Hello all,

a. Does the strain inflicting part of the power allow for multiple spending to cause multiple strain?

b. Does the subject need to hear you for you to "influence them"? In the films it seems to require talking to the person, but with the range upgrades it makes me think that I am not expected to yell "These are not the droids you are looking for" from long range.

c. Am I correct in assuming this strain bypasses soak

d. Does any of this (Strain or compulsion) effect droids? They do have soak and some kind of brain

Thanks,

a) Yes, as this was clarified during the FaD Beta Updates.

b) The power doesn't specify that you need to say anything or that the target even needs to comprehend what you're saying in order for any part of Influence to work. So it's up to the GM if your Force user needs to apply a verbal component to the power or not.

c) Yes

d) Nope, as the power says it only affects living targets, of which droids are not included.

I'll add to this necro-thread as I too had some questions regarding this power as it seems incredibly potent in the long term:

- Duration allows you to extend duration of this power by a number of additional rounds equal to the number of Duration upgrades. This just costs a single extra force point on it's action unless you're trying to *multiply* the already multiplied Duration upgrade.

- Strength essentially doubles the Strain drain per activation

- As mentioned above, you can spend multiple force points on the same action to activate multiple times, adding to the number of Strain.

So ... say for example a Consular with 4 FR (more than reasonable for a Consular) rolls and gets four force points to work with. He has the Strength upgrade and all four Duration upgrades.

Does this mean that, with one action, he can cause one target he is engaged with to burn through *6* Strain every round for five rounds? Cause ... ouch!

Now, granted, all of that coming from someone who's already a very advanced character given the XP involved in not only getting FR 4, but also all those Influence upgrades. And, of course, a strong rival or nemesis would get an opposed roll.

Duration only affects the "emotional state/something untrue" function of the power. Much in the same that the commit for Bind only applies to the immobilize/stagger effects, and not the Wound damage from the base power or the criticals from the mastery.

Why would it only effect the Control element? The Duration upgrades are directly chained from the Strength upgrade that affects the Strain loss.

Why would it only effect the Control element? The Duration upgrades are directly chained from the Strength upgrade that affects the Strain loss.

because they are all strung off of that control upgrade for emotion and belief...I think...

It does go off the Strength upgrade, but that's more of just a balancing tactic/ a way of showing progression in how effective you are in messing with people's minds.

And it only affects that specific Control because it's the only one with a duration.

a) Yes, as this was clarified during the FaD Beta Updates.

b) The power doesn't specify that you need to say anything or that the target even needs to comprehend what you're saying in order for any part of Influence to work. So it's up to the GM if your Force user needs to apply a verbal component to the power or not.

c) Yes

d) Nope, as the power says it only affects living targets, of which droids are not included.

I don't make my players vocalize their influence request, but I do give a boost die if they add vocals and their is a roll at some point other than original roll

So is it the consensus that Duration upgrades to force powers affect only those aspects that are explicitly listed as having an initial duration of a round or until the end of the next turn? I'm okay with that, no problem. Just seeking clarification.

So for example, the Duration ongoing effect on Bind wouldn't apply on the wound, but only on the immobilize aspect as that one has a listed duration of a round?

Duration on Influence would only affect the emotional state or 'lie', but not the optional Strain damage on the initial Mind Trick (cause why not give someone a raging headache when you lie to them just to add the nail to the proverbial coffin, lol) because the damage itself is not listed as having a listed duration whereas the mind trick is?

So is it the consensus that Duration upgrades to force powers affect only those aspects that are explicitly listed as having an initial duration of a round or until the end of the next turn? I'm okay with that, no problem. Just seeking clarification.

So for example, the Duration ongoing effect on Bind wouldn't apply on the wound, but only on the immobilize aspect as that one has a listed duration of a round?

Duration on Influence would only affect the emotional state or 'lie', but not the optional Strain damage on the initial Mind Trick (cause why not give someone a raging headache when you lie to them just to add the nail to the proverbial coffin, lol) because the damage itself is not listed as having a listed duration whereas the mind trick is?

The description of the duration upgrade for Bind seems pretty explicit: Target remains staggered or immobilized as long as the Force dice remain committed. It clearly isn't intended to make the power into an unblockable wound damage over time ability.

The wording on the influence power is more vague ("... increase the time this effect lasts..."), but I think it's still pretty clear that strain wouldn't be included in the ongoing effect.

So ... say for example a Consular with 4 FR (more than reasonable for a Consular) rolls and gets four force points to work with. He has the Strength upgrade and all four Duration upgrades.

At the point that a PC party has enough XP for a character to have hit Force Rating 4, the ability for the Influence power to deal a large amount of Strain is far from the most problematic balance concern a GM has to worry about.