“Force Wizard” is my series on the Force & Destiny Careers’ Signature Abilities.
Today, padawans (or acolytes, if you’re amongst my Darkside disciples), we look at the first of the Mystic Career Signature Abilities, from Unlimited Power, Prophecy. It’s atypical for an F&D SA, since it isn’t really a buff for either wielder or an ally. Prophecy allows the Force user to specify that a given event WILL happen at some point during the session. I will be honest, I don’t like this SA at all. Mainly, Prophecy has the potential to be a big pain for the GM, as well as the possibility of boring other players, if the event doesn’t really concern them, or they were expecting a totally different session. However, my task is only to enlighten my students on Prophecy, so here goes.
The Basic Prophecy requires spending 1 Destiny Point plus a Hard Vigilance check. IF the check succeeds, the PC utters a prophecy of an event that will transpire before the session’s end. A Prophecy must focus on the PC making it. The event must be vague as well. “Something I much desire will be in my hands tonight,” not “I find a holocron in the curio market and I buy it cheap from the clueless proprietor.” When does the event happen? At whatever point in the current session the player says it does and spends a second DP. So, yes, it costs 2 DPs, but they aren’t spent at the same time, unlike when you activate other SAs. The GM has to make this prophecy come to pass, right then, fitting it into their scenario. GMs are encouraged to interpret that Prophecy in a way the player doesn’t expect. (Maybe a kiss from that hot NPC X-wing jock who caught the PC’s eye earlier? <Snicker>)
The Prophecy problem, as I said, is the extra, in-session work the GM has to do if the Vigilance check is successful. The GM needs to come up with a way to work the event into the current session. Since the player can choose to trigger the Prophecy whenever they feel like, it is even harder for the GM to fit it in. If the GM controlled when during the session it triggered, incorporating the Prophecy event wouldn’t be quite so difficult. You could just call an extra 15-20 minute break to do some planning, as GMs are often advised to do when the players do something unexpected. GMs who have trouble “winging it” are going to have the most difficulty with this.
Be mindful, the GM can declare the prophecy doesn’t come to pass, by making the Destiny Pool all Lightside, so there is an “Out.” Still, this is unfair to a player who has spent a lot of XP to buy this ability, perhaps also bought one or more talents they wouldn’t have chosen otherwise. So, a good GM would rarely invalidate a Prophecy. Is there a better way? Perhaps a house rule that the GM could delay the prophecy to the following session by flipping all the Dark DPs to Light? This would give the GM time to incorporate the Prophecy during their regular planning time, rather than on the fly and/or taking up playing time to fit it in. The player wouldn’t risk being told, “Sorry, not today” instead of seeing their Prophecy come true.
Now that I’ve gone over my objections, on to the upgrades. Most of them are unique and “help” ensure the prophesied event comes to fruition. There are 2 Reduce Setback instances on the first/top tier. Each instance removes one Setback from the Vigilance check to make the Prophecy. Adding Setback in the first place may require yet more quick thinking on the GM’s part.
Flow of the Universe (top tier) and Doom (bottom tier) are opposites in a way. Flow adds a Boost die to “checks they make to bring the foretold event to fruition.” Doom adds a Setback die to checks by any character to prevent that event. I admit to being unsure when either upgrade comes into play. My suggestion is any time after the Prophecy is activated with the successful Vigilance check until the player says the event happens. Player and GM should agree on this when Flow and/or Doom are bought. They will also have to negotiate which checks get the Boost/Setback every time Prophecy is activated.
Finishing out the top tier is Shared Revelation. As mentioned above, the Basic Prophecy is all about the PC who declares the Prophecy. Shared Revelation allows a Prophecy to concern another character, PC or NPC.
Recurrence (bottom tier) means the Prophecy will come to pass a second time during the session, and costing another DP, just like making it happen the first time. Per both tree and text, the recurrence will probably be “in a different form.” More winging it!
The remaining 2 upgrades, on the bottom tier, are more or less “standard” SA upgrades. Reduce Difficulty drops the Vigilance check difficulty from Hard to Average. The Destiny upgrade in effect, halves the total DP cost to 1. Uttering the Prophecy to activate it with the Vigilance check costs 0 DP. Triggering the prophesied event still costs 1 DP (for the second time as well, if you have the Recurrence upgrade).
What Mystic Specializations mesh well with Prophecy? Prophet (Unlimited Power) is the obvious one, since it focuses on messaging for the masses. Magus (Unlimited Power) is another strong possibility. They often come from more primitive cultures where the validity of prophecies is part of the culture. Some Seers may take this route on their journey as well. Advisor (F&D) is another possibility, but less likely than Prophet. A good Advisor, Force-sensitive or not, has to be able to clearly articulate their advice for the individuals they serve. Now, couching advice in cryptic terms might be useful when trying to impress an easily influenced ruler.
A Makashi Duelist or Alchemist taking Prophecy would be almost unheard of. The Makashi disciple is as straightforward as a lightsaber to the throat, and reserves confusing, flowery language for distracting or goading their opponents in duels. An Alchemist by definition makes or alters things; they don’t usually influence people.
Before taking Prophecy, be mindful of how much on-the-fly, in-session work the GM – and in some cases the wielding player – must do when a Prophecy comes to pass. Come up with the Prophecy and decide when it’s triggered (player). Input from a second player, if Shared Revelation. Decide if the event prophesied can happen and then imagine how it comes about (GM). Possibly how it recurs (GM). Sort out what checks are affected by Flow of the Universe and/or Doom.
All this will eat away at playing time, which makes a good argument for my suggested house rule of postponing until the next session. All the GM planning and some discussion with the player/s could be handled during the GM’s regular prep time. This would probably make the event in question much better. Or perhaps your group will come up with a better solution. If so, please comment, here or on Facebook. (As with any other house rules, the group should discuss it and then have a trial period before implementing it.)
Come April, we’ll take a look at the remaining Mystic SA, Unmatched Destiny, a favorite of mine. Until then, may the Force be with you always!
Linda Whitson
Latest posts by Linda Whitson (see all)
- Astral Projections – The Ripperdoc Is In - May 8, 2023
