House Rules for Force Users in FFG Star Wars

House Rules for Force Users, a fix for Force & Destiny

I have some house rules for Force Users in FFG Star Wars. I think that as-is, the mechanics for light-side or dark-side are too random, especially with the possibility that any low-rating force user who is expressly trying to be a Light or Dark character could roll terribly one session and get very few of their respective sides. I like dice rolling, but when you’re rolling one dice with ~60/40 odds of whether or not you even get to activate your power, the odds are just a bit too swingy. The other dice mechanics in FFG Star Wars are all about incremental advantages. Why not provide a mechanical element to the Force that better characterizes the natures of the Light and Dark sides of the force? How about a Force mechanic that directly interacts with the Destiny mechanic? How about a mechanic that emphasizes the Balance of the Force? What you read below are detailed descriptions of how this mechanic works in gameplay, as well as details on what inspired this mechanic. I've also described how to incorporate Neutral Force Users into your game who wield both Light and Dark simultaneously, but draw attention when they favor one side.

Here are what I see as the most important characteristics in each side of the Force:

Light – Safe, potent, scarce (but to a degree, reliable)

Dark – Dangerous, risky, plentiful

These characteristics are the basis for my Force & Destiny mechanic that replaces the standard Force mechanic. Here are the details:

The First Force Rating

When a character gains their first Force Rating (granted through a Background or Career), they must decide whether they are a Light Side, Dark Side, or Neutral Force User. This choice does not affect or limit the powers Force Users may learn, which Force Points are generated, or how a Force User chooses to spend Force Points. This choice does affect how certain powers may be used, and how the character generates Conflict, and which is a resource primarily managed by the Game Master. A character knows when an action will generate Conflict, and the player informs the Game Master when his or her character performs such an action. The player is not entitled to know exactly how much Conflict is generated. Conflict will be discussed in more detail later in the Conflict & Destiny section.

Rolling for Force Powers

Rolling a Force die to take Force Power actions remain the same. There is no gameplay cost for Force Users who decide to use an unaligned force point. They must deal with the immediate consequences for fueling a power with whatever Force Points they fuel it with, as described by their power.

Example: a Light Side User rolls black pips, and can decide to use the Dark Force Points to fuel their Force Power without paying strain and spending a Destiny point .

Force Powers & Destiny Points

Force users also have access to a pool of Force points based on the state of the Destiny Point Pool. To fuel a Force power, the user may spend one Destiny Point (flipping Light to Dark) in order gain a single Light Force Point, after rolling Force Rating. Then, the user may suffer strain (ignoring soak) equal to the number of Dark Destiny Points showing (including a Light Destiny Point that was just flipped). The user gains Dark Force Points equal to the strain suffered. The user may not suffer less strain than the number of Dark Destiny Points; gaining Dark Force Points in this way is all-or-nothing. The user is not forced to spend any Force Points generated.

The order for gaining Force Points from the Destiny Point Pool must be enforced. Flip to gain Light, then strain to gain Dark. No one may interrupt this sequence to flip a Destiny Point (except through a Disturbance in the Force). Straining for Dark Force Points does not flip any Destiny Points back to their Light side. The Game Master is encouraged to spend a recently flipped Destiny Point as soon as possible.

If a character flips to gain a Light Force Point and strains to gain Dark Force Points in generating Force Points for the same Force Power, a Disturbance in the Force is caused. The Game Master rolls on the Disturbance in the Force table (feel free to make your own). The results are revealed only as necessary. If after resolving a roll on the Disturbance in the Force table the character is still alive/conscious, they may finish using their Force Power.

Disturbance in the Force Table, roll 2d6

2d6	Results
Odd	No effect.
Even	Power Tax: Each character within short range of the triggering character suffers 1 strain ignoring soak (including triggering character)
Doubles	(ignore Even results)
2, 12	Dark Force Gift: The triggering character receives a Dark Force Gift determined by the Dark Force Gift table and the number of Dark Force Gifts they have already received.
4, 10	Dark Force Overload: All Light Destiny Points flip, then the triggering character suffers strain (ignoring soak) and gains Dark Force Points for each Destiny Point flipped in this way.
6, 8	Force Tempest: Force Lightning strikes each character within short range of the triggering character for 2d6 damage (including triggering character).

Dark Force Gift Table, roll 1d6 +1 per Gift already received. On 6 or less, receive a Dark Force Gift. The 1st through 4th Dark Force Gifts are persistent abilities that provide a passive (but not optional) benefit. Every Gift after the 4th is an immediate benefit. This table may be rerolled once at the cost of 1 Destiny Point.

1d6 (+ 1/Gift) less than or equal to 6
1st Gift	Embrace Your Hate: The character becomes a Dark Force User, and is always considered to have spent at least one Dark Force Point on a Force Power if it affects the quality (not necessarily quantity) of the power.
2nd Gift	Touch of Darkness: Convert 1 Light Force Point to a Dark Force Point when you roll Force Dice to generate Force Points for a Force Power.
3rd Gift	Shadow in the Force: When generating Destiny Points for a session, reroll until you generate Dark Destiny Points.
4th Gift	Despair: On your initiative, flip 1 Light Destiny Point to the Dark Side.
5th+ Gift(s)	Breath of Power: Remove all Strain from character
1d6 (+ 1/Gift) greater than 6
7+	Reprimand: Remove all Dark Force Gifts from the character, and the character is considered to be Force Rating 0 until the start of the next game session. The character regains 1 Force Rating at the beginning of each subsequent session. A character who has Force Rating 0 in this way may not use Force Powers.

Conflict & Destiny

Instead of tying Conflict into the Morality mechanic, scrap Morality and do this instead:

The Game Master tracks how much Conflict a character generates in a given session. Characters generate Conflict for circumstances where a Force Power generates it, or in one of these ways:

• +1 Conflict whenever a character acts outside their Force alignment:
• Dark Force user spends Light Force Points
• Light Force user spends Dark Force Points
• Neutral Force user exceeds 2:1 ratio for spending mixed Light and Dark Force Points.

• +1 Conflict at end of session if Neutral Force user spends Light or Dark Force Points exclusively at least once.
• Example: Neutral Force User fuels Battle Meditation Power only using Dark Force Points
• +2 Conflict whenever a character causes a Disturbance in the Force.

The Game Master may generate Conflict for a character for reasons not described above, or may increase the amount of Conflict generated for a given circumstance. For example, the Game Master may multiply Conflict by the Force Rating of a character who generates it; high-rating Force Users should know better than to disrupt the Force.

Immediately after generating the Destiny Point pool at the beginning of the next session, flip 1 Light Destiny Point to its Dark Side for each Conflict generated during the last session. If all Light Destiny Points are flipped in this way, or only Dark Destiny Points were generated for the Destiny Point Pool and at least one Conflict was generated during the last session, then a Force Conflict occurs that session. It’s up to the GM to decide how the Force Conflict manifests, but it likely involves an encounter with a nemesis-class Force User character and/or the Force User’s minions/associates. This could be a Dark Jedi coming to tempt a character to the Dark Side, a Jedi Knight who reprimands a reckless character, or a Sith who wants to test his strength in a duel. It could also be a bounty hunter hired by an Imperial Inquisitor. The nature of the Force Conflict encounter is up to the Game Master’s discretion. Optionally, the Game Master may accumulate Conflict instead of spending it in order to increase the likelihood of a Force Conflict for a later session (even to the point of guaranteeing the Force Conflict).

To reiterate what was said in The First Force Rating, a character knows when an action will generate Conflict, and the player informs the Game Master when his or her character performs such an action. The player is not entitled to know exactly how much Conflict is generated

Conflict is a measure of whether or not disruptions in the Force are noticed by NPCs in the world. And, not all Force Conflict encounters are necessarily bad. The Jedi Knight who comes to reprimand one of the PCs may find that the PC in question regrets their decision and is seeking atonement. This is an opportunity for the Jedi Knight to help the PCs, if he is agreeable to that course.

Ultimately, this Force Conflict mechanic is intended to complement the Obligation and Duty seen in Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion. Rather than be a third parallel mechanic for characters generated using a specific Core Rulebook, it is meant to be layered on top of Obligation and/or Duty and reflect the unique ripples in the galaxy that Force Users create. Imagine the interesting combinations that result from a combination of Conflict and Obligation! Perhaps the PC’s patron, a Hutt kingpin, comes under extreme pressure from an Imperial Inquisitor, who is aware that he has a Force User in his employ. The Hutt threatens to cut the PCs loose in the worst way possible if they don’t keep things under wraps. But he’s a Hutt after all, so it’s likely he’ll either blackmail them or sell them out to the Inquisitor anyways.

What does this system say about the Force in your game?

The Dark Side is always an antagonist towards the PCs, and the Light Side is always a protagonist, regardless of whether or not the PCs are good guys, bad guys, or somewhere in the middle. This makes Dark Force User PCs challenging to work alongside. Maybe this is why the Sith Lords instituted the Rule of Two.

A character who disturbs the Force’s balance regularly is at the risk of acquiring a Dark Force Gift. The Dark Force Gifts are designed to empower a character while limiting the ability to help others with the Force, and otherwise make each session more difficult by manipulating the Destiny Pool. Of course, Dark Force Gifts are only one component of the Disturbance in the Force table. Any result other than “nothing happens”, at best, is inconvenient, and at worst, highly dangerous.

Game Masters should be careful when granting NPCs Dark Force Gifts. While NPCs themselves do not generate Conflict (or maybe they do in your game), many of the Dark Force Gifts provide a powerful advantage. Despair is particularly noteworthy, since an NPC with the gift will always have a Destiny Point it can use to upgrade checks on its turn. On the other hand, a Jedi Knight is a very powerful nemesis, as the Knight can flip Light Side Destiny when he or she uses his or her Force Powers, and the Game Master can then upgrade the Knight's checks with the flipped Destiny Point. Sometimes the Dark Side of the Force keeps the Balance by helping a Jedi pummel someone, a fact that any Jedi Knight NPC is aware of.