I've been looking forward to the Sentinel career book for awhile. I was really hoping mechu-deru would be the featured, new Force power. I was hoping this because of the Artisan spec. However, the description of the upcoming book doesn't give me a lot of hope for it. It might be in the book, but psychometry would likely be a better fit. But who knows...

What might mechu-deru look like as a Force power?

Mechu-deru, originally created by the Sith and used sparingly by the Jedi, is a Force power that gives an "intuitive understanding of mechanical systems" and allows the user to "exert their influence over inanimate and robotic constructs." Mechu-deru practitioners can bind machines to their will and even imbue them with the power of the Force. (Wookieepedia)

I think the main power would allow users to command a droid or a machine at Engaged range. Simple machines, like a press or the robotic tools in an automated landspeeder factory would still have very limited functions, but droids could be bent to the user's will and could be forced to do things they normally might not do.

Magnitude upgrades might increase the number of targets that can be commanded at once. Range upgrades increase... range. Strength upgrades might give the droid less chance to resist the commands.

Maybe an early Control upgrade gives ranks in the Speaks Binary talent for committed Force dice or spent Force pips. It would be like a separate function of mechu-deru, like the Leap control under the Enhance power.

Another Control upgrade might be mechu macture, which adds electronic devices like computers or datapads to the items the user could command. Mechu-deru vitae is another Control upgrade that allows the user to take control over someone's cybernetics.

The Mastery upgrade allows the user to give "life" to a construct or deactivated droid, or even just a pile of random droid parts, imbuing it like some kind of Force-powered golem.

Thoughts?

is this not covered by the Mental Tools, Imbue Item and Reinforce Item talents? not the entire of what your suggesting, but a very large majority of it

Some of the earlier Force Powers, such as sense, seem to have a crunchy side and a more RP side. The other half of a Mechu Deru power could allow you to sense the thoughts and presence of machines. That's a bit of a stretch of believability, but with the right narrative spin, you could make it work.

is this not covered by the Mental Tools, Imbue Item and Reinforce Item talents? not the entire of what your suggesting, but a very large majority of it

As a power on its own, mechu-deru becomes capable of the things users have been able to do in the past, like create the technobeasts. I like to think of Force powers as spells and Force talents as cantrips. A mechu-deru practioner would certainly pick those talents up, though.

Some of the earlier Force Powers, such as sense, seem to have a crunchy side and a more RP side. The other half of a Mechu Deru power could allow you to sense the thoughts and presence of machines. That's a bit of a stretch of believability, but with the right narrative spin, you could make it work.

Oh, I like that. Sensing the presence of machines/droids is a very good fit. Sensing their thoughts and reading their minds is definitely a stretch, and I probably wouldn't include that. Mechu-deru, I feel like, is much more about simply controlling and building. While not an inherently Dark Side Force power, it was created by the Sith. A Sith mechu-deru user probably wouldn't have cared what the machines thought - only that they did her bidding.

I thought of another possible Control upgrade after posting this last night. Sort of an enhance for machines. The user can raise or lower a droid's or machine's characteristic by 1 while a Force die is committed.

my group just altered the sense power tree so that it can only affect droids and tecnology and changed the skill bonuses accordingly to computers and such.