So I'm looking for a general opinion on this

So me and another player are both force sensitive, on one campaign we got a tip off about a hidden ancient sith training center, following the lead we ran into a fallen jedi, buddy got a crystal and we got info on where more are. Not the best way to learn about the force but yeah. anyway at the second one we visited we both found ourself technically working lightsabers, they technically work in that they are built and all the parts are there except they don't have any crystals inside them.

Since then my buddy hasn't done anything with his but i keep trying to take it apart, my gm keeps having me roll a daunting mechanics check to just try and take the thing apart, which i always fail at.

My question is, should the check be so hard to simply take the thing apart and then make it a daunting to try and reassemble it or is he doing the correct thing and just making it hard on me. I should not that some in my group aren't exactly keen on me building a lightsaber as they feel it would make me too OP.

Opinions?

By the material presented, Lightsabers arn't that technologicaly difficult of an item, and are actualy less complex then blasters. The hard part is aligning the crystal, which in many sorces reqires the use of the Force (for unspecified reasons). So, taking it appart is childs play, I'd say easy mechaincs, maybe even simple if your not pressed for time. Puting it back togeather is a little more difficult, but nothing an amapture mechanic can't accomplish, as noted by the fact that not all jedi are master electrical engineers.

The ooc conversation about the potential power of having a lightsaber is a second issue, and really sounds like the crux of the isse. This should be taken up with your GM/Group independently of just throwing mechanics rolls. There are topics here on that subject, but unfortunoutly search doesn't work well on this device, so I can't link them up for you. The short version is that the lower 'unmodified' lightsabers in F&D are generaly not considered particularly powerful next to an equivelent value blaster at your side. A lot of people have hold-over fears from Saga or Media. Still, this is one to work out OOC with your group before diving back into the mechanics roll..

Depends on which lightsabers you got your hands on. If they are the vorpal swords of the EotE and AoR books then they may be too much. If they are the more scaled down versions of F&D then it may be fine.

Depends on which lightsabers you got your hands on. If they are the vorpal swords of the EotE and AoR books then they may be too much. If they are the more scaled down versions of F&D then it may be fine.

Right now its just a basic hilt, we came to the agreement that we'd use the F&D stats when it came to damage, and i'm just using a basic crystal

At the end of the day it is up to your GM to decide how difficult it is not us, it is his/her game.

However I can see why this is bothering you and it is something you need to talk about before or after the game. F&D sabers are not to powerful and if unsure use the alhiss crystal from the adventure lost knowledge.

I'd say taking an existing hilt apart so that you could check out the inner workings would be an Easy Mechanics check. As has been noted, in terms of technology they're far less advanced than blasters and have been generally using the same basic design for close to four thousand years.

Putting it back together to include a properly attuned/aligned focusing crystal would be a little more complex though, especially if you're doing it without instruction or guidelines. In that case, I'd say a Hard Mechanics check to put everything back together properly into a functioning lightsaber (Easy if there's active instruction by a mentor or suitably informed holocron gatekeeper, Average if following a set of fairly detailed instructions).

It does sound like you need to have a sidebar chat with your GM away from the group about letting you actually have a functioning lightsaber. At first glance, it sounds like it's a concern of power creep on his part, but he might have a story-based reason for the delay, and may not even be fully aware about your growing frustration at this issue.

The one redeeming part of the book Heir to the Jedi was the scene where Luke took apart another Lightsaber. He did have difficulty taking it apart, but he has been known for his good mechanic skills and was able to figure it out. The one he took apart had a main crystal, and two smaller focusing crystals. But he figured out that aligning the crystals would have been a near impossible task, unless you were trained in the force.

failure could cause boom.

As the other posts, it seems you want a Lightsaber, but your GM doesn't ... yet. Talk to him out of the game session, and don't worry too much. You will get one eventually, and it will mean more to you when you do.

Trust your GM...

I get sometimes things seem tough and hard and maybe doesn't make sense. But the GM has reasons and shouldn't really be questioned -- trust the story and let it happen when it happens. Enjoy the ride.

Just to be clear my GM had no story related reason for not letting me take apart my lightsaber, my character was being hunted by a dark jedi and knew (from the fact that his vibrosword was nothing more than a fancy hilt) that he needed a better weapon. He just made it hard because he thought that taking apart a lightsaber i had not built would be hard.

To be honest, I strongly dislike using the "basic" versions of lightsabers in a non-F&D type of game*, it demeans the power of suc items and makes it seem a trival little thing that one can pick up on their travels. Force senstive or not; aquiring a lightsaber should be a monumental achievement in it's own right and possibly the greatest threat to your reputation in the same stroke. With great power, comes greater (irr)sponsability.

Just the thing is, although it's the DM's right; I don't see why one can't take a lightsaber apart and put it together again. To be honest you could probably buy the parts for a new one quite easily, but it's the crystal itself that should be the hard part of the journey and if apporiate can be something that you earn at the end of a quest. Speak to him about it; after all in your hands is the blueprints for a new lightsaber as even if it isn't yours; it can give you knowledge toward building a new one.

*By that, I mean the primary focus isn't the development of force characters. After all, a hired gun can have a incredably good blaster that can reach up to long range, why shouldn't a Jedi have the best swiss army knife? Unless the same restrictions are being applied to other characters to strictly restrict the flow of power (e.g. largely basic equipment) then I don't see the point in being anal with restrictions; when a person builds or aquires a lightsaber, it should be an immediate achievement after climbing the lonely mountain.

failure could cause boom.

Technically, it was I didn't know what would happen if it was wrong, it might even explode. which doesn't mean anything from a farm boy that's never worked on one before. I might say the same thing about a car, lawnmower or flashlight. (and be right, all those things can, in very peculiar circumstances, explode)

I'm not sure using the basic lightener or the souped up AoR/EotE would make acquiring one any less substantial.

Just to be clear my GM had no story related reason for not letting me take apart my lightsaber, my character was being hunted by a dark jedi and knew (from the fact that his vibrosword was nothing more than a fancy hilt) that he needed a better weapon. He just made it hard because he thought that taking apart a lightsaber i had not built would be hard.

Then I'd just talk to the GM. Obviously, you need a crystal before you can build a lightsaber... But if, after that, he insists that opening it up and putting in the crystal is still Daunting, then I'd ask when he expects you to get it working. If he has plot reasons for you not getting the thing built right away, then ask if you can quit rolling and just get it when he decides you can get it. If it's just an arbitrary skill wall (he thinks it's hard but has no plot reason why you shouldn't have it), then ask how the redundant rolls add anything to the game... Or at the very least, I feel like you should get a boost for each failed attempt since you know another way how NOT to do it.

Just to be clear my GM had no story related reason for not letting me take apart my lightsaber, my character was being hunted by a dark jedi and knew (from the fact that his vibrosword was nothing more than a fancy hilt) that he needed a better weapon. He just made it hard because he thought that taking apart a lightsaber i had not built would be hard.

Then I'd just talk to the GM. Obviously, you need a crystal before you can build a lightsaber... But if, after that, he insists that opening it up and putting in the crystal is still Daunting, then I'd ask when he expects you to get it working. If he has plot reasons for you not getting the thing built right away, then ask if you can quit rolling and just get it when he decides you can get it. If it's just an arbitrary skill wall (he thinks it's hard but has no plot reason why you shouldn't have it), then ask how the redundant rolls add anything to the game... Or at the very least, I feel like you should get a boost for each failed attempt since you know another way how NOT to do it.

Sometimes, when I don't want to make a player roll, but I want a scene to be meaningful, I poke the player and make him or her really describe the scene. Maybe write a small scene about your character constructing his or her lightsaber and submitting it to the GM.

That is simple genius, Kaosoe...