“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.
I decided to discuss the Protect and Unleash aspects of this Force power separately, because they almost are two different powers, even more so than Heal/Harm. With Heal/Harm at least the Magnitude, Range, and Strength upgrades work the same way with both aspects. Not so with this power, down to how far your range extends. So I am going to write as if Protect and Unleash are two different powers. Note that Darksiders as well as Lightsiders can wield Protect and all its upgrades, except for the 25XP Control and Mastery, which reserve the Protect aspect for Lightsiders.
The Basic Protect conjures a barrier which “shields” you or an Engaged ally from damage due to energy attacks, including lightsabers, blasters, or Force powers. To activate Protect, the wielder must succeed on a combined Force power and Average Discipline check and spend 2 Force pips. Damage is reduced by (Willpower + uncanceled Successes). There are no multiple activations and it can only reduce damage from one attack. That means that in cases like Autofire or Linked, where one attack can do multiple hits, Protect affects only a single hit from that barrage. A reminder for my Darksider (Morality < 30) students–you can only Protect yourself, not your allies. No matter how useful they are.
For two Force pips, Range extends Protect to an ally by one range band per instance bought. That’s a maximum of Long, versus Extreme for Unleash, since the basic Protect is limited to an ally in Engaged range. But only for Lightsiders, remember. Also at 2 pips it’s more costly to activate than for most powers, but it can be activated more than once.
Magnitude increases the number of affected targets by one for each instance purchased for 1 Force pip. It can be activated multiple times. With 2 Magnitudes in the tree, that’s a maximum of two additional allies Protected per pip spent.
The first Control upgrade, 10XP, in the upper right of the tree, gains the wielder Defense, Ranged and Melee. For each Advantage–from the power/Discipline check–spent, they gain Defense 1, until the beginning of their next turn. This is one of only three upgrades that doesn’t cost additional Force pips to activate Protect. (The others are the 25XP Control and Duration.)
Right below and connected to it is the 15XP Control upgrade. For 1 Force pip, above the base cost, the barrier protects against all types of attacks. Like the Basic Protect, it can’t be activated more than once and only shields against a single attack.
The last Control upgrade, 25XP, opens up a new way for Lightside Force users (Morality 30+) to spend Destiny Points. Once per session, the Lightsider may flip a DP to use Protect as an out-of-turn incidental. This is a rarity for Force powers, and is an upgrade that really unleashes the Protect aspect, as do the remaining three upgrade types.
The Duration upgrade Protects the wielder (and/or their allies if a Lightsider) until the beginning of the wielder’s next turn–but only if no Dark pips were used to generate Force pips. So while usable by Darksiders, it will be harder to pull off, due to the rules on spending Dark and Light pips. Duration is right below the 10 and 15XP Controls and works well with one or both, if you have Advantage and/or Force pips to spend on them.
The four Strength upgrades work the same way. Spend 1 Force pip to decrease damage by 1 for each Strength you bought. So, the attack Protected against is reduced by 1 to 4 damage on top of the reduction for Success/es rolled on the power/Discipline check. Since this upgrade can be activated multiple times, that reduction is per pip spent on the upgrade.
Finally, we reach the Mastery upgrade. Like the 25XP Control, the Protect aspect is only usable by Lightsiders. The barrier doesn’t just absorb or dissipate damage, it can sometimes reflect it back on the attacker. For 2 Force pips, all attacks the wielder reduces to zero damage are turned back on the attacker, for damage equal to the initial attack.
What to buy when? Since you will have at least Force Rating 3, you have good odds of activating the Basic Protect and some upgrades. I’d start with the First Control–it’s 1+ Defense for a round if you have any uncancelled Advantage, without spending more pips. Then consider at least one Strength, Magnitude, and/or Range. If your PC tries to avoid Conflict unless the situation is dire (I have a more or less Conflict Avoidant PC), perhaps because their goal is Paragon, Range may not be as valuable to you. Beyond that?
First, since this is an understandably expensive power in both XP and minimum FR, be sure there’s enough time left in the campaign for you to enjoy using the upgrades you buy, before picking up Duration–which is a good one–or additional instances of “ranked” upgrades. Second, if you’re a Lightsider, Mastery’s Protect is much more situational than its Unleash aspect–which you can’t use–and costs twice the Force pips to activate. So the 25XP Control might be a better choice for you if you really want to invest 80+ XP in this one Force power.
Next week, we’ll look at the Unleash aspect, which, like Protect, is usable by any PC, regardless of Morality score. Until then, may the Force be with you always!
Credit: Thanks to Jon “Donovan Morningfire” Stevens for Aid Another actions to clarify a couple of points.
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
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