Question out there for GM's about how they run the "Bind" power. I have an NPC with it for the first time, and none of my PC's have it. So it's new to me. Here's my question:

In the basic power, the Bind power states that it stops a target from acting. To me, that means completely stuck and can't maneuver or take actions.

But later in the tree you see an upgrade that causes strain if a target under the Bind power takes an action. Also another upgrade causes Disorient while the person is in Bind. That suggests he can do things because why else would you add a setback die if he can't act?

The FaD book was written before TFA... but in the cinematic universe... Bind = stuck completely with no actions or maneuvers.

So... how do you play Bind? Can they move? Are they completely stuck? Or are they stuck but can still act?

Thanks in advance everyone!

GM Scott

Bind base power only prevents a person from taking move actions.

Further in the tree it gains the ability to stagger opponents.

Decorus is correct. The base power prevents you from moving, but you need the mastery level upgrade to prevent them from acting in any way. So you can recreate the cinematic bind but you need all the upgrades to do it.

Yup. Bind, in the context of FaD, is the same sort of thing as Force Choke. Remember when Vader choked someone, they could move their hands (usually up to their throat in a futile effort to pull away what was compressing their airway). If you aren't causing wounds, then perhaps a novice with the powers has just "grabbed" someone by the torso and is holding them in place. As a GM, I'd absolutely phrase is as the person struggling to move their arms but, at the end of the day, they could still raise their blaster and take a shot, it would just be an epic effort to do so.

3 hours ago, Decorus said:

Bind base power only prevents a person from taking move actions.

Further in the tree it gains the ability to stagger opponents.

It's a small thing, but important. Bind prevents you from taking maneuvers. There's no such thing as a "move action." This means that you can still shoot, but you can't Aim, Take Cover, Aid Another, or use any of the nifty talents that require you to use a maneuver, like Sidestep.

Worth noting that Bind has a Control Upgrade that if your target chooses to take an Action after being affected by the power, said target also suffers strain equal to your Willpower.

Since rivals and minions wind up taking strain as wounds, that'd be a good justification for why they don't do anything when your PC targets them, as they probably don't struggle hard enough to result in them getting injured. Or in the case of Poe and Rey in TFA, they could have been close enough to exceeding their strain threshold that they didn't want to wind up unconscious and at the mercy of a deranged Sith wannabe.

Except quite a few things refer to it as a move action and not maneuvers.

Dolan Seed pods being one of them.

It should be referred to as a "Move Manoeuvre"

"Move Action" is too close to referring to the Force Power Move which requires an Action.

Thanks everyone! That clears it all up! I appreciate it. The word action did throw me.

You could technically prevent someone from making an attack with the base Bind power, provided they haven't taken a maneuver to equip their weapon before you use Bind or if their weapon has a range shorter than the distance between you and them (such as a melee weapon).