Are Toydarians and Droids the only ones listed as being immune to the Force?

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

Watto is a wily businessman, a shrewd and cunning trader. Jabba's an experienced criminal overlord, tough to intimidate or push around. Both would have a decent Willpower and probably ranks in Nobody's Fool.

I always took Watto's comment as racial bragging: 'we Texans/Jamaicans/Wookies/InsertEthnicityHere don't scare easy, you know!' Bravado, rather than a specific species immunity.

These two species already start with Willpower 3; no need to give them any other immunities beyond that.

Edited by MTaylor

Well, in terms of "mind tricks," Influence its resolved by a discipline vs. discipline check. Anyone with a sufficiently high discipline roll (Jabba?) can resist Influence.

a 3 willpower puts them well on the way to being very difficult to influence. As it takes 30 60 xp on the NPC to get discipline up to 3 and that is 3 red resistance. That is pretty beefy.

a 3 willpower puts them well on the way to being very difficult to influence. As it takes 30 60 xp on the NPC to get discipline up to 3 and that is 3 red resistance. That is pretty beefy.

Just takes me making the NPC that way. No cost of XP at all.

Are Hutts not immune to force suggestion in the game?

Player option version has 3 in Willpower and an option for a free rank in Discipline, which basically makes them naturally hard targets for Influence, but not immune. Default Hutt Crime Lord stat block is 5 Willpower and 5 Discipline, which practically makes them immune to Influence, but not outright immune.

Without having read the following posts, I might be repeating. Obi Wan tells Luke, "The Force can have a strong influence on the weak minded."

The high Willpower of Toydarians and Hutts can account for many of them successfully resisting Jedi influence. Watto's claim that it's because he's Toydarian is probably more a matter of cultural pride or even stereotype.

Other examples.

"I'm German, of course I can handle another beer! Thanks, now will you please tell the room to stop moving?"

"How tough are Scotsmen? Laddie, yer lookin' at the only crewman in a red shirt who ain't dead."

There are Many Species with a Will of 3 but that do not claim any special resistance to manipulations of the force.

But the FFG Description of Toydarians says Specifically "They are Completely immune to manipulations by the force."

For me that is very clear, even if the actual play affect is left up to the GM.

There are Many Species with a Will of 3 but that do not claim any special resistance to manipulations of the force.

But the FFG Description of Toydarians says Specifically "They are Completely immune to manipulations by the force."

For me that is very clear, even if the actual play affect is left up to the GM.

**** that fluff text. I saw the first mention that said "their resistance to Force manipulation..." but not the one under Physiology, quoted above. (for those following, it's in Enter the Unknown, p.22) That does make it pretty absolute; narratively, if not mechanically. I can see why they didn't want to list it under Racial Abilities. Silhouette 0 and Hoverer are obvious, whereas the Force immunity is implied by dialogue. If they added another "official" special ability, something would have to go. Now, agree or disagree on whether the 2 existing abilities warrant excluding bonus skills/talents and a starting XP of 90, but since 90 seems to be the minimum level, there was nowhere else to go.

So it ended up in the fluff text so that GMs could decide how to deal with it. Okay, that's actually pretty good. This game system doesn't have any sort of merits/flaws mechanic, like some games do. But, by putting the Force immunity in the descriptive text, along with some of the drawbacks of being Toydarian, they gave GMs a way of implementing their own m/f system through narrative applications.

So if the text that says they are "completely immune" has an in-game effect, then so does the text that says "their reputations for bad tempers and con jobs... [snip] ...makes for difficult going for many Toydarians." This could mean getting setback dice when dealing with anyone who is aware of their reputation. That would be almost everyone in Hutt Space and a good chunk of the Outer Rim, but not Core Worlders. (Qui Gonn apparently never heard of them)

A GM could also require Toydarian PCs to buy and carry ration packs on account of the high metabolism and being "in constant need of food."

Honestly, I'm more confused now about this "natural body odor similar to sweetspice." I'm guessing that it was meant to be some form of explanation as to why a selfish, bad-tempered people with a reputation for cheating would have a Presence of 3. One could argue that if this is the case, then the Toydarian's Presence might be reduced when dealing with anyone who lacks olfactory senses. But I think there's already enough.

Whether or not the abilities (and/or hardships) are balanced depends on how often certain advantages come into play in your campaign. I'll admit, I probably don't mention terrain details often enough in encounters to make hovering that useful. (though, if I had a PC with the ability, I'd be more aware of it.) Likewise, I've only had 2 Force User adversaries so far, and only one of them used any form of influence.

For a player who wanted to be a Toydarian, I would have no problem making this the same feature as a droid - unaffected by mind-altering Force powers, but also unable to become Force sensitive or acquire Force Rating. Using or sensing the Force requires one to be open to it, allowing the Force (or the Dark Side) to flow through them, guiding and influencing them. If something that "has to do with their brains" prevents Toydarians from being affected by it, it likewise prevents any mental connection to it. Of course, that is implied and not stated specifically, but it would be my ruling.

I suppose that makes Toydarians handy to use as NPCs who cannot be mind tricked. But then, likewise there would be no Toydarian Force users, either.

Heal would be a special case, since that is a power that has a physical manifestation, but is designed to help organics and not droids. But Harm should definitely be able to hurt them.


Since I see heal/harm as giving or draining life energy, I would not allow it use on a droid since they arent living, have no life force.