One of my character's focuses is Stealth. Stock lightsabers aren't so quiet.

How would you mechanically model making a lightsaber silent?

I was thinking a simple 1 hard point attachment that eliminates all sound. Maybe with some further mods to enhance/improve stealth... although I'm not sure how much sense that makes. Hard to imagine a lightsaber absorbing sound when it's off... but that wouldn't be the most far fetched thing in the SW universe.

They are really quiet and don't give off light when they are shut off. Sneaky Jedi really shouldn't have an activated light stick when they are trying to be sneaky. Doing stealth kills as a force user should generate all kinds of conflict but with all that said, 1 hardpoint sounds fine to remove the setback a lit saber would give although I might say a lit saber gives 2 setback and only let the mod remove 1 since hiding a beam of light would be really hard.

Or...

Maybe a particular kyber crystal which absorbs light or sound rather than emitting it, or which emits a kind of "dark" light or out of the spectrum noise, or... just because it seems too odd to me to "turn off" the light/sound of a crystal that I would turn it into a core feature. It would also make for a nice quest to find the crystal itself.

You could add mods to create a "noise or light vacuum", or even masking from Force detetction.

Probably an old and famous Jedi Shadow from the Ancient Republic had a crystal similar to this, or so rumours say...

Lightsabres make a lot of noise?

It does not sound like it. Get it? Sound like it? Ah, I kill myself sometimes.

Get a Stygium crystal ...

You'll understand if I don't stick around after posting this.

I've heard of a dark sabre. Blade is black apparently. I doubt that would be a "light" sabre, though you might want to watch where you're swinging it in the dark. You might chop something off.

Noise is a tricky one. I'm not sure it would be completely silent. But perhaps a blacksabre would make a hiss noise, like a hydraulic hiss, instead of the usual noise.

I call it a Wraith Crystal and a "Superior Hilt Personalization" could easily explain the unique sound. Perhaps a little more difficult to create, but I think it'd be worth the effort.

It's a big galaxy. I'm sure there's some type of crystal/substance/compound/technology that would allow for a silent lightsaber blade.

Bonus points if you narrate a spooky, ethereal blade that produces thin wisps of fog when lit.

Jegergryte mentioned Stygium crystals; that is absolutely a great idea for this.

As Stygium crystals are used for cloaking shields, I think those would fit - considering the vague wookiepedia text on this, I'd say they're near silent if not completely silent ... but keep in mind, most places in Star Wars has this ambient background noise due to: Space operafication, tech, air ducts (there's always an air duct), engines, stuff basically. Complete silence should be loud, unnerving and a really, really bad sign ...

If you want to test my Stygium crystal, please do so, I've made a suggestion here (scroll down to the end) . Keep in mind that it's untested and probably needs further adjustments.

This may seem a little too sciency what with all the "magic tech" in star wars, but really a relatively cheap 1 hp Active Noise Control attachment would do the trick to cover blade ignition and at rest hum of a light saber. Combat strikes wouldn't be cancelled, but by that point stealth is a moot point.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_noise_control

I would think a "black" blade is actually emitting visible radiation that has been pushed into the high UV bands, so any blade like that would probably cause typically UV florescence <sp?>, with flowing teeth, eye whites, and various alien appendages, so probably not actually good for stealth, but could create some really trippy imagery.

Haha, a black light saber. Awesome.

I'd suggest a mission to find either a dampening crystal, or a mod that has a similar effect. I would also suggest a downside to having it quiet - perhaps 1 less damage than standard, or increased crit roll.

As another poster mentioned, going about with a lit lightsabre just isn't the done thing.

Shouldn't that be "blacklight saber"? If so... that would drive me bonkers! I love blacklight rooms, don't get me wrong, but I was born with cataracts on both eyes. My left eye never truly formed and I have equivalent to peripheral vision only on that side. Except in areas of blacklights. I can actually see the light bulbs in gleaming neon white-purple brilliance. It might be my one true oddity... and it is cool, but I can't take it for a very long time at any one stretch...

Wait ..... are there really missions where the hum of a lightsabre is so loud that it constitutes needing a mod? The lightsabre's displayed in the movies and show aren't all that loud. Wouldn't it just be easier to rule that the hum of the lightsabre isn't loud enough to effect dice pools in general and thus not worry about having to mod in a silent mode?

I could see crawling through an air duct trying to get to the detention center and needing to cut open the ductwork to drop down on the unsuspecting stormtroopers below. The snap hiss of a lightsaber would possibly be really loud and something out of the ordinary. It would certainly be more stealthy to find a crystal that had a "quiet" modification available. If I had a character focused on stealth... I could see some opportunities that would present themselves where quietness was beneficial. Of course, the cost of splitting the party can be pretty high, so you would certainly be taking a risk in my campaigns...

Ok but in that example .... with the character hidding in the air duct ..... I'd be more worried that they saw the lightsabre blade cutting a hole. If you're in the air duct and ignite your sabre it's just a low hiss from out of no where. Most Stormtroopers don't know what a lightsabre sounds like. I'm just trying to think of why a lightsabre is being ruled loud enough to have an effect on dice pools or requiring a roll to remain stealthy. I think the fact that it's a big glowing stick of energy would be a bigger give away than the low hiss that is emitted from turning it on.

Lightsabres make a lot of noise?

Wookiees have lots of fur?

Lightsabres make a lot of noise?

Nope, super stealthy

Considering in nearly every scene the ambient noise level is pretty high and we still hear them without difficulty leads me to believe Lightsabre ignitions are pretty loud, even the hum is still audible without difficulty. But thats the weapon so as far as I'm concerned if you want to be silent don't ignite your lightsabre. As for allowing a Mod to dampen the noise I'd likely not allow it or have it work as modern suppressors work, they reduce the Dbs a bit but you can still hear them (Doesn't add a Boost but reduces a Setback).

For a stealthy blade, I'd say a black crystal is a good choice:

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTvW2KEuj6TWG5GcV0H1OavdsUSt4CC_-iPoCXZBCivf9RUms00A_HgOilP

And there is such things as electronic mutes for brass instruments:

http://www.keithstead.com/and_more/reviews/practice_mutes.html

Only thing I'd say is I'm not sure a black crystal means a black "light". But this is Star Wars science, so I'd allow it.

I would probably recommend a portable sound-dampening device rather than creating a mod for a saber. Think of it like a force field projector that reflects sound waves back in towards its source, creating a bubble in which you can hear normally, but sound generated within the bubble can't travel far (maybe 5-10m). Such a device would have a lot more applications than a "silenced" saber, although it would definitely be restricted technology.

Lightsabres make a lot of noise?

Nope, super stealthy

Never claimed they were super stealthy, just that I wouldn't rule them so loud as to affect your dice pools and thus don't see the need for a mod for it. It's a big glowing stick that emits enough light to be used as a flash light .... like seriously the sound is the least of your worries when trying to be stealthy. You'd have to be blind not to see it sooooo any practical uses it has for stealth are ruined by the mere fact that it visually attracts attention.

Hell not even a black lightsabre would help since the only example of a black lightsabre we've seen also emitted a faint white glow despite the fact that it was called a darksabre.

Lightsabre's aren't a stealth weapon to be sure, but honestly the sound they emit is the least of anyones worries.

Indeed, if you weren't expecting to hear it or deployed it at engaged distance, it's not all that unlikely that the PC could deal with it before it could call for alarm.

Not a method you would want to use in, say, a fairly populated area and theres a decent chance you could be spotted it's just it will most likely kill whoever you hit, unlike a vibroblade unless your really good with it. Just as with everything lightsaber related, being IDed as a jedi (even if you not) escalated situations dramatically.

I would probably recommend a portable sound-dampening device rather than creating a mod for a saber. Think of it like a force field projector that reflects sound waves back in towards its source, creating a bubble in which you can hear normally, but sound generated within the bubble can't travel far (maybe 5-10m). Such a device would have a lot more applications than a "silenced" saber, although it would definitely be restricted technology.

This seems more appropriate and justifiable, plus it has a built in downside: you can't communicate verbally while it's on

I like when potentially powerful items have a little bit of a downside, keeps the game more interesting and Players less dependent on gear and more on their actions.

Ok, time for science!

First, there's two parts of the visual spectrum of color that the human eye can't see. Of course this is Star Wars so aliens might still see, but hey.

Install a mod on your saber to make it either ultraviolet, or infrared. Done, the blade is invisible now.

If you're a human Jedi, it could be cool to do a quest for some goggles that allow you to see your own blade (but then if you lose them in combat... hehehe)

Second, for silence:

You guys know how there's those noise cancelling headphones?

Here's how they work: They have microphones in them. They pick up outside sound, and they reverse the phase of such sounds, then add that to the sounds going into your ears.

The basic principle of any wave in a media (in this case, air), is that if you combine two waves at 90 degrees of displacement from each other (if you look at a graph you'd see they basically look like they're always going in the opposite direction from each other), they both cancel each other out. In the case of sound, this creates, you guessed it, silence.

So, no need for any weird crystal or anything like that. Just add a microphone and a speaker to your saber, reverse the phase, kaboom. Silent saber.