So here's a question to TalosX.

Would you apply the same gimping penalty to an ancient Sith Sword when using Parry or Reflect? Said weapons were said to be just as durable as ligthsabers several thousand years ago thanks to the Sith alchemical techniques used in their forging, even centuries if not millennia after their creation.

Would you apply that same penalty to a lightsaber that was made during the KOTOR era? After all, it's a far older design than the modern lightsaber, being centuries out of date, so by your logic it shouldn't be nearly as efficient and effective as a ligthsaber built during the Clone Wars era.

Also, checking the Wookieepedia article on protosabers, aside from the external power source there's really not much difference between them and a more modern lightsaber.

TalosX: In other words, you could say that this protosaber is damaged, worn, hardly usable...? In that case I'd have no issue with this really. As long as it's not a blanket penalty applied to every training saber, which is established it won't be. Perhaps it would be possible to modernise it/fix it so that it provides the standard benefits?

The question becomes, concerning parry, whether they'd use it at all for that, as long as they have any other melee weapon they're better off.

And while it is arguably a nerf, unnecessary to some and the reflect penalty is substantial I'd say, it's still possible to use with reflect.

I see this as a way for the characters to make their own training sabers, modernise them and in time get proper training sabers without penalties. It's a plot device of sorts.

Concerning these protosabers (with external power sources) I seem to remember that one of the previous rpgs had limitation on them, particularly in regards to reflection, but I may be wrong...

If we are talking about a worn/outdated/damaged/unstable weapon, we have already seen couple of instances where published weapons like this simply shut down with 3 Threat or a Despair, requiring a maneuver to be spend the next turn to reignite them. Personally, I like and prefer this mechanic to model the above conditions for a lightsaber, the blade either works or it fails.

Daeglan- I'm accounting for the fact that during the time of protosabers, they likely had training protosabers as well. It is not a full lightsaber, but an ancient equivalent of the training saber.

So here's a question to TalosX.

Would you apply the same gimping penalty to an ancient Sith Sword when using Parry or Reflect? Said weapons were said to be just as durable as ligthsabers several thousand years ago thanks to the Sith alchemical techniques used in their forging, even centuries if not millennia after their creation.

Would you apply that same penalty to a lightsaber that was made during the KOTOR era? After all, it's a far older design than the modern lightsaber, being centuries out of date, so by your logic it shouldn't be nearly as efficient and effective as a ligthsaber built during the Clone Wars era.

Also, checking the Wookieepedia article on protosabers, aside from the external power source there's really not much difference between them and a more modern lightsaber.

I would not apply the same penalty to a Sith Sword, as long as it's not significantly damaged in some way.

As for a KOTOR era lightsaber, I honestly hadn't given it any thought. It would depend on the condition of the saber itself I suppose. Please re-read what I've posted. The saber in question is "not working as intended" due to both age and damage likely sustained through thousands of years of wear. It is possible the PCs could repair it given some time and resources... However they seem more interested in what it would sell for, being an ancient Jedi relic. So it's a moot point.

Since so many seem to be interested in this particular artifact, it's purpose was a stepping stone. I had thought one of the players would be interested in the saber, since 2 of them are force sensitive. However, it seems they're quite content to "jot down notes on it's construction" and sell it to a collector somewhere for a nice pay day.

I actually prefer to think of training sabers like those in SWTOR. More like Bokan /Stunrod. It is a stick that stuns that resembles a lightsaber, but when it is turned off, it still looks like a technological stick. The way our group sees it, a lightsaber is science/magic and plasma, making that into a stun beam just doesn't make sense to us. But that works for our group. I can easily see that not working in other groups.

I would be careful with this, since a training lightsaber has an encumbrance of 1, making it both very light and able to be hidden on one's person with little difficulty. The proposed "stick" would really need to have a higher encumbrance rating, at least, to jive with other weapons.

On a personal note, I was never a fan of the "training sabers" from TOR. Thought they looked lame and that the concept was odd.

Like I said, to each his own, they work for our group. that is a really good point about encumbrance though, we hadn't taken that into account. Thanks!