Force Powers and line of sight questions

By OdinXIvraj, in Star Wars: Edge of the Empire RPG

Can a force user manipulate a console within range of the power without being able to see it though they know its there?

Same question but they have no line of sight on the console and its behind a wall/in another room.

Say they sense an enemy in the other room can they manipulate the enemy though the wall.

I would tend to rule no if only because we don't to my recollection have any examples of NLOS (non-line-of-sight) in the movies, or at least in the Original Trilogy; but if they have something like a way to see just where it is in the room -- like Vader's famous Force choke of Ozzel "through" the viewscreen -- to act as a frame of reference, then I might well rule differently.

That is to say, I understand that Vader used the viewscreen image angle and background to pinpoint exactly where Ozzel was, assuming that he didn't just go by Ozzel's "presence in the Force".

I'd let them try, but I would probably increase the difficulty by a few and introduce a few setback dice too.

Endrik Tenebris, would that be if they already know where in the room it is? (As opposed to "where it's supposed to be" or "knowing that it's in the room at all".)

Oh yeah. If they were in a completely unfamiliar place and they wanted to just attempt to find the console in the next room, that's not going to work too well. They would need at least the knowledge on its existence and location in their mind as a point of reference.

I'd rule line of sight required for something like that, but that's just my opinion. Your mileage may vary.

If they have a reasonable amount of knowledge on what it looks like, where it is, and exactly what they need to do without looking at it (like, knowing which button they need to push and where), then I'd say yeah. Like, if they had been in the room before and know how to manipulate the device.

Wasn't it the case, at the end of the Duel of Fates, when Obi-Wan is hanging for his life inside the bottomless pit, Maul leering over him, Obi-Wan was able to sense and begin to move Qui-Gon's lightsaber while still down there, and without having LOS?

At least that's how I recall the scene going down...

If you're going to affect something physically, you must know where the target is -- either because you can see it (mundanely or magically), just saw it a second ago, are incredibly familiar with its position, etc.

Not sure that's in the book anywhere, but that's the general rule of magic in RPGs.

Well, they'd probably need the "fine manipulation of items" Control Upgrade to do anything more than flip a fairly big lever or push a really big button on the console. Otherwise, it'd be like trying to type on a keyboard while wearing a pair of boxing gloves.

As for line of sight, I'd agree with Lorne that you have to be pretty sure where the target is before you can manipulate it. Line of sight is probably the easiest method, but there are other choices. It's not spelled out in the book, but it does make sense. Heck, a PC might even attempt the Foresee Power (AoR) with a Strength Upgrade to know precisely where something is located even if they can't currently see it with their naked eye.

Since Obi-Wan knew where Qui-Gon's lightsaber was laying even though he didn't have direct line of sight (most likely from when he saw his Master get killed), he could easily snag it with a Move check (it was probably at Short Range from where he was) with the acton being described as him calling it to his hand mid-leap (which itself is covered under the "Force Leap" Control Upgrade from AoR's Enhance power), which itself called for a new initiative check, with Obi-Wan likely rolling a Triumph on his Cool check and thus getting to act before Darth Maul.