Say a Jedi is fighting Boba Fett, and ol' Bob starts flying around on his jetpack. Could the Jedi PC use Force Leap to attack him midair?

If he has the right range upgrades, yes.

So if the character had all of the branches filled, would he just be spending a maneuver to attack, similar to aiming?

What if he had Hawkbat Swoop?

Should be fine. Depends on how you can narrate it.

18 hours ago, StriderZessei said:

So if the character had all of the branches filled, would he just be spending a maneuver to attack, similar to aiming?

What if he had Hawkbat Swoop?

I generally think of Hawkbat swoop as being horizontal not vertical... I just had a PC leap out of a 3rd floor window to attack a flying jango fett using Hawkbat swoop... he (the player)/she (the character) missed jango and took 10 points of falling damage minus 3 for successes on the coordination check minis 4 points for soak. So there is risk involved when jump attacking flying characters. Niman disciple with draw closer is a less risky way to attack jetpack characters.

4 minutes ago, EliasWindrider said:

I generally think of Hawkbat swoop as being horizontal not vertical... I just had a PC leap out of a 3rd floor window to attack a flying jango fett using Hawkbat swoop... he (the player)/she (the character) missed jango and took 10 points of falling damage minus 3 for successes on the coordination check minis 4 points for soak. So there is risk involved when jump attacking flying characters. Niman disciple with draw closer is a less risky way to attack jetpack characters.

I would allow someone to do it vertically, so long as they were willing to take the fall damage & strain as you indicated.

19 hours ago, StriderZessei said:

So if the character had all of the branches filled, would he just be spending a maneuver to attack, similar to aiming?

No.

Maneuver to Leap with the upgrade, still an Action to attack. Could use a second Maneuver, for 2 Strain, to Aim.

On 5/8/2020 at 10:25 PM, StriderZessei said:

Say a Jedi is fighting Boba Fett, and ol' Bob starts flying around on his jetpack. Could the Jedi PC use Force Leap to attack him midair?

So there's not really any "one true official answer" this, but instead a number of options that the player and GM can possibly use if agreed upon.

Personally, I'd allow it, having the PC use Force Leap as their maneuver (provided they have that upgrade) to "jump up," use their action to make their combat check, and then either spend a second maneuver to either "leap" back down, use the Impossible Fall talent (if they have it), or suffer the consequences of falling damage (which is generally unpleasant). Granted, if the jet-packing target is at medium range from your location, you'd need to be able to trigger the range upgrade for your leap, and a target that's effectively at long or extreme range is literally out of reach of a single leap. For me, this is probably the simplest approach, though it does require some XP investment and the ability reliably generate the Force points you'd need (especially if the target's at medium range) and be able to leap as a maneuver.

Another potential option is Hawk-Bat Swoop, which doesn't say the attacker moves in any specific direction, just that they leap in and then make their attack. So as long as your jet-packing target is anywhere within short range, you can use this talent to leap in and hammer them. After the attack though, you're back to taking falling damage after the combat check resolves unless you can do Force leap as a maneuver (using a maneuver on your turn, and of course subject to limits of how many maneuvers you can do in a single turn) or again have the Impossible Fall talent. Heck, a benevolent GM might even let you spend a maneuver to be able to land on your feet without suffering much (or any damage), but that's something to probably discuss with them before you try this particular stunt.

On 5/9/2020 at 6:02 PM, emsquared said:

No.

Maneuver to Leap with the upgrade, still an Action to attack. Could use a second Maneuver, for 2 Strain, to Aim.

Depending how your GM runs it, it may require 2 maneuvers to pull this off. First, the maneuver to Force leap, assuming you have the upgrade to use it as a maneuver or the whole question is moot. Second, a maneuver to engage even if you are going to be disengaging after the attack by nature of the move-by. I typically allow my players to jump directly into engaged range band using Force Leap but in this particular case I would probably give my players a choice: 1 maneuver to use Force Leap and a Setback to attack in mid-leap or spend 2 strain to use engage maneuver during the leap and attack with no setback.

Just pick a Sathari. Then you can flutter back to the ground no problemo 😜

2 hours ago, Varlie said:

Depending how your GM runs it, it may require 2 maneuvers to pull this off. First, the maneuver to Force leap, assuming you have the upgrade to use it as a maneuver or the whole question is moot. Second, a maneuver to engage even if you are going to be disengaging after the attack by nature of the move-by. I typically allow my players to jump directly into engaged range band using Force Leap but in this particular case I would probably give my players a choice: 1 maneuver to use Force Leap and a Setback to attack in mid-leap or spend 2 strain to use engage maneuver during the leap and attack with no setback.

Had this discussion at the table once, and the problem I have with this is, then, following this logic you could not do the reverse, and Force Leap out of Engaged to anywhere within range. You would have to Disengage, then Leap. And that I feel is fundamentally in conflict with the description (and any significant amount of utility) of the Power.

The only reason to devalue the significant XP investment this upgrade chain requires, and to devalue the significant risk and cost of using the Power (potential Strain, Conflict, and Destiny Point), is if you DO NOT want to have a functioning Morality mechanic.

I get what you're saying, how they hedge their description of the Engaged Range Band as a "status" and "positioning". But at the end of the day, for me, it's a Range Band.

You can Leap straight to it.

41 minutes ago, emsquared said:

Had this discussion at the table once, and the problem I have with this is, then, following this logic you could not do the reverse, and Force Leap out of Engaged to anywhere within range. You would have to Disengage, then Leap. And that I feel is fundamentally in conflict with the description (and any significant amount of utility) of the Power.

The only reason to devalue the significant XP investment this upgrade chain requires, and to devalue the significant risk and cost of using the Power (potential Strain, Conflict, and Destiny Point), is if you DO NOT want to have a functioning Morality mechanic.

I get what you're saying, how they hedge their description of the Engaged Range Band as a "status" and "positioning". But at the end of the day, for me, it's a Range Band.

You can Leap straight to it.

Also in the movies they never disengage then leap. They leap into and out of engaged.

14 hours ago, Daeglan said:

Also in the movies they never disengage then leap. They leap into and out of engaged.

That actually lead me to house rule the Force leap effect so that a character with that power could engage/disengage with an opponent as part of the leap.

I know that Sam's dev answer says otherwise, but frankly his explanation sounds more like a needless splitting of hairs than an actual justification.

I'm also one of those who rule that Force Leap can take you in/out of Engaged range.

However, for a mid-air strike I'd suggest at least +1 Setback for the actual attack check. Most playable species are accustomed to having solid ground underneath their feet when they try to hit something hard.

On 5/14/2020 at 5:05 AM, Bellona said:

I'm also one of those who rule that Force Leap can take you in/out of Engaged range.

However, for a mid-air strike I'd suggest at least +1 Setback for the actual attack check. Most playable species are accustomed to having solid ground underneath their feet when they try to hit something hard.

That is unless the individual in question is an Ataru specialist.