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Author Topic: Tips/Advice Articles: Force-User Characters
Jedi_Linewalker 
Registered: May '05
23997_Anakin
Date Posted: 11/26/07 11:54am Subject: RE: Tips/Advice Articles: Force-User Characters
Hi there. I write in the fan fiction sections of the boards, and I've actively played the Star Wars RPG since its first inception under West End Games in the middle 80's all the way up to the current Saga Edition (4th edition) rules by Wizards of the Coast (I've been roleplaying actively and consistently in many different RPGs, beginning in 1974 with the initial release of Basid D&D boxed set). I can certainly identify with many of the things discussed here in a wide variety of RPGs, but especially the Star Wars RPG of any sort.

Just an opinion on the post about Qui Gon not "getting" the "render aid" and "defend the weak" tenets of the Jedi Code. This is simply my interpretation, view, and do not mean it in any way a detraction of that person's opinion or comment.

Qui Gon and Obi Wan were two Jedi. Reasonably powerful Jedi, but two Jedi. They would face literally hundreds of individual Hutt crime lords (Jabba in particular who was over Mos Espa at that time), not to mention the thousands of bounty hunters, soldiers, assassins and other sundry stooges that worked for those crime lords if they attempted to either forcibly free the slaves, or if they attempted negotiations and failed.

Bear in mind, they didn't have anything to barter with in order to obtain a simple hyperdrive from a Toydarian junk dealer. What could they possibly have negotiated with to a planet full of Hutt crime lords that would have appealed to them enough to free their slaves? Probably nothing. If they attempted "aggressive negotiations," I'm sure they would have taken quite a few of the stooges out of the picture, but the result would have been either dead or enslaved Jedi, an enslaved or dead Queen, and nobody's any better off. The tenet states "render aid whenever possible." In this case, rendering aid wasn't possible.

Ideally, he would have spoken with the Council about this, and they would have spoken to the Senate and someone would have sent an abassador or a commission to obtain the slaves' freedom through negotiation and diplomacy. Remember, Shmi explicitly told Padme "The Republic doesn't exist out here." This means that the Hutt territories, including Tatooine, was beyond the jurisdiction and reach of the Republic. Though the Jedi are touted as the "guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy," they are primarily an entity of the Republic. The Republic encompasses over a million worlds and is spread throughout most of the galaxy, but it is not the galaxy in its entireity. If they had attempted to free the slaves using force, they'd have had no backup or jurisdiction. They'd have been operating outside their area. Therefore, they had to attempt to do so later, with means more endemic to the situation. You can tell by watching Qui Gon's face and listening to his words he wasn't thrilled about being unable to help the slaves, but circumstances were beyond his control at the moment.

Then to the matter of "defend the weak," you have to consider that though Shmi, Anakin, and other slaves were slaves, they were not being overly mistreated in any discernible fashion. They weren't beaten, they weren't summarily killed, they weren't starved, etc. Their freedom was denied to them, yes, but how many real world slaves do you know who had their own home and house within a city instead of on their owners' property, near their owners' houses? I can't think of any. They weren't in any immediate danger, therefore immediate action wasn't necessary. The petition to the Hutts by the Senate, the Council, or other liaison from the Republic would have served equally as well, and ultimately superior in effect to Qui Gon and Obi Wan attempting to "defend the weak" on the spot.

Again, you get the idea that Qui Gon wasn't overly thrilled with the situation, but he was wise enough to realize that any attempt at immediate action on his and Obi Wan's part would have simply made things worse. The Hutts would have figured the slaves put the Jedi up to this, and when the Jedi eventually failed, the slaves would have received vicious retribution, and would be subject to being beaten, killed, starved and other atrocities. Qui Gon and Obi Wan, if they had been unfortunate enough to survive the attempt at freeing them, would also have become slaves and subject to this sort of behavior as well, which wasn't being carried out previously.

Sorry for the long winded post, but that's just my viewpoint and opinion. Again, no animosity or disrespect or anything else is intended towards the person who made the comment. Its simply my opinion, for theirs and anyone else's consideration. Please don't misconstrue this as some sort of attack, because it most definitely isn't. *smiles* Anyway, thanks for listening, and take care everyone.

 

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LightWarden 
Registered: Oct '01
19249_20-Sided Die
Date Posted: 1/5 2:09pm Subject: RE: Tips/Advice Articles: Force-User Characters
Why is it that all of the Jedi characters I see are so eager to break from tradition, get married, and pop out a dynasty of babies which are then raised by their parents and trained into Jedi? Especially in the Old Republic era, you think there'd be more Jedi who were in favor of the orthodox way of raising a child from infancy to serve the Republic.

 

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Strange how one small thing can determine the fate of so many... especially if it's a twenty-sided die
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Ktala 
Registered: Sep '02
6289_A-Wing
Date Posted: 2/3 4:16am Subject: RE: Tips/Advice Articles: Force-User Characters
The Dark Side
Hmmm..

I have to chime in on this one! LOL!!

I agree with what was said so far about Dark force users:
TO A POINT.

I can see a player growing with power in the Darkside, and not be maimed and crippled, and such, as they start off. Yes, the more they deal into the Darker aspects of the Force, the more powerful they become, and the more the Darkside feeds off of them as well. But it takes time. Palpy was not a young man.


I should say that any Dark Sider that is not killed in an RPG is playing a a totally unrealistic game and should not waste their time.


EVENTUALLY. Why should the character drop dead simply because he is a Dark force user? Now, if your character is trying to channel the energies of the universe through his body, and bend it to his will, yeah...he might have a rather short life span. But if he plays it smart, and does not exert himself except for matters he considers important, he's going to be around awhile. While their MENTAL state might not be the greatest, they are not ready to drop dead just yet.
drooling

There are varying degrees of the Dark Force Users, just as their are of Good sided and Grey Force users.


As with Jedi, strength in the Dark Side comes with time and practice. But unlike a Jedi who's strength in spirit grows over time, a Master of the Dark Side's spirit decays.


I dont know if I would agree with the term 'spirit', in this sense. As most high level Dark Force Users are using their own will powers to bend the natural order of things to THEIR will, I would guess their spirits are pretty dang strong. Hence, we have a lot of long lasting Sith specters hanging around (Sith tombs and such).

But using the Darkside to manipulate things, just physically burns them out faster, causing some of the physical descriptions mentioned earlier. The toll is being taken out on the body.

And in truth, many Dark Force users, will be dead long before they reach THAT type of power manipulations, because they blow their cover, or do something stupid, or dumb luck that gets them killed, long before the Dark Side can do major damage to them. But to those who make that level, then yes, either mental or physically, it will began to take its toll.

And mental suffering is tricky. For that person, their actions would appear to be quite reasonable for them, while to everyone else, they would quickly see that something is wrong.

And non-Sith Dark Force users, for the most part, would not have to worry about such issues, unless they began to climb for power themselves. Depends on how much they use the Force, vs using their minds.

Basically, it all boils down to is on how dependant you are on the Darker side of the Force. The more you use it, the more it will take out of you.


 

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Saintheart 
Title: Manager and Wandering Swordsman of the RPF
 Registered: Dec '00
14385_Drizzt<br>by RA Salvatore (A&A)
Date Posted: 3/25 7:31pm Subject: RE: Tips/Advice Articles: Force-User Characters
*bump*

 

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