Your squad has attracted the attention of a powerful sith sorcerer who acts in the shadows. Could this be the work of Emperor Palpatine himself? Or is there another master of the Dark Side that the Rebeliion isn't aware of?

The theme of this deck is, obviously, centered around the Dark Side of the Force and the use of threat for powerful but costly effects. While other decks like Military Might or Technological Superiority give free and/or constant effects, The Dark Side deck focuses on 'spikes'; abilities that could change the flow of battle significantly if timed right, but if not used at the most opportune time you could see victory leaving your grasp. Though, like other decks, it has a few cards that don't revolve around this theme (only so much threat available), but still retain powers of the Dark Side.

(For the roleplayers, don't think of this as a Sith Sorcerer ordering imperial units around. Think of it as a Sith Sorcerer working in the shadows under the Emperor's orders (or the Emperor himself) while run of the mill commanders encounter the Rebel Heroes.)

WORK IN PROGRESS

Dark Sight

Default

Exhaust this card to re-roll a defense dice of a friendly figure.

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1threat: Exhaust this card to re-roll a defense dice of a friendly Force User figure. Add +1 anti-surge to the results

Force Slow

1xp

Exhaust this card at the beginning of a friendly figure's activation. Target hostile figure tests Insight. If it fails, that figure is weakened. You may spend 2 threat to remove 1 surge from the results.

Force Rage

2xp

2threat: Exhaust this card whenever a friendly figure suffers Damage equal to it's health. That figure interrupts to perform an attack, then is defeated.

Sith Alchemy

2xp

Attachment: Creature Only

This figure has +2 health and an additional blue die to it's attack pool.

Force Drain

3xp

You may exhaust this card at the beginning of the round. Defeat a friendly non-vehicle, non-droid, figure with group size 2 or more. You gain threat equal to that figure's reinforcement cost.

Death Troopers

4xp

Whenever a friendly Trooper figure is defeated deploy an exhausted Death Trooper figure in the defeated unit's place.

Force Storm

4xp

Deplete this card at the beginning of a round, before the deployment phase. Set the threat dial to 0. Roll 2 red dice. All figures on the battlefield suffer damage equal to the Damage results rolled.

Death Trooper deployment card

Brawler

Surge +1 damage

Shambling: This figure may only perform 1 move action per activation.

Health: 3 Speed: 3 Melee attack: Red Defense: Black

Got any ideas for other class cards? I'm looking for each tier to have a card focused on threat spending and the other be a 'free' effect.

Think some of these are too powerful or weak?

So were talking like a "long dead Exar Kun" thing?

Dark Sight- suggestion, second ability, spend one threat to force and *enemy defense reroll instead

Force slow- looks good to me!

Force Rage- would specify melee attack if the effect is actually emotional. Extreme anger does not help marksmanship.

Sith Alchemy- aka "thats one mean Freekin Next". I like its, buts its very limited.

Force Drain- aka "force recycling" This seems *really powerful. Use in troops that can't keep up or are trapped, right?

Death Troopers- personally, I thought the whole "death trooper" thing was a little silly, but thats just my personal opinion.

Force storm- this seems odd because it costs more the longer the game goes in. Used optimally, it would cost you only one turns wort of threat, right? But the damage didn't scale up or down at all, and that seems strange

Suggested ability (I think this fits)

Apparitions- place a token on the map, any rebel unit within three spaces adds -2 accuracy to all attacks. Spend 1 threat to move the token.

ALSO, would Jorus C'baoth style battle meditation stuff go in here too, or are we going with flashy displays of power only?

• I think you can just say "If it is a force user" and remove the threat cost in dark sight, it's not like force users are common amongst imperial forces
• Flavor wise I'd like Force rage to require the unit to have suffered damage but that's not an actual problem
• I think an additional attack die all the time might be a bit much on sith alchemy (it might not be too), focus it when it gets attacked could be an alternative
• Force drain needs some wording trickery to work with group size 1.
• I'd probably want all the death troopers to activate at once, otherwise the imperials will inevitably have way more activations than the rebels which could be game breaking in some missions
• I like the flavor of force storm but I think in practice it would only be used when it would end the game by wounding the rebels (and it's too efficient at that).

(As usual I'm focusing on hopefully constructive criticism, I think the idea overall is cool).

The whole Death Trooper idea should be replaced with something along the lines of a Rakghoul (which are the creations of the sith.) Only due to the fact that not everyone approves of the idea of "zombies" in Star Wars. Rakghouls were BioWare's way of introducing a zombie-like creature into the mythos.

What they could do lore-wise is say that this sorcerer has discovered a way to creature Rakghouls out of pure dark side energy.

The problem is Rakghouls are very much a virus style zombie while this is more a re-animation style zombie.

So were talking like a "long dead Exar Kun" thing?

Nah, just someone like the Emperor or the equivalent 'class'. Not any Force Ghosts.

In my opinion, Offense > Defense in this game. Especially for Imperials considering they have no shortage of units compared to the rebels. And while it is still 100% chance, a re-roll on the opponent's defense seems stronger than a re-roll on an ally. I didn't want to make the default class card too strong. You don't think a free anti-surge on Vader is too strong?

How about changing Force Rage into the equivalent of the Hired Gun's parting shot ability? With the threat cost of course.

For Sith Alchemy, that is why I chose a Blue die. As blue on creatures would be the weakest die. Palpatine himself practices Sith Alchemy (see Chrysalis Beasts) and there isn't any class cards that I am aware of that solely help creatures. Of course, this comes at the risk in that some missions don't even allow creatures (like how some missions don't allow vehicles). Therefore I think it isn't too powerful since you might not be able to use it sometimes. And the 2xp cost makes it not a big investment in the whole campaign.

Force drain is powerful, yes. But like a probe droid, the rebels can just focus on killing units individually instead of "blast will kill it next turn". I'll change it so it activates at start of turn, so you can't just kill a unit and redeploy it right away. I'm open to ideas on the writing of the card , Norgath, but I think if it worked on single units it'd be too powerful. Thats a 100% refund.

The idea for Death Troopers is that there is only 1 card, a regular deployment card (though perhaps make them Elite so they can't be targeted by comlink item). And they come into play exhausted so they don't activate until the next round.

I'm open to ideas on Force Storm. I have mixed feelings on your opinions, but still feel like its a great card. I never considered that it should scale, simply I figured that a force storm and then reinforcements would just be too powerful. Even if the imperial player never uses it though, just the threat of a looming force storm is a powerful tool.

While I understand your idea of Force Apparition. I feel like it'd greatly complicate the game and confuse players.

Writing on force drain: instead of unique have "With group size 2 or more"

Basically I think an effect that would be flavor appropriate for force storm wouldn't be fun in practice.

I like this.

For force storm, can it not be a choice between deploying and the force storm, if you choose to do force storm you dont get any additional threat and cant deploy any figures.

I would also say if it is going to be pure dmg without a defence roll, then 2 reds might be to much (6 dmg just like that), red and blue perhaps or red and yellow?

I like sith alchemy like it is myself.

I also like the death troopers, I have enough distance to like zombies in Star Wars, you could also just think of it like puppets controlled by a puppet master. But I do think that it should be a single card for all death troopers.

Have fun

For me, personally, I'm very much appreciative that FFG has so far kept the Force very low key.

I dislike how, all too often, Star Wars games become Jedi vs Sith, and in the background there's just this galactic conflict in which millions are dying. I far prefer the original theme of a Galactic Conflict with quadrillions of lives at stake, and in this conflict the jedi and sith move and fight. Slight difference, but to me, the world.

So I would honestly discourage new releases that would introduce any element of the Force beyond that which the game already has.

Also I thought the zombie trooper idea was "cute for an original story" but otherwise belongs with most of the now non-canon EU.

Now that that's over, here are my more subjective thoughts:

Dark Sight: Like it.

Force Slow: Like it.

Force Rage: For 2 threat, I question whether this card would ever be used. The Threat cost for such is on par with other class cards, but in my experience, cards that come with a Threat cost aren't used as often, and since the situation they would be used on is rare, the card isn't even purchased.

Sith Alchemy: Probably a little too good, leading towards Imperial reserves containing more creatures than troopers. Wampas are here. Maybe just +1 health? However, adding an attack die is incredibly good in this game since it is potentially adding +2 hits or often better a surge, and the only comparable is a 4xp card from Subversive, and this is 2xp (creature only, and I get that, but still)

Force Drain: I like it, though I question whether I personally would get much use of it. It sounds neat though, good for unexpected surprises.

Death Troopers: Probably a little too powerful. Beyond probably needing to emphasize that a Death Trooper cannot reanimate into another Death Trooper (and if it can then that is FAR too powerful), this creates room fulls of Rebel roadblockers that just get in the way without even needing to move or attack. Maybe when they die, a non-Death trooper can roll a green die and animate on a surge?

Force Storm: The wording is a little off, as deployment technically comes right before End of Round effects, so saying that this card can activate at the beginning of the round before deployment is odd, but I understand you're just trying to make it cost 1 round of Threat and trying to have it go off before the Imperial has to redeploy and injure his own guys, while also not allowing the Imperial to simply save his Threat until his initial forces are eradicated, dropping a single cost Force Storm (like if it only cost 2 or 3 Threat), and then flooding the board with deployments after doing 2-6 damage to every Rebel. I would suggest something like: Deplete instead of Increasing Threat during that phase and set Threat counter to zero. Beyond that, I still don't know if that card would gain use. Even if you purchased nothing else, and the card was as written, by the time I get it the Heroes are middling powerful, and nothing else in the class deck helps boost my own figures save for Sith Alchemy. Since every mission begins with initial deployment, and the card requires me to reset my threat counter to zero, as the Imperial player I am forced to choose to effectively eradicate every single figure out there in order to hit the Rebels for 6.

I see the combo potential, if you have both Death Troopers and Force Storm (I presume that it was some kind of Force Storm that created the zombie troopers in the first place?), you can eradicate your own troopers with Force Storm and then have them rise as Death Troopers. Speaking as a mostly Imperial player, I would likely never use this. The figures themselves are just too good pre-Death trooper to waste creating Death Troopers with them, and resetting my threat to zero and potentially killing every figure I have in order to do 2-6 (probably 4) to the Rebels just isn't worth it. Unless of course I had only to deliver 4 more points to a Rebel in order to win.

For me, personally, I'm very much appreciative that FFG has so far kept the Force very low key.

I dislike how, all too often, Star Wars games become Jedi vs Sith, and in the background there's just this galactic conflict in which millions are dying. I far prefer the original theme of a Galactic Conflict with quadrillions of lives at stake, and in this conflict the jedi and sith move and fight. Slight difference, but to me, the world.

So I would honestly discourage new releases that would introduce any element of the Force beyond that which the game already has.

Also I thought the zombie trooper idea was "cute for an original story" but otherwise belongs with most of the now non-canon EU.

Now that that's over, here are my more subjective thoughts:

Dark Sight: Like it.

Force Slow: Like it.

Force Rage: For 2 threat, I question whether this card would ever be used. The Threat cost for such is on par with other class cards, but in my experience, cards that come with a Threat cost aren't used as often, and since the situation they would be used on is rare, the card isn't even purchased.

Sith Alchemy: Probably a little too good, leading towards Imperial reserves containing more creatures than troopers. Wampas are here. Maybe just +1 health? However, adding an attack die is incredibly good in this game since it is potentially adding +2 hits or often better a surge, and the only comparable is a 4xp card from Subversive, and this is 2xp (creature only, and I get that, but still)

Force Drain: I like it, though I question whether I personally would get much use of it. It sounds neat though, good for unexpected surprises.

Death Troopers: Probably a little too powerful. Beyond probably needing to emphasize that a Death Trooper cannot reanimate into another Death Trooper (and if it can then that is FAR too powerful), this creates room fulls of Rebel roadblockers that just get in the way without even needing to move or attack. Maybe when they die, a non-Death trooper can roll a green die and animate on a surge?

Force Storm: The wording is a little off, as deployment technically comes right before End of Round effects, so saying that this card can activate at the beginning of the round before deployment is odd, but I understand you're just trying to make it cost 1 round of Threat and trying to have it go off before the Imperial has to redeploy and injure his own guys, while also not allowing the Imperial to simply save his Threat until his initial forces are eradicated, dropping a single cost Force Storm (like if it only cost 2 or 3 Threat), and then flooding the board with deployments after doing 2-6 damage to every Rebel. I would suggest something like: Deplete instead of Increasing Threat during that phase and set Threat counter to zero. Beyond that, I still don't know if that card would gain use. Even if you purchased nothing else, and the card was as written, by the time I get it the Heroes are middling powerful, and nothing else in the class deck helps boost my own figures save for Sith Alchemy. Since every mission begins with initial deployment, and the card requires me to reset my threat counter to zero, as the Imperial player I am forced to choose to effectively eradicate every single figure out there in order to hit the Rebels for 6.

I see the combo potential, if you have both Death Troopers and Force Storm (I presume that it was some kind of Force Storm that created the zombie troopers in the first place?), you can eradicate your own troopers with Force Storm and then have them rise as Death Troopers. Speaking as a mostly Imperial player, I would likely never use this. The figures themselves are just too good pre-Death trooper to waste creating Death Troopers with them, and resetting my threat to zero and potentially killing every figure I have in order to do 2-6 (probably 4) to the Rebels just isn't worth it. Unless of course I had only to deliver 4 more points to a Rebel in order to win.

I actually agree with you, that I prefer the OT era where jedi/sith are super rare and not a dime a dozen like in all the new stuff coming out. I think this deck however works thematically because 1) its not just another sith/jedi running around on the battlefield waving a lightsaber and 2) The emperor of the Empire IS a powerful Sith Lord. And while Palpatine himself didn't create Death Troopers, he was a practitioner of Sith Alchemy (see Chrysalis Beasts from Dark Empire) and Death Troopers or atleast the virus that created them were a result of Sith Alchemy, a failed attempt at bestowing Immortality.

I never once considered that an Imperial Player would grab both 4 xp cards. In my mindset you'd only want to grab 1 4xp card as that would be alot of XP you'd be holding on to during missions.

Death Troopers do NOT count as Troopers. And they all share 1 deployment card. All Death Troopers enter into play exhausted, so they don't get a turn until the next round.