Hi, I have read the F&D-betabook and when I read about the different crystals I couldn't see any mention of color. They all had descriptions about base damage, upgrades etc, but nothing about color.

Is it me who just missed this or is there nothing about what color a crystal has?

For example, what color is a Krayt dragon pearl blade?

I think that's probably intentional and is for you and the GM to decide.

Hope it helps

http://community.fantasyflightgames.com/index.php?/topic/132206-jedi-vs-regular-characters/page-4#entry1421122

Like most Star Wars RPGs, the color of a character's lightsaber blade has been left up to the player.

Granted, the Beta book is primarily focused on the rules needed to play the game, and lighsaber blade colors is a purely fluff element. So there might be some bit of discussion in the final rulebook, but I wouldn't expect it to be much more than a sidebar that suggests crystals from certain sources tend to have certain colors (such as Ilum crystals tending towards blue and green), but that the choice is ultimately up to the player.

Up to GM really. Players may be involved but it's the GM who has final say in the end. So "not left up to player". But I'd go old canon and whatever color crystal they find or whatever the force guides them too. New canon...ew...says it's clear and attunes to the user. Sith sabers are a synthetic red crystal in old canon and I dunno in new canon since old school Sith had to earn their lightsabers via killing another Sith for theirs or earning it in Sith trails or plundering it from a tomb.

GM call.

Even synthetic crystals can be any colour. And they are not the exclusive domain of Dark siders.

Even synthetic crystals can be any colour. And they are not the exclusive domain of Dark siders.

"Now", but not at first. In old fluff, all synthetic crystals were red, because of some imperfection/deficiency in them, and no one knew how to fix it. We are led to believe that Luke, using a Holocron from Kenobi's home, figured out how to make synthetic crystals for his second saber, and he somehow figured out how to fix this problem. When the Sith first had lightsabers, they only had the crystals that they took from Jedi, like the first handles, and while they could piece together new handles, they didn't know where the crystals came from (Jedi weren't using lightsabers when the Jedi/Sith split occurred), and all of their attempts to make artificial crystals turned out red. Whether because of an imperfection, or some "sense of dread in the Sith doing the alchemy", they couldn't fix it, and made the best of the blood red color, symbolizing power, dread, and all of the other terrors Sith like. Either Luke figured out the flaw, or his "lack of dread" didn't taint the crystal, so he got green. When Leia got hers, it was red. After he started his school, he decided to not make many more, as he felt natural crystals were better, and could actually go get more of them. I take this opportunity to note that this is all "old canon", and also that it is my perception of said canon. I like to see myself as rather knowledgeable, but I won't just rail "YOU'RE WRONG!!!" if told otherwise, well, beyond this bit, anyway.

I do sort of appreciate the color from within idea; I know that many players, themselves goofy people at heart, or those seeking some detail, like Samuel L. Jackson, himself did, would want a detail that sets them apart, and the idea that you can have a green lightsaber, or a blue one, but if you want a purple one, you have to travel to this one world, and either befriend a dying crystalline alien, and hope he gives you a piece of himself, or make him a dying alien, and take one, seems goofy. It's a great story for Darth Shaft, Master of Vaapad (BLAM!!! He only used the Dark Side; he wasn't Dark Side!) Mace Windu, and a nice detail to further show off the very cool character, between his fellows, but I might want a purple saber, even if it doesn't cut through armor better ("better" than a regular lightsaber already does? How?) If I can choose the color at the beginning, and stick with it, maybe be able to get a second one, should I take up Jar'Kai, or lose the first, that would be nice. In a game that isn't SWTOR, where it's purely a vanity prize, to show off to all your lessers, I like that it wouldn't be so hard to get, though that just might be me.

Thanks for the link Josep Maria, it cleared it up.

While esthetically pleasing, I've always found that all the Sith using red lightsabers to be rather silly. Sounds like a Monty Python sketch.

Guy in robe: (ignites green saber) At last we meet my sith enemy!

Guy in different robe:(ignites red saber) No good sir, I am no sith.

Gir: But your saber is red, therefore you are sith.

Gidr: That's so silly. I just have a preference for red. I'm a really nice guy.

Gir: Nonsense. Only sith use red lightsabers. You must be dispatched.

Gidr: But...but... (gakkk!)

And thus died Rolo Cakemaker, the one snd only jedi with a red saber. Never since has any jedi pick red as their colour.

Or something funnier.

Back when red was from artificial crystals I always saw something like:

Jedis ignite their sabers, guy on the end is holding a red one. The others look at him for a moment...

"What?!?! I was in a hurry! You're the ones who said to get here fast because this crisis couldn't wait!"

I'm sorry to barge in, but I am not at home in this area. What is this old canon and new canon you are talking about? I am not the biggest fan of Star Wars, but I have read some books and I don't know what you are talking about. :/

I'm sorry to barge in, but I am not at home in this area. What is this old canon and new canon you are talking about? I am not the biggest fan of Star Wars, but I have read some books and I don't know what you are talking about. :/

Old canon was essentially everything made from the Star Wars franchise, and because of a variety of things, it had different tiers of what things were canon; so the movies were pretty much always canon, and you'd have some books that were considered always canon, and others that got retconned out by other books, some writers didn't stick to what was considered canon, and it all got sort of complicated and messy; this was called the Expanded Universe, or EU for short, because it all expanded from the more definitely canon movies. After Disney bought Lucas they made a definitive line of what, going forward, was the new canon. Basically nearly everything in the EU was separated and given the Legends title; and anything Disney sells from then on, or if it on the unlikely chance decides to make new products under that line, it has the Legends branding on it.

The new canon doesn't really have a name, it's just the new canon. Basically it was Disney's way of trying to clean things up and let fans know that everything coming out from then on would always be part of the same canon; no tiers or anything. This encompasses the main six movies of the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy, the CGI Clone Wars show, the Star Wars: Rebels show, and all other media that was made after the announcement. So the books A New Dawn and Tarkin from last year, all the books aimed at kids based on Star Wars: Rebels, all video games, etc.

EDIT: Completely forgot. Some stuff from the EU/Legends also can get brought into the new canon if something specifically references older characters/events. Clone Wars CGI show did this for a number of things.

Opinion: George Lucas made some movies, and some book adaptations. Other authors, some good, some less so, got permission to write novels in the Lucasverse, using names, events, and effectively furthering the stories of Luke, Han, Leia, and others, as well as introducing new characters (Mara Jade, Xizor, the Solo twins); either Lucas really didn't have more material written, or he wasn't prepared to show it, and allowed these authors to fill in the gaps, and continue the material, and it counted as "good as Lucas's words", because he signed off on them. Other stuff, like various video games, and such, did similar, connecting Empire Strikes Back with Return of the Jedi (Shadows of the Empire), giving us glimpses of the ancient Jedi (Knights of the Old Republic series), and cashing in on movies, and their "characters" (Bounty Hunter).

For lots of years, many of us took most of these events as the true progression, and then Lucas sold his product to Disney, who decided to shoot it all in the foot. Whether they didn't want to pay the Timothy Zahns of the verse to reuse their stuff, or they really wanted to "just make a movie we didn't already know the plot of" (whether that is Lucas's "true" continuation, or just something Disney hammered together), they shot down most of the existing material, rendering it null, but holding onto it, in the event they want to reference it in the future. Thus, six movies, three cartoons, and POSSIBLY chunks of the Old Republic game line are CANON, as well as anything made after that point (that's why I lump KOTOR in, as they are still supporting and making that title). Any novels of the New Jedi Order, the Legacy comics, or many other materials, are now dead, unless Disney chooses to reference them, later.

Please note, some of this is MY take on things, jumbled with truth as I understand it. Some of it is obviously colored by my considerable rage at the EU being torn down, when much of it is better than the prequels, much of the Clone Wars series, and such, but that's just the fanboy in me whining, since it's my childhood they are messing with. Disney has done well, overall, with their Marvel attempts, IM3 not withstanding, so I am willing to allow them to show me that they made a decent product. It's just irritating to be a "Star Wars nerd", only to have much of what I nerded removed; not much to nerd about, now.

I find it interesting how it's all playing out and exposing the cracks in the business vs. the product.

Back when Dark Empire came out Big G said in an interview that was totally how he envisioned a sequel to RotJ going.

After the canon wipe Lord Flannel said he never looked at any of the EU at all.

Somewhere in the presidio basement a marketing guy laughs evilly....

In the Young Jedi Knights book, Jaina makes a synthetic crystal in a small forge and her blade winds up violet. In the newer stuff referencing older periods, the red saber blades were primarily from Lignan crystals, which enhanced a dark side user's power. And plenty of dark jedi/ sith had other color blades, but the majority were indeed red.

KotOR and its spinoff sort of introduced the blue=Guardian, green=Consular, yellow=Sentinel triad. I've always liked it, and used it as a suggestion - if one of my players in the prior RPGs wanted a specific color, I wouldn't shoot them down.

That said, the first lightsaber I'm giving to my party will be an inquisitor's violet blade when they defeat him; when the next character gets his pieces together and makes one, he'll turn it on, and I'll say, "What color is it?"

Up to GM really. Players may be involved but it's the GM who has final say in the end. So "not left up to player". But I'd go old canon and whatever color crystal they find or whatever the force guides them too. New canon...ew...says it's clear and attunes to the user. Sith sabers are a synthetic red crystal in old canon and I dunno in new canon since old school Sith had to earn their lightsabers via killing another Sith for theirs or earning it in Sith trails or plundering it from a tomb.

GM call.

Why? It does not really effect the story in any way whatsoever. So why not let the player decide. I mean unless they are picking up a crystal out of someone else's saber.