So, in order to power up a force power to use, a character must have the appropriate number of force points available. Is it possible to save force points rolled so that you can combine effects of one force power roll? For example, lets say that my character has a Force Rating 1 and some of the powers under Influence, including a range and magnitude upgrade. If I want to use both of the upgrades, would I have to roll 2 white pips, or can I save 1 and roll again the next turn (assuming I rolled a LS pip the first roll, and hoping for another the next roll).

Or do you lose them if you don't use them during the round in which they were rolled? Thanks for any input, this has been on my mind for a long time.

You have to roll the required amount in a single roll to activate the force power plus any upgrades. Now there are sides of the force die that have 2 dark or 2 light side pips. So even with a force rating of 1 it is still possible to activate a force power and upgrades that need 2 pips

Instant roll, instant use. The flip side of this is that there is no limit to how often you call on the Force, and (as far as I've seen) there's no NEED to use points you generate. So if you try a roll and get only Dark Side results, you can say "nope" and try again next round.

Instant roll, instant use. The flip side of this is that there is no limit to how often you call on the Force, and (as far as I've seen) there's no NEED to use points you generate. So if you try a roll and get only Dark Side results, you can say "nope" and try again next round.

I think this is a really important point, and one I needed to discus with the GM when the playtest first came out. Characters can call on the Dark Side and flip a DS pip to a LS pip to activate a power, but most of the time a character will accept that the check failed if they are trying to be good.

Beginning Force users are going to fail a lot. There are more DS faces than LS faces, though I believe there are the same number of pips for each. I have been playing a BH Survivalist/Force Sensitive Exile for over a year now, and for most of that time, Force Powers checks failed. Even with two dice, I failed more often than succeeded.

Since Age of Rebellion came out, I was able to buy the Force Sensitive Emergent and get up to a third Force Die. Now I am starting to succeed at checks (minimum 1 Light Side pip) to just activate powers.

Force talents and powers that add to skill rolls are much more reliable.

That's part of why I'd encourage drawing on the Dark Side - quick, easy power. But I am very against a strict "tracker" or hard mechanical benefits/drawbacks to it. I'd maybe make a note of how often it happens as GM, and under what circumstances, and describe the rush of power drawing on the Dark Side compared to the calming presence of the Light, and then talk to the player about narratively getting darker as he keeps drawing on the Dark Side a lot. But I am hoping there's not some Corruption-like table where you start growing black veins etc. Especially in a narrative game. The player will get there if they want to.

Instant roll, instant use. The flip side of this is that there is no limit to how often you call on the Force, and (as far as I've seen) there's no NEED to use points you generate. So if you try a roll and get only Dark Side results, you can say "nope" and try again next round.

Maybe. I've seen that a roll doesn't just represent one try - it represents your total efforts to accomplish a task using a given approach. This is why you can't try Knowledge (XYZ) over and over to try to remember something, nor can you try a Computers roll over and over to hack a system. If this is indeed the way of the system, I don't think I'd allow repeated attempts to accomplish the same effect with the same effort.

Depends on whether it's used in combat. You can shoot over and over again, missing each time, so you should be able to try and pull a blaster out of someone's hands as often as you like. But I don't think I'd allow it for a "these aren't the droids you're looking for" attempt.

When do you have to declare how you're using a power? How specific do you have to be?

e.g.

I'm in a room with a speeder bike, two stormtroopers and a box of tools. I want to use the Move power to attack one (or both?) of them.

I want to chuck the bike, but have to use an extra pip to grab the object because of its silhouette. If I don't roll that extra pip, can I still sling the tool box?

Could I pick up one of the troopers and smash him into the other?

When do you have to declare how you're using a power? How specific do you have to be?

e.g.

I'm in a room with a speeder bike, two stormtroopers and a box of tools. I want to use the Move power to attack one (or both?) of them.

I want to chuck the bike, but have to use an extra pip to grab the object because of its silhouette. If I don't roll that extra pip, can I still sling the tool box?

Could I pick up one of the troopers and smash him into the other?

You have to declare the action before you roll. If you're targeting the bike, then that is where you pass or fail. Can't switch in the middle.

When do you have to declare how you're using a power? How specific do you have to be?

e.g.

I'm in a room with a speeder bike, two stormtroopers and a box of tools. I want to use the Move power to attack one (or both?) of them.

I want to chuck the bike, but have to use an extra pip to grab the object because of its silhouette. If I don't roll that extra pip, can I still sling the tool box?

Could I pick up one of the troopers and smash him into the other?

Depends on your GM, and how benevolent they are feeling.

Technically, it'd be as Kallabecca said. You decide the exact effect before rolling, and if you don't generate enough Force Points to lift the targeted object, then you completely fail.

However, were I the one behind the GM screen, I might be inclined to allow you to sling the tool box instead, but I'm generally pretty lenient as a GM (even if my Deadlands Classic group though otherwise on many occasions).

One example of the "well, you didn't roll enough Force Points, so you failed" was Luke's failed attempt to lift his X-Wing in ESB. But I'd also contend that there really wasn't any point in him trying to lift a smaller object in that scene, since his goal was "get my ship out of that swamp so that I'm not marooned here." He may have gotten two Light Side pips, enough to activate the basic effect of the Move Power and either the Strength Upgrade or the Range Upgrade, but what he really needed was three Light Side pips so that he could activate all 3 of them (I'd contend the X-Wing was at least Medium Range from where Luke and Yoda were standing). So while Luke could have lifted a Silhouette 0 object that was a Medium Range, or a Silhouette 3 object that was a Short Range, there wasn't a point in doing so, as the only person there to impress was Yoda, and he probably would have chastised Luke anyway (possibly even more so than he did in the film).

So, an update in regards to my last post.

Based on a post I read over on the d20 Forums, I read the section on activating Force Powers, specifically page 278 starting with "Activating Powers."

No mention is made of the Force-user having to declare the specific effect they are trying for prior to rolling their Force Dice. Instead, they spend their Action to activate the desired power, creates their dice pool, counts the number of Light Side pips rolled, discards (or converts via a Destiny Point and Strain cost) any Dark Side pips rolled, and then consults the Force Power they wanted to use and determines how they will spend the Force Points they generated.

So for Col. Orange's example, it'd be 100% kosher with the rules to have the player want to hurl the speeder bike (Silhouette 1, thus requiring a Strength Upgrade) at both stormtroopers (two targets, thus requiring a Magnitude Upgrade), which would require 3 Force Points, but upon only rolling 2 Force Points instead settling for either attacking a single stormtrooper with the speeder bike (base power + Control Upgrade to attack + Strength Upgrade) or both stormtroopers with the content of the tool kit (base power + Control Upgrade to attack + Magnitude Upgrade).

Based on a post I read over on the d20 Forums, I read the section on activating Force Powers, specifically page 278 starting with "Activating Powers."

No mention is made of the Force-user having to declare the specific effect they are trying for prior to rolling their Force Dice. Instead, they spend their Action to activate the desired power, creates their dice pool, counts the number of Light Side pips rolled, discards (or converts via a Destiny Point and Strain cost) any Dark Side pips rolled, and then consults the Force Power they wanted to use and determines how they will spend the Force Points they generated.

Thanks, Donovan. Can you tell me how "official" this ruling is? Is the poster referencing the RAW directly? Is it a clarification from one of the writers?

Based on a post I read over on the d20 Forums, I read the section on activating Force Powers, specifically page 278 starting with "Activating Powers."

No mention is made of the Force-user having to declare the specific effect they are trying for prior to rolling their Force Dice. Instead, they spend their Action to activate the desired power, creates their dice pool, counts the number of Light Side pips rolled, discards (or converts via a Destiny Point and Strain cost) any Dark Side pips rolled, and then consults the Force Power they wanted to use and determines how they will spend the Force Points they generated.

Thanks, Donovan. Can you tell me how "official" this ruling is? Is the poster referencing the RAW directly? Is it a clarification from one of the writers?

RAW (p. 278): "Once a player character assembles his available Force points,he consults his Force power and determines how he will spend them." That seems fairly clear that it should be you roll first, then decide how to use them.

Thanks, dremaa - that is very reassuring. Given the low success rate (relative to someone spending a similary amount of xp on Ranged: Heavy, for instance) it's nice to see Force Users have extra versatility.