I'm going to make my first Jedi character (I've settled on Sentinel: Sentry), and my ST is going to allow a quest for a lightsaber crystal. I'm wondering about what comes next.
I remember, at least a year ago, rifling through some book that went into details about what a player has to do to make a lightsaber. Can someone help me out, or at least name the book?
Both the F&D GM kit and Endless Vigil have lightsaber construction rules. The ones in Endless Vigil are more comprehensive and provide more options.
I suggest using one of those systems but not mixing them together.
Side, but related question: are there any rules for artificial crystals? Yes, like the Sith crystals.
55 minutes ago, RickAllison said:Side, but related question: are there any rules for artificial crystals? Yes, like the Sith crystals.
Nothing official, particularly as the current canon under Disney says that artificial crystals aren't a thing, and instead have the Sith (and other dark siders like Inquisitors) instead "corrupt" kyber crystals by pouring their anger and hatred in them, a process referred to as "bleeding" since it turns the crystal (and subsequent lightsaber blade) red.
1 hour ago, Jeivar said:I'm going to make my first Jedi character (I've settled on Sentinel: Sentry), and my ST is going to allow a quest for a lightsaber crystal. I'm wondering about what comes next.
I remember, at least a year ago, rifling through some book that went into details about what a player has to do to make a lightsaber. Can someone help me out, or at least name the book?
You've essentially got three sets of options to pick from.
In the core rulebook, assembling a hilt is simply a matter of acquiring the proper components (usually a Streetwise check) and paying credits equal to the cost of the hilt you're looking to build. No roll to assemble, but no special benefits either.
Next you've got the GM Kit, which allows for the choice of a Mechanics or Knowledge: Lore check, with the difficulty based upon how well informed the character is about lightsaber construction; the difficulty starts at Average for PCs that are fairly well-informed, and can go up to Daunting if the PC has only the vaguest idea of what their doing. Success on the check means that you not only built the hilt, but you get one modification from the crystal for free (no skill check or credits cost required). Advantage and threat rolled can alter the cost of parts or time spent building the hilt, while a Triumph adds a hard point while a Despair removes a hard point.
Last option is the build rules in Endless Vigil, which uses a Mechanics check and has a host of choices available based upon what you roll on your check, with the option for constructing different hilt types.
Said options really aren't meant to be mixed-and-matched either, such as using Knowledge: Lore to build the hilt and then the chart in Endless Vigil to spend whatever advantage, threat, Triumphs, or Despairs you roll on top of getting the free modification.
Personally, I generally prefer the GM Kit version, as it's simpler and overall cleaner than the Endless Vigil version, but not as simplistic as the core rulebook version, and doesn't have the potential to create nearly as many problematic hilt builds should a PC have invested heavily in Mechanics.
Technically, artificial crystals are a thing in canon. If you read Catalyst, you learn that Galen Erso was trying to design artificial crystals to use as a power source. However, these massive artificial crystals share more similarities to the crystals used in the Death Star than they do to the ones used in lightsabers. And if I remember correctly, they never quite functioned the same way as natural Kyber crystals.
Personally, I kind of prefer the canon way crystals work. The close link between crystals and Force users is much more appealing to me than the idea of Jedi just going around plucking random crystals and deciding, "Hmm, yes, this one will do." (I know there's more to it in Legends, but at times it really, really feels that simple.) And I always disliked the artificial crystals. Sure, it was one way to rationalize how lightsabers were made after the Empire heavily restricted lightsaber crystals, and how Sith built their lightsabers when Jedi controlled all the known crystal caves. But I simply can't take the image of a Sith just sitting in front of a furnace for hours on end just so he can get that pretty red colored rock seriously. Meanwhile, the Sith taking a crystal from a dead Jedi's lightsaber and corrupting it with their own evil? Makes way more sense to me.
I personally would usually prefer a balance of the Canon and Legends but with this game I prefer the canon.
I do not like the idea of going through all the effort to get a crystal every time you want an upgrade. I like the idea that it's more than just a sentimental bond that the saber could be somehow attuned to a PC. The 66 Podcast discussed having the crystal grow over time rather than straight modding it. I enjoy that and prefer that to simply dropping your saber whenever a better one becomes available. You should simply manage and upgrade the hilt as you become more skilled/have alternative needs from your lightsaber.
To expand.. Obi Wan says to anakin that this weapon is his life. If such is the case I'm eager if not desperate to make crystal quest a big deal but one that we undertake once or twice in a whole story.
Remember thaf in the new canon , and to an extent this is backed up in the youngling arc of The Clone Wars where it is made pretty clear that the crystal chooses the user as much as the user chooses the crystal, the younglings all went in surrounded by a great deal of ice and very likely a great deal of khyber crystals, but only one "would sing out" to each of them in its own way posing a challenge for the user.
To me finding a crystal would be like looking for a needle in a haystack (Erso had problems locating and identifying them and he was experienced), but the younglings, that followed the force found them easilh enough after a challenge was faced by them that furthered them as people.
I sort of look at them as a sort of personal vergence, with each crystal having its own unique challenge and its own way of choosing its user, and it then becomes a symbiotic relationship. I actually feel like the devs missed an opportunity to have , instead of crystal types have crystals provide groups of mods themselves depending on the GM and have them work like personal vergences eg anyone uses my saber, it's just a standard saber, but since my morailty is bravery/recklessness it could be that this crystal provides me with a bonus pip (color undetermined) in any encounter I have succesfully made a fear check, it could also provide an additonal rank in confidence or other similar bravery perks.
For the sake of my understanding.. Could someone go over what (using the rules only) would be the best potential lightsaber.
Like if you got the best possible mechanic roll and the best equipment? Or is it dependant on what you need?
It is dependent upon what you need, but there are some options that are universally good. Look at the chart to see just how many Advantages and Triumphs you'll need to get there, and you might just decide it's easier to just buy a hilt.
What would be universal though
Personally, I quite like the look of the crossguard hilt. +1 Defence is not to be sneezed at.
6 hours ago, Luahk said:What would be universal though
That's probably going to come down to the individual character.
Personally, I find that personalized design (+1 auto-success for the wielder, +1 auto-threat for anyone else) and personalized inlay (reduce difficulty of checks to modify 'saber crystal by an additional -1) to be quite good. You'll need either 2 Triumphs or 3 advantage and a Triumph (respectively) to get both of those, so your character would need to be pretty good at Mechanics to be able to pull that off with any sort of reliability.
Integral Attachment is a good way to get some of those pricier attachments, such as superior hilt customization for free, but that's two Triumphs required so not something you can reliably get unless you're rolling a lot of proficiency dice on that Mechanics check.
Crossguard (+1 defense and only need to spend 2 advantage to disarm) ain't bad, but if you're in spec that gives you Defensive Training, it's not quite as valuable.
39 minutes ago, Donovan Morningfire said:Personally, I find that personalized design (+1 auto-success for the wielder, +1 auto-threat for anyone else)
Whoa. Where can I read up on that one?
4 hours ago, Jeivar said:Whoa. Where can I read up on that one?
It's one of the chart options from the lightsaber crafting rules in Endless Vigil, as are all the options I listed.
If I had just a straight up warrior lightsaber meat head dude. What would be my ideal saber?
It'd be cool to give a boss enemy a super saber or something.
Typically, I spend advantages and Triumphs on getting more Hard Points (and/or the Integral attachment). That way I can add more attachments of my choice. Through getting a Truimph on my construction roll, and rolling enough Force dice for the Intuitive Improvements talent, I was able to build a lightsaber with eight hard points. That's customizable.
21 hours ago, Luahk said:If I had just a straight up warrior lightsaber meat head dude. What would be my ideal saber?
It'd be cool to give a boss enemy a super saber or something.
2 choices:
aturu striker (strongest offense weak defense against melee and ranged), uses agility as primary stat, has talents that depend on agility
Shi Cho knight: strong offense especially against multiple opponents, strong defense against melee, non-existent defense against range, uses brawn as the primary Stat but no talents depend on brawn
You could gave the character take aturu striker AND shi-cho knight and have "the ultimate 2 spec lightsaber meat head" (more specs could do better) BTW it would only have 1 force rating (from the original career).
Personally if I wanted to build "the awesome with a lightsaber jedi PC" in 2 or 3 specs it would be niman-disciple, shi-Cho knight, sentry. With those 3 specs it would have force rating 3, dedication 3, willpower as the primary stat (good for force powers), 7 parry, 5 reflect, improved parry, improved reflect, 3 defensive training, good at fighting multiple or single oponents. Start with a species that gives a 3 in brawn or willpower, 2 in the other, 1 in presence, 100 xp (off the top of my head green nikto would be a good choice) and after 10 bonus xp (from morality/ duty/obligation) you could start with a 4 in brawn and willpower, for 2 extra points of wound and strain threshold.