Hello everyone,

I know this question has been asked to death, but I can't find a clear ruling about Force Powers (for example, Move and Influence) and group of minions.

For Move (FaD page 298), I have seen examples that disarming or moving away 3 Stormtroopers require Magnitud upgrade, in addition to other upgrades, because a PC is affecting 3 objects.

For Influence (FaD page 294) I have seen examples that with the first upgrade control (10xp), the PC might Influence 3 Stormtroopers with a difficulty 3 and 2 upgrades, considering the minion rules, 3 Will and 2 upgrades. For this case, I have seen that this action does not require the Magnitud upgrades

So, my question is: Does targeting Force Powers to groups of minion require Magnitud upgrades? And for Influence, do I need to apply the minion group rule and increase the difficulty?

Thanks for the answers!

tl;dr GM's decision

1) You need the magnitude upgrades.

This is if your GM counts each Stormtrooper in a minion group as seperate entities for determining specific targeting like called shots.

To explain, the 10xp Influence Control upgrade specifically says that if you have a method of target, THEN you can target more than once (using the highest rank of Discipline among the targets OR the difficulty is set to a static amount based on number of minds (e.g. targets) and GM fiat/discretion).

However the wording on minion's are quite vague, though I personally treat them as separate entities except for skills and wounds. To further emphasize this point, when you attack them with a blaster - you have to take account the next Stormtrooper's soak if you have any spill over damage.

2) You don't need the magnitude upgrades (but only against minions)

This is if your GM counts a squad of Stormtroopers as a single target for the purpose of all Force powers. Stuff like Battle Meditation or Bind etc. Though this may run into the realm of disbelief when a Force newbie binds a squad of elite soldiers with a single pip.

In either example, you still need to take into account the wording on page 295 regarding the difficulty of a 'group mind-trick'.

Whereas I will not require a skill-check to use a Power on a single Minion-level NPC, if a PC wants to use a Force Power on a Minion Group for which they don't have the appropriate upgrades/pips, I will require a check to affect that whole Minion Group (as if they were an Adversary/Nemesis).

Failure in the Check means you just get one (or maybe more with spending Advantage or Triumph) - the base level of the Power effect, and maybe spending a Despair upon to have one or two "escape", or so on.

It's a very adaptable system, do what works for your table.

Thanks for the answers. I'l try my luck in the EotE section as well. Still studying how to apply the rules here.