Protect/Unleashed

By GM Hooly, in Star Wars: Force and Destiny RPG

My question relates to the Protect/Unleashed power from the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook (pages 300 to 301).


My question comes in five parts.


Q1) The power states that after successfully making an Easy (DD) Discipline check the user of the power may spend two force points to make a ranged attack at short range with a base damage equal to the player’s Willpower. Is the Discipline check the roll for the attack as well or is there another ranged attack that must be made? I have been using just the Discipline check is the attack roll, but I am curious if this is correct.


Q2) How does the Adversary talent interact with this? Does it affect the Discipline check or another ranged attack check (as per question 1)? In either case, would the check be an opposed check instead, if the power is used to attack a Nemesis or a named Rival as per the side bar on page 283 (Resisting Force Checks)?


Q3) The power doesn’t state it, but I have been implementing that for each un-cancelled success in the aforementioned Discipline check, the user applies 1 additional point of damage to the base damage. Is this correct as the rules don’t clearly state it?


Q4) The first range upgrade states that the user must spend two force points to increase the range band a number of times equal to the Range Upgrades purchased. Does this therefore mean that if they have just the basic power and the first Range Upgrade, the character must spend 4 total force points to attack a target at medium range (upgraded once from the basic power’s short range limitation), and 6 total force points to attack a target at long range (upgraded twice from the basic power’s short range limitation)?


Q5) Is soak applied to the damage caused by this power?

I've plumbed the depths of these forums for answers to these very questions. Here's the best I've got.

1. I'm certain it's just the one Discipline roll.

2. Adversary would affect it. After much discussion on another thread, I've decided that it would NOT be opposed. The sidebar you reference says that it is opposed unless "it is already a combat check" which this is. Dodge, Sidestep, Adversary, even cover would apply. Per RAW reflect would NOT apply, but a lot of GMs on these forums allow it at there tables.. that's a judgement call.

3. I had not noticed the rules didn't specify whether successes add damage. It's a ranged combat check, and every other ranged check has successes adding to damage.. so I would likely run it as such.. curious what others on these forums have to say on this one though.

4. Didn't quite understand you on this one. I will just break it down, as best my sleep addled brain can. Basic Power 2 force pips to activate. If you have one rank of Range, 2 more force pips to increase your distance to Medium, for a total of 4 pips spent. If you wanted to go to Long range, spend another 2 for a total of 6 pips spent.

If you had 2 ranks of Range instead of one: Activating your range talent with the 2 pips, activates all of the range talents you have purchased. IE: you spend only 4 pips (2 for the basic power and 2 for the ranged talent) and you go to Long.

Same holds true for Strength upgrades. If you have one strength upgrade and you spend one pip +1 dam. Spend 3 pips +3 dam. If you have all 4 strength upgrades: spend 1 pip +4 dam, spend 3 pips +12.

5. Yes soak is applied.

Hope that helps

Q1 Answer) It's just the Discipline check, with the established difficulty of two purple supplanting the normal process for determining the base difficulty of a ranged attack.

Q2 Answer) Adversary would upgrade the base difficulty of the Discipline check, same as any points of Ranged Defense the target might have adding setback dice to the difficulty. The line "ranged attack" is an indicator that anything that would defend the target versus getting hit with a blaster or thrown object works to avoid getting hit with Unleash.

Q3 Answer) That is correct, in that each uncancelled success adds to the damage, the same as it does with any combat check.

Q4 Answer) Yes. Thus, it behooves you to purchase more Range Upgrades if you're looking to routinely blast targets from further away.

Q5) Yes. Note that Harm specifically says that it ignores soak, while Unleash doesn't have that verbiage. Reason being that using Harm doesn't require a combat check; unless the target can defend against Force powers, they simply suffer damage. And without a combat check, there's no inherent way to boost the damage apart from Strength Upgrades. For Unleash, since it is a combat check, it has a built-in method to up the damage using a skill that many PCs are going to have sunk a fair amount of points into, thus soak gets applied to keep Unleash from becoming an instant one-hit KO attack.

For question about the range, it is just ones the cost of range.... the Range said spend 2 to increase range EQUAL to RANGE UPGRADES PURCHASED

So if you got range 2 (long) it is equal 2 not 2 times the cost.

it will be 2 points to encrease to long range , not 4.

yes with 2 range upgrades it costs 1 pip to increase range twice, and 2 pips increase range 4, with 4 range upgrades it would cost 1 pip for 4 range increases.