I'm sure this will be another dumb question, but...

When spending the points to add Force Sensitive universal specialization, the character gains force rating 1 and access to the Force Sensitive Exile skill tree...

... do they also gain access to all three of the force power trees (since, influence, move)?

The prerequisite for any of the Force power trees is Force Rating 1, so yes, once you buy the FS Exile specialization, you have access to all the Force powers; you just need to spend the XP to buy into them (i.e., you have to spend 10 XP to get a basic power slot).

ok, that's what I though. thanks again.

Another Stupid Question; I also think I know the answer, but maybe I'm missing something:

The Force Sensitive Exile appears to have no Skills?

Reason i was wondering is, I was pondering making a character (basically for fun) which at LV 1 had just that Specialization. Looks like the system is designed to NOT work that way?

Ha-ha, note I'm not Rocksoldier, but we have the same avatar. Must be something about R2 units.

Right. The FS Exile specialization is a bit different from the career specializations. All PCs need a career specialization; that's what gives them their skills and their basic 'job' in the setting. Careers are what the characters "do." FS exile is more a state of being--it's part of of what a character is, not what they do. The system is designed to have all PCs possess some sort of career.

A career as a Force sensitive doesn't have real good job security, anyway, and the benefits are pretty lousy.

That being said, at chargen you could pick a career and career specialization, take the six free skill ranks from that, and then sink the rest of your chargen XP into FS Exile talents and Force powers. That way you'd have the basics for a career, but a focus in the Force side of things.

And that makes me curious enough to want to sketch out what such a character would look like, statwise.

I actually did SORTA that, purchased the Specialization, but I just Ihave it." I sank everything else into the basic Career (which if I remember is Colonist), essentially so the character would be functional at First level. Force growth would occur with XP.

Dump as much of your chargen XP as available into Characteristics, then use the remainder on whatever else -- though it is neat that you can take the specialization after chargen, unlike how I recall Saga working.

For what it's worth, the Age of Rebellion beta book's new Force powers Enhance and Foresee currently only have a prerequisite of Force Rating 1+. There was some debate over that but the seeming consensus (all but one of those debating it on the thread) seems to be that the Force Sensitive Exile will have access to those powers too, and that the new Force Sensitive Emergent specialization (which also grants Force Rating 1 if you don't already have Exile) will also have access to both Influence and Sense from EotE.

I haven't spent a lot of time reading up on the Force mechanics yet, but should it become relevant I'm going to rule that while anyone can take the specialization, they'll need to find an instructor who can teach them the different Force skills. As a GM there's no way I'm going to pass up on the opportunity to have a player quest for a Jedi to teach him the ways of the Force. Much more fun that just having them pay some XP.

I haven't spent a lot of time reading up on the Force mechanics yet, but should it become relevant I'm going to rule that while anyone can take the specialization, they'll need to find an instructor who can teach them the different Force skills. As a GM there's no way I'm going to pass up on the opportunity to have a player quest for a Jedi to teach him the ways of the Force. Much more fun that just having them pay some XP.

It's not a bad idea, one that was in place under the WEG system when it came to learning the various Force skills (Control, Sense, and Alter) after character creation. I know for Saga Edition that Rodney Thompson advocated the idea that if a player wanted to learn a Force power that wasn't listed in the core rulebook, they'd need to find a teacher, but that was a house rule suggestion to begin with.

That said, I'd say certain powers could be 'learned' through simple trial and error, such as Sense and Enhance, but others such as Influence, Move, and Foresee would require some instruction to at least acquire the basic power.

I haven't spent a lot of time reading up on the Force mechanics yet, but should it become relevant I'm going to rule that while anyone can take the specialization, they'll need to find an instructor who can teach them the different Force skills. As a GM there's no way I'm going to pass up on the opportunity to have a player quest for a Jedi to teach him the ways of the Force. Much more fun that just having them pay some XP.

From my reading of it you can go either way but the choices under Force Level 1 could easily be described as emergent and something that you could develop on you're own. It'll be the later power levels that are going to benefit with some training. Plus, if I remember correctly, FSExile has had some training but was forced into Exile... Even so it's not like there wasn't a first person to figure this stuff out without training.

I'd not further penalize the PCs if they want to spend their hard earned XPs on Force powers by making them have to track down practically non-existent trainers. The system so far seems pretty balanced with the trading of skills for powers and as the new books come out there will likely be other balancing factors.

I haven't spent a lot of time reading up on the Force mechanics yet, but should it become relevant I'm going to rule that while anyone can take the specialization, they'll need to find an instructor who can teach them the different Force skills. As a GM there's no way I'm going to pass up on the opportunity to have a player quest for a Jedi to teach him the ways of the Force. Much more fun that just having them pay some XP.

It all depends on what you, the GM, want to include in your game. If you want to include a teacher of some kind, then limiting access to some or all powers will certainly help drive the player in that direction.

One thing I've toyed with is limiting FSE to the starting XP budget -- the point being that you either had some awakening in your past, or you hadn't. Acquring FSE et. al. later would entail some kind of training or plot consideration rather than a mechanical "Okay, I spend 20xp for FSE, now you, the GM, have to explain it..." It also calls back to WEG's version where starting Force dice had to be purchased with attribute dice instead of skill dice.

I haven't spent a lot of time reading up on the Force mechanics yet, but should it become relevant I'm going to rule that while anyone can take the specialization, they'll need to find an instructor who can teach them the different Force skills. As a GM there's no way I'm going to pass up on the opportunity to have a player quest for a Jedi to teach him the ways of the Force. Much more fun that just having them pay some XP.

It's not a bad idea, one that was in place under the WEG system when it came to learning the various Force skills (Control, Sense, and Alter) after character creation. I know for Saga Edition that Rodney Thompson advocated the idea that if a player wanted to learn a Force power that wasn't listed in the core rulebook, they'd need to find a teacher, but that was a house rule suggestion to begin with.

That said, I'd say certain powers could be 'learned' through simple trial and error, such as Sense and Enhance, but others such as Influence, Move, and Foresee would require some instruction to at least acquire the basic power.

IMO, some ablities could occur naturally, without the person realizing it (or without learning it from an instructor). Things like perception and reflexes are enhanced regardless of formal training...at least, that's how I interpret the Force in general.

IMO, some ablities could occur naturally, without the person realizing it (or without learning it from an instructor). Things like perception and reflexes are enhanced regardless of formal training...at least, that's how I interpret the Force in general.

Many talents in the FSE spec tree(s) capture these instinctual abilities already (while putting one on the path to +1 Force rating), whereas the power trees represent the deliberate uses of the Force. I think the flavor dovetails nicely with the mechanics in this regard. You can gate the chunks easily based on the fiction ("this is this"), and it all just works.