Since the Ancien Sword is listed under the Lightsaber skill, does it work with every Lightsaber talent out there, except Reflect ? I know parry does like any other melee weapons, but...

Looking at Ataru Striker right now....

Would Ataru Technique work with Ancient Sword ? I think so.

Would Saber Swarm, Hawk Bat Swoop and even Saber Throw work with Ancient Sword ?

I certainly hope so.

One of my friends has my book right now so I can't look up the details in the long description.

Thanks for the help.

No reason why it shouldn't. I don't have all the different lightsaber talents memorized, but as long as they don't depend on abilities that are specific to lightsabers (such as being able to cut through nearly anything) I'd allow them. The only one off the top of my head that I'm not sure about is Reflect; that might be a stretch unless you're narrating something like a Force-imbued weapon like they had in the D20 system.

They should work although parry probably wouldn't work against another lightsaber unless it had some serious tinkering done to it.

They should work although parry probably wouldn't work against another lightsaber unless it had some serious tinkering done to it.

ancient sword probably has some quality that makes it on par with lightsave skill for some reason so it can be used as one maybe some sort of cortosis quality.

I allow common materials to parry lightsabers. In my game, lightsabers can cut through almost anything, but it ain't quite a hot knife through butter. It takes a bit of effort, and a proper parry is less about stopping a force and more about redirection of that force. Of course, Sunder is still in play, so that trick won't last long.

As for deflecting blaster bolts, yeah, I would probably allow it, but maybe impose some automatic damage to the deflecting weapon. It's Force Precognition that lets you anticipate the shots, not the lightsaber itself. The lightsaber just happens to be the ideal tool for the job, not being damaged by blaster fire and all.

Of course, these are just my personal takes on the idea, not RAW. Pretty sure Reflect requires a real Lightsaber, while the various techniques (Ataru, Soresu, Niman) just require something using the Lightsaber skill (so an Ancient Sword is a go). Parry just needs a sturdy stick.

I always took the ancient sword to be the swords used by Force users before the invention of lightsabres, hence why you were using the lightsabre skill with them as opposed to the normal melee skill. Or ...... Sith swords. I also thought they were there for Sith swords. At any rate .... since they were usable with the lightsabre skill I consider them usable for all abilities that key off a lightsabre skill.

Rule in the book is basically that only if it's actually under the Lightsaber weapon table, is it qualified as a Lightsaber weapon, which is what Reflect needs to be used. So officially, no. But if you want to say all Ancient Swords, or even just a few in particular are made of a reflective material and they can be used, you can definitely do so.

With regards to other talents, they generally just require that you're performing a check with the associated skill/characteric/weapon that uses that skill, which the Ancient Sword definitely falls under.

My read is that if an ability keys off the skill then an ancient sword works fine, if the ability keys off a property of a lightsaber (like reflect does) then the ancient sword won't cut it (no pun intended.) My character used an ancient sword until I wanted to start investing in ranks of reflect at which point I replaced it with a training saber. As far as an ancient sword parrying a lightsaber, you could say it's connecting with the hilt or striking at the hands of the wielder. If someone pokes at your hands you will definately "check your swing" a bit, this would account for the reduced damage of the parry.

With the exception of Reflect, which as noted requires a weapon that's found in the Lightsaber section of the equipment chapter, then the other Lightsaber-based talents can be used with an ancient sword just fine.

I've got a PC that's currently using an ancient sword (really as more of a back-up weapon) with Soresu Defender, so I've had to look into this to see what talents (other than Reflect) he can and can't use. And in pretty much every case, Reflect is the only one to call out that a lightsaber is specifically needed.

So yes, an ancient sword works just peachy for the multitude of LS Form specializations. Granted, it's a sub-par weapon when compared to a vibrosword and especially a bona-fide lightsaber (there's a reason the Soresu PC in my group uses it as his back-up weapon), but it'll do the job until the PC gets their hands on a real lightsaber.

I always took the ancient sword to be the swords used by Force users before the invention of lightsabres, hence why you were using the lightsabre skill with them as opposed to the normal melee skill. Or ...... Sith swords. I also thought they were there for Sith swords. At any rate .... since they were usable with the lightsabre skill I consider them usable for all abilities that key off a lightsabre skill.

This is basically correct. Before the Jedi there were the Je'daii and they used Force imbued swords that would act in a similar way to a Lightsabre. They could reflect but you couldn't cut through a bulkhead with it. The book linked below is Legends but I thought it was pretty good and gives some insight to the possible origins of the Jedi as well as what we now call a Grey Jedi.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dawn_of_the_Jedi:_Into_the_Void

While I think everyone has covered the rules aspect of the question, just wanted to mention that I think this is the type of sword the leader of Death Watch was using in Clone Wars (which is still kosher). Definitely more than just a sword, sort of hybrid of the two.

While I think everyone has covered the rules aspect of the question, just wanted to mention that I think this is the type of sword the leader of Death Watch was using in Clone Wars (which is still kosher). Definitely more than just a sword, sort of hybrid of the two.

You mean the Darksaber? That's actually more of an ancient lightsaber as I recall. The Ancient Sword is different in that it has a blade made from actual materials as opposed to being a temporary beam of plasma. The only thing that really makes Ancient Sword different from other swords (as far the the book's description tells) is that the blade on it is particularly light enough that it makes handling it more akin to a lightsaber than a typical melee weapon.

Yeah, the Darksaber as seen in TCW and the ancient sword are two very different weapons.

The ancient sword is as it says, an actual sword, with a physical blade.

The Darksaber, which is a lightsaber with a black energy blade, only exists because Uncle George vetoed the original idea of a cortosis-weave sword, feeling that in his vision of Star Wars, an "ordinary looking sword" shouldn't be able to block/parry a lightsaber, which to me is a bollocks.

I think if I ran like an ancient Sith lord type NPC I'd give him an ancient sword over a lightsabre. Maybe one that looks like the Soul Reaver from Legacy of Kain series.

I think if I ran like an ancient Sith lord type NPC I'd give him an ancient sword over a lightsabre. Maybe one that looks like the Soul Reaver from Legacy of Kain series.

I'd say just re-skin the Vibro-Sword as a Sith Sword, giving it the cortosis quality and allowing it to use the Lightsaber skill to attack. Cost would pretty much be astronomical since those things are even more rare than a proper lightsaber would be.

I'd rather have a character with a sword than a lightsaber, as the former won't betray the PC as a Force Sensitive.

I think a vibrosword with cortosis sounds like the best option.

Curious thing is, though, there is no Cortosis attachment for weapons, only armor. Ancient sword doesn't have Cortosis, and all cortosis weapons use Melee or Brawl, so there's no way per RAW to combine the Lightsaber skill with a weapon with the Cortosis quality.

I always assumed it was similar to the sword of Markor Ragnos, as wielded by Tavion in JK3. Unfortunately I can't find a better picture than this:

Curious thing is, though, there is no Cortosis attachment for weapons, only armor. Ancient sword doesn't have Cortosis, and all cortosis weapons use Melee or Brawl, so there's no way per RAW to combine the Lightsaber skill with a weapon with the Cortosis quality.

I think this is very much intentional in the design.

Curious thing is, though, there is no Cortosis attachment for weapons, only armor. Ancient sword doesn't have Cortosis, and all cortosis weapons use Melee or Brawl, so there's no way per RAW to combine the Lightsaber skill with a weapon with the Cortosis quality.

All that means is that per the rules you can not add the cortosis quality to a weapon with an attachment. It does not mean that a GM couldn't have you find an ancient sword with that quality. I think it is just so the quality doesn't become ubiquitous. Cause in a game with glowing hot knife through butter swords what group wouldn't have all their weapons upgraded with a cortosis attachment?

Curious thing is, though, there is no Cortosis attachment for weapons, only armor. Ancient sword doesn't have Cortosis, and all cortosis weapons use Melee or Brawl, so there's no way per RAW to combine the Lightsaber skill with a weapon with the Cortosis quality.

All that means is that per the rules you can not add the cortosis quality to a weapon with an attachment. It does not mean that a GM couldn't have you find an ancient sword with that quality. I think it is just so the quality doesn't become ubiquitous. Cause in a game with glowing hot knife through butter swords what group wouldn't have all their weapons upgraded with a cortosis attachment?

Exactly!

I'd allow it. I'd just tell the player the cost would be Ancient Sword + Cortosis Sword.

Frankly, I read the Ancient Sword as being an ancient lightsaber. Yes LIGHTsaber.

Sting for example

http://vignette3.wikia.nocookie.net/lotr/images/0/04/Glowingsting2.png/revision/latest?cb=20091230025948

would be an ancient lightsaber. But the glow would be the Force connection to the wielder rather than a reaction to Orcs and Goblins.

Just my opinion.

But I see an ancient sword being just a lightsaber, usable with all lightsaber talents.

Frankly, I read the Ancient Sword as being an ancient lightsaber. Yes LIGHTsaber.

I see it more like this .

Frankly, I read the Ancient Sword as being an ancient lightsaber. Yes LIGHTsaber.

I see it more like this .

Naga Sadow's sword looks badass!

Frankly, I read the Ancient Sword as being an ancient lightsaber. Yes LIGHTsaber.

I see it more like this .

Like I said ..... I would dig a Sith sword that looked like the Soul Reaver.

You can do fun stuff with ancient swords too, especially Sith ones: "cursed" swords, swords with the spirit of their first owner bound to them, etc.