Hello all,

A bit over a year ago I started to brainstorm some the ideas for lightsaber attunement that fit with what we were being presented with in Rebels and the novel Ahsoka, and so I quickly came up with something I could use. Now, as often happens, life and work got in the way and I had all but forgotten that I had created them until a few days ago, and even though they are in dire need of further editing and playtesting, I figured I would post them for you guys to do with them what you will. I'm not entirely sure I'll continue working on these, as I haven't in quite some time, but here you go; enjoy. One of the links is to my attunement rules, the other some new weapons.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j5hmI4QYuT9l5AWHauEq-sk4Ra6Vhm-2/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/15mayyiHvFLxiAV0E1hgGNGw4P2hO0VIu/view?usp=sharing

The attunement rules are certainly interesting.

I am a bit skeptical about it allowing Discipline, a skill that almost all saber-users are going to be good at given the need for Willpower to boost strain threshold and Discipline itself to bolster their odds of success at opposed Force power checks (using or resisting). I don't really have a ready suggestion for substitution other than using Knowledge (Lore).... perhaps Charm, as a polar opposite of Coercion? Would probably also specify that this process can only be done when you're first installing the cryrtal into a hilt, and that you don't get to make subsequent attunement rolls when installing the same successfully attuned crystal into newer hilts.

Also am leery about a PC (especially one that's focused on Discipline or Coercion) being able to get a whole bunch of crystal mods right out of the gate. I would suggest revising the chart so that 2 Advantage gets you one mod for free, and that 4 advantage gets you two mods for free. That way, you don't have PCs that are likely to be over halfway to fully modding an Ilum crystal, or getting most if not all the mods for crystals with fewer options right out the gate. I'd also add a note similar to the GM Kit in where those free mods still count as successfully installed mods for purposes of determining the difficulty; as it's written, it reads as though these are indeed "free" modifications and that the first actual check the PC makes to modify the crystal would start at 1 purple for difficulty (base 3 for modifying, -2 difficulty for it being their personal crystal) when it should be higher. In this light, for 1 Advantage the PC gets the reduced HP cost for the crystal, and 3 Advantage perhaps allows them to negate a setback die on Lightsaber combat checks. Rest of the chart otherwise looks fine.

On the weapons, most of these look pretty good. FYI, the Nightsaber Energy Bow got an official write-up in Savage Spirits, so perhaps consider removing that item from the document? Do like how the particulars of the Ancient Sith Sword can vary based upon who it was built for

For the Sith Warblade, perhaps lower the number of HP to 2. It's already an impressive weapon thanks to the Linked 1 and Pierce 1 qualities, especially the former.

Great suggestions Donovan. I appreciate the notes. I’ll definitely revise some stuff with your advice in mind.

11 hours ago, Donovan Morningfire said:

The attunement rules are certainly interesting.

I am a bit skeptical about it allowi  ng Discipline, a skill that almost all saber-users are going to be good at given the need for Willpower to boost strain threshold and Discipline itself to bolster their odds of success at opposed Force power check  s (using or resisting). I don't really have a ready suggestion for substitution other than using Knowledge (Lore)  .... perhaps Charm, as a polar opposite of Coercion? Would probably also specify that this process can only be done when you're first installing the cryrtal into a hilt, and that you don't get to make subsequent attunement rolls when installing the same successfully attuned crystal into newer hilts. 

Also am leery about a PC (especially one that's focused on Discipline or Coercion) being able to get a whole bunch of crystal mods right out of the gate. I would suggest revising the chart so that 2 Advantage gets you one mod for free, and that 4 advantage gets you two mods for free. That way, you don't have PCs that are likely to be over halfway to fully modding an Ilum crystal, or getting most if not all the mods for crystals with fewer options right out the gate. I'd also add a note similar to the GM Kit in where those free mods still count as successfully installed mods for purposes of determining the difficulty; as it's written, it reads as though these are indeed "free" modifications and that the first actual check the PC makes to modify the crystal would start at 1 purple for difficulty (base 3 for modifying, -2 difficulty for it being their personal crystal) when it should be higher. In this light, for 1 Advantage the PC gets the reduced HP cost for the crystal, and 3 Advantage perhaps allows them to negate a setback die on Lightsaber combat checks. Rest of the chart otherwise looks fine.

On the weapons, most of these look pretty good. FYI, the Nightsaber Energy Bow got an official write-up in Savage Spirits, so perhaps consider removing that item from the document? Do like how the particulars of the Ancient Sith Sword can vary based upon who it was built for

For the Sith Warblade, perhaps lower the number of HP to 2. It's already an impressive weapon thanks to the Linked 1 and Pierce 1 qualities, especially the former.

Went ahead and made some edits. I'm still kind of on the wall about changing it from discipline though. Really depends on how experienced the characters are when they attune their crystals to what their dice pool will look like. A relatively inexperienced character won't fair that well against a hard check while an experienced one will probably crush it, but is that necessarily a bad thing? Just food for thought, I'm honestly curious to hear your take on it.

I like what you've done with this, but I fo have one suggestion. The choice you have for "4 Advantages or 1 Triumph" is up to two optional mods... that seems a bit much. If someone has 4 advantage, sure take two as they are spending 2 Advantage twice... but 1 Triumph gets 2 freebies? Would it be better to replace that option with adding a boost to all combat checks? The weapons crafting templates have that as an option for that tier.

Also, maybe flip your 2 Advantage slot with your 3 Advantage slot? Getting a free mod for 2 Advantage could get op quick.

But like it all in general.

On 11/28/2018 at 12:43 PM, Randy G said:

I like what you've done with this, but I fo have one suggestion. The choice you have for "4 Advantages or 1 Triumph" is up to two optional mods... that seems a bit much. If someone has 4 advantage, sure take two as they are spending 2 Advantage twice... but 1 Triumph gets 2 freebies? Would it be better to replace that option with adding a boost to all combat checks? The weapons crafting templates have that as an option for that tier.

Also, maybe flip your 2 Advantage slot with your 3 Advantage slot? Getting a free mod for 2 Advantage could get op quick.

But like it all in general.

Thanks for the input. Something to think about. And, like anything FFG puts out, this chart is basically just for inspiration and recommendations, not necessarily the only options available.

I’ll probably make a revised version at some point and add a couple more options at various tiers and do some some editing in general, but my main focus isn’t on the SWRPG at the moment, so it could be a bit. In the meantime, I’d recommend using this as inspiration more than anything else.

It’s definitely an option that could cause power balance issues between PCs if that is a concern for your group. I’m not hugely concerned about balance issues between PCs in games I run though. But then again, I’m a huge proponent of rolling stats in D&D. I just think it’s more fun.