“Force Wizard” is my new 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 Enhance, found in the Age of Rebellion and Force & Destiny core books.
Enhance is the Force power that enables one to pull off amazing physical feats–super jumps, extra-crazy starship/vehicle stunts, and so on. There are three unconnected paths in this tree–Agility enhancements, Brawn enhancements, and a third allowing impossibly long and/or high leaps. The base power lets you roll a Force power check (add Force dice equal to your uncommitted Force Rating/FR to the dice pool) as part of an Athletics check. Force pips rolled are spent for additional Successes or Advantages.
Unlike most Force power trees, Enhance has only two upgrade types, a number of Control upgrades and a single Range upgrade. This is thematically appropriate, as previous SWRPGs used “Control” to designate Force skills/abilities that affected only the wielder. The left column adds additional Agility-based skills to Enhance–Coordination, Piloting (Planetary), and Piloting (Space). The middle column adds 2 Brawn-based skills, Resilience and Brawl. The final Control upgrade in each column lets you commit 1 Force die to gain +1 in the relevant ability score, up to 6.
The right hand column contains the last 3 Control upgrades–horizontal/long jumps, vertical/high jumps, and Force Leap as a manuever. Between the vertical and maneuver Control upgrades is that lone Range upgrape. For 1 Force pip, you can increase the range of your leap by 1 range band. Since there’s only 1 upgrade in the tree and it cannot be activated multiple times, your Leaps are limited to Medium range. This is pretty reasonable, since medium (personal) range can be up to “several dozens of meters,” much farther than an ordinary being could jump.
What do you want to do with this power? Make those leaps, augment sklls/ability scores, or everything? It’s possible to have it all, if that’s what you want, since this is one of the least expensive trees, with almost half the upgrades costing 5XP and the rest at 10XP–but you will limit yourself in other ways, of course. If you want to play an action- (and duel!) oriented Force user, I suggest the base and right column, plus the Coordination, Resilience and/or Brawl upgrades. The Piloting (Space) upgrade is a must-have if you have an Ace spec, including the F&D Starfighter Ace. Same for Piloting (Planetary) for the Drivers. Also once you have FR2+, you can use the Agility or Brawn Control upgrade at the same time as Force talents requiring you to commit Force dice.
“When to buy?” is less important for this tree than most, since 2 is maximum number of pips you can ever spend (activate Force Leap and reach Medium range). Still, if you spend 25-45XP (about 2-3 sessions’ worth in my group) to get to the bottom of 1 column ASAP, you may find yourself lacking in skill ranks, Wound/Strain thresholds, etc., compared to your fellow PCs–or opponents. So I suggest purchasing an upgrade here and there, not all at once. Although I can’t find it in me to criticize a snubjock or smuggler who buys all the way down to Piloting (Space) in one fell swoop.
That’s it for Enhance, one of the simplest Force powers out there, but still quite useful, and in a broad number of physically demanding situations, from dogfights to duels to chases. Next time, I take up Sense. 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)
Linda Whitson
Latest posts by Linda Whitson (see all)
- Astral Projections – The Ripperdoc Is In - May 8, 2023
