Ok so, I was just listening to the most recent O66 podcast, and there was a discussion about Mass Combat, and various skills/talents and how they might effect the mass combat dice roll. And they mentioned, that apparently one of the devs flat out said, that Battle Meditation would NOT effect this role.....

.......

.......so what's the point of the Planetary scale upgrade?

I mean, the origin of this freaking power is the idea of some powerful force user, orchestrating a MASSIVE battle by using the force to nudge things left and right. I think it was established that the Emperor was doing this during the climax of Return of the Jedi, and he was doing it on a Planetary scale.

So....if I can't use it to influence a Mass Combat role, what purpose would it serve at all?

The only scenario, given that restriction, is if the party happens to be in simultaneous battles, scattered across a planet. And given the behavior of your typical gaming group, namely "OMG DONT SPLIT UP OR WE DIEEEEE ROFLBBQ!", coupled with the requirement that everyone be in combat at the same time, I just don't see this coming up often enough to warrant buying it.

I just, this seems like a huge disparity between the thematic origins of a power, that has become a signature concept of the Star Wars universe, and game mechanics that cripple the thematic element right out of the gate.

And considering that apparently just having ranks in leadership, and the various talents that are associated with leadership, can directly effect a Mass Combat role, a force ability that, by design, is meant to help coordinate multiple people/groups in a combat situation to work better together, I just, don't really see the distinction that lets one be ok, and the other denied.

Thoughts?

Planetary scale is necessary in vehicle/ship combat if you want to affect anyone not in your own vessel. This could be important, say, if your group flies some sort of transport with starfighter escort, allowing the Force user to boost those pilots and gunners from their own ship. Likewise, in a vehicle encounter on a planet, you might have some party members in airspeeders while others are operating ground turret emplacement. Planetary scale allows you to boost them without having to be in the immediate vicinity of either.

I do think that it would be worth having an upgrade to Battle Meditation that allows it to boost a Mass Combat roll, though.

Another use case would be planetary-scale combat where the PCs aren't in the same ship (like one commanding a cap ship and another PC flying a starfish term making attack runs).

And while I love the Order 66 podcasts, I respectfully disagree that it cannot be used to affect Mass Combat. Take for example a situation where the PC is the theater leader and his communications have been knocked out. I would argue that if he can activate the Battle Meditation power and connect with subordinate NPC lieutenants (e.g. the individual ship commanders in a fleet action or pilots in a dog fight), and if he can activate the control upgrade that lets him send simple orders, his leadership ranks would still count for upgrading the Mass Combat check.

Personally, I love the concept of the power, but I am dying to do a campaign with PCs controlling both cap ships and fighters. Lastly, you can't get Mastery without buying the planetary upgrade, and that is reason enough to buy it. That Mastery upgrade is boss!

Just because Battle Meditation can't be used directly on the Mass Combat check does not restrict it from being used DURING the phases. So in the long run it can have an effect on the Mass Combat roll by influencing the outcome of a Phase, it just doesn't directly effect it.

One major use of using it at planetary scale is that with the upgrades that allow you to send simple orders you essentially have limited telepathy. You can use it to convey a message to someone you know who could be anywhere on the planet or in orbit of it without using any technology whatsoever.

If you use committed battle meditation you can also support your entire party even if you split up.

So I was re-listening to the Mass Combat episode to refresh my memory on exactly what the GMs said about Battle Meditation for Mass Combat, and I had a quick question for those who have heard it.

What is "Superior Field Commander"? GM Phil made it sound like a talent upgrade to Improved Field Commander, but I haven't seen it in any specs... is it a special upgrade for AoR characters only applicable to Mass Combat?

Might be something he had in mind form one of the books in development or simply a mix up with supreme field commander.

Superior = Supreme. GMPhil had a bit of word soup for us to not hear.

Wait, is there a spec that has Supreme Field Commander (analogous to Supreme Inspiring Rhetoric)? Or is that a special ability/talent specific for Mass Combat? Or are you saying there might be something coming down the pipe with a Supreme Field Commander talent?

Actually I don't think that talent does exist. I should probably go and listen to the segment again but I must assume he intended to talk about the Improved Field Commander talent.

Wait, is there a spec that has Supreme Field Commander (analogous to Supreme Inspiring Rhetoric)? Or is that a special ability/talent specific for Mass Combat? Or are you saying there might be something coming down the pipe with a Supreme Field Commander talent?

Nah, I just screwed up to and meant to say improved field commander, but wrote supreme