I have a player that is creating a FSE character. His background works good in that he is a padawan from just before the purge. He has lost a lot of his ability to use the force due to the horrors he has had to face since losing his master and such. So it works good for bringing him back to EOTE level. The only think is that I am still trying to understand the Force and how it works out so I want to be sure the player isnt creating something overpowered.

This player is not trying to make his character overpowered but a lot of us are new so we may be mis-using the rules. That is why I would like some second opinions.

First thing I am considering. The character ended up with Force rating 3. 1 from before the FSE was applied, 1 from the FSE spec and 1 extra for another 10 xp.

Is it possible to start off with Force rating 3 ?

Player wanted a Lightsaber because of being a ex-jedi padawan. History it made sense but not player build since they cost 10k credits. So I said that the Lightsaber is broken beyond seeming repair (would require a journey (adventure) to try to restore it) and it now only serves as a momento of his past life.

He only starts off with Influence (basic) power so that should be so overpowered.

any thoughts or suggestions on what to look out for as a GM? any hiccups that I need to be prepared for? I know that depending on how influence is used... there is a lot of opportunity for dark side "points" being gained.

The Force Rating is not a Characteristic. You cannot purchase it with XP directly. Players begin with a Force Rating of 0. You gain a Force Rating of 1 once the FSE universal spec is purchased. You can increase that by getting to the Talent that raises it in the FSE tree.

Mechanic-wise, just ensure that you understand how the Force works, for it is its own little subsystem of the game. (Plenty of helpful people here, too.) The only real danger is not that he becomes "overpowered" but lop-sided. One-trick ponies loose appeal quickly, so if he spread his xp between FSE/Force powers and mundane skills/talents, he should be fine and interesting to play.

But do not underestimate the narrative power of the Force -- it is the mythical backchannel of the SW universe, imparting understand to that which cannot be explained, binding together seemingly unrelated people and events. If the horrors of the purge have caused this learner to "loose" his initial ties to the Force, then his story should should be about reconnecting -- either by reconcilliation or vengance.

Edge of the Empire is built so that the highest possible Force Rating using the resources in the book is 2 (1 for getting FSE and 1 for the talent at the bottom) which was previously equated to a padawan's level of control. If you want to use it, it was common for training sabers to be given to students. They either just did much less damage or were incapable of cutting or burning and just gave shocks instead.

I would not give them a lightsaber at character creation, even a broken one. Lightsabers are extremely powerful in EotE, in addition to costing the same as a small starship, and once you give it to your FSE, then you've going to have to start throwing Dark Jedi Exiles against him or her, because any other adversary will get mauled in one swing by your PC. This could really imbalance the power levels within the group, I don't know how many other PC's you have in the group, but they wouldn't be able to do much to threaten a DJE.

Also keep in mind the time this takes place, the Empire and Vader are actively hunting down the Jedi. It is extremely rare to see someone wielding a lightsaber, especially with all the propaganda that the emperor has spread about the "corrupt and power hungry" Jedi. Any PC who busted out their saber in any place with witnesses, would soon find a huge bounty on their head/ and or Imperial forces on their heels.

How actively the empire is hunting or putting bounties on Jedi is really up to the GM.

Lightsabers are very powerful. You could say that it is a lesser lightsaber and remove the breach quality and maybe increase the crit to a 2 or 3. That way you have the flavor of the lightsaber but it isn't quite so powerful.

For my son's FSE that is what I did. He doesn't know the rules and won't know what he is missing.

I understand why you gave him a Force Rating 1 because of his background.

However, understand what character creation really means. You're given ~100xp to play with at the start of creation. This represents prior experience of the character over the course of his career. So, by spending some XP and obtaining the FSE tree (and thereby gaining his first Force Rating), this represents his career of force ability up to this point. It's not supposed to represent as though he JUST obtained it moments before sitting down to the first adventure.

So, it seems his Force rating is too high. Start with zero, make no prior assumptions, and start building the character. The background flavor is what is then used to describe how he came to be where he is on day 1.

There was a table in the Beta book which described what each level of Force Rating meant, Padawan was level 2, so if he lost ability due to the horrors he saw then level 1 is about right.

There was a table in the Beta book which described what each level of Force Rating meant, Padawan was level 2, so if he lost ability due to the horrors he saw then level 1 is about right.

True, but that's why characters are given 100 starter experience, to represent...well, prior experience. If he has Force Rating of 1 because he's a former padawan, than that's what part of that 100xp represents. That he learned it in his past.

There was a table in the Beta book which described what each level of Force Rating meant, Padawan was level 2, so if he lost ability due to the horrors he saw then level 1 is about right.

True, but that's why characters are given 100 starter experience, to represent...well, prior experience. If he has Force Rating of 1 because he's a former padawan, than that's what part of that 100xp represents. That he learned it in his past.

You also don't want to be giving one player something for free that isn't given or counterbalanced to the rest of the group.

Yeah, if you're going to allow him to get a higher force rating and have a busted lightsaber right off the bad, make sure your players start with extra EXP or creds so that they don't feel like sidekicks without their consent.

I would not give them a lightsaber at character creation, even a broken one. Lightsabers are extremely powerful in EotE, in addition to costing the same as a small starship, and once you give it to your FSE, then you've going to have to start throwing Dark Jedi Exiles against him or her, because any other adversary will get mauled in one swing by your PC. This could really imbalance the power levels within the group, I don't know how many other PC's you have in the group, but they wouldn't be able to do much to threaten a DJE.

Also keep in mind the time this takes place, the Empire and Vader are actively hunting down the Jedi. It is extremely rare to see someone wielding a lightsaber, especially with all the propaganda that the emperor has spread about the "corrupt and power hungry" Jedi. Any PC who busted out their saber in any place with witnesses, would soon find a huge bounty on their head/ and or Imperial forces on their heels.

We have the lightsaber as owned but non-functional. the player understands that it will likely not be a working lightsaber until rules come out to make a lightsaber not overpowered for the group. The character doesnt realize that it is unrepairable and holds on to it due to its meaning. Also in hopes to repair it some day.

They are not actively being hunted primarily because he has gone into hiding. He wont be wielding the lightsaber but should he start using force powers too much then he will attract the attention of the empire

How actively the empire is hunting or putting bounties on Jedi is really up to the GM.

Lightsabers are very powerful. You could say that it is a lesser lightsaber and remove the breach quality and maybe increase the crit to a 2 or 3. That way you have the flavor of the lightsaber but it isn't quite so powerful.

For my son's FSE that is what I did. He doesn't know the rules and won't know what he is missing.

That is interesting ... maybe he can repair the saber but not to the level in the book (ie with the mods / limitations you mentioned)

Yeah, if you're going to allow him to get a higher force rating and have a busted lightsaber right off the bad, make sure your players start with extra EXP or creds so that they don't feel like sidekicks without their consent.

The force rating has been adjusted. (he made the character on his own). The misunderstanding I think stemmed from pg 278 talking about force powers. We have since adjusted it to the regular level of the free force power 1 given with the FSE.

We understand it better now and are adjusting. :-)

Mechanic-wise, just ensure that you understand how the Force works, for it is its own little subsystem of the game. (Plenty of helpful people here, too.) The only real danger is not that he becomes "overpowered" but lop-sided. One-trick ponies loose appeal quickly, so if he spread his xp between FSE/Force powers and mundane skills/talents, he should be fine and interesting to play.

But do not underestimate the narrative power of the Force -- it is the mythical backchannel of the SW universe, imparting understand to that which cannot be explained, binding together seemingly unrelated people and events. If the horrors of the purge have caused this learner to "loose" his initial ties to the Force, then his story should should be about reconnecting -- either by reconcilliation or vengance.

I totally agree with all this.

Make a different character, then see how you can apply the force to it. The Force seems to enable the character to do more of what ever he does. It enhances a character, it doesn't make a character useful.

I have one other house rule and that is that the character has to either have FSE+Talents at the start or forever wait to find a master to train him. (Get him started anyways.) The implications are less obvious, but its harder to get a well rounded character out of the deal. You are loosing 20-30 starting XP, just to get in this game.

I wouldn't focus on having the light saber... your character will have a blast with vibro sword... armour piercing... bonus to defence... Lots of fun. You probably could afford that to start with. (You could get a light saber when the rest of the players are starting in the same league.)

A Bounty Hunter Gadgeteer fits oh so well. (Ohh... modified light saber...)

Remember... Sith prefer Joe Camel.