19 hours ago, The Grand Falloon said:

Honestly, I would be fine with using almost anything to deflect a blaster bolt to some extent, but a lightsaber is usually the only thing that won't be destroyed by the blast. In my mind, it's not the quickness of a lightsaber that makes it possible, it's the user's precognitive abilities to sense incoming danger. Even without Foresee or Sense, he's got some kind of "spidey-sense." I imagine some long-ago mystic swordsman parried a blaster bolt with his blade, leaving everyone in awe. His engineer buddy looked at his now-shattered and smoking weapon and said, "Ya know, there's this theoretical energy beam that we been workin' on. Pretty good as a cuttin' tool, but I think we just found a **** of a use for it."

So yeah, I would probably allow a player to use other objects for Reflect, with the caveat that it's going to suck, and that object is gonna be toast real quick. A lightsaber basically redirects the whole burst of energy. A sword, on the other hand, is going to cause the shot to burst about a foot from the wielder. It will certainly suffer at least one damage level. A wooden staff, on the other hand, is going to explode in a shower of hot splinters, and the shot might continue right through it.

Perhaps allow Reflect, but it generally only reduces the damage by Ranks in Reflect (not +2). Sturdy items might last a couple shots, but most others are immediately destroyed. Cortosis weapons might not suffer from the blaster fire, but they're usually not designed for such a purpose.

I'm sure we'll see arguments for a Force-sensitive gunslinger using Reflect with a blaster by shooting blaster bolts at incoming blaster bolts. It's certainly not the dumbest thing I've seen suggested.

Looks like they got their question system working.

Rules Question:
The reflect talent states "when the character is wielding a Lightsaber weapon". Does this include all weapons that utilize the Lightsaber skill such as the training stick and the ancient sword?

Wow, that's quite the reversal!

As someone who has been using the Phase Knife as a primary weapon for several months now, this is both shocking and amazing for me. I mean, I have my sabers, but our GM seems set to viciously punish any use of them by the two force-folk in the party. The knife I can get away with, so it's about all I ever wield, but I seem to have just been sucking damage unnecessarily all this time.

Okay, I'm surprised at this change about letting what are actually Melee weapons that happen to use the Lightsaber skill be viable for the Reflect talent. Ancient sword I can kinda see as a training lightsaber is only slightly more expensive and generally has a lower damage output, but given how cheap it is (measly 35 credits) I'm not sold on it being continually viable for Reflect.

I do concur with the sentiment that since such weapons aren't Sunder-proof the way that actual Lightsaber weapons are, that using Reflect means the weapon's very likely to get damaged in the process; ancient swords would probably be damaged one step per use of Reflect while a training stick is likely to be rendered useless (damaged three steps) after a single use of Reflect, and that either weapon destroyed on a single Triumph if Reflect is used. If we eventually wind up getting a Melee weapon with the Cortosis quality that uses the Lightsaber skill (such as Sith swords), then said weapon could be used with Reflect without it being damaged.

Now you need to question why the Lightsaber skill should even matter. Why can't a Cortosis shield be used to Reflect? Just arbitrary REASONS now.

2 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

Now you need to question why the Lightsaber skill should even matter. Why can't a Cortosis shield be used to Reflect? Just arbitrary REASONS now.

I guess the Lightsaber skill matters in the context of Sam's answer in that the weapons noted as being viable for Reflect all use that skill to make combat checks. The Cortosis shield still uses the Melee skill, so going by this most recent response it's still not eligible for Reflect.

Personally, I disagree with Sam's recent response, and will be sticking with the "must be using an actual Lightsaber in order to use the Reflect talent."

I read it as the Lightsaber skill weapons are balanced in a way that suits people proficient with lightsabers, rather than lightsabers having any particular propensity for dealing with bolts. It doesn't strike me as crazy that someone who has trained to deal with blaster fire using a lightsaber could use something balanced similarly to react to at least a single shot. The training stick, for example, is probably instantly destroyed, but the Ancient Sword could probably stand a couple of hits before being FUBAR. Perhaps if the attack has Pierce or does a base of 10+ you could say reflect wouldn't work or is halved, but if it was an average blaster shot - especially something smaller like a pistol or holdout blaster - I don't see much issue.

Do we actually see any evidence that a blaster bolt does significant damage to objects? Stormtroopers get blastered and go down without gaping holes in their chest, and neither Leia's nor Kylo's blaster wounds showed that they would blow apart a metal object like a sword.

7 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

Personally, I disagree with Sam's recent response, and will be sticking with...

I've found myself disagree with the DEV rulings more and more as the lines go on and the answers get increasingly inconsistent.

1 hour ago, HappyDaze said:

Do we actually see any evidence that a blaster bolt does significant damage to objects? Stormtroopers get blastered and go down without gaping holes in their chest, and neither Leia's nor Kylo's blaster wounds showed that they would blow apart a metal object like a sword.

I mean, if nothing else, there's a kinetic impact. Blasters have been regularly used in all forms to blow holes in doors/panels/etc, so I'd say there's plenty there to say it'd cause damage. Maybe not immediate, but surely something. Armour is designed to take the impact of the shot though. I wouldn't use stormtrooper armour not displaying gaping holes as a perfect example of blasters not doing physical damage.

21 hours ago, HappyDaze said:

Do we actually see any evidence that a blaster bolt does significant damage to objects? Stormtroopers get blastered and go down without gaping holes in their chest, and neither Leia's nor Kylo's blaster wounds showed that they would blow apart a metal object like a sword.

Blasters take out droids. Environmental damage is one of the things the CGI in the original trilogy did not portray well though, or at least not consistently. The budget had different priorities, I assume.