Force Wizard – Ebb/Flow Force Power

May 18, 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.
Today, I am covering the Ebb/Flow power from Disciples of Harmony. And the Force is with us today. I am drawing on the expertise of a fellow F&D player, Empty Bacta Tank, who has some experience in using this power, specifically the Basic power and Strength upgrades.
As you will see, Master EBT makes a very strong case for buying the Basic power and at least the top Strength upgrade linked to it for a lightsaber-focused Jedi. His arguments have convinced this Force wizard, and I liberally quote him, with his permission.
The Ebb/Flow text explicitly states that upgrades are intended to encourage use of both aspects, but the encouragement starts with the Basic power, which has two ways to spend Force pips. When making a skill check, the wielder may make a combined Ebb or Flow Force power check. For Ebb, spend 1 Force pip to both suffer 1 strain and inflict 1 strain on all Engaged characters; for Flow heal 1 strain (to self). Being able to affect multiple characters makes Basic Ebb slightly more useful than Basic Influence. As typical, neither aspect can be activated more than once.
The sole Range upgrade (10XP), costing 2 additional pips to activate, works a little differently from most. It extends Ebb’s range from Engaged to Short, with no way to increase it farther, meaning Ebb is always up close and personal.
Likewise, the two 5XP Magnitude upgrades work differently from those in other Force powers. For each Force pip spent, exclude a number of characters equal to the number of Magnitude upgrades owned from Ebb effects. You can activate Magnitude multiple times.
The Ebb/Flow power tree has four 10XP Control upgrades. The first of these, at left on the second row, costs 3 Force pips to activate. Once per encounter, the PC may ask the GM one Yes/No question about current game events. The GM must answer truthfully. Be mindful–even a simple Yes or No can be misleading…Note that “current” isn’t defined so it’s up to the GM whether that means 1 encounter, 1 session, 1 in-game day, an entire arc, etc.
To the right, and linked to the question one, is the second Control, which has different effects for the 2 aspects and multiple activations. When making a combined Ebb power check, spend 1 pip to add 1 Threat to “any checks made by engaged opponents.” For a combined Flow check, on the other hand, the wielder adds 1 Advantage to any check they make with the same skill. Linked right below, the third Control is similar, but adds 1 Threat/pip spent with a combined Ebb check and 1 Success/pip with a combined Flow check. All effects for both Controls last until the end of the wielder’s next turn.
The final Control, at the bottom left, requires committing 1 Force die. Until the end of the encounter, add a Force die to all checks you make. Each Light and Dark pip rolled adds either 1 Success or 1 Advantage to the result, your choice. BUT, per RAW (rules as written), you don’t choose what or how many pips you spend, and therefore whether or how much strain and Conflict you take. From the text (p. 37, bolding mine): “However, for each Dark pip rolled, the user suffers 1 strain and gains 1 Conflict.” RAW doesn’t say to flip a Lightside point, so good news?
There IS a Mastery upgrade, but due to an editing oversight, the lone 20XP box in the tree is labeled Control. Like the two center Controls, Mastery has different Ebb and Flow aspects. If an opponent takes 5+ strain from ONE USE of Ebb add 1 Despair to their next check. If the wielder heals 5+ strain from ONE USE of Flow, they add 1 Triumph to their next check. The Mastery upgrade is usable once per session.
Now for the best part, the three 10XP Strength upgrades, all of which can be activated multiple times. If you have 2 or 3 of them, it looks like you can mix and match too. The one linked to the Basic Ebb/Flow increases strain healed/inflicted by +1 per pip spent. The second is linked only to the Threat/Advantage Control, and lets you add +1 Threat or Advantage per pip spent. The third, linked to the Failure/Success Control, gains you +1 Failure or Success per pip.
What upgrades should you buy when? Pick up that heal/inflict strain Strength upgrade ASAP! Heck, buy it at the same time as the Basic power if you have the XP. (Easily doable when spending earned XP or creating a Knight Level PC.) Listen to Master EBT you will:
“That power is a Jedi’s best friend if they’re swinging a lightsaber. Being able to heal the strain you incurred each time you swing your saber is an incredible advantage and allows a saber user to be much less concerned about strain loss during prolonged conflicts.”
The Magnitude upgrade is a must to use the Ebb aspects, which, let’s face it, you probably will. Without this, you have to be careful to avoid draining your allies. Buying both the top Strength and Magnitude at FR1 is reasonable as you have a decent chance of rolling 2 pips to activate 1 or the other. But hold off on Range, if you want it, until FR2-3, since it requires 3 pips to activate (1 for Basic plus 2 for Range). The same applies to the question Control, which requires 4 pips, so you probably can’t reliably activate it until FR 3. The Mastery upgrade, like most, is useful but situational. It’s also relatively inexpensive, at only 60XP for the most direct path, so go ahead. I personally wouldn’t take the Commit Control. When possible, I want taking multiple Conflict for a Force power use to be a choice, to mean something–whether it’s my PC is angry, fearful, decided it was expedient, or is just that desperate. What about the Threat/Advantage and Failure/Success Control upgrades? If your PC is primarily a lightsaber wielder it makes sense. Master EBT once again:
“…a saber user with the ability to generate threat to their opponent in an engaged fight can cause them to generate 3 threat more often, which will more reliably activate a lightsaber user’s Improved Parry talent.
“Alternatively, generating extra Advantages with the Strength upgrade can also be of use if a saber user has a lightsaber with a low critical rating; it can turn a fight quickly in the lightsaber user’s favor by inflicting massive criticals that can either end the fight swiftly or cripple the opponent in a way that victory is virtually assured.
“With just the first strain healing power, a lightsaber user can be extremely effective in combat where strain use is high. With the second Control…a lightsaber with a low critical rating can be devastating to an opponent, to say nothing of still being able to heal any strain incurred even with a miss…without having to save any for strain recovery.”
Do take the XP costs into consideration, however. The second Strength will cost a total of 30XP, then another 20 for the third, when you add in the cost of the Range and Control upgrades to get there.
My takeaway is that Ebb/Flow, especially the Flow aspect, is a valuable Force power, especially for martial Force users, regardless of whether they wield a lightsaber. Buying the Basic and top tier Strength will give you staying power in combat, while additional Control and Strength upgrades, offer you other advantages.You could make a very athletic fighting Jedi with Ebb/Flow, combined with Enhance  (middle and right) upgrades. The Ebb/Flow Basic and first Strength upgrade aren’t nearly as useful for a Force wizard, but worth considering, in my opinion. My Force wizard has lost considerable strain in some recent encounters. Enough that if we weren’t in the final arc, I would probably spend the 20XP on those.
Next month, we look at the Alter power from Unlimited Power. Until then, MTFBWYA.
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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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