2 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

Frankly, it's probably a case of the designers realizing that with most of these hilts packing a crystal that provides Breach 1, they wanted to play a bit more cautious with what sort of options are available to be added, especially when you start factoring in double-bladed hilts as well as hilts that automatically add Defensive 1 or Accurate 1 on top of anything else.

Of course, there's also been a host of complaints about the crafting system in general, but most of those are whining about how the rules provided don't allow the PC to perfectly replicate existing items from other sourcebooks at a fraction of what said items cost.

1 hour ago, Shlambate said:

Custom items should always be more expensive to make, in order to balance things, if you want the amazing item and don't want to be bothered finding it then crafting it should be the harder alternative.

Amen!!!

4 hours ago, FuriousGreg said:

You can't just make 20 rolls in a row, you have to have the materials and down time each time you try. Regardless the point is they've set the minimum number of Adv. for the good stuff at three and if you get less than that then your options are more limited, thats just the how it goes. Not every Jedi is going to be a super lightsaber builder but all of them are going to trust in the Force and accept what comes of it (ie. play with the roll you get). If your PC doesn't have a heroic rank in Mechanics you're just SOL but then again your PC is likely better at other things that should make up for the lost "cool" lightsaber thing.

And you have completely missed the point. I have said I want something interesting to spend the couple advantage i generated. I didn't say I want super powers. When you only give really one option to choose for a standard hilt because the second option literally does nothing on a standard hilt. Well that is pretty lame. especially when the one option you gave is uninteresting an uninspired. I am find with the really cool options costing a triumph or a bunch of advantage. But from looking at every jedi's lightsaber is unique. but as it is now they really aren't unique. there should be 3 or 4 interesting options for 1 adv.
Think of it another way. Suppose someone rolls 5 adv on making a basic hilt in the old republic era. where Lightsabers are a badge of office so desguising the hilt is not something they would do. And the other options available are not relevant to a basic hilt. they have nothing to spend the excess advantage they got on their roll. I am looking for additional interesting options that fit at the 1 or 2 advantage power level.

Can you give yourself a Boost or two to mod attachments? Don't forget the range of customizing you can do with those.

Lightsabers aren’t unique because they have some fancy ability. Having 4 to choose from with 1 advantage still wouldn’t really qualify as “unique” by any stretch of the word either. And honestly, if anything annoys me about lightsabers in the RPG it’s actually the myriad different options. In the movies, except for a few mostly aesthetic differences, a lightsaber is a lightsaber is a lightsaber.

3 minutes ago, nameless ronin said:

Lightsabers aren’t unique because they have some fancy ability. Having 4 to choose from with 1 advantage still wouldn’t really qualify as “unique” by any stretch of the word either. And honestly, if anything annoys me about lightsabers in the RPG it’s actually the myriad different options. In the movies, except for a few mostly aesthetic differences, a lightsaber is a lightsaber is a lightsaber.

And you missed the point too. It doesnt have to be a fancy ability. I said interesting option. Which by no means requires it to have a fancy ability.

What would make it interesting to you?

4 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

And you missed the point too. It doesnt have to be a fancy ability. I said interesting option. Which by no means requires it to have a fancy ability.

Replace “fancy ability” with “interesting option” in my reply and the argument is exactly the same. Lightsabers don’t come in a 100 different mechanical or functional varieties.

Just now, nameless ronin said:

Replace “fancy ability” with “interesting option” in my reply and the argument is exactly the same. Lightsabers don’t come in a 100 different mechanical or functional varieties.

And who said it had to have a mechanical or functional effect. I could see things like fancy paint job. or maybe something along the lines of being intimidating. or maybe something like diplomatic robes.
For example Mace Windus lightsaber was special with its electrum casing... that i am sure had some effect socially.

3 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

And who said it had to have a mechanical or functional effect. I could see things like fancy paint job. or maybe something along the lines of being intimidating. or maybe something like diplomatic robes.
For example Mace Windus lightsaber was special with its electrum casing... that i am sure had some effect socially.

Yeah, except that no weapon has that kind of “modification”. Anything aesthetically unique about a lightsaber is just narrative fluff. As such, no mods necessary. All of the options in the crafting tables for any piece of gear have actual mechanical benefits (or detrimental effects if Threat or Despair are rolled) on the item being crafted.

1 minute ago, Tramp Graphics said:

Yeah, except that no weapon has that kind of “modification”. Anything aesthetically unique about a lightsaber is just narrative fluff. As such, no mods necessary. All of the options in the crafting tables for any piece of gear have actual mechanical benefits (or detrimental effects if Threat or Despair are rolled) on the item being crafted.

I will just assume you are unaware of the staff of office...or ceremonial blades. Both of which have social effects. Also there are plenty of clothing options which have social effects.
So we have weapons that have social effects.
We have items that have social effects.
I see no reason why a social effect could not be an option.

8 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

I will just assume you are unaware of the staff of office...or ceremonial blades. Both of which have social effects. Also there are plenty of clothing options which have social effects.
So we have weapons that have social effects.
We have items that have social effects.
I see no reason why a social effect could not be an option.

Those are not “just” weapons. They’re specifically ceremonial objects, just like the Jedi ceremonial armor, Noble Regalia, etc. As such they have specific social functions on top of anything else. In fact, their ceremonial functions are their primary functions. Their combat utility is purely secondary .

18 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

I see no reason why a social effect could not be an option.

That's a cool idea. No reason why you need to be locked to the table. If a player came to me with this idea, I'd be all for it.

30 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

And who said it had to have a mechanical or functional effect. I could see things like fancy paint job. or maybe something along the lines of being intimidating. or maybe something like diplomatic robes.
For example Mace Windus lightsaber was special with its electrum casing... that i am sure had some effect socially.

Why are you sure this had an effect socially? I certainly don’t recall any such thing being mentioned, shown or even implied in any of the movies or books. A fancy paint job is purely an aesthetical thing. Being intimidating? What about a lightsaber hilt - that would be the result of how it’s built - would make it universally more intimidating than another one? Diplomatic robes? They work because they are recognized as what they are - that is effectively a functional effect. A lightsaber is already a Jedi’s badge of office of sorts. There is no further symbolic value assigned to specific types of them.

Let’s bottom line it though: nothing like what you bring up exists in any of FFG’s sourcebooks. If you want it, square it with your GM.

On 5/14/2018 at 5:54 PM, nameless ronin said:

Why are you sure this had an effect socially? I certainly don’t recall any such thing being mentioned, shown or even implied in any of the movies or books. A fancy paint job is purely an aesthetical thing. Being intimidating? What about a lightsaber hilt - that would be the result of how it’s built - would make it universally more intimidating than another one? Diplomatic robes? They work because they are recognized as what they are - that is effectively a functional effect. A lightsaber is already a Jedi’s badge of office of sorts. There is no further symbolic value assigned to specific types of them.

Let’s bottom line it though: nothing like what you bring up exists in any of FFG’s sourcebooks. If you want it, square it with your GM.

Maybe read the talent fancy paint job.

On 5/14/2018 at 5:37 PM, Tramp Graphics said:

Those are not “just” weapons. They’re specifically ceremonial objects, just like the Jedi ceremonial armor, Noble Regalia, etc. As such they have specific social functions on top of anything else. In fact, their ceremonial functions are their primary functions. Their combat utility is purely secondary .

Incorrect. Especially given the social effect they have.

On 5/14/2018 at 5:54 PM, nameless ronin said:

Why are you sure this had an effect socially? I certainly don’t recall any such thing being mentioned, shown or even implied in any of the movies or books. A fancy paint job is purely an aesthetical thing. Being intimidating? What about a lightsaber hilt - that would be the result of how it’s built - would make it universally more intimidating than another one? Diplomatic robes? They work because they are recognized as what they are - that is effectively a functional effect. A lightsaber is already a Jedi’s badge of office of sorts. There is no further symbolic value assigned to specific types of them.

Let’s bottom line it though: nothing like what you bring up exists in any of FFG’s sourcebooks. If you want it, square it with your GM.

I did list stuff that does exist in the game already that does have an effect. So you are incorrect.

10 minutes ago, Daeglan said:

Incorrect. Especially given the social effect they have.

Nope. Not incorrect. For instance, the Formal Council Armor from Disciples of Harmony , was specifically designed for diplomatic functions as a ceremonial regalia to impress societies that particularly enforce strict forms of etiquette or otherwise expect a certain level of "ostentatious demonstrations" in it's upper class, that a Jedi is likely to deal with in diplomatic negotiations. As such it is designed to "impress", and, as a result, grants two automatic Advantages to Negotiation skills with people who hold Jedi in high regard. It is designed for pomp and ceremony . The same is true of the Ceremonial Blade and Staff of Office. They are primarily ceremonial items and identifiers of rank. Their offensive capabilities as weapons are secondary .

You don't make ceremonial gold armor and expect it to hold up in battle, at a certain point it's too pretty to be functional as a combat tested weapon or piece of armor.

1 minute ago, Shlambate said:

You don't make ceremonial gold armor and expect it to hold up in battle, at a certain point it's too pretty to be functional as a combat tested weapon or piece of armor.

Exactly.

1 hour ago, Shlambate said:

You don't make ceremonial gold armor and expect it to hold up in battle, at a certain point it's too pretty to be functional as a combat tested weapon or piece of armor.

Tell that to the royal guards and their ceremonial armor.

point is that there are things that have social effects. So the game does have a precedence for such things. So yes you are wrong anout such things existimg.

Realms of Terrinoth for Genesys completely fixed all the ridiculous crafting from Star Wars. You craft already existing items with potential small improvements. If you want to make a completely new item then you and your gm design it as a regular item with a rarity and price along with all the usual stats. That rarity and price then determine the difficulty and cost of crafting the item.

All the crazy lists of “spend 2 Advantage to add this quality” is gone. 1 Triumph can add, increase or decrease, a numerical value of the item. A Triumph can also be used to add or improve a narrative effect (like making a particular environment easier to cope with)

13 hours ago, Daeglan said:

Maybe read the talent fancy paint job.

Because you have a Signature lightsaber? Let me point out that in return for 2 Adv you want to get the benefit of half a Talent, without the downsides?

In this game system, there is not always something appealing to spend a small number of advantages on. If getting 1-2 advantages is a common result when constructing a hilt, adding one or two more options for spending them is not going to make lightsabers "unique". I personally find great value in a disguised lightsaber, but I suppose that is table dependent.

There are many ways to make a lightsaber unique. There are different kinds of hilts to construct. There are numerous crystals. There are numerous attachments. Many of these things have various mods that can be done. You can also invest in mechanics and the manipulate force power. At the bottom of the manipulate tree, there is an automatic triumph on mechanics checks.

If you really think you should have some other option for spending an advantage or two during construction, present your ideas to your GM and try to convince them. I personally would not allow much. There is no reason a common result when crafting should give any major advantage through the rest of the campaign.

Bring your GM in on this.

I recently let one of my players spend advantage on his saber to gain a free advantage on Coercion checks when he's holding it. So maybe there's an appropriate skill it could aid (I could see Cool, Leadership, Charm, Coercion, Negotiation, maybe Discipline- though that's pretty potent for a force user). If they feel that's unbalanced it could always give a threat to another skill. It could even be other skills if it's something explained via the Force. So maybe it aids Medicine checks. Or maybe it helps with Fear checks when in hand.

This seems a good way to fit in a flavorful, but not overpowered, ability that is appropriate to your character.