Force Wizard – Conjure Force Power

July 13, 2020 Linda Whitson Astral Projections, Force Wizard 0

“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.

Conjure, prerequisite Force Rating (FR) 1, is the second Force power featured in the Mystic sourcebook Unlimited Power.  It’s one of the more expensive trees, costing 20xp for Basic, and 15-20 for most upgrades. (Only Protect/Unleash, first available at FR3, has a higher buy-in cost.) Unlike Alter, from the text Conjure was intended to emulate the way the Force was wielded by some minor Force traditions, mainly the Nightsisters of Dathomir. The Basic power and some of the upgrades are suitable for other Force users, notably in eras when most Force users had at best a bit of formal training and then had to figure the rest out for themselves. However, this is a power quite different from anything taught by the Jedi of any era.

Using Basic Conjure, the wielder creates a ghostly “facsimile” of a single, simple item. The item may be a melee weapon, a brawl weapon, a tool, or a “low tech item.” Like most Basic powers, this costs 1 Force pip and cannot be activated multiple times. There is a discrepancy on the base range between the text (which says short throughout the text) and the tree (engaged, “to their hand”). Note that the Duration upgrades also have this issue, saying medium while the text says short. I couldn’t find anything official, but I would go with short range as the default for Basic and upgrades. This reads like the tree wasn’t completely updated to the final mechanics and it wasn’t caught during editing.

The three Duration upgrades let you commit 1 Force die after activating the power to keep 1 facsimile, per Duration upgrade, existing past the end of the Force user’s next turn. Duration upgrades are usually farther into a tree, but the first one is just below the Basic Conjure. Each Duration costs 15XP. If the item moves out of range–say the Force user has given a Conjured weapon to an ally–it disappears.

The first of two Number upgrades is in the center of the top tier. The second is farther down the left side of the tree, above and linked to Mastery. For +2 Force pips, you can Conjure an additional, identical item, limited to how many Number upgrades you own, and this upgrade can be activated multiple times.

There are only 2 Control upgrades, both more or less in the center of the tree, and they add various weapon qualities to Conjured weapons. The 10 XP gives the weapon Stun 4, Defensive 1, or Deflection 1; the 15XP gives it Burn 3, Pierce 3, or Vicious 3. Each Control can be activated multiple times at a cost of 1 Force pip each. However, you can’t stack the same quality. So for +2 Force pips your Conjured sword can have Pierce 3 and Vicious 3, but not Vicious 6. (Some things are beyond even Mother Talzin’s abilities.)

The two Magnitude upgrades cost 10XP and 20XP, and have a unique effect. Spend +1 Force pip to up the Conjured item’s Encumbrance by +2 per Magnitude owned; if Magnitude/s are used with the Mastery upgrade, the summoned being’s Silhouette is increased by +2 per Magnitude. Magnitude is single activation.

The sole Range upgrade is near the bottom of the tree and costs 20XP. It works pretty much like most Ranges. Spend +1 Force pip to increase the range at which the weapon/item can be Conjured and kept going. Range can be activated multiple time, to a maximum of Extreme range. Very handy if you want to loan a ghost weapon to an ally, or if you have the Mastery upgrade…

This Mastery is one of the few that is only 20XP, but it has other costs…”So why the dark tone, every time you mention Conjure’s Mastery upgrade?” you ask. Up to this point, your conjurations, or facsimiles, are simple, useful objects that have never been alive–weapons, tools, and other items. But Mastery grants you the ability to Conjure the likeness of a Silhouette 0-1 creature, by spending +3 pips. (Or larger, with Magnitude; see above.) Per the Fine Print (text), you choose a Minion profile, and have to use a Maneuver to give it orders.  That doesn’t sound too Darkside, even with the “mindlessly follows that character’s commands” clause, from the tree capsule. After all, the likeness was never alive, and some uses of Battle Meditation (which in Legends was always a Lightsider-only ability) give the subject a -1 to Willpower when Dark Force pips are used.

Maybe that aspect isn’t exactly evil, but it leads directly to another use of Mastery that is evil. If you have the dead body of the beast or sentient/sapient being you want to command, Mastery animates it. Instant Force-zombie! For just +3 Force pips–plus seven Conflict. Only acts such as cruelty to animals/droids, torture, or murder earn at least that much. (Table 9-2, F&D, p.324) And there may be other Conflict given. Did you kill the subject, or order them killed, for the ritual (7-10)? Threaten or harm someone so they wouldn’t interfere? (2-5) Flip a Destiny Point to generate some/all of those Force pips? (1-4)

What to buy and when? The upgrades are all fairly useful. You should wait until FR2+ to buy Number or Duration upgrades. An FR1 PC won’t be able to generate enough Force pips to activate Number and won’t be able to use the Force for anything else while maintaining their weapon/tool with Duration, regardless of who is using the item. I wouldn’t buy more than one of either type, and would think twice before buying both Magnitudes.

Range, as I mentioned above, is very good if you intend to “loan” the Conjured item, since your ally won’t have to stay close to you. In fact, if an ally is weaponless and some distance away, with Range you can Conjure one into their hands. You’d best combine this with Duration, so you can do other things while your ally uses the weapon. Speaking of weapons, if you want to invest at least 40-65XP into the power, the Controls give you a lot of options for a Conjured weapon.

What about Mastery? I really don’t like the idea of it as a PC ability. It provides mechanics for a very rare ability, only in one Force tradition, and a 100% Dark one, by current canon. This makes it problematic for campaigns that aren’t Darkside or based on Dathomir. In particular if it’s set in an era with an active Jedi Order and Council and their Code, that Council isn’t going to be happy with Jedi PCs who dabble in Conjure. This goes double for the Prequel Era when the Council and Order were extremely cponservative. There may be roleplaying consequences (censured, refused a Council seat, not permitted an apprentice). The GM might even take Keith Kappel’s suggestion (fourth question in this Interrogation Droid) to give Conflict for actions that go against the Jedi Code or Council edicts.

We’re down to the last 2 Force powers, padawans. Next month is Endure, from Knights of Fate, the Warrior career book, followed by Jerserra’s Influence, from Ghosts of Dathomir. But take heart, the Force Wizard has still more wisdom and lore to impart. May the Force be with you always!

Force Wizard Index (Book/s)
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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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