. As for the comment from the GM that making a lightsaber takes years of mastery is complete bs. One of the first things that a Learner does to progress to Padawan is to build their first lightsaber. That's canon and nothing he can say will change it.

Ah my bad one of the players said that and i should probably rephrase it. He said it takes years of training in the force to build a lightsaber. Also out of curiosity how long does it take for a youngling to be ready to build a lightsaber

about 5 minutes...

. As for the comment from the GM that making a lightsaber takes years of mastery is complete bs. One of the first things that a Learner does to progress to Padawan is to build their first lightsaber. That's canon and nothing he can say will change it.

Ah my bad one of the players said that and i should probably rephrase it. He said it takes years of training in the force to build a lightsaber. Also out of curiosity how long does it take for a youngling to be ready to build a lightsaber

about 5 minutes...

wait seriously you're not exaggerating like how long do younglings train before they're ready to craft their lightsaber? cant be 5 minutes

no, but by the time your a beginning PC in Force and Destiny you are experienced enough (read: years of training or experimentation) to make a training sabre. I do like there to be some source for the Knowledge on crafting one, such as a Holocron or Mentor, but if a PC says to me "I want to make myself a Lightsaber" im going to build that into my story, and soon.

For me getting the proper Crystal is what takes longer, and adventure or 2, so 3 or 4 sessions with some plausible reason as to why its there.

Depends on the force user. My character, despite using the force for a year in and out of game time, still doesn't know how to refine a lightsaber crystal. The mechanics of building the hilt were simple enough, he just lacks core, fundimental knowledge to figure out how to refine a jewel. Instead, lightsabers are taken from the dead and hull refined to his standard. That was a choice I made as a player.

Thats because he wasn't a Jedi, even a padawan would have fair idea on how to build one independently, just the resources would be difficult to get hold of. I would expect that, if you had a backstory of a Padawan, that you would quailify to know enough to build one if you had to.

So remember that your GM, not one of the other players, is the final arbitrator on how long anything takes in their game. With that being said, the F&D GM kit has some guidelines. With only a hint of what lightsabers are and how they function, a character can create a lightsaber hilt with the proper materials using a Daunting (PPPP) Mechanics or Knowledge(Lore) check. With proper instruction such as a holocron, mentor or some other data archive, the difficulty for this check is only Average (PP).

So if you have no clue, creating one could take a long time. If you find something that has some info on how to do it, your character can be ready to build their first hilt in the time it takes to process said info.

So remember that your GM, not one of the other players, is the final arbitrator on how long anything takes in their game

Yeah it just feels like he has a lot of influence over his thinking and planning process since no one really takes me seriously. My reasoning is seen as complaining while his makes it look like he's trying to stop me from doing so

For me getting the proper Crystal is what takes longer, and adventure or 2, so 3 or 4 sessions with some plausible reason as to why its there.

6 sessions in and I'm not even allowed to build a proper hilt based off the training lightsaber I got as loot and if I try to they complain that "I'm holding up the game and that he'll let me when I'm allowed to"

Arguably, the hilt for the training lightsaber -is- the same hilt as a standard lightsaber. RAW, the training emitter uses the same sort of rules as a lightsaber crystal, just that its uses its damage code. Once you find any other crystal, you just slot it into the hilt and you have a lightsaber. Now sure, your GM will likely prevent it from being this easy.

Honestly it just sounds like your GM is trying to set up a thematic point for your group to get lightsabers, just be patient and go with it. That said, if they've already given access to heavy blaster rifles and other weapons, it seems that they're overthinking it.

That said, if they've already given access to heavy blaster rifles and other weapons, it seems that they're overthinking it.

I think that may be the case for some reason I think he thinks that lightsabers are too op. Then you have the guy with a heavy blaster rifle deal 10-12 dmg per shot and me needing two swords to barely match that dmg... at increased difficulty...up close... while I'm getting shot at. I know being in melee has more risks but thats not my issue my issue is I take such a high risk for such little reward (ancient swords x 2 is only one more base dmg than heavy blaster and that's assuming I hit with both) Also the way things are going I dont think anyone else is going to be lightsaber focused

For me getting the proper Crystal is what takes longer, and adventure or 2, so 3 or 4 sessions with some plausible reason as to why its there.

6 sessions in and I'm not even allowed to build a proper hilt based off the training lightsaber I got as loot and if I try to they complain that "I'm holding up the game and that he'll let me when I'm allowed to"

Holding up the game? You mean, taking a moment to roleplay some important character development?

Talk to your GM outside of the group. It sounds like it's mostly the other players complaining against you, so don't include them in the talk. Just tell the GM that you'd like to make it possible for your character to work out how to build another training lightsaber. This is the sort of thing that he should be allowing.

Unless you're right in the middle of a firefight, or a time-sensitive rescue mission, or are stranded with no tools on a desert planet, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to at least try to build something.

"Once the character obtains the materials, [300cr of junk + a crystal], he can construct a lightsaber hilt by succeeding on an Average Mechanics or Knowledge (Lore) check. If the character does not have the information on how to construct a lightsaber (such as via a holocron or other data archive) the GM can either decide that he may not attempt to construct it, or he can increase the difficulty to Daunting ."

-Hidden Depths, F&D GM Kit, Page 23.

"Once the character obtains the materials, [300cr of junk + a crystal], he can construct a lightsaber hilt by succeeding on an Average Mechanics or Knowledge (Lore) check. If the character does not have the information on how to construct a lightsaber (such as via a holocron or other data archive) the GM can either decide that he may not attempt to construct it, or he can increase the difficulty to Daunting ."

-Hidden Depths, F&D GM Kit, Page 23.

Sage advice. I forgot about that piece in the GM Kit!

How would you guys handle reverse-engineering a lightsaber hilt in light of this?

Doesn't the core rulebook lightsaber hilt cost section say that its just a couple hours and no test to construct a hilt from purchased parts?

Isn't that GM kit more for trying to get a more personalized saber/get an extra hard point?

Doesn't the core rulebook lightsaber hilt cost section say that its just a couple hours and no test to construct a hilt from purchased parts?

Isn't that GM kit more for trying to get a more personalized saber/get an extra hard point?

Correct. The GM Kit rules are an option that can be ignored if the GM chooses.

For my own FaD game, I was very much of a mind to do that, but the one player that really wanted a lightsaber gave me a really good narrative reason (including even going so far as to writing up a short story about the whole process, even accounting for extra time due to the character's mental hang-ups about being too open about his Jedi heritage, which caused the process to take even longer than what the GM Kit would suggest), that I relented and let him make the roll. He didn't score any Triumphs, but I did let him make a bit of aesthetic customization since he'd wanted to use his Ancient Sword hilt as the basis for his personal lightsaber along with parts of a salvaged yet defunct lightsaber he'd acquired during the last adventure. So now he's got a lightsaber hilt that looks like a fancied-up sword hilt without a blade (no crossguard on it, metal or energy). Certainly different, and fits the character quite well. Campaign's been on hiatus to play some FATE and Mutants and Masterminds, but my players are chomping at the bit to get back into the campaign, especially the guy playing the knife-hurling Smuggler/Gunslinger as well as Mr. Proud-Owner-of-a-New-Lightsaber.

Doesn't the core rulebook lightsaber hilt cost section say that its just a couple hours and no test to construct a hilt from purchased parts?

Isn't that GM kit more for trying to get a more personalized saber/get an extra hard point?

It's expanded rules to give the whole thing a bit more gravitas; the core book rules are "You succeed hurray!" which is clearly not what this particular GM is going for... but the expanded rules show it as a three day process with a potentially Daunting check which is about as rough as could be expected.

Doesn't the core rulebook lightsaber hilt cost section say that its just a couple hours and no test to construct a hilt from purchased parts?

Isn't that GM kit more for trying to get a more personalized saber/get an extra hard point?

It's expanded rules to give the whole thing a bit more gravitas; the core book rules are "You succeed hurray!" which is clearly not what this particular GM is going for... but the expanded rules show it as a three day process with a potentially Daunting check which is about as rough as could be expected.

Along with the Daunting check though the PC would also get to add in their FR to the check, i think? Isn't that the other part of the GM Lightsaber construction rules?

Along with the Daunting check though the PC would also get to add in their FR to the check, i think? Isn't that the other part of the GM Lightsaber construction rules?

Yes, using pips as either advantage or success.

Wait you are all playing Force user career but the other players complain because you have a lightsaber? If they decided to not focus on this weapon and the specialization that come with it, it is their choice, but they shouldn't stop you from doing that. Talk to your GM about this or dump that group of children.

I'm still of the opinion that you should just dump the group. The other players are the problem and they have the GM in their back pocket. They are the ones acting like children because they feel threatened by a force user with a lightsaber and is using the GM to prevent you from having fun.

My offer of joining the campaign A Twin's Tale is still open. We meet on Google Hangouts using Skype to set up the Hangout. We also use Roll20 for maps and Obsidian Portal to track the campaign plus the characters. Right now, our group consists of two Je'daii Journeymen, a Je'daii Padawan, and an Assassin droid. We're in the process of rebuilding Tython and are about to meet with Incom's board of directors to work out a contract where we are paid 15 million credits plus 20% of all sales from the resources mined from the planet. There is also the planet Nox in the system that is an abandoned forge world that we could allow Incom to use for manufacturing.

As far as polishing a lightsaber crystal, there is plenty of evidence that in the new canon that this step is unnecessary. In Rebels, Ezra gains a kyber crystal at the end of his trials on Lothal and was able to construct a lightsaber with it.