I think the key thing to remember is that the Force is mysterious, and even the Jedi Order (probably the galaxy's leading experts on the topic) didn't have all the answers, or generally claim that they knew with 100% certainty how the Force operated on a grander scale. Something like purging a dark side site should be the focus of an entire story arc that takes several adventures to complete, as it's a major accomplishment.

That's what this is. The entire story arc is these two padawans having to fix the mess they created by opening pandora's box on this native planet.

In the beginners game you must meditate wiry the gatekeeper to cleanse the temple. One of the sessions I ran in a dark temple, I made them destroy a large glowing kyber crystal that was tainting the world around it.

Do you mean the beginner's game in the Force and Destiny Corebook? Or the campaign that came with the Force and Destiny GM Screen? I have both of those, but didn't bother to read those modules, as I'm not running those.

Well given that the Jedi know of many darkside places and near as I can tell they have never purged them I think it can't be done. If it could I am pretty sure they would have done so. Same goes for Dark Side Holocrons. They lock them up. As they have no ability to destroy the taint.

Well given that I'm the GM and it's my campaign, I'm saying that nobody every thought to try and do it. I'm asking for ideas on how to accomplish it. I personally take issue with the idea that it's impossible to purge a dark side location, considering a location that wasn't tainted can become tainted. No reason it couldn't be purged in some way, other than "we've never seen it done before".

No need to get snippy about it. The material we have implies it can't be done. As I am sure the Jedi would have tried. You can do whatever you like in your game. Just telling you what the evidence we have in the universe implies.

I wasn't being snippy, I was pointing out that your answer didn't actually address my question. Like I said in the original post, I was pretty sure it wasn't something actually covered, but that I was going to do it, and I wanted advice on how to mechanically do this. You saying "It can't be done" doesn't actually address the question at all.

It would depend on the cause of the dark side taint.

If it's a natural vergence than this cannot be changed however if the taint is due to the corruption by a dark sider then this should be fine.

Although I do think the focus shouldn't be on shifiting it to the light side but bringing balance to the site.

As for a mechanical way of doing it I think the Lost Knowledge adventure has a fantastic process using the destiny points lay them out all dark side (with a couple in hand) they then have to complete a series of tasks that require various tests to be completed.

These could include discipline checks, Sense and meditation to calm to sense of anger in the area; Cool checks including seek to get around fear etc.

Success means that the dark side token flips to the light side, failure flips it back to the dark side

If they have ten dark side tokens and fail put another token on top of one of the ten this will put a setback dice on the required tests.

Three advantages or a triumph puts a boost dice on the next test

Three disadvantages or a despair adds setback dice.

Their objective is to flip five to the light side and thusly balance the area in the force.

You'd probably need to come up with ten different tasks and randomise which ones you hand out.

It's not a natural vergence, it's due to a sith dying at the location many centuries ago. The natives have found a way to suppress the vengeful spirit, but the two padawans, being from another planet, and unfamiliar with what was going on, basically screwed up their ritual, and opened up the pandora's box. Now the being is loose, and going to start unleashing all kinds of apocalyptic dark side hell on the planet. The players will have to rise to the challenge of 1: Leveling up high enough to be able to fight the current possessed vessel of the spirit. 2: Find a way to end the dark side's influence on the planet forever. Part 2 is where I'm trying to get info on. The Lost Knowledge suggestions sound promising, however, in my head, this will be happening while the very physical host of the sith spirit is trying to hack their heads off, so I'm not sure how well the "sit down and meditate the dark side away" approach would work I'm considering just doing the "ancient item of sith power that is the spirits anchor" and just be done with it. But I'd like to have some other options as well.

And I'm not trying so much to "bring the site to the Light Side", and if I worded it that way, that was my error. Basically, the dark side taint is something that shouldn't be. It's not natural, so it's a blight on the planet, and has unnaturally shaped the development of the local population as a result. Dealing with it is a major part of their culture, and it's basically stunting their development. Cleansing the site, in this case meaning "just putting it back to being a normal place without being a nexus of evil", is the goal. Not to turn it into some Light Side nexus as a result. Just, to get rid of the taint, that's all.

So not so much a dark side nexus, but more of a "haunted planet" sort of thing. It's not getting rid of dark side energy, but an actual dark side spirit.

Maybe just have the solution keyed to the strengths of the PCs. For example, if one of the padawans is a lightsaber duelist, and the other is a bit more of a mystic, then you could have one engage the Dark Side Spirit in a duel while the other one focuses on some sort of meditation-type skill challenge.

So not so much a dark side nexus, but more of a "haunted planet" sort of thing. It's not getting rid of dark side energy, but an actual dark side spirit.

Maybe just have the solution keyed to the strengths of the PCs. For example, if one of the padawans is a lightsaber duelist, and the other is a bit more of a mystic, then you could have one engage the Dark Side Spirit in a duel while the other one focuses on some sort of meditation-type skill challenge.

Pretty much yeah. I'm not sure which player is going to go which way, as they haven't really picked a route and dove deep into it yet. They've branched out between specializations, as well as force powers with their xp. It's still early in my opinion, as I dont see this ending any time soon. They only released the spirit last session, so they've got to deal with several layers of fallout from that, which will give them plenty of xp to work with.

Off the wall recommendation would be discipline checks. Determine the difficulty based on how hard you want it. Start with a force check and get a boost die for every white pip and a difficulty upgrade for every dark pip. Multiple force users can work together, but one person has to be the focal point for it. For every net failure they take a wound, for every threat they suffer a strain, and for despairs they suffer a critical as the darkside lashes back.

Option 1: You could require one roll after an amount of time with some good story behind it.. Success suppresses the effect for a number of days equal to the number of successes, advantages do something, and triumphs could lower the difficulty from the next check.

Option 2: Make it an encounter. Dark side spirits manifest and attack, the non-force users have to protect their allies doing the ritual while the ritual guys are doing their thing. Each success causes one "wound" to the darkside location, an advantage causes setbacks to the spirits or advantages to the allies, and a triumph could give an upgrade to the next check or lower the number of spirits that manifest the next round.

I like option 2. Especially for a mechanically inclined group.

Edit: if the source of the dark side area was a ritual, then have focuses that can be taken out by the allies to give boosts to the check or even before the ritual can begin. Just make them so they can't be shot directly, make the others run around the area to get to them.

Off the wall recommendation would be discipline checks. Determine the difficulty based on how hard you want it. Start with a force check and get a boost die for every white pip and a difficulty upgrade for every dark pip. Multiple force users can work together, but one person has to be the focal point for it. For every net failure they take a wound, for every threat they suffer a strain, and for despairs they suffer a critical as the darkside lashes back.

Option 1: You could require one roll after an amount of time with some good story behind it.. Success suppresses the effect for a number of days equal to the number of successes, advantages do something, and triumphs could lower the difficulty from the next check.

Option 2: Make it an encounter. Dark side spirits manifest and attack, the non-force users have to protect their allies doing the ritual while the ritual guys are doing their thing. Each success causes one "wound" to the darkside location, an advantage causes setbacks to the spirits or advantages to the allies, and a triumph could give an upgrade to the next check or lower the number of spirits that manifest the next round.

I like option 2. Especially for a mechanically inclined group.

Edit: if the source of the dark side area was a ritual, then have focuses that can be taken out by the allies to give boosts to the check or even before the ritual can begin. Just make them so they can't be shot directly, make the others run around the area to get to them.

I like this. And yes, Option 2 is basically what I've always had in mind. The cleansing is (in theory anyway, you know players), going to be the climactic conclusion to the entire campaign. The two of them (possibly with native support using the mass combat rules), fighting the dark side spirit, while also trying to purge the site. The dark side isn't a ritual, it's basically the ambient taint from the ancient sith that died there, and since their evilness is like radiation, it's contaminated the entire area as a result.

My only issue, is there are only 2 players, so I don't know how effective one would be at defending the other, as they definitely haven't bought into the specs that would actually give them mechanical benefits to defending allies. But we'll see. Thanks for the ideas, I like the idea of the roll having direct physical backlash on them. I had already considered using a Discipline check in conjunction with the Force roll, but hadn't really thought on how to reflect the results narratively.

Hmm, you mentioned they were getting help from the locals. What about having two or more teams of minion locals that have to engage minion or rival force ghosts that are coming for the character doing the ritual. The other character could lead a minion group. That way both players get to engage in a battle even the one character is engaged in a force (no pun intended) of wills with the core of the dark side spirit. The ghosts are trying to fight there way to him to overwhelm him, and the defenders have to keep them at bay. Perhaps bring in more ghosts to as you get closer to defeating the main spirit to keep the pressure on.

Another option would be to treat it more like a running battle. I don't know what sort of world this is, but let's say it's in a forested area. The dark side spirit has twisted and warped the local plant life into a temple. The characters and their local allies have to engage phantasms and possessed locals, animals, and plants while they battle their way to the main spirit. Once there they force user attacks with discipline checks while the other player fights off phantasms and possessed stuff. Narrate it action movie style where the force user has to touch the ghost to purge it, so he's focusing the light side of the force and delivering it with melee discipline attacks. But the spirit is mobile, so it can move throughout the temple. The characters have to chase it while engaging with different obsticles. Each time they catch up with it, they get the chance to hit it a couple of times. Each time weakening it a little more.

All of this is easier said than done. I wish you luck in whatever you decide.

Roleplay only, spiced with "mechanical" stuff, like removing a certain element from the area, which triggers a return to balance.

Hmm, you mentioned they were getting help from the locals. What about having two or more teams of minion locals that have to engage minion or rival force ghosts that are coming for the character doing the ritual. The other character could lead a minion group. That way both players get to engage in a battle even the one character is engaged in a force (no pun intended) of wills with the core of the dark side spirit. The ghosts are trying to fight there way to him to overwhelm him, and the defenders have to keep them at bay. Perhaps bring in more ghosts to as you get closer to defeating the main spirit to keep the pressure on.

Another option would be to treat it more like a running battle. I don't know what sort of world this is, but let's say it's in a forested area. The dark side spirit has twisted and warped the local plant life into a temple. The characters and their local allies have to engage phantasms and possessed locals, animals, and plants while they battle their way to the main spirit. Once there they force user attacks with discipline checks while the other player fights off phantasms and possessed stuff. Narrate it action movie style where the force user has to touch the ghost to purge it, so he's focusing the light side of the force and delivering it with melee discipline attacks. But the spirit is mobile, so it can move throughout the temple. The characters have to chase it while engaging with different obsticles. Each time they catch up with it, they get the chance to hit it a couple of times. Each time weakening it a little more.

All of this is easier said than done. I wish you luck in whatever you decide.

Ok short summary:

Planet is a jungle/forest planet, the native population are stone age level of technology. The dark site is in a temple that they built over the site, as the generations progressed. As to the natives helping, yes that's definitely an option, however they have to prove they are worthy of help, because right now, the local natives are seriously pissed that these outsiders ruined their ritual that had been working for centuries, and have an unleashed evil spirit to deal with. A portion of them are of the mind of "they're servants of the dark one, otherwise why would they have released it? Let's just kill them!" They were able to convince the leader to not kill them 2 night ago when we played, but now they have to actually prove that they are useful. They basically convinced the leader to not kill them by saying "We're young and naive, and thought we were helping!" Which is 100% true, but it doesn't evoke much confidence in their ability to stop the threat. So, next session, they will do a series of challenges to prove themselves worthy of the native people, and if they pass, then they will have the option of mass combat, using the natives as minion groups. But that's not set in stone, as they could fail these challenges, or the character who is a little prone to dark side impulses, might do something stupid and piss them off. The spirit, on the other hand, is currently corrupting various wild creatures to his service as a minion army. Of course, if they don't get the natives on their side, i'll dial down the number of minions to deal with. But yeah, having a pitched battle while the 2 PC's, deal with the spirit directly, and also try and shut down the source of the taint has always been the plan. It's mostly the "ok, so how do I go about accomplishing that mechanically".

a bit late answer i guess, but found in one of the begginer adventures, a group of Jedi's confront a jedi fallen to the dark side called Rav Naarran, or something similar. At the end of adventure they have few option to deal with him, and one of them was to bring him to the light side. It is done with an opossed Discipline check. Note that Rav's discipline was/is 2 yellow and 2 green dice, so two purple and two red dice was in the pool, which gave a chance for 2 despair to come up. Not an easy task to do it, and a great chance of something going wrong.

I bet you can come up with similar rule to cleanse places, as a Discipline vs Discipline roll, by giving the place its "discipline rating" ie.

Well, depending on how my players advance, I'm either just going to have them destroy an object of power, or possibly use the Suppress force power. We haven't had another session for a few weeks due to real life issues all around, so it's hard to say how they're going to go forward. Currently I'm prepping their "journey into the cave" moment of their Force development, and that will likely color a lot of how they proceed.

Seeing this reminded me of the Jedi Consular storyline from SWTOR. The ability to shield a person from the plague was possible, but extremely difficult. Also it had a detrimental effect on the user overtime, gradually sapping his strength as he sought to shield more and more minds. That is definitely something that I'd factor into the idea of shielding an entire region from the dark side. Yes it may be possible, but what happens to the being who accomplishes it.