SPOILER ALERT: There is a small spoiler for a published adventure.

I'm looking for some guidance; I've been GMing for over 35 years, but with the FFG's Star Wars, I'm getting some different "guidance" in some published adventures.

How do you deal with "unknown powers", for example, in many adventures, there is information on "if the characters wants to ....", but those were fine, most of the time, but how does the player knows that there is such a thing a an Hyperdrive pulse generator to calibrate?

The latest example I have is the following in one of the adventures:

Quote

Facing down the den mother in combat (...) if their sympathies for her condition incline
them against harming the den mother, the PCs can also attempt
to assault the dark side energies driving her fury. Doing
so requires closing to engaged range with the den mother and
making an Average () Discipline check as an action during
combat, representing an attempt to reach out to the remnants
of the den mother’s mind

In this case, I don't see how the players can say "You know what, I feel for that mother, I'll try to purge her from the Dark Side", there is no ability on the character's sheet that hints that it's something that could work. Maybe we're just too used to think "I need the Sense power to affect in any way that animal". or would you complete the player's thought:

Player: That's not the animal fault that it is angry.

GM: You may use the force to calm her

Player: How?

GM: Make a discipline check at....

OR:

GM: Do a Mechanic check at easy/Average/Hard (or a Knowledge lore/Discipline for the Force power)

Player : Got it 3 successes

GM: You know that there is an Hyperdrive pulse gnerator that can be calibrated (You may be able to cleanse the Dark Side of the beast by ...)

Is it how it should be dealt with?

28 minutes ago, aljovin said:

GM: Do a Mechanic check at easy/Average/Hard (or a Knowledge lore/Discipline for the Force power)

Player : Got it 3 successes

GM: You know that there is an Hyperdrive pulse gnerator that can be calibrated (You may be able to cleanse the Dark Side of the beast by ...)

This. Completing the thought is the way I handle it. Knowledge roll of some kind to get an idea based on something they've read/heard/seen in order to gain the insight needed to know there's another way.

It's usually initiated by the player being out of alternatives and needing help, or from one of them scratching their head and asking aloud to the others "Is there no other way?" it leaves them feeling rewarded for trying to think outside the box, and that in turn encourages fun solutions to problems in my campaigns. Rule of cool and all that.

15 minutes ago, SufficientlyAdvancedMoronics said:

This. Completing the thought is the way I handle it. Knowledge roll of some kind to get an idea based on something they've read/heard/seen in order to gain the insight needed to know there's another way.

It's usually initiated by the player being out of alternatives and needing help, or from one of them scratching their head and asking aloud to the others "Is there no other way?" it leaves them feeling rewarded for trying to think outside the box, and that in turn encourages fun solutions to problems in my campaigns. Rule of cool and all that.

That's how I've been doing it, but I feel that maybe it should be done earlier than when they don't have any ideas left. For example with the beast, they may end up killing it because they didn't think of anything else.

11 minutes ago, aljovin said:

That's how I've been doing it, but I feel that maybe it should be done earlier than when they don't have any ideas left. For example with the beast, they may end up killing it because they didn't think of anything else.

I think it's a failing of the narrative to have not given some indication or foreshadowing of this stuff earlier in the session/campaign/module. Including some ancient lore that showed some long forgotten jedi purging the dark side from a being - which is optionally discoverable - would be good, but it's hard to spot things like this in the official modules sometimes.

5 minutes ago, SufficientlyAdvancedMoronics said:

I think it's a failing of the narrative to have not given some indication or foreshadowing of this stuff earlier in the session/campaign/module. Including some ancient lore that showed some long forgotten jedi purging the dark side from a being - which is optionally discoverable - would be good, but it's hard to spot things like this in the official modules sometimes.

It can also be hard to seed that yourself, and sometimes players will just miss it.

However, if you have a long track record of "alternative resolutions" and encouraging your players to come up with unique ideas and plans, you're more likely to get the result you're looking for where one of them says "Hey... if she's been corrupted by the dark side, could she be cleansed by the light side? Light being stronger than dark and all that?"

Also your players would hopefully play to their characters' Moralities and Motivations. If you've got someone who always seeks a peaceful solution, they should try to discover a way to purify the den mother, removing the dark side corruption.

There's no need for Sense or to wait for a check in most of these cases. If someone has any ranks in any remote-relevant skill then you can simply say "The Den Mother's rage doesn't feel natural." (or whatever else fits) when describing the situation.

Most of the time the players will pick up on that. Whether they decide to act on it is another matter, but if they do, that's when you move on to the resolution mechanic.

20 hours ago, Garran said:

There's no need for Sense or to wait for a check in most of these cases. If someone has any ranks in any remote-relevant skill then you can simply say "The Den Mother's rage doesn't feel natural." (or whatever else fits) when describing the situation.

Most of the time the players will pick up on that. Whether they decide to act on it is another matter, but if they do, that's when you move on to the resolution mechanic.

Actually, this is more about the fact that you can do something that no rules mentions, in this case calm the beast by "using the force", but this is not with the Sense Force Power, or any special skill/talents. I agree, if there is something that the PC has ranks in that he should know, you say it.