Luck and the Force

By schweinwagon, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

Hey guys, just wanted to drop a question that a friend and I were discussing the other day: the force as luck. I'm making a character who is just plain lucky. And to make that happen I was going to give him some low level force powers.

He said that force "sense" is the closest thing mechanically to luck, but I think that "foresee" could also be seen as a way to make a character more "lucky".

Thoughts?

Either of those, or the Seek power if you have F&D...I think it depends what the character is doing when his "luck" kicks in. I was going to use Sense myself for an Enforcer character, I planned to never use it actively, but the difficulty upgrade would kick in (Force die committed) and sometimes he'd get "lucky" when an opponent ran out of shots (got a Despair).

Hey guys, just wanted to drop a question that a friend and I were discussing the other day: the force as luck. I'm making a character who is just plain lucky. And to make that happen I was going to give him some low level force powers.

He said that force "sense" is the closest thing mechanically to luck, but I think that "foresee" could also be seen as a way to make a character more "lucky".

Thoughts?

You could use a combination of Force powers to reflect "being extraordinarily lucky," particularly if sticking to the powers available in the EotE and AoR core rulebooks.

To use Star Wars Rebels as an example, prior to being told he was Force-Sensitive, Ezra always attributed his enhanced physical prowess (Enhance power) and awareness to danger (Sense power with the defensive Control Upgrade) to a mix of luck and adrenaline. Same could be said of Foresee, with the PC having "strong hunches" about things about to happen in the near future or an exceptionally sharp knack for reacting quickly when danger comes up without the character ever really knowing that they're using the Force. At least until some other Force user in the know shows up and spills the beans.

Move is a lot trickery to skin as "luck" given that it's a fairly blatant manifestation of supernatural powers. But Influence could again be treated as "luck" in that the PC is occasionally able to "convince" people to go along with some of their more out-there ideas (Control Upgrade to affect thoughts) or just have a knack for getting under someone's skill (basic power to inflict strain).

If you've access to the Force and Destiny Beta, then Seek and Misdirect are also options, with the former having the explanation that the PC is really good at finding things, and the later that they're really good at hiding in plain sight.

I might just give a PC a finite # of FD they could roll per session and add the LS as successes or advantages on a given check maybe and leave it at that.

Edited by 2P51

I might just give a PC a finite # of FD they could roll per session and add the LS as successes or advantages on a given check maybe and leave it at that.

That would be an excellent talent for a lucky Corellian rogue...just add a Force Die to a certain number of actions per session. Or maybe have it be X number of dice per X talent ranks, once per encounter.

But with the existing rules, the Sense power goes a long way towards being "lucky."

I was thinking maybe someone doesn't want to invest the xp needed for the FR and power, and just wants a little something as flavor for a few beagley xp.

Or, a GM could for some token xp maybe give the PC a finite # of Boost dice to simulate the luck.

Edited by 2P51

I like the idea of the boost dice to simulate luck, maybe I'll talk to my GM, see if we could work out a talent type thing, or maybe even a specialized talent tree type thing (like in Dangerous Covenants and other suppliment books).

Though there is something to be said for a guy that looks at the force as another kind of luck.

I like the idea of the boost dice to simulate luck, maybe I'll talk to my GM, see if we could work out a talent type thing, or maybe even a specialized talent tree type thing (like in Dangerous Covenants and other suppliment books).

Though there is something to be said for a guy that looks at the force as another kind of luck.

The idea that I had actually came from the official Sabacc rules, which use a Force die to represent the shifting fortunes as the game randomizes its cards. So the Force die doesn't have to represent "THE FORCE" but can just represent the proclivity of smugglers and scoundrels to trust a chance.

All I am worried about is how to make my character more lucky within the rules of the universe. Since it is more like magic in a fantasy universe, I would assume a more lucky guy would have some force sensitivity.

Using a force die seems like a luck die, but I'm looking to stack the deck (so to speak, though he will be doing a bit of that as well). Boost die seems acceptable to me, though I feel like there would definitely need to be some xp buy for me to feel like it is fair.

Oh, I wouldn't give it to a PC for free, you might question how 'fair' your lucky die is but you definitely wouldn't feel like you didn't pay for it at my table.....

Check out "Touch of Fate" in both the Exile and Emergent talent trees. It gives 2 boost die to any check once per session. It might be what you need.

Well shoot, why didn't I see that before!? I guess I didn't look too closely at the talent trees (was more caught up in the force powers). These seem kinda perfect to give a character a little boost without them being over the top force users.

I actually explain the Career Signature Abilities as being low-key Force powers.

After all, the Force is supposed to be in everything rather than just the glowstick guys...