Ulorian - Agent of Chaos
Legend
I originally posted this on the Star Wars forums at WOTC. I got a few decent responses, but was quickly reminded why I had stopped posting on those forums. I'm hoping to get more carefully measured responses from the more genteel crowd here.
Overall, the rules in SAGA are much, much tighter and more elegant than the D&D 3.5 rule set. There are a couple of rules that bother me: one is the way Double and Triple Attack work (but I'll save that discussion for another thread), and the other is the Force Point recovery rules.
Under RAW, there are only 2 ways to recover Force Points: gaining a new level and using the Force Point Recovery force technique. The first method is the one I have a problem with: the rate at which characters gain levels is completely dependent on the GM's style.
You may also have noticed that virtually all Jedi-type builds on this site have levels of Sith Apprentice, Jedi Knight, or Force Adept to take advantage of the Force Techniques these classes grant, and that those Force Techniques are always multiple instances of Force Point Recovery. When every build requires a certain option to be viable, there's a problem in the rules.
The solution:
Force Points serve effectively the same purpose as Conviction points do in True20 (or Hero Points, or Action Points, or Fate Points in countless other systems). True20 has a very nice mechanism for recovering Conviction points: you regain them at the rate of 1 per day. This rate is slow enough to have consequences for players who blow through their Conviction points too quickly, and is far less arbitrary than having them recover only upon level up.
My house rule is to have Force Points replenish themselves as per True20 rules. There are a few modifications to the SAGA rule set that should be made to accommodate this.
1. In True20, there are slightly fewer Conviction points handed out as compared to Force Points in SAGA. In True20, characters get 2 Conviction points to begin, and get 1 more at every odd level (including 1st level). So they start with 3 and have 12 by level 19 (as opposed to 5 to start and 15 by level 20 under SAGA RAW). I would reduce the number of Force Points in SAGA to this level; more are required in SAGA under RAW, as there is no reliable means of recovery until level up.
2. Prestige classes grant 1 or 2 extra Force Points per level in SAGA. I would create two new Talents: In Touch with the Force and Improved In Touch with the Force. The first grants 1 permanent bonus Force Point, and the second grants an additional bonus Force Point (prerequisite In Touch with the Force). These Talents aren't available in any Talent tree, and are awarded as bonus Talents when taking the 1st level of the appropriate prestige class. (Maybe the 2nd Talent, if available to a prestige class, like Sith Lord, can be granted later; at 3rd level, for example.) These Talents can't be taken more than once.
3. The Force Boon feat should probably provide fewer bonus Force Points; 3 is a good number if you can't recover any until the next level up, but under my system, 3 is probably too much. I would suggest 1 Force Point only.
4. You can't use a Force Point to remove a Dark Side point. If Force Points replenish themselves more frequently, it would be far too easy to eliminate Dark Side points (plus, I think this is a cheesy rule!).
Overall, the rules in SAGA are much, much tighter and more elegant than the D&D 3.5 rule set. There are a couple of rules that bother me: one is the way Double and Triple Attack work (but I'll save that discussion for another thread), and the other is the Force Point recovery rules.
Under RAW, there are only 2 ways to recover Force Points: gaining a new level and using the Force Point Recovery force technique. The first method is the one I have a problem with: the rate at which characters gain levels is completely dependent on the GM's style.
You may also have noticed that virtually all Jedi-type builds on this site have levels of Sith Apprentice, Jedi Knight, or Force Adept to take advantage of the Force Techniques these classes grant, and that those Force Techniques are always multiple instances of Force Point Recovery. When every build requires a certain option to be viable, there's a problem in the rules.
The solution:
Force Points serve effectively the same purpose as Conviction points do in True20 (or Hero Points, or Action Points, or Fate Points in countless other systems). True20 has a very nice mechanism for recovering Conviction points: you regain them at the rate of 1 per day. This rate is slow enough to have consequences for players who blow through their Conviction points too quickly, and is far less arbitrary than having them recover only upon level up.
My house rule is to have Force Points replenish themselves as per True20 rules. There are a few modifications to the SAGA rule set that should be made to accommodate this.
1. In True20, there are slightly fewer Conviction points handed out as compared to Force Points in SAGA. In True20, characters get 2 Conviction points to begin, and get 1 more at every odd level (including 1st level). So they start with 3 and have 12 by level 19 (as opposed to 5 to start and 15 by level 20 under SAGA RAW). I would reduce the number of Force Points in SAGA to this level; more are required in SAGA under RAW, as there is no reliable means of recovery until level up.
2. Prestige classes grant 1 or 2 extra Force Points per level in SAGA. I would create two new Talents: In Touch with the Force and Improved In Touch with the Force. The first grants 1 permanent bonus Force Point, and the second grants an additional bonus Force Point (prerequisite In Touch with the Force). These Talents aren't available in any Talent tree, and are awarded as bonus Talents when taking the 1st level of the appropriate prestige class. (Maybe the 2nd Talent, if available to a prestige class, like Sith Lord, can be granted later; at 3rd level, for example.) These Talents can't be taken more than once.
3. The Force Boon feat should probably provide fewer bonus Force Points; 3 is a good number if you can't recover any until the next level up, but under my system, 3 is probably too much. I would suggest 1 Force Point only.
4. You can't use a Force Point to remove a Dark Side point. If Force Points replenish themselves more frequently, it would be far too easy to eliminate Dark Side points (plus, I think this is a cheesy rule!).
