“Force Wizard” is my series on the Force powers in Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars RPG lines. It is primarily aimed at new players/GMs, and more experienced players playing a Force-sensitive character for the first time. I will discuss using each power in play and suggest what upgrades to pick up, and when to buy them. (Be mindful–upgrades that require Force pips are useless if you can’t possibly roll enough pips.) I may also discuss how powers have been used/viewed in Canon and Legends/Expanded Universe sources. Today we look at Battle Meditation, found in the Force & Destiny core book.
This Force power–one of my favorites–is another one inspired by Star Wars Legends’ Tales of the Jedi (TotJ). It was rare, with only a few powerful Jedi, mostly Masters, able to boost their allies and turn the tide of battle in their favor. There is an FR 2+ prerequisite, possibly to represent the amount of skill necessary to guide (or compel…) on this scale. The best known of those rare Force-users was the Lightside champion Nomi Sunrider.
D20 iterations of the SWRPG limited their versions of Battle Meditation (and several other Force abilities) to 100% Lightsider characters, most likely for game balance. However, this is not the case in F&D, or in the Legends sources, which have depicted Sith using similar techniques. Using Dark Force pips with the basic power (or 10 point Control) drops your allied target/s’ Willpower by 1, to a minimum of WIL 1 and there are other downsides in the case of 1 pricey upgrade.
Battle Meditation’s Mastery upgrade isn’t helpful when you spend any Dark pips to activate. Other powers with divergent Light and Dark (pip) upgrade effects, give the PC some advantage for using Dark pips, but not this one. Spend any Dark pips, and you cannot give your allies the upgrade’s skill boost–plus they get an Easy Discipline check to resist orders you give them. Moral of the story? Darksiders (and others who don’t mind spending Dark pips) can find a better use for 25XP.
But for now, let’s return to the top of the tree. You should be aware that Battle Meditation only buffs your allies, never you, so it is pretty Lightside-oriented. (The F&D text does point out that less-moral PCs can use it selfishly, forcing their followers to do their bidding, however.) The basic power grants Engaged allies, up to your Presence score in number, one automatic Success to all checks they make before your next turn, no multiple activations (without Magnitude upgrades). The 10 point Control allows you an Easy Leadership check to issue a simple order to each affected ally, telepathically. Regardless of language/s, the order is understood. Also, this power isn’t mind control, so the target doesn’t have to obey the order. Players of affected PCs, of course, make this call. For NPCs, I suggest the GM have them comply unless there are strong story/RP reasons not to. After all, they are friends and allies.
The Battle Meditation tree has a lot of Magnitude and Range upgrades. These upgrades have the standard effects. With all 3 Range upgrades, you can potentially aid friends at Long range. If you buy the 20XP Control, you have the option of spending 4 Strain to use Battle Meditation on the Planetary Scale, just like in TotJ!
Magnitude upgrades also go a long way, so you really only need 1 or 2. Remember how the basic power affects up to the Force-user’s Presence in targets? Each pip spent for Magnitude increases the number of targets (if in range) by your Presence as well. So a PC with PRE 2 and 1 Magnitude upgrade who rolls 3 pips could spend 1 to activate Battle Meditation, and 2 to grant up to 6 allies +1 Success on their checks. With 2 Magnitude upgrades, he can spend 2 pips to affect up to 10 allies! (IF the GM agreed all these characters could fit in Engaged range! Or you have pips to spend on a Range upgrade.)
The remaining upgrades are 1 each Strength, Duration, and Mastery (which I discussed above). Strength adds +1 Success to your allies’ checks for every 2 pips spent, and can be activated multiple times, like the Range and Magnitude upgrades. Duration allows you to commit 3 Force dice to sustain the power’s effects on allies who stay in range. Only allies who leave the range lose the benefit, but those who stay keep the auto-Success/es as long as your dice are committed. Naturally, you don’t get multiple activations for this one.
This lets you take other actions –like fighting or programming the navicomp–in subsequent turns, without depriving your pals of additional Success. So you won’t be limited to maneuvers and “I roll another Battle Meditation check.” However, be mindful, young Padawan, of a couple things. First, due to the XP and time costs to gain FR 4+, many PCs won’t have any Force dice to use with other Force talents and powers, without ending Battle Meditation. Second, use situational awareness so you don’t move out of range of affected targets. Either could happen at a point where your party really needs those extra Successes. Of course, talk with your fellow players when things like this come up. It’s no different from discussing other combat tactics.
And now we return to Mastery. I already covered why you don’t spend Dark pips on it. But how does it help your friends when you only spend Light pips? They get extra, temporary ranks in a single skill you choose, until your next turn. How many? Every affected character counts as having the same rank as the affected PC with the highest ranks. If you pick Melee and 1 PC has Melee 4, but everyone else has 0-3, they all have Melee 4, until your next turn.
What to buy and when? The 5XP Range and/or Magnitude upgrades for starters. Since you are at least FR 2, it’s very likely you can activate the power and at least one of these most of the time, hopefully without using Dark pips. Because of how Magnitude scales, 1 is probably sufficient and more than 2 is likely a waste of XP.
Buying all three Range upgrades is the only path to both the 20XP Control and the Mastery upgrades, since this power tree is one of the more complex ones. The first Range upgrade is the fastest, least expensive route to the right column’s Control (10XP), Strength, and Duration upgrades.
That righthand Control to give orders is very handy. However, for PCs, I would think of them more as suggestions, since it’s usually a bad idea to try to control (no pun intended!) another player’s actions. You might want to think twice before ordering certain NPC allies around, too. Minions, or Alliance/Resistance military NPCs under your command, go ahead. But higher ranking or more influential NPCs probably won’t take kindly to being told what to do.
Also, I’ve repeatedly discouraged using Dark pips to activate Battle Meditation. It’s not just due to the mechanical consequences, either. I feel using Dark pips can create player disagreements, which is a worse problem than any mechanical or RP penalties. If you spend Dark pips on the power, with or without activating upgrades, and some now-WIL 1 NPCs aren’t much help because they failed Fear checks, the encounter is harder. If the campaign era has an active Jedi Council, your PC might be on the wrong side of a Serious Talking To. But if your friends’ PCs have their WIL reduced as a consequence of your decisions, they may be very unhappy with you. Once, if it’s a dire situation with no better options, they might be cool with it, especially if the resulting RP is amazing. But making a habit of it, is just self-centered.
Yeah, I know, a couple paragraphs read like excerpts from a Jedi High Councillor’s rant–I mean treatise!–on the “Perils and Pitfalls of the Dark Side.” But Battle Meditation is really a fun Force power, even with minimal upgrades. (In my case, 1 Range, 10XP Control, and Strength.) I picked it on my GM’s suggestion. He noticed I wasn’t enjoying another recently-bought power and offered to let me replace it with Battle Meditation–and it really fit, as well as being cool to use. I’m able to assist several party members at once–and Battle Meditation is far more subtle than my PC’s Move power. In fact, even though this PC still uses Move a lot, I get at least as much enjoyment out of Battle Meditation. I am definitely ready to purchase the Duration upgrade so I can skewer someone with my ‘saber while buffing my friends.
So, ready to emulate legendary Jedi like Nomi, Odan-Urr, or Arca-Jeth and wield the Force on a larger scale with this Buff-tastic power?
Bind (F&D) is coming up next time. Until then, May the Force Be With You Always!
Force Wizard Index (Book/s)
Alter (Unlimited Power)
Battle Meditation (F&D)
Bind (F&D, Rise of the Separatists)
Conjure (Unlimited Power)
Ebb/Flow (Disciples of Harmony)
Endure (Knights of Fate)
Enhance (AoR, F&D, Rise of the Separatists)
Farsight (Savage Spirits)
Foresee (AoR, F&D)
Heal/Harm (F&D)
Imbue (Disciples of Harmony)
Influence (EotE, F&D)
Jerserra’s Influence (Ghosts of Dathomir)
Manipulate (Endless Vigil)
Misdirect (F&D)
Move (AoR, EotE, F&D)
Protect / Unleash (F&D) – Part 1 (Intro & Protect) and Part 2 (Unleash)
Seek (F&D)
Sense (EotE, F&D)
Suppress (Keeping the Peace)
Warde’s Foresight (Chronicles of the Gatekeeper)
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Linda Whitson
Contributing Writer & Copy Editor at D20 Radio
Linda Whitson is a long-time RPGer, amateur musician & artist, & an officer in the Rebel Legion Star Wars costuming club. Linda met her husband in an AD&D game and they have 2 teenagers, an anime fangirl daughter and a son who plays on his university's quidditch team. She is the Lead Mod of D20 Radio's forums and Copy Editor for the blog.
Linda can be reached at GMLinda@d20radio.com
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