind but the Exile doesn't). Thanks for reminding me of it!

I think you two are right; Sleight of Mind in some form is a better fit. To answer your questions, mouthymerc, yes, this is described as a Force ability in the fluff. But I think I'm going to interpret it as a one-shot power they get with no Force Rating otherwise. Here's what I think works, then:

• Cloud Minds: Stennes Shifters can tap into the Force to cloud the minds of those around them and thus keep from being noticed. In crowds of 20 or more beings, add a Boost die to all Stealth checks made by the Stennes Shifter unless the opposition is immune to Force powers. For each subsequent doubling of the size of the crowd, add another Boost die. Stennes Shifters receive no Force Rating or other Force abilities unless they purchase a Force-using specialization.

Does that cover contingencies and avoid abuse? Is the crowd-size thing already covered in the vanilla Stealth rules? (That is, would you as GM grant some sort bonus to a player trying to use vanilla stealth in a huge crowd?)

If you are going to make your own ability from scratch you may want to make it work in reverse also and give enemies setback dice on Vigilance and Perception.

If you are going to make your own ability from scratch you may want to make it work in reverse also and give enemies setback dice on Vigilance and Perception.

That would work, but I like the idea of making this an active ability on the Stennes Shifter's part. If a player decided to be one of these guys, I'd want them to be making the roll rather than the schlubs in the crowd, I think. And if we give both the boost to the Shifter and the Setback to the opponent, wouldn't that be overpowered? Or doubling up, perhaps?

But what happens when a player is searching for a Stennes in a crowd? No penalty because the Stennes only gets a bonus when he is actively sneaking?

Ah, I see what you mean. I'll add back in something like this: "Conversely, individuals who know or suspect a Stennes Shifter is hiding in a crowd may make a Perception or Vigilance check to spot the Shifter, suffering one Setback die per size of the crowd, as described above."

I'll tweak it to be less wordy, but maybe that would work.